New Air Traffic Control System Cuts Travel Time.
<FONT SIZE="+3"><B> New Air Traffic Control System Cuts Travel Time</B>
Fred Gebhart
Xian, China - Tests of a futuristic air traffic control system in China earlier this year already are paying dividends on transpacific air routes. FANS, or Future Air Navigation System, is helping United Airlines cut three to five hours off travel time between Chicago and Hong Kong.
"This is only the beginning," said Joe Hopkins, a spokesman for United, which pioneered the new non-stop route in July. "FANS provides more precise navigation, which means aircraft can fly closer together so more planes can utilize the most efficient routes. We're looking to use it on all of our 747 transpacific flights, as well as 777 flights to Europe and South America."
United's time savings comes from a new route over Russia and China-one of many new air corridors in the region-versus the old routing via San Francisco or Tokyo. The other key to the route is a new air traffic control facility at Magadan in Eastern Russia. Airlines from at least nine Pacific Rim countries are planning to use FANS, which is based on satellite navigation, by the end of 1997.
Traditional air traffic control relies on ground-based radar. A radar system works reasonably well in the United States, where there are many radar stations to follow traffic, explained Neal Bronson, project manager of the FANS Stakeholders Group at the International Air Traffic Association in Montreal. But in less populated areas with few radar installations, planes are largely invisible to ground controllers.
Many countries are reluctant to open their airspace to planes they can't track. Even if the airspace is available, controllers must allow large separations between each plane in case they're off course.
The Bay of Bengal is one of the first FANS air traffic control regions. Under conventional ATC, high traffic volume and poor radar coverage in the region have forced many flights to fly low or to fly circuitous routes, both of which take more time and burn more fuel. As a result, carriers in the region are pushing to extend the new system, according to Bronson. "Cutting even 10 or 15 minutes off every flight is an enormous savings," he said.
FANS uses satellite-based navigation systems originally created for military purposes by the United States and the former Soviet Union. A third, privately owned system also is being put in place. Using signals from several satellites, pilots can determine their position to within a few feet every minute or so, then signal their position to ground controllers.
"I can sit in my office near Dallas and track our FANS-equipped aircraft anywhere in the world," said Mike Ball, director of Air Traffic Management Systems for Seal Beach, Calif.-based Rockwell International Corp. Rockwell is one of several firms around the world competing to build air traffic control systems based on the new technology. A test in Xian, China, last March showed that the system not only works, but can be integrated into existing air traffic control systems. If the two systems didn't work together, airlines and ATC authorities worldwide would be forced to switch systems overnight.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has budgeted for the new system. If the program is completed, China will save about $4.4 billion over the cost of upgrading its creaky ground radar system.