Optimisation of interval management - Speed planning using SMPSO

Recent research on Flight-deck Interval Management (FIM), a modern technology for increasing safety and improving airspace and runway utilisation through self-spacing, has led to the development of a new rule-based logic for FIM, namely Interval Management - Speed Planning (IM-SP). In an initial benchmark study, IM-SP showed good spacing performance with a significant reduction in speed commands, a major area of concern with previous FIM logics, resulting in a lower burden on the flight crew during FIM operation. Nevertheless, there remains scope for improvement in other aspects, such as fuel burn. In this study, the internal cost function of IM-SP is further analysed and optimised using speed-constrained multi-objective particle swarm optimisation to improve the performance of IM-SP under the multiple objectives of FIM. The optimisation renders new settings that address the problem areas, improve the speed commands and enhance the overall quality of IM-SP. Two distinctive solutions, viz. a spacing performance optimised setting and a fuel burn optimised setting, are further analysed and discussed, and directions for follow-up research are explored.