Air-travel upgrade launches here
The skies over Houston have gained what amounts to a smoother, more expansive highway system for aircraft en route to Hobby, Bush Intercontinental and smaller regional airports as part of a federally funded system that promises to save money and fuel while cutting travel times and air pollution.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx joined local officials Wednesday to announce that Houston was the first U.S. metro area to fully implement a local component of the Federal Aviation Admin- istration’s Next Gen program, a highly anticipated upgrade to the nation’s air travel that has been hampered by cost overruns and slower- than- anticipated implementation.
Many of the technological upgrades involve software for everything from airplanes to air traffic con- trol stations.
Whenit launched locally on May 29, inbound planes instantly had two additional lanes to fly through from the northwest and the northeast. Increasing that from four lanes is designed to shorten flight paths and ease congestion.
The NextGen project also replaced an on-theground radar system with more precise global-positioning satellite technology to guide planes to smoother and more fuel-efficient landings.
“This is a new day for aviation in America,” Foxx said at news conference at a local FAA facility near Bush Intercontinental. “Even though this infrastructure is largely invisible, its effects are not invisible. Thanks to the satellite-based procedures, we estimate we will shave half a million miles off plane flights in the area, enough to reach the moon three times.”
Good starting point
The Obama administration picked Houston as one of 14 high-priority infrastructure projects. Foxx said Houston was a good starting point for NextGen because its airport system handles traffic from both the western and eastern U.S. and because it would be easier to implement here than in more severely congested areas.
He said he hopes Houston will set an example for other regions to follow.
The FAA is working to implement the technology in North Texas, Washington, D.C., Northern California, Atlanta and Charlotte.
NextGen, introduced in 2003, has drawn fire from lawmakers for cost overruns and delays in imple- mentation. The total cost, shared between the federal government and airline industry, could reach $40 billion for equipment, software and training by its estimated completion in 2025, federal audits have found.
Officials say the benefits will outweigh the expense.
The FAA says that once it is in operation nationally, NextGen will reduce distances flown by as much as 648,000 nautical miles a year, conserve up to 3 million gallons of fuel and cut carriers’ costs by $9.2 million while reducing carbon emissions by up to 31,000 metric tons each year.
Among the benefits of more precise, satellitebased routing are that planes can climb to cruising altitude more swiftly, pilots can nearly glide into their descents at Hobby and Bush, and air-traffic controllers at Bush can allow side-by-side landings at parallel runways.
Cruise control
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said that with the changes, Houston airspace is now among the most efficient in the country. He and other officials compared the upgrade to driving a car on cruise control versus sitting in stopand-go traffic.
Representatives from Houston’s dominant airlines, Chicago- based United and Dallas-based Southwest, said Wednesday that anticipated fuel savings could curb ticket prices over time.
Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz said the advanced technology now in place will be a selling point when trying to lure international carriers to offer nonstop flights.
The airlines said they had invested hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade aircraft technology for the new system.
The program affects Bush Intercontinental, Hobby and such smaller sites as Hooks Memorial and Sugar Land Regional airports.
In 2012, federal auditors from the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report critical of the NextGen program showing that many projects around the country cost the government billions of dollars in overruns, that officials failed to meet goals and the upgrades were not producing near-term benefits. Lawmakers also have questioned FAA leaders about why the implementation stalled and about the long-term vision for the project.
Incremental steps
Transportation policy analyst Joshua Schank said Wednesday that the FAAis trying to make smaller improvements at individual airports rather than overhaul the entire system at once.
He said the industry won’t realize substantial benefits until the entire system is in place. Manufacturers and airlines, for example, are not likely to upgrade their equipment until then.
“If the FAA could implement this quickly and effectively, the benefits would clearly out weight he costs,” Schank, president and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based Eno Center for Transportation, said of the Houston portion. “This is an important incremental step. There are also real benefits to it.”