One thing that most passengers love whenever they are flying is a smooth landing. Well apparently Southwest Airlines has just recently switched over to satellite navigation to aid its pilots during landing. So what does this mean for the airline? It means that the airline will save money on fuel, and passengers will enjoy a much smoother landing.

Just this week Southwest Airlines began using its satellite assisted runway approach system. This is part of the ongoing effort to upgrade the nation’s skyways in a project called NextGen. This switchover from ground to satellite-based landing is costing Southwest about $175 million, but it expects to recoup its investment, plus make a little extra.

That brings up the question, how? Well the airline says that it will be able to save on fuel costs by using this new system. By using GPS satellites for navigation, rather than ground based radio signals, pilots will be making more precise approaches on runways. Thus, they will spend much less time waiting for clearance at the nation’s increasingly congested airports.

Homeland Security, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration have been working for several years to upgrade the national airspace. They have been rolling out programs and technology in phases over the past few years.

In fact, NextGen work has been underway since way back in the late 1990’s. This came following a significant increase in passenger air travel after the industry’s deregulation in the 1970’s. The biggest contribution that Southwest Airlines’ program makes is that it provides a test bed. It gives everyone significant feedback on how it is going to be implemented and how successful it can be.