Boeing

The Preston Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company, has been awarded a contract to provide long-term consulting services to the Clark County Department of Aviation, which operates McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

The Preston Group will use its advanced Total Airspace and Airport Modeller - Plus (TAAM Plus) to support the effort. TAAM Plus is a fast-time gate-to-gate simulation tool used by civil aviation authorities, aviation research establishments, airlines and airports worldwide to analyze operations, redesign airspace, optimize the use of existing facilities and plan for the future. "Fast-time" means modeling certain activities, like an airport's daily traffic, at many times the speed they happen naturally.

One of North America's busiest airports, McCarran is a recognized industry leader in planning, technology and facilities. The gateway to one of the most popular destinations in the world, McCarran served nearly 37 million passengers in 2000 and has experienced a 76 percent increase in passenger volume in the past 10 years.

The airport's recently released "Vision 2020" plan provides a blueprint for future growth, including a new domestic/international terminal, a new charter terminal and additional roadway and terminal improvements. The plan includes a preliminary timeline for development of a second international airport in the Ivanpah Valley to serve the Las Vegas area. The Clark County Department of Aviation currently operates five general aviation facilities in southern Nevada in addition to McCarran.

The Las Vegas project, scheduled for completion in summer 2002, involves developing and calibrating a detailed simulation model of McCarran, including ground movement and terminal airspace activity. From this calibrated model, simulations will be developed for planning activity levels of future aircraft movements that correspond to available aviation forecasts: 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020.

The simulations will evaluate a new international airport in the Ivanpah Valley to assess its environmental effects and the optimal method of operating the new airport in conjunction with McCarran. The project will examine potential capacity benefits from additional facilities and operating procedures as well as other possible alternatives. An assessment of the re-configured, four-corner post TRACON airspace will be performed, simulating the traffic demand at McCarran and its satellite airports. Additional improvements at satellite airports will also be evaluated.