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Flight
Service History |
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| Forums | Last updated
08/01/08 This page contains a brief history of the FAA Flight Service Station, written by John Schamel, a Flight Service Specialist. |
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| First Radio Station Click to view enlargement |
 The evolution of Flight Service from
the aviation support facilities of 1920 to the present Automated Flight Service Station
mirrors the remarkable growth of aviation during this century. In fact, today’s
modern Air Traffic Service (ATS) has its origins in those original stations. The following
is a brief account of that evolution.
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| Mail Plane Click to view enlargement
Transconti- |
 The United States military entered the aviation
arena during World War I, an episode in history that was instrumental in demonstrating the
versatility of the newly invented airplane. During the war, a variety of tasks for
military aircraft were tried, one being a venture with the U.S. Post Office. In May 1918,
the first air mail route was established between New York and Washington, D.C., with other
short routes in the eastern states following. The Army turned the operation over to the
Post Office in August 1918, transferring all the equipment and personnel. As Air Mail
routes slowly expanded, work was started on the transcontinental route.
 This ambitious plan called for a 2,612-mile route from New York
to San Francisco, complete with the 17 primary landing fields having an Air Mail Radio
Station (AMRS). The transcontinental route opened on August 20, 1920. All 17 AMRS were
operational by the end of 1921. The AMRS specialist made local weather observations,
obtained other weather information by radio, and often made their own forecasts. They also
assisted in loading and unloading mail, servicing the airplane, and maintaining their own
equipment, often building their own radios.
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| Salt Lake City Air Mail Radio Station, 1925 Click to view enlargement
Radio |
 The passage of the Air Commerce Act on May 20,
1926 brought a variety of aviation-related tasks under the control of the Department of
Commerce. The Transcontinental Airway System was transferred from the Post Office to the
Bureau of Lighthouses. A new organization within the Bureau - the Airways Division - took
over in June of  1927. By this time there were 45 radio operators working at the
renamed Airway Radio Stations (ARS).
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| Radio Operator Click to view enlargement
Radio- |
 Early specialists were primarily former maritime
radio operators. They were well experienced in building, maintaining, and operating radios
for long periods with little or no assistance. These radios used point-to-point telegraphy
using Morse Code -- known as CW (Continuous Wave) -- to communicate with other ground
stations. CW was used for air  ground
communication until voice radios were developed. CW was not phased out of the air traffic
system until 1948. Weather and aeronautical information was passed along the routes from
one station to the next. The standard Morse Code gave way to shorthand methods as radio
traffic increased. First Phillips Code was used, which was later replaced with
"Q" calls. Many of the "Q" calls are still used in the computerized
systems of today.
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| Burley Radio, Idaho Click to view enlargement |
 Standardized air-ground voice radios became
available in the early 1930s as more aircraft became radio equipped. Teletype was
introduced to the ARS in 1928. One circuit was available for all traffic, which included
message traffic for other government agencies. A second circuit was added later, allowing
weather information to be separate from flight information and administrative messages.
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| The station keeper’s duties remained pretty much the
same. Service wasn’t limited to just mail planes, though. Any pilot stopping at or
calling the ARS could get weather information or make a position report. Search and Rescue
duties were added to look for overdue aircraft. Specialists still did their own technical
maintenance on radios and teletypes, and often maintained the airport’s lighting
aids.
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| Pilots of the era came to rely on the dedication and
professionalism of the station keepers, the pilots’ only contact with the air traffic
system. This reliance would continue, even with the addition of airport control towers in
the 1930’s. Tower controllers were specialized in that airport environment. The ARS
controllers still provided the majority of services to pilots nationwide.
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| Airways Technician Click to view enlargement |
 The
continued growth of aviation lead to the Civil Aeronautics Act in June 1938, creating the
Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA). The CAA took over many of the functions from the
Department of Commerce and the ARS became the Airway Communication Station (ACS). Skilled
technicians were assigned for maintenance of the electronic equipment in the system. The
basis of the Airway Facilities System was formed in the years before World War II.
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| With the U.S. entry in this war, the military became the
main customer of the ACS. Women joined the controller ranks, with some facilities staffed
by only women controllers.
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| Haines FSS 1945/1946 Click to view enlargement |
 The end of World War II marked the return of commercial aviation. ACS controllers
provided services to private pilots, airline pilots, and military pilots. New and improved
radio navigation aids helped speed the growth of flying across the nation.
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| The rapid growth of postwar aviation lead, in part, to the
Federal Aviation Act in 1958, merging the CAA and other organizations to create the
Federal Aviation Agency (FAA). The name Flight Service Station (FSS) was unveiled in March
1960.
