Preventing Gridlock on the Ground

If every commuter drove the same few roads at the same time every day, the traffic would be unbearable. That’s exactly what’s happening in the skies above the nation, called the national airspace (NAS). Multiple flights from different airlines try to use the most direct flight paths, converging on the same airports. With limited runway space, that causes jumbo-sized traffic congestion. So, NASA worked with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), commercial airlines, and airports to develop and test a new program to manage airport traffic on the ground — the Integrated Arrival, Departure, and Surface (IADS) system. In 2022, the FAA began incorporating IADS capabilities at 27 of the busiest airports in the country.