RNAV Near-Term Terminal Procedures Development

Current terminal operations consist largely of vectoring of aircraft by controllers from the terminal radar approach control (TRACON) boundary to the final approach. The nature of vectoring causes large variations in the flight times and paths of aircraft in the terminal area. En route metering functions include planned terminal flight paths. These large variations make it more difficult to meter aircraft efficiently from the en route to the terminal airspace, which often results in aircraft flying extended paths in the terminal area, costing time and fuel. The large variations in flight times also result in poor schedule predictability for users, which can lead to poor on-time performance, disrupted bank schedules, and passenger delays. Defining arrival and departure routes in the terminal airspace can mitigate many of these problems. MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (MITRE/CAASD) has been working to develop and assess various near-term terminal area navigation (RNAV) procedures for Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Newark International Airport (EWR). These procedures, when implemented, will improve service, reduce required air/ground communications, enhance schedule reliability, improve operational efficiency, awareness for controllers and pilots. A key component to the RNAV procedure development is the collaborative development of the procedure involving the stakeholders. A repeatable implementation process has been defined for developing RNAV terminal procedures based upon overlays of current flight operations. The process identifies stakeholders, data, steps, and schedules to take a procedure from design to public implementation. To support procedure development, CAASD developed the Terminal Area Route Generation, Evaluation, Traffic Simulation (TARGETS) tool. TARGETS allows procedure designers to use current operations as the starting point for designing an overlay route, to visualize the route, and to evaluate operational aspects of the route. Controllers use the traffic simulation capability to assess impact on current air traffic control (ATC) operations, especially mixed equipage issues. In the paper, we discuss the RNAV procedure implementation process and the tools developed to support the process. Results of applying the process to RNAV procedures at PHL and EWR are presented. Lessons learned are reported and preliminary results on benefits obtained from implementing the routes are also reported.