Analyzing the operational capacity effects of the monitor Alert paramater (MAP)

The FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Office of Performance Analysis is responsible for developing indicators and providing analysis on the operational efficiency of the NAS and to ensure its databases provide the necessary information for linking performance to root causes. The focus of this paper is the primary indicator of capacity within a sector, the Monitor Alert Parameter (MAP), an indicator designed to alert personnel when traffic levels in a given sector may be at a level that will affect the efficiency of the system. Over the past decade, however, it has come under some criticism for being too simplistic in its calculation with the obvious implication that some MAP values do not represent the real trigger point at which the balance between sector capacity and traffic volume require a closer look. A search for studies on this subject yields sparse results with cursory connections. This paper will review and analyze the current FAA policy for MAP and discuss the challenges and potential shortfalls of the current implementation of baseline MAP values. Further, it will discuss the challenges associated with measuring the effectiveness of this tool. Finally, this paper draws conclusions and makes recommendations focused on enabling a more comprehensive analysis of sector capacity limitations on the efficiency of the NAS.