Plans are underway by FAA to "invert" its method of marketing the next generation air transportation (NextGen) to industry, moving to a palette of "capabilities" from a "special programs and systems" approach.
The change is meant to help industry understand the benefits of expanding the use of existing equipment and adding new hardware, namely automatic dependent surveillance, broadcast (ADS-B), a surveillance technology the FAA has proposed mandating in 2020. Ground infrastructure for ADS-B will be operational in 2013, giving operators the potential to reap fuel and environmental savings if they equip ahead of the deadline.
"We have not been good at communicating," said Mike Romanowski, the FAA's director of NextGen integration and implementation, at the Air Traffic Control Association's annual meeting in Washington DC today. "Business needs better information for making investment decisions."
The new strategy will be published in January as part of the NextGen implementation plan update. Romanowski says the document will be a plain language description of NextGen capabilities in the mid-term.
Romanowski, who was hired into the FAA from the Aerospace Industries Association in June by FAA chief operating officer Hank Krakowski, says the reworked approach will be an aid to discussing NextGen with Congress and the myriad government organizations involved with the effort.
Elements in the implementation plan will include the "integrated benefits" for equipping early, the guiding principles for motivating equipage and a "very specific" work plan that identifies the what, when and who of each step in the rollout, says Romanowski, adding that the integrated benefits description will include "key metrics" of equipping, including impact on delays, capacity, fuel burn and emissions.
"Beyond that, we will move into working with operators to understand the business case for them," he explains.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
