A study of Chicago O'Hare's March 2005 restrictions using an MIT analysis tool

In order to efficiently maximize airspace usage, one element that deserves observation is miles-in-trail (MIT) restrictions. MITs are issued by any facility that needs to constrain traffic flow into a region of airspace - such as a fix, sector or specific route - that is expected to have future demand exceeding its capacity. Typically, a facility will either issue an MIT restriction for flights internal to it, or will pass the restriction to other adjacent facilities that feed traffic to that restricted region. The MITRE Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) has developed an MIT analysis tool that will aid in the process of understanding how MITs are applied. This paper provides a description of the MIT analysis tool and provides a limited analysis of MIT restrictions affecting Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) over a one-month period. The application of the tool's results is supplemented with information about the background, purpose, usage, and limitations of the tool.