An operational concept is proposed to improve high-density area departure and arrival traffic management that specifically accounts for complications arising in metroplex operations where multiple airports are located in close proximity.
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A Framework for High Density Area Departure and Arrival Traffic Management
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An operational concept is proposed to improve high-density area departure and arrival traffic management that specifically accounts for complications arising in metroplex operations where multiple airports are located in close proximity. In the proposed concept, the roles and responsibilities are redistributed among the Traffic Management Coordinators in different facilities, which include the Air Route Traffic Control Center, Terminal Radar Approach Control, and the Airport Traffic Control Tower. The redistribution of roles and responsibilities facilitates improved decision making capabilities thereby increasing safe, efficient, and stable operation of departure and arrival traffic in the Next Generation Air Transportation System. This paper proposes a set of functions and capabilities needed to support the roles and responsibilities defined in the proposed concept. The decision support system framework defines three levels of decision making and incorporates an optimization methodology to assist decision makers at the different phases of the decision process. A detailed description of the decomposition and corresponding decision support system structure is presented and a description of the optimization models is provided. An analysis is performed on a realistic traffic example to demonstrate the optimization model and illustrate the concept.