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.

Fred Simonds

Wednesday, February 08, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA is implementing a multi-phase strategy (2016-2030) to transform the National Airspace System into a Performance Based Navigation (PBN)-centric environment, relying on RNAV and RNP for enhanced safety and efficiency.
This shift involves the widespread adoption of PBN procedures, gradual replacement of ground-based navigation aids with satellite-based approaches, and increased pilot training and aircraft equipage requirements.
Future advancements include the integration of data communications to streamline pilot-controller interaction, sophisticated automation for traffic management, and robust GPS backup systems, aiming for all IFR aircraft to be LPV or LNAV/VNAV-capable by 2030.

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Many of us routinely use GPS as sole-source navigation throughout our flights. Congratulations; you’re leveraging the benefits of Performance Based Navigation. That’s good.

We have thousands of RNAV (GPS) approaches, many with vertical guidance, and they’re 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.