Flight Planning's New Age

Anyone who's picked up the phone to obtain a weather briefing from an FAA Flight Service Station (FSS) in recent weeks has discovered the ongoing consolidation by federal contractor Lockheed Martin (LockMart) isn't going so well.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The consolidation of FAA Flight Service Stations (FSS) by Lockheed Martin has severely degraded service, leading to lengthy hold times and a critical loss of professional weather interpretation and local knowledge for general aviation pilots.
As FSS no longer reliably provide interpretive briefings, pilots are now solely responsible for developing their own local weather knowledge through peer interaction, observation, and correlating raw data with real-world flying experience.
While this shift poses a safety risk for less experienced pilots, it forces greater self-sufficiency and a deeper understanding of weather, which the article frames as an essential and ultimately beneficial responsibility for flight safety.

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Anyone whos picked up the phone to obtain a weather briefing from an FAA Flight Service Station (FSS) in recent weeks has discovered the ongoing consolidation by federal contractor Lockheed Martin (LockMart) isnt going so well. Lengthy hold times have been common, if the telephone is answered at all. Once a pilot gets to speak with a briefer, the service has been, shall we say, uneven. Recognizing this, the FAA recently announced a $3 million fine against LockMart for failing to live up to the terms of its contract.