Initial Study of Tube Networks for Flexible Airspace Utilization

Air traffic in the United States is reaching new highs as it continues to increase at a steady pace. There is a general consensus that the National Airspace System needs to be transformed from today’s rigid airways and airspace structure to a more flexible arrangement in order to accommodate and manage this growth. It has been suggested that one way to support this divergent growth in the mix of air traffic is to divide the airspace into different categories with different levels of service and entry requirements based on policy or price; e.g., connect high-traffic regions with a network of dedicated “tubes” analogous to the interstate highway system. This paper starts with today’s air traffic as a baseline, groups airports into regions, and models a series of tubes connecting major regions. We achieve this grouping in two different ways, and present results based on the two methods. Next, we present simulation results by connecting these regions with a network of tubes. The modeling approach provides a basis for systematically studying the design and impact of dynamic airspace concepts in the National Airspace System.