The newest phase of the FAA’s NextGen airspace redesign, tagged the “North Texas Metroplex” project, took effect September 18 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with the addition of a number of new arrival and departure procedures. The new procedures replace the older standard terminal arrival routes (Stars) and standard instrument departures (SIDs) at Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) and Dallas Love Field (DAL) airports.
Additionally, new procedures also took effect at Addison Airport (ADS), McKinney National Airport (TKI) and Fort Worth’s Meacham International Airport (FTW), as well as en route airspace controlled by neighboring Forth Worth Center.
“The new optimized profile descent Stars should improve fuel efficiency by allowing aircraft to remain at idle power from the top of descent to the final approach [fix],” commented John Kosak, an air traffic services specialist with the National Business Aviation Association. The new SIDs should also expedite aircraft joining the high-altitude en route airspace structure.
The North Texas Metroplex team is requesting that operators submit feedback reports to provide insight into how well the new procedures work.
The North Texas Metroplex redesign follows a similar upgrade of Houston’s terminal airspace earlier this year. Similar airspace upgrades to Cleveland Center and the Northern California Tracon’s airspace are scheduled to take effect later this year.