Design considerations for shortcut path-based time recovery

This paper introduces the concept of using tactical shortcuts to improve arrival precision and thereby increase throughput. This concept schedules flights to a longer path for which a shortcut path option is available for time recovery when speed is restricted. Shortcut design parameter sensitivity for schedule-based and spacing-based use policies is explored for single vs. multiple shortcut designs and shortcut availability. Simulation results show schedule-based shortcuts can reduce scheduling buffer size by 35-55% (increasing maximum throughput) or reduce separation violation probability 15-20% (reducing controller workload). Spacing-based shortcuts can reduce scheduling buffer size or separation violation probability by an additional 20% or 5% respectively. Additional studies were conducted to evaluate throughput and delay performance of each shortcut use policy for a wide range of demand rates. Spacing-based shortcuts performed the best. A use policy that combined the schedule-based shortcut method and scheduling without shortcuts outperformed using either of these methods individually. The potential benefits of using tactical shortcuts warrants future study in its application to multi-point scheduling, performance-based operations, geometric design, and decision support tools.decision support tools.