The Lockheed Martin Automated Flight Service Station team achieved a major milestone at 1 a.m. EST on February 22. At that time the flight service network's Washington, D.C. Hub went live and began using a new mission operating system called Flight Services for the 21st Century (FS21).

The recently-completed Washington Hub is a state-of-the-art Automated Flight Service Station located near Dulles International Airport in suburban Northern Virginia. Specialists at the facility provide aviation services such as weather briefings, in-flight information, flight plan filing, Notices to Airmen (NOTAMS), clearances, and more to pilots. The facility is the first of its kind to operate under Lockheed Martin's FS21 system, a system designed to modernize and streamline the flow of information transfer to and from pilots by allowing all flight service stations to share the same set of nationwide data.

Since 2005, Lockheed Martin has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop and integrate the revolutionary system that was part of a $1.7 billion contract to provide flight services and technology enhancements for flight service stations. Aided by this new technology, Lockheed Martin will manage to consolidate the 58 existing flight service stations to 16 stations along with three new hub sites located in Prescott, Ariz., Fort Worth, Tex., and Leesburg, Va. (Washington Hub). The entire consolidation will be completed within the next seven months.

One of the heritage sites, Anniston Flight Service Station, in Oxford, Ala., ceased operations, with this startup of Washington Hub. A recent FAA Initial Operational Capability Readiness Review conducted by senior FAA management resulted in the action to allow the hub to begin operations by redirecting all calls from Anniston to Washington using FS21. The flawless transfer resulted from an integrated group effort by two Lockheed Martin units, Business Process Services and Transportation Systems and Solutions, and the FAA as equipment, communications, and personnel all came together to achieve this milestone.

Within the first minute of the capability switchover, the Washington Hub received its first Anniston area call from Southwest Airlines flight 8503, who requested clearance from Dothan, Ala., to Orlando, Fla. Currently operating with approximately 20 flight service specialists, the Washington Hub will begin to have calls redirected to it from additional flight service areas as the transition moves forward.

"It is extremely gratifying to see the FAA/Lockheed Martin team achieve this major milestone, delivering a new level of service to the aviation community and our Flight Service Specialists," said Dan Courain, Lockheed Martin's Vice President of Aviation Services.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin