Interval Management (IM) is a concept designed to be used by air traffic controllers and flight crews to more efficiently and precisely manage inter-aircraft spacing. Both government and industry have been working together to develop the IM concept and standards for both ground automation and supporting avionics. NASA contracted with Boeing, Honeywell, and United Airlines to build and flight test an avionics prototype based on NASA's spacing algorithm and conduct a flight test. The flight test investigated four different types of IM operations over the course of nineteen days, and included en route, arrival, and final approach phases of flight. This paper examines the spacing accuracy achieved during the flight test and the rate of speed commands provided to the flight crew. Many of the time-based IM operations met or exceeded the operational design goals set out in the standards for the maintain operations and a subset of the achieve operations. Those operations which did not meet the goals were due to issues that are identified and will be further analyzed.
A 19-day flight test of an Interval Management (IM) avionics prototype was conducted in Washington State using three aircraft to precisely achieve and maintain a spacing interval behind the preceding aircraft. NASA contracted with Boeing, Honeywell, and United Airlines to build this prototype, and then worked closely with them, the FAA, and other industry partners to test this prototype in flight. Four different IM operation types were investigated during this test in the en route, arrival, and final approach phases of flight. Many of the IM operations met or exceeded the design goals established prior to the test. However, there were issues discovered throughout the flight test, including the rate and magnitude of IM commanded speed changes and the difference between expected and actual aircraft deceleration rates.
The number of commercial aircraft operations is predicted to increase in the next ten years, creating a need for improved operational efficiency. Two areas believed to offer significant increases in efficiency are optimized profile descents and dependent parallel runway operations. It is envisioned that during both of these types of operations, flight crews will precisely space their aircraft behind preceding aircraft at air traffic control assigned intervals to increase runway throughput and maximize the use of existing infrastructure. This paper describes a human-in-the-loop experiment designed to study the performance of an onboard spacing algorithm and pilots' ratings of the usability and acceptability of an airborne spacing concept that supports dependent parallel arrivals. Pilot participants flew arrivals into the Dallas Fort-Worth terminal environment using one of three different simulators located at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Langley Research Center. Scenarios were flown using Interval Management with Spacing (IM-S) and Required Time of Arrival (RTA) control methods during conditions of no error, error in the forecast wind, and offset (disturbance) to the arrival flow. Results indicate that pilots' delivered their aircraft to the runway threshold within +/-3.5 seconds of their assigned arrival time and reported that both the IM-S and RTA procedures were associated with low workload levels. In general, pilots found the IM-S concept, procedures, speeds, and interface acceptable; with 92% of pilots rating the procedures as complete and logical, 218 out of 240 responses agreeing that the IM-S speeds were acceptable, and 63% of pilots reporting that the displays were easy to understand and displayed in appropriate locations. The 22 (out of 240) responses, indicating that the commanded speeds were not acceptable and appropriate occurred during scenarios containing wind error and offset error. Concerns cited included the occurrence of multiple speed changes within a short time period, speed changes required within twenty miles of the runway, and an increase in airspeed followed shortly by a decrease in airspeed. Within this paper, appropriate design recommendations are provided, and the need for continued, iterative human-centered design is discussed.
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