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RTA-Assisted GDPs. The Transition to NextGen. A fundamental change in Air Traffic Management NextGen is the mechanism for future flight control Today: ATC controller is central Manages separation with altitude, speed and direction instructions to pilots. Outdoor “Local” Control-Circa 1920’s.
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The Transition to NextGen A fundamental change in Air Traffic Management NextGen is the mechanism for future flight control Today: ATC controller is central Manages separation with altitude, speed and direction instructions to pilots Outdoor “Local” Control-Circa 1920’s
The Transition to NextGen-Con’t NextGen: Highly dependent on aircraft avionics Trajectory Based Operations, 4-D contract, Self Separation (Delegated Separation) Customer control Controller manages by exception How do we make the transition? CLE Tower “Local” Control-Circa 1930’s
How do We Begin? Start by using existing hardware and software Changes here require an evolution plan Initially change procedures only Improve operational efficiency Immediate benefits, create advocates Change attitudes Pilot, Dispatcher, and Controller as partners RTA-Assisted GDPs can help here
RTA-Assisted GDPs Basic procedure (differences in brown) FAA issues GDP AOC gets CTA from TFMS AOC computes fuel efficient ETE, subtracts it from CTA, sets EDCT appropriately The Shrimp Boat Fleet is manually moved across the screen to display aircraft position-Circa 1950’s
RTA-Assisted GDPs-Con’t AOC gets Estimated Arrival Fix crossing Time (EAFT) consistent with CTA from FSM AOC communicates EAFT to pilot Pilot enters arrival fix and EAFT into FMC as an required time of arrival (RTA) As much as feasible, pilot lets FMC set speed to hit RTA When aircraft hit TMA/TBFM freeze horizon GDP RTA is disregarded ARTS III Brought ATC into the Automation Age-Circa 1970’s
Time Line for Today’s GDPs Original schedule ETE optimized for fuel and schedule IGTD IGTA GDP adds delay ETE optimized for fuel and schedule EDCT CTA FOC adjusts speed ETE optimized for fuel burn EDCT CTA Pilot speeds up ETE reduced to make up time ETA EDCT Airborne holding at APT EDCT AZ
Time Line for RTA-Assisted GDPs Original schedule ETE optimized for fuel and schedule IGTD IGTA GDP adds delay ETE optimized for fuel and schedule EDCT CTA FOC adjusts speed ETE optimized for fuel burn EDCT CTA FMS manages speed ETE set by FMS to hit arrival fix at EAFT EAFT/RTA CTA EDCT TMA takes control FMS manages aircraft to freeze horizon STA EDCT Freeze horizon
Initiating RTA-Assisted GDPs A series of operational trials will precede any attempts to ‘deploy’ these procedures widely Goals of the trials Work out effective procedures Identify and address potential problems Establish a clear “benefits” case Prepare information for training programs
Airline-Only Trials Some airlines are eager to initiate RTA-Assisted GDPs Begin with airline-only trials: Goals Have airline procedures well established first Identify major ATC impacts on RTA-Assisted GDPs Focus later ATC involvement on high-impact ATC locations and actions
Operational Trial Locations, Timing, and Participation Who: Virgin America (VX) & American Airlines (AA) Through discussions within the GDPE group and other CDM contacts, several airlines expressed interest in participating in early RTA-Assisted GDPs trials. Explanation of methodologies contained in the following slides. Where: San Francisco (SFO & ORD) – SFO was picked as the location due to its nature of having GDPs to deal with the marine stratus in the morning. ORD was picked because of Summer and Fall convective activities When: TBD
Preparations for the Trial Airline preparations Brief pilots on the goal of RTA-Assisted GDPs and the procedures required. Brief dispatch teams on their roles. FAA preparations AJR notify AJE on the nature and purpose of the trials but controllers continue business as usual Metron preparations Prepare data collection sheets for airline Develop analysis methodology prior to the trials for rapid turn-around
Airline Roles: AOC-C The AOC Coordinator has overall responsibility for the trial Determines when to perform trials based on the weather, as well as the airline’s business needs. Informs the dispatch team when the trial will begin, Selects participating flights based on available crews. Responsible for communicating metering point information for each flight to the dispatcher May participate in the decision to have a flight drop out of the trial, as in stop trying to achieve its scheduled time of arrival (STA) at the metering point. Responsible for cancelling the trial if appropriate Not working as expected, Damaging the carrier’s business objectives Compromising safety.
