The focus of the NextGen Air Transportation System has largely been on the development of satellite-based navigation systems, trajectory-based operations and the various technologies that will form the underlying structure of the nation’s future ATC system. But NextGen’s success is not dependent upon new procedures and inventions. The real key to NextGen’s success will be the ability of the aviation community to better manage weather’s impact.
This seemingly simple fact was made evident during the summer of 1996, when the NASA Ames Research Center first tested its final approach spacing tool (Fast) at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The tool provided landing sequences, runway assignments and speed and heading advisories to help controllers manage traffic flow, and the initial results were promising. Not only did controllers increase the aircraft arrival rate by 10 to 15 percent, but they also achieved “near-perfect runway balancing” and experienced a “sharp workload reduction,” according to NASA. In addition, a study conducted by Seagull Technology and the Logistics Management Institute estimated that the tool would save approximately $300 million annually in direct operating costs at the nation’s 10 busiest airports.
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