WAAS Approaches Outnumber ILS

By Stephen Pope

November 1, 2008
ATC

The number of GPS-based wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) instrument approach procedures in the U.S. has surpassed the number of ILS approaches in the country, according to the FAA. “This is clearly a turning point for aviation and the way pilots navigate,” the agency noted in a statement announcing the milestone.

WAAS LPV approaches with vertical guidance are now located at 833 airports, and the total number of WAAS procedures now numbers 1,333. The FAA’s goal is to install 500 new WAAS procedures per year on all runways that qualify for the procedures.

While the implementation of WAAS approaches has proceeded rapidly since the commissioning of WAAS in 2003, the business jet community has been slow to equip the fleet to make use of the new approaches because of certification issues and a lack of qualified FMS equipment.

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