Westminster College

Increasing Aviation Sustainability with Optimized Profile

Descents

Collin Fleck
Professor Gail Avendao
Aviation Capstone - AVIA 402
5 March 2017

For nearly the last half of a century, it has been safe to say that we live

in the age of aviation. The World seems much less vast and far more

accessible than it would have to those who were alive at the turn of the
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Twentieth Century when the first powered airplanes were breaking the bonds

of the Earth, managing to remain airborne for only seconds. In just 114

years, advances in aviation technology have allowed world trade to expand

almost immeasurably, and have completely transformed the way we travel.

The economies of the world and the lifestyles of people from every country

have undoubtedly been affected by the ease at which we can transport

ourselves and our goods across continents and entire oceans.

As each year passes however, the skies are becoming increasingly

busy with air traffic. Higher demand for travel and for the shipment of cargo

by way of air has spurred an increase in the number of flights that take place

daily across the globe. The demand for air travel in the United States has

been growing steadily by 4-5% each year for the past decade, and is

expected to double, if not triple by 2025. Additionally, the International Civil

Aviation Organization estimates that the global demand for commercial

aircraft will increase at an average rate of 4.7% for the next twenty years

(Chen, Solak 402). With the rise in the number of airplanes taking to the sky

comes an increase in the consumption of jet fuel, accompanied by climbing

rates of carbon emissions. Increased demand for jet fuel also has the effect

of increasing its price, which already accounts for the majority of operational

costs faced by airlines.

If the current trends continue, the sustainability of the global aviation

industry could be in jeopardy. In the relatively recent years, strides have

been made to increase efficiency in aviation with more fuel-efficient engines,

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lighter and more aerodynamic aircraft structures, more direct routes made

possible with added GPS and RNAV capabilities, and many more innovative

technological advances. This essay will focus on one such advancement

which is a component of the Federal Aviation Administrations NextGen

initiative called Optimized Profile Descent.

Currently, a typical descent and approach to landing conducted by a

transport category aircraft requires the aircraft to descend from its cruising

altitude to 10,000 feet, at which point the flight crew will begin to follow

procedures for the remainder of the descent which are dictated by air traffic

control. These procedures usually consist of a stair-step style descent

which consist of a series of descents and periods of level flight. During a

routine approach, an aircraft may be instructed to level off three or more

times, each requiring the pilots to increase thrust to maintain level flight. Jet

engines are much less efficient at low altitudes, and each three-mile

segment of level flight in a Boeing 737 below 10,000 feet can burn an extra

100 pounds or 14 gallons of fuel (Gillie). As thousands of flights around the

world use this type of descent every day, the amount of extra fuel being

consumed increases costs and emissions drastically.

Optimized Profile Descents combine the existing technologies of

satellite-based navigation and flight management system computers

onboard modern airliners to calculate much more efficient vertical descent

profiles. Aircraft utilizing an ODP procedures have the ability to reduce

engine thrust to near idle at cruise altitudes between 30,000 and 40,000 feet
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and utilize the potential and kinetic energy of the aircraft to maintain smooth

and constant descending flight trajectories all the way to the runway

threshold, thus eliminating unnecessary fuel consumption due to low-altitude

level-offs. Another benefit of vertically optimized, low thrust descents is

noise reduction in areas surrounding major airports.

Currently in the United States, there are functioning Optimized Profile

Descent procedures in use such as the RIIVR OPD Arrival into Los Angeles

International Airport (KLAX). An excerpt from the Journal of Aircraft entitled

Optimized Profile Descent Arrivals at Los Angeles International Airport

states that the approach has been operational since it passed its design and

testing stages in December of 2007 (Clarke 357). Another article entitled

Optimized Descent Brings Fuel Use Down to Earth written in 2009 states

that at least 50 percent of the arrivals into KLAX were utilizing the new

approach procedure at the time (Gillie). These procedures are also in various

stages of implementation and use at the international airports located in the

cities of Seattle, Washington; Atlanta, Georgia; Anchorage, Alaska; and

Charleston, West Virginia (Gillie).

Although the benefits that can be derived from optimized profile

descents are numerous and it may seem obvious that such procedures

should be more widespread, the process of creating and implementing the

procedures in the airspace surrounding the busiest airports in the world is a

complex and dynamic problem. The challenges faced by the FAA, airlines, air

traffic control, and major airports include conflicts in separation between

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traffic using OPDs and departing or en-route traffic, extra costs associated

with the required equipment in aircraft, and integration of OPDs with current

air traffic procedures.

A case study was conducted to identify potential challenges of the

addition of optimized profile descents into the Denver International Airport.

