LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
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LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Airport Capacity Session
Kent Duffy
Senior Airport Planner
Federal Aviation Administration
kent.duffy@faa.gov
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Agenda
• FAA Airport Capacity Guidance
• Airport Capacity and Delay AC Replacement
• NextGen and Airport Capacity Planning
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FAA Airport Capacity
Guidance
• Methods, approach, data sources, and coordination for
capacity analysis will vary substantially with airport
complexity and project scope
• Multiple FAA sources for capacity guidance:
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AC 150/5070-6B Airport Master Plans
AC 150/5060-5 Airport Capacity and Delay
FAA Airport Benefit Cost Analysis Guidance
FAA JO 7110.65T Air Traffic Control
AC 150/5300 Airport Design
• Goal is to develop a capacity analysis that is reasonable,
defensible, and adequate to inform project decisions
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Plan for the Capacity Analysis
supporting multiple needs
Master Plan
Capacity
Analysis
Method/
Approach
Baseline
Capacity
NEPA
Noise/Emissions
Document
Alternatives
Screening and
Selection
BCA Delay
Savings
Choose an appropriate
Method/Approach
Example Model Types
Rules of Thumb/Handbook Capacity and Delay AC
Analytical/Spreadsheets
Airport Capacity Model
Airport Delay Model
Queuing Models
DELAYS
Step-Event Models
TAAM, SIMMOD
ADSIM, RDSIM
Human-in-the-Loop
Tower Simulators
Less
Data, level of detail,
complexity, time/cost
Method/Approach
More
Reach consensus with Sponsor, FAA, operators, and
other stakeholders in advance on approach
Data Sources
• Operational Data
– Surveillance data: FAA ASR, PDARS, airport systems (e.g., ANOMS)
– Aviation System Performance Metrics (ASPM) @ aspm.faa.gov
• Air Carrier movements: Gate Out, Wheels Off, Wheels On, Gate In (OOOI)
• ETMS, ASQP, and other sources
• ATC and Operators
– Coordination with the ATCT and/or TRACON is vital, early and
throughout the project
– Airline Chief Pilots can be excellent resources
– Airline Gate Schedules
• Other
– National Climatic Data Center – hourly weather observations
– Bureau of Transportation Statistics – Airline Performance/Delays/Costs
Comprehensive, detailed data sources exist to
support capacity analysis
Metrics and Limitations
• Range of potential metrics:
Typical
– Annual Capacity/Annual Service Volume (ASV)
Metrics
– Hourly Capacity/Throughput
– 15-minute demand/capacity throughput can be helpful in
examining impact of schedule peaks
– Pareto curves can be useful in showing capacity ranges during
Arrival Push, Departure Push, and Mixed Operations
– Average Delay and 90th or 95th Percentile Delay
• Recognize Limitations, particularly for runway-centric
models
– Ability of the airspace to move aircraft to/from the runway
– Taxi movements, runway crossings, and gates can be significant
constraints
– Weather: VFR/MVFR/IFR and Minimum Vectoring Altitude
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Key Points
• In an era of airline schedule uncertainty, evaluate
demand levels not specific years
• Recognize effect of airline schedule peaks on results
• ASV is a screening tool not project justification
• Identifying airports as ‘congested’ or having
‘unacceptable delay’ is a moving target
• Recognize limitations of data and models in interpreting
results
• Be wary of inadequate analysis – there is never time to
do it right, but there is always time to do it over
• Adequate coordination with ATC and operators can
substantially improve confidence in the analysis
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Capacity and Delay AC
Replacement
AC 150/5060-5
Tech Center
Legacy
150/5060-5
Draft AC +
Rules of Thumb
~1983
Data
Sources
Policy and
Technical Guidance
ACRP 3-17
Capacity
Airside/Airspace Capacity
and Delay Factors
ACRP 3-20
Delay
NPIAS Order Update
NextGen
Performance
Factors
New AC -6
~2012?
