Optimizing airport arrival operations: A systems engineering analysis of Washington Dulles International Airport

Developed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Next Generation Air Transportation System project (NextGen) is an initiative working towards improvement of the National Airspace System (NAS). NextGen seeks to reduce both fuel consumption and the adverse environmental impacts of air transportation, while improving safety and accommodating foreseeable industry expansion. The NextGen project encompasses improvements in all phases of flight, including ground operations, takeoffs, and descents. This paper describes a simulation study conducted to explore and enhance flight arrival operations at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). Current Air Traffic Control (ATC) procedures incorporate a standard step-down descent to ensure smooth handoffs of aircraft among controllers managing traffic at different altitudes. Recent research has shown that Optimized Profile Descent (OPD) techniques help reduce fuel emissions, noise, and travel time. With the support of industry experts at the MITRE Corporation, a non-profit government research organization in alliance with the FAA, the team developed a simulation model using Terminal Area Route Generation Evaluation and Traffic Simulation (TARGETS) software and Base of Aircraft Data (BADA). The team evaluated and compared feasible OPD procedures for flights traveling through or near the BARIN waypoint to current Area Navigation (RNAV) operations at IAD. TARGETS is a state-of-the-art interface used to support the design of RNAV routes and to confirm feasibility and conformance to current safety regulations and navigation procedures. BADA was used to quantify the benefits of the designed routes in comparison to the standard arrival route. The capstone team designed an OPD procedure specifically for the southern arrival flow at IAD. The results for this report include a comparison between the two designed OPD routes and the standard step-down approach route using the total fuel burn as the chosen metric.