The Federal Aviation Administration and NASA have developed a system to smooth takeoffs and landings, eliminating delays and unnecessary emissions.
The new software is part of a 20-year effort to modernize the country’s air traffic control system. It includes 11 bits of real-time data from aircraft – including when one aircraft actually left the gate and when another actually hit the tarmac – to more accurately predict flight movements inside and outside the airport.
With this new system, operators, air traffic control, aircraft operators would now be able to share it automatically in real time with fewer telephone calls; finally, the system should eliminate the paper progress strips that air traffic controllers use to manually track flights and develop a fully digital system that can remind air traffic controllers, for example, when a particular runway is closed.
The FAA hopes to deploy the new software at 27 of the country’s busiest airports by 2022 in cities such as Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Phoenix and San Francisco, and it could take 10 years for the agency to access all 27 airports.
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