We got our day to grill Lockheed Martin about Flight Service. The takeaway is to expect some new preflight services in the future, but no relief on some common gripes.
Flight Service Responds
For those of you who havent been following our little IFR soap opera with Lockheed Martin over Flight Service, heres the nutshell summary: We visited the under-construction Virginia hub of LMs Flight Service in 2006. It looked promising. We looked again in 2008 after the program fell on its face and was working to resurrect itself.
Key Takeaways:
- Lockheed Martin expects to introduce new preflight services in the future, but persistent pilot complaints regarding tedious readbacks, antiquated systems for information relay, and the perceived limited value of standard briefings are unlikely to see immediate resolution.
- A significant gap exists between Lockheed Martin's positive assessment of Flight Service performance (based on FAA metrics and general pilot surveys) and the dissatisfaction expressed by more experienced IFR pilots who find the service less relevant.
- A previously promised internet portal for interactive briefings was removed from the contract, though LM hinted at new, undisclosed projects aimed at better serving experienced and "hybrid" pilots in the future.
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