A New Brazilian Air Traffic Chief Takes the Helm

A new air force chief tasked with improving the nation's civilian air traffic control system has been appointed by Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brig. Juniti Saito has been nominated as commander of the air force branch which oversees air traffic controllers. Controllers and their equipments are being investigated to determine if they were in any way responsible for a September 29 crash over the Amazon jungle that killed 154 people -when a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 jet. The appointment was announced on 21 Feb by Defense Minister Waldir Pires following a meeting with Silva.

Air traffic controllers in Brazil are mostly AirForce and they've been complaining that they are overworked and underpaid, since shortly after the September crash. Overbooking by airlines and maintenance problems have since caused long flight delays in most airports. However a quiet work to rule by the air traffickers has also contributed to an air transportation system that at times seems totally mired. In late November, Lt. Brig. Gen. Paulo Roberto Cardoso Vilarinho was dismissed as director of the country's air traffic control system because of the delays. He was trenchantly opposed to any attempt to increase the number of civilian air controllers.

On the hardware side, Thales ( the French radar manufacturer ) has just announced the modernization of Brazil's air radar system , with the Brazilian Air Force ordering 26 new radars ( 17 S and 9 L bands ) for 80 Millions USD. That should probably take care of one of the root causes of the 29 September collision - eventually. Meanwhile IFALPA has issued a world-wide alert warning pilots about the severe deficiencies in the Brazilian ATC system.