Due to cost, complexity, and maintenance, few airports have AWOS

2012 FAA report to FPAW

~5000+ USA airports

537 Non federally-owned AWOS systems (by FAA grant)
+ 198 Federally-owned AWOS systems (FAA owned)
———————————–
= 735 total AWOS systems

~4000+ airports without AWOS ….why?

1. AWOS too costly and complex

• 1980’s standard for weather forecasting
• Adopted by FAA to reduce labor costs
• Commercial airports still have human observers!

Operators still need other services

2. AWOS are cost-prohibitive

$300,000-$500,000+ USD

• Many pre-approvals required
• High infrastructure costs
• Expensive up-front engineering
• Significant impact to land use
• Expensive equipment

3. AWOS takes years

3-5 years typical

• Frequency allocation
• Airspace studies
• Engineering design
• Building permits
• Building inspections
• Multi-party pre-coordination and approval
• Complex technical requirements

4. AWOS too expensive to maintain

$5,000-$15,000+ per year

• Complex technical requirements
• Costly single source service contracts required
• Labor-intensive inspections
• Costly maintenance & repair
• Costly technical support when available
• Human weather observers still required at major airports!

5. AWOS unable to meet siting requirements