How do you begin prioritizing where to implement a new operational concept, from all the airports in the National Airspace System (NAS)?

When considering optimized profile descent (OPD), the answer is to measure three categories of metrics and use that to rank potential implementation sites.

An OPD is an arrival procedure designed to reduce fuel consumption, pollutant emissions, and noise generation during descent. The basic idea is to allow aircraft to set their engines near idle throttle while they descend, by designing the OPD as an Area Navigation (RNAV) procedure with a prescribed vertical profile near the optimum idle descent trajectories of aircraft.

Wired Magazine Features MITRE's CAASD
March 11, 2009

The MITRE Corporation was recently featured in Wired magazine regarding the company’s research and development in aviation. Read the “Key to Eliminating U.S. Flight Delays? Redesign the Sky Over New York City,” which appeared February 23, 2009.

More of What's New...