The FAA has announced a list of the first VORs to be removed from the national airspace system in its effort to reduce the number of navigation aids it says are unnecessary as pilots transition more and more to satellite-based navigation. Thirty-five VORs in 17 states are now on the slate for removal. The goal is to eventually remove as many as half of the nearly 1,000 currently operational VORs.
FAA Begins VOR Decommissioning Program
Key Takeaways:
- The FAA has begun removing VORs from the national airspace, starting with 35, due to the increasing use of satellite-based navigation and the high cost of maintaining aging VOR infrastructure.
- The agency's long-term goal is to reduce the number of VORs by half, establishing a Minimum Operational Network (MON) to ensure continued VOR coverage for airways and IFR landings in case of satellite navigation outages.
- This transition to the MON is expected to significantly impact thousands of instrument approach procedures and other flight procedures (ODPs, SIDs, STARs), creating a substantial workload for chart providers.
Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->
See a mistake? Contact us.
