CSSI, Inc. Awarded Second Air Traffic Separation
Standards Contract in Single Month

Company to Work for Five Years on Vertical, Lateral and Longitudinal Air Traffic Standards for North and South American, Caribbean, and
Pacific International Airspace

Washington, DC – Washington, DC-based CSSI, Inc. has won a new contract to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), aviation’s international governing body, on vertical, lateral and longitudinal separation standards for air traffic, the company announced today. 

 The FAA awarded the contract just weeks after the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded CSSI, Inc. a contract to provide expert technical assistance to several Latin American and Caribbean countries as they move toward implementation of new vertical separation rules.

 “CSSI has established itself as the market leader in this area,” said Bob Miller, CSSI’s Director of Airspace Analysis and Modeling. “Our team understands what is needed to make these significant airspace changes and knows what it takes to ensure safe transitions are made.”

 Under the new contract, CSSI will provide support to the United States, Canada, and Mexico as they simultaneously change the required vertical separation between aircraft flying between 29,000 feet and 41,000 feet from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet.  Additionally, the company will provide support to countries in the Caribbean and South America as they implement “reduced vertical separation minimum” (RVSM), as the initiative is called.

 On lateral and longitudinal separation standards, CSSI will help the FAA implement a 30-nautical-mile (Nm) lateral and longitudinal separation standard in FAA-delegated Pacific airspace and will help ICAO introduce 50-Nm lateral separation standards in the Caribbean.

Only five years ago, the air traffic standard of 100-Nm lateral separation was applied for trans-Pacific flights.  Advances in technology have allowed for the significant reductions.

 In addition to other activities, CSSI, Inc. under the new contract also will provide expert support to the FAA’s representatives to the ICAO Separation and Airspace Safety Panel.

 The five-year contract is valued at $9 million, and increases the scope of the company’s already wide-ranging separation activities. CSSI has worked for years on international RVSM projects, supporting regional and domestic RVSM implementations.  CSSI is the leading provider of RVSM monitoring services in the United States and also provides monitoring services worldwide.