Use of Runway Capacity at Secondary Airports to Address NextGen Goals

Abstract

This paper describes an analysis of the use of runways at secondary airports to supplement capacity and reduce delays at primary airports that will be seriously constrained in 2025. The analysis was performed for the multi-agency Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) Interagency Portfolio and Systems Analysis (IPSA) Division. It is specifically concerned with accommodating 2025 demand that cannot be handled at primary airports even when the primary airports (and aircraft) are operating with NextGen technologies and procedures. While the study identifies, for analysis purposes, specific candidate secondary airports, the study purpose was not to predict or specify which airports should be used, but rather it was to assess the feasible potential of secondary airports to solve some of the future capacity shortfalls. It is recognized that increased flight activity at a specific location may be problematic for environmental, community acceptability, or other reasons. I. Introduction he FAA and the Joint Planning and Development Agency (JPDO) are investigating an array of technologies and new procedures for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) with the purpose of increasing the capacity of the National Airspace System (NAS). The JPDO Interagency Portfolio and Analysis Division (IPSA) conducts analyses of the benefits and costs of the NextGen far term technologies. The goal of JPDO and NextGen is to provide sufficient new capacity to avoid congestion, even in the face of large future demands. IPSA analyses performed in 2009 indicated that implementation of NextGen technologies and procedures will not be sufficient to prevent congestion at certain primary airports. This paper reports on a study by an IPSA analysis team aimed at determining whether the shortfall in capacity can be accommodated by offloading demand to secondary airports in the vicinity of the congested primary airports. The study investigated the availability of suitable secondary airports, the amount of demand at the primary airports that was suitable for offloading to secondary airports, and the impact on primary airport congestion of offloading the demand to the secondary airports. The study team also made a first order estimate of the noise impact on the secondary airports. In the sections that follow, we discuss in detail the tasks comprising the analysis. • Identification of the primary airports that need to off-load demand • Identification of potential secondary airports • Modification of schedules to shift demand to the secondary airports • Delay and trimming analysis to confirm reduction in trimmed flights • First order noise analysis to evaluate the environmental impact of additional flights on secondary airports.