Horizons Online Edition

Lockheed Martin has landed in Prescott, Arizona! Lockheed Martin (LMCO) has taken over the FAA's 58 Flight Service Stations (FSS) across the United States after winning the FAA outsourcing bid in late October. LMCO has broken ground and is building a multi-million dollar training academy and a FSS HUB in Prescott Valley, Arizona to train Flight Service Station Specialist.

LMCO recently hired 15 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University graduates who hold Pilot's Licenses to attend the first Training Academy due to begin on January 24th at the ERAU Campus in Prescott. The Prescott Campus will be the Academy's Training site until the new state-of-the-art training academy and FSS Hub is finished being built in Prescott Valley, just a few miles away from the Embry-Riddle Campus in Prescott, AZ.

The first 15 ERAU Graduates have been hired for the opportunity to become the newest members of LMCO FSS Team during interviews in December at the Prescott Campus. Nick Kulesa, who was offered a job at the Leesburg, VA FSS HUB, and a December 2005 graduate from Prescott, was quoted as saying "What a great opportunity to land a job right after graduating from Embry-Riddle. I'll be working with one of America's top corporations and utilize my extensive aviation and pilot training to help enhance the safety of flight for pilot's who utilize the AFSS System. This is a great day for Embry-Riddle Graduates".

The first assignments for our ERAU graduates will be in Prescott Valley, AZ, Leesburg, VA, and the Dallas/FT Worth FSS Hubs. Once completed, LMCO's training academy will continue to train FSS employees in a tailored 10-week training academy. The next training academy for ERAU graduates will begin in May 2006.

LMCO realized that Embry-Riddle graduates that specialized in Aeronautical Science Degrees (Flight) were the ideal pool of aviation experts that would help bring the aging and dilapidated FSS system back to the forefront in providing aviation safety to pilots across the nation. Additionally, this will help staff the FAA facilities over the next 10 years. The new hires will work along side former veteran FAA employees who now are working for LMCO.

As cited from Mr. Phil Boyer, President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA); "The flight service station system is finally going to be modernized. For the first time in history, pilots are going to get a contractual guarantee that a live briefer will answer their phone calls within 20 seconds and acknowledge their radio calls within five seconds. Flight plans will be filed within three minutes. It's in the contract. And there will be no user fees. Better service and no fees. That's the bottom line for pilots," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "And as the consumer advocate for general aviation pilots, AOPA fought in the halls of Congress and the FAA to make sure that FSS customers are going to get the service they need."

The FAA announced in October that it had selected a team headed by Lockheed Martin to take over operation of the agency's 58 automated flight service stations (AFSS) in the lower 48 states, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Under the terms of the contract, Lockheed must provide safety of flight information to pilots under strict safety and service requirements.

The contract, the result of an "A-76" study started in 2003, will run for five years with an option for an additional five years. If the contract is renewed, FAA will pay Lockheed $1.9 billion over the course of the 10 years, an estimated savings of $2.2 billion over what it would have cost for the FAA to continue providing the service using its existing infrastructure and procedures. "This is a sound business decision," said Boyer. "The FSS system is antiquated and hemorrhaging money. And as any pilot who has been stuck on hold for 20 minutes trying to get a weather briefing can tell you, the system is overloaded and frequently non-responsive." That will change-but not immediately.

Lockheed's plan is to eventually consolidate the current 58 AFSS facilities into 20 facilities. As detailed in the winning proposal, AFSS hubs will be located in Ft. Worth, Texas; Leesburg, Virginia; and Prescott, Arizona. Other facilities would be in Albuquerque; Columbia, Missouri; Denver; Honolulu; Kankakee, Illinois; Lansing, Michigan; Macon, Georgia; Miami; Nashville; Oakland, California; Princeton, Minnesota; Raleigh, North Carolina; St. Petersburg, Florida; San Diego; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Seattle. Lockheed said it would have these centers up and running by March 2007.

Linda Gooden, President of Lockheed Martin Information Technology, said this past October after the announcement of the contract that "the past eight months have been especially busy as we prepared for this important day, and I am pleased to announce that we are ready. We welcome the opportunity to serve the FAA and the nation's aviation public in this capacity for many years."

More than 600,000 general aviation pilots rely on AFSS specialists for weather briefings, updates on closings or changes at airport facilities, and filing flight plans. The specialists also initiate aircraft search and rescue. Unlike commercial pilots who fly in airspace controlled by FAA air traffic controllers, general aviation pilots usually fly in uncontrolled airspace and utilize Flight Services to help ensure their safety of flight.

AOPA has been told that about 1,900 of the current 2,000 FSS employees have accepted job offers from Lockheed Martin, which means that many of the familiar voices giving your preflight weather briefings should stay the same. At the same time, the retiring employees will be replaced by none other than our very own ERAU graduates! The Eagles have landed!

By April 2006, Lockheed is expected to launch the Flight Service 21 (FS21) Web portal for pilots nationwide to obtain preflight briefings, file flight plans, store user profiles, and get graphical flight planning and weather products. The first FSS hub in Leesburg, Virginia, is also scheduled to become operational in April, allowing those in that briefing area to receive all of the improved services from the FS21 system. The other two hub facilities, Fort Worth, Texas, and Prescott, Arizona, should be operational by October next year. The remaining 17 facilities should be upgraded with FS21 technology by July 2007.

The consolidation of these facilities should not impact the level of service pilots receive. Lockheed has a 60-day transition plan in place, which includes a 30-day gradual transition of some employees to the new facilities and 30 days of overlapping services from the new and previous locations.

"AOPA asked for aggressive performance requirements to ensure that your telephone and radio calls to FSS would be answered quickly," Boyer said. "Contractually, Lockheed must meet these customer service standards, so pilots will immediately notice improved service as the FS21 technology is integrated."

After the 18-month transition is complete, pilots' telephone calls must be answered within 20 seconds and radio calls within 15 seconds. Flight plans must be processed in three minutes, and PIREPS (Pilot Reports) must be processed within 30 seconds of receipt, 15 seconds if they are urgent. And an annual customer satisfaction survey will be conducted so that Lockheed can make sure pilots are getting the best service possible. (See "FAA selects Lockheed Martin to modernize flight service stations" for a full list of improved services.)

Embry-Riddle Graduates will now have a direct pipeline to another side of the Aviation Industry thanks to Lockheed Martin - Embry Riddle partnership. This is a win-win situation, with quality Aviation Pilots who have graduated from the World's premiere Aviation University to assist with the transition and provide quality service to the aviation community. This partnership will do nothing short of help rebuild, restructure, and enhance Aviation Safety for pilots across the United States.

Embry-Riddle takes pride with the initiation of this partnership, and is extremely excited about working with Lockheed Martin in bridging and building the future of AFSS' across the United States.

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