Early Win for NextGen: Leaner, Greener Aircraft Arrivals
San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX) and Miami (MIA) International Airports report fuel savings and emissions reductions after three years of testing oceanic Tailored Arrivals (TA), a project that supports the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) NextGen program and includes the Volpe Center, air traffic control facilities, NASA, airlines and aircraft manufacturers. In an oceanic tailored arrival situation, a properly–equipped aircraft approaching a coastal destination from the ocean follows a path that optimizes fuel use during its descent. TA trials at SFO demonstrated significant benefits including reduced controller and pilot workload by decreasing the number of discrete arrival clearances and radio transmissions; decreased noise, fuel burn and emissions by flying at near-idle thrust engine settings during descent; improved overall efficiency; and predictability of flight paths.
The FAA Office of NextGen Operations Planning is leading this collaborative project with participation from Christopher Tracy, Jonathan Lee, Michael Geyer, PhD, and David Senzig of the Volpe Center. They have supported the TA test phase by providing project management assistance, analyzing emissions data, developing standard operational and measurement procedures, and accelerating procedural documentation of the trials. For example, Volpe Center aviation measurement experts quantified fuel savings from the TA trials at MIA that demonstrate worthwhile fuel and emissions savings with the new oceanic TA operations, as compared to standard approaches.
With the completion of the flight trial phase, the FAA Air Traffic Organization's En Route and Oceanic Services (ATO-E) is taking over management of the TA project. The results have provided an "early win" for NextGen by pointing to future success in advancing economic and environmental benefits as ATO-E replicates the trials at other U.S. airports and Air Force Bases.