A sample path approach for solving the ground-holding policy problem in air traffic control

Abstract

We address the ground-holding problem in air traffic control and propose two techniques that can be used to dynamically solve this problem. The first is motivated by the kanban control policy extensively used in manufacturing systems to reduce the work-in-process inventory, while the second one uses finite perturbation analysis (FPA) for discrete-event systems. We show that the latter leads to a control algorithm that achieves a global optimum in the sense of eliminating airborne delays.