from Flightglobal:
NASA’s work on the US air transport industry’s NextGen air traffic control system could see its annual budget more than doubled if President Barack Obama’s fiscal stimulus bill is passed.
Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill 2009 includes a provision to give NASA $600 million, with $400 million for climate science, $50 million for weather [...]
Entries from January 2009
January 31, 2009
NASA may receive $150m for NextGen work
January 30, 2009
Sens. Rockefeller and Hutchison look to NextGen stimulus – but how much?
from NextGov:
Senate Commerce Committee leaders might seek to add funding to the economic stimulus package to begin modernizing the nation’s air traffic control system, as uncertainty continues over the timing and chances of a multiyear FAA modernization plan.
Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison — who led the Aviation Subcommittee [...]
January 26, 2009
Robert Herbert, Duane Woerth said locked in tight race for FAA Administrator job
From the Washington Post:
Long-time Senate aide Robert T. Herbert, in his bid for the top job at the Federal Aviation Administration, appears to be making headway against a rival backed by Washington’s labor establishment.
Herbert advises Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on transportation, defense and homeland security issues. Herbert has been locked in dogfight [...]
January 26, 2009
Reflections on PSOD, past and future
A lengthy and fascinating article by Aviation Week’s George Larson reflecting on the legacy of PSOD (Per Seat On-demand) air travel as popularized by the now-defunct DayJet. There’s lots to think about; Larson does a great job comparing and contrasting the various models of air charter and air taxi services. Here one small excerpt:
PSOD has [...]
January 26, 2009
US Airways to equip its A330s with ADS-B
from Aviation Week:
US Airways plans to use its long-haul Airbus A330 fleet in a new FAA trial that is expected to bring the benefits of satellite-based navigation links to congested Northeast airspace and transatlantic routes.
The US Airways project – which also includes manufacturer Aviation Communications and Surveillance Systems (ACSS) – is the [...]
January 22, 2009
ATC transformation removed from GAO watch list
It took 14 years, but the FAA and its ATC transformation plans have been dropped from the Government Accountability Office’s “bad government” watch list, that identifies programs at high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse.
Faced with growing air traffic and aging equipment, FAA launched an ambitious effort in 1981 to modernize its air traffic control [...]
January 22, 2009
Explainer: CDA at Atlanta-Hartsfield
The science and technology website Physorg.com has a brief but interesting article entitled “Continuous Descent: Saving Fuel and Reducing Noise for Airliners.” An excerpt:
Proponents hope the 90-day test at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – currently the nation’s busiest airport – will move the concept one step closer to nationwide implementation. Estimates suggest that continuous descent [...]
January 19, 2009
Flying NextGen in 85 years…
How’s this for a next-generation aircraft?
European carrier Finnair has put together an interesting site, in which they (with some help from Airbus) imagine what commercial air travel will be like in 2093.
Their upbeat assessment: Flying will be popular, ecological, personal, good business, and an adventure.
[Thanks to Fly NextGen reader Patrick Zoll for the heads-up on [...]
January 16, 2009
Karlin Toner, 15-year NASA veteran, to head DOT NextGen office
DOT 8-09
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Contact: Sarah Echols
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Dr. Karlin Toner to Lead Interagency Coordination of NextGen
The Department of Transportation today announced the appointment of Dr. Karlin Toner to serve as the senior DOT staff advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Transportation concerning the transformation of the air transportation system. [...]
January 16, 2009
Costello will once again head Aviation Subcommittee
It wasn’t a surprise, but Jerry Costello was reappointed chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee this week. From the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat:
“We have a lot of work to do and I look forward to working with President-elect (Barack) Obama to enact comprehensive legislation to reauthorize the (FAA) as quickly as possible this year, and [...]
January 16, 2009
Thales ATM to demo low-cost ground surveillance package
From the FAA press release:
Thales ATM, based in Shawnee, Kan., is one of several companies interested in testing a low-cost ground surveillance system that would be installed at airports not among the 35 scheduled to receive the more expensive Airport Surface Detection Equipment–Model X (ASDE-X). The FAA asked interested companies to submit proposals and will [...]
January 12, 2009
Trade groups, airlines lobby jointly for stimulus funds
from Bloomberg:
U.S. airlines and small-jet owners have joined forces to lobby for $4 billion in economic-stimulus aid, setting aside a two-year dispute over air-traffic control costs.
Nine Washington-area trade groups representing carriers, plane users such as PepsiCo Inc., and manufacturers including Boeing Co. are seeking aid to advance the government’s so-called Next Generation overhaul of [...]
January 8, 2009
Commercial air traffic down dramatically in November
From the Airports Council International (press release):
Worldwide passenger traffic dropped sharply by 8 percent in November 2008 as compared to November 2007, according to reports from the 165 key airports that participate in the monthly advance reporting system. International traffic, previously the driver of robust growth during the first half of 2008, decreased in November [...]
January 8, 2009
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Charlie Leader, Director, Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO)
In our continuing series of exclusive interviews with NextGen newsmakers, we’re pleased to present an in-depth conversation with Charlie Leader, Director of the JPDO.
Some quotes:
We need to make more progress with the net-centric operations piece. The aviation information-sharing infrastructure that underpins this is just critical. We’ve made frustratingly slow progress in that area, but [...]
January 7, 2009
Lynne Osmus named acting FAA Administrator
Osmus’ appointment is effective starting Jan 16. The announcement was buried in a White House press release identifying 45 last-minute appointments by the Bush Administration. From Osmus’ biography on the FAA website:
Lynne A. Osmus was appointed Assistant Administrator for Security and Hazardous Materials on July 1, 2003. Ms. Osmus has been an executive with [...]
January 7, 2009
Hot topic: biofuels in jet aviation
Two good articles in the New York Times and Scientific American on the current interest in alternative aviation fuels, hooked to this week’s upcoming Continental B737 biofuel flight test.
NYT: Continental plans to have the crew turn off and restart the right engine, the one running on the 50-percent blend of ordinary jet fuel and plant-based [...]
January 6, 2009
UPDATE: Crew rest lawsuit
BusinessWeek magazine published a non-subscription article about the lawsuit brought by a group of airlines against the FAA last month.
The airlines say that the Federal Aviation Administration bypassed usual rule-making procedures and denied them the right to comment before it notified American Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. of the new rules in late October.
The petition [...]
January 5, 2009
AA, CO sue FAA over proposed crew rest rules
The Wall Street Journal reports (article is subscription only; brief summary here) that American Airlines and Continental Airlines have sued the FAA over a proposal that would raise the minimum rest time for flight deck crew on “ultra long-range flights.” Pilots who work these routes, defined as 16 hours or longer, must currently rest 24 [...]
January 2, 2009
Explainer: Why weather is at the heart of NextGen
An excellent set of in-depth articles (start here, continue here) by Aviation International News’ Jennifer Harrington, focusing on the critical role that weather is already playing in shaping the NextGen project.
A brief excerpt:
Weather forecasters will no longer analyze reams of data in an attempt to produce a single, uncertain forecast. Instead, the forecaster of the [...]
