Southwest Airlines Preparing for RNP Implementation

June 20, 2008

Southwest Airlines says it will invest $175 million over the next six years to implement Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures at all 64 airports it serves. It made the announcement at the Eco-Aviation Conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, June 19.

The initial investment will provide long-term benefits to industry congestion and aircraft efficiencies, Southwest said. For a single minute of time saved on each flight, the annual savings add up to 156,000 metric tons of reduction in emissions per year by 2015, and $25 million in fuel savings per year, according to the airline's estimates.

RNP is part of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) Next Generation Air Traffic Control System, combining GPS technology, advanced aircraft avionics, and new flight procedures. GPS is a keystone of the FAA's entire next-generation system; it is incorporating the technology into a number of the system's components, such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcasts (ADS-B), first implemented at a U.S. airport earlier this year.

RNP allows the aircraft to fly more precise, direct, and accurate paths, allowing more flights in limited airspace, Southwest noted. Another benefit of the technology is more efficient fuel use.

To help develop its RNP program, Southwest Airlines has partnered with Naverus, a company specializing in RNP implementation, and a consultant to the FAA. Since May 2007, Southwest, Naverus, and the FAA have been working together to gain Air Traffic Control support of RNP to train the airline's pilots on RNP, equip the airline's entire fleet to be RNP capable, and produce RNP charted procedures, according to the airline.

Southwest's Boeing 737-700 aircraft are already equipped and capable of operating with the new RNP procedures. The airline has also made investments to begin updating the older planes in its fleet and have already begun to incorporate RNP processes into its flight operations, Southwest said. Its goal is to begin flying with RNP procedures in place by the autumn of 2009, with its entire fleet operating with RNP by 2013.

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