Alaska Airlines is the first airline to equip its fleet with the new Honeywell runway advisory system certified earlier this year by the FAA.
The Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) is a software option to Honeywell's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) now delivered to 30,000 flight decks. The package takes advantage of the digital terrain database on EGPWS to determine where the aircraft is on the runways at a particular airport.
The system informs pilots with audio advisories that serve as reminders. Some of the advisories concern: the runway the aircraft is lined up on (in case the pilot doesn't realize which runway he is on); a runway that is too short for a safe takeoff or landing; and an aircraft that is accelerating to take off on a taxiway (exceeding 40 kts.). There are many other advisories to improve pilot situational awareness.
RAAS is designed to help prevent runway incursions, a major safety problem in North America and Europe. Both the FAA and Eurocontrol are investing much time and effort to understand why runway incursions happen and how to reduce them.
Alaska plans to outfit 108 total Boeing 737s and MD-80s with the new system.
