Union says the FAA is ditching the ATC Center's weather forecast equipment

The FAA is eliminating National Weather Service forecasters at all 21 of its Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) in favor of an automated system. The alarm was raised Monday by the National Weather Service Employees Organization. The group says meteorologists will receive their permits on April 20. The FAA did not confirm the decision, but communicated it USA TODAY that something is in the works.

“The FAA and NOAA are working on a path forward for the interagency agreement,” the FAA said in a statement USA TODAY. “The weather safety of our national airspace remains our shared top priority and there will be no service change that would compromise that goal.” NWS officials said the move will “enhance flight safety throughout the national airspace for the traveling public and aviation industry crews endanger”. USA TODAY.

The current system, which employs meteorologists at each ARTCC, was approved by Congress in the early 1980s after a Southern Airways DC-9 lost both engines in a thunderstorm and had to make an emergency landing on a Georgia road. In total, 72 people died, including nine on the ground, but 20 passengers and two crew survived. The crew was not warned about the dangerous deterioration in weather.