After 20 years of working on the development and deployment of this technology, I am greatly encouraged to see the acceleration of interest and activity across the globe in recent weeks.  What is really interesting is the breadth of activity both in terms of geography and the variety of stakeholders who are initiating the activity.  I have collected a sample of headlines from online news just to illustrate my point:

First, it is really interesting to see a resourceful city in Canada working to bring airline service to their airport by offering to underwrite costs for RNP procedures used by WestJet: City commits $350,000 to navigational software if WestJet comes to town via The Source

It is a great relief to see the approval of RNP AR procedures at New York’s JFK airport.  It is, of course, good news for jetBlue, but in time it is expected that this will provide relief for international carriers operating to JFK who are quite capable of RNP AR operations and have multiple deployments around the globe, such as Qantas and Emirates: JetBlue A320s use RNP approaches at New York JFK via ATW Online

After a lot of work by the stakeholders of India, the very first PBN procedure was recently inaugurated by Indigo airlines at Cochin airport in the south of India: IndiGo A320 makes India’s first RNP approach landing via ATW Online  

The changes in navigation and the future upgrade plans of the FAA have begun to capture the interest of the popular media and larger population.  USA Today has a regular feature called “Ask the Captain” that recently addressed this technology: Ask the Captain: How has GPS changed flight navigation? via USA Today 

Africa recently made the news with a new PBN procedure in Liberia that was flown by Delta Air Lines and their technical pilots in a 767: RIA Gets GPS Approach System for Flight Landing Delta Applauded for Pro-Bono Test Validation via Daily Observer, Delta Makes Landmark Landing Using RNAV GPS in Liberia via FrontPageAfrica

Nigeria is encouraging Operators and Pilots to “Key In” to PBN as an important technology for their country: Airlines urged to key into satellite based navigation system via The Nation, NAMA to switch to performance based navigation via Vanguard

After two years of collaborative effort with numerous stakeholders, Brazil recently approved the first RNP AR approaches at Santos Dumont, a challenging airport near downtown Rio de Janeiro: Brazil Approves RNP Approaches via AIN Online

Azul recently announced the kickoff of their own RNP AR program in Brazil for their Embraer E-jet fleet: Brazil’s Azul taps GE for RNP-AR operations via Air Traffic Management 

The CEO of Alaska Airlines, the original pioneer with RNP AR operations, provided more insight into the financial rewards of their program: Alaska Airlines Sees ‘Decent Payback’ from RNP Investment via AIN Online

Alaska Airlines continues to be a pioneer in this field with a new SeaTac procedure introduced in early June with the support of many partners: Sea-Tac airliner tests could yield quieter, more efficient landings via The Seattle Times 

The FAA recently announced a contract with ITT and GE Aviation to deploy public RNP procedures at 5 mid-size airports.  It is the first FAA contract for 3^rd Party PBN in the US: ITT Exelis, GE Naverus Win NextGen RNP Contracts via Inside GNSS

The popular resort town of Sun Valley is an excellent candidate to benefit from RNP AR procedures to improve service at the existing airport: Applaud airport reliability effort via Idaho Mountain Express 

There are challenges to successfully deploy PBN procedures that are seen by communities improving their environment.  Lessons are being learned in Charlotte with the local community groups taking action to what they see as a negative experience with PBN: Charlotte Douglas’ efforts not reducing noise, residents’ attorney says via The Charlotte Observer

The Middle East has joined the community of countries with successful PBN programs with a new RNP AR procedure at Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways operates a demonstration RNP-AR flight at Abu Dhabi via Airliners Gallery, Airbus and Etihad Airways begin full RNP-AR implementation in Abu Dhabi Terminal Airspace via Airbus 

Malaysia is on track to have a nation-wide network of RNP procedures supplied by GE Aviation in cooperation with Air Asia and other stakeholders: GE Aviation Implementing Nation-wide RNP Program in Malaysia with AirAsia via Market Watch 

As you read through these headlines from recent weeks, I hope you have the same impression as me, which is that our industry is embracing PBN technology in unprecedented ways and there is much to celebrate in these successes!

Now, to talk about July, which was a busy month for the aviation world. A few weeks ago, Farnborough hosted our largest industry tradeshow of the year. On July 16, I took part in a first flight in Lima, Peru with LAN Airlines and spent remainder of that week taking part in Latin America’s PBN Summit. Here’s a little more detail on these things:

Farnborough: I was in Rio de Janeiro for customer meetings and wasn’t able to attend this year’s show, but you can check out all the things that GE Aviation did at www.geaviation.com/shows.

