| Weekly News Summary - June 11, 2004 |
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Etihad Airways to Use SITA for Aircraft Communications
Etihad Airways, the United Arab Emirates’ national airline, will use SITA Information Networking Computing for its communications service provider.
Flight Plans Using
Grid-Based Waypoints Commencing in
U.S. Domestic Airspace
The FAA’s Air Traffic
Organization says that seven air traffic control centers at Seattle, Salt
Lake City, Oakland, Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Chicago, began
accepting flight plans yesterday (June 10), based on point-to-point
grid-based waypoints, rather than traditional terrestrial navaid-based
airways.
Thales ATM Provides More Details on
Australia ADS-B System
Thales ATM,
which was awarded a contract earlier this spring from Airservices
Australia to provide automatic dependent surveillance across the
Australian continent, has provided more details on the project.
China
Accepts Beijing ATC Center System from Thales ATM
Thales ATM says it
has completed site acceptance tests for its EUROCAT air traffic
management system at Beijing's new air traffic control center.
This is the first of three ATM systems Thales is installing in the
Peoples' Republic of China.
NTSB Cites Crew Failure for B-727 Landing Accident
Crew performance failures were the primary cause for a FedEx B-727 crash landing at Tallahassee, Florida, according to a summary report released by the U.S. National Transportation Board.
Delta Will Fly NASA-Developed Turbulence Detection System
Delta Air Lines will evaluate a NASA developed technology that can automatically alert pilots of potentially dangerous turbulence on a B-737-800 this summer.
Johannesburg Will Expand the Use of SITA’s Passenger Check-In System
South Africa’s Aviation Co-ordination Services (ACS) has agreed to expand the use of SITA Information Network Computing’s CUTE passenger handling and operations system at Johannesburg International’s domestic terminal.
Lochard and delair Team to Maximize Airport Capacity
Lochard says it has allied with delair Air Traffic Systems to offer a decision support tool to increase airport capacity, especially during periods of peak demand.
EasyJet
Will Use CAE Simulators for A320-Family Training
CAE says easyJet has
agreed to use its full-flight simulators, maintenance trainers, and other
devices for its 320-family training requirements for a minimum of seven years.
Check Out Current Fleet Changes
Check Out Current Industry Trends
Wingman: Some Capstone Lessons Learned
Since regular broadcast of automatic dependent surveillance operations began in Alaska in February 2000, as a major part of the FAA's Capstone program there, about 200 aircraft have been equipped with ADS-B avionics. John Hallinan, who manages the FAA's Capstone program, offered last month's International Advanced Aviation Technologies Conference in Anchorage some reasons for this widely acknowledged success.
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Full Text
Etihad Airways to Use SITA for Aircraft Communications
Etihad Airways, the United Arab Emirates’ national airline, will use SITA Information Networking Computing for its communications service provider.
Under the service agreement, Etihad's current fleet and new aircraft will use SITA’s AIRCOM services, that includes datalink over VHF (very high frequency) and satellite networks for flight operations, aircraft maintenance and engineering, air traffic control and cabin administration. In addition, Eihad’s passengers will have access to telephone and data services, via AIRCOM, including SMS (short messaging service and email).
Etihad’s pilots will also be able to use the satellite telephone service to get non-standard information or in-flight assistance, or to speak to air traffic controllers directly for special requests and clearances. 06-08-2004. (Top)
Flight Plans Using Grid-Based Waypoints Commencing in U.S. Domestic Airspace
The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization says that seven air traffic control centers at Seattle, Salt Lake City, Oakland, Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Chicago, began accepting flight plans yesterday (June 10), based on point-to-point grid-based waypoints, rather than traditional terrestrial navaid-based airways.
According to the ATO’s Website, these new procedures, in America’s domestic high altitude airspace, will permit “straight line” flight-planned routes based on RNAV (area navigation), rather than having to use the more zig-zag routes required by the location of VORs (VHF omni ranges). (RNAV uses modern aircraft avionics, such as a flight management computer, to calculate direct courses between waypoints defined by latitude and longitude coordinates.) Pilots have been able to request “direct-to” clearances, based on RNAV equipment for some time, but these were usually negotiated with a controller only on a case-by-case basis while inflight.
