Coca-Cola's chairman says he wants to settle the racial discrimination lawsuit. A judge wants a mediator. Today President Clinton announced a new nationwide flight-control system, giving the Federal Aviation Administration more tools to help planes arrive and depart on time. From Minnesota Public Radio, Andrew Haeg reports. They work together well in good weather, but when thunderheads roll in, as they do every spring, the system becomes chaotic.
Planes sit on the tarmac while controllers patch together a flight plan.
Unacceptable, said the airlines. So, at a White House ceremony today, the President said the government will empower one command center in Virginia to direct the FAA's 21 flight-control centers. And the government will open up military air space on the East Coast so planes have room to circumvent storms. Northwest Airlines spokesperson Dennis Mollura says the new system is not the final answer, but it's a great first step. Like last January when a winter storm caused massive delays at its Detroit hub.