Originally Posted by
iPilot
It's the biggest red herring in the history of the world. What a better way to blame overcrowding of NYC's airspace, lack of qualified controllers, and not enough runways than some pie-in-the-sky technology that is way out of our price-range? I can't wait for all this new stuff to be implemented and STILL be stuck at JFK for hours in the conga line.
iPilot, you hit the nail on the head. The "modernize ATC" is a colossal red herring.
It is a matter of simple physics that it takes x amount of time for an airplane to land, and clear the runway. Add some more if you plan on getting a departure between arrivals.
No amount of new, whiz bang ATC toys will change the laws of physics. ATC has the capability to sequence aircraft to within the limits of the concrete.
It is THAT concrete that is the true limiting factor. But it is THAT ugly truth that the public doesn't want to hear, because REAL capacity increases mean building and expanding the current airports, and the NIMBYS will NEVER let that happen.
In MSP, they brought in the latest experimental PRM radar. It was one of the original test sites. Tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on ATC and pilot training and facilities, and what did all this money produce? From what I am told, the net increase in arrivals was 3 aircraft per hour, which is totally blown if one aircraft is "broken out" .
On the other hand, they build a new runway, which wasn't even aligned with the rest of the complex, and it has had a HUGE increase in capacity and throughput.
Even in cases where a realignment of non-runway related ATC procedures CAN produce viable result is stopped by the NIMBYS. When they tried to re-align the airspace in NYC, all the Limousine Liberals out on Long Island started *****ing, and poof, there goes any improvement.
When they start laying concrete, then they can talk.
Nu