Writer

Amy Wilder

Honeywell recently brought its Boeing 757 testbed to Kansas City to demonstrate its&nbsp;ground safety cockpit tech. Included in this demo were its newest&nbsp;runway safety addition—Surface Alerts (Surf-A)—along with its already-certified SmartRunway/SmartLanding (Smart X), which helps pilots avoid&nbsp;wrong-surface events and runway excursions. Both create direct cockpit alerts hosted on Honeywell Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) units.
While Smart X has been available for roughly a decade, Honeywell expects Surf-A certification on transport-category aircraft next year, pending approvals and ongoing successful flight t<a href="https://aerospace.honeywell.com/us/en/about-us/blogs/honeywell-successfully-tests-surf-a-on-757-aircraft">ests and demos on the 757</a>. Surf-A is an EGPWS-hosted software upgrade, designed to be retrofitted across a broad installed base.
During a preflight media briefing, Thea Feyereisen, senior technical fellow at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, outlined three risk areas these technologies are built to address: wrong-surface operations, runway excursions, and runway incursions.&nbsp;
Smart X provides aural and visual cues such as “on taxiway,” “flaps, flaps,” “too high,” “unstable,” and “long landing.” These cues alert pilots in real time to high-energy approaches, configuration errors, and wrong-surface alignments when their attention is outside the cockpit during high-workload phases of flight.&nbsp;
Surf-A extends that protection to runway incursions by using ADS-B data and trajectory analysis to warn pilots when another aircraft or vehicle in the runway engagement zone creates a collision risk within roughly 30 seconds. Pilots can hear four distinct callouts: “traffic on runway,” “traffic on final,” “traffic intersecting runway,” and “traffic behind,” with supporting text on the display.&nbsp;
“The NTSB has recommended direct alerts for the pilots,” Feyereisen said, emphasizing the potential time savings of bypassing controller-to-pilot radio latency in time-critical situations. Cockpit alerts can also step in to save the day when busy airspace radio traffic might mean radio calls get lost or stepped on.&nbsp;
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/873tnVE0YJ0?si=g4cQz9Px19dsPI1h" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
During the demo flight, Honeywell recreated two high-profile close calls widely discussed in industry safety forums to show how cockpit alerting technology could give pilots more time to respond in critical moments. In <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20240606.aspx">February 2023</a> at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a landing FedEx Boeing 767 and a departing Southwest B737 came within seconds of collision. The testbed aircraft approached a runway surface with a Gulfstream already on the active surface; as it neared the runway, a visual and aural alert showed “traffic on runway,” and the pilots initiated a go-around. The February 2023 incident was noteworthy in that the field was obscured by fog and controllers could not see that the Boeing 737 had taxied onto the active runway.
A second scenario mirrored a <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20240604a.aspx">January 2023 New York JFK</a> event in which an American Airlines B777 taxied onto an active runway as a Delta B737 was taking off. During this demonstration, Honeywell’s Boeing 757 testbed began its takeoff roll on the runway, and the cooperating Gulfstream taxied across the runway in front of it. An alert in the cockpit advised pilots of the traffic intersecting the runway; the pilots had ample time to react while it was still difficult to see the crossing airplane in the distance.&nbsp;
Flight engineers on board Honeywell’s B757 coordinated each demonstration with the pilots of both aircraft. The pilots coordinated with air traffic control to ensure safety during the demonstration.&nbsp;
Honeywell also showcased Smart X’s excursion-mitigation function in which pilots approached the runway with a deliberately unstable approach: missing flaps configuration (“flaps, flaps”), approaching above the glidepath (“too high”), failing to stabilize (“unstable”), then floating beyond the aim point (“long landing”), with distance-remaining callouts. Honeywell’s pilots then demonstrated a simulated taxiway-takeoff lineup, prompting an “on taxiway” alert around 40 knots groundspeed, underscoring the value of an aural prompt before brake energy or runway length becomes limiting.
On June 16, Honeywell announced that Southwest Airlines is “in the process of activating its entire Boeing 737 aircraft fleet” with SmartRunway/SmartLanding via the EGPWS already on the aircraft, with “more than 700 aircraft…activated to date.”
Feyereisen framed Surf-A as a “third set of eyes” complementing existing tower-based systems: ground-side tools can alert controllers, she said, but they do not always warn pilots directly, and simultaneous radio transmissions can mask urgent calls. “Pilots are the last line of defense,” she said, noting Honeywell’s effort to tune Surf-A thresholds to minimize nuisance alerts while preserving early warning.
Uptake of the technologies remains shaped by regulatory, cost, and operator process considerations. Honeywell executives said that roughly 20% to 25% of commercial aircraft globally use Smart X-type capabilities—a figure consistent with Honeywell’s assertion that “about 5,000 commercial aircraft,” or roughly 20% of the fleet, have SmartRunway/SmartLanding installed. While Alaska Airlines adopted early, and Southwest is now moving fleetwide, broader deployment will depend on airline training timelines and regulatory direction.&nbsp;
Honeywell <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-06-11/honeywell-aims-improve-runway-safety-surf">first previewed</a> 30-second incursion alerts and the four-callout scheme last year on flights between Seattle and Yakima, Washington, with a then-projected 12- to 18-month path to approval. Honeywell now expects transport-category certification in 2026, while continuing to explore forward-fit display enhancements under the Surf-A program with OEM partners.
With global traffic growing and runway infrastructure largely fixed, layers of protection matter. Smart X aims to break the chain that leads to excursions and wrong-surface events, while Surf-A is intended to buy pilots time to avoid incursions.&nbsp;“Every second counts,” Feyereisen concluded.

