BRAZILIANS FEAR MORE AIRPORT CHAOS OVER CHRISTMAS WEEKEND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRASILIA 002680 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS TSA FOR VICKI REEDER, SUSAN HASMAN SIPDIS AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PASS TSA ATTACHE JOCHOA FAA FOR C. TERE FRANCESCHI, MAYTE ASHBY CA FOR OVERSEAS CITIZENS SERVICES DOD FOR OSD NTSB FOR JOHN CLARK, BOB MACINTOSH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR OTRA CASC ECON BR SUBJECT: BRAZILIANS FEAR MORE AIRPORT CHAOS OVER CHRISTMAS WEEKEND REF: A) BRASILIA 2531 B) BRASILIA 2315 C) BRASILIA 2564 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Air travelers in Brazil fear a difficult holiday season after inclement weather in southeast Brazil, overbooking by the country's principal carrier-TAM, malfunctions in TAM computers, and unscheduled maintenance required on six TAM airlines aircraft caused generalized flight delays to ripple throughout the Brazilian airports from December 21 to 24. On December 21, over 43% of 1,227 flights nationwide were delayed by at least a half hour, and 47 flights were canceled outright. These difficulties were but the latest in a series of breakdowns in Brazil's civil aviation system, beginning with the September 29 mid-air collision between Gol flight 1907 and an ExcelAire executive jet. Finger pointing in the accident investigation, the Air Traffic Controllers' (ATCs') work-to-rule operation, and a massive communications equipment failure on December 5 all suggest Brazil's civil aviation system is in serious difficulties. Portions of the GoB have admitted it has a problem, caused primarily by too few air traffic controllers but also budgetary woes, outdated equipment and institutional weaknesses. Institutional infighting and blame-shifting, however, continue. Varig's collapse last year exacerbated the problem, because the remaining carriers have not reassumed all of its routes and are stretched to overcapacity on existing flights. For example, according to news reports, TAM applied the normal approximately 20 percent empty-seat rate from business travel that occurs during the rest of the year to the holiday travel season. If true, then this was a grave mistake, as holiday travel in Brazil both results in fully booked planes, and fewer cancellations. President Lula instructed the Brazilian Air Force to assist TAM with planes to accommodate the overflow. The civil aviation authority, ANAC, has announced plans to audit TAM's records. End Summary. ¶2. (U) From December 21 to 24, air travelers in Brazil were subjected to a fresh round of airport chaos when inclement weather in southeast Brazil, combined with TAM Airline's pulling of six A320 aircraft from service for unscheduled maintenance, computer malfunctions, and overbooking created a ripple effect throughout the country's already stressed civil aviation system. By 5 p.m. December 21, over 43% of the 1,227 flights nationwide had been delayed by over a half hour, many by several hours. 47 flights were canceled outright. In an effort to alleviate the situation, the GOB made available six Brazilian air force planes, including Lula's former equivalent to Air Force One, to carry stranded TAM passengers. Passengers' holiday spirit quickly went by the wayside in the face of continued delays, cancellations and lack of information. One Argentine family reportedly protested their flight's cancellation with a sit-in on the Brasilia airport tarmac. Meanwhile, one passenger in Rio de Janeiro was arrested after becoming violent, and rowdy travelers in Sao Paulo's Guarulhos and Congonhas airports required the authorities to call in the police to protect TAM check-in personnel. Econoff waited in Brasilia's airport for more than six hours on Friday, Dec. 22 for her visiting spouse to arrive on a TAM connection from Sao Paulo. Blackout, Possible Sabotage -------------- ¶3. (U) Much more serious was the complete shutdown for several hours of all flights in and out of the Brasilia-based CINDACTA-1 air traffic control region (responsible for portions of the crowded BRASILIA 00002680 002 OF 004 southeast and center-west of Brazil) on December 6, when its six-year-old, Italian-manufactured communications equipment inexplicably failed. Data published by the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) indicated that 122 flights were cancelled while 436 flights, or 36 percent of the total among country's 67 major airports, faced substantial delays (the data is limited to flights up to 5 p.m.) Brasilia's airport, the hardest hit that day, saw 86 flights depart with substantial delays and 10 flights canceled. Defense Minister Waldir Pires initially stated to the press that the Air Force suspected there had been sabotage of the communications equipment in CINDACTA-1. However, the Ministry later walked back that claim, stating that there was no sabotage and instead blaming a technical failure in the system. (Note: While Brazil transferred overall aviation regulation responsibility from the Air Force to the civilian ANAC in 2005, the Air Force retained control over the ATC system and the majority of air traffic controllers are uniformed Air Force personnel.) ¶4. (U) On December 8, Air Force Commander Carlos Bueno admitted during a televised press conference that Brasilia's communications equipment was "rather worn out" because the Air Force does not have personnel trained to maintain it properly. However, later during that same press conference, he recanted that statement. Bueno also announced his decision to restructure and decentralize Brazil's air traffic control regions, 80% of which is currently concentrated in Brasilia. Defense Minister Takes Fire -------------- ¶5. (U) Embattled Defense Minister Pires reportedly accused the Brazilian Air Command of failure to properly maintain the air traffic control equipment. According to Pires, the military should have acted preventively to avoid the chaos that began on October 26. He went on to say that the government is concerned that a solution be found to prevent a new civil aviation crisis. He further guaranteed that "all will go well" in the airports