Tradeoffs in high density trajectory based operations

Alleviating air traffic management (ATM) system capacity barriers and environmental impacts around major metropolitan areas is critical for the next generation air transportation system. This paper presents initial research toward applying fast-time simulation methods to evaluate system-level tradeoffs in high-density trajectory-based operations in order to identify suitable roles for humans in the future system. A mid-term concept of operations in which aircraft are scheduled to arrive at the runway on optimized descent profiles ("CDAs") along area navigation/required navigation performance (RNAV/RNP) routes separated from other RNAV/RNP arrival and departure routings serves as the core concept for discussion. The paper discusses tradeoffs between RNAV/RNP route designs, airspace configuration, aircraft and flight management system (FMS) performance, pilot procedures, scheduling automation, and the control methods to be applied. Initial efforts to simulate the core concept have concentrated on developing RNAV/RNP CDAs and departure routes; the paper presents example route designs and discusses tradeoffs arising from them. An important challenge lies in verifying an ATM concept's robustness. This entails demonstrating that a concept provides reasonable means to cope with uncertainties. The paper discusses the application of fast-time simulation methods to an iterative concept development process in which effectiveness in coping with uncertainty is the primary driver for evaluating design tradeoffs and refining the concept.