E. coli conservatism: Unfriendly skies

Not long ago I was forced to sleep overnight at a terminal at JFK Airport. Didn't think then to blame it on E. coli conservatism. Silly me. Passenger aviation is one the categories covered by the American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card [1]. It earns a D-plus:

The nation's air traffic control system remains a looming issue of concern. In the mid-1980s, the FAA estimated that it would take 10 years and $12 billion to modernize the nation's air traffic control systems. Twenty years and $35 billion later, the task is not complete, and the FAA expects that it will take at least 3 additional years and an additional $16 billion. Meanwhile, the number of aircraft handled by air traffic control is expected to increase from 45.1 million in 2004 to 58.4 million by 2015.

At least we're well protected from the terrorists who'd take over our aircraft by squirting lotion in passengers' faces. Though Homeland Security's infrastructure would seem to rate an "F"—at least from the 20,000 international passengers [2] forced to sit at four terminals and in sixty planes for up to ten hours at LAX when a switch failed in U.S. Customs and Border Protection's computers.