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| Buffalo Radio Station, NY 1961 Click to view enlargement |
 Flight Service controllers continued to provide a variety of
services to pilots throughout the nation, however, they were limited to simply reading
weather reports and forecasts verbatim.
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| An agreement was reached in 1961 between the FAA and NWS.
Flight Service controllers were trained as Pilot Weather Briefers and could summarize and
interpret weather charts and reports. Pilot weather briefings could be obtained by phone
or air-ground radio from any FSS. Improvements in weather services, aimed at reducing
weather-related accidents, gave more tools for the FSS controller to use. Flight planning
services continued to grow. The FSS became "general aviation’s operations
office."
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| Washington FSS 1969 Click to view enlargement |
 The Federal Aviation Administration came under the Department of Transportation
in 1967. The FSS system continued to grow slowly compared to the rest of the air traffic
system. Because of a series of fatal accidents in the 1950s and early 1960s, emphasis was
placed on upgrading radio, radar and computer equipment in en route centers and towers.
Flight Service continued to work with the teletype systems originally built in the
1930’s.
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| Wichita Falls FSS 1970 Click to view enlargement |
 Considering recommendations from the Civil
Aeronautics Board and National Transportation Safety Board, a new program was initiated in
1972. Its aim was to reduce weather-related general aviation accidents. It started on the
West Coast at four stations - Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, and Seattle. It was known as
EWAS -- En Route Weather Advisory Service. Specially trained and dedicated controllers
provide pertinent, current weather information to airborne aircraft. After a very
successful test period, it was implemented nationwide with only a minor name change -- En
Route Flight Advisory Service (EFAS).
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| Flight Service also led the way in another important area
in 1972. In June the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS) became
recognized as the first national air traffic labor union. The NAATS/FAA contract was the
first nationwide collective bargaining agreement in the FAA’s history.
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| FSS automation testing Click to view enlargement |
 During the 1970’s the Flight Service
Automation System (FSAS) was conceived. Increasing traffic loads demanded a more efficient
way of doing business. Two automation systems were field-tested. MAPS (Meteorological and
Aeronautical Presentation System) was installed in the "new" Washington Flight
Service at Leesburg, VA. Two other stations were closed and consolidated into the Leesburg
facility shortly after it opened. These were the first in a long series of automation
consolidations. AWANS (Aviation Weather and Notices System) was installed in the
Indianapolis and Atlanta Flight Service Stations. Other stations experienced upgrading of
teletype equipment. A CRT-based system -- Leased Service A System (LSAS) and later Leased
A and B System (LABS) – replaced the familiar yellow paper and forest green
mechanical equipment of the teletype system in most stations.
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| The best features of both MAPS and AWANS were blended
together to form the "Model One" FSS system. The first Automated Flight Service
Station (AFSS) was commissioned at Bridgeport, CT on March 3, 1984. 60 more AFSS’s
followed over the next few years. Changing technology and funding modified the original
plan that called for three various systems to be phased in separately. By the late 1980s,
though, it was obvious the original plan was not feasible. A new system, the Operational
And Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) is the blueprint for FSS into the 21st
Century.
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| McAlester AFSS Click to view enlargement |
 From a high of almost 400 Flight Service Stations in 1973, the system has shrunk
to less than 100. Most are the AFSS ‘super stations’. On September 30, 1997, the
non-automated stations at New Bern and Hickory, NC were closed. Those facility closings
marked the end of the FSS Consolidation and Modernization Program that had been started in
the 1970s.
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| This quotation, from an article marking the 50th
Anniversary of Flight Service, is just as appropriate today as it was then: "Their day-to-day work is not as dramatic as it once was, nor as widely appreciated by the public, since they do not direct or regulate air traffic." "But nevertheless they are the persons most pilots rely on for flight planning data, for guidance over unfamiliar terrain, for steady reassurance when they get into trouble. The men and women who staff the stations haven’t lost any of the dedication of those early pioneer station keepers who helped bring aviation out of its infancy." |
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About the author … John joined the FAA in 1984 and has been an Academy instructor since 1991. He taught primarily in the Flight Service Initial Qualification and En Route Flight Advisory Service programs. He has also taught in the International and the Air Traffic Basics training programs at the FAA Academy. History has been an interest and hobby since childhood, when he lived near many Revolutionary War and Great Rebellion battlefields and sites. His hobby became a part time job for a while as a wing historian for the U.S. Air Force Reserve. John’s first major historical project for the FAA was to help mark the 75th Anniversary of Flight Service in 1995. Can you help? Forward photos by one of the following methods:
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