According to John Timmerman, who manages the ATO’s high-altitude airspace redesign program, RNAV-based flight-planned routes will give pilots the freedom to fly closer to optimum routes and altitudes more frequently, and give controllers more flexibility for using airspace better, such as approving parallel traffic flows. Operating around special use airspace, should also become easier and more efficient as well.
The airspace redesign is occurring in phases and its progress will depend on customer equipment and technological advancement in ground based air traffic control systems, the ATO says. While the FAA’s first phase only includes very high flight levels, more flight altitude levels will be added as technology allows. 06-11-2004. (Top)
Thales ATM Provides More Details on Australia ADS-B System
Thales ATM, which was awarded a contract earlier this spring from Airservices Australia to provide automatic dependent surveillance across the Australian continent, has provided more details on the project.
Thales will provide Airservices Australia with fifty-seven of its ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast) ground stations, to be located at 28 sites. As previously reported, the goal of Australia's ANSP (air navigation service provider) is to provide ADS-B coverage in Australia's upper airspace, to complement its existing en route and terminal radar coverage.
Aircraft GPS position, altitude and speed information will be linked via onboard ADS-B avionics and displayed on TAAATS (the Australian Advanced Air Traffic System) air traffic controllers' screens. TAAATS is based on Thales ATM's EUROCAT product.
Thales' package will include upgrades to TAAATS' alerts and warnings, as well as enhancements to its flight-plan conflict probe function. These tools will be used at both high and low altitudes to support the first phase of user preferred routing in Australia. 06-11-2004. (Top)
China Accepts Beijing ATC Center System from Thales ATM
Thales ATM says it has completed site acceptance tests for its EUROCAT air traffic management system at Beijing's new air traffic control center. This is the first of three ATM systems Thales is installing in the Peoples' Republic of China.
The Beijing center will control en-route traffic throughout airspace surrounding the Chinese capital, as well as providing approach control services for the Beijing's international airport.
The next steps in China's ATC modernization program include accepting similar Thales systems at Shanghai and Guangzhou. All three centers will be fully integrated to provide automatic data exchange between them and neighboring FIRs (flight information regions).
China has 1,150 air routes including international air routes to 60 cities in 33 countries and air traffic is growing at an annual rate of 10 per cent, according to Thales. The new systems will control up to 60 percent of this activity. 06-11-2004. (Top)
NTSB Cites Crew Failure for B-727 Landing Accident
Crew performance failures were the primary cause for a FedEx B-727 crash landing at Tallahassee, Florida, according to a summary report released by the U.S. National Transportation Board.On July 26, 2002, FedEx flight 1478, a B-727-232F struck trees on final approach to Tallahassee at 5:37 a.m. The captain, first officer and flight engineer were seriously injured, and the airplane was destroyed by impact and resulting fire.
In a summary of its final report that will be released soon, the NTSB said that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the captain and first officer to establish and maintain a proper glidepath during the night visual approach to landing. Contributing to the accident was a combination of the captain's and first officer's fatigue and failure to adhere to company flight procedures, the captain's and flight engineer's failure to monitor the approach, and the first officer's color vision deficiency.The airplane was landing on Tallahassee's Runway 09, which didn’t have an ILS (instrument landing system), which would have provided the pilots with glideslope guidance, but it was equipped with a PAPI (precision approach path indicator), which are a series of lights meant to help landing pilots to determine if they are on a proper glidepath.
The airplane’s TAWS (terrain awareness and warning system) was not found to be deficient in this instance, most likely because the airplane was in an appropriate geographical position, and in an appropriate landing configuration. Finally, because there wasn’t an electronic glideslope on this runway, the system could not warn of a deviation from such a parameter.
The Board found that the first officer, who was the flying pilot, had a history of color vision deficiency, for which he had a waiver from the FAA. Nevertheless, the Board concluded that the copilot’s deficiency would likely have interfered with his ability to discern the differences between the white and red lights that give the pilots their altitude clues.Noting that the current process of color vision screening required for pilots will not detect certain severe color vision deficiencies, the Board asked the FAA to determine the operational effectiveness of each of the color vision test protocols it currently allows and, then, establish a standard battery of color vision tests to be administered to all commercial pilots.
