Community Corner
New FAA Flight Procedures Trigger Delays At Southland Airports
Travellers passing through LAX as well as Bob Hope, John Wayne, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Van Nuys airports can expect delays.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Southland air travelers would be wise to check with their airlines for possible flight delays as the FAA continues implementing a new satellite navigation system designed to make airspace more efficient and improve access to airports.
The NextGen program is being added in dozens of metropolitan or "Metroplex" areas around the country and uses satellite navigation to replace older conventional systems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Last Thursday, the FAA implemented more than 60 new arrival and departure procedures as part of the Southern California Metroplex project, according to the agency.
Find out what's happening in Los Angelesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In the Southland, airports affected by the new program include Bob Hope, Hawthorne Municipal, Los Angeles International, Long Beach, Ontario International, Oxnard, Palm Springs International, San Diego International, Santa Monica Municipal, John Wayne-Orange County and Van Nuys airports.
The FAA said:
Find out what's happening in Los Angelesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"The procedures are new to both pilots and air traffic controllers. As a result, we deliberately slowed down the system to ensure the procedures are working properly and to allow pilots and controllers to become accustomed to using them. We have taken similar initiatives when we implemented other Metroplex projects. We will return to normal operations as soon as possible.
"We are gradually increasing the LAX arrival and departure rates as everyone gets more used to the system. We increased the rates this morning, and will do so again later in the week. This will reduce delays as we get the system toward normal operations.
"We are increasing the LAX rates more quickly than we anticipated we would when we implemented the routes last week. Air traffic controllers underwent extensive training on the new procedures, but it is prudent to slow down the system when the procedures are initially in use."
More information is available at http://metroplexenvironmental.com/socal_metroplex/socal_introduction.html.
City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock
