The FAA recently released its updated implementation plan for the transition to a modernized air transportation system. The 2010 NextGen Implementation Plan includes increased access to nonradar airspace and small airports, recommendations for which AOPA advocated during its participation in a government/industry NextGen task force.
In the plan, which projects the FAA’s intentions through 2018, the FAA cites testimony from AOPA President Craig Fuller before the House aviation subcommittee in October 2009. “In order to work, NextGen will require the implementation of new technology, in terms of both cockpit equipage and infrastructure. General aviation pilots have always been quick to adopt new technology, particularly when the safety and utility of that technology is evident,” Fuller said.
Infrastructure and procedures implemented over the past year have laid some groundwork for pilots to benefit from NextGen technology. Over the past year, the FAA developed more than 500 LPV approaches—satellite-based, precision-like approaches enabled by Wide Area Augmentation System. There are now nearly 1,100 LPV procedures available at runways where no ILS is present. Moving forward, the FAA said it will increase its workforce and continue to deploy LPV approaches at a rate of at least 300 per year. It also said it will provide radar-like services for nonradar airspace at low altitudes using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). ADS-B will be an important part of the modernization process, and the FAA is expected to release the final rule this spring about a mandate for equipage with the technology.
The implementation plan describes leveraging existing capabilities by continuing the transition from conventional instrument flight operations to those utilizing performance-based navigation, which includes Area Navigation (RNAV).
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