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New FAA system can track twice as many flights at once
Whoever said "it's the journey, not the destination" obviously lived in a time before air travel. But maybe, just maybe, the Department of Transportation's implementation of the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM), the "backbone" of the NextGen air-traffic system, could change how we feel about getting on a flight. There are a few things making up ERAM: performance based navigation, automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and data comm. (www.engadget.com) More...
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Twice as many? The new system allows for 16 Million Addresses instead of just about 2400!
Having 16 million unique identifiers is not the same as being able to manage and track 16 million flights. While they have vastly more identifiers, the entire system can handle about twice as many flights as before.
There is no doubt that all the Next-Gen doo-dads will make things safer and more efficient in the air. Problem is, how are those planes gonna be handled on the ground? ATC's worry will be bringing them to the runway and they are done with them for that leg. Can our existing Airports handle that influx then? Is there a breaking point somewhere? Slots are already at a premium at many of our hubs and getting worse. Heathrow is basically at capacity as is DCS and LGA, just to name a few. It is not uncommon, from almost any hub, to be 15-20 in line for takeoff, maybe worse, as airlines go to back to bunching. It will all be interesting.
