VZCZCXRO4393
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #2680/01 3611007
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271007Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7718
INFO RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEANHA/FAA WASHDC
RUEAYVF/FAA MIAMI ARTCC MIAMI FL
RUEWMFU/TSA HQ WASHINGTON DC
RUWDQAB/NTSB WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 3602
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 8904
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 6043
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 4491
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 5998
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 6665
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5857
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 3300
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4054
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3552
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 5071
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 2083
RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO 1211
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

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also budgetary woes, outdated equipment and institutional 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