India Gets It -- Now

This story is pretty self-explanatory. You’ll have to get past some of the nomenclature -- “hovering” means holding as an example. The message is pretty clear though:

”While launching the system, the officials had said it would end congestion and increase efficiency in handling flight movements. But the officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) have now admitted that there is no improvement whatsoever in air traffic congestion. Hinting at the need of a parallel runway and taxiway, they said the problem will continue until infrastructure at the airport is improved. “

Even the name of the failed program ought to sound familiar enough to cause concern -- Performance-Based Navigation System.

It’s your $20 billion dollars the FAA wants to spend on NextGen. You might want to have a say about it before it gets spent. The message is simple. Tell them, “It’s the runways, Stupid.”

Don Brown
September 12, 2008