Rate of fatalities per 100 million persons on board. (more)

This metric includes accidents involving passengers, crew, ground personnel, and the uninvolved public.

National Airspace System (NAS) commercial operations. (more)

Scope covers scheduled and non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights. It excludes on-demand service and general aviation.

National Airspace System (NAS) General Aviation operations. (more)

Scope encompasses on-demand and general aviation flights.

The rate of high risk loss of standard separation events, per thousand events of loss of standard separation. The rate is computed over a rolling 12 month period. (more)

A loss of separation event is defined as any instance of non-compliance with radar separation standards. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

National Airspace System (NAS) and radar controlled aircraft. (more)

All radar controlled aircraft flying under instrument flight rules (IFR) are in scope for this metric computation.

Rate of category A and B runway incursions per million operations. (more)

Runway Incursions involve the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the airport surface designated for takeoffs and landings. Category A and B runway incursions have significant potential for a collision or require extreme action to avoid a collision. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

National Airspace System (NAS) (more)

The scope includes all airports with an air traffic control tower.

Implement 80% of approved interventions to mitigate the Top 5 hazards associated with airborne losses of standard separation. This metric measures the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) success in mitigating the identified risks in the National Air Space (NAS). It moves the agency away from merely counting mistakes. (more)

By identifying the Top 5 Hazards and developing associated interventions, the FAA is taking a proactive stance in correcting the hazards identified, for each fiscal year.

Number of accidents resulting in fatalities, injuries, or significant property damage. (more)

Accidents are defined as fatalities, injuries or significant property damage ($25K+) to the uninvolved public.

World-wide operations (more)

The scope excludes passenger flights on aircraft with fewer than 10 seats, non-scheduled passenger flights with 10- 30 seats, and cargo flights with less than 7,500 lbs. of payload.

The Taxi-In time is computed as the duration between landing (wheels on) time and gate in time, as reported by carriers. A system value is obtained by averaging these durations over a period of time. (more)

The Average Taxi-in time for Core Airports is a good representation of NAS level activity.

Core Airports (more)

The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires carriers to report actual gate in and wheels on times as Airline Service Quality Performance (ASQP) data.

The Taxi-Out Time is computed as the duration between gate out time and take off (wheels off) time. A system value is obtained by averaging these durations over a period of time. (more)

The Average Taxi-out time for Core Airports is a good representation of NAS level activity. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

Core Airports (more)

The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires carriers to report actual gate out and wheels off times as Airline Service Quality Performance (ASQP) data.

The arrival delay is computed as the gap between scheduled arrival (gate in) time and actual arrival time, whenever the actual arrival is later than the scheduled arrival time. Arrival Delays are averaged over a period of time. (more)

The Average minutes of arrival delay represent a fundamental metric for all National Airspace System (NAS) operators and for the public. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

Core Airports (more)

The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires carriers to report both scheduled and actual gate in times as Airline Service Quality Performance (ASQP) data.

The Gate-to-Gate time is computed as the duration between the gate out time at the departure airport and the gate in time at the arrival airport. A system value is obtained when averaging these durations over a period of time. (more)

Monitoring the Average Gate-to-Gate times for all Core Airports allows us to understand the overall behavior of the system. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

Carrier reported flights to and from Core Airports (more)

The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires carriers to report actual gate in and gate out times as Airline Service Quality Performance (ASQP) data.

The Optimization of Airspace Procedures in the Metroplex (OAPM) program started in 2011, under ATO's lead, and targets the country's busiest airspace. Efforts are under way to review descent procedures and reduce the distance flown at level flight. This continuous descent effort is focused on Core Airports. (more)

Level flight distance is calculated from Top of Descent (TOD) to runway threshold. New performance based navigation procedures will allow for more efficient lateral and vertical routes, overall resulting in fewer miles flown. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

Core Airports (more)

The scope includes all jet arrivals into Core Airports

This is a new metric, reported as of FY13.

