An Allocation Approach to Investigate New Aircraft Concepts and Technologies on Fleet-Level Metrics

Aircraft noise and emissions have gained importance in recent environmental discussions. This paper presents the development of an allocation tool that assesses how new aircraft concepts and technologies impact fleet-wide emissions and noise by computing fleetlevel metrics such as direct operation cost (DOC), CO2 emissions, LTO NOX emissions and total area under the 65db noise contour. By modeling 12 different aircraft and a 102airport network, the tool is able to quickly assess if an aircraft fleet can feasibly be allocated throughout the network to minimize direct operating costs and still maintain a given level of emissions. Initial results indicate that if 2005 emission levels are desired in 2015 and beyond, the efficiency of aircraft must increase or the amount of passengers served must decrease.