BENEFIT POTENTIAL OF CONTINUOUS CLIMB AND DESCENT OPERATIONS

This report describes the analysis of radar track data from the 34 Operational Evolution Partnership (OEP) airports within the continental United States with a particular focus on a measurement of the vertical continuity of operations within the terminal areas surrounding these airports and the benefits that may be realized by implementing Area Navigation (RNAV) procedures with vertical guidance at the airports. It provides a performance baseline of climb and descent operations characterizing the extent to which departures and arrivals currently involve level flight segments at the airports. It presents the modeling methodology used to estimate operator benefits that can be expected to result from improving the continuity of climb and descent operations. The analysis of the terminal radar data shows that operator benefits of $380 million annually and associated reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emission gases of 850,000 metric tons annually may be possible at OEP airports by improving climb and descent continuities at key terminal altitudes.