Using agent-based simulation to evaluate technology and concepts for the National Airspace System

The paper describes an agent-based simulation developed to test the benefits of inserting airline dispatch technology as well as a collaborative rerouting concept for the National Airspace System (NAS). Agents are generally defined as entities with autonomy of action, which can engage in tasks in an environment without direct external (human) control. In a NAS simulation it is infeasible to assign humans to the thousands of flights that are in the air at any time, thus agents were designed to mimic human stakeholders. While the agents are primitive representations of human behavior, and could not replace the depth of human decision making, they are useful for providing width to simulations involving high level concepts