Part C : Issues and Challenges of air transportation system.

1. CONGESTION AND DELAY

While ensuring security is the foremost challenge facing the aviation

sector, the efficient use and allocation of the nation’s airspace and airport
capacity remain as long-term public policy imperatives. During the past
decade, flight delays caused by system congestion and other factors have
been a chronic source of frustration and cost for air travelers and the
aviation industry.

Recurrent delays and the unpredictability of schedules in the commercial

aviation system are major problems for airlines and air travelers. The
growing popularity of business jets and the introduction of fractional
ownership programs are attributable in part to the desire of some travelers
to obtain more reliable service and, in some cases, to avoid the crowds
and congestion at major airports.

2. CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY

Aviation safety has improved markedly over the past 40 years. However,
a gradually declining accident rate can still yield an increase in the
absolute number of accidents because of growth in the number of flights.
Since the use of jet aircraft became widespread in the 1960s and as more
safety-oriented regulations, procedures, and technologies have been
introduced, the aviation accident rate has declined sufficiently to keep the
total number of accidents in check. Nevertheless, each air transportation
crash is a high-profile event and influences the public’s perception of
aviation safety. Hence, continued progress in reducing accident rates is
critical to ensuring public confidence in the system.
 3. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPATIBILITY

Airports have long been a focus of environmental concern. Because of

their size, functional requirements, and use in transporting passengers and
high-value cargo, airports tend to be located on large, flat sites near
populated areas. Suitable sites are often found on the shores of rivers,
lakes, and oceans, or in wetlands or other types of landscape thought to
have little economic value when originally selected for airport
development. These sites, however, often support important ecological
systems whose disturbance can affect plant and animal communities and
humans.

The types of environmental impacts associated with the development and

operation of airports are varied. They generally fall into two categories:
“footprint” and “operational” effects. Footprint effects are those resulting
from the location, size, and configuration of airport facilities and may
include effects on water quality (surface and subsurface), wetlands,
floodplains, species habitats, and land uses (farmland, parks and
recreational areas, and protected landscapes, such as coastal zones).

Operational effects are those attributable to changes in the volume of

aviation operations and the composition of the aircraft fleet, which may
result in increases in aircraft noise and pollutant emissions, as well as
other social externalities such as increased highway traffic congestion.
Part D : Solutions
Congestion and Delay
Future growth in air travel demand could exacerbate congestion and
increase the incidence and severity of flight delays. Much of the delay
experienced by passengers is attributable to bottlenecks in the system,
which often result from capacity shortages at a small number of large
airports with limited infrastructure and heavy passenger demand. Most
commercial airports in the United States have excess capacity, even
during peak travel times. General efforts to curb overall growth in
passenger traffic—for instance, through diversion of travelers to other
modes—hold limited potential to alleviate delay problems. While it is
important to develop system wide strategies to enhance airport and air
traffic capacity, remedies that are targeted to removing system
bottlenecks are essential.

Aviation Safety
Aircraft accidents, especially by air carriers, are often high-profile events,
affecting the public’s overall perceptions of aviation safety. Government
and industry, recognizing that even small degradations can cause a loss of
public confidence in flying, have gone to great lengths to ensure safety.
Therefore, systematic checks is must to be carried out and at its finest via
guides from FAA’s (United States of America). Moreover, safety seminars
are to be constantly adapted by airlines for their respective Aviation
service engineers as they should be keen on updates in both softwares and
machinery upgrades for the aircraft. Pilots are hold most accountable as
they represent the main human error according to statistics, thus
improved pilot performance is a key safety requirement.
Environmental Compatibility
Environmental issues constrain growth in the aviation sector. Aircraft
noise and, increasingly, air quality concerns are major impediments to the
expanded use of many airports, despite technologies that have made
aircraft engines quieter and reduced pollutant emissions. Growth in the
overall number of aircraft operations has been associated with increases
in cumulative noise and air pollutant levels. Changes in an airport’s
infrastructure and use characteristics, including changes in the mix of
aircraft using the airport, are therefore likely to continue to attract
scrutiny, and the issues raised will require remediation.