As part of continued cost cutting by the U.S. federal government, the FAA has announced plans to begin decommissioning some instrument approach procedures (IAP) to save on maintenance costs of ground-based navaids. The agency said the plan also stems from a near doubling of new IAPs in the past decade thanks to advances in satellite-based approach systems.

The FAA is considering canceling certain non-directional beacon (NDB) and very high frequency (VHF) omnidirectional radio range (VOR) procedures at airports that currently have multiple instrument approach procedures in place. The strategies the agency has developed to identify IAPs for shutdown were the result of research conducted by the Flight Safety Foundation.

In the August 2 notice published in the Federal Register (FR Doc No: 2013-17940), the FAA outlined a number of specific criteria for identifying which procedures can or should be removed from the national airspace system. It is accepting comments on the proposal until October 1.