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NEXTGEN TRANSFORMATION
The US NextGen effort to infuse 21st-century technology into its air traffic control system
while employing entirely new concepts of operation is well under way and will progress in
three phases
Victoria Cox, SVP for NextGen, FAA, USA
The near-term portion of NextGen continues through Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) will come to the fore as
2012, the mid-term addresses the period through 2018 digital data exchanges enable machine-to-machine exchanges to
and the far-term constitutes the denouement through negotiate the best path for an airplane, based on what the operator
2025 and beyond. The final phase will fundamentally transform wants to do and the exigencies of the air traffic system allow. The
aviation in both domestic and international airspace managed by ‘business intent’ of each operator will be granted whenever
the USA. Because the transformation will occur in stages, it will possible, making use of available airspace for all classes of users.
make incremental improvements in the core capabilities of air Vastly improved access to the latest weather observations and
traffic control and management: communications, navigation and more precise forecasts of the conditions expected along a
surveillance. Then, by the decade starting in 2020, these particular aircraft’s 4D route will embed weather into routeing
improvements will coalesce into an integrated system of systems decisions early in the process. Weather and aeronautical
that is much more capable of meeting expected demand and information will also be digitised for easy access in real time
providing economic and environmental efficiencies. anywhere a pilot or controller needs to see it.
Communications will move from exclusive reliance on voice to But as always in civil aviation, nothing happens in terms of new
reliance on digital data for many aspects of air traffic control and capabilities or benefits unless the required hardware and software
management. Navigation and surveillance will become more is installed both on the aircraft and on the ground. So the FAA
precise with GPS positioning and more flexible as a result. And can’t accomplish the NextGen mission unless aircraft operators
the entire system will be tied together by a modern information- invest in the avionics equipment needed to make it happen.
technology network so that data can flow freely from wherever it In other words the FAA needs early adopters of new avionics
originates to wherever it is needed, in real time. equipment just as Europe does for its very similar Single European
Today’s NAS infrastructure of hardware and software on the Sky ATM Research (SESAR) effort. So far the FAA’s approach has
ground and in the air is not a networked system. Information is been to work with aircraft operators to encourage them to equip
seldom exchanged digitally between one ATC facility and another, early, so as to enjoy some of the benefits of NextGen immediately.
and a great deal of the data exchanged by pilots and controllers is Not surprisingly the world’s airlines don’t want to have to install
transmitted by voice radio. These communications are susceptible more than one set of avionics to be able to fly in the new
to human error. The current ATC system does include some environments being created by NextGen in the USA and SESAR in
automation tools but these are only used now to supplement what Europe. This is one reason why the FAA is working closely with
pilots and controllers are doing to guide and track aircraft. Eurocontrol and the SESAR Joint Undertaking to harmonise
In the far-term phase of NextGen, the decade beginning in NextGen and SESAR developments and requirements. In the end,
2020, automation will take centre stage and become the primary interoperability is not an option; it is an imperative.
means by which controllers and pilots achieve greater air traffic The FAA is now working with the European Commission to
efficiency while also improving safety. The intended progress of a develop a Memorandum of Cooperation to strengthen our joint
flight will be defined by a set of 4D points that marry the three commitment to harmonise our work and synchronise our
spatial dimensions plus time for each step of the way from takeoff implementation timelines. We have also established working
to touchdown, even while manoeuvring on the airport surface. groups in China, Japan, Mexico, Canada and India to facilitate
collaboration on research and mapping of operational concepts
and requirements to ensure compatibility.
In addition the FAA is working with ICAO and CANSO to
harmonise ATC modernisation efforts on a global scale, supported
by global standards. FAA personnel are involved in many
government and industry working groups around the world to
develop these types of standards.
One of the main ways the FAA can encourage airlines to buy
avionics early is by promising to follow a ‘best equipped, best
served’ philosophy in the use of the NAS. The details of how this
policy will work in practice have not been determined, but suffice
it to say that aircraft operators who equip early with NextGen
capability should be able to reap the benefits of the new system
earlier than operators who choose to equip later.
However the FAA’s interest in finding early adopters is running
NextGen will rely on GPS positioning to improve air navigation and surveillance against the wind, in that most airlines are struggling to survive
NextGen will improve all phases of flight operations. Go to www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/nextgen/ for a video showing how ATC routes a coast-to-coast flight today and how NextGen will handle it
today’s global economic downturn. Airline managers have always flight trials, and developing routes and procedures that take
been required to build a business case for why their carrier should advantage of existing technologies with which many operators are
spend money on new avionics equipment. But in the current already equipped. These early initiatives will provide the sort of
economic hard times the business case has to be more clear-cut invaluable real-world data the FAA needs to guide the
than ever before. implementation of NextGen. Near-term data can help us fine tune
So the FAA is working as closely as it can with airlines, business our mid-term goals through 2018 and validate that we are on the
aviation operators and general aviation aircraft owners (among right track with the concepts of operation that drive our far-term
other stakeholders) to try to identify early benefits that NextGen effort through 2025 and beyond.
can deliver. These benefits may help seal the business case for the Meanwhile a wide range of work is under way at the FAA to set
airlines and other aircraft operators. Not all avionics equipage for the stage for the mid-term implementation of NextGen while
NextGen will be voluntary. For example, the FAA expects to issue research and development projects refine some of the concepts to
a final rule in 2010 requiring ADS-B transmission capability on be employed in the far term phase of the effort.
aircraft by 2020. Some of the efforts underway or planned for the near future are:
The FAA has also been proactive and has helped launch a • Asia and South Pacific Initiative To Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE).
NextGen Implementation Task Force under the auspices of RTCA The FAA is working in partnership with Airservices Australia and
to study how the agency might be able to deliver benefits even Airways New Zealand to accelerate the use of gate-to-gate
earlier than currently foreseen to stakeholders in the near- and procedures as part of a holistic approach to best environmental
mid-term. The final report from this RTCA group is available at practices for the South Pacific. During several Pacific Ocean
www.rtca.org. crossings to date, flights have enjoyed improved handling for
The task force is headed by Captain Steve Dickson, senior vice departure, more nearly optimised routeing over the ocean and
president of flight operations for Delta Air Lines; Dr Michael tailored arrivals for optimal descent paths at San Francisco and
Romanowski is the designated federal official. Dr Romanowski is Los Angeles airports. These demonstrations have shown
the director of the NextGen Implementation and Integration substantial fuel savings and emissions reductions.
Office. He has broad responsibility for making NextGen happen • Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE).
across a wide range of FAA activities. The FAA, the SESAR Joint Undertaking and a host of other ANSPs
The FAA’s near-term programme of work for NextGen has are participating in this effort, as are Boeing, Airbus and several
emphasised forming partnerships with third parties, conducting airlines. The first flight demonstrations in May 2008 used updated