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Securing the Future of U.S. Air Transportation A System in Peril (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Pages 1-5

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From page 1...
... national leadership to create a comprehensive, widely accepted long-term vision and a coherent set of requirements from all federal agencies with a major stake in the air transportation system. The continued absence of a national-level endeavor to address the current situation threatens to place the air transportation system in increasing peril.
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From page 2...
... Issues associated with safety, security, and environmental compatibility are also exacerbated by greater demand, and the effectiveness of currently envisioned near-term solutions in each of these areas would be diminished if demand for air travel in the United States doubles over the next 10 to 35 years, as currently projected. Increasing passenger throughput enough to keep up with increased demand requires eliminating constraints and improving the flexibility of the system enough to overcome localized capacity problems while accommodating the full range of authorized users (commercial, private, and military)
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From page 3...
... A unified, long-term national vision endorsed and supported by the aeronautics community as a whole and cognizant federal agencies. Developing meaningful and useful operational concepts stemming from a broadly defined vision of the air transportation system 25 to 50 years hence is a critically important task in the process of improving the performance of the system.
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From page 4...
... make informed investment decisions to reduce the schedule, cost, and technical risks of system improvements. In addition, the process of securing the future would be greatly facilitated if the federal agencies that support research in aviation system models would improve their coordination especially with regard to the following: · research plans · participation of industry and academia · criteria for maintenance and validation · availability of models · use of models by decision makers The government and other interested parties should support additional simulation and modeling research in the following areas: interoperability safety analysis · demand and demand allocation · validation of models and suites of models · formation of a suite of system models · role of humans in the aviation system of the future IMPROVING AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE Improvements in aircraft performance are critical to achieving necessary improvements in almost every aspect of the overall performance of the air transportation system.
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From page 5...
... Accordingly, the committee did not examine technologies related to these vehicle classes and makes no recommendations concerning the future direction of research in these areas. Nonetheless, the process for change recommended by the committee would facilitate the planning of research for all vehicle types.
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Key Terms

  • operational concepts
  • air traffic
  • aeronautics research
  • technology goals
  • focused leadership

  • traffic control
  • national vision
  • increased demand
  • aircraft performance
  • widely endorsed

  • traffic management
  • air travel
  • environmental compatibility
  • consumer demand
  • future vision

  • aircraft operations
  • coherent set
  • increasingly difficult
  • strong action
  • aeronautical research

  • continued success
  • evolutionary improvements
  • individual airlines
  • concepts stemming
  • major stake

  • eliminating constraints
  • challenge accepted
  • permanently changed
  • technical risks
  • aeronautics industry


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