FAAXX169: Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)

The 2009 WAAS baseline calculated a 1.78 return on investment (ROI) for the base program as calculated by FAA's ATO-Finance. The 09' baseline projected over $300M in safety benefits as well as $2.4B in other tangible benefits over the lifecycle of the program (2028 as that time). In 2011, FAA as part of their acquisition management system (AMS) conducted a post implementation review (PIR) of WAAS to determine whether or not the program is achieving forecasted benefits. Differences between the baselined and actual measures in the OMB Exhibit 300 Program Baseline were examined, including: cost, schedule, benefits, performance, and mission outcomes. The PIR team determined that the WAAS investment was achieving the baseline measures in the baseline. WAAS is an enabler for multiple FAA initiatives including performance-based navigation (Area Navigation (RNAV), Required Navigation Performance (RNP), and Point in Space (PinS) procedures) and automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B). WAAS currently meets all of the most stringent requirements for a positioning source for ADS-B. The FAA is committed to make a decision on the drawdown of Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) in 2016. A positive decision would result in annual cost savings due to reduced maintenance costs of these legacy systems. In 2014, the WAAS program performed a preliminary assessment of the ROI for dual frequency. At that time, the program office calculated a ROI of 1.18 for dual frequency alone. Due to the level of uncertainty, FAA will perform a dual frequency cost benefits analysis prior to the start of Phase IV, Segment 2. The uncertainties are due to the GPS Modernization schedule and the availability of sufficient numbers of GPS satellites broadcasting L5.

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