A critique of an operational concept for managing traffic in super dense operations airspace

In a previous paper we outlined an operational concept for managing traffic in Super Dense Operations (SDO) airspace based on a knowledge elicitation effort involving traffic managers and pilots. In this paper we extend this effort, soliciting feedback from a new set of 10 experienced controllers, asking them to evaluate the assumptions and design recommendations making up this operational concept. In the previous paper at this conference, we presented an operational concept for the functioning of airspace operating under Super Density Operations (SDO) that assumes that, in the mid-term (2018) the controllers for SDO for Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) airspace are still responsible for separation assurance and for the merging and spacing of arrivals, departures and overflights. The concept further proposes extensive use of procedural separation based on a predefined “plays” based on a set of alternative advanced Area Navigation (RNAV) arrival and departure routes and based on a set of alternatives for using airspace for arrivals and departures. Assuming datalink capabilities to communicate a new route to the flight deck, the concept further allows for dynamically generated advanced RNAV arrival and departure routes [1–3] when the set of predefined “plays” is insufficient to deal with weather or traffic constraints. In general, the participants were strongly in favor of having predefined route and airspace structures in SDO airspace, with the ability to deal with weather and traffic constraints using predefined alternatives or “plays” whenever possible, but considering dynamically generated route and airspace structures when the predefined “plays” are inadequate. Additional details are provided below.