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NextGen Now | Winter 2014
on approach, and from four miles to minimum radar
separation (either three or two-and-a-half, depending
on the airport) for a category F behind a category E, are
just a couple of the changes that the Houston area will
benefit from with their implementation of RECAT," said
Pressley.
The other RECAT facilities can expect to see these
changes to the procedures by late January, once training
can be scheduled. The RECAT team will remain busy
throughout the rest of fiscal year 2015, as RECAT will
be implemented in Charlotte, Chicago, New York, and
Northern California.
"Our intention is to implement RECAT Phase II for the first
time with our implementation in Northern California later
in 2015," explained Pressley. "RECAT Phase II gives us the
ability to customize RECAT to an individual facility's traffic
mix and makes it even more beneficial to the carriers and
the controllers. We will be applying RECAT Phase II at all
of the facilities that previously implemented Phase I. We
are confident that all of those facilities will show an even
greater benefit than they see today."
Flying conventional routes, controllers
block off space all around the aircraft
to account for variations in flight
path, ensuring aircraft will be safely
separated.
When flying precision satellite-routes,
flight paths are more accurate and
predictable, thus removing the need
for the extra separation and increasing
efficiency.
