Benefits Assessment Methodology for an Air Traffic Control Tower Advanced Automation System

Abstract

†‡ ‡ ‡ § This paper presents a benefits assessment methodology for an air traffic control tower advanced automation system called the Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM), which is being considered for development by the FAA to support NextGen operations. The standard FAA benefits analysis methodology is described, together with how it has been tailored to the TFDM application to help inform the development process and the business case for system deployment. Parts of the methodology are illustrated through data analysis and modeling, and insights are presented to help prioritize TFDM capability development. I. Introduction N air traffic control tower advanced automation system known as the Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) is being considered for development by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 1 . It is designed to replace the numerous standalone systems within current towers with an integrated technology suite comprising an advanced surveillance display system, an electronic flight strip/data manager system and a set of decision support tools (DSTs), as shown in Figure 1. The TFDM system is designed to provide the automation environment necessary to support future flexible airport and terminal airspace operations for Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) towers 2 . The capabilities provided by the TFDM system should enable multiple system benefits, such as better performance during severe weather and other off-nominal conditions; reduced surface delay, taxi time and fuel burn (with associated improved operational and environmental performance); and enhanced safety.