Benefits and Feasibility of the Flexible Airspace Management Concept: A Human-in-the-loop Evaluation of Roles, Procedures, and Tools

A human-in-the-loop simulation was conducted to assess potential user and system benefits of the Flexible Airspace Management (FAM) concept, as well as designing role definitions, procedures, and tools to support the FAM operations in the midterm en route environment. The study evaluated the benefits and feasibility of flexible airspace reconfiguration in response to traffic overload caused by weather deviations versus a baseline condition with no airspace reconfiguration. The test airspace consisted of either four sectors in one Area of Specialization or seven sectors across two Areas. The test airspace was assumed to be at or above FL340 and required all aircraft to be fully equipped with data communications, automated transfer-of-communication, and advanced conflict detection and resolution capabilities on the controller stations. Overall, results showed that FAM operations with multiple Traffic Management Coordinators, Area Supervisors, and radar controllers worked remarkably well. The results showed both user and system benefits, including decreased flight distance, fewer reroutes, and increased airspace utilization. Also, the roles, procedures, airspace designs, and tools were well received by the participants. Airspace configuration options that resulted from a combination of algorithm-generated airspace configurations with manual modifications were well accepted during the airspace reconfiguration process. The results suggest a positive impact of the FAM operations in an en route environment with low traffic complexities and when aircraft are fully equipped with data communications. Further investigation needs to evaluate whether the benefits and feasibility of FAM extend to other environments such as those with mixed equipage and/or higher traffic