FAA’s Bedford: ATC Apps Key to Innovating Faster 

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told industry leaders at the Honeywell aviation leadership conclave last week in Washington, D.C., that the agency needs an ATC system based on iPad-like applications. New tools, including commercial off-the-shelf systems, will be used, Bedford said.

“We have to move from an analog National Airspace System to a digital NAS,” he said. "How data is delivered is less relevant than rearchitecting the ATC system."



Bedford added ATC systems such as Stars and advanced technologies and oceanic procedures are some of the most sophisticated and safe on the planet. But these systems are not connected, and only New York Tracon controllers can see the local traffic data. The aim is to create a common automation system with all the data in the cloud.



The agency will build a four-layer system with computers on the bottom, then an operating system layer, a data layer, and an application layer on top. “The application layer is where the magic will happen,” he said. This will take the FAA from a tactical to strategic approach to air traffic and may boost capacity 20 percent while unlocking a pace of innovation that has been beyond the FAA’s grasp. 

In a response to a question, Bedford said the new system is expected to serve business and general aviation better than the current one.