Monthly Archives: October 2008
Australia investing in surface surveillance
Large tech integrator Sensis reports that it has closed a deal to install a comprehensive surface movement control and guidance system at Perth Airport (press release). The firm says it’s the fourth such package it has sold to Australian airport … Continue reading
Filed under commerce
$88 million goes to Raytheon for WAAS
The FAA has announced it will exercise its option to retain Raytheon Corp. for follow-on services related to the Wide Area Augemntation System (WAAS). As this award announcement lays out, the company will be paid $88 million for hardware and … Continue reading
Filed under commerce
European version of NextGen effort launched amid challenges
An excellent overview, courtesy of Euractiv, of the political and bureaucratic challenges facing SESAR — the European version of NextGen. EU transport ministers approved the project’s development phase this week, but some stakeholders feel that things are moving too slowly. … Continue reading
Filed under news
A NextGen editorial … from rural PA?
Looks like this week’s AP story about NextGen has prompted some reaction in unusual places. In an editorial with the somewhat muddled title “Congress ought to streamline airline routes to save energy,” the Towanda (Pennsylvania) Daily Review newspaper issued a … Continue reading
Filed under voices
AP ‘investigation’ finds NextGen could save lots of fuel, if only it existed today
The Associated Press ran an in-depth piece about the potential of NextGen under the “AP Impact” banner, pegged primarily to their analysis of unspecified “government and industry data.” The article says that satellite-based navigation could save $5 billion per year … Continue reading
Filed under news
Comment period reopened on proposed ‘ADS-B out’ requirments
The FAA has reopened the comment period related to ‘ADS-B out’ performance requirements, now that the ADS-B aviation rulemaking committee report is available. A searchable index of the docket including all comments submitted so far is available here. Cutoff date … Continue reading
Filed under news
NOAA adds high-resolution GPS tracking stations
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports it has brought 43 GPS tracking stations online, including 13 sites that will feed the WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) network. Four of the new WAAS sites are located in Alaska, four in Canada, … Continue reading
Filed under news
New O’Hare tower to open; short-term payoff questioned
Journalists were treated to a tour of the new O’Hare tower this week, and this well-reported article in the Chicago Tribune raises some interesting points. The $65 million structure is needed because controllers at the main tower can’t see the … Continue reading
Filed under news
NYT feature takes readers inside ATC training
This New York Times feature gives a nice if somewhat superficial look behind the scenes of controller training in the U.S. Here’s the article’s hook: Nearly two-thirds of the agency’s 15,000 air traffic controllers will no longer be working by … Continue reading
Filed under news
Embry-Riddle plans NextGen demo
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University plans a November demonstration of future en route automation modernization (ERAM) and traffic management advisor (TMA) capabilities, according to this AINonline story.
Filed under news
Sour economy not weighing on light jets?
The Palm Beach Daily News has a rather boosterish outlook on the future of light jets, despite the global economic meltdown. While the article acknowledges the travails of the likes of DayJet and Eclipse, it’s overwhelmingly upbeat about the role … Continue reading
More schools to help students land jobs, planes
The FAA’s picked more schools to provide air traffic controller training to undergraduate students. A release from FAA provides the full list. The agency helpfully reminds students it needs to hire more than 17,000 new air traffic controllers over the … Continue reading
Filed under news
$2.5 billion bid for Chicago’s Midway
A group of investors has bid $2.5 billion to take Chicago’s Midway Airport private. A brief story from The Associated Press is here. The long-term lease on Chicago’s No. 2 airport would net the Windy City $1 billion, AP reports, … Continue reading
Filed under news
Blakey: NextGen a ‘different ballgame’
This story from Forbes is largely about the $488 billion appropriated for the Pentagon for 2009, with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) calling it a good start. But it also succinctly rehashes some of the recent kerfuffles in Congress over … Continue reading
Filed under news
Raytheon wins DoD, FAA radar contract
Raytheon Co. has won an order from the Department of Defense and FAA worth up to $679 million to install 116 Digital Airport Surveillance radar systems at Air Force and civilian airports around the world, The Associated Press reports. The … Continue reading
Filed under news
