Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, PA. The airport serves 31.7 million passengers annually, making it the 20th busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located 7 mi (11 km) from the city’s downtown area and has 25 airlines that offer nearly 500 daily departures to more than 130 destinations worldwide. Since Runway 8-26 Safety Area (RSA) at PHL was non-compliant with FAA standards, as the on-call airport consultant, DY Consultants was tasked to provide an optimal solution. DY developed multiple alternatives that would bring the RSA to standard and worked closely and continuously with project stakeholders, including entities such as the Airport’s Planning and Operations, FAA ADO, FAA ATCT, American Airlines and the FBO Community.

Upon selection of a preferred alternative, DY Consultants performed a feasibility analysis per FAA policies, assessed aircraft performance for given operational length, and determined if the preferred alternative was financially feasible.