Initial Implementation and Operational Use of TASAR in Alaska Airlines Flight Operations

Self Cite

The Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) is a decision support automation tool for trajectory planning and optimization intended for use on today's flight deck. Drawing from a variety of on-and off-board data sources, TAP employs a sophisticated trajectory optimization algorithm that provides the aircrew with fuel-and time-saving reroute recommendations that are free of known conflicts with traffic, special use airspace, and severe convective weather. As this kind of weather is a significant part of the pilot's decision-making process while planning trajectory changes en route, a series of investigations has been conducted into the integration of weather data and associated functionality into the TAP software. This paper reviews the weather data sources and functionality that have been incorporated into TAP to date, along with experience gathered in the course of the design process. I.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weather Design Considerations for the TASAR Traffic Aware Planner

Lewis

Burke

Ubderwood

et al. 2019

Self Cite

“…TAP is NASA's state-of-the-art prototype EFB software application that achieves the TASAR concept and was awarded NASA Software of the Year in 2016. Previous publications have described TASAR's research and development history [4] [5], benefits analyses [6] [7] [8], safety and certification analyses [9] [10], TAP design and functionality [3] [11], flight testing [12], and implementation at Alaska as a fully functioning EFB application approved by the FAA for operational use in revenue service [13]. This paper will describe the operational evaluation of TASAR by Alaska in revenue service operations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial TASAR Operations Onboard Alaska Airlines

Wing

Burke

Ballard

et al. 2019

Self Cite

NASA and Alaska Airlines jointly conducted an operational evaluation of NASA's Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Request (TASAR) concept. Featuring a NASA-developed cockpit automation tool, the Traffic Aware Planner (TAP), and leveraging the emerging "connected aircraft" architecture, TASAR enables pilots to identify route changes compatible with nearby traffic and airspace constraints that improve flight efficiency and are more likely to receive Air Traffic Control approval. TASAR was developed in anticipation of saving fuel and flight time, thereby providing immediate and pervasive benefits to the aircraft operator. Following a previously reported, extensive program of integration and preliminary in-flight testing, the operational evaluation of TASAR in revenue service by Alaska Airlines took place from July 2018 to April 2019. This paper describes the operational evaluation, the methodology for quantifying operational benefits, preliminary benefit results, and other unexpected impacts of TASAR operations during revenue flights. Based on the subset of data available at publication, preliminary estimated benefits averaged about $92 per flight across all flights including those without benefit. Identified factors indicate the estimated benefit per flight was likely a conservative estimate. Benefit categories including home runs, cumulative small gains, and plan validation benefits are illustrated with specific examples observed during the operational evaluation.

“…Previous analyses and simulations have estimated substantial savings for airlines employing this technique within the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) [9][10][11]. Operational evaluations with Alaska Airlines seek to validate these projected benefits using measured data while simultaneously providing benefits to the airline [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-Flight Evaluation of the Traffic Aware Planner on the NASA HU-25A Guardian Aircraft

Underwood

Lewis

Barney

2019

NASA's Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) software is a research-prototype decision support tool that provides pilots with time-and fuel-saving route recommendations that optimize their current trajectory. The software runs on a first-of-a-kind system architecture onboard three aircraft in revenue service conducting operational evaluations with a major domestic airline. Therefore, significant NASA-internal testing is required prior to releasing the software to the partner airline. This paper describes a flight test plan that exercises the functionality of the TAP software in a representative operational environment, describes the system architecture developed and implemented for the NASA Langley HU-25A Guardian aircraft to support the test objectives, presents outcomes of the flight test campaign, and discusses use cases that demonstrate the value of flight testing for this activity.