DayJet Shutdown Won't Impact NextGen

Air Safety Week, Sept 29, 2008

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials say the recent demise of DayJet will have "no impact" on the five-year, phased implementation of Next Generation (NextGen) technologies, including Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS-B), throughout southern Florida.

Earlier this year, Dayjet and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) announced a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the FAA to create a NextGen testbed in Florida. The deal will develop replicable procedures that can be used for the accelerated deployment of NextGen technologies nationally.

Setting the stage for the first integrated implementation of NextGen capabilities for passenger services in the continental U.S., the Florida ADS-B Demonstration will focus on the safe expansion of airspace outside metropolitan areas via small community airports using very light jet (VLJ) aircraft operated by a Part 135 on-demand air carrier.

The project is tied to a separate ongoing ITT effort to deploy and operate 11 ADS-B ground stations, key components of NextGen, across the southern half of Florida. DayJet had agreed to operate a portion of its fleet of ADS-B- equipped Eclipse 500 VLJs, providing the government with much-needed data on NextGen operations.

FAA officials said the grounding of DayJet won't impact the NextGen demonstration in Florida since the MoA had not been concluded and DayJet aircraft had not been equipped with ADS-B receivers. As regards replacement aircraft for the Florida flight trials, FAA officials said they "will continue to work to equip aircraft operating in Florida with ADS-B receivers."

The officials continued: "The (NextGen demonstration) program's baseline was not contingent on the DayJet agreement. And the ground infrastructure (ADS-B stations) has been, and continues to be, deployed in Florida. We (the FAA) do not see any impact to the Florida test this or next year."

NextGen is the modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS) using digital technology to redefine every element of air transport--from communications and surveillance to navigation and air traffic management.

NextGen boosts the capacity and efficiency of the NAS by shifting from ground-based systems to digital-based systems located inside the aircraft.

The FAA is implementing new routes and procedures that leverage emerging aircraft navigation capabilities, including Performance-Based Navigation (PBN), a framework for defining navigation performance requirements. PBN includes both Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) specifications.

RNAV enables aircraft to fly on any desired flight path within the coverage of ground or space-based navigation aids, within the limits of the capability of the self-contained systems, or a combination of both capabilities. As such, RNAV aircraft have better access and flexibility for point-to-point operations.

RNP, on the other hand, is RNAV with the addition of an onboard performance monitoring and alerting capability. A defining characteristic of RNP operations is the ability of the aircraft navigation system to monitor the navigation performance it achieves and inform the crew if the requirement is not met during an operation.

The Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is responsible for project management, airspace modeling and simulation, implementing RNP procedures and ADS-B applications along with developing curricula for NextGen education.

According to Steve Hampton, associate dean for research at the College of Aviation and the project's manager, the first phase of the project (2008-2009) will focus on planning the deployment of ADS-B and RNP technology for performance-based navigation, allowing aircraft operators to fly more precise flight paths at optimum altitudes to reduce fuel burn, carbon emissions, and noise.

"This is an early demonstration of new technologies in which ADS-B supports RNP. As we collect data, we will build a business case for ADS-B and Next Gen, replicating what was done in southern Florida to other parts of the country," said Hampton.

ADS-B equipped aircraft will interface with the 11 ADS-B ground stations across south Florida. Five are located at airports; the remaining six on cell phone towers. They are part of the 794-ground station network that ITT is to deploy nationwide by 2013 as part of the firm's $1.8 billion contract from the FAA to set up an ADS-B ground infrastructure. Full commissioning of ADS-B broadcast services in Florida is scheduled for November.

The Florida stations will provide "essential services," including traffic information services (TIS-B) and flight information services (FIS-B). TIS-B broadcasts ATC-provided radar position data on non-ADS-B equipped aircraft. FIS- B provides weather and flight planning information to pilots.

The second phase of the Florida ADS-B Demonstration project (2009-2011) will execute ADS-B/RNP usage while the third phase (2011-2013) will implement SWIM and deploy performance-based communications for flight planning and flight plan management.