Combined performance/environmental analysis of Q-routes

Q-routes are high altitude Area Navigation (RNAV) airway routes designed to provide more direct routing compared to conventional routes and allow creation of parallel routes where a single route existed before. Such direct routes improve airspace capacity and relieve congestion while reducing direct operating expenses, such as fuel costs, to the flight operator. As part of the Next Generation Air Transport System (NextGen), the Federal Aviation Administration is rapidly expanding the use of Q-routes all over the National Airspace (NAS) starting with the most congested airspaces. Though the concept of Q-routes is simple and straightforward, the actual gains in efficiency are strongly influenced by the availability and choice of approach route in the arrival transition airspace. Certain combinations of Q-routes with Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs) and final approach routes could lead to suboptimal efficiency gains that reduce the overall efficiency of a flight. This paper compares the efficiency of Q-routes with several choices of approach routes, for Q-routes from the Washington SEATAC area to the San Francisco TRACON. Additionally, the paper investigates the efficiency of direct routing from Atlanta to the Fort Lauderdale area.