Avionics II: Air safety: The view from the cockpit: An experienced airline pilot appraises the past, present, and future of air safety and air traffic control trends

A veritable revolution in air safety systems is in the offing ¿ a revolution that will drastically alter the face of U.S. air traffic control as we now know it. At present, this revolution is in what might be called its ¿manifesto stage.¿ By this I mean that a raft of proposals have been offered by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) under the umbrella acronym UG3RD, or Upgraded Third Generation Air Traffic Control System. These proposals, if implemented, would mark the greatest change in air-to-air separation since the original establishment of separation standards in the 1930s. Further, navigation, surveillance, and communications would all be affected in a major way. The question devolves: What, exactly, would be the effect of this proposed automation program known as UG3RD?