Prior to departure, operators submit their flight plans to the FAA, and then a collaborative flight plan is filed and cleared for take-off. To compute this metric, we compare the latest flight plan time, as filed prior to departure, with the actual flown airborne time (wheels off to wheels on). A system value is obtained by averaging over a period of time, for all key city pairs. (more)

The average Filed versus Flown airborne time is an important indicator of National Airspace System (NAS) efficiency. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

National Airspace System (NAS) Core Airports and for NAS Key City Pairs. (more)

To respond to the request of reporting for "Key City Pairs", FAA put in place a NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) tasking letter to request input on the definition of a set of city pairs that are a good representation for the NAS, and also reflect operational improvements throughout our system. The resulting list was reviewed and approved by the NAC, and is used for our metric computations.

The Distance Flown is defined as the actual flown distance between wheels-off and wheels-on. The metric is reported as an aggregate for all key city pairs. (more)

The average Flown versus Filed airborne time is an important indicator of National Airspace System (NAS) efficiency. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

National Airspace System (NAS) Core Airports and for NAS Key City Pairs (more)

To respond to the request of reporting for "Key City Pairs", FAA put in place a NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) tasking letter to request input on the definition of a set of city pairs that are a good representation for the NAS, and also reflect operational improvements throughout our system. The resulting list was reviewed and approved by the NAC, and is used for our metric computations.

Delays of 15 minutes or more for arrivals and departures, captured by airport, for any number of days. (more)

The number of both arrival and departure delays is a meaningful indicator of efficiency. It conveys meaningful information to all operators, FAA, airline, aviation service providers and airport authority.

This metric is a count of all departure and arrival operations by airport, for all flights where FAA captured a flight plan record. (more)

The count of both arrival and departure operations provides a good foundation for assessing the overall level of National Airspace System (NAS) activity.

National Airspace System (NAS) On-Time Arrivals is the percentage of all flights arriving at the Core Airports less than 15 minutes late, based on the carrier flight plan filed with the FAA, and excluding minutes of delay attributed by air carriers to extreme weather, carrier circumstances, security delay, and prorated minutes for late arriving flights at the departure airport. (more)

Every month, DOT reporting carriers include the cause of arrival delay, along with the duration of all delays of 15 minutes or more. This metric captures delays that have been attributed to NAS and FAA related events. It is continuously monitored and used to take proactive action and reduce delays throughout the National Airspace System (NAS).

Core Airports (more)

This measure is based on arrival delays at the Core Airports reported by the Aviation System Quality Performance (ASQP) carriers for domestic flights.

Fuel Burned is defined as the actual fuel used between gate departure and gate arrival. This metric is reported as an aggregated per flight average for all key city pairs. Average fuel used per flight is influenced by the mix of flying across city pairs, aircraft size, traffic carried, aircraft performance characteristics and weather. Accordingly, as reported, this metric is not a direct measure of operational fuel efficiency and should not be used as a proxy for system fuel efficiency on its own. (more)

The average fuel burned can be a function not only of aircraft size and flight stage length, which varies with the actual mix of flights across city pairs, but also of the weather, congestion and other operating conditions, which may vary from year to year and from one city pair to another. A notable change in volume or malevolent weather at a particular airport, for example, could cause more or less vectoring and speed assignments, causing reroutes and weather diverts.

This metric is part of the FAA Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

Carrier reported flights for key city pairs.

Sum of the number of flights the FAA facilities plan as capability for landings and take-offs in a month(s), divided by the number of days in the month(s). (more)

The Average Daily Capacity is computed using daily hourly-called arrival and departure rates at airports, also known as "published rates." FAA facilities continuously monitor and adjust these rates to reflect airport capability. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

National Airspace System (NAS) Core Airports and times of day relevant to the operations. (more)

To increase the impact of the ADC metric, the ATO focuses on the hours of the day during which capacity matters the most. These hours capture periods when well over 90% of Core Airports' operations take place.