The Board also cited a series of performance deficiencies exhibited by the flight crew during the approach, including their continuing an unstabilized approach below 500 feet rather than executing a go-around. The captain indicated after the accident that he had not slept well the two nights before the accident due to responsibilities at home, and the first officer reported that he had been having difficulty adjusting his sleep cycle to the reserve-duty schedule to which he had recently been assigned.
Fatigue in transportation operations has been on the NTSB's list of most wanted safety recommendations, but the Board complains that little progress has been made to revise the hours-of-service regulations that would incorporate the results of the latest research on fatigue and sleep issues.
The complete report will be available in about a month, according to the NTSB. A summary of the report, including the findings, probable cause and safety recommendations, can be found on the Publications page of the Board's web site by clicking here. 06-11-2004. (Top)
Delta Will Fly NASA-Developed Turbulence Detection System
Delta Air Lines will evaluate a NASA developed technology that can automatically alert pilots of potentially dangerous turbulence on a B-737-800 this summer.
The technology, called TPAWS, for turbulence prediction and warning system, was developed by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center to detect turbulence associated with thunderstorms as part of NASA’s Aviation Safety and Security Program. Besides Delta, NASA has been working with AeroTech Research and Rockwell Collins for an in-service evaluation of a production-prototype airborne radar unit that can predict these hazards.
The purpose of TPAWS is to give pilots sufficient enough advance warning of impending turbulence to advise flight attendants and passengers to sit down and buckle up to avoid injury.
According to NASA’s Jim Watson, who is managing the project, TPAWS detects turbulence by measuring the motion of the moisture in the atmosphere, using a software signal processing upgrade to existing predictive Doppler wind shear systems.
Delta pilots will evaluate the technology that has been integrated into a Rockwell Collins radar unit on regularly scheduled flights in the U.S. and South America. The prototype is expected to fly for six to nine months, after which, NASA, the companies involved and the FAA will evaluate the results. NASA has already tested TPAWS on its own B-757 research aircraft based at Langley, Virginia.
NASA says atmospheric turbulence encounters are the leading cause of injuries to passengers and flight crews in non-fatal airline accidents. FAA statistics show an average of 58 airline passengers are hurt in U.S. turbulence incidents each year, and that ninety eight percent of those injuries happen because people don’t have their seat belts fastened. 06-09-2004. (Top)
Johannesburg Will Expand the Use of SITA’s Passenger Check-In System
South Africa’s Aviation Co-ordination Services (ACS) has agreed to expand the use of SITA Information Network Computing’s CUTE passenger handling and operations system at Johannesburg International’s domestic terminal.
SITA’s CUTE (common use terminal equipment) is a Java-based system that uses Internet protocol to link every airport check-in desk to any airline's reservations and departure control system. In Johannesburg’s domestic terminal it will installed on 150 workstations at check-in desks and boarding gates, to help increase airline personnel productivity and reduce passenger queues.
CUTE has been operational at Johannesburg International Airport’s domestic terminal since March 2003. 06-08-2004. (Top)
Lochard and delair Team to Maximize Airport Capacity
Lochard says it has allied with delair Air Traffic Systems to offer a decision support tool to increase airport capacity, especially during periods of peak demand.
The tool, called Advanced Collaborative Decision Making, or A-CDM, helps ATC, the airport operator and airlines share information in a “holistic” fashion, in order to increase their combined situational awareness, and speed their communications. Beyond that, A-CDM helps ATC, airport and airline managers prioritize and sequence airport traffic flow in order to optimize the airport’s throughput.
A-CDM also has an irregular operations’ feature to help managers recover from disruptive weather conditions or emergencies in the most efficient way possible.
Lochard may be best known for its flight following solutions, and delair for its air traffic management optimization processes. In this arrangement, Lochard will provide marketing, implementation and product support, while delair will provide ongoing R&D and second-level support. 06-08-2004. (Top)
EasyJet Will Use CAE Simulators for A320-Family Training
CAE says easyJet has agreed to use its full-flight simulators, maintenance trainers, and other devices for its 320-family training requirements for a minimum of seven years.
