The FAA is currently
formulating a plan to revitalize the current air traffic control system to make
flying safer, sustainable, flexible and more economically friendly, there plan
to do this is called Next Generation Air Traffic Control otherwise known simply
as 'NextGen".
According to the FAA
there are four main "pillars" to this system and they all are very
important to the future of air travel and air commerce.
In the order of most
importance (to me):
1.
Safety: Obviously safety
is the most important thing to the FAA and to all aviators in general. This new
system above and beyond the additional benefits is suppose to be
taking leaps and bounds over the current air traffic control system as far as
safety goes by providing more accurate aircraft locations, up to date weather
information and airspace status information.
2.
Economic Impact: Clearly
aviation isn't quite what it once was, there is not as much money to be made in
it as there once was and over all the economy isn't particularly doing well,
next generation air traffic control is suppose to be not only a job creator but
a money saver for airlines and aircraft owners alike.
3.
Flexibility: With
updated performance based navigation (PBN) air traffic control can free the
skies up and allow the old methods of routing to be eliminated and replaced
with more direct routing to make for a more efficient flight.
4.
Sustainability: Lastly
sustainability, sustainability is of course also very important but in my
opinion will just be provided with the first three pillars alone. the
importance of this is providing ways to make better noise abatement procedures
to make the airport environment more friendly and reduction in
carbon emissions which is obviously very important to the
economy.
Obviously there are some
upfront costs in the implementation of such a vast and technologically advanced
system, there has been talk among the aviation world of potential user fees for
aviation, depending on the way these fees are implemented general aviation
and corporate aviation. I believe that these user fees should be
applied to foreign carriers to reduce their profitability in America and let
American carriers replace their routes at a more affordable cost although I
would rather just see user fees never come to fruition. (Article from AOPAabout user fees on GA businesses)
User
fees could have a significant effect on my career depending where they are
applied. User fees applied to general aviation (very unlikely in my opinion) could
significantly impact the cost of flight training making my time as a flight instructor
very challenging. The most likely option for these fees would be applied to
part 121 and 135 carriers, and because I eventually plan to work within one of
these operations this could significantly affect the profitability of whatever
company I am working for.
Your comment about user fees only being applied to foreign carriers is interesting. Would foreign carriers have the equipment necessary to use the NextGen system? If they didn't, do you think they would spend the money to get the equipment? It seems like so many flights have a very small margin for profit, it would be interesting to see if other carriers limited their flights to the US if user fees were applied. It would certainly be a great idea if it didn't decrease US bound flights.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your order of the pillars. I feel that safety will always be the main cause for the FAA to change things. Economic impact will hopefully drastically assist airlines in making money. If this system only costs them money with user fees and doesn't make them any money then their profit margins could eventually disappear.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the concept of foreign carrier user fees is interesting...although I could see a large protest in that they would be utilizing the system very little compared to domestic carriers. I could see a temporary boycott by foreign carriers until the US change the policy (very similar to the situation with European ETS).
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