The aviation industry is currently grappling with significant challenges, notably the environmental impact of aviation, airspace congestion, and the resulting workload on air traffic controllers. These challenges are projected to worsen with the anticipated increase in air traffic in the coming decades, underscoring the need for disruptive solutions to ensure long-term sustainability and efficiency in air transport.
In contrast to other solutions being researched, formation flight emerges as a promising option with short-term adoption potential. This innovative operational concept not only tackles immediate industry challenges but also promotes a more sustainable and resilient future for air transportation.
OUR GOALS
Stochastic formation flight trajectory optimization
The complex nature of addressing complete formation flight planning has led to a systematic approach treating it as a bi-level optimization problem. Firstly, the partner allocation problem identifies suitable partners for formation flying, followed by solving the formation mission design problem to determine optimal trajectories for each subset of flights.
Significant benefits, including reduced induced drag and fuel savings ranging from 6% to 14% for trailing aircraft in extended formations, have been demonstrated. These formations also enhance safety. Savings depend on various factors such as meteorological conditions, aircraft types, relative positioning, and formation configurations, as well as uncertainties in air traffic management and formation flight.
Therefore, to estimate the real potential of formation flight, it is necessary to take all these factors into account. In (Cerezo-Magaña et al., 2021), a switched optimal control approach has been employed to solve the lower-level problem, i.e., the formation mission design problem, allowing the use of accurate models and the inclusion of meteorological data to improve the predictability of trajectories. Then, in (Cerezo-Magaña et al., 2022), the approach is generalized to include uncertainties in the formulation
Climate change mitigation potential
Formation flight has primarily been examined for its potential economic savings by reducing fuel consumption. Some studies have also assessed CO2 emissions. However, this approach alone does not adequately capture the overall impact of this operational concept on climate. Therefore, it’s crucial to broaden the assessment to include not just economic factors but also operational and environmental aspects, such as non-CO2 emissions and contrail formation.
