Collaboration To Provide Proving Ground Deployment Of NGATS

Early Tuesday morning, DayJet Corporation signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin a five-year, phased implementation of proven NextGen technologies throughout Florida in collaboration with Florida Department of Transportation Aviation Office and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

The agreement establishes a government-industry partnership responsible for developing procedures to be used for the accelerated deployment of NextGen technologies nationally, integrating real-time surveillance and performance data in the air carrier’s network control system, and setting the stage for automated flight planning and disruption recovery.

Setting the stage for the first integrated implementation of NextGen capabilities for passenger services in the continental US, the DayJet NextGen project is also the first to focus on the safe expansion of airspace outside metropolitan areas via small community airports using modern very light jet (VLJ) aircraft operated by a Part 135 on-demand air carrier.

The news follows the March 10, 2008 announcement by Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that Florida will serve as the national testbed for accelerating NextGen, as reported by ANN.

DayJet will work closely with state and federal agencies to develop priorities for airspace procedures and airport capabilities. Under the agreement, over the next five years DayJet will operate its Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ) fleet with equipment that will enable it to provide the government with data that comprise some of the key components of NextGen, which are necessary to achieve Performance-Based Air Traffic Management System.

Those systems include:

• New means of accurate navigation and control that will trim air lanes from several miles wide to a few hundred feet.
• New technology for tracking aircraft that will make the position of aircraft known everywhere and anywhere based on equipment in the airplane instead of radar on the ground.
• Networked digital radios that will bring the speed and knowledge-gathering qualities of the Internet into the cockpit.
• System-wide Information Management Systems for weather, traffic and airport conditions that will reduce flight planning costs, while increasing flexibility and accuracy.

The project will include major participation by the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University which will be responsible for project management, airspace modeling and simulation, implementing RNP procedures and ADS-B applications along with developing curricula for NextGen education. In addition, the Florida Institute of Technology will perform studies of the energy, carbon footprint and noise benefits associated with the implementation of NextGen Technologies.

Dr. Tim Brady, Dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus said: "We see this as the natural combination of private business, higher education, and the federal government working together to set the course for the future of air traffic management."

The Florida Department of Transportation will participate in planning the routes and airports for NextGen implementation. In addition, the State Aviation Office will be involved in the evaluation of the economic benefits of NextGen at the State and local levels.

The first phase of the project (2008-2010) will focus on deploying Required Navigation Performance (RNP) technology for performance-based navigation, allowing aircraft operators to fly more precise flight paths at optimum altitudes to reduce fuel burn, carbon emissions, and noise. In addition, this phase will deploy Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology for performance-based surveillance that will enable pilots to see other aircraft in their vicinity, improving safety while increasing airspace capacity.

The second phase (2009-2011) will implement System Wide Information Management (SWIM) for enhanced weather awareness and management, and the third phase (2011-2013) will deploy performance-based communications for flight planning and flight plan management.

FMI: www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/reauthorization, www.dayjet.com