Economic Benefits of Increased En Route Sector Capacity from Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications

The En Route Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) program is designed to enable digital data communications between controllers and pilots. CPDLC Build 1A has been proposed as the first step in the nationwide rollout of this program to en route airspace by implementation in eight air route traffic control centers. Because CPDLC will automate several routine air-ground communications tasks, one potential benefit is reduced controller workload, which could lead to increased sector capacity and thus reduced flight times for flights traversing busy sectors. To quantify the workload reduction, a comparison has been made of the time currently required to perform communications tasks, as determined from recordings of actual air-ground communications, and the time required to perform the same tasks with CPDLC, as determined by a controller-in-the-loop simulation. This comparison indicated the potential for a significant reduction in the time spent on controller-pilot communications. A model was constructed to relate the reduced controller communications workload to increased sector capacity. The National Airspace System Performance Analysis Capability (NASPAC) model was used to estimate the reduction in flight times associated with the modeled sector capacity increase. NASPAC was run for both an idealized good weather day and a sample actual bad weather day. By 2017, the last year of the projected economic lifetime of CPDLC, average flight time savings from CPDLC-related capacity increases were estimated to exceed 9, 400 min/day.