Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Air Traffic Management Cost Assessment Tool
Project Description
The Robust Analytics air traffic management cost assessment tool provides the comprehensive capability to analyze the impacts of NASA Airspace Systems Program (ASP) air traffic management (ATM) research from individual flight trajectories through airline network operations and airline investments in equipment and training. Our model generates cost-benefit estimates for concept and procedure alternatives for individual airlines. The model also estimates a variety of impacts on industry, including input utilization and productivity, throughput, air transportation industry costs and fares, and broader economic effects such as employment and benefits to other industries. Existing cost models are typically limited to simple flight cost factors, with occasional added detail on fuel burn and flying time. Assessment of deployment times, the feasibility of obtaining the assumed benefits, and cost risk are typically ignored although always a constant concern of airlines. Our model suite overcomes these deficiencies by providing greater fidelity in the cost analysis of flight segments, explicit estimation of training and certification cost, and realistic treatment of deployment time and risk. Our cost analysis is performed using airline-specific data, enabling more realistic assessment of airline investment decisions and identification of disparate effects and willingness to invest among airlines. Robust Analytics expect to leverage the current body of knowledge by our partner Sabre Airline Solutions and two U.S. airlines to provide input and validate the model. An important use of the proposed model for the airline industry is that potentially this tool could help them make decisions in real time to improve their decision making during irregular operations and during severe weather events.
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Anticipated Benefits
There are three immediate NASA applications: 1. Support ASP trade studies and provide useful feedback to researchers on likely operator acceptance based on realistic return on investment estimates, assessment of risks and deployment timelines, and financial constraints. 2. Provide a much-needed model or analytical tool that can estimate the total system operating cost for the current baseline or under the advanced concepts and architectures in ARMD's research portfolio. 3. Meet the requirements for a total system cost model for the Airspace Systems Shadow Mode Assessment for Realistic Technologies in the National Airspace System (SMART NAS) project. This research effort was recently started under the ASP Concepts and Technology Development Project and Robust Analytics is a prime contractor developing a system architecture. Our solution aims to meet the requirements of SMART NAS while simultaneously providing the much-needed cost estimating capability to integrate with FACET and other models.
Robust Analytics sees an excellent opportunity to work with our partner Sabre Airline Solutions to commercialize the cost model by improving the ability of its airline customers to plan and operate scheduled flights. The mechanism for providing this improved capability will be through airline flight operations center planning and operational software. Many NextGen and Airspace Systems tools rely on airline FOCs to manage flights, trajectory planning, and re-routing. We envision the cost model as an added capability to AOCs to assist in evaluating the impact of airline investments in ATM and NextGen capabilities. Other potential commercial applications include: 1. The Flight Profitability Model offers smaller airlines a useful tool for assessing the financial benefit of adding additional flight to their network. 2. Provide analysis to smaller U.S. airlines and foreign carriers that need improved flight-based and system-wide cost estimating capabilities. 3. Provide enhanced analytical capability to NextGen planning organizations that analyze the benefits and costs of the overall portfolio of NextGen and other FAA investments. 4. Provide analytical input to FAA study groups examining policy alternatives to incentivize NextGen equipage. More »
Robust Analytics sees an excellent opportunity to work with our partner Sabre Airline Solutions to commercialize the cost model by improving the ability of its airline customers to plan and operate scheduled flights. The mechanism for providing this improved capability will be through airline flight operations center planning and operational software. Many NextGen and Airspace Systems tools rely on airline FOCs to manage flights, trajectory planning, and re-routing. We envision the cost model as an added capability to AOCs to assist in evaluating the impact of airline investments in ATM and NextGen capabilities. Other potential commercial applications include: 1. The Flight Profitability Model offers smaller airlines a useful tool for assessing the financial benefit of adding additional flight to their network. 2. Provide analysis to smaller U.S. airlines and foreign carriers that need improved flight-based and system-wide cost estimating capabilities. 3. Provide enhanced analytical capability to NextGen planning organizations that analyze the benefits and costs of the overall portfolio of NextGen and other FAA investments. 4. Provide analytical input to FAA study groups examining policy alternatives to incentivize NextGen equipage. More »
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robust Analytics | Lead Organization |
Industry
Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB)
|
Crofton, Maryland |
Langley Research Center
(LaRC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Hampton, Virginia |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Maryland
-
Virginia
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