NextGen Air Transportation System
Christopher Pratt
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Author Note
This paper was prepared for ASCI 202 - Introduction to Aeronautical Science, taught by Michael Prince

Abstract
The Next Generation Air Transportation System, or commonly known as NextGen, will significantly update the national air transportation system. The NextGen system when fully brought online will help better manage the increasingly crowded skies, reduce operating costs, and more importantly, enhance safety. The enhancements to the national air transportations system will consist of 4 elements in addition to GPS. These are ADS-B, NextGen Enabled Weather, NextGen Data Communications, National Airspace Voice Switch. The overall goal of NextGen is to manage our increasingly crowded national airspace with more efficiency, safety, and provide a positive environmental impact while reducing costs.

NextGen Air Transportation System
The demand for air travel has increase significantly over the last few of decades since deregulation. That demand shows no sign of slowing down despite rising fuel costs and economic uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe (Karp, 2012). Gregory Karp (2012) of the Chicago Tribune stated that the airline industry, which traditionally has run in boom-and-bust cycles, has a good chance to be profitable over the next 20 years as demand for air travel grows worldwide. Price (2007) reports that the number of passengers carried by U.S. commercial air carriers is on track to hit the one billion mark by 2015. The previous statements alone may seem like good news for the airline industry. However, the rising demand in air travel is starting to be increasingly troubling news for the national airspace system. As the demand for air travel increased so has the amount of congestion in the skies. This is in part caused by the FAA’s current use of ground based air traffic control systems which has been in use since around WWII. This has lead to numerous delays in the sky and on the ground at the airport. More troubling for the airlines is the economic aspect of these delays. The FAA (2007) reports the issues associated with the growing demand for air travel if not addressed, will cost the U.S. economy $22 billion annually in lost economic activity by 2022. The increasing demand for air travel has created some problem that cannot accommodate anymore further delays in reforming the national air transportation system.
Introduction to NextGen
The FAA (2007) states that NextGen is a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air transportation system — not just certain pieces of it — to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. The FAA proposes to do this by using GPS based technology to replace ground based systems that have been in use since WWII. NextGen has been predicted to increase efficiency, safety, prevent economic loss, and provide the added benefit of preserving the environment. Implementation of NextGen will be conducted in stages and has begun in 2012 and a target for full implementation is set for 2025. NextGen as proposed will be a total modernization of the national airspace system.
The Benefits of NextGen
The FAA (2007) proposes that in the future, many pilots and dispatchers will be able to select their own flight paths, rather than follow the existing interstate-like grid in the sky. ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) with the use of Mode S, SWIM (System Wide Information Management), and data communications will be crucial to allowing aircraft to travel using trajectory based operations instead of clearance based operations. This benefit will result in shorter routes and less time in transit.
Another benefit of NextGen is the use of data communications. Switching from the current system of voice-only communications to data communications will allow air traffic controllers to safely handle more traffic (FAA, 2007). Data communications will provide an additional means for two-way exchange between controllers and flight crews for air traffic control clearances, instructions, advisories, flight crew requests and reports (FAA, 2007). This will mean no delays in receiving clearances and improve efficiency. This will also improve air traffic controller productivity, enhances capacity and safety.
The FAA (2007), reports that 70 percent of national airspace delays are attributed to weather every year. A goal for NextGen is to reduce those delays in half by using the NextGen Network Enabled Weather system. Information from ground, airborne, and space-based systems will provide real-time weather observations to a single national weather information system. This in turn would provide a common picture of real-time weather across the national airspace system and will also be updated in real-time. NNEW will enable operators to make better weather decisions for flight planning.
The NextGen minimum for operating in controlled airspace is a voice capability which supplements data communications for tactical situations and emergencies (FAA, 2011).Future air traffic operations as envisioned by the Next Generation (NextGen) Air Transportation System will require a new flexible networkable voice communications system with flexible networking capabilities (FAA 2011). The FAA (2007) reports that today there are 17 different baselines of voice switches in the NAS with some of them in the inventory more than 20 years. Many have reached obsolescence. An additional problem for the current voice communications systems is that they are limited geographically and are not networked. NextGen will network voice communications and allow more flexibility. This will allow air traffic controllers to be reassigned to different airspaces according to the workload without having to physically relocate that air traffic controller.
Conclusion
The demand for air travel has called for a modernization of our national airspace system. The NextGen Air Transportation System will address those issues when fully implemented while providing more efficiency and safety. NextGen ready aircraft will give pilot better situational awareness. Aircraft will be able to fly closer together safely through the use GPS technology and ground based surveillance systems providing a more precise position of other aircraft. Digital communications will reduce clearance delivery times and provide a more accurate real-time weather picture. Overall, NextGen will not only safely allow more aircraft in the air, it will also reduce costs and delays. References
Gregory Karp (2012). Air travel to nearly double in next 20 years, FAA says. [ONLINE] Available at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-08/business/chi-air-travel-to-nearly-double-in-next-20-years-faa-says-20120308_1_air-travel-air-traffic-forecasts. [Last Accessed 19 December 2013].
Henry J. Price (2007). FAA Forecasts Steady Growth In Air Travel Demand. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/new_story.cfm?newsid=8358. [Last Accessed 19 December 2013].
FAA (2007). Fact Sheet - NextGen. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=8145. [Last Accessed 19 December 2013].
FAA (2011). NAS Voice System (NVS). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/implementation/programs/nvs/. [Last Accessed 19 December 2013].