Collaboration To Provide Proving Ground Deployment Of
NGATS
Early Tuesday morning, DayJet
Corporation signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin a five-year, phased
implementation of proven NextGen technologies throughout Florida in
collaboration with Florida Department of Transportation Aviation
Office and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
The agreement establishes a government-industry partnership
responsible for developing procedures to be used for the
accelerated deployment of NextGen technologies nationally,
integrating real-time surveillance and performance data in the air
carrier’s network control system, and setting the stage for
automated flight planning and disruption recovery.
Setting the stage for the first integrated implementation of
NextGen capabilities for passenger services in the continental US,
the DayJet NextGen project is also the first to focus on the safe
expansion of airspace outside metropolitan areas via small
community airports using modern very light jet (VLJ) aircraft
operated by a Part 135 on-demand air carrier.
The news follows the March 10, 2008 announcement by Department
of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that Florida will serve as
the national testbed for accelerating NextGen, as reported by ANN.
DayJet will work closely with state and federal agencies to
develop priorities for airspace procedures and airport
capabilities. Under the agreement, over the next five years DayJet
will operate its Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ) fleet with
equipment that will enable it to provide the government with data
that comprise some of the key components of NextGen, which are
necessary to achieve Performance-Based Air Traffic Management
System.
Those systems include:
- New means of accurate navigation and control that will trim air
lanes from several miles wide to a few hundred feet.
- New technology for tracking aircraft that will make the
position of aircraft known everywhere and anywhere based on
equipment in the airplane instead of radar on the ground.
- Networked digital radios that will bring the speed and
knowledge-gathering qualities of the Internet into the
cockpit.
- System-wide Information Management Systems for weather, traffic
and airport conditions that will reduce flight planning costs,
while increasing flexibility and accuracy.
The project will include
major participation by the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University which will be responsible for project
management, airspace modeling and simulation, implementing RNP
procedures and ADS-B applications along with developing curricula
for NextGen education. In addition, the Florida Institute of
Technology will perform studies of the energy, carbon footprint and
noise benefits associated with the implementation of NextGen
Technologies.
Dr. Tim Brady, Dean of the College of Aviation at
Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus said: "We see this as the
natural combination of private business, higher education, and the
federal government working together to set the course for the
future of air traffic management."
The Florida Department of Transportation will participate in
planning the routes and airports for NextGen implementation. In
addition, the State Aviation Office will be involved in the
evaluation of the economic benefits of NextGen at the State and
local levels.
The first phase of the project (2008-2010) will focus on
deploying Required Navigation Performance (RNP) technology for
performance-based navigation, allowing aircraft operators to fly
more precise flight paths at optimum altitudes to reduce fuel burn,
carbon emissions, and noise. In addition, this phase will deploy
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology for
performance-based surveillance that will enable pilots to see other
aircraft in their vicinity, improving safety while increasing
airspace capacity.
The second phase (2009-2011) will implement System Wide
Information Management (SWIM) for enhanced weather awareness and
management, and the third phase (2011-2013) will deploy
performance-based communications for flight planning and flight
plan management.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.13.24)
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