NextGen trajectory approaches with air-air negotiation protocol

Current and future air traffic is requiring new procedures and systems to achieve a greater automation and efficiency of the air traffic operations. On controlled air space and airports, centralized ATC support the real time complexity of air traffic management. But on non-controlled aerodromes, used mainly by general aviation, the absence of ATC support may limit the increase of this type of air traffic. General aviation aircraft fly under VFR and only when weather and visibility conditions are good. Their flight is the closest approach to free flight new concept but without the technological support of avionics to make decisions. An aeronautical radio and a GPS are in most cases their available technologies on board. This paper proposes an air-air negotiation protocol for general aviation approaching an aerodrome without ATC. The technological requirement of the protocol is the aeronautical radio enhanced with an ACARS avionics. A fast decision making algorithm is proposed to solve landing time requests based on changes in speed and on the use of a same landing procedure. The protocol has been tested for several scenarios involving up to ten aircraft with satisfactory results.