The March to PBN

Many of us routinely use GPS as sole-source navigation throughout our flights. Congratulations; youre leveraging the benefits of Performance Based Navigation. Thats good. We have thousands of RNAV (GPS) approaches, many with vertical guidance, and theyre far safer, more reliable and more accurate than ground-based approaches. We often fly direct or nearly so. All these advances are reshaping the National Airspace System (NAS) and the way we fly IFR, but PBN is still young.

Key Takeaways:

• The FAA's Performance Based Navigation (PBN) strategy (2016-2030) aims to transform the National Airspace System (NAS) into a GPS-centric environment, leveraging RNAV/RNP for safer, more efficient, and accurate navigation across all flight phases.
• This transformation involves phasing out most traditional ground-based navigation (VORs, NDBs, ILSs) in favor of PBN approaches and route structures, requiring all IFR aircraft to meet higher PBN performance standards.
• Future enhancements include widespread data communications to reduce pilot-controller workload, advanced automation for optimizing traffic flow and reducing delays, and robust GPS backup systems, creating a more predictable and resilient airspace.

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