Demonstration of four operating capabilities to enable a small aircraft transportation system

The small aircraft transportation system (SATS) project has been a five-year effort fostering research and development that could lead to the transformation of our country's air transportation system. It has become evident that our commercial air transportation system is reaching its peak in terms of capacity, with numerous delays in the system and the demand keeps steadily increasing. The SATS vision is to increase mobility in our nation's transportation system by expanding access to more than 3400 small community airports that are currently under-utilized. The SATS project has focused its efforts on four key operating capabilities that have addressed new emerging technologies and procedures to pave the way for a new way of air travel. The four key operating capabilities are: higher volume operations at nontowered/nonradar airports, en route procedures and systems for integrated fleet operations, lower landing minimums at minimally equipped landing facilities, and increased single pilot performance. These four capabilities are key to enabling low-cost, on-demand, point-to-point transportation of goods and passengers utilizing small aircraft operating from small airports. The focus of this paper is to discuss the technical and operational feasibility of the four operating capabilities and demonstrate how they can enable a small aircraft transportation system.