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

• It is probable that the process of reducing separation standards from current radar
separations will be slow, and a great many interrelated factors will have to be worked.
Sections 4 and 5 detail the human factors and technology performance issues involved in
the system development process, and Section 8 contains a list of the primary research
topics that the team has identified to support this concept.
3.3 A Functional View of the Proposed Concept
3.3.1 Airspace Characteristics: High Vs. Low Traffic Density
The operational concept presented here treats traffic density as the characteristic that
determines what operational improvements are suggested for a particular airspace. Given
that this concept is primarily concerned with capacity improvements, high density airspace
is the primary concern here. Based on the discussion in Section 3.1.2 regarding capacity
and routing flexibility, it will be assumed here that throughput has priority, and that
flexibility will be allowed to the extent that it does not detract from full utilization of
system capacity. Low density airspace allows more flexibility to optimize operator
efficiency, and thus the concept includes operational improvements to this end. If it is
found to be necessary to restrict traffic flexibility to maintain acceptable throughput, then
this must be the overriding concern.
Traffic density in the NAS is highest in terminal areas around large airports, or where
many airports are located in close proximity. Most en route airspace in the NAS can be
considered low density from the point of view of installed CNS technologies. There are,
however, areas such as the northeast corridor that have very high density en route traffic,
complicated by climbing and descending traffic to airports below. Sections 3.3.2-8 detail
the operational improvements proposed in this concept for the range of airspace density
found in the CONUS.
3.3.2 Throughput in Dense Terminal Airspace
For dense terminal airspace, capacity and throughput are the primary concern, and the
discussion in Section 3.2 is the basis for the concept. The operational enhancements that
are proposed in this concept are as follows, prioritized in the order in which they are
presented:
1. Reduce intervention rate, and the associated spacing buffers applied above the
basic separation minimum. This will be achieved through the following
improvements:
1.1. Precision 4-dimensional (3-D space, plus time) guidance and navigation,
based on area navigation (RNAV) capability, vertical guidance and a
common and accurate time source. This will effect an improvement in
trajectory planning and conformance by suitably equipped aircraft, and thus
contribute to a lower intervention rate.
1.2. Precision sequencing and spacing of arriving and departing aircraft through
improvements in the sector and/or facility planning functions. Inherent in
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