Plain English Meaning

Flying a route or procedure where the aircraft's navigation system not only guides the airplane along a precise path, but also keeps an eye on its own accuracy and alerts the pilot if it drifts outside the allowed margin.

Full Definition

RNP Operations are area navigation (RNAV) operations that include onboard performance monitoring and alerting. The aircraft's navigation system continuously checks how accurately it is flying the intended path and warns the pilot if the required level of accuracy cannot be met. Each RNP procedure is assigned a numerical value (such as RNP 1.0 or RNP 0.3) that defines the lateral accuracy, in nautical miles, the aircraft must maintain at least 95 percent of the flight time.