 |
|
Book Your Hotel Now! |
| 2010 Summit Advisory Board |
| Steve Fulton Technical Fellow Naverus Keith Wichman Chief Engineer GE Aviation Graham Lake |
| Selected 2009 Attendees |
|
Airline Pilots Association
Air New Zealand Air Nippon Airways Airbus Airservices Australia Airways New Zealand Alaska Airlines Boeing Bombardier CANSO Cargo Airlines Association CASA Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Copa Airlines Embraer FAA GE Aviation Honeywell IATA ICAO LAN Airlines LFV MDA Metron Aviation NATCA NAV CANADA Qantas Rockwell Collins Sagem Avionics Sichuan Airlines South African Airways Southwest Airlines Transport Canada United Airlines UPS WestJet |
Big Change On the Way: Pilots, Controllers, Regulators and Communities Must Embrace PBN Together
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Big Change On the Way:
International Aviation Conference is Told that Performance-based Navigation is the Foundation of Environmental and Economic Benefit
Pilots, Controllers, Regulators and Communities Must Embrace the Change Together
SEATTLE, Oct. 1, 2009 -- Performance-based Navigation (PBN) will enable major reductions in aircraft CO₂ emissions, fuel burn and noise over the next few years if aviation stakeholders and the communities they serve embrace the change together and reach agreement on implementation strategies. That was the clear message to more than 200 aviation stakeholders from around the world who gathered in Seattle today at the third annual Naverus Performance-based Navigation Summit.
“The work you’re doing (PBN) will help solve all of this – noise, congestion, emissions and efficiency,” said FAA Chief Operating Officer, Hank Krakowski.
Airservices Australia CEO Greg Russell told conferees that Australia has embarked on implementing a new nationwide network of advanced PBN. When fully deployed, the network is expected to produce annual reductions of 122 million kilos of CO₂ emissions and 39 million kg of fuel per year.
Nancy Graham, director of the Air Navigation Service Bureau of the International Civil Aviation Organization, told the group that increasingly, in every corner of the world from China to South Africa, airlines and air traffic management organizations are adopting Performance-based Navigation.
PBN unleashes the full potential of current-generation aircraft to fly precisely-defined paths without relying on ground-based radio navigation signals. Required Navigation Performance, (RNP) an enhanced mode of PBN, guarantees the aircraft does not stray from the path and enables additional navigational flexibility, such as the ability to custom tailor a curved path.
Naverus Chief Technical Officer Steve Fulton said the technology and knowledge required to implement PBN is well understood and fully tested. The real challenge, Fulton said, is making pilots, controllers, regulators and communities comfortable with the new technology and with the fundamental changes that accompany it. As the technology becomes more prevalent, and the flight paths begin to change in busy airspace, entire communities must become acquainted with the technology so that they can engage in the process, he said.
As a normal part of airspace redesign, flight paths will shift and aircraft will appear over areas where they haven’t flown before, said Airservices Australia’s Russell. Even though descending aircraft will be at nearly idle power, they’ll be flying over areas that haven’t experienced aircraft traffic before, he said.
“Somehow, some way, we’re going to have to engage the community,” Russell said. “The benefits will only be as real as the political will it will take to get it done.”
The FAA’s Krakowski said he’s optimistic that PBN progress in the U.S. will be made in the very near term. “There’s a critical mass beginning to form,” he said. “President Obama is fully supportive of this. (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood is fully supportive. And the (FAA) Administrator Randy Babbitt is fully supportive,” Krakowski said.
As evidence, Krakowski pointed out FAA’s announcement last week that the agency has authorized two private companies in the U.S. – Naverus and Jeppesen – to design and validate advanced PBN navigation procedures for public use.
At Cusco, Peru, where LAN Chile this year introduced advanced PBN procedures, operations have become safer and more reliable said Luis Miyahara, the airline’s manager of technical programs and standards. The procedures are providing a major benefit to the community and to the tens of thousands of tourists who flock to the mountainous city each year on their way to visit scenic Machu Pichu. Based on the airline’s experience, LAN is now considering the development of a PBN network to connect all the airports they serve in South America, Miyahara said.
The PBN Summit concludes tomorrow with presentations by Southwest and Alaska Airlines, LFV, the Swedish Air Navigation Service Provider, presentations from Boeing and Airbus and a discussion of PBN’s role in reducing the environmental impact of aviation.
About Naverus
Naverus is the global leader in the development and implementation of Performance-based Navigation and is working with airlines and air traffic management providers in China, South and Central America, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe to implement advanced PBN solutions. Learn more about Naverus at: www.naverus.com.
Naverus, Inc.
Ken Shapero
(253) 867-3955
(206) 779-9064 mobile
.jpg)
