Air Traffic Management Concept Baseline Definition - The Boeing ...

travelers. There are signs that debilitating or fatal diseases which have been eradicated in
many countries may be returning and have the potential for spreading through
international travel, and thereby causing further processing delays as health-related
documentation is reviewed at ports of entry. Also, outmoded and complicated inspections
negate the inherent advantage of speed offered by public air transport which may also add
to the cost of airline operation in excess of $100,000 per day (Donne (1995), p.149).
In addition to ground handling issues, the efficient operation of airports demands increased
airport capacity that could handle the projected 57% increase in passenger enplanements
between 1993 and 2005. Major investments will be needed to accommodate more
passengers and larger aircraft. A substantial increase in aircraft operations at a large hub
airport may warrant consideration of additional runways. However, the outlook for new
runways at major origin/destination airports is less promising. New runways are being
considered at only 5 of 13 large hub airports where more than two-thirds of traffic is
locally generated. The engineering and political obstacles are daunting to new runway
construction at these airports. It is projected that airfield congestion at major
origin/destination airports will continue to be one of the most difficult issues facing civil
aviation (U.S. FAA NPIAS (1995), pp. 29-30).
Efforts to increase future airspace capacity with Free Flight concepts may be stalled by
conflicts of Special Use Airspace issues. Although SUA serves the important safety
function of segregating hazardous activity from non-participating aircraft, civil users have
voiced concerns about whether SUA is being efficiently managed. By its location SUA can
limit air traffic to and from a particular location and thus has become a much more urgent
issue because of the aviation community’s movement toward Free Flight. Under a Free
Flight operating concept, the users of the system would have more freedom to select
preferred routes as long as such routes do not interfere with safety, capacity, and SUA
airspace. A key recommendation is the establishment of a real time system to notify
commercial users of SUA availability. At least two hours of minimum notice is suggested.
Such use of SUA could disrupt the visions of relatively unfettered Free Flight for the NAS
in 2015 (U.S. GAO RCED-97-106 (1997), p. 25).
Some potential airport safety problems may be anticipated under the emergence of the
new NAS. An example is when the acquisition, development, integration, and assimilation
of complex systems and technologies (which rarely are ‘off-the-shelf’) produce
unexpected outcomes, costs, and delays, such as was the case for the now defunct
Advanced Automation System (AAS). Currently being replaced by the Standard Terminal
Replacement System (STARS) which provides controllers in TRACONs with new
workstations and supporting computer systems, the AAS incurred schedule delays of up
to eight years with estimated increase in costs from $2.5 billion to $7.6 billion. FAA’s
schedule for STARS can also be jeopardized by scheduling conflicts with other
modernization efforts. For example, in September 1996, a study identified 12 potential
scheduling conflicts at the first 45 STARS sites. Safety issues surrounding airport
operations may also be associated with an unhealthy mix of newer digital and older nondigital
systems such as terminal surveillance radars (U.S. GAO RCED-97-51), pp. 3-4).
FAA’s organizational culture and workforce issues also may prove to be problematic in
the future in terms of safety, schedule delays, and project costs. As may be inferred from
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