Preflight section icon

Preflight

Digital communications speed up departures and make arrivals more efficient.

By using digital communication and other collaborative surface tools, NextGen is helping flights every day make on-time departures and arrivals.

Technology:

  • Data Communications
  • ASDE-X
  • Collaborative Surface Tools

How it Works

  • When storm clouds roll in flight plans may change multiple times to accommodate new routes that put the flight path out of weather's influence.
  • With Data Comm, equipped aircraft lined up to depart are able to get new flight plans sent digitally versus multiple voice communication messages. Data Comm eliminates costly delays and helps flights depart more efficiently.
Surface section icon

Surface/Departures

NextGen's integrated communication system flows traffic in and out of airports and across the national airspace.

New technologies and collaborative communication between airlines, airports, and air traffic controllers make pushback times more predictable, reduce delays, save fuel and improve the experience of the traveling public.

Technology:

  • ATD-2
  • Equivalent Lateral Spacing Operations (ELSO)
  • Performance Based Navigation (PBN, RNAV, RNP)

How it Works

  • By using a tool that shows controllers the surface operations along with other systems, air traffic controllers and airline operations can see potential congestion issues and bottlenecks. Giving common vision to surface operations has led to a decrease in delays.
  • In the air, new departure portals open with the use of Equivalent Lateral Spacing Operations (ELSO). This tool reduces the angle between departure routes, allowing an additional eight to 12 departures per hour. That's the difference between a delayed flight and an on-time flight.
  • By electronically weaving all of this information together is a data management system that assists controllers to optimize the flow of traffic not just at one airport, but across the system.
En Route section icon

En Route

Working with industry, the FAA is implementing procedures to make flights into each region more efficient than ever before.

The massive amounts of information generated for each flight — weather, flight speed, flight plan, scheduled departures and scheduled arrivals — can be shared and parsed to find new paths and efficiencies. Making the right information available at the right time enhances flight planning, and builds flexibility and predictability into the system.

Technology:

  • ERAM
  • Time Based Flow Management (TBFM)
  • Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B)

How it Works

  • Predictive systems set flights on the perfect course for on-time arrivals using information taken from all parts of the country. Airlines, airports, air traffic control can access shared data to plan the best route for each flight.
  • Specially developed spacing procedures help flights meet waypoints at a precise second to assure a steady flow of traffic into and out of crucial hubs.
Arrivals section icon

Arrivals/Surface

New flight paths into cities across the country are helping the environment by burning less fuel and dramatically reducing emissions.

Collaborative industry teams have created new waypoints in the sky that lead to smooth arrivals and departures from major urban centers. Instead of approaching a city by repeatedly descending and leveling off the aircraft, new satellite arrival allows the aircraft to pull back the throttle and descend at near idle burning a fraction of the fuel and significantly reducing CO2 emissions.

Technology:

  • PBN — Optimized Profile Descent (OPD)
  • Wake RECAT
  • System Wide Information Management (SWIM)

How it Works

  • Satellite navigation makes it possible for pilots to begin their descents from a much higher altitude as aircraft glide toward the runway. These procedures replace the less efficient stair-step approach where aircraft level out between drops in altitude, all the while increasing and decreasing the throttle. OPDs also enable continuous descents within a flow, resulting in a larger proportion of arrivals performing more efficient descents. As a result, overall flight efficiency is increased.
  • To maximize safety, aircraft of varying sizes must be separated by the proper distance. With NextGen, the FAA is re-examining the science of aircraft spacing to improve flows into and out of airports.
  • New multiple runway operations capabilities improve access to runways by reducing separation standards and increasing basic runway capacity and throughput by reducing separation between aircraft based on improved wake categorization standards.