during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Pressed by journalists about the need for changes in the Air Traffic Control system, Pires would say no more than that the problems would be thoroughly analyzed and necessary measures taken. ¶6. (U) The National Accounts Tribunal (TCU, a rough equivalent to the U.S. Government Accountability Office) gave the Administration and the Congress a study detailing the problems Brazil's ATC system faces. The TCU study criticized in particular inadequate funding of the ATC system and poor management of the personnel and equipment in the system. Pires predictably took issue with the TCU's claims arguing that there was no lack of resources. "It's not for a lack of resources" he said, "in 2005, we did not have a single funding sequestration. We have been within budget for the last three years." Chart - Civil Aviation Funding Levels Millions of Reais Budget Budget Year Requested Approved Difference Sequestered 2004 715.1 468.73 246.37 0 2005 667.12 495.05 231.0 59 2006 575.42 530.25 45.17 0 BRASILIA 00002680 003 OF 004 2007 611.36 485.59 125.77 n/a Source: Correio Brasiliense The Presidency Props up Pires: Pyrrhic Victory? -------------- --- ¶7. (U) President Lula's Chief of Staff, Dilma Rousseff, joined the public fray to defend the government's performance, saying that according to the information she had, there had been no cuts in the Air Force's civil aviation budget. She cited investment of 3 billion reais (approximately USD 1.44 billion) for the expansion of eight airports. And in the midst of his clash with the TCU, Pires received the support of the Brazilian Vice President Jose Alencar, who declared to the press that "The Minister of Defense is really devoted. . .Waldir Pires is one of the best Brazilians we have. He is giving all his effort to resolve this problem." Pre-Christmas Guarantees -------------- ¶8. (U) The credibility of military and civilian leadership has been severely strained as officials have publicly promised that the situation would improve-only to see it worsen. The week of December 11, Air Force Commander Bueno guaranteed in a conversation with senators that there would not be a crisis in Brazilian airports during Christmas and New Year's, when the number of passengers increases substantially. Bueno said that to avoid delays, the Air Command may even require controllers to stay on their air force bases for the weekend, ready to be called in should events require, as was done during the Proclamation of the Republic Holiday on November 15. He also said that retired and new controllers were being called to work to increase the troops at this year-end. Milton Zuanazzi, president of the Civil Air Command (ANAC),agreed, saying that the ATC difficulties would be resolved by February, but that in any event, during the holiday season the controllers would not be overloaded because there will not be a substantial increase in the number of flights, although planes would be absolutely full, explained Zuanazzi. In the wake of the December 21-24 chaos, public confidence in the civair apparatus is at an all-time low. Old Equipment, Poorly Paid Controllers . . . -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Air Traffic Controllers are both protagonists and antagonists in Brazil's current aviation drama. A journalist and Brasilia section chief for a major news daily who has been reporting on the ATC saga recently told Econoff that much of the ATC equipment being used is 10, 12, 15 and, at certain airports, even 20 years old. The journalist related that his ATC friend, an Air Force sergeant, is constantly "worried that his electric or gas bill can't be paid, that his son's school fees are behind schedule" due to his low salary. The journalist surmised that this certainly has to impact the focus and concentration of the largely enlisted military ATC staff. He and another Globo reporter agreed with a well-respected commentator's recent assessment, that it is unacceptable that the country's most important air travel control center is using such outdated equipment and does not even have experts on 24-hour duty for emergency maintenance. ¶10. (U) Much of the chaos can be traced to air traffic controllers' work-to-rule operation, instituted in the aftermath of the tragic September 29 mid-air collision between Gol Airlines flight 1907 and BRASILIA 00002680 004 OF 004 a Legacy executive jet. Under the work-to-rule operation, controllers reduced -- to the international standard -- the number of flights each controller handles. Controllers also have been fighting for better salaries and work conditions, and may have provoked a partial paralysis of flights -- which won them some promises of increased pay and a restructuring of the personnel system for controllers . . . and Ghosts in the Machine -------------- ¶11. (U) A December 20 article in business daily Gazeta Mercantil indicated that there are approximately 30 phantom radar tracks displayed per day on the CINDACTA-1 radar system. According to Brazilian Air Force Brigadier-Major Ramon Borges, deputy director of the Air Force's Department of Air Traffic Control, CINDACTA 1's integrated radar system synchronizes images from various radar stations to prevent blind spots or the superimposition of different aircraft -- but a faulty radar unit has generated false readings that spread to the entire system. "We have an average 30 false radar tracks a day on Brasilia's radar (out of a total of 2,500 flights tracked)," Borges is quoted. ¶12. (SBU) Comment: The GoB's most pressing civair issue is dealing with its controllers, who demand better pay and working conditions (i.e. fewer flights per controller). Training new controllers will take time, however, and higher salary demands have been difficult to meet within the constraints of the military system to which the controllers belong. Despite the black eye it has been given in the press, however, it is unclear whether the Air Force is willing to give up responsibility for air trafficcontrol. Unfortunately, with the system under stress, there is little capacity to deal with issues such as equipment failures or weather-related problems. SOBEL