The Federal Aviation Authority: NextGen - Research Paper Example

The Federal Aviation Authority: NextGen The Federal Aviation Authority also known as the FAA is the national aviation authority of the United States. It is an agency under the Department of Transportation that is mandated to regulate and oversee everything to do with civil aviation in the United States. The agency’s major roles include the following: it is mandated to regulate the United States commercial space transportation, it regulates air navigation facilities and inspection standards, developing new aviation technology, regulating the licensing, suspension, and revocation of pilot certificates, ensuring safety of the aviation industry, it develops and operates a system of air traffic control and navigation, it is involved in research and development of the national air space system and implementing programs aimed at controlling aircraft noise and other environmental effects of aviation (FAA, 2011). NextGen is a term used to describe the ongoing change and adjustment of the National Airspace System. It is a plan intended for implementation in stages between 2012 and 2025. It will involve a major transformation of the aviation industry from a ground based system of air traffic control to a more sophisticated satellite based system that will be used for air traffic management.in line with these the plan is expected improve airport infrastructure and airport procedures. This transformation is important in order to meet future demands and to avoid gridlock in the sky. The plan is aimed at opening up of the nation’s skies in anticipation for future expected growth; improving air safety through the introduction of better and improved traffic management system and the reduction of aviation environmental impact (FAA, 2011). There are a variety of goals for the NextGen plan as detailed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The first goal is to improve air safety and security through the use of satellite based navigation systems, improved weather forecasting, improved airport infrastructure, procedures and improved communications. The second goal is to increase capacity of both aircrafts and aircraft operations by opening up the nations skies to other airplanes thus reducing passenger delays as a result of fewer number of flights. The third goal is to reduce the environmental impact that is as a result of aircraft operations through the use of technology forecasting, better methods of flight handling to reduce emissions and unnecessary accidents. The fourth goal of the plan is to improve airport infrastructure in terms of efficiency, accessibility and safety. This will be done through the shift from ground-based operations to satellite based operations. In line with that there will be new procedures for pilots in handling aircrafts to improve safety (Joint Planning and Development Office, 2007). There are various challenges facing the implementation of the plan. The first challenge is to do with stakeholder co-operation to ensure the success of the project. There are various people involved in the project ranging from the FAA, private investors to the people themselves. They need to work together if the goals are to be realized. The second challenge has to do with the set timelines and levels of maturity of each of the stages. The plan is to be implemented in stages for a given period from 2013-2025, therefore faster more focused changes need to be made and some of which may not be achieved within the set timelines. The third challenge has to do with the equipment and procedures. The limitation here is how much change the system can accommodate at any one time given the shift to twenty four seven operations (FAA, 2011) . The Nextgen plan has so many benefits if at all it will be implemented. There are several benefits that will come as a result of the transformation. The first benefit is that it will be a better way of doing business as travelling will be more predictable, there will be fewer delays and flexibility in getting around weather problems. The second benefit is that it will reduce aviatons impact on the environment as flying will be quieter, cleaner and more fuel-efficient. The third benefit is that with the advanced safety management systems it will be easy to prevent accidents, predict risks in travel and to identifyand resolve hazards. The fourth benefit is that the improved communication systems will provide real time information that will help controllers and pilots make better decisions. It will also improve the economy as the robust airports will create job opportunities and help in expansion of businesses (FAA, 2010). The NextGen plan will make a substantial contribution to airports as it will improve its efficiency, access, surveillance, environment and safety. In terms of safety and surveillance the airports will have air traffic control radars that will be used for ground operations. The FAA has a plan also to ensure that airports have wide area augmentation system (WAAS) localizer performance with vertical (LPV) guidance approach for all runways by 2016. The airports will also have additional performance based navigational capabilities in busy metropolitan areas; these will be used to eliminate route conflicts. The latest technologies will be installed that will be used in the monitoring of flights, weather