Aviation Manager Tells CO Lawmakers Airport Is On Cutting Edge

The deployment of the FAA's NextGen Air Traffic Control system may be years down the road, even further if the alphabet groups and airlines have their way. But the new system has a fan in Aviation Manager Kim Day at Denver International Airport, where elements of NextGen are being phased in.

Day tells the Associated Press the airport could have a "real robust system" in place in as little as five or six years. She says, "We're on the cutting edge here."

Eventually, the FAA says NextGen will allow spacing airliners closer than the five miles currently required, due to the higher precision of position reports provided by GPS technology over traditional ground-based radar. NextGen will also allow continuous descent routing, allowing what essentially is a straight line glide from as far out as 60 miles from their destinations, instead of the current stair-step descents which burn more fuel and create more noise.

So far, improvements in use in Denver are providing better tracking of airplanes on the ground, a significant advantage at a facility as huge and sprawling as KDEN.

Regarding the other benefits NextGen will bring, Day adds, "We can't implement it soon enough."

FMI: www.flydenver.com