U.S. air-traffic network outdated, costly

[sn26567]

A World War II-era air traffic network that often forces planes to take longer, zigzagging routes is costing U.S. airlines billions of dollars in wasted fuel while an upgrade to a satellite-based system has languished in the planning stages for more than a decade.

FULL STORY on CNN

Story Highlights
# A World War II-era air traffic network is costing U.S. airlines billions of dollars
# Current radar network forces planes to take longer, zigzagging routes
# An upgrade to a satellite-based system has been in the planning stages for years
# GPS system could have saved airlines $5 billion-plus in fuel this year alone

[regi]

They want to avoid that planes would fly above Roswell and see what those aliens are doing in the desert.

[Prevangor]

Thank you for bringing up this intersting topic. But what a dumb, moronic and isolationist article! How is this an American problem? Firtst, they should have looked up WAAS and EGNOS in the wikipedia and followed the various links. Than they would have realised that all VOR beams and radars will be switched off before 2020. If they searched the news, they would have learned that companies are working on the subject, for instance according to this article about a new Honeywell software:
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=76785
From an European perspective: the introduction has been postponed yet another year to 2014:
http://www.insidegnss.com/node/822

[regi]

Could the upcoming election have something to do with panicking horror stories ?