Southwest Airlines Partners with Naverus on RNP

Southwest Airlines is partnering with Naverus to develop an RNP (required navigation performance) program that will be eventfully employed throughout the airline's network of airports and routes.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey announced last week that Southwest had made the decision to equip its fleet with RNP capability, but it wasn't until today that the airline's extraordinary relationship with Naverus was publicly disclosed by Southwest's CEO, Gary Kelly, at the airline's annual shareholder's meeting.

RNP combines the accuracy of GPS and the capabilities of advanced aircraft FMS (flight management system) avionics, and sophisticated new flight procedures, that are specifically tailored to allow more efficient and capable - sometimes substantially so - RNAV (area navigation) approach and departure routes for an operator.

Mike Van de Ven, Southwest's chief of operations and executive vice president, said, "We discovered how tailored RNP can be used for more than just terrain-challenged airports," and went on to say that his airline would be maximizing its RNP investment by using it across its route structure.

The tailored RNP procedures, which Naverus will develop with Southwest, are a step beyond the publicly available RNP procedures, which are limited by their need to serve a broad variety of users, and should give the airline some unique operational advantages that have been anticipated by initiatives such as the U.S. Joint Planning & Development Office's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).

Naverus will share its experience and expertise in RNP program development with Southwest as they develop new policies, procedures and training materials for RNP operations, and will use its recent FAA designation as an RNP Approval Consultant to guide Southwest through that formal process.  05-16-2007.

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