As of 1998, the annual cost of aircraft delays at John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia, and Newark International airports was expected to total about $350 million in 2000. A major contributing factor to aircraft delay is the airspace interactions that occur because of the proximity of the airports to one another, which results in landings and takeoffs at one airport limiting runway use at the other airports.

In 1998, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey retained a team of consultants led by Leigh Fisher Associates to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the benefits that could be expected from redesigned flight procedures in the New York-New Jersey Metroplex Airspace.

Leigh Fisher Associates was technical project manager for the team, which also included Louis Berger & Associates, Cirino Air Traffic Consultants Princeton Economics Research, and Aviation Navigation & Satellite Programs. A technical steering committee was established for the analysis that included representatives from the FAA, the airlines and other airport users, Boeing, MITRE, the Air Transport Association, and the FAA Satellite Navigation Office.

The purpose of the analysis was to identify new approach, departure, and missed approach procedures that would take advantage of the greater aircraft navigation accuracy afforded by existing flight management system (FMS) computers and satellite-based global positioning system technology. The potential narrowing down of flight tracks achievable with these FMS-based navigation technologies would provide accuracy similar to that available with instrument landing systems throughout the terminal airspace. This accuracy could have substantial benefits in terms of both airspace capacity and aircraft noise abatement.

Eighteen redesigned FMS-based flight procedures were proposed to eliminate many of the current dependencies between aircraft operations at the Port Authority airports. Using the FAA's Airport and Airspace Simulation Model (SIMMOD), Leigh Fisher Associates estimated that the redesigned flight procedures could save as much as $120 million annually in reduced aircraft delays and flying times, and $160 million in associated reduced passenger time. The redesigned procedures could also increase the effectiveness of existing noise-abatement runway use procedures, reduce air traffic control complexity, and serve as the basis for redesigning the region's airspace.

Client
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Services
-Airfield and Airspace Planning