FAA Taps CSC To Ease Air Traffic CongestionFAA Taps CSC To Ease Air Traffic Congestion

The Federal Aviation Administration is revamping the computer system that manages the flow of air traffic across the nation's skies with an eye to reducing congestion in the air around the busiest airports and airways.

The FAA has tapped Computer Sciences Corp. to build an enhanced Traffic Flow Management system that will let airlines, researchers, and FAA staffers work collaboratively across a computer network to more efficiently route aircraft around adverse weather conditions and other phenomena that impede the flow of air traffic. CSC's contract runs for three years with four two-year options. It's worth about $589 million if all the options are exercised, CSC said Friday. CSC built the FAA's current Traffic Flow Management system. Harris Corp., Unisys Corp., and several other subcontractors will help CSC build the system.

CSC also said that, during its first quarter ending Friday, it has signed 119 previously unannounced federal government contracts worth about $441 million. The contracts range in value from $10,000 to $125 million and vary in length from three months to 10 years.