Application of the Shortest-Path Problem to Routing Terminal Airspace Air Traffic

The flight navigation procedures envisioned under the Next Generation Transportation System will require a specification of the expected route of each flight. Once these specifications are provided, the flights must proceed along their routes with such speed profiles that every pair of aircraft complies with the minimal separation requirement imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The task of separation assurance is most challenging in terminal airspace, with many routes merging and crossing. This paper contributes a mathematical model and an algorithmic approach for routing flights strategically, with a foresight that potentially helps the subsequent computation of speed profiles compliant with the separation requirements and with each aircraft's feasible speed range. The approach consists of reducing a general routing problem to the shortest-path problem.