Plan Aims To Cut Runway Incursions

DFW is set to get a beltway... the airport, that is, not the city. Workers broke ground Tuesday on the $67 million project, which calls for a perimeter taxiway system around DFW's busiest runways.

The ambitious 18-month project gives controllers the ability to move aircraft around active runways, instead of across them. The safety implications are obvious -- with fewer planes crossing runways, the likelihood of runway incursions goes down -- but planners say the system will actually cut taxi times as well.

After all, planners say, traffic backs up while planes wait for a crossing clearance... and departing aircraft must wait when an aircraft is crossing.

Experts estimate pilots cross active runways up to 1600 times a day at DFW. That's 1600 times each day a misunderstood instruction might lead to disaster. Currently, DFW boasts one of the lowest runway incursion rates of the FAA's top 20 airports. This plans stands to improve that rating even further.

For time savings, experts estimate communication time could be cut drastically. Complex taxi instructions -- especially those including do-not-cross restrictions, which must be read back -- create a great deal of radio congestion. A perimeter taxiway could reduce that controllers estimate it takes 40 seconds for a controller to give a clearance to cross... and the pilot to execute the clearance.

"This project is just another step toward efficiency and safety for the flying public," said FAA regional director Ava Wilkerson to the Dallas Morning News. The agency is footing the bill for 75 percent of the project, which will be limited initially to the airport's southeast quadrant.

In the past few years, airlines at DFW have reduced congestion by spreading departures and arrivals over more time. Project planners say the time saved with the new taxiways could increase DFW capacity by as much as 30-percent.

FMI: www.dfwairport.com