Without air traffic control no aircraft will fly. For a long time, the deutsche Flugsicherung is due to lack of personnel in the industry as a problem child known. Now, however, the technology falters. This is going to take.
Nearly five days have passed, without a computer problem could be fixed. The location for the start of the week at the German flight control center in the Hessian Langen. There, the traffic is monitored via Germany’s largest Airport, the airport in Frankfurt am Main. Due to Software problems at the Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) needs to emphasise the Lufthansa alone on Monday at the airport 46 flights.
Alone in the Lufthansa a total of 4500 passengers are likely to be affected. Overall, operator Fraport in Frankfurt, according to the airport on the Monday until noon 68 flights. With a total of just under 1400 scheduled flight movements, the seems little. However, the Software restricts the Problem with the flight traffic controllers the air traffic for days across large Parts of Germany. Since last Wednesday evening, the Federal government has reduced its own company in the amount of Traffic for the air space, controlled by Langen near Frankfurt to a quarter. There was this already in the last week of flight failures.
“Safety is not affected “
The safety of air traffic is not endangered, had stressed the DFS. The affected Software after the DFS information to the pilots all the flight path for the important data of each flight. These are, for example, aircraft type, flight route and the expected crossing time. The rest of the backup system are fully available. By the breakdown, in the airports of Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf are affected except Frankfurt, informed the DFS.
Problems with Software solution is not Thursday
The capacity of the air navigation are reduced according to DFS “for security reasons”. Only in the night from Wednesday to Thursday will now be an alternative Software in operation. As the cause of a Software is suspected to be the Update from February. However, the program runs freely in the other DFS Control centres in Munich, Bremen and Karlsruhe, apparently, errors. Now the old Software is to be used again. Because “all systems of the DFS, however, are subjected to a strict quality control,” says a spokeswoman to the DW, I need to Import a certain amount of time. Finally, the safety of the passengers.
So it is not the well-known shortage of personnel at the air traffic controllers, now to the Problem, and not the expiration with the security controls of passengers, or missing Luggage, but the Software from computers, even though the principal has not begun the travel time. Many of these vulnerabilities had designated the airline industry months ago to avoid the flight chaos of last summer, this year.
Summit against flight chaos
This goal is also a summit served, the meeting of politics and economy, almost half a year in Hamburg, the 25 individual measures were agreed. This Thursday will now be a first balance sheet drawn. Too much but seems to still not be achieved. And although, according to the record level of 3.4 million aircraft movements in the previous year, expects the German air traffic control for 2019, a further increase of up to four percent in the German air space.
On the action note of the airline industry, and new and faster Luggage scanners, in which the passengers have their Laptops from the bag, get to stand around in Munich. Or in Hamburg, Frankfurt and new processes at the passenger control thanks to improved technical processes. Also about the Lufthansa wants to keep more aircraft as a Replacement aircraft ready. And Lufthansa’s Frankfurt airport, want to counteract with more staff feared the new Chaos.
Lack of career: 90 air-traffic controllers are missing in Germany
Now, however, the air traffic control is, in addition, because of the software problems than the eye of a needle. Anyway, it doesn’t look good for a summer without any major delays: “There are structural problems, there are now very significant,” warned the Association of the German air traffic economy (BDL) recently, in an unpublished position paper from which the newspaper quoted.
“Volume too large “
And the chief of ATC Klaus-Dieter Scheurle is in the views of the more punctuality is not less pessimistic: It will come as hardly to be great progress, “because the volume of outstanding flights is too large,” said Scheurle in this month, in an Interview with DW.
The hub in addition to the technology always: the staff. This year alone, 90 missing in Germany pilots. The set, however, is not easy. The training lasts quite long. And the European legal framework makes it difficult for pilots across Europe, flexible. Your license is only for the airport valid for a different location, you need to purchase only a one-year Training a new one, which at the same time, the old license will be lost.
The problems are likely to accompany travelers on duration: 2018, every twelfth flight arrived almost more than an hour late. And the European air traffic control authority Eurocontrol estimates that by 2040 nearly 50 percent more traffic than today.
ar/hb (dpa, rtr, afp, DFS, archive)