The new FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 aka The FAA Reauthorization Bill which was released on February 14 2012 has set the stage for major improvements in the airline and cargo industry. Although the bill is over 400 pages of material highlighted with important information, I will chose 3 of the main topics that I believe will have the largest impact on the industry.
The first one I will talk about is pry the most important and will have the most impact on the industry over time and that is the Next Generation Air Transport System aka NextGen. NextGen according to the FAA is a way to update navigation using surveillance technology. It will increase safety significantly and save airlines alot of money by " shaving minutes off flight times as we enhance the airspace around our busiest clusters of airports." Which translates into shorter flights to help save fuel and help the environment. In the new FAA Reauthorization Bill it pushes for a faster timeline to implement NextGen. It will mandate precision navigational procedures at 35 US airports by 2015. The Reauthorization Bill will implement the NextGen faster then originally thought.
The second point which I believe will be most beneficial for the industry is Runway Safety. In the new bill the FAA pushes to develop and implement a plan to improve runway safety. This new runway safety will scientifically reduce runway incursions within six months. The new bill which is planned to be in place by June 30 2012 will alert pilots and controllers of potential runway incursions. This is great news for everyone in the industry. Runway incursions are a very dangerous situation that could lead to a incident or accident. According to FAA Runway Safety there were 954 runway incursions in 2011. With then new bill the new Runway Safety will improve runway safety and reduce the number of runway incursions.
The last point in the FAA Reauthorization Bill that I believe is a good implement is putting cockpit doors for all-cargo aircraft. You may think whats the point of putting doors on planes when the only thing on the airplanes are the pilots and boxes, but with terrorism in the world increasing every day cargo airplanes are an easy target. With cargo companies not having enough man power to check every single cargo on the airplane they just do a random check. There have been rumors going around that the next target for terrorists is putting people with bombs in the cargo. With the new bill implementing cockpit doors, this will eliminate the potential danger of people fitting in cargo and busting in the cockpit. This was never a discussion before the new FAA Reauthorization Bill came out. I strongly believe this is very smart, and in the industry and the way the world is today, it is defiantly better to be safe then sorry.
Normally the FAA responds after an incident, it's interesting to see that with respect to cargo doors, they're being proactive about it. I still think a terrorist attack via cargo means (like shipping oneself) is still a bit farfetched, but I suppose it's possible. Bombs make more sense, I could see that happening. Some sort of mass shipping of FedEx Overnighters from various points around the country with bombs, surely a few are bound to make it through the system. Nonetheless, regarding flight deck doors on cargo aircraft, it’s good to see the FAA being proactive about something; part of me wonders if this is in some response to some sort of intel the governments received, hence the proactive approach to the flight deck doors on cargo aircraft.
ReplyDeleteNice selection of the three most important things. While I think that NextGen is pretty much a given at number one, the other two elements are all very qualified for numbers two and three, and it's fun to see everyone's choices. The cargo doors are a nice safety enhancement to cargo aircraft. Being that cargo airlines don't carry passengers they may get a bit complacent regarding terrorist attacks, and their aircraft reflect that. This may be however a bit of a late reaction to the FedEx incident when a deadheading pilot attempted to hijack the airplane.
ReplyDeleteI really didn't know why cargo doors were so important but now I do..nice job for this blog
ReplyDeleteIt surprising you chose to write about the cargo doors issue. The entire issue is very ambiguous to me so I was very appreciative of your analysis. I do however agree with Brian about the FAA making changes before incidents are happening.
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