The study separated the approaches into two categories based on the

probability that required separation between arriving aircraft and en-route or

departing aircraft would be compromised by the procedures. The first

category is unconstrained continuous descents, which include those OPD

procedures that are positioned in such a way that they will not conflict with

traffic in other stages of flight. These procedures will allow for maximum

efficiency of aircraft during descent. The second category, constrained

continuous descents, includes the approaches that would cause a potential

conflict with other traffic at some point during the descent. The study found

that the two areas in which conflicts are most likely are at high altitudes in

the flight paths of en-route traffic, and at low altitudes where traffic would be

executing departure procedures (Shresta, Neskovic, Williams 7-9). Strategies

for conflict mitigation were discussed, and although the strategies in the

study were specific to KDEN, they could apply to the implementation of OPDs

at any airport.

The conflict mitigation strategies include delayed initiation and early

termination of OPD procedures. In situations where a continuous descent

from cruise altitude may result in a conflict with traffic in cruise, the initiation
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of the idle-thrust descent would simply be delayed until the aircraft could

descend to an altitude below any en-route traffic using a series of ATC issued

step-down descents. In situations where a continuous descent to the runway

threshold would not be possible due to departing traffic in the terminal

airspace, the aircraft would be required to terminate their idle-power descent

at an altitude above departing traffic, and proceed to the runway via step-

down descents issued by ATC. These modified ODPs would be less efficient

than an unrestricted descent, but they would still offer an attractive level of

potential benefit (Shresta, Neskovic, Williams 10).

A challenge faced by airlines regarding the implementation of OPD

procedures is ensuring that their aircraft are equipped with the necessary

systems to execute the approaches. These procedures are based on area

navigation (RNAV) via GPS satellites and receivers, and flight management

systems (FMS) installed in the aircraft which assist the pilots in guiding the

aircraft to the ground with a precise trajectory. While most commercial

aircraft today are already equipped with these systems, even Delta Air Lines,

one of the largest airlines in the U.S., estimates that the implementation of

ODP arrivals at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport could cost the

company as much as $11,000 (Chen, Solak). Although there may be a cost

associated with equipping aircraft properly for ODP procedures, the savings

an airline may incur by reducing fuel burn will likely make up for the cost of

equipment quickly. It is estimated that annual savings due to reduced fuel

usage for domestic airlines alone could be as high as $24 million if ODP
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arrival procedures are developed for the top ten major airports in the United

States (Heng, Senay 405).

One of the most challenging aspects of the implementation of OPD

procedures, and one of the most probable reasons for the delay of its

integration into more than a select few airports is the transition from existing

approach procedures to the newer more efficient procedures. The

technology itself is 15 years old, but it has never been applied so completely

in a complicated urban airport setting with all of its airspace conflicts,

political considerations, and airborne traffic jams, states John Gillie in

Optimized Descent Brings Fuel Use Down to Earth (Gillie). The delay is due

to the sheer number of details that must be taken into account while

creating and testing a new arrival procedure.

In conclusion, evaluations of optimized profile descents which are

currently in use at major airports in cities such as Seattle and Los Angeles

have proven that these types of approaches effectively reduce the amount of

fuel being burned and levels of greenhouse gasses being produced while

decreasing the amount of noise pollution caused by aircraft in urban

environments located in close proximity to major airports. While the process

of integrating OPDs into the airspace systems of the U.S. and the world is

laden with challenges such as air traffic separation conflicts, case studies

have developed conflict mitigation strategies that will still allow for

significant increases in aircraft efficiency during approach.

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As time goes on, more aircraft will become equipped with the flight

management systems required to execute OPDs, and additional airports will

complete the lengthy implementation processes to allow aircraft to utilize

the procedures for arrival. The combination of these factors will allow the

rapid growth of the aviation industry to continue while limiting the adverse

effects of commercial aviation on the environment and economy.

Works Cited
Gillie, John. "Optimized Descent Brings Fuel use Down to Earth." McClatchy -

Tribune Business News, Aug 30 2009, ABI/INFORM Collection,

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www.search.proquest.com/docview/464642610?accountid=14989.

Accessed 24 February 2017

Shresta, Sanjiv. Neskovic, Dejan. Williams, Stephen S. "Analysis of continuous

descent benefits and impacts during daytime operations." 8th

USA/Europe Air Traffic Management Research and Development

Seminar (ATM2009), Napa, CA. 2009.

www.atmseminar.org/seminarContent/seminar8/papers/p_132_CDA.pdf.

Accessed 2 March 2017.

Clark, J.-P. Journal of Aircraft Optimized Profile Descent Arrivals at Los

Angeles International Airport, vol. 50, Issue 2, 2013, pp. 360-369.

www.illiad.westminstercollege.edu/illiad/illiad.dll?

Action=10&Form=75&Value=40365. Accessed 2 March 2017.

Chen, Heng. Solak, Senay. Production and Operations Management. Lower

Cost Arrivals for Airlines: Optimal Policies for Managing Runway

Operations Under Optimized Profile Descent. vol. 24, no. 3, 2015, pp.

402-420. www.illiad.westminstercollege.edu/illiad/illiad.dll?

Action=10&Form=75&Value=40463. Accessed 17 February 2017