3D Path Concept and Flight Management System (FMS) Trades

Accommodation of projected air travel demand increases over the next 20 years requires significant change in operations and the capability to handle a large number of additional airplanes at airports and in the airspace. This situation has been addressed by the development of operational concepts for implementation in the 2020-2025 timeframe. The concept in this paper focuses on the near-term operational implementation in the 2008-2012 timeframe for operations in high traffic conditions. The concept is fundamentally based on the concept of 3D paths that are sets of three-dimensionally defined flight paths to be used for path stretching or shortening by air traffic control (ATC). A set of 3D paths contains a nominal path that an airplane would fly without any ATC interaction, and additional path options to space airplanes, and provide timing control for required delay implementation. In this paper, we describe the 3D path concept and discuss 3D path designs based on operational and airspace requirements. Design of these flight paths, however, does not specify a particular implementation in the airplane's flight management system (FMS), the FMSs navigational data base (NDB) or its use in supporting ground automation and clearances. These implementation options and their impact on FMS functions, NDB size, ground automation and human factors are the main focus of this paper