GPS, NextGen Hit the Runway Together

April 2, 2010

By Bill Thompson, contributing editor for aviation

After three years of retooling and retraining, Southwest Airlines flips the switch next week on a cockpit software upgrade designed to cut down on fuel burn, noise, and delays. Starting April 6, about two-thirds of the Southwest fleet will begin using satellite navigation for landing approaches at airports equipped for Required Navigation Performance (RNP), a key piece of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Southwest has invested $175 million in the technology upgrade — an investment it claims it can earn back by cutting just one minute of flying time from each flight. About 20 airports served by Southwest will be approved for RNP by the end of the year.

GPS-enabled RNP and NextGen form part of the U.S. air traffic control system that is muscling up with new technology, propelled most recently by a $34.5 billion bill passed in the Senate on March 22. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill, approved by a 93-0 margin, pushes civil aviation in the direction of GPS technology, and away from a radar-based infrastructure NextGen will enable planes to fly more closely together, in time and space, with safety. The system also gives air-traffic controllers the ability to customize aircraft approaches for landing, which should save fuel and cut down on late arrivals, according to an FAA fact sheet.

The House passed a version of the FAA reauthorization last year, and an inter-chamber conference committee will resolve bill differences to obtain a final version for the President’s signature. Late last year, the President’s Fiscal Year (FY10) consolidated appropriations bill included $43.4 million in FAA funds to add new, civil-unique capabilities to GPS. The budget also allotted $91 million for FAA’s Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), $7 million for FAA’s Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS), and $4.6 million for the inland part of the Nationwide Differential GPS system (NDGPS).