benefit in MSP airport's history!
This was SMAAC's response to the second big 'media conference' annonced by the
MAC for Monday (Apr 17). This one is about arrival procedures and a similar
conference was held last week about "Next Gen" departures at MSP.
FAA, Delta and MAC are putting a pretty Next Gen ribbon on a package of crap
(often more emissins per flught) and hoping the package doesn't get opened
(considered in environmental detail).
As an unintended result of converging runway safety-risk management, a few
arrivals will possibly use less fual by a steady low power descent from cruise
altitude to the MSP runways. This is good, but since use is increasing at peak
hours at MSP, not lasting.
In the first place, MSP added vast amounts of air pollution concentrated near
the airport in 2010-11 operations at busy hours. These included lower
departures and frequent runway use (interlaced arrivals and departures) that
depend on both PBN/RNAV and Next Gen Airport deployments just being done at MSP
As it turned out peak-hour operations were limited by the CRO Order, so there
are more hours daily (for the same number of daily flights) because of
scheduling. There is no doubt that fuel use and air pollution is greater per
flight at busy hours (ie, over 130 ops/hr) than when alternating arrivals and
departures are unneeded (fewer than about 90 ops/hr scheduled).
Secondly, Next Gen was never conceived as a fuel use or overflight impacts gain
and the airlines have lobbied diligently to exempt Next Gen-controlled flights
and plans from environmental review.