New Rules Permit More Jets To Fly Closer In High Altitudes

High altitude flying is now more crowded over North America as aviation regulators implement a new program designed to save airlines time and money. In use elsewhere in the world since 1997, the new standards for reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) took effect on Jan. 20 in the United States, Canada...

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High altitude flying is now more crowded over North America as aviation regulators implement a new program designed to save airlines time and money.

In use elsewhere in the world since 1997, the new standards for reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) took effect on Jan. 20 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Jet aircraft flying about 29,000 feet are now flying with 1,000 feet of vertical separation of each other instead of the former 2,000 feet.

Regional jets as well as mainline jets will benefit from the new operating standards as the rules are "aircraft neutral," said Charles Eastlake, a professor of aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Nor will RJs be at a disadvantage flying closer to a jumbo jet as the lateral separation is not an issue between different types of aircraft, he added. Air traffic controllers will continue to maintain the same 5.75 mile gap between aircraft flying at the same altitude.

"As the data gets more accurate due to improved technology, the FAA said it is now safer to allow the planes to get closer together. Everyone agrees that this is an appropriate thing to do," Eastlake said.

By decreasing the vertical separation between aircraft, the layers reserved for each plane's flight path will be thinner. "So there will be twice as many layers, thus you can fly twice as many planes in the same area," Eastlake said. The change gives the air traffic controllers the flexibility to assign more aircraft to the highest permitted altitudes where the jets fly most efficiently.

"This is a very good example of an increase in air traffic management capacity with a relatively low investment on the part of aircraft operators," said Scott Foose, a Regional Airline Association (RAA) vice president. "The benefits for additional capacity means reduced delays and high altitudes means more fuel efficient flying. The results will be a significant savings to all users."

The ability to pack more planes into the sky may not do much to reduce congestion in the skies for those transcontinental routes, Eastlake said. However, the change will double the number of slots on already busy flight paths along the East Coast.

Pilots, in coordination with the air traffic controllers, should be able to find more high altitude flight paths on these congested corridors so that flight times might be reduced as well as being able to fly more efficiently, Foose added.

Unfortunately, the new RVSM standards will not touch the congestion at the airports.

Based on 2003 calculations released when the FAA issued the final rules, the carriers should collectively save more than $5.3 billion in fuel through 2016. The price of jet fuel has climbed dramatically since those savings were estimated. It will cost the industry about $869 million to modify older aircraft to fly closer together at the higher altitudes.

Foose noted that the RJs that have been delivered to the airlines in recent years are already equipped to meet the new flying standards. Specifically, Foose said a new software upgrade was required for the traffic alert and collision avoidance system on the planes. In addition, a plane's altimeter needed to be calibrated to assure its accuracy. The FAA estimated the cost to modify a plane could be as little as $100 or up to $235,000 for a small number of older airplanes.

When the rules were adopted in 2003, the FAA estimated that 38 percent of the U.S. fleet already had the equipment necessary to meet the new RVSM requirements.

Aircraft that does not meet the new requirements will no longer be permitted to fly at altitudes over 29,000 feet, Foose said. The rules exclude turboprops from flying the higher altitudes even if they have the correct equipment. The FAA has been concerned that a "traffic jam" could develop as a large number of planes would be limited to the altitudes below 29,000 feet. Foose said the FAA has reached its goal of obtaining 90 percent participation in the RVSM program and it is now not anticipating any "traffic jams" at lower altitudes.

Since 1997, when RVSM was introduced for trans-Atlantic flights, there have been more than 10 million flights using reduced separations in the higher altitudes. RVSM is now used over Europe, Australia and the Pacific Ocean.

>>Contacts: Charles Eastlake, Embry-Riddle, (386) 226-6754; Scott Foose, RAA, (202) 367-1212.<<