America needs NextGen
Approximately 87,000 flights crisscross America's skies each day. According to the FAA, that number is projected to rise to over 128,000 flights per day by 2025. Unfortunately, the current ground-based radar air traffic control system that's served America so well for the last 60 years has hit the ceiling of its growth capacity. It simply cannot keep pace with expected demand. Without a radical system upgrade there will be gridlock in the skies-gridlock that would cost the U.S. economy $22 billion annually by 2022, according to FAA estimates.
And then there's the issue of safety.
The U.S. is currently enjoying the safest period in the history of aviation. But as more and more aircraft take to the skies, and new types of aircraft are introduced, it will be critically important for pilots-not just air traffic controllers-to know where their aircraft is located in relation to other aircraft throughout all phases of flight. Without a massive upgrade of our air traffic system, the safety of our increasingly crowded skies could be compromised.
NextGen is not an upgrade. It's a transformation.
The FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is not an upgrade. It's a wide-ranging transformation of America's national airspace system. At its most basic level, NextGen represents an evolution from a ground-based radar system of air traffic control to a satellite-based system of digital standards for air traffic management. More significant, however, is the movement away from disconnected and incompatible information systems to a scaleable network-centric architecture in which everyone has easy access to the same information at the same time.
| Present system | NextGen system |
|---|---|
| Ground-based navigation and surveillance | Satellite-based navigation and surveillance |
| Voice communications | Digital communications |
| Disconnected information systems | Networked information systems |
| Disparate, fragmented weather forecast delivery system | Single, authoritative system in which forecasts are embedded into decisions |
| Airport operations limited by visibility | Operations continue in lower visibility |
| Air traffic "control" | Air traffic "management" |
When fully implemented, NextGen will safely allow more aircraft to fly closer together on more direct routes, reducing delays and providing unprecedented benefits for the environment and the economy through the reduction of carbon emissions, fuel consumption and noise.
At the heart of the NextGen system is a new technology: ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast. Here's what ADS-B does and how it works.