System "Starts On The Ground At The Airport"

FAA administrator Randy Babbitt addressed the annual convention of the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) on Tuesday, saying "We need NextGen, and we need it now."

Babbitt told the airport executives that while a lot of the focus on NextGen has been on the space-based portion of the system, "NextGen starts on the ground and it starts on the ground at the airport." Babbitt said despite the current dip in operations, he thinks the number of airplane movements will rise at least 20 percent in the next 10 years. And he said without infrastructure construction and improvements it will be difficult for the system to absorb that increase in traffic. "Even with a dozen-and-a-half new runways and extensions over the last 10 years, it’s still not enough. We need better surface management and better tools. NextGen is both under way and on the way. It’s going to give you the flexibility to deal with changing demand without investment in costly infrastructure, or to meet demand in locations where new pavement is not feasible. And NextGen will ensure that these changes are made in an environmentally responsible manner."

But implementation of NextGen is also about safety on the surface, Babbitt said. "... improved situational awareness is the order of the day. With NextGen, pilots, controllers, and ground personnel will have greater situational awareness, using moving maps and sharing position and traffic data. The result: fewer incursions, improved ramp safety, reduced taxi times, and decreased emissions."

"By now, most of you have heard about Airport Surface Detection Equipment," Babbitt (pictured, right) continued. "ASDE-X’s data distribution lets controllers, traffic managers, airline operations centers and airport operators see movement of aircraft vehicles on the airport surface. This includes the ramp areas. Surface management demonstrations using shared ASDE-X data at Kennedy and Memphis showed that taxi times can be reduced on average from 2-4 minutes. ASDE-X is now up and running at 27 airports with eight more to come."

Babbitt also reminded the airport executives that NextGen was about more than just major metropolitan airports. "Small airports will benefit as well. If you don’t have an ILS, the Wide Area Augmentation System’s localizer performance with vertical guidance procedures can provide precision approaches to near Category 1 ILS minimums where feasible. As of May, we’ve published more than 2,000 LPV approaches serving a thousand airports. And 1,215 of those are to non-ILS runways. Other than approach and runway lighting, WAAS does not require any additional equipment on the ground. These new approaches increase safety and improve access for a much larger number of airports."

ADS-B will also make significant improvements in tracking aircraft, Babbitt said, pointing out that the GPS-based system is more accurate than radar, and already operational in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisville, KY and Juneau, AK. And the system's Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) allows controllers to see airplanes where ground-based radar can't reach.

Babbitt said while the future holds both improvements in physical infrastructure and technology, that is still not a complete solution to congestion and flight delays. "We’ve put in quite a bit of concrete, and there’s more to come. And NextGen is going to do quite a bit on its own as well. But new runways and modernizing the system won’t get us where we need to unless we commit to more sensible scheduling practices. We’re seeing scheduling practices in Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco that are exhibits A, B and C of what not to do."

"NextGen is a gigantic leap forward for us; a gigantic step that’s well under way," he concluded. "But with that as context, I must say one more time that safe flight begins and ends at an airport. I intend to do whatever it takes to keep it that way."

FMI: www.faa.gov