The Fly NextGen overview page has been updated to include some key NextGen roadmaps and operational concepts. Here some links that seem most essential to us; if you disagree (and/or would like to see some additional ones added), drop us a line. FAA NextGen Implementation Plan: Document library (HTML), 2008 Overview (PDF) JPDO NextGen Avionics [...]
Entries from November 2008
November 26, 2008
Nationwide ADS-B ground rollout formally announced
It was not exactly unexpected, but ADS-B has been deemed officially fit for prime time. Acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell announced a nationwide rollout of ground stations yesterday in a speech before the Aero Club in Washington. (Press release here.) In the short term, the biggest beneficiary of this “in-service decision” will be system integrator [...]
November 24, 2008
Want to see what JPDO is up to? New website lets you dig deep
A very interesting venture by the JPDO to give the public access to a series of key documents and road maps, using a highly dynamic (if slightly confusing) website. There’s so much to explore, one hardly knows where to begin, but one thing that caught our eye was a list of “19 objectives” that a [...]
November 19, 2008
EXCLUSIVE: House aviation subcommittee chair Jerry Costello on reauthorization, controller morale, and his hopes for a ‘different attitude’ at the FAA
When Congress returns for a full session next year, all eyes will be watching Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL), who heads the aviation subcommittee of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. Costello and his colleagues will be taking point on the all-important FAA reauthorization bill, without which NextGen will remain nothing but a pipe dream. Last [...]
November 19, 2008
Bush: Radar-based ATC ‘doesn’t make sense’
President Bush visited DOT headquarters in Washington today, where he praised Secretary Mary Peters for her service and announced several initiatives related to aviation and passenger air travel. One part of the package: an executive order (full text here) creating a multi-agency task force to ensure that NextGen is implemented in a “safe, secure, timely, [...]
November 18, 2008
Controllers want changes in ATOP system
The National Association of Air Traffic Controllers issued a press release this week, calling on the new administration to reevaluate the Advanced Technologies for Oceanic Procedures system. ATOP allows aircraft to transmit location coordinates across long distances in an automated fashion, but the implimentation is somewhat controversial because airlines are allowed to set their own policies [...]
November 16, 2008
It’s official: Obama names transportation transition team
The office of the President-Elect confirmed yesterday what Fly NextGen first reported Wednesday morning: Former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey will be helping to lead Mr. Obama’s transition team on transportation issues. Other key members of the team: Seth Harris is a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group responsible for the labor, [...]
November 14, 2008
FAA covered up DFW controller errors: DOT investigation
From the Associated Press: A Transportation Department investigation has concluded that Federal Aviation Administration officials covered up safety errors at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the second such admonishment in the past three years. [..] [The U.S. Office of Special Counsel found] that between November 2005 and July 2007 FAA managers intentionally misclassified 62 instances in [...]
November 12, 2008
Jane Garvey to head FAA transition team: source
Developing… UPDATE NOV. 13 — No public announcement yet, still awaiting confirmation from a third party.
November 12, 2008
NYT article: “In Modeling Risk, the Human Factor Was Left Out”
Excellent article, posted to the discussion forum of the Fly NextGen Linkedin group: Today’s economic turmoil, it seems, is an implicit indictment of the arcane field of financial engineering — a blend of mathematics, statistics and computing. Its practitioners devised not only the exotic, mortgage-backed securities that proved so troublesome, but also the mathematical models [...]
November 12, 2008
JPDO’s Bob Pearce: NextGen needs more than a better ‘elevator’ pitch
Bob Pearce, JPDO Deputy Director, submitted the following comment (Thanks Bob!), in response to the post Jane Garvey on NextGen: “We don’t know what our vision is.” I have a lot of respect for Jane Garvey and Ken Meade, but it is clear they want to define NextGen in conventional terms – in terms of [...]
November 8, 2008
Airports sought for participation in disaster preparedness study
It’s not NextGen per se, but safety-minded airports may want to consider joining an interesting study being launched by American Public University professor Jim Smith. Smith believes that U.S. airports can do a better job of coordinating with local and regional emergency management agencies around non-aviation disasters (hurricanes, etc.), and has already secured the cooperation [...]
November 8, 2008
Jane Garvey on NextGen: ‘We don’t know what our vision is.’
The AOPA brought together a group of veteran DC insiders for a panel discussion at their expo this past week (article with video link here): James Coyne (Air Transport Association), Steve Alterman (Cargo Airline Association), Jane Garvey, and Ken Mead. Facing an audience that certainly has its own skepticism about ADS-B, panelists took the opportunity [...]
November 6, 2008
WSJ: President Obama should prioiritize NextGen
The Wall Street Journal’s business travel columnist, Scott McCartney, wants Mr. Obama to take NextGen seriously. (Column here – from Rocky Mountain News; WSJ is subscriber-only) Dear Mr. Next President, Your “To Do” list is obviously quite long, what with war, recession and other problems awaiting attention. But there’s one problem vital to the nation’s [...]
November 6, 2008
Explainer: Wide Area Augmentation System
Do you know exactly what WAAS is, and what sets it apart from regular GPS? Could you explain it in a few sentences? If not, this FAA fact sheet is for you. Clearly written, and also includes a brief history of how WAAS was developed and deployed. Interesting tidbit: according to the FAA, WAAS approaches [...]
November 4, 2008
FAA, EU officials lament obstacles to NextGen implementation
ATW has some good first-hand reporting from the Air Traffic Controllers Association Conference and Exposition: Executive Director-SESAR Joint Undertaking Patrick Ky and FAA Air Traffic Organization COO Hank Krakowski argued that it is critical to move forward with developing the SESAR and NextGen ATC systems even as traffic growth is slowing and near-term funding may [...]
November 3, 2008
Honeywell, ACSS receive funding to demonstrate ADS-B’s value
The FAA says it wants to speed up the deployment of avionics that can take advantage of ADS-B technology, and is funding a small demonstration project meant to prove the value of having that data in the cockpit. (FAA Press release) The $9 million effort will be conducted by Honeywell and ACSS, and calls for [...]
November 2, 2008
FAA convenes Runway Safety Council
The FAA, pursuing its stated goal of prioritizing runway safety, has convened a new expert group to develop a broad set of recommendations on the issue. (FAA press release). In the announcement, the agency is making it clear that it is empahsizing cultural change: The goal of the council is to fundamentally change the existing [...]
