GPS needs to control our skies too

The next time you’re on a commercial airliner, think about this: The GPS navigation unit in your car is more advanced than the technology used by air traffic controllers.

The radar-based air traffic control technology used today is almost 60 years old. While it worked well with fewer, slow-moving aircraft, today’s modern jetliners can fly more than a mile and a half in the time it takes for a radar beam to sweep across the screen.

Because of that, planes must be kept three to five miles apart. Airplanes forced to fly in wide arcs waiting their turn to land burn excess fuel and add several minu...