FAA: NextGen Air Traffic Control taking shape

In recent months the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation have come under increasing criticism from an airline industry tired of chronic delays – especially in and around New York airspace.

FAA is updating interested parties on how its vaunted "NextGen" project is taking shape. The agency contends NextGen: “will transform U.S. aviation through the uses of 21st Century technologies to meet future demands, avoid gridlock, improve safety and increase environmental protections.”

The ambitious project comes as the National Air Traffic Controllers Association continues to complain that FAA-imposed work rules are causing controllers to retire, and leaving some critical facilities with fewer experienced controllers.

FAA is hoping technology will ease a number of problems faced by the current system. One of those technologies is RNAV – Required Area Navigation, which increases the number of departure routes. That allows controllers to disperse aircraft more efficiently. FAA is testing RNAV on routes between key Florida airports such as Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO), and Daytona Beach (DAB) and the New York area's big three — and chronically congested — airports at Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), and Newark (EWR).

© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler