Criteria and Process for the Cancellation of Standard Instrument Approach Procedures as Part of the National Procedures Assessment (NPA)

As new technology facilitates the introduction of area navigation (RNAV) instrument approach procedures over the past decade, the number of procedures available in the National Airspace System has nearly doubled. The complexity and cost to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of maintaining the instrument flight procedures inventory while expanding the new RNAV capability is not sustainable. The FAA is considering the cancellation of certain circling procedures (to include circling-only instrument approach procedures (IAPs) and circling minima charted on straight-in IAPs). The FAA proposes specific criteria to guide the identification and selection of appropriate circling procedures that can be considered for cancellation. The circling procedures associated with this cancellation initiative would be selected from the criteria outlined below. This document is not a part of the FAA's VOR minimum operating network (MON) initiative.