Satellite system to cut weather delays at SFO
Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 12, 2010
New technology being developed by the Federal Aviation Administration and tested at San Francisco International Airport promises to reduce SFO's notorious bad-weather delays.
FAA officials visited the airport Friday to tout their Next Generation program, which will eventually replace the nation's ground-radar traffic control system, which is based on technology developed after World War II, with satellite technology similar to GPS navigation systems.
"By 2020, radar will be gone," said Vicky Cox, senior vice president of the FAA program.
Some of the technology is already in use at the Bay Area's busiest airport - and more is coming soon. SFO is one of three U.S. airports testing a system that tailors flight routes for individual planes based on conditions rather than assigning them predetermined paths. This allows flights to be more direct and approaches to be smoother, using less fuel.
Satellite system
By fall, SFO will become one of the first airports to get the first phase of a satellite-based system that will provide weather, terrain and air traffic information to pilots in cockpits. That will increase safety and efficiency, Cox said.
The system will be expanded gradually to enable pilots to be able to see air traffic around them virtually on a screen. And eventually, it should enable SFO to operate more efficiently when the weather is cloudy, foggy or rainy.
SFO has parallel runways that are just 750 feet apart, so poor weather creates visibility problems and forces the airport to use just one runway. That cuts capacity from 60 planes per hour to 30, creating backups and sometimes lengthy delays.
"SFO is one of the most challenging airports ... because of the combination of weather and its runway configuration," Cox said.
Using both runways
Ultimately, she said, the goal is to use the new technology to allow SFO to use both runways safely in poor weather, she said. But "that capability is rather far down the road," she said, and it probably won't happen until after 2020.
But before then, she said, the technology could reduce the visibility requirements at SFO, allowing the airport to keep both runways operating more often.
The new technology, said SFO Airport Director John Martin, "allows us to keep chipping away" at the restrictions that force the airport to reduce its capacity.
Cox said the Next Generation system will transform the commercial aviation industry for pilots and passengers alike as the technology is expanded and developed.
"You will be able to fly in low-visibility conditions just as safely as on a nice sunny day. We're not there yet," she said, but they are working on it.
E-mail Michael Cabanatuan at [email protected].
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 12, 2010
New technology being developed by the Federal Aviation Administration and tested at San Francisco International Airport promises to reduce SFO's notorious bad-weather delays.
FAA officials visited the airport Friday to tout their Next Generation program, which will eventually replace the nation's ground-radar traffic control system, which is based on technology developed after World War II, with satellite technology similar to GPS navigation systems.
"By 2020, radar will be gone," said Vicky Cox, senior vice president of the FAA program.
Some of the technology is already in use at the Bay Area's busiest airport - and more is coming soon. SFO is one of three U.S. airports testing a system that tailors flight routes for individual planes based on conditions rather than assigning them predetermined paths. This allows flights to be more direct and approaches to be smoother, using less fuel.
Satellite system
By fall, SFO will become one of the first airports to get the first phase of a satellite-based system that will provide weather, terrain and air traffic information to pilots in cockpits. That will increase safety and efficiency, Cox said.
The system will be expanded gradually to enable pilots to be able to see air traffic around them virtually on a screen. And eventually, it should enable SFO to operate more efficiently when the weather is cloudy, foggy or rainy.
SFO has parallel runways that are just 750 feet apart, so poor weather creates visibility problems and forces the airport to use just one runway. That cuts capacity from 60 planes per hour to 30, creating backups and sometimes lengthy delays.
"SFO is one of the most challenging airports ... because of the combination of weather and its runway configuration," Cox said.
Using both runways
Ultimately, she said, the goal is to use the new technology to allow SFO to use both runways safely in poor weather, she said. But "that capability is rather far down the road," she said, and it probably won't happen until after 2020.
But before then, she said, the technology could reduce the visibility requirements at SFO, allowing the airport to keep both runways operating more often.
The new technology, said SFO Airport Director John Martin, "allows us to keep chipping away" at the restrictions that force the airport to reduce its capacity.
Cox said the Next Generation system will transform the commercial aviation industry for pilots and passengers alike as the technology is expanded and developed.
"You will be able to fly in low-visibility conditions just as safely as on a nice sunny day. We're not there yet," she said, but they are working on it.
E-mail Michael Cabanatuan at [email protected].
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
