Benefits of RNAV terminal procedures: air/ground communication reduction and airport capacity improvements [ATC]

The MITRE Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) has been working the past couple of years with the FAA, airlines, and other stakeholders to design and implement area navigation (RNAV) terminal procedures. Given that users have invested in equipping their fleet and that equipage levels continue to rise, the demand for terminal RNAV procedures is high. Recognizing that implementing procedures often took years, the FAA tasked CAASD to help bring about a speedier implementation - to develop generic implementation guidelines, track lessons learned, identify tool requirements, and facilitate working groups. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) was the first facility chosen for developing the implementation guidelines for collaborative procedure development involving all stakeholders. Shortly after this initial project at PHL, working groups at additional airports started designing and implementing arrival and departure procedures. Now that a number of procedures have been implemented, post-implementation analysis of the benefits from these procedures can start. This paper reports on a first step at understanding the benefits of RNAV terminal procedures.