Decision support tools for the tower flight data manager system

Abstract

The FAA, carrier airlines and passengers are all familiar with the inefficiencies and costs that result from delays in the air transportation system. A significant portion of the delays are associated with operations on or near the surface of major airports. There continues to be keen interest in improving efficiency of surface operations in order to reduce delay costs. The projected growth of air traffic demand is further fueling this interest. The Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) initiative by the FAA is aimed at providing tools in the air traffic control tower that would aid in improving operational efficiency on the surface. This initiative seeks to provide benefits through the consolidation of legacy automation systems/displays, the coherent fusion of information from multiple external systems, and the prediction and planning of flight operations on the surface. The ability to predict and plan operations on the surface is delivered to air traffic controllers through a set of decision support tools. These tools provide decision support in the following functional areas: airport configuration, runway assignment, taxi routing, sequencing & scheduling, departure metering, and departure routing. This paper is focused on describing an implementation of these tools in a prototype of the TFDM system. This prototype system is installed at Dallas/Fort Worth airport and is undergoing operational testing. The paper provides selected results from the application of the decision support tools, as well as discussion of future enhancements to the tools.