Travelers could see fewer delays and quieter flights in future years as a result of a planned revamp of flight paths in the Atlanta area.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it is launching the design of improved flight paths for planes flying in and out of airports in the Atlanta and Charlotte areas.
The goal is to cut delays, reduce emissions and improve the flow of air traffic, according to the FAA.
The FAA estimates the improvements in Atlanta will cut aircraft nautical miles flown by 1.2 million, reduce fuel costs by $7.7 million, cut fuel consumption by 2.8 million gallons and reduce carbon emissions by 30,000 metric tons.
With Atlanta home to the world's busiest airport, "What helps Atlanta has a ripple effect that helps the entire country," FAA acting Administrator Michael Huerta said.
The project is expected to take three years to complete, including design and planning, any environmental assessments necessary, and training of air traffic controllers.
The effort in Charlotte and Atlanta is the latest focus for the FAA's Metroplex program, covering areas plagued by air traffic congestion. Metroplex efforts are under way or in the works in 21 metropolitan areas across the country.
It's part of a broader modernization of air traffic control infrastructure called NextGen. The improvements are enabled by the expansion of global positioning system technology in aircraft, which gives pilots and air traffic controllers more precise locations for aircraft compared with the long-used radar-based system.
One of the key changes planned for the Atlanta area is an expansion of flight procedures using continuous descents, rather than the step-by-step descent method now used.
The new procedures allow pilots to almost idle the engines during descent, cutting noise, fuel burn and carbon emissions, the FAA said.
After a period of testing, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines began using the new descent procedure Saturday on some flights to prepare for the broadened use to come.
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