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Fact Sheet

Next Generation Air Transportation System

The Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, is the transformation of the ground-based air traffic control system of today to a satellite-based system of the future. This transformation is essential in order to safely accommodate the number of people who fly in the U.S. The already astronomical cost of delays — approximately $9.4 billion each year — will only increase if nothing is done.

New, satellite-based technologies will significantly improve safety, capacity and efficiency on runways and in the nation’s skies while providing environmentally friendly procedures that reduce fuel burn, carbon emissions and noise.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is leveraging existing technologies and expanding their capabilities to bring the benefits of NextGen to the flying public today. In order to make the NextGen concept more easily understood, this fact sheet will take you through the different phases of flight, describing some of the technologies being used as the foundation for NextGen. A list at the end shows the most recent of the many industry partners – including airlines, manufacturers, state, local and foreign governments, universities and associations — that are joining forces with the FAA to help us transform our airspace system.

Before Take Off

The safe transportation of any air traveler begins on the ground. The FAA has different systems that allow air traffic controllers to see the location of aircraft and vehicles on airport runways and taxiways and keep them safely separated. One of these systems, called Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X), gets its information from a variety of surface surveillance sources, including radar, automatically transmitting the most accurate targets to monitors in the tower. The biggest improvement over systems driven solely by radar, which might show false targets during bad weather, will be the introduction of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite-derived locations of both aircraft and surface vehicles. ASDE-X is in use at 14 airports and will be installed at the top 35 airports by the end of 2010.

A software tool called Surface Management uses ASDE-X to extend airport surface monitoring beyond runways and taxiways to the ramp areas. This extended coverage will improve common situational awareness between the airport control tower, the airline ramp management towers and the airline operations centers.

After Take Off

Aircraft flying in the U.S. today are tracked, for the most part, by radar. A new system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) uses GPS satellite signals to more accurately identify the aircraft’s location throughout the flight. In the near future, controllers will be able to safely reduce the separation standards between aircraft, which will provide increased capacity in the nation’s skies. The FAA first rolled out ADS-B in Alaska, a site chosen because the rugged terrain severely limits radar coverage. Aircraft were equipped with ADS-B avionics, including a cockpit display. This display provided the pilot with the aircraft’s location, the location of other aircraft, and graphical and textual weather information on a moving map. The fatal accident rate for aircraft equipped with ADS-B avionics, which gives pilots a cockpit display showing where they are in relation to bad weather and terrain — dropped by 47 percent. In the lower 48, United Parcel Service (UPS) voluntarily equipped 107 of its aircraft with ADS-B avionics in order to save time, fuel and carbon emissions on flights to and from its Louisville hub.

Pilots flying in aircraft equipped with ADS-B avionics in South Florida now receive free traffic and weather information on their cockpit displays. This marks the first time that pilots are able see the same traffic information that’s seen by air traffic controllers. The display of traffic information (called Traffic Information Service-Broadcast, or TIS-B) and weather information (Flight Information Service-Broadcast, or FIS-B) was made possible by the installation of 11 ground stations in South Florida by ITT Corp. The ground stations transmit satellite signals showing aircraft locations to pilots and controllers. Flight information now being broadcast free to pilots includes graphical displays of bad weather tracked by the National Weather Service and essential flight information, including special-use airspace and temporary flight restrictions.

ADS-B coverage will soon come to the Gulf of Mexico, where the FAA, in partnership with the Helicopter Association International, is installing ADS-B ground stations on oil rigs. This will bring surveillance services, aircraft locations and weather data to both low-altitude helicopters servicing the rigs and high-altitude commercial flights operating beyond radar coverage in the Gulf. Plans are underway to have ADS-B coverage for the entire nation by 2013.

A new software tool called Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) helps controllers sequence aircraft through high altitude airspace and into the airspace around major airports by calculating their precise routes as well as the minimum safe distances between aircraft. TMA is deployed at all 20 of the nation’s en route centers in the continental U.S. and 33 of the top 35 airports.

The computer used by controllers at the en route centers, called the Host, is being replaced by the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) computer. In addition to processing flight radar data for controller screens, ERAM provides safety alerts, including altitude and conflict warnings. By 2010, all 20 centers will have ERAM.

Over the Ocean

Procedures used by controllers to manage flights over the ocean are being modernized by Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP). This satellite-based system takes advantage of cockpit digital communications, rather than the voice communications used today. Satellite data link communication significantly reduces the manual workload for controllers, improving their ability to handle requests from airlines for more efficient routes over the ocean. ATOP is now used at the three en route centers that handle oceanic traffic — New York, Oakland and Anchorage.

On flights over the Atlantic, the FAA and its partners (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research Program, or SESAR; European Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP), aircraft manufacturers including Boeing and Airbus, and commercial airlines) are testing Oceanic Trajectory Based Operations (TBOs), which allow aircraft to operate the most efficient routes and altitudes. Seven test flights in May saved 330 gallons of fuel and 6,730 pounds of carbon dioxide. Tests this fall will also include Air France.

