WASHINGTON, D.C. Just intime for the busy holiday travel season,theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announcedthat the Washington, D.C. Metroplex is the first in the nation to havethree,state-of-the-art, satellite-based highways in the skyrunning side by side by side, each dedicated tooneof the three major airportsin the region.

The national capital region is reaping the benefits of NextGen and this announcement further highlights how the federal government is making a difference, said US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. These new and improved highways in the sky mean increased safety, more on time arrivals and departures, reduced fuel consumption, and reduced pollution-causing emissions.

Estimates predict airlines will burnat least2.5 million fewer gallons of fueleach yearin the skies above Washington,while emittingat least25,000 fewer metric tons of carbondioxide.Using the Environmental Protection Agencysenergycalculator, this is the equivalent ofannualgreenhouse gas emissions from 5,263 passenger vehicles or 8,961 tons of waste taken to landfills.

The whole point of NextGen is to get air travelers to their destinations safely and on time, and this is never more important than during the busy holiday season, said FAA administrator Michael Huerta.

The three parallel Optimized Profile Descents (OPD) enable aircraft serving the capital areas three major airports from the northwest to descend from cruising altitude to the runway in a smooth, continuous arc instead of the traditional staircase descent. This saves time for passengers, while reducing fuel and carbon dioxide emissions. A traditional staircase descent burns fuel at each step. In addition, voice communications between air traffic controllers and pilots are greatly reduced since clearances required during each step of a staircase descent are eliminated. The three airports benefitting from the NextGen arrivals are Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The OPD into Baltimore/Washington opened this month, joining the existing OPDs into Dulles and National. Complementary, satellite-baseddeparture pathsare also being rolled outat the three airports, allowingaircraft to more quickly join high altitude trafficstreams.

By improving traffic flow to the three major airports, the D.C. Metroplex initiative, a collaborative effort involving American, Southwest,Unitedandlabor unions,also enhancesthe safety and efficiency of flightsservingRichmond International Airport,Andrews Joint Base Airportand at least nine smaller airports.

The number of flights through the holiday season is predicted to remain high at relatively the same levels as last year,but passenger counts are expected to be higher as airlines use larger aircraft capable of carrying more passengers.The number of flights Tuesday and Wednesday will be about 1.5 percent over a typical Tuesday and Wednesday.Saturday and Sunday will seea15-18 percent increase in flights over a typical Saturday and Sunday.

The Department of Defense will again release to the FAA unused military airspace from Wednesday, Nov. 26, through Sunday, Nov. 30. The additional airspace allows the FAA to use routesotherwise unavailable to help relieve traffic congestion on the East Coast and throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Southwest.

According to the National Weather Service, one or two high impact systems are possible across the country during the holiday travel period. These could bring heavy rain and snow, along with winds. Temperatures are expected to range from the 20s to the 50s across much of the northern U.S. The southern part of the country will see lows in the 30s and highs in the 70s.

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