Voice communication benefits from RNAV/RNP in en route and terminal environments

As part of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's NextGen implementation plan, the employment of area navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures is a key near to midterm initiative. RNAV and RNP allow for more optimal utilization of available airspace and enable more efficient, precise, and predictable routes. Over the last several years, researchers have identified significant quantitative benefits primarily related to aircraft operators, including reduction in miles flown, fuel consumed, and improvements in scheduling. However, metrics have not been developed to quantitatively assess the impacts that RNAV/RNP implementations have on air traffic controllers. This paper provides an approach to determine en route and terminal area voice communication benefits by utilizing communication event detection algorithms on historical audio and radar track data. The MITRE Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) leveraged Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and phoneme-based audio retrieval technologies - adapted to Air Traffic Control (ATC) phraseology - in order to automate the processing of controller to pilot audio data. The methodology and tools developed will allow one to process both audio and radar track data for the purposes of identifying voice communication benefits due to the implementation of RNAV/RNP procedures.