1 Federal Aviation Administration Mid Term Architecture Briefing and NextGen Implementation 1 Federal Aviation Administration Mid Term Architecture Briefing and NextGen Implementation Federal Aviation Administration NextGen Next Generation Air Transportation System Mary M. Cairns Reduce Weather Impact Solution Set Coordinator Mary M. Cairns Reduce Weather Impact Solution Set Coordinator Delivering NextGen Weather April 21, 2009

2 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 An Opportunity and a Challenge Ahead Demand for aviation services will rise. Operational complexity will increase.

3 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 NextGen is More than FAA Congress: NextGen is “a systems engineering, management, and regulatory challenge as complex as any the nation has ever faced.” Multi-agency partnership FAA has the implementation lead For weather, working with DOC, DoD, NASA, industry & academia

4 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 Weather’s Impact on Operations Delays 70% of delays attributed to weather $28 billion lost annually from commercial delays Safety 14% of GA accidents 34% of GA fatalities Weather continues to be a major cause of delays Non Weather Non Convective Convective

5 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 NextGen: Improvements in All Phases of Flight Weather Goal To provide advanced weather information (e.g., 0-6h convective forecasts) to enable improved collaborative planning and efficient utilization of resources (e.g., airspace, airports) to optimize operations & reduce the impact of weather from gate to gate.

6 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 Improving access to crucial weather information Four Key Weather Thrusts to Reduce Weather’s Impact Improving Weather Forecasts Improving Weather Observations Improving operational decisions by integrating weather information Reduce Weather Impact (RWI) NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW)

7 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 RWI/NNEW Provide Weather Information

8 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 FY 2009 is a Pivotal Year for NextGen The President’s FY09 budget request increases funding for the NextGen portfolio from $230.8 million in FY08 to $688.3 million in FY09 – an increase of 198%. Increased investment enables delivery of significant NextGen capabilities by 2012

9 Federal Aviation Administration The NextGen Weather Story April 21, 2009 NextGen Weather Goal is Realized by Integrating Weather into Decision Making High Density, Flexible Terminal, TBO, and CATM introduce new operational capabilities for increasing capacity and efficiency RWI: Forecast Improvements RAPT: Wx and Routes IDRP: Adds Flight Specifiics & Traffic To maximize benefits: Identify process and request for weather information Integrate that information into decision making processes and tools