On Approach

The FAA has developed a toolbox of procedures to safely bring aircraft to their destination airport as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Beginning about 200 miles out, a software tool called Tailored Arrivals allows controllers to look over an aircraft’s flight path and tailor it to avoid certain conditions that might otherwise slow it down, such as bad weather and restricted airspace. Since last December, over 250 Tailored Arrivals have been flown into San Francisco by 747 and 777 aircraft, saving an estimated 27,350 gallons of fuel. Further flight trials will begin at Miami in September.

As your aircraft gets closer to your destination airport, a Continuous Descent Arrival (CDA) will keep it at the most efficient altitude for as long as possible before it begins a continuous approach to the airport. The smooth descent — rather than the stepped-down approach required by current procedures — saves time and money while reducing carbon emissions and noise. Delta saved an estimated 200 to 1,250 pounds of carbon and 10 to 60 gallons of fuel per arrival into Atlanta during flight trials conducted in May.

CDAs optimize satellite-based approaches called Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP), which provide precise approaches to runways. The FAA has authorized more than 200 new RNAV procedures at 62 airports, and a total of 77 RNP procedures at 31 airports. Both RNAV and RNP, like the other tools in the toolbox, allow aircraft to safely land as quickly and efficiently as possible.

NextGen Advanced Technologies

Controllers and pilots communicate today largely by talking back and forth. Data Communications will improve safety and efficiency by replacing voice communications, which are labor intensive and susceptible to error. NextGen communications between controllers and flight crews will be handled by Data Comm transmissions, relieving radio frequency and allowing complicated instructions to be provided automatically.

All of the FAA systems in NextGen will need to speak to each other — as well as to the systems used by other parts of the aviation community, including the airlines, the military and the Department of Homeland Security. System Wide Information Management (SWIM) is an information platform that will allow this to take place. SWIM is an essential part of NextGen, since the safe and efficient use of airspace depends on how well the different parts of the airspace system communicate with each other.

Weather accounts for 70 percent of all delays. NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) will improve aircraft operations over the nation’s skies by reducing the impact of weather. NNEW will provide better weather forecasts, particularly for severe conditions such as convective storms and icing. This will allow FAA air traffic managers and those who use the system to better manage traffic flow in bad weather.

Where NextGen is Being Rolled Out

A NextGen test bed in Florida beginning later this year will allow the agency to evaluate integrated technologies and procedures for nationwide NextGen deployment. The test bed will feature RNAV routes between Florida airports (including Miami, Orlando and Daytona) and New York area airports (Teterboro, JFK, LaGuardia and Newark). The precision allowed by RNAV routes will improve the efficiency of operations along the crowded East Coast corridor, saving time and money for airlines serving those routes and reducing delays for passengers. Continuous Descent Approaches and Tailored Arrivals will be used in Miami. Both operational maneuvers allow aircraft to descend in a more direct alignment with runways, increasing predictability while reducing emissions and fuel burn. Florida is also the first site for new satellite-based traffic and flight information broadcast systems. This capability will provide weather and traffic information to the cockpit to improve pilots’ abilities to operate more safely.

The FAA is also using JFK and Memphis to test new Surface Management programs in order to facilitate better aircraft flow on the ground. This will enhance runway safety and reduce delays, while also lowering emissions and fuel burn.

The FAA has also entered into agreements with international partners across the Atlantic and Pacific to accelerate the deployment of NextGen technologies and procedures to improve aviation safety, efficiency and capacity while reducing the environmental footprint during all phases of flight. The Atlantic agreement, reached between the FAA and the European Union, is called the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIIRE). The Pacific agreement, reached with Australia and New Zealand, is called the Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE).

Industry Partners

NextGen is a collaborative effort between the FAA and partners from the airlines, manufacturers, government agencies, state, local and foreign governments, universities and associations. The FAA has entered into numerous agreements to accelerate the deployment of NextGen. Some of the more recent agreements include:

• A partnership with the Helicopter Association International, platform/helicopter companies, platform owners and helicopter operators will introduce initial satellite surveillance coverage to the Gulf of Mexico in November 2009. The absence of radar coverage over water severely restricts capacity due to the separation procedures needed to maintain safety. Under the agreement, valued at $100 million, the FAA will install ADS-B ground stations on oil platforms, the platform owners will provide space for these ground stations, and the helicopter operators will provide transportation to and from the platforms and equip some of their fleet with ADS-B avionics.
• A pending agreement with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will assist with the development and demonstration of SWIM.
• An Aviation Research and Technology Park (ARTP) is being established near the FAA’s Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J., to provide a central location for partners in academia, industry, and other state and federal government agencies to work on NextGen under a MOA with the agency. The park, which is being built with no direct cost to the FAA, has amassed $3.5 million in grant funding. The formal arrangement with the FAA will take the form of a lease with a MOA.
• Under an agreement signed on Dec. 5, NetJets Aviation of Columbus, Ohio, will focus on NextGen initiatives including RNAV and RNP, ADS-B, Wide Area Augmentation System and Data Communications. NetJets will give the FAA real-time data, allowing the agency to validate performance requirements. This will also help the agency identify various costs and benefits for NextGen implementation.