Maximizing airborne delay at no extra fuel cost by means of linear holding

This paper introduces a linear holding strategy based on prior works on cruise speed reduction, aimed at performing airborne delay at no extra fuel cost, as a complementary strategy to current ground and airborne holding strategies. Firstly, the equivalent speed concept is extended to climb and descent phases through an analysis of fuel consumption and speed from aircraft performance data. This gives an insight of the feasibility to implement the concept, differentiating the case where the cruise flight level initially requested is kept and the case where it can be changed before departure in order to maximize the linear holding time. Illustrative examples are given, where typical flights are simulated using an optimal trajectory generation tool where linear holding is maximized while keeping constant the initially planned fuel. Finally, the effects of linear holding are thoroughly assessed in terms of the vertical trajectory profiles, range of feasible speed intervals and trade-offs between fuel and time. Results show that the airborne delay increases significantly with nearly 3-fold time for short-haul flights and 2-fold for mid-hauls to the cases in prior works.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2017.05.012
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968090X17301419
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0968090X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Xu, Yan
  • Dalmau, Ramon
  • Prats, Xavier
• Publication Date: 2017-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 137-152
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies
  • Volume: 81
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0968-090X
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0968090X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cruising flight; Flight delays; Fuel consumption; Speed
• Uncontrolled Terms: Holding control strategy
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Energy; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01642464
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 28 2017 9:21AM