As I noted earlier, I recently took part in the first Required Navigation Performance Authorization Required (RNP AR) to Instrument Landing System (ILS) with autoland flight at Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport.  LAN Peru Captain Jose Salazar was at the controls of this regularly scheduled passenger flight from Aeroquipa to Lima with LAN Peru VP of Operations Captain Pedro Robles and myself in the flightdeck jumpseats as observers.  This project required a substantial amount of background work with excellent cooperation among all the involved parties.  All of this was evident to me as I watched the elegance of the procedure engineering enable the A319 to transition gracefully from the RNP arrival and approach to the ILS for the automatic landing on Lima Runway 15 at 1502 UTC on July 16^th.  At the transition point from RNP to ILS, there is a complete transition of guidance control laws and I was amazed to see this occur without even the slightest waggle of wings – it was one completely seamless path from top of descent to touchdown.   As the Cat III ILS to Runway 15 at Lima is published shortly, this new integrated deployment will enable airlines to enjoy the efficiency and predictability benefits of RNP operations in all-weather conditions at Lima.

For the remainder of the week, I attended the Latin America PBN Forum in Lima, Peru. The Forum promotes safety, efficiency and collaboration for Latin America’s aviation infrastructure.  It emphasizes collaboration as a way to achieve common goals and brings together key stakeholders to share their needs, vision, knowledge, and plans that can lead to an inclusive and successful PBN implementation in the region. Leaders from regional governments, airlines, airports, regulatory agencies and air navigation service providers participated, as well as global aviation organizations IATA, ICAO, and ALTA.

Lastly, I’d like to thank David Parker Brown – also known as @airlinereporter – for having me guest post on his blog. My fellow GE AvGeeks, Steve Csonka and Dale Carlson, have also posted within the last month. To read my post, click here.

I hope you’ll take a moment to reflect on how much progress we are all making in upgrading airspace operations around the globe!

Steve

On May 10, I had the opportunity to speak at a TEDx event in Cincinnati, Oh. The younger brother of the larger TED – Technology, Entertainment, Design – conferences in Long Beach/Palm Springs and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK, TEDx’s are locally run but bring the same level of provocative thought and passion.

My presentation reflected what I am passionate about; building highways in the sky. The good people at TEDx Cincy shared a video of my presentation. Watch below and tell me what you think! 

 Jump to http://www.tedxcincy.com/videos/ to see the full run of show from TEDx Cincy’s 2012 Plugged and Unplugged: The Crossroads of Technology and Artisanship

A special thank you to all of the local entrepreneurs, designers, lawyers (and sometimes board-game makers) who coordinated the event. It was great to be around such enthusiastic peers who are trying to change the world in their own special way.

Steve

Just before Christmas I was in China for my 44^th visit since helping to launch RNP operations in China beginning with the Air China Boeing 757 in Lhasa in November of 2004.  Click here to see a photo. The occasion for this visit was to kick off our brand new training course, “PBN 201: Integrating PBN into Air Traffic Management”.  PBN technology is endorsed by international organizations and regulatory agencies globally and is recognized as the enabler of more consistent and efficient operations at remote and busy terminal environments.  In consideration of these benefits, the global expansion of Performance-based Navigation (PBN) is continuing to increase.  A number of countries have done a remarkable job preparing PBN deployment plans and with trial deployments to gain experience and validate results for stakeholders.  These same countries are then moving rapidly toward broad deployment with the idea of multiplying the benefits at an exponential rate through a network deployment of PBN infrastructure across the country.  With expansion of PBN procedures at mid to high traffic airports, transformations in air traffic management concepts and techniques are needed to address a mixture of PBN and traditional operations.

China is an excellent example of a country that is remarkable in their PBN plans and progress with deployment, particularly with RNP.  The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and Air China had their first introduction to PBN during a visit to Boeing in the early part of the last decade.  During that visit, they had a briefing on the aircraft capability and a simulator demonstration of the RNP operation in Juneau that had been pioneered by Alaska Airlines in the mid-1990’s.  That introduction to RNP led to the launch of their first RNP deployment in Lhasa, Tibet which went into service with an Air China 757 in May 2006.  Success led to success and today there are over a dozen airports equipped with RNP procedures flown by all four of the major airlines in China and an increasing number of regional operators.

There is one common theme for all of the RNP deployments at China airports to date, and that is to reduce the risk of operations at some of the most challenges airports in the world.  The majority of the work has been in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province, and Sichuan Province.  In most of this region, the average terrain elevations are 15,000’ and current RNP operations ensure predictable, reliable airline operations to airports in Tibet like Bangda with an elevation of 14,200’ and Ali, with an elevation just over 14,000’.  With these extreme airport environments, the China RNP deployment strategy is understandable.  Other countries that are actively deploying RNP have also focused on high-risk airports as a first step in deployment.  What we have seen in other countries however, is a transition very quickly to an RNP deployment schedule that focuses on air traffic operational efficiency. 

