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

• Central flow management will continue to act as an arbitrator to allocate resources
fairly, and to help users expedite their flight planning.
3.4 Proposed CNS/ATM Technology Improvements
Figure 3.9 illustrates the primary technologies that are being proposed as the basis for the
NAS modernization through 2015.
3.5 Airspace and Airways
The NAS is currently operating at a throughput that is very close to saturation in many of
the busiest terminal areas. In areas such as the northeast corridor, the upper airspace has
also become quite congested. The concept presented here introduces step-by-step
improvements in the system for increased throughput, where initially no major new
technology will be required. However, as the system moves beyond the first steps in the
transition, the implication is that higher performance levels will be required to achieve
higher density operations where they are needed.
As the system transitions to support increased throughput, there will be substantial impact
on NAS airspace, including RSP levels to support operation at a given density level. RSP
will imply end-to-end performance, i.e. aircraft, communication, navigation, surveillance
and air traffic management. Thus, for a given airspace or operation, each system element
will be required to perform at a certain level to ensure system performance.
Airspace performance requirements should be imposed based the nature of the traffic that
will be accommodated in that airspace. High density traffic during peaks at hub airports
will require high performance levels, whereas off-peak traffic at those hubs, and traffic in
low density areas can be accommodated at a lower performance level. Thus, airspace
performance requirements can vary during the day, depending on traffic demand. How
best to manage such requirements must be resolved through careful analysis of user needs
and of what is feasible in an operational system. In the end, some of the decisions
regarding required airspace performance levels will have to be made at the policy level,
where a reasonable compromise between potentially competing objectives must be found.
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