I see the poor old Air Traffic centre at Swanwick, Hampshire has been making headlines again. This time a computer glitch which restricted UK air space for about 60 minutes on Friday, but led to disrupted flights across the weekend as schedules got messed up.
I remember all the fuss when it was built in the 1990's and it 6 years to sort all the problems out with it before it actually became serviceable and replaced the previous system which was creaking at the seams. Apparently the software was designed originally by an American company which went under so new software engineers had to step in and finish it, which is why it took so long and went over budget.
To be fair we only hear about it when it goes wrong, which is quite rare when you think how much air traffic volume they handle. But the system itself will no doubt be due for replacement in 10 - 15 years, so with the current track record maybe they should start building it now?
