Safety
FAA hosts first international aviation safety conference
While FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said required navigation performance (RNP) is receiving broad support in the U.S.

While FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said required navigation performance (RNP) is receiving broad support in the U.S. and abroad, she acknowledged there is no one-size-fits-all navigation concept. The question she posed is “How do we balance finite resources in terms of WAAS/LAAS?”

According to Blakey, LAAS, the local area augmentation system, continues to enjoy the support of some of the airlines and cargo air carriers, but she cautioned there are “substantial technical obstacles” still to be overcome. And, even though the FAA has a research program to refine the system’s capabilities to support Category I operations, she explained that the technology for Category II and III is still further out in development. She placed the cost for 160 LAAS facilities over a 20-year life cycle at about $1 billion.