The agreement calls for CAE to establish a training facility at easyJet’s Burgess Hill location in the U.K. that will initially include two CAE full-flight simulators, two CAE Simfinity maintenance/flight training devices, classrooms and related support services. 06-11-2004. (Top)
AirTran took delivery of the first of 100 B-737-700s it has on order. 06-11-2004.
Hooters Air recently took delivery of another B-737-300 bringing its fleet total to five. 06-11-2004.
Frontier took delivery of three more A319s, bringing its current fleet to nine B-737-300s, 29 A319s and six A318s. 06-11-2004.
JetBlue exercised options with Airbus for 30 new IAE V2500-powered A320s, which brings its firm orders for the type to 123. The airline still has 50 additional options for the type as well. The airline plans to get about 17 of the aircraft per year until 2012. 06-09-2004.
Alpine Aviation, a subsidiary of Alpine Air Express, purchased two Saab 340s. 06-09-2004.
Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of a B-767-300ER from Boeing. The airline has another 767-300ER and two 737-700s on order. 06-08-2004.
Sweden’s FlyMe took delivery of the last of four B-737-300s, leased from Ansett Worldwide. 06-08-2004.
Hemus Air has taken delivery of two BAe 146s aircraft formerly operated by National Jet Systems. 06-08-2004. (Top)
The Airports Council International-North America reports that passenger traffic grew 0.6 percent and cargo by 0.9 percent at its member airports in 2003, but total operations decreased 2.4 percent. From 1996 to 2003, the average annual growth rate at ACI-NA airports has been 0.7 percent for passenger traffic, and 1.6 percent for cargo. The number of aircraft operations has been moderately declining at an average rate of 0.4 percent per year during this period, however. 06-09-2004.
United flew 9.63 billion RPMs in May, up 21.6% over the year-ago period, as its capacity rose 17.2% to 12.02 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 12.6% to 45.07 billion, and ASMs went up 5.9% to 58.42 billion. 06-09-2004.
Air Canada flew 3.43 billion RPMs in May, up 25.4% over the year-ago period, while capacity rose 14.4% to 4.37 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 12% to 16.31 billion, and ASMs grew 6.8% to 21.62 billion. 06-09-2004.
SAS Group flew 2.94 billion RPKs in May, up 15.8% over the year-ago period; capacity climbed 10.5% to 4.53 billion ASKs. For the five months ended May 31, RPKs increased 1.1% to 12.82 billion, and ASKs increased 7.5% to 20.76 billion. 06-09-2004.
Alaska Air Group flew 1.31 billion RPMs in May, up 9.2% over the year-ago period, while capacity grew 8.8% to 1.87 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 12.8% to 6.16 billion, and ASMs went up 9.5% to 8.83 billion. 06-09-2004.
Northwest flew 6.19 billion RPMs in May, up 15.9% over the year-ago period, while capacity rose 8.4% to 7.67 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 6.7% to 28.75 billion, and ASMs increased 0.5% to 36.8 million. 06-08-2004.
JetBlue flew 1.28 billion RPMs in May, up 38.3% over the year-ago period, as capacity increased 43.5% to 1.57 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 41.4% to 5.94 billion; ASMs rose 43.3% to 7.27 billion. 06-08-2004.
America West flew 1.92 billion RPMs in May, up 4.3% over the year-ago period, while capacity climbed 7.7% to 2.51 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 7.9% to 9.14 billion, and ASMs increased 7.1% to 12.32 billion. 06-08-2004.
US Airways flew 3.46 billion RPMs in May, up 7.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 4.9% to 4.58 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 10.7% to 16.06 billion, as ASMs grew 6.1% to 21.93 billion. 06-05-2004.
American flew 10.73 billion RPMs in May, up 9% over the year-ago period, as its capacity increased 9.7% to 14.67 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased10.3% to 51.78 billion, and ASMs grew 7.3% to 71.62 billion. 06-05-2004.
Delta flew 9.29 billion RPMs in May, up 18.5% over the year-ago period. Capacity increased 19.1% to 12.58 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs increased 11.5% to 42.55 billion, while ASMs grew 8.8% to 59.05 billion. 06-05-2004.
British Airways flew 8.76 billion RPKs in May, up 11% over the year-ago period, as capacity rose 8% to 12.23 billion ASKs. For the five months ended May 31, RPKs climbed 13.5% to 17.71 billion, and ASKs increased 7.3% to 24.08 billion. 06-05-2004.
Southwest flew 4.68 billion RPMs in May, up 11.7% over the year-ago period, while capacity rose 4.8% to 6.34 billion ASMs. For the five months ended May 31, Southwest’s RPMs increased 11.3% to 21.16 billion, and its ASMs grew 5.2% to 30.87 billion. 06-05-2004.
Airbus intends to increase the production rate of its A320 family by 20% in 2005, according to its president and CEO, Noel Forgeard. 06-04-2004. (Top)
Wingman: Some Capstone Lessons Learned
Since regular broadcast of automatic dependent surveillance operations began in Alaska in February 2000, as a major part of the FAA's Capstone program there, about 200 aircraft have been equipped with ADS-B avionics. John Hallinan, who manages the FAA's Capstone program, offered last month's International Advanced Aviation Technologies Conference in Anchorage some reasons for this widely acknowledged success.
Hallinan attributes a part of Capstone's popularity with Alaskan pilots to what he describes as five "lessons learned." Here they are along with some Wingman commentary:
- "Bundling" several technologies together in order to fundamentally change how a user can operate, has a substantially greater value, than if each individual technology is introduced separately. And this promotes voluntary equipage. In the case of Capstone, pilots are able to use GPS-based navigation; new terrain data bases and displays; ADS-B for air-to-air position information and radar-like flight following and air traffic service; broadcast flight information (FIS-B); automated weather observing systems (AWOS); and new approach procedures in a symbiotic fashion, to do things significantly better than could be done previously.
- A "building block," approach to benefits also promotes voluntary equipage by increasing one’s incentive to make the investment. Hallinan pointed to multipurpose navigation displays as an example of this, where depiction of weather, traffic, and terrain hazards are incorporated along with a depiction of course, heading and track information to increase the unit's overall value to the pilot.
- It takes time for people to become comfortable with new technology. This is both a fact of human behavior, and a warning to not assume that all new technology will be accepted quickly, no matter how beneficial.
- When deploying new systems, the procedures used must carefully "bridge" between legacy systems, such as radar, and the new or emerging system, such as ADS-B. This means there must be a graceful transition from one system to another that doesn’t require too much economic hardship, educational effort or operational inconvenience.
- Operator flight following was the most popular "operator" capability in Capstone’s initial "technology bundle" Flight following includes the ability of others on the ground to monitor the progress of the flight, and make suggestions for change, etc. to improve efficiency. It also allow persons on the ground to be alerted of changes, or to alert the pilot of changing conditions or requirements, and finally it greatly improves search and rescue operations – if required – because of much better knowledge about the actual route flown, and the aircraft’s last known position.
Are these lessons applicable to the introduction of new technology in other parts of the world that don't have Alaska's unique challenges? Wingman believes the answer is yes.
Capstone's success as largely due, as Hallinan suggests, to the recognition that flying in Alaska could be fundamentally changed when its technologies were used in concert, rather than independently and incrementally. GPS for more accurate positioning and ADS-B to augment ATC surveillance in non-radar regions, had some value, but when combined with other technologies, such as new cockpit displays and information sharing, a multiplier effect was created that surprised even some Capstone proponents.
In a number of cases, the cost-benefit analysis of new technology has been exaggerated by the assumption that new technology can be applied without the need for necessary dependencies, or encumbered by the requirement that each technology needs to be justified by itself, without accounting for available synergetic technologies that could be introduced more-or-less simultaneously.
The Capstone lessons learned in Alaska need to be applied to the more mature and densely populated airspace of other regions as well. Augmented satellite navigation should not be thought of only as a replacement of ILS, for example. It should be seen a one component, of a new multifaceted system that includes, ADS-B, required navigation performance, cockpit traffic displays, datalink and other technologies that can substantially increase airspace capacity and runway throughputs.
In other words, we need to apply more imagination, think more broadly and apply some of Capstone's lessons learned. (Top)
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