Simulation of Strategic Conflict Management Performance for Advanced Air Mobility Operations

Strategic conflict management is a key service considered in novel systems being designed in support of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations. This paper presents a simulation framework to analyze the operational performance of strategic conflict management solutions under uncertainty. The framework embeds a conflict detector, a 4D trajectory generator for recommending alternative trajectory options that avoid known airspace constraints at the time of planning as well as an optimizer for demand-capacity balancing. Monte Carlo experiments are performed to simulate disturbances in the execution of aircraft trajectories that are strategically managed prior to departure under different scenarios of conflict management service design. The simulation results emphasize the importance of designing flexible and robust solutions that can handle multiple trajectory options, integrate conflict resolution mechanisms, and account for uncertainties. With an appropriate level of robustness, the proposed strategic conflict management solution was able to mitigate more than 95% of the conflicts, even in the presence of operational uncertainty, while still providing a significant reduction in delay costs.