Safety upgrade boosts airport

| August 6, 2009 12:00 AM

Inter Lake editorial

Back in January, the Inter Lake wrote about the lack of radar at Glacier Park International Airport. We noted then that new technology was on the horizon and that it made sense "to wait and get the best equipment."

Now, just half a year later, that new technology is available, and a new tracking system will be installed at the airport within a couple of months.

The new system will use a 55-foot "monopole" that captures data from a variety of sources to paint an accurate picture of what is happening in the sky around Glacier Park International.

According to Airport Director Cindi Martin, the new technology "increases the level of safety and efficiency. Pilots can plot their own courses' and will be able to fly at safe distances from one another with less assistance from air traffic controllers.

The program is part of a nationwide effort called the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Aircraft will continue to be tracked by the Salt Lake City airport radar system until they enter the local airport's air space.

Passengers, pilots and controllers all should be grateful for this upgrade in service, which is being funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

IF THE U.S. SENATE can get its act together before it begins a recess this weekend, more money will flow into an amazingly successful government program.

That program, of course, is "cash for clunkers," which offers car buyers rebates of up to $4,500 for trading in their gas-guzzlers for new, higher-mileage models.

New funding (an extra $2 billion) would give as many as half a million more Americans the opportunity to use the vehicle-buying incentives.

The program has its detractors, but it has undoubtedly done what it was intended to do: Stimulate auto sales while getting older, inefficient vehicles off the roads.

The hard-hit auto industry certainly has benefited from the increase in sales - as many as 300,000 vehicles so far - so one could conclude that this is a government stimulus that was both effective and swift.