Unnecessary Procurement of an Aviation Weather and Notice to Airmen System by the FAA

The procurement of two Aviation Weather and Notice to Airmen Systems (AWANS) by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cost about $6.3 million. AWANS is a computerized system designed to aid flight service station specialists in briefing pilots and filing flight plans. AWANS was developed because of the need to modernize the labor intensive and paper-oriented flight service station. According to FAA, AWANS demonstrates that a station can be automated and that a specialist using the system can improve the quality of pilot briefings.