Preliminary Design Analysis of Dynamic Airspace Super Sectors DASS

Current air traffic demand has challenged the capability of the outdated national airspace system (NAS) structure. Airport and passenger delays have hit their highest levels in recent years. An analysis of historical data has shown that of the daily NAS operations, 33% occur between several high density city pairs. Dynamic airspace super sectors (DASS) propose to structure common flight paths/ribbons connecting the highest demand city pairs, which experience greater than 60 flights per day. These high occupancy ribbons would provide a more manageable traffic flow between these cities to reduce congestion and air traffic controller (ATC) workload. Data collected from the modeling and simulation of a ribbon used to evaluate DASS as a potential alternative to the current NAS structure. Modeling of the ribbon dimension and structure as relates to throughput of the system and ATC workload simulated with total airport & airspace modeler (TAAM). The effect of on and off ramps on the ribbon design modeled with Arena. Preliminary system analysis has shown that a primary consideration for DASS is the technological upgrades to both aircraft and air traffic controller systems which necessary for DASS to be an effective alternative. The technological infrastructure, in conjunction with operational performance analysis is the basis for our final recommendations