NextGen

NextGen is the 20+ billion dollar project focused on upgrading the ATC system from a ground based system to one controlled with satellites and digital technology.  It is a rebuild of the current system from the foundation up.  In this project we have to live in the house while it is being rebuilt.  This makes it complicated and expensive.  NextGen, when complete, will have four major impacts.  They are safety, flexibility, sustainability and economic.

Outside of being the first and foremost responsibility in our industry, NextGen brings tangible safety improvements to the NAS.  A major NextGen part, Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Boardcast (ADS-B) will give controllers and pilots real time positioning information of each aircraft.  Pilots will not have to solely rely on finding dots through the windscreen to identify traffic.

Flexibility was not a big consideration when the FAA was hard wiring computers into their facilities.  Technology will continue to advance and NextGen will be adaptable to these changes.  This will prevent us from  painting ourselves into another corner with outdated technology.  

Sustainability will be enhanced with the NextGen project.  NextGen will allow for a more direct routing of aircraft and decrease the amount of space between aircraft.  This results in less fuel being consumed to accommodate the current system.  Less fuel burn is good for the environment and for the aircraft operator.

Economic benefits will be realized in less fuel burn with NextGen.  This benefit will be slow to realize while the NextGen investment is being paid off.  An additional economic benefit to the operators will be the increase in capacity in the system.  For example, NextGen has the ability to untangle the ATC mess around NYC.  Solving this problem will give the airlines the ability to add service to and through this and other populated areas.  This will result in more revenue for the operators.

The sooner the NextGen investment is paid off, the faster the economic benefits can be realized.  My initial thought is that this project should be fully funded through the Federal government.  Outside of that option, I think that user fees are an insufficient funding source for NextGen and not legitimate unless they are rescinded once the initial NextGen investment is paid off.  In reality, paying for NextGen will require a number of sources, including some type of user fee/tax.  One source the FAA is deploying is loan guarantees.  The 2012 FAA funding re-authorization allows the FAA to back loans taken out for NextGen equipage.  More information can be found at equipage incentives.

I think the NAS capacity improvements will have the biggest effect on my career.  As operators fill the capacity vacuum we will have more airplanes to manage which leads to more jobs.  A side benefit will be the additional data that NextGen will provide.  The data will allow for better business decisions. We will move from a place of estimated arrival and departure times to actual times.  The improvements in weather forecasting and its effects on the operation will lead to better schedules are more efficient planning.  

The benefits of NextGen will be slow as the project is expected to take at least 10 years.  I think we should have a tempered optimism for NextGen.  The benefits will be great but this is a complex project with much of the technology being invented as this project progresses.