A Concept of Operations for a NextGen Metroplex Scheduling Concept

At major US metropolitan area airports with nearby airports, air traffic flow interdependencies cause significant traffic inefficiencies. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is attacking the metroplex problem with near-term solutions including procedural and airspace design changes. An additional and complementary technology-based metroplex solution is the development and deployment of a NextGen metroplex scheduling concept. Feasibility and preliminary impact evaluations of such a concept are being pursued in ongoing NASA-sponsored research by the Georgia Tech Metroplex NASA Research Announcement (NRA) Team. This research paper discusses details of the NextGen metroplex scheduling concept, termed the "Multiplexer" concept, and its concept of operations. Major concept attributes discussed include the concept solution and potential benefits, expected changes in human roles and responsibilities, its system function, its expected system and human/system interface requirements, expected operational sequences, development challenges, and potential future concept extensions.

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