Free Flight

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First, free flight can be defined as “a concept for safe and efficient flight operating capability under IFR in which pilots have the freedom to select their own path and speed in real time” (Wells and Young, p.168). Free flight takes away control from the air traffic control center and allows the pilots to determine for themselves what path and rate of speed is best for their flight. The development of this process would include the transition from air traffic control into air traffic management. The development of air traffic management would included many concepts that differ from air traffic control such as “the increased extent of collaboration between users and air traffic managers, greater flexibility for users to make decisions to meet their unique operational goals, and the replacement of broad restrictions with user-determined limits and targeted restrictions only when required” (Wells and Young, p. 168). Free flight will also “shift more responsibility for flight path decisions to the pilot in command, with the ultimate goal of providing pilots with more flexibility to fly from city-to-city on user-preferred routes, instead of being restricted to fixed route” (Report, 2002, par. 6). Although pilots would have some flexibility in choosing their flight path, congestion on landing, blackouts and computer failures would still dictate an ATC being on duty at all times.

Developments in technology fully support the concept of free flights being implemented and are advancements that I support, but not without some serious reservations. With the news lately being inundated with reports of air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job or away from their control center, pilots do need to have more control over their destiny. In a perfect world the two concepts would work hand in hand to simplify overworked ATC towers and allow a cohesive bond between the pilots and the ATC centers. There should be a reasonable time frame in which this concept is fully tested and exposed to ATC managers in direct comparison with fixed routes long before it is fully converted. When an ATC employee is under trained, under paid and over worked errors tend to increase, the same applies to pilots. While technology can only go so far in some industries, I feel that this technology does help to increase security in the aviation field. With that said, safety is the main issue. What is going to keep the passengers, crew and people on the ground the safest?

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