ATC

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

ATC

Washington Report: Flight path changes due in D.C. area

Changes in flight paths around the Washington-Baltimore area, which have nothing to do with security implications, are being proposed in anticipation of th
ATC

Loran-C suggested as GPS backup

In light of last year’s DOT study of the vulnerability of GPS to unintentional interference and intentional jamming, Boeing and Rockwell Collins suggest th
ATC

HGS is not a guarantee for Cat III approaches

In the past several years there have been many magazine articles touting the promise of the Head-up Guidance System (HGS).
ATC

News Note: Eurocontrol activates new Netherlands operations facility

Eurocontrol’s upper-area control center at Maastricht in the Netherlands on November 3 activated its new operations facility, which includes an advanced op
ATC

Free Flight: impossible dream or future reality?

Free Flight describes a future air-traffic environment where we will fly unrestricted “trajectories” from departure to destination, based on our choice of
ATC

Will avionics makers be ready for inauguration of IFR WAAS?

The recent successful completion of a 60-day continuous performance test of the FAA’s wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) is expected to clear the way for
ATC

Avionics shops adjust to persistent downturn

In a down economy it usually makes sense to focus on the finer details of running a business.
ATC

ITT Wins Nexcom Contract

The FAA has awarded an initial $20.5 million contract to ITT Industries aerospace/communications division to provide the agency with multimode VHF digital
ATC

FAA Unions Form Coalition

The unions representing nearly 20,000 employees of the FAA have joined in a coalition “to hold the FAA accountable” for meeting its modernization goals and
ATC

Loran could be used for Alaska GPS corrections

At press time, technical experts from the FAA, the U.S.
ATC

Free Flight vet to lead FAA effort

Charlie Keegan, who has headed the FAA’s Free Flight Office since its inception three years ago, has been named to lead the modernization effort outlined i
ATC

TAWS suit may be settled out of court

Honeywell’s legal dispute with ACSS over EGPWS patents may be on its way to a private arbitrator instead of a courtroom, if the sides can agree on terms.
ATC

Honeywell's Johnson warns of inefficiencies in NAS

Honeywell Aerospace president and CEO Robert Johnson, speaking to the Society of Automotive Engineers World Aviation Congress early last month in Phoenix,
ATC

Making sure new airspace plans have room for all

While the FAA moves forward with its operational evolution plan (OEP) to increase National Airspace System capacity by the end of this decade, a major cons
ATC

Auto-spacing ATC tool tried by NASA

A new computer system developed by NASA to automatically calculate the speed and distances between aircraft was scheduled for tests during overnight hours
ATC

Airbus and Boeing are now at odds over ATC initiatives

Traditionally, Boeing and Airbus have used the Paris and Farnborough airshows to announce multimillion-dollar sales contracts, in the hope of one-upping th
ATC

FAA moves forward on RNP implementation

In late summer, Jeff Williams, manager of the FAA’s newly established required navigation performance (RNP) program office, briefed a government/industry s
ATC

Groups urge Bush: make aviation capacity tops

In a show of solidarity that even FAA Administrator Jane Garvey acknowledged would have been “hard to imagine” two or three years ago, 13 aviation groups r
ATC

UK ATC system is privatized after years of debate, protest

After several years of bitter debate, partial privatization of the UK’s ATC system became a reality on July 27 when the Airline Group completed the acquisi
ATC

Nav Canada raises fees, defers capital projects

Nav Canada’s declining revenue from reduced traffic volume over the last year as a consequence of the slowing economy and September 11 has forced the opera
ATC

Controllers, pilots meet at BDL

“Grab your fast food and join us for lunch” was how the invitation opened.
ATC

FAA command center guards U.S. National Airspace System

Perhaps deliberately, the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) is not easy to find.
ATC

FAA wants more info on UAVs flying in domestic airspace

Powered by quiet motors and armed with conventional and infrared cameras and other specialized sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming more a
ATC

Controller Retirements Could Squeeze U.S. ATC

The FAA could face a shortage of air traffic controllers in the next decade unless it makes more adequate plans to replace as many as 11,000 current contro
ATC

FAA Picks ADS-B Architecture

The FAA has decided that automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) will use a combination of the 1090-MHz extended squitter surveillance link for
ATC

Installation of New Controller Aids Begins

As part of its ongoing Operational Evolution Plan (OEP), the FAA has begun installing new equipment that will simultaneously provide weather and aircraft p
ATC

Natca Calls for NextGen Moratorium

National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca) president Patrick Forrey raised more than a few eyebrows in a recent speech at the Washington Aero Clu
ATC

New York Center, Tracon to share ‘Crystal Palace’

The New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and the New York Tracon will be combined into one building under an FAA plan to integrate air traffic
ATC

Portions of U.S. Can Expect Sporadic GPS Outages

The Department of Defense is conducting more GPS interference tests in the western U.S.