Mon, Jan 18, 2010
Procedure Will Be In Place For Ketchikan In March
Alaska Airlines began using
Required Navigation Performance (RNP) precision approach technology
to land aircraft in Adak, Alaska, Thursday, and in March will use
improved procedures to land in Ketchikan, Alaska. By following more
direct, RNP-guided approaches, Alaska Airlines will reduce
weather-related diversions and cancellations for Ketchikan- and
Adak-bound flights and cut fuel consumption.
RNP technology provides computer-plotted landing paths with a
high degree of accuracy by using a combination of onboard
navigation technology and the Global Positioning System satellite
network. It allows aircraft to fly safer, more reliable landings,
and reduces reliance on ground-based navigation aids.
"Since Alaska Airlines pioneered the use of RNP technology in
Juneau in the mid-1990s, the system has been credited with saving
thousands of flights from diversions or delays each year due to
poor weather and airport equipment outages," said Sarah Dalton,
Alaska Airlines' director of airspace technology. "The
next-generation flight guidance technology benefits passengers and
the airline by providing additional flight safeguards and reducing
fuel consumption."
The improved procedures in Ketchikan will allow Alaska Airlines
to land more precisely and at lower minimums.
Since 1996, Alaska has introduced similar RNP procedures at 45
percent of the airports it serves in Alaska as well as in
Washington, D.C.; Portland, OR; and Palm Springs, CA.
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