was responsible for managing Atlanta’s airspace and approach control operations. Today he continues to update and work closely with senior officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and U.S. Congress members on the Smart Runway’s work and challenges. Lewis said, “According to a senior official at USDOT, the Smart Runway ‘makes sense’ in increasing capacity and reducing flight delays.”
The benefits of the Smart Runway System are identified in the abstract of Lewis’ patent, which states: “One non-limiting but advantageous aspect of the present invention relates to improved airport efficiency and capacity through higher utilization of a primary runway. The improvements derive from the use of one or more high-speed exit ramps that interconnect the primary runway to a high-speed landing way running parallel to the primary runway. The high-speed exit ramp(s) enable a landing aircraft to negotiate a high-speed transition from the primary runway to the high-speed landing way, so that the aircraft completes its landing roll out and transition to taxiing speeds on the high-speed landing way rather than the primary runway.” Over the past several years, Lewis has quietly completed 23 new airfield tests and flights at various airports, which serve to validate the system’s first successful test on December 17, 2014. He symbolically chose that date to coincide with the Wright Brothers’ initial ‘first flight’ on the same date in 1917.
Lewis said that what industry experts are most impressed with is the Smart Runway System’s on-the-ground solution to the advancements made by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Program. NextGen is transforming airport operations from radar-based technology to satellitebased GPS (global positioning system) technology. The NextGen system has improved air traffic efficiency by streamlining en-route and terminal traffic flows; allowing air traffic controllers keep the world’s busiest airspace system working as safely and as efficiently as possible. However, this improved technology in the air is somewhat constrained on the ground by the FAA rules and requirements that only allow one aircraft to be on a runway at any given time. This necessary requirement creates a bottleneck that can only be alleviated by increasing the number of runways or by moving landing aircraft from the runway faster. Lewis’ Smart Runway System is the first process for getting landing aircraft off the runway faster. “Our system can increase runway capacity by 35 percent at a much better value than building a high-cost new runway that takes up to 10 years to complete with an uncertain traffic future,” Lewis said. Introduction of the Smart Runway System is ideal for a few reasons. First, as the U.S. economy continues to improve, airports are experiencing significant growth. The Airport Council International (ACI-NA) reports that “passenger demand continued its positive trend in October 2015, with the world’s airports reporting a 6 percent increase compared to October 2014. International passenger traffic showed stronger growth at 6.3 percent, while domestic passenger traffic grew by 5.8 percent.” Initial proof of concept studies show the Smart Runway supporting over 12,000 new daily travelers and generating approximately $1.3 million each day in new revenue.
“Our system can increase runway capacity by 35 percent at a much better value than building a high-cost new runway that takes up to 10 years to complete with an uncertain traffic future.” Oscar Lewis, president of The Lewis Company Next, Lewis’ Smart Runway System is a much more economical approach to expanding airport capacity when compared to building a new runway. This will be a welcomed option for many U.S. airports since federal funding for airport improvements has failed to keep pace with the increased cost of construction and the increased need for airport improvement. Each year the FAA receives billions of dollars more in requests for airport improvement funding than it is able to award to U.S. airports. The convergence of these two industry realities makes the Smart Runway System an ideal strategy for the future. Lewis and his executive team believe the time is right for airports to adopt a more economical, efficient, and accessible way for airports to plan for the future. Lewis said, “Our executives and engineering teams are working around the country in writing new procedures, development testing, and measuring aircraft performance. We are talking to airport leaders about capacity needs and congestion reduction solutions. Finally, we are leading the effort in engineering new runway redesign solutions as part of the first phase of rolling out our system to help airports improve their runway operations. We expect to make some big announcements in 2016.” // winter 2016
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