Environment

In today’s world, environmental concerns are front and center.  And  NextGen is “thinking green.” 

A key objective is to “develop environmental protection that allows sustained aviation growth.”  In this regard, in efforts to be a good neighbor, environmentally speaking, JPDO is working to set “green goals.”  In this effort, JPDO, and its government and  industry  partners are focusing on primary environmental concerns: aviation noise; air quality; and fuel consumption.

One area that is being addressed relates to the environmental impact of how planes descend.  Current practice calls for a “step-down” approach, which requires planes to level-off in stages during their descent.  As planes level off at each succeeding level, level, high fuel thrust is required, resulting in more noise and fuel burn.    

To deal with this issue, Continuous Descent Approach (CDA), a more environmentally friendly method, is under development.  With CDA in place, noise and emissions will be reduced by allowing aircraft to constantly “drop down” from the top of the descent all the way to touch-down. 

NextGen is also developing a new capability: 4D trajectory operations, 4DT (which includes altitude, longitude, and latitude, plus time).  With 4DT in place, airplanes can approach their airport destinations at higher altitudes before starting to descend, further reducing burn, noise and emissions.