Aviationtoday.com: An Unlikely Connection

Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal," Albert Einstein once said. Those of us in the aviation industry perhaps know what he meant.

Notably, bewildering change continues to wreak havoc in the field of aeronautical communications, putting intense pressure on avionics decision-makers to modernize and upgrade communications capabilities, maintain system interoperability and share real-time information.

That was the theme of an Aviation Today podcast, "The Next Generation in Aeronautical Communications: How End Users Can Cope With Rapid Technological Change." I interviewed Jeff Saucedo, vice president, product sales, International Communications Group (ICG), Newport News, Va. ICG develops and integrates communications systems for business and military air transport. Its devices replicate the operation of a telephone company’s Central Office facilities, in wireless or mobile applications. During the podcast, Jeff described the profound transformation that’s unfolding in his marketplace, as exemplified by the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen.

"The North American terrestrial system is nearing its termination," Saucedo said. "It has had a great life cycle, and flight departments are currently researching alternatives for their airborne telephone systems. [Some systems] may be without airborne telephony as early as 2008. Flight departments are searching for replacement systems that replicate the existing cabin communications that we’ve all taken for granted."

Filling much of this void, he said, will be NextGen, FAA’s plan to modernize the National Airspace System. Through NextGen, the agency is developing an integrated grid of technologies to support greater capacity and less congestion. Performance Based Navigation (PBN) is helping the FAA create a mechanism for reaching NextGen’s goals. PBN enhances safety, particularly in marginal weather, by minimizing diversions to alternate airports. But PBN will convey other benefits as well.

The Air Transport Association (ATA) projects updating the nation’s antiquated air traffic control system will improve fuel efficiency and reduce the industry’s emissions by 10 to 15 percent. ATA said Air Traffic Management (ATM) solutions, such as better flow control and more efficient approaches to airports, have the potential to reduce aircraft fuel burn by as much as 12 percent.

It’s in the area of ATM that two ostensibly unrelated disciplines — environmentalism and avionics — find their nexus. A concerted campaign is underway to reduce air transport’s carbon footprint and to make the industry a better world citizen. New "green" aviation technologies are under development and implementation.

The subject was addressed during an Aviation Today Webinar, entitled "The Green Challenge in Aviation: How ‘Clean’ Technology Will Affect You," conducted July 31. This Webinar is now archived; you can access it on our site.

The statistics tell a grim story. The Environmental Protection Agency says carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions account for more than 84 percent of U.S. greenhouse emissions. Transportation, including aviation, is the biggest CO2 culprit, at 33 percent. The EPA expects aircraft emissions to become one of the largest contributors to global warming by 2050. Aeroengines are the largest source of emissions dumped into the upper atmosphere, where pollutants have a more intense warming effect than when they are released in identical amounts from the ground.

Aviation’s growth is boosting its pollution output. FAA projects the number of U.S. airline passengers will nearly double to 1.4 billion in 2025. The agency says air traffic controllers will handle 95 million flights by all types of aircraft in 2025, compared with about 64 million last year.

Nonetheless, encouraging progress is being made. Commercial aviation achieved a 35 percent improvement in fuel efficiency since 2001. In fact, absolute fuel consumption of U.S. carriers in 2006 remained 5 percent below the peak reached in 2000, even though carriers last year transported 12 percent more passengers and 22 percent more cargo.

You can access both the ICG podcast and the green aviation Webinar on Aviation Today. You don’t have to be a nuclear physicist to understand the import of these two online events.

John Persinos is publisher and editorial director of AviationToday.com. You can reach him at jpersinos@accessintel.com or 301-385-7211.