Airline Arrival Prioritization in Sequencing and Scheduling

Gregory C. Carr, Heinz Erzberger, and Frank Neuman


Abstract

The basic objective of arrival sequencing and scheduling in air traffic control automation 
is to match traffic demand and airport capacity while minimizing delays. The principle 
underlying practical sequencing and scheduling algorithms currently in use is referred to 
as first-come-first-served (FCFS). While this principle generates fair schedules when 
delays must be absorbed, it does not take into account airline priorities among individual 
flights. The development of new scheduling techniques which consider priorities 
expressed by air carriers will further reduce the economic impact of air traffic management (ATM) 
restrictions on the airlines. This will also lead to increased airline economic 
efficiency by allowing airlines to have greater control over their individual arrival banks 
of aircraft. NASA is exploring the possibility of allowing airlines to express relative 
arrival priorities to ATM through the development of new sequencing and scheduling 
algorithms which take into account airline preferences. This paper introduces a method of 
scheduling a bank of arrival aircraft according to a preferred order of arrival instead of 
according to an FCFS sequence based on estimated time of arrival at the runway.
Fast-time simulation is used to evaluate the feasibility of this scheduling method. Results show 
that when compared with FCFS scheduling, the alternative scheduling method is often 
successful in reducing deviations from the preferred bank arrival order while causing little 
or no increase in scheduled delays.