Analysis Edition 17
...funding issue impedes US fuel-saving initiatives
“Get the airports involved in NextGen,” was one of the priority items singled out by Jeff Griffith, VP Aviation for Washington Consulting Group, at the ATCA 53rd annual meeting in Washington in early November. Griffith cited several capacity and safety-enhancing measures that could be introduced, but whose deployment is hampered by funding. Fourteen hub airports, out of a total of 35 planned, are already equipped with Airport Surface Detection Equipment – Mode X (ASDE-X), and the new airfield management tools are providing separation assurance and advanced safety logic at these sites. Griffith said many more airports could benefit from this technology.
He also called for expansion of aRea NAVigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) operations that allow aircraft which meet these navigation standards to fly more direct routes using reduce separations in designated areas. There is plenty of evidence showing savings in fuel and emissions from early applications, and the FAA has put enabling technology in place in many instances, but adoption is slow. Among winners, Delta reports annual fuel savings of US$36 million and an additional 10 departures an hour from its Atlanta hub as a result of RNAV departures. The FAA has authorised more than 250 RNAV procedures at 86 airports including Phoenix (annual user savings USD2 million), Dallas Ft Worth (annual savings USD25 million and between 11-20 more operations per hour).
The FAA has also authorised 130 RNP procedures at 45 airports, but the more stringent navigation performance and monitoring requirements for RNP approval has seen slower progress. In particular, RNP Special Aircraft and Aircrew Authorisation Required (SAAAR) approaches demand advanced onboard navigation features and crew approval similar to that required by Instrument Landing System Category II and III approaches. Griffith urges more widespread adoption of these operations to bring about efficiency and capacity benefits now. He also cited Continuous Descent Approaches (CDA) - in which aircraft descend with engines at near-idle instead of conventional step-down approaches – among the measures that are available now. CDAs are carried out with existing avionics and ground equipment, and generally save close to 150 lbs of fuel per arrival. CDA procedures however are confined to mainly trials and demonstrations, and low-density operations at airports like Louisville. Griffith’s views were echoed by Kevin Brown, VP and ATM General Manager at Boeing: “We need to leverage technology we have today. This includes more RNP procedures, as well as programme like the Tailored Arrivals currently deployed and saving fuel and emissions at San Francisco”.
Integrated time-based metering offers another quick-win for the US NextGen modernisation programme by bringing together flight schedules and traffic flow management functions. By integrating the time-based departure schedule with the arrival schedule, the metering tool can adjust the traffic flow to achieve optimum performance. The tool is supported by the advanced navigation capability of modern aircraft, which enables RNAV and RNP flight profiles within en route airspace.
Finally, Consolidated Storm Prediction for Aviation (CoSPA) provides weather information up to six hours ahead, relaying vital data for system-wide flow management. A test carried out in the FAA’s North East traffic corridor demonstrated the benefits this information can bring to effective flow management. Griffith added: “We need to move head and implement this tool”.
With the FAA under pressure to relieve the bottlenecks in the present system, these tools are among several measures that can be implemented in the near-term. But if the FAA continues to deliberate over programme funding and project management, system inefficiency and delays will continue to cost the airlines an estimated USD9 billion each year. Hank Krakowski, chief operating officer of the FAA’s Air Transport Office told ATCA delegates: “System traffic is slightly down, but it is happening unevenly. Our hub airports are still capacity-bound, and the emphasis still needs to be on improving throughput at the traffic hotspots of New York, and Chicago”
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