SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AEROSPACE REPORTS

A Biweekly Publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
VOLUME 44, ISSUE 1 - JANUARY 13, 2006

09 RESEARCH AND SUPPORT FACILITIES (AIR)
Includes airports, runways, hangars, and aircraft repair and overhaul facilities; wind tunnels, water tunnels, and shock tubes; flight simulators; and aircraft engine test stands. Also includes airport ground equipment and systems. For airport ground operations see 03 Air Transportation and Safety. For astronautical facilities see 14 Ground Support Systems and Facilities (Space).

20060002270 Federal Aviation Administration, USA

Continuing the Commitment to Capacity

Mohler, Gisele; Proceedings of the Fifth Integrated Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference and Workshop; November 2005; 29 pp.; In English; See also 20060002231; Original contains color illustrations; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document

Last summer, Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta released FAA's latest study on airport capacity. The study reveals that 15 airports, in some of the nation's busiest cities, will need additional capacity by 2013, and eight more will face capacity limitations by 2020. Even now the pressure is building at many airports and within U.S. airspace due to significant increases in air traffic volume. In one year s time, double-digit increases have occurred in operations at some of the nation s key ( OEP) airports. At Dulles, for example, operations are up more than 19 percent; Boston and Fort Lauderdale, 12 percent; Denver, Kennedy and Orlando, 10 percent or more. The rebound in operations has brought about resurgence in delays at several airports. On the whole, delays are still below calendar year 2000 levels due to OEP commitments and other positive actions such as airline schedule depeaking. However, for the first eight months of 2004, several of the top 15 delayed airports were at delay rates higher than experienced in 2000. The greatest growth in delays during that period was seen at Chicago O Hare, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, and Houston s George Bush Intercontinental; all three airports also experienced significant traffic growth during this period. Add to this mix the change in the composition of the aircraft fleet. To keep pace with market demand for low fares while enplanements were down, legacy airlines turned to regional jets. The diversified aircraft fleet mix, with a range of performance capabilities, increases air traffic control complexity, which can slow the system. Complexity increases further as airlines continue to fly smaller aircraft while enplanements increase, requiring even more flights. The price of fuel is perhaps the biggest crisis facing the airspace user today. The airlines 2004 fuel bill was $62 billion, which is a staggering $15 billion more than 2003. While there is not much that can be done about the high price of fuel, there is still much to be gained with operational efficiencies and cost reduction. Russ Chew, Chief Operating Officer of the FAA s Air Traffic Organization (ATO), has noted that the agency s impact on aircraft fuel consumption will probably take a higher profile in the months and years to come. Simply put, aviation s problems impact our country s bottom line. Without increased capacity, the USA loses an economic benefit estimated at more than $300 billion. FAA is working on several levels to address the needs of the national airspace system (NAS). At the forefront is the agency s strategic Flight Plan, which links activities through 2009 to budget requests. Beyond the Flight Plan timeframe, the Operational Evolution Plan (OEP) addresses capacity and efficiency initiatives over a rolling ten-year period at the busiest 35 airports in the NAS. The FAA, with the multi-agency Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), has developed a plan for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) to meet air traffic demand to 2025. The focus of this paper is the OEP, which aims to increase the effective capacity and efficiency of the NAS over a rolling 10-year period by focusing on the nation s 35 most congested airports. Derived from text

Air Traffic Control; Air Transportation; Airline Operations; Airports; Delay; Management Planning; Traffic

Source: NASA.