Airborne method to minimize fuel with fixed time-of-arrival constraints

A method for generating a minimum-fuel, fixed-range, fixed-time-of-arrival flight path in an on-board flight management system computer for commercial aircraft is described. It is shown that up to 6% of the fuel otherwise used can be saved by means of this capability, despite time-of-arrival delays of up to 30 min, by a medium-range, tri-jet transport aircraft.