New Departure Procedures To Be Published by End of July

The Federal Aviation Administration is taking quick action after complaints from controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport of inadequate publication and awareness of new procedures instituted in December to ease congestion at it and other New York City airports.

As reported by ANN, southwest departure procedures historically required aircraft to make a left turnout after takeoff, but the new procedure allows controllers to tell pilots to make a right turn after takeoff.

Lack of published information about the new procedures was confusing pilots and led to several incidents in which aircraft have turned the wrong direction upon departure.

The FAA had stated it planned to publish the guidelines by the end of the year, after phasing in new arrival and departure patterns that could ease congestion in the region as part of a total airspace redesign. In an apparent change of course due to pressure from controllers, however, the FAA instead will publish the new procedures for pilots on July 31 according to a report by the North Jersey Record.

"We looked at it and took action," said FAA spokesman Jim Peters, who declined to elaborate. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association celebrated the FAA's decision, which came the same day The Record reported the story.

"Oh, thank God," said Ed Kragh, president of the Newark chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association after hearing of the FAA's decision.

Surprised the FAA changed its mind so quickly, NATCA officials hadn't expected the guidelines would even be published by December, according to the newspaper. "Only yesterday, they said they weren't going to publish anything until they were finished with the airspace redesign," Kragh said. "That could have taken years. That's insane."

The Federal Aviation Administration says it will send a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) outlining new flight patterns in the New York-New Jersey region on June 5 and on July 31, the agency will publish the chart for the procedures that pilots will use to update either their printed binders or electronic flight bags.

The union noted it is still worried the FAA still lags in implementing advanced technologies used to monitor and control ground operations so pilots and controllers don't have to rely solely on old-fashioned surveillance radar and related systems.  Such systems would reduce possible runway incursions as traffic is slated to grow in the region.

FMI: www.natca.org, www.faa.gov