美国国家公共电台 NPR--Planes are back in the sky but what is going on with U.S. aviation?

Planes are back in the sky but what is going on with U.S. aviation?

Transcript¹

What does the FAA's system outage say about the resiliency of America's aviation system? NPR's Leila Fadel talks to former FAA Deputy Administrator² Michael Whitaker.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

For more on yesterday's systems failure and what it says about the state of our aviation system, we're turning to Mike Whitaker. He's a former deputy administrator at the FAA and is the current chief commercial officer at Supernal³, which is Hyundai Motor Group's air taxi company. Good morning, Mike.

MIKE WHITAKER: Good morning.

FADEL: OK. So what was your reaction when you heard about this system outage and all flights being grounded?

WHITAKER: Well, it's always a pretty dramatic thing when you ground all flights. So obviously, there was a very serious safety issue. And I think when you're dealing⁴ with unavailability of NOTAMs, that was probably the only avenue that FAA had available.

FADEL: Is this a fluke? Was this a fluke, or are there inherent flaws with the U.S. aviation system?

WHITAKER: Well, I think it is a fluke. It's a very old system, but it's a pretty reliable system. It's administered by the - by ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization. It's a branch of the U.N. Almost 200 companies use NOTAMs. So with international aviation, you need that international standard so you've got the same information, the same abbreviations, the same format⁵ no matter where you're flying. So it's an old system, but we haven't had this type of failure before.

FADEL: I just want to play something that somebody told us yesterday on All Things Considered, Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

GEOFF FREEMAN: We simply are not investing in the technology, in the people that we need to build an air travel experience that the traveling public can appreciate, an experience that they enjoy, an experience that they deserve.

FADEL: So does the FAA need new technology, upgrades, and why hasn't that happened?

WHITAKER: It is a complicated question. They definitely need new investment. They need new technology. They're subject to a funding model that's pretty inconsistent. Congress passes authorizations. They pass budgets. Those are inconsistent. They're not predictable. They're short-term. And then you have things like government shutdowns that interfere⁶ with the process. So you need investment. You don't have a stable source of funding. And you need investment not just to keep the current system running, but to accommodate new technologies, like flying air taxis.

FADEL: What's your view on what some Republicans in the past have called for - the privatization of air traffic control?

WHITAKER: Privatization is certainly one solution, and that could work. It's worked elsewhere. I think the key is to look at the problem you're solving for, which is a stable budget. You could achieve that in a number of ways. You could take it off the normal congressional pattern of funding and have a separate funding source, or you could privatize. But the key is to try to get stable funding and make those investments.

FADEL: Now, the FAA hasn't had a permanent administrator for nearly a year. How much does that affect U.S. aviation, not having stable leadership?

WHITAKER: Well, I think they do have stable leadership. I think the acting⁷ administrator has done a great job. But it is a time of transition - a lot of new startups in this space who are hiring from the FAA. They need to build the bench. So I think it is important to invest in the people, as well.

FADEL: So the FAA dealing with staff shortages that we're seeing across industries.

WHITAKER: I think that's right.

FADEL: Is the FAA, in its current form, equipped to keep American aviation safe and stable?

WHITAKER: Well, I think, as your previous guest mentioned, it is the busiest and the safest system in the world. But it's not the most efficient. So I think it's going to stay safe. I think that the place we feel the pain is sometimes you have these glitches⁸ that keep it from running smoothly⁹.

FADEL: Yeah. And it's terrible if you're at the airport trying to get somewhere...

WHITAKER: Absolutely.

FADEL: ...Especially around the holidays.

WHITAKER: Yeah.

FADEL: You know, there were questions yesterday about whether this was a cyberattack. And I'm wondering about the vulnerability of the system. Is it a safe system in that aspect?

WHITAKER: Well, ironically, because the system is so old, it's maybe less vulnerable to cyberattack because it's not as connected and modern as some other systems. This is - cybersecurity has always been a major, major focus for the FAA. So I think so far, the track record is pretty good in that space.

FADEL: Are there any lessons learned here?

WHITAKER: I think the lessons learned is, you know, we don't really have a redundancy system for NOTAMs. We have redundant¹⁰ computer systems, but there's just one source of data. So if that data is not solid or corrupted¹¹, it does create a vulnerability. And your only real option is to ground the system.

FADEL: Which has created a lot of chaos¹² at the airport. Mike Whitaker was a deputy administrator at the FAA. And currently, he's chief commercial officer at Supernal, Hyundai Motor Group's air taxi company. Thank you so much.

WHITAKER: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

3 supernal   

adj.天堂的，天上的；崇高的

参考例句：

• The supernal ideology will not coexistence with the everyman.超凡的思想是不会与凡夫俗子共存的。
• It has virtue of strong function,supernal efficiency.它具有功能强，效率高的优点。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

6 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

9 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

10 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

11 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

12 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。