NBAA tells ANN that in recent years there has been substantial traffic volume from November through March to and from Florida with no accompanying changes in airspace, which has resulted in airspace complexity that led to delays and extended routings for operators. However, after working with NBAA and other aviation groups, the FAA is on the verge of implementing significant changes to both enroute and terminal airspace in Jacksonville and Miami air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs) and various terminal radar approach controls (TRACONs) in Florida.

On September 1, 2005, a variety of "Q Routes" utilizing RNAV procedures both to and from various Florida airports will go into effect for aircraft capable of filing equipment suffixes /E, /G, /R, /J, /L, or /Q. NBAA has worked with the FAA for several years to develop these advanced navigation routes, which were first introduced in the Northwest and Western U.S. two years ago.

Additionally, in November 2005, the Florida Airspace Optimization (FAO) project will introduce new airspace sectors, revised preferential routing, offshore routes and standard terminal arrival routes (STARs) – both conventional and RNAV. The FAO is the culmination of months of work between NBAA, the FAA and other aviation interests.

A variety of customer benefits are expected from the FAO effort, to include:

• Reduced distances on STARs and preferential routes
• Reduced foreign fees (by reducing reroutes into foreign airspace)
• Reduced miles in trail
• Reduced enroute vectoring and speed control in ZMA and the Caribbean
• Reduced departure delays for Northeast airports
• Reduced departure delays for Florida airports

FAO changes will be implemented in three phases: August 15, 2005 (some ZMA sector changes); October 27, 2005 (more ZMA and ZDC sector changes, all route and STAR changes); and December 12, 2005 (last ZMA sector changes).

The FAA will host a meeting about the FAO effort at the Miami Airport Hilton on September 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

FMI: www.nbaa.org