Aircraft operators in some parts of the world have already begun to experience the benefits of area navigation (RNAV) and required navigation performance (RNP). These benefits include safer, more efficient operations, increased air traffic management capacity and improved access to certain parts of the airspace and difficult to approach aerodromes. Once aircraft are freed from… Continue reading Performance Based Navigation (PBN) – What is this?
Category: Buzzwords explained
Articles explaining the new terms used in air traffic management
Recat – What is this?
What if you had a magic wand and by simply waving it, you could create a new runway at your congested airport? Well, Recat which stands for Recategorization of ICAO wake turbulence standards does just that. Not by actually pouring new concrete but by creating additional capacity that, at some airports, creates additional capacity that… Continue reading Recat – What is this?
The big ACARS scare, air/ground digital link and the iPad. What is the connection?
It is really amazing how things go full circle and if you wait long enough, history repeat itself… even in air traffic management terms. There will be some amongst our readers who still remember how the saga of air/ground digital link began in the late 80s, early 90s. Back then, at about the same time,… Continue reading The big ACARS scare, air/ground digital link and the iPad. What is the connection?
Airport Information Network (AIN) – What is this?
The environment and circumstances surrounding aircraft moving about on the ground at an airport is nothing short of puzzling. An almost random mix of legacy technology and procedures and state of the art innovation, an airport is a place where aircraft, already out of their element, meet special challenges and unique dangers. On average, there… Continue reading Airport Information Network (AIN) – What is this?
4D Trajectory Management – What is this?
The problem with traditional systems In the traditional scheme of things, an aircraft will file a flight plan, containing a rather rudimentary description of its intentions. Air traffic management and air traffic control organizations then decipher the plan and create a trajectory for the flight as best they can… Very often this is but a… Continue reading 4D Trajectory Management – What is this?
ASBU – What is this?
ICAO Aviation System Block Upgrades Although air traffic demand is not growing evenely everywhere, almost no part of the world is without some kind of air traffic management modernization project. In terms of overall cutting edge concepts and technology plans, the US, Europe and Japan are the undisputed leaders. At the same time, other regions… Continue reading ASBU – What is this?
Free flight…or…Flight of Fancy?
If you utter the words ”free flight” these days, a number of interesting reactions are likely. These can range from blank stares via violent reactions to sad headshaking. On one occasion somebody actually asked me.…”But you still have to pay airport taxes…?” But jokes apart, there are plenty of experts who will remember how much… Continue reading Free flight…or…Flight of Fancy?
DCIS – What is this?
It was a sunny and warm afternoon when American Airlines captain Russ Chew, IATA European Regional Director Phil Hogge and myself sat down in the little garden behind our house in Brussels to discuss AA’s dissatisfaction with the way the FAA was going about its air/ground digital link program and how AA may participate in… Continue reading DCIS – What is this?
UDPP – What and Why?
If I could give a word of advice to anyone embarking on a long ATM project (well, any ATM project, they’re all long) it would be ‘keep a good diary’. When Roger-Wilco’s indefatigable editor Steve asked me for a few words on the origins and meaning of UDPP, I struggled to find how and when… Continue reading UDPP – What and Why?