NextGen technology tested during American flight
An American Airlines flight has tested some of the technology and procedures of the FAA’s proposed NextGen air traffic management system.
NextGen should significantly reduce carbon emissions and save fuel on transatlantic routes, and the test flight attempted to prove this. The 767-300 flight, from Paris to Miami, was part of the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE) test programme.
The flight operated using several fuel conservation measures, including single-engine taxi on departure and arrival, continuous climb-out and descent, optimised routing over water and a “tailored arrival” approach. The testing was conducted during a normally scheduled flight so that the real-time benefits could be observed.
Bob Reding, American’s executive vice president – operations, stressed that the benefits of the NextGen technology must be demonstrated today in order to ensure the lengthy implementation process runs as smoothly and as speedily as possible. “By implementing this technology as quickly as possible, we can make real and meaningful strides to reduce our impact on the environment, increase system capacity and reduce air traffic delays,” he said. “Utilising NextGen technology is also a crucial part of American’s overall environmental and fuel savings efforts, which have already yielded annual fuel savings of more than 110 million gallons and a reduction of 2.2 billion pounds of carbon emissions.”
Data from the flight, which arrived in Miami approximately 10 minutes late, will now be analysed by the FAA, American and the European Commission to determine the carbon and fuel savings; initial expectations are that up to 1,500lb of fuel could have been saved.