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

Honeywell Expands Runway Safety Toolset with Surf-A Certification in Sight

Surf-A FAA approval is expected in 2026

A Kansas City demo in Honeywell’s testbed 757 detailed Surf-A alerts, Smart X capabilities as Honeywell advances runway safety tech like SmartRunway/SmartLanding

Honeywell Expands Runway Safety Toolset with Surf-A

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charlotte Bailey

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

Two of nine specialist centers worldwide are now supplying upgraded information 

ICAO Introduces New and Improved Volcanic Ash Forecast 

Curt Epstein

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Company looks to help others improve their standards

FlyHouse Intros Culture-based Charter Safety Standard

Multinational team of aviation experts recognized as ‘Qualified Entity’ by European regulator 

Aerothrive Awarded EASA Accreditation 

Kerry Lynch

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Safety was a common challenge across transportation modes

Watchdog Cites Safety, ATC Updates as Top FAA Challenges

News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

FAA, Textron Aviation, and NBAA urged to act

Seven Urgent NTSB Actions Target Hawker Stall Tests

Julie Boatman

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Ground accidents all too common across operations

Expert Opinion: Taxiing Hazards and Letting Your Guard Down

Matt Thurber

New developments and products in avionics, specifically about aircraft electronics in the cockpit.

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

NBAA-BACE 2025

In this article

Honeywell

More In Safety

ICAO Introduces New and Improved Volcanic Ash Forecast

Two of nine specialist centers worldwide are now supplying upgraded information

FlyHouse Intros Culture-based Charter Safety Standard

Company looks to help others improve their standards

Aerothrive Awarded EASA Accreditation

Multinational team of aviation experts recognized as ‘Qualified Entity’ by European regulator

Watchdog Cites Safety, ATC Updates as Top FAA Challenges

Safety was a common challenge across transportation modes

Seven Urgent NTSB Actions Target Hawker Stall Tests

FAA, Textron Aviation, and NBAA urged to act

Expert Opinion: Taxiing Hazards and Letting Your Guard Down

Ground accidents all too common across operations

Researchers Tackle Fatigue In The Flight Deck

Pilot State Monitoring system monitors for sleep or drowsiness and issues alerts

Garmin Autoland Logs First In-service Activation

Pressurization problem led to engagement of emergency descent mode

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN