Navigation upgrade uneven at U.S. airlines
Written on October 6, 2009
Southwest Airlines is spending $175 million to fit its fleet with advanced navigation equipment aimed at saving time and fuel — an effort stalled at some rivals over money and frustration with U.S. regulators.
The initiative overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration aims to marry new cockpit displays with satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) technology, giving pilots more efficient airport approaches.
The current jet routes, navigated using radio navigation devices and radar, are less precise, less flexible and can cost carriers millions of dollars in wasted fuel.
The GPS-based program is the signature effort in the drive to modernize the U.S. air traffic system. The aim is to ease the effects of bad weather and congestion by opening new room to efficiently and safely operate more planes.
Industry’s slow adoption of the GPS-based system, more than 10 years after its introduction, illustrates the inconsistencies that have defined modernization of the world’s busiest air space.
Politics, bureaucratic missteps, mixed priorities, and financial downturns that have sapped industry finances have all factored into the drawn out effort.
The navigation initiative, introduced in the mid-1990s by Alaska Airlines, requires carriers to pay for new equipment, cockpit displays and training crews.
“It is absolutely where the industry is heading,” said Basil Barimo, vice president of operations and safety for the industry’s lead trade group, the Air Transport Association. “Everyone will be there over a period of several years.”
But the response from carriers has been uneven and the FAA’s role has been criticized.
General Electric Co’s aviation unit, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, and Naverus are key players in development of precision navigation systems.
SAVINGS FROM SHORTER ROUTES
Airlines prefer to buy new planes equipped with the GPS technology. Those with no or few orders on the books, or strapped for cash, are retrofitting planes piecemeal. Less than half the U.S. fleet is fully equipped.
Southwest is buying new planes and retrofitting existing aircraft at a cost of $175 million. The airline currently has more than 500 Boeing Co 737s and hopes to have its fleet completely outfitted by 2013.
Savings from more direct routes are incremental but it adds up. Southwest hopes to save an estimated 25 million gallons of fuel, or $64 million, per year once the fleet update is completed.
Jeff Martin, Southwest’s senior director of flight operations, says the business case is solid for the investment. Others are less bullish.
Filed in: economics.