Airlines Likely To Realize Significant Reduction In Fuel
Consumption
Replacing the current ground
radar-based air traffic control system with the proposed
satellite-based NextGen network has the potential to save the
airlines billions of dollars annually in fuel costs, according to a
recent Associated Press study.
The AP analysis of federal and industry data reported that "if
the new system were already in place, airlines could have saved
more than $5 billion in fuel this year alone," projecting a savings
of "more than $10 billion annually by 2025, based on today's fuel
prices."
Many airlines which are generally supportive of NextGen have
shown reluctance "to retrofit planes years, maybe decades, before
the satellite network is fully operational," the AP said. Airlines,
expected to contribute $15 billion toward the $35 billion project,
"must equip their fleets with GPS at a cost of more than $200,000
per plane."
Southwest Airlines reports a whopping $175 million investment to
equip 500 of its planes with GPS within a few years, allowing
flights to fly more efficiently even before the full NextGen system
is in place. Southwest says getting each of its planes on the
ground even one minute faster would save $25 million in fuel
annually.
Delayed by funding issues and the complex nature of the
changeover, the government does not expect to have NextGen up and
running until the early 2020s. Gerald Dillingham, director of civil
aviation issues at the US Government Accountability Office, likened
the process "to changing a tire on a car that's going 60 miles an
hour."
Acknowledging the enormity of replacing the current system, the
FAA’s Hank Krakowski called it "one of the largest project
management challenges the federal government has had since we put
somebody on the moon."
Robert Sturgell, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration, recently said, "The United States has been to the
moon and back. I think the public deserves that same level of
effort for our national airspace system."
Rep. Bart Gordon, Tennessee Democrat and chairman of the House
Science and Technology Committee, said, "The next president needs
to make the NextGen initiative a national priority and ensure that
it is given the resources, management attention and sense of
urgency that it warrants."
Although many agree on the positive potential of NextGen, some
feel that maintaining the current system would be money better
spent. Doug Church of the National Air Traffic Controllers
Association cautions that the new technology is not "a cure-all"
for air travel, the AP said.
Pointing to other factors including "overbooked flights and a
lack of suitable airports and runways", Church said, "GPS might be
great to put in your car, too, but it's not going to get you to
work any faster unless they open up another lane on the highway.
And it's the same in the air."