PRELIMINARY  RESULTS  OF  THE  IMPACT  OF  CTAS  INFORMATION  ON AIRLINE  OPERATIONAL  CONTROL

R. E. Zelenka, R. Beatty, and S. Engelland



Abstract

Continued growth of air traffic and increased air carrier economic
pressures have created a need for greater flexibility and collaboration
in air traffic management. The ability of airspace users to select their
own routes through so-called "free-flight", and the ability to more
actively manage their fleet operations for maximum economic advantage
are both receiving great attention. A first step toward greater airspace
user and service provider collaboration is information sharing. In this
work, arrival scheduling and airspace management data generated by the
NASA/FAA Center/Terminal Radar Approach CONtrol (TRACON) Automation
System (CTAS) and used by the FAA service provider is shared with an
airline with extensive "hub" operations within the CTAS operational
domain. The design and development of a specialized airline-CTAS
information exchange system is described, as well as some preliminary
results of the impact and benefits of this information on the air
carrier's operations. FAA controller per-aircraft scheduling
information, such as that provided by CTAS, has never before been shared
in real-time with an airline. Preliminary results show that CTAS
information sharing leads to improved predicted time of arrival
accuracy, improved strategic fleet arrival planning, and improved
divert/no divert decisions of aircraft to alternate airports when faced
with uncertain airborne delays. No adverse impact on FAA air traffic
control operations was found to have resulted from this experimental
data exchange.