Improving throughput at airports with a dependency between arrival and departure operations

Abstract

At airports where there is an air traffic control (ATC) dependency between arrival and departure operations, it is challenging for air traffic controllers to maximize airport throughput due to a lack of dynamic information exchange and coordination between arriving and departing flights. This challenge exists at airports that conduct arrival and departure operations to the same runway and airports with crossing or converging runway operations. At airports where such a dependency exists, approach control generally establishes a static arrival interval sufficient to allow aircraft departures in the gaps between successive arrivals. Quite often the interval is only adjusted by means of verbal coordination between controllers in the tower and the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON). At these airports, arrival/departure throughput may be improved by providing dynamic arrival spacing guidance to approach controllers based on the type of aircraft in the departure queue. The MITRE Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) is exploring a concept, Arrival - Departure Runway Integration Schedule, which provides automated arrival spacing guidance to approach controllers based on the aircraft queued or taxing to a dependent runway. Identifying the precise type and order of aircraft in the departure queue and the time required for each to enter the runway and depart allows for arrival spacing guidance to be provided to the approach controller. The guidance conveys the appropriate arrival intervals to accommodate aircraft in the departure queue, or may indicate that no gap beyond minimum allowable spacing is needed in the case that no flights are ready to depart. Airport throughput, departure queue wait time, and the time arrival aircraft spend in terminal airspace all stand to benefit from this concept. This paper reviews current operations, details the proposed concept, discusses how it might be applied, identifies parameters of interest, and highlights when benefits are likely to be realized.