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Scheduling and Delivering Aircraft to Departure Fixes in the NY Metroplex with Controller-Managed Spacing ToolsIn this paper, successful Time-Based Flow Management (TBFM) scheduling systems for arrivals are considered and adapted to apply to departures. We present a concept of operations that integrates Controller-Managed Spacing tools for departures (CMS-D) with existing tactical departure scheduling tools to coordinate demand at departure fixes in a metroplex environment. We tested our concept in a Human-in-the-Loop simulation and compared the effect of two scheduling conditions: 1) "Departure Scheduling" consisting of an emulation of the Integrated Departure and Arrival Capability (IDAC) where Towers and a Planner (Traffic Management Coordinator at the appropriate facility) coordinate aircraft scheduled takeoff times to departure fixes; and 2) "Arrival Sensitive Departure Scheduling" where, in addition, the Tower and Planner also consider arrival Scheduled Time of Arrivals (STAs) at the airport's dependent runway. Results indicate little difference between the two scheduling conditions, but a large difference between the No Tools and the two scheduling conditions with CMS-D tools. The scheduling/CMS-D tools conditions markedly reduced heading, speed clearances, and workload for controllers who were merging flows at the departure fixes. In the tool conditions, departure controllers conditioned departures earlier rather than later when aircraft were tied near the departure fixes. In the scheduling/CMS-D tools conditions, departures crossed the departure fixes 50 seconds earlier and with an 8% error rate (consisting of time ahead or behind desired time of arrival) compared to a 19% error rate in the No Tool condition. Two exploratory runs showed that similar beneficial effects can be obtained only with the CMS-D tools without scheduling takeoff times, but at the cost of a somewhat higher workload for controllers, indicating the benefits of pre-departure scheduling of aircraft with minimal delays. Hence, we found that CMS-D tools were very beneficial in the metroplex environment we tested but that further research is needed to clarify the benefits of the various scheduling approaches.
Document ID
20160008909
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Chevalley, Eric
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Parke, Bonny
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Kraut, Josh M.
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Bienert, Nancy
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Omar, Faisal
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Palmer, Everett A.
(Ames Associates Moffett Field, CA)
Date Acquired
July 8, 2016
Publication Date
June 22, 2015
Subject Category
Aircraft Communications And Navigation
Report/Patent Number
AIAA Paper 2015-2428
ARC-E-DAA-TN23939
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference
Location: Dallas, TX
Country: United States
Start Date: June 22, 2015
End Date: June 26, 2015
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 411931.02.01.01.13.06
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AB08A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
terminal airspace
departure scheduling
air traffic control tools
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