Airport implements new traffic control system

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A new procedure to manage air traffic at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport was implemented Tuesday morning, and pilots say it will be safer and more precise.

But a union representative for Charlotte’s air traffic controllers has concerns about whether controllers were properly trained on the new system.

The system, called RNAV, will mean pilots will rely on their automated navigation system to land into Charlotte-Douglas, rather than taking full direction from the air traffic control tower. It will be used only for arrivals at first. Departures are expected to use the same system later this summer.

The Air Line Pilots Association says the system better manages the air traffic coming into the airport, including the planes’ separation space and speed.

Pilots will load arrival information into an onboard computer. The ALPA says this will cut down the amount of talking to air traffic controllers and allows air traffic controllers to focus on their two major concerns: separating planes and keeping them from running into one another.

The ALPA says the computer system will eliminate the need for air traffic control to say words like “rise to 10,000 feet and turn left.” It works in a 35-mile radius of the airport and up to 14,000 feet high.

Charlotte’s ALPA representative says it will allow more traffic into and out of the airport.

Right now US Airways, which has a major hub in Charlotte, runs 500 trips per day alone. A US Airways spokesman says most of the airline’s Airbuses, 757’s and 737’s are already equipped with the technology because they fly into other airports that already have it. The airline says it pushed for the new system, calling it the “wave of the future.”

“It's making getting from point A to point B a little more precise,” said Michelle Mohr, a spokeswoman for US Airways.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the precise routes increase efficiency, saving fuel and time. The FAA says American Airlines is saving $15 million in fuel at Dallas Fort Worth Airport because of RNAV, and Delta's departure delays are on average three minutes shorter.

“We have record flight loads in the skies this summer and a whole lot of capacity out there so anything you can do to streamline the system and make it more efficient is good,” said Mohr.

But Ben Murray, the air traffic controllers’ union representative in Charlotte, said the implementation of the new RNAV system was poorly planned, and many controllers did not get adequate training in simulated scenarios.

Greg Jones, also with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, says they didn't learn the new procedure was going in to effect until yesterday.

“It kind of caught us off guard, so we weren't ready to put it in effect today and I don't think the pilots were either,” said Greg Jones, Vice President of the Charlotte chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Jones is concerned that because pilots will be relying on their navigation systems, air traffic controllers will not be in control when something goes wrong, like bad weather.

“You get complacent when you just sit there and expect an airplane to sit there and do the same thing over and over again and when one doesn't it catches you off guard,” said Jones.

Murray also said that when the system is put into place for departures, it could delay the take-off times for smaller planes going places such as Myrtle Beach because they’ll be put further back in line so big planes can leave on schedule.

(WCNC's Tony Burbeck contributed the information used in this report.)