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NextGen: Evolution of ATC
Procedural Based Control
Where we think the aircraft is
Past
Surveillance Based Control
Where we know the aircraft is
Today
Trajectory Based Control
Where we know the aircraft
will be
NextGen
• Landmark Navigation
• Radio Beacons
• Position Reports
• VOR/DME
• RADAR
• Performance Based Navigation
• Precise Aircraft Position
• 4DT Trajectory Based Operations
Mid-Term NextGen Surveillance
and Navigation Improvements
Service
Today’s
NextGen – Incremental Roll-Out
(Legacy) ATC
Airborne
Surveillance
Radar
• ADS-B Out
• ADS-B In
• Precise aircraft position
w/ADS-B out
• Traffic and Flight Information
Broadcasts w/ADS-B In
Navigation
VOR, DME
• Area Navigation (RNAV)
• Required Navigation
Performance (RNP)
• RNAV everywhere and RNP
where beneficial
Instrument
Approach
Access
ILS, VOR
• WAAS/LPV (near Cat I)
• GBAS (potential Cat
II/III)
• 500 LPVs per year to all
qualifying runways
• GBAS can support 26 IAPs
from single installation
Surface
Surveillance
•Eyeball
•Legacy ASDE
• ASDE-X with Data
Distribution Units
• Multi-Lateration
• ADS-B
• Surface Traffic Management
• Surface Collaborative
Decision Making
NextGen systems provide various benefits to airports of
different sizes and missions
Today’s Runway Capacity
Arrival + Departure
Hourly Capacity
Delays
Optimum Capacity (VFR)
Recovery
Reduced Capacity (IFR)
Time
Arrival + Departure
Hourly Capacity
Reduced Separation?
Maintain Capacity during Inclement Weather
Equivalent
Visual
Operations
Optimum Capacity (VFR)
Reduced Capacity (IFR)
Time
More precise
merging and spacing
NextGen Runway Capacity
Backup
NextGen is a system of systems
that will provide benefits to
different sizes of Airports
General use at Airports
Mid-Term NextGen Benefits
Non-Hub
Small
Hub
Medium &
Large Hubs
Improved access with WAAS/LPV approaches
More precise surveillance with ADS-B
Improved safety and situational awareness with moving maps,
TIS-B, FIS-B, and reduced runway incursions
Access & Surveillance
Safety
Deconflict airspace in complex multi-airport regions with RNAV
and RNP
Maintain visual capacity during inclement weather with Equivalent
Visual Operations
More efficient surface movements with surveillance and Surface
Trajectory Management
Enhanced flexibility in future airport development plans with
revised planning standards for Closely Spaced Parallel
Operations (CSPO) and NAVAIDs critical areas
Reduced environmental impact with Optimized Profile Descents
and RNAV/RNP routes that are noise-sensitive
Capacity &
Efficiency
Design Flexibility
Environment
NextGen and
Airport Capacity Planning
Single
Runway
NextGen improvements to precisely separate aircraft and redesign
airspace should help airports to better maintain optimum (visual)
runway throughput during most inclement weather
Parallel
Runways
Several approaches to Closely Spaced Parallel Runway Operations
(CSPO) that are enabled by ADS-B, RNAV/RNP, PRM-A, and new
automation
– Increased use of dependent, staggered approaches can improve efficiency for runways
spaced less than 2,500 feet apart using FAA Order 7110.308 criteria
– Revised blunder assumptions may lead to reductions in the runway separation needed
for independent arrivals to as low as 3,000 feet with RNAV/RNP/LPV/GLS or ILS
– PRM-A may allow for independent arrivals to runways spaced as low as 2,500 feet
– In the long-term, ongoing research on paired or tandem approaches is aimed at further
reducing runway spacing for simultaneous arrivals
Ground
NAVAIDs
NAVAID critical areas on the airport surface may be substantially
reduced if ground-based NAVAIDS are decommissioned in favor of
LPV and GLS approaches
As NextGen evolves, airport planning standards will be revised
so that airports can integrate these factors
into their long-term planning