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Air Traffic Control Newsletter #103

GAO on RNP's slow progress, How cost-effective are ATC providers? and More...

May 16, 2013

Robert Poole

In this issue:

• GAO on RNP's slow progress
• How cost-effective are ATC providers?
• Some progress on NextGen equipage
• More new ideas for the Single European Sky
• Wake vortex mitigation tested in Europe
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

 

Congress and the FAA Could Reduce Air Travel Delays and Save Real Money

Hundreds of outdated air traffic centers could be merged and replaced with newer, more efficient setups

April 25, 2013

Robert Poole

 

This week we’re reading a lot about air travel delays blamed on the budget sequester and furloughed air traffic controllers. As part of the cuts, the Federal Aviation Administration also plans to shut down 149 small air traffic control towers in June — seven in Southern California, including towers in Fullerton and Riverside.

Even if a federal court allows the currently stalled tower closures to happen, the five-month shutdown is projected to save only $25 million out of the Federal Aviation Administration’s $15 billion annual budget. That’s pocket change compared with larger savings that could come about if the FAA rationalized its 700-odd air traffic facilities

 The big money is in the larger facilities—the 20 Centers that manage high-altitude traffic across the country and 187 radar approach control facilities called TRACONs that hand off flights to airport control towers (of which there are 516).

 

Air Traffic Control Newsletter #102

Backlash over politicized air traffic control funding, user taxes vs. user fees—a big difference

April 23, 2013

Robert Poole

Air Traffic Control: How to Save Money Without Compromising Services

April 22, 2013, 10:52pm

Tom Clougherty

The Case for Air Traffic Control Facility Consolidation

A paradigm shift in air traffic control that will make it possible to manage air traffic from anywhere to anywhere

April 3, 2013

Michael Harrison, Ira Gershkoff, Gary Church, Robert Poole

Air traffic control—in the United States, Europe and other advanced countries—is on the verge of a paradigm shift that promises to at least double the capacity of the skies without expanding the workforce, i.e. doubling productivity. The NextGen program in the United States is implementing key technology and procedural building blocks for this transition, but the program is at risk of becoming merely an upgrade of hardware and software, rather than redesigning the airspace and consolidating its far-flung, labor-intensive facilities. Without these additional changes, the end result will be a far more costly, albeit higher-tech, system.

Three key enablers of the paradigm shift are performance-based navigation, far more precise surveillance of aircraft positions, and digital communications instead of voice. Together, these will make it possible to manage air traffic from anywhere to anywhere. A controller located in Miami will be able to manage traffic in Seattle, for example. Thanks to these changes, the entire airspace can be reconfigured, expanding its capacity to handle two or three times as many aircraft safely.

Air Traffic Control Newsletter #101

The benefits of air traffic control consolidation, Congress holds ATC hostage to budget cuts and lower aviation growth forecast by FAA

April 3, 2013

Robert Poole

In this issue:

• ATC facility consolidation savings
• Congress holds ATC hostage to budget cuts
• Lower aviation growth forecast by FAA
• CANSO offering ATC billing service
• Major challenges to Single European Sky
• News Notes
• Quotable Quotes

More »