Sum of the number of flights the FAA facilities actually land and take-off in a month(s), divided by the number of days in the month(s). These average daily operation rates can be compared to the average daily capacity (ADC). (more)

The average daily actual operation rates for Core Airports are often compared to the ADC, or published rates. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.

National Airspace System (NAS) Core Airports and times of day relevant to the operations. (more)

To allow for proper comparison with the ADC metric, ATO focuses on the hours of the day during which capacity matters the most. These hours capture periods when well over 90% of Core Airports' operations take place.

Maintain runway pavement in excellent, good, or fair condition for at least 93 percent of the paved runways in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). (more)

This metric allows the FAA to closely monitor the condition of the runways, thus ensuring runway availability throughout the system.

NAS Reliability is calculated by using an exponential equation where the mission time equals 24 hours and the constant "e" equals 2.71828. Unscheduled Mean Time Between Outages represents the average (mean) operating facility/service time between unscheduled outages. The formula used to calculate the MTBO consists of Total Operating Hours (maximum available hours minus total scheduled and unscheduled outage time) divided by the total number of unscheduled outages. (more)

The availability of the equipment necessary to provide service directly affects the performance of the NAS. Loss of radar or communications equipment will affect the speed and number of aircraft that can be handled where that loss occurs. The ability of the NAS to continually provide guidance is crucial, and affects both safety and capacity. The adoption of this metric allows the FAA to focus more on unscheduled interruptions and allows Technical Operations to perform scheduled maintenance activities in a way that promotes root cause analysis and complete repair of systems. It also allows maintenance to be completed in a less stressful and safer environment.

Core Airports (more)

The National Airspace Performance Reporting System (NAPRS) facilities necessary to maintain the provision of service in the NAS overall have been determined and are monitored. For this metric, those NAPRS reportable facilities necessary for the provision of service at the Core Airports have been separately measured. The Core Airports are those which have 1% or more of the total U.S. enplanements (The DOT large hub airports) or 0.75% or more of total U.S. non-military itinerant operations.

Number of people exposed to significant noise (regardless of whether their houses or apartments have been sound-insulated). Significant aircraft noise levels are currently defined as values greater than or equal to Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) 65 decibels (dB). (more)

Day-Night Average Sound Level calculations add 10 decibels to night time noise to account for increased human sensitivity to noise at night.

Fiscal Year (FY) reporting reflects the previous calendar year period. (more)

For example, FY12 reflects January 2011 to December 2011.

Defined as the number of gallons of renewable jet fuel used by U.S. aircraft per calendar year. It includes all jet operations in the U.S., for both military and commercial use, since both are utilizing available supplies of renewable jet fuels. (more)

Renewable jet fuels include fuels derived from or containing renewable feedstock, such as oil seed crops, animal tallow, algae, and coal mixed with biomass. Computation includes both military and commercial operations.

Fiscal Year (FY) reporting reflects the previous calendar year period. (more)

For example, FY12 reflects January 2011 to December 2011.

This is a new metric, reported as of FY13.

Computed as the ratio of estimated Fuel Burn and the actual Distance flown, in units of Kilogram per Kilometer. (more)

FAA is working with aviation stakeholders to obtain actual fuel burn data. Actual data will allow for a significant accuracy improvement.

Fiscal Year (FY) reporting reflects the previous calendar year period. (more)

For example, FY12 reflects January 2011 to December 2011.

Quantity of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emitted by aircraft engines, measured in kilograms.

Note: This metric is under development. Eventually, the CO₂ emissions will be replaced by the number of people exposed to elevated pollutant concentrations.

Fiscal Year (FY) reporting reflects the previous calendar year period. (more)

For example, FY12 reflects January 2011 to December 2011.

FAA is currently computing and reporting its unit cost per operation, for operations reported by all its facilities. (more)

Costs include all operating costs assignable to the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) under FAA's Cost Accounting System (CAS), including an assignment of FAA overhead costs. Operation counts include both instrument and visual flight conditions, for Federal and Contract facilities. This metric is part of the Re-Authorization Bill Section 214 performance metrics requirements.