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In the air, the big need is for broader use of Distance Measuring Equipment, which, with VOR (very high-frequency radio signals), tells a pilot where he is within one-half a nautical mile. To install the DME system will cost the airlines about $6,000 a plane. Says T.W.A. President Ralph Damon: "Certainly, we have no objection to putting a $6,000 device in a million-dollar plane—if it will work. But that's a pretty big if. The system has not been too well demonstrated to date." But Pan American World Air ways started using DME on some of its planes last spring and is "very pleased." Nevertheless, other airlines have dragged their feet, even though CAA has installed more than half of the necessary ground equipment.
To get the most out of long-range radar, VOR and DME, better communications are needed between ground and air. The airlines want a more complete net of Government-built communications control stations, enabling airports to talk directly with pilots several hundred miles away (maximum range in most places is now 30 miles). With such new radar, DME and communications equipment, the airport control tower at La Guardia could pick up a plane an hour out, slow it up if necessary, reserve a landing time and guide it to a straight-in landing. By thus eliminating stacking, much wasted air space could be reclaimed.
Since 1947, the Federal Government has spent $192.7 million in aid to airports, a sum that was matched by states and localities. But last fiscal year Congress appropriated nothing, and this year only a piddling $20.5 million, though the number of airports has increased by 50% (to 6,790) since World War II. As the U.S. streaks on into the. jet age, Congress must be prepared to appropriate more money for airport improvement—and the airlines must keep their own equipment up to date in the air. A little more public and private (i.e., airline) money would go a long way toward breaking the traffic jam on the airways, before it cripples air transportation.