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By Peter Salmonford

 

Free flight is a very intriguing technology because it could potentially revolutionize the way in which we manage air traffic.

Instead of flying very set flight paths under the direction of FAA air traffic controllers, free flight technology will permit aircraft to fly the most direct and most efficient route between destinations. This new technology has the potential to increase airspace capacity, boost airport capacity through more efficient use of runways, lattice delays, and provide billions in savings to air carriers.

Of course, air safety must always be our primary consideration, and I am aware that reservations exist about moving too quickly with this technology. Our efforts to improve air space capacity and efficiency should not in any way come at the expense f safety.

And with regard to efficiency, FAA has managed this task well, although recent developments in navigation and communications technologies and changes in the manner in which air carriers deploy and schedule aircraft have led many in the industry to question the current regime of positive control and continued reliance on the defined system of airways.

Under positive control, the air traffic controller directs all aircraft movements on the ground and in the air. The pilot flying an instrument flight LAN cannot deviate from an assigned altitude or heading unless first receiving permission. And, as indicated here, under free flight, a pilot would not necessarily rely on an air traffic controller for direction except to the extent the controller seeks to resolve potential conflicts.

Free flight is just one of the topics that Peter likes to write about. Check out his other articles about Fuel Cell Cars, HHO Gas and DUI charges.

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Improvements in the Air Traffic Control System
By Peter Salmonford

 

The current airway system relies on a huge network of VCR stations that was and is, I think, a logical method to direct aircraft around the country, but the advent of modem navigation technology, such as the GPS and the Inertial Navigation System, now permit aircraft to operate completely independent of ground-based VCR stations.

More importantly, these technologies allow aircraft to operate point to point instead of relying on the current maze of airways, saving both time and fuel.

While the term free flight suggests point-to-point service, the term embraces a series of technological and procedural changes that, if we take them all together, fundamentally affect the current proven method of safely separating and guiding aircraft across the system. It really does represent a rather dramatic change in current practice.

In my mind, the question of the hour is how and if FAA should shift from the current air traffic control regime to an advanced and more efficient system without undermining safety, and that, I think, has to be the bottom line in any conclusion in this area. The implications of free flight are undeniably attractive, but implementing these changes requires extraordinary changes in the management of air traffic and an exhaustive validation of the technologies upon which free flight reUes.

We have seen the airline business lose billions of dollars over the last few years. We have seen various estimates from $3.5 to $5 billion in excess annual costs to the airline industry every year due to the current air traffic control approach.

The problem is that this is a major controllable cost, and what the major airlines have talked about in the last 2 years is basically only one controllable cost: labor. And what we have had is labor unions and other employees giving up hard-earned wages and work rules in exchange for keeping their companies alive. If we had a free flight system, they would not have had to do that.

Free flight is just one of the topics that Peter likes to write about. Check out his other articles about Fuel Cell Cars, HHO Gas and DUI charges.

New Technology and The Performance of The Aerospace Industry
By Peter Salmonford

 

New technology has the potential to increase airspace capacity, boost airport capacity through more efficient use of runways, reduce delays and provides billions of dollars in savings to air carriers. Obviously, consumers would benefit tremendously from lower air fares and increased availability of flights.

The Air Transport Association estimates that the major air carriers are losing about $3.5 billion every year because we do not fully utilize new air traffic management technologies such as free flight. Given the uncertain financial condition of the industry, this is a situation that we simply cannot allow to continue indefinitely.

Of course, air safety must always be our primary consideration, and I am aware that reservations do exist about moving too quickly with this technology. Our efforts to improve airspace capacity and efficiency should not in any way come at the expense of safety.

I hope the FAA can be honest with us on how they are progressing with the new air traffic control system. Our capacity to see the benefits of a free flight routing system is dependent largely on modernization of the air traffic control system. I find it disturbing that we continue to hear about long delays, cost overruns and cancellation of systems, and this simply cannot continue.

In my capacity as researcher and writer, I had the pleasure of visiting the Boston Center, air traffic control facility located in Nashua, New Hampshire, last year. The center controls all air traffic in New England, down in New York and for 150 miles out in the Atlantic ocean, and I talked with people who managed the flow of air traffic on a day to day basis, and I was impressed by the professionalism and the dedication.

I also saw firsthand the equipment that they use, which by anyone’s standards is sadly out of date and in desperate need of modernization. It became readily apparent to me that the FAA must do everything possible to see that the modernization process is completed.

Peter Salmonford is a keen fan of all forms of transport, and likes to write about antique and modern vehcles. Take a look at his other articles on hydrogen conversion, the benefits of an electric car kit and using browns gas in your own car.

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