The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday said it finished deploying an aircraft conflict-detection tool used by air traffic controllers at all 20 FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers nationwide.
The User Request Evaluation Tool, which assigns new routes by identifying conflicts in the immediate area and in adjoining airspace, allows controllers to create 'alternative conflict-free flight routings and to efficiently manage changing air traffic or weather conditions,' according to the FAA.
For pilots, URET helps them fly more directly with fewer restrictions at fuel-efficient altitudes and wind-optimal routes. Since its inception in 1999 through the end of the summer, URET has shortened routes by 89.5 million nautical miles, for an estimated savings of $626.5 million, according to the FAA.
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. developed the system under $500 million in contracts first awarded in 1998 and completed earlier this year, according to a spokeswoman for the FAA.
Shares of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin added $2.42, or about 2.9 percent, to close at $87.03 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has ranged between $58.88 and $89.89 over the past year.
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