DUATS and LockMart

Hey All...

I may have misinterpreted what I read, but did anyone else recently see any
mention of a possible plan to take DUATS out of the realm of competitive
bidding, give it soley to LockMart who would then remove it's status as an
"official" source of Wx info?

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
Chandler, AZ

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:47:56 -0700, "Jay Beckman"
wrote in gOCzg.10285$RD.1633@fed1read08::

I may have misinterpreted what I read, but did anyone else recently see any
mention of a possible plan to take DUATS out of the realm of competitive
bidding, give it soley to LockMart who would then remove it's status as an
"official" source of Wx info?


This is all I could find:


http://www.flightprep.com/showmyturn.php?id=11
If it?s not broke why fix it?
Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS) has now been around for
about fifteen years. Its primary function is to allow pilots, having
access to computers, to acquire weather information, manage flight
plans, get NOTAMS and review the latest airspace changes. DUATS is an
FAA sponsored service administered by private vendors. The service is
free to pilots. There are currently two vendors, DTC DUAT and CSC
DUATS. Each service provides the basic weather products and services
as specified by the FAA. Pilots love this service since they can
access DUATS on their terms - at any time and at any place. The
service is accurate, reliable and up times are phenomenal. The vendors
are paid on a per pilot use basis. So it is incumbent for them to
provide the best possible service to attract pilots to their
respective DUATS offering. As a result, each service provider adds
free value added products and services. CSC DUATS for example has
teamed with FlightPrep? to provides the powerful graphic flight
planner GoldenEagle FlightPrep? free to any pilot for the asking, and
DTC DUATS provides a high performance DUAT web access site also free
to pilots.

Having two competing DUATS providers benefits pilots, improves the
service and reduces costs. Both are low cost options for taxpayers and
cost less than $3 million a year. The DUATS flight planner and
briefing service is used by more than 17,000 pilots a day. The DUATS
service has never run over budget. The same can not yet be said of the
planned FSS A76 Modernization transition of the Flight Service
function. This service will be administered by Lockheed Martin Inc.
While not part of the approved contract, the FAA now proposes to do
away with DUATS as we know it and move this important service to a
single source private provider. As is usually the case, such a move
makes the service uncompetitive, which most likely will result in cost
overruns and mediocre service. As far we can determine, no one outside
the FAA (with the possible exception of Lockheed Martin Inc.) thinks
this is a good idea. Most pilots, flight planning service providers
and AOPA do not support this proposed change. There is no compelling
reason to fix DUATS - it?s not broken.

In article gOCzg.10285$RD.1633@fed1read08,
"Jay Beckman" wrote:

Hey All...

I may have misinterpreted what I read, but did anyone else recently see any
mention of a possible plan to take DUATS out of the realm of competitive
bidding, give it soley to LockMart who would then remove it's status as an
"official" source of Wx info?


I haven't heard anything about it being removed as an official source of
weather info, but then again, I don't much care about my weather sources
being official. Even if LM took over DUATS, I don't know why the FAA
would remove it as an official source of weather information.



JKG

There you go, that was up at the DUATS booth at Airventure. The folks there were concerned...


"Larry Dighera" wrote in message ...
: On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:47:56 -0700, "Jay Beckman"
: wrote in gOCzg.10285$RD.1633@fed1read08::
:
: I may have misinterpreted what I read, but did anyone else recently see any
: mention of a possible plan to take DUATS out of the realm of competitive
: bidding, give it soley to LockMart who would then remove it's status as an
: "official" source of Wx info?
:
:
: This is all I could find:
:
:
: http://www.flightprep.com/showmyturn.php?id=11
: If it?s not broke why fix it?
: Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS) has now been around for
: about fifteen years. Its primary function is to allow pilots, having
: access to computers, to acquire weather information, manage flight
: plans, get NOTAMS and review the latest airspace changes. DUATS is an
: FAA sponsored service administered by private vendors. The service is
: free to pilots. There are currently two vendors, DTC DUAT and CSC
: DUATS. Each service provides the basic weather products and services
: as specified by the FAA. Pilots love this service since they can
: access DUATS on their terms - at any time and at any place. The
: service is accurate, reliable and up times are phenomenal. The vendors
: are paid on a per pilot use basis. So it is incumbent for them to
: provide the best possible service to attract pilots to their
: respective DUATS offering. As a result, each service provider adds
: free value added products and services. CSC DUATS for example has
: teamed with FlightPrep? to provides the powerful graphic flight
: planner GoldenEagle FlightPrep? free to any pilot for the asking, and
: DTC DUATS provides a high performance DUAT web access site also free
: to pilots.
:
: Having two competing DUATS providers benefits pilots, improves the
: service and reduces costs. Both are low cost options for taxpayers and
: cost less than $3 million a year. The DUATS flight planner and
: briefing service is used by more than 17,000 pilots a day. The DUATS
: service has never run over budget. The same can not yet be said of the
: planned FSS A76 Modernization transition of the Flight Service
: function. This service will be administered by Lockheed Martin Inc.
: While not part of the approved contract, the FAA now proposes to do
: away with DUATS as we know it and move this important service to a
: single source private provider. As is usually the case, such a move
: makes the service uncompetitive, which most likely will result in cost
: overruns and mediocre service. As far we can determine, no one outside
: the FAA (with the possible exception of Lockheed Martin Inc.) thinks
: this is a good idea. Most pilots, flight planning service providers
: and AOPA do not support this proposed change. There is no compelling
: reason to fix DUATS - it?s not broken.
:

well.. first maybe LocMar should get their own version of the weather web
running before the gov't decides to stop funding DUATS
BT

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote in message
...
In article gOCzg.10285$RD.1633@fed1read08,
"Jay Beckman" wrote:

Hey All...

I may have misinterpreted what I read, but did anyone else recently see
any
mention of a possible plan to take DUATS out of the realm of competitive
bidding, give it soley to LockMart who would then remove it's status as
an
"official" source of Wx info?


I haven't heard anything about it being removed as an official source of
weather info, but then again, I don't much care about my weather sources
being official. Even if LM took over DUATS, I don't know why the FAA
would remove it as an official source of weather information.



JKG

Couldn't care less about DUATS for weather, I just hope they don't make
us wait on hold to talk to a briefer to file IFR. Right now, a couple
clicks and it's done.

Either that, or they'll offer the online "service" for a "subscription
fee."



JKG


In article DyTzg.22837$6w.3734@fed1read11,
"BTIZ" wrote:

well.. first maybe LocMar should get their own version of the weather web
running before the gov't decides to stop funding DUATS
BT

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote in message
...
In article gOCzg.10285$RD.1633@fed1read08,
"Jay Beckman" wrote:

Hey All...

I may have misinterpreted what I read, but did anyone else recently see
any
mention of a possible plan to take DUATS out of the realm of competitive
bidding, give it soley to LockMart who would then remove it's status as
an
"official" source of Wx info?


I haven't heard anything about it being removed as an official source of
weather info, but then again, I don't much care about my weather sources
being official. Even if LM took over DUATS, I don't know why the FAA
would remove it as an official source of weather information.



JKG

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 00:48:40 GMT, ".Blueskies."
wrote in
::

that was up at the DUATS booth at Airventure. The folks there were concerned.

If, in fact, Lockheed-Martin is routinely disconnecting FSS telephone
calls, rather that experiencing hold times in excess of their
contractual agreement with the FAA as reported in this newsgroup, we
should all be concerned.

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 23:22:07 -0400, Jonathan Goodish
wrote in
::

Couldn't care less about DUATS for weather,

I find it to often contain information the FSS briefer doesn't brief.

I just hope they don't make us wait on hold to talk to a briefer to file IFR.
Right now, a couple clicks and it's done.

Ah. Therein may lie the motivation for ceding operation of DUATS to
Lockheed-Martin; because DUATS flight plans are not input into the
system by FSS employees, but computers, perhaps there is a financial
incentive issue at the root of the rumored consolidation of DUATS
operations.

Either that, or they'll offer the online "service" for a "subscription
fee."

I don't think the FAA has actually been granted the authority to
charge a fee for flight plans, yet.

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:
Either that, or they'll offer the online "service" for a "subscription
fee."

I don't think the FAA has actually been granted the authority to
charge a fee for flight plans, yet.

The FAA wouldn't have to, LM would do it.


JKG

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 12:31:45 -0400, Jonathan Goodish
wrote in
:

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:
Either that, or they'll offer the online "service" for a "subscription
fee."

I don't think the FAA has actually been granted the authority to
charge a fee for flight plans, yet.

The FAA wouldn't have to, LM would do it.


Please cite the document authorizing the FAA to collect such a fee.