Aircraft can now descend continuously from cruising altitude to final approach without the need for step-down procedures at 11 more airports in Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nevada. These latest optimized profile descents (OPDs), activated throughout 2022, minimize ATC communications and reduce aircraft fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions. The latest additions bring the total of facilities with OPDs to 64.
OPDs, which were introduced in 2014, eliminate stair-step procedures, in which aircraft repeatedly must level off during the descent, requiring the need to increase engine power. This burns more fuel and requires air traffic controllers to issue instructions at each step. With OPD, aircraft descend from cruising altitude to the runway on a continuous path with the engines at near idle.
During 2022, the FAA implemented OPDs for the following airports: Orlando International, Palm Beach County Park, Palm Beach International, North Palm Beach County General Aviation, Pompano Beach Airpark, Boca Raton, and Fort Lauderdale Executive in Florida; Missouri’s Kansas City International; Eppley Air Field and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska; and Nevada’s Reno/Tahoe International Airport. With the latest OPDs in place, the FAA estimates that operators will reduce fuel consumption by 90,000 gallons and greenhouse-gas emissions by 27,000 tons annually.