The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday declared a successful implementation of the latest phase of its NextGen airspace redesign known as the North Texas Metroplex NextGen project. According to an FAA statement, the airspace improvements will reduce distance flown by as much as 1 million nautical miles annually, saving up to 4.1 million gallons of fuel and cutting carbon emissions by as much as 41,000 metric tons each year.

“Using NextGen satellite-based technology, the FAA and its workforce have collaborated with the industry to convert the busy and complex airspace around North Texas into some of the most efficient in the nation,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.  “The result is a solution that benefits not only the National Airspace System but also the aviation industry, the environment and the traveling public.”

The North Texas Metroplex initiative included what the FAA called strategies that streamlined the airspace and helped reduce complexity for air traffic controllers and flight crews. As part of the program, the FAA developed 80 new procedures to take advantage of the precision of global positioning system (GPS) technology. The strategies included creating optimized profile descent (OPD) procedures into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Dallas Love Field (DAL). OPDs allow pilots to almost idle the engines while the aircraft descends at a constant rate. Previous airspace procedures required airplanes to level off at certain points to allow for coordination between air traffic controllers.

Other initiatives involved developing alternative routes for use when weather affects normal arrival and departure paths; establishing departure and arrival routes that align airplanes on preferred paths; establishing a dedicated arrival route from the northwest into DAL, eliminating congestion in the airspace above DFW; creating GPS-based arrival and departure paths for Love Field, resulting in more precise flight paths over neighborhoods near the airport; and developing satellite-based departure procedures that provide allow airplanes to climb steadily without leveling off from time to time, allowing them to reach a cruising altitude sooner.

The North Texas Metroplex project ranks as one of the largest implemented by the FAA. The agency applied similar changes in the Houston area in May. More than a dozen such projects either under way or in planning include Washington D.C., Northern California, Atlanta and Charlotte.

The FAA defines a metroplex as a major metropolitan area with multiple airports where heavy air traffic and environmental constraints can combine to hinder efficient air traffic movement.