NextGen

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is a new way to control traffic in our national airspace.  This plan will control air traffic with satellite based equipment instead of radar based equipment.  According to the FAA, "new, satellite-based technologies will significantly improve safety, capacity and efficiency on runways and in the nation’s skies while providing environmentally friendly procedures and technologies that reduce fuel burn, carbon emissions and noise."  NextGen will take many years to implement, and a hybrid system will most likely be used for a long time.

The FAA has built the NextGen system on four major pillars:  economic impact, sustainability, flexibility, and safety.  I feel safety is the most important pillar, as does the FAA.  It seems obvious that a change this large should make our system safer, or not take place at all.  I feel safety during the change is also important, and users must be educated well during the process.  The new technology promises many advantages, some of which include less spacing between traffic.  Well educated pilots are mandatory to keep the skies safe.  Closer spacing of traffic will offer less room for pilot error.

Sustainability of NextGen would be the next important pillar, in a close tie with economic impact.  I feel the two are somewhat tied together.  The system will be very expensive, both for the government, and the users.  If the economic impact is not great enough, it will not be sustainable.  The economic impact is hard to predict at this point.  There are many statistics and predictions about how beneficial NextGen will be, but it will be nice to see the results as it is implemented.  The FAA predicts the NextGen will help sustain the growth of aviation.  This will happen if the FAA's promises come true.

Flexibility is important to continue the growth of aviation.  The NextGen system is supposed to increase the flexibility of routes, and provide better alternatives for routing around airspace disruptions.  This also contributes to the economic impact.  If the flexibility can help bring down costs of aviation, more people and businesses will find uses for aviation.

The topic of user fees to help fund air traffic control and NextGen is a very difficult topic.  Our systems needs a way of raising funds, but I do not feel implementing user fees is the best way to do it.  I think fuel taxes provide a better way of spreading the cost more fairly.  I also think the general public should help fund the system.  People who never fly still benefit from aviation, and could help with the expenses.

NextGen could potentially affect me in a few ways.  I look forward to being able to use some of its advantages, and experience the benefits the FAA describes.  It will add more technology and automation to the cockpit.  It will make flying safer for those who are properly trained.  It will also create more jobs, some of which are with FAA.  Maybe it would be fun to work on the NextGen system with the FAA......