Too Many Approaches

One commenter expressed approval of the cancellation of a circling procedure only if all runways accessible by the procedure have a straight-in IAP with lower minimums than in the canceled procedure. The FAA replied that its policy is not meant to assure straight-in IAPs for every runway end, but rather to minimize redundancy. While cancelling some circling procedures might reduce airport accessibility, runway availability will be unaffected. You might have to fly further to get access to your approach, but its availability will stay the same.

Fred Simonds

Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA is actively reducing the number of instrument approach procedures (IAPs) and specifically circling minimums to decrease maintenance costs and resource usage while striving to maintain National Airspace System safety and accessibility.
The finalized policy for canceling circling minimums prioritizes retaining essential approaches such as the only IAP at an airport, those at designated Minimum Operating Network (MON) airports, procedures offering the lowest minimums, and conventional approaches critical for training or regional access.
While the FAA maintains that circling maneuvers are as safe as straight-in approaches, the article's author strongly refutes this, citing international studies that indicate circling approaches are significantly riskier, suggesting their reduction is an indirect safety improvement.

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The FAA currently supports both ground- and satellite-based instrument approach procedures (IAP) totaling over 12,000 approaches—roughly double the number from 10 years ago. That many approaches are costly and require excessive resources to maintain.

To reduce costs in transitioning to NextGen, the FAA quickly targeted many instrument flight procedures as low-hanging fruit. This requires a delicate balancing act because continuity of National Airspace System (NAS) safety must be maintained. Let’s look at policies the FAA adopted when considering whether to cancel an IAP.