By R. Michael Baiada
ATH Group, Inc.
Special to Leeham News
Michael Baiada.
March 31, 2026, © Leeham News: “We’ll tell you where we want you to be in three dimensions…and we’ll tell you where we want you to be to hit that top of descent mark to [meet] the constraints of the runway.”
Bryan Bedford. Credit: Federal Aviation Administration.
Bedford believes telling airlines/users how to operate their aircraft is a good thing. As a 45-year pilot (USAF, United Airlines, and business jets), with decades of airline operational and ATC expertise, I do not agree. If implemented, FAA’s plan will increase airline costs and reduce airline quality.
In fact, airlines and FAA need to switch this around to where airlines/users do the telling and FAA/ATC does the listening.
Next, the FAA’s $31.5 Billion Brand New ATC System (BNATCS) will not reduce airline delays since it fails to focus on the root cause of delays (random Point Overloads). That said, BNATCS is a positive for equipment replacement, which is needed.
Even worse for airlines/passengers, as currently planned, the BNATCS ATC Centric Flow Management plan will, as Bedford’s statement above shows, further institutionalize ATC’s decades old process of control over the movement of the airline’s/user’s aircraft. This will haunt the airline’s “day of” operation for decades into the future, eliminating any chance of airlines achieving “day of” Operational Excellence.
Think about it. Who wants a government agency to control their primary production asset, or who believes a government agency can make an airline’s operation efficient? No one.
Airlines and “day of” operations
Yet the airline’s fire and forget, wing and a prayer “day of” operation, where airlines send billions of dollars of aircraft out on the wing, and pray that it all works out, based on what the FAA/ATC thinks is best, is what airlines are embracing. This is no way to run a “day of” airline operation.
Further, the critical missing part of BNATCS is “day of”, real time airline-centric aircraft flow optimization driven by the airline’s business goals and safety for each individual aircraft and the pilots 4D navigational ability, both critical to the success, profitability and simplicity of the airline’s “day of” operation, and something only each airline/user can know, decide and utilize efficiently.
Airlines need to understand that which aircraft lands 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., is critical for a successful and profitable airline “day of” operation, yet this is currently left to ATC and random chance.
Therefore, the core decision for the future of aviation is, “Who should manage the movement of the aircraft, airlines or ATC”?
Since we are talking about the airline’s aircraft and passengers, I would think the airline would jump at the chance to manage the “day of” movement of its aircraft, since it has a clear vested interest in the outcome.
Airlines could. Airlines should. Airlines have no interest.
Airlines should step up
Of course, separation/safety belongs to ATC, but this leaves lots of “day of” operational flexibility (gate departure time, speed, altitude, flight path, etc.) for airlines to step in (and step up) to manage the movement of their aircraft to meet their safety and “day of” business goals (schedule, connections, gate availability, crew legality, fuel, maintenance, galleys, lavs, etc.).
Instead of Bedford’s ATC-centric view of aviation, the FAA’s ATC future should be Airline/User-centric. The airline/user should tell ATC where they want to be in 4 dimensions … and the airline should tell ATC their desired top-of-descent point/time and coordinate with ATC to meet runway constraints. ATC will guarantee separation. Unfortunately, nothing in the FAA’s BNATCS plan accomplishes this, but airlines can rapidly and inexpensively achieve it.
Finally, FAA, Embry-Riddle University, GE Aviation, Georgia Tech, Delta Air Lines and others have independently validated a shovel ready, inexpensive, Commercial Off the Shelf, Airline Centric solution to manage the movement of the aircraft that mitigates most airline delays as proven in actual airline operations at some of the world’s busiest airports (ATL, DTW, MSP, CLT, and DBX).
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