Development and evaluation of the terminal precision scheduling and spacing system for off-nominal condition operations

NASA has developed a capability for terminal area precision scheduling and spacing (TAPSS) to increase airport throughput and the use of fuel-efficient arrival procedures during periods of peak traffic congestion at high-throughput airports. This advanced technology represents NASA's current concept for the NextGen terminal metering desired capability. A series of high-fidelity human-in-the-loop simulation experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the TAPSS system during off-nominal conditions, specifically aircraft executing missed-approach and go-around procedures after transitioning to the final approach fix during an attempted landing. Each simulation run contained 2-4 missed approaches during a highly congested 60-minute period. The TAPSS system was adapted to arrival operations for the Los Angeles International airport (LAX). It was also enhanced to support automated missed-approach processing and procedures. The experiments evaluated the utility of the missed approach enhanced automation features by comparing system performance and controller workload with and without the enhancements. The simulated traffic throughput exceeded that of the current LAX operations with two runways in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) by 10%. The results showed that when using the enhanced automation, the controllers could maintain the higher throughput levels with more consistent and predictable routing in the final operations but with increased vectoring and off-route aircraft in the feeder positions. Controller workload results indicated a preference for the automation enhancement especially as the numbers of missed approaches increased from 2 to 4 during the 60-minute evaluation period.