Westminster

College










Increasing Aviation Sustainability with Optimized Profile Descents









Collin Fleck

Professor Gail Avendao

Aviation Capstone - AVIA 402

5 March 2017

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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 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, lighter and more aerodynamic aircraft structures,

more direct routes made possible with added GPS and RNAV capabilities, and many more
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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

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.

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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 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
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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 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
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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 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
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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.

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.

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Works Cited

Gillie, John. "Optimized Descent Brings Fuel use Down to Earth." McClatchy - Tribune Business

News, Aug 30 2009, ABI/INFORM Collection,

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