New York Flow Control with Deterministic En Route Capacity Constraints

In this paper, the authors examine the impact of deterministic en route capacity constraints on air traffic flows in the New York metropolitan area and the Eastern U.S. In order to mitigate demand and capacity imbalances induced by the constraints, a binary integer programming model is used to calculate optimal departure controls. By varying cost function parameters in the model, three distinct solutions are created, allowing for the exploration of the differences between how traffic flows are managed under current day operations and possible future operations. In order to test the models, 120 different scenarios are explored. The scenarios allowed for variations in the intensity and geographical location of the constraints, as well as the prioritization of the traffic flows through the constraints. Results are reported.