Being at the forefront of the global PBN transformation, GE is focused on developing and delivering air traffic management solutions that improve aircraft operations and the air traffic control workload.  The PBN 201 course was created to address the need for ATM transformation associated with wide implementations and to help participants understand what’s required for successful PBN integration in a wide-variety of environments, including busy terminal areas.

The PBN 201 course builds on the real-world example of the pioneering work of the Brisbane Green RNP Project and highlights the results of this trial in an environment of medium density traffic with various levels of aircraft capability.  Details on practical integration of PBN into the ATM system, including technical training requirements, project management and existing regulatory and guidance material was covered in the course. 

We had a lot of positive feedback from the participants in the course and we expect to offer the course again in the future as part of our effort to support the deployment of PBN infrastructure in the various world regions.

David Huber Fulton was the most significant person in my life.  He was my Dad and a pilot for the US Air Force and then Delta Air Lines.  I grew up crazy about airplanes and dreaming of being a pilot like him.  He encouraged me to study hard in school to gain a solid academic foundation that would be a complement to my flying skills.  My engineering training and flying qualifications have proven to be a tremendous combination in helping me think through some of the toughest challenges in aviation navigation.   As I look back on what I have been able to accomplish in my life, I have him to thank for most of it.

My Dad died five weeks ago and I’m in the very human process of grieving his passing.  It is not easy, but our family is quite close and we’re helping each other through it.  These are the times in life that we pause and think about more than just the normal, everyday routine things of life. 

Steve Jobs gave a commencement address to the graduating class at Stanford University in 2005.  He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the previous year which resulted in his own time of reflection on the subject of death.  He told the class that, “Death is very likely the single best invention of life.  It is life’s change agent.”  Jobs described his morning routine where he looked in the mirror and asked the question of himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”  If the answer to that question too many days in a row was, “No”, then he knew he needed to change something.  Steve Jobs accomplished a lot in his life, but it has been observed by many since his death a few weeks ago that his final years since his cancer diagnosis were the most productive in his entire career.

All of us want to do meaningful work – that is, to work on things that make a difference.  We have an innate need to be part of something that is bigger than ourselves.  I began to recognize my opportunity to do this early on in my time as a pilot for Alaska Airlines. It became clear to me that there was a better way to navigate than with the old ground-based transmitters and the associated operating rules that had prevailed for the previous decades of air transport operations. 

Over a course of events, I was able to lead the development and operational deployment of an entirely new way of navigating aircraft that revolutionized operations for Alaska Airlines and is now the focus of significant deployment efforts around the globe.  However, as satisfying as these accomplishments are, I feel a certain amount of restlessness.  I know there’s more that can be done.  Air traffic operations today are safe, but inefficient and subject to disruptions.  I know we can improve, but we need to make better progress than what we are seeing from current activities.

I work with people at GE who share this same sense of purpose and calling.  We can build on the foundation of performance-based navigation and connect with other technologies to bring significant improvements to air traffic operations.  Dare to imagine with us a world where airplanes depart as scheduled, transit to their destinations with lower cost and environmental impact and arrive precisely on schedule.  We believe it is within our ability to help create this future of air traffic management and that it is a life-cause that passes the “bathroom mirror” test described by Steve Jobs.  I look forward to working with my colleagues at GE and those of you across the industry as partners to accomplish this dream.

Boarded a plane recently? You’ve no doubt noticed that air traffic delays are bad, and they’re only getting worse — much worse. In 2009, 100 million system delay minutes cost U.S. passenger airlines nearly $6.1 billion, and those numbers just keep on rising.

One thing’s for certain: We need technology to rescue our struggling air travel system. And one such technology is GE’s Required Navigation Performance (RNP) landing approaches. This technology lets planes fly precisely-defined flight paths without relying on outdated, ground-based radio navigation — rather, it works with precise satellite navigation and advanced tech aboard the aircraft, creating shorter and more efficient flight paths that reduce delays and alleviate air traffic.

According to a new study (http://www.geaviation.com/aboutgeae/presscenter/pdf/GE_study.pdf ), Highways in the Sky, deploying RNP at 46 mid-size U.S. airports could save the following:
12.9 million gallons of fuel, 274.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 17,900 hours and $65.6 million in operational costs.

For more information, visit: http://www.gereports.com/see-what-more-efficient-air-travel-looks-like/.