HUGHES AIRCRAFT and the Canadian Department of Transport have agreed to revise the terms of a C$659 million ($478 million) programme to modernise the country's air-traffic-control (ATC) system after the project ran into technical, budgetary and scheduling difficulties.

The new deal essentially pays Hughes more to deliver a less complex system. Among the software packages which are being deferred are those governing conflict resolution, flow control and oceanic approaches to Gander, Newfoundland. The latter two activities will now be conducted with existing software and systems.

Under the original agreement, the portion of the $659 million work to be done by Hughes was C$427 million ($310 million). Transport officials will not reveal by how much this will increase until final approval for the changes is obtained from the Government. Whatever the increase to Hughes directly, they say, there will be no rise in the programme's total budget.

Final approval of the revised contract is expected later this year, following an independent review of the programme by Intermetrics, of McLean, Virginia.

Department of Transport programme manager Ian Stewart says that the full system, known as the Canadian Automated Air Traffic System (CAATS), should be up and running by late 1998. That is nearly two years behind the original schedule set in late 1989, when Hughes won the contract.

Stewart adds that the CAATS project was overwhelmed by the quick evolution of computer technology. "The level of complexity wasn't totally comprehended by Hughes or the Department of Transport," he says.

Source: Flight International