and the provision of information that will guide both the ground and flight operators. Airports will also change in terms of capacity, designs, safety and operational procedures (FAA, 2011). The green airports are aimed at developing strategies and solutions for a more eco-efficient and sustainable aviation industry. These strategies are aimed at decreasing greenhouse gases and noise emissions. The design of the airports will be such that they will work respecting the environment. There are programs such as the Voluntary Airport Low Emissions program are aimed at reducing ground emissions at commercial airports through the use of low emission vehicles. Other quality improvements aimed at sustainable green airports include refueling and recharging stations, gate electrification and air quality improvements. There are policies that are being reviewed by the FAA to ensure that airport development in terms of planning design and construction supports the proposed green airports (FAA, 2010). The following are some of the proposed key ground infrastructure for airports; they are divided into different categories. The first category is for flight planning and the infrastructure include: data communications, en route automation modernization, modernized aeronautical information management, NextGen network enabled weather, NextGen weather processor, system wide information management, tower flight data manager and traffic flow management system. The second category is for push back, taxi and departure. The key infrastructure include: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast(ADS-B) ground stations Airport Surface Detection Equipment-Model X (ASDE-X), Data Comm, Integrated Departure and Arrival Coordination System, Modernized AIM, Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS), Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) enhancements . The above named infrastructure will also aid in landing and other terminal operations.(FAA). There are many challenges facing the NextGen plan, some of them are explained below. The first challenge is that there are many changes that are involved ranging from infrastructure, aircrafts and the environment. There are also changes to do with how the airports are managed in terms of surveillance, navigation, communication, and traffic flow. All these are complex and competing factors that pose a great challenge to the plan. The second challenge has to do with the varying lengths of maturity for the different stages of the project. These stages must be correctly managed if the plan is to be achieved. The third challenge has to do with getting a diverse fleet equipped with various capabilities may be difficult as they will need to undergo training to handle the new procedures and equipment that will be introduced into the system. The fourth challenge is the problem of stakeholders. Their participation is highly required at all levels of the project. If they fail to participate due to the risks involved, it will be difficult to realize the objectives of the plan. Other challenges include the complexity involved in the operations given the different airport designs and uncertainty as a result of the risks involved in the entire project. The NextGen equipment is built on the many capabilities that are installed or available in today’s aircrafts. Other equipment such as the ground based systems that will be installed and these require that the aircrafts are equipped with advanced avionics to support the full capabilities of the new systems. There exist more equipment that will be used in the entire project including the satellite systems and the weather prediction systems and equipment. The following is a breakdown of the budget for the different sections of the project. Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) at $85 million, System Wide Information management (SWIM) at $21.3 million, NextGen Data Communications at $ 7.4 million, NextGen Network Enabled Weather at $ 7 million, NAS Voice Switch at $3 million and the NextGen Demonstrations and Infrastructure Development at $ 50 million (FAA, 2007). NextGen project is aimed at improving safety of the NAS and therefore involves a number of issues. There are ongoing activities by the FAA for implementing safety management systems, safety management services and aviation safety analysis. All these activities will be helpful in providing safety capabilities that will help in predicting safety issues before they become accidents (FAA, 2010). REFERENCES FAA. (2007, February 14). Fact Sheet-NextGen. Retrieved Septemeber 23, 2011, from http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsid=8145 FAA. (2010, March). FAA's NextGen Implementation plan 2010. Retrieved september 23, 2011, from Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/media/ng2010_implementation_plan.pdf FAA. (2011). About FAA. Retrieved Septemeber 23, 2011, from Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov/about/ FAA. (2011, March). FAA's NextGen Implementation Plan. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/media/ng2011_implementation_plan.pdf Joint Planning and Development Office. (2007, February 28). Concept of Operations for the NextGen Air Transportation System. Retrieved Septemeber 23, 2011, from Joint Planning and Development Office: http://www.jpdo.gov/library/nextgenconopsv12.pdf Read More