Airline Roles: Flight Dispatcher The dispatcher is responsible for helping each flight in the test meet its objectives. Will pass on the metering point information (fix and STA) to the flight crew Channel to be chosen by the airline (ACARS, Flight Plan) Collect and record all information from the flight relevant to the trial during en route phase of the flight Use data sheets as provided Participate in the decision to have a flight drop out of the trial
Airline Roles: Flight Crew The flight crew will execute the actual RTA-Assisted GDPs procedures. Upon being notified by dispatch of its inclusion in the trial, determine if they can safely participate, and inform the dispatcher Enter metering information into their FMS. Use the FMS to identify and achieve its STA, Safety takes precedence ATC directives take precedence Communicate ATC directives that impact its ability to achieve its STA (speed controls, vectoring, route changes, etc.) to the dispatcher. Decide, with the dispatcher, if and when to drop out of the experiment Cannot safely and efficiently reach its RTA
Airline-Only Trial Phase - 1 Phase 1 – 1-18 June 2010 Focus on the operations during a GDP at one airport with a predictable terminal constraint SFO marine stratus GDPs Virgin America (VX) Duration of this phase will be determined by the data gathered from the trial. When a trial produces no new significant information move on to the next phase Review data and prepare for Phase 2
Airline-Only Trial Phases - 2 Phase 2 –7-23 July 2010 Continue with operations at SFO, Engage two carriers (VX, AA) Analyze the operations between two separate AOCs utilizing RTAs for GDPs Identify any impediments produced by this. The duration of this phase will be determined by the data gathered from the trial,
Airline-Only Trial Phase -3 Phase 3 – 16 August-10 September 2010 Move location from SFO to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) Less predictable convective weather GDPs Continue operations with VX, AA, and other interested airlines Could add additional customers as volunteers Focus will be to analyze the effects of en route severe weather conditions impact the ability of a flight to achieve its STA
Conclusion Need to map out the transition path for NAS operations What are the steps along the way? How does TMA’s role evolve? Proper partitioning of control among ATC, AOC, and cockpit What role does ground delay play? EDCTs, MIT, TMA
Post Operations Analysis Main objective of the trials Gain insight into making RTA-Assisted GDPs a regular procedure with GDPs. Derive lessons learned, and operating guidelines that can be conveyed to operators in future trials Evolving into a national deployment plan. Archived TFMS flight data will allow track each flight’s progress Metron’s Vectoring Delays Processor to determine when and where participating flights received en route delays. Map track info to recorded ATC actions to give insight as to causes and effects of ATC directives Develop a set of performance metrics from the trial, including: Fuel burn Additional dispatcher workload STA compliance CTA compliance Dropout Counts
Success Criteria All phases of this trial will be considered successful if we are able to achieve the following: Extract Meaningful Feedback – Discuss with the pilots as well as the AOC coordinator and dispatchers how the trial went, and help identify areas for improvement Develop an Adequate Data Set – Gather enough information on enough flights to be able to execute analysis, specifically on GDP controlled flights vs. RTA-Assisted GDPs operated flights on a compliance level. Map ATC Actions – Correlate ATC reports along with data from VDP to identify time and space of en route ATC actions Evaluate to impact of ATC actions – Identify a relationship between flights that received specific ATC actions and their success in meeting RTA objectives A subjective measure of the success of the concept will be whether the airlines involved wish to continue the RTA-Assisted GDPs on their own and to continue to participate in the program