1. Identifying Key Issues and Potential Solutions for Integrated Arrival, Departure, Surface Operations by Surveying Stakeholder Preferences
Bimal Aponso, Yoon Jung, Rich Coppenbarger, Leighton Quon, Shawn Engelland
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA
Neil O’Connor, Gary Lohr
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA
15th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, Dallas, TX
June 23, 2015
How we attempted to understand and incorporate stakeholder needs in our project planning
Nothing new – NASA always works with Industry to provide relevant solutions (much like NACA)
We took a more formal approach this time
Acknowledge team members and CCI

2. NASA’s Role in Air-Traffic Management (ATM)
NASA focus on developing and transitioning ATM technologies and concepts to National Airspace System (NAS) stakeholders
NASA developed technologies that were successfully transitioned includes:
Traffic Management Advisor (TMA)
Efficient Descent Advisor (EDA)
Terminal Sequencing and Spacing (TSS)
Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC)
Series of Airspace Technology Demonstration (ATD) projects setup to accelerate this technology transfer process
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

3. Airspace Technology Demonstration (ATD) Projects
OUT IN
CLIMB
CRUISE
DESCENT
ATD-1
ATD-2
ATD-2
ATD-3
ATD-2 focus: Integrating Arrival, Departure, Surface operations.
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

4. 15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX
Outline
What we did
How we did it
What we learned
Conclusions
Why is NASA doing this?
What did we do? – 1) getting the info, 2) understanding the issues, 3)unscrambling myriad of stakeholder thoughts/balancing interests
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

5. Defining Objectives for ATD-2
Project outcome should benefit all relevant stakeholders
Develop project objectives to satisfy this desired project outcome
Method:
Survey stakeholders and identify issues and inefficiencies in current arrival/departure/surface operations.
Conceptualize a solution that would address these issues
Develop high-level project objectives based on this solution
Identify potential technology transfer paths and stakeholder partnerships.
“What” phase based on subjective information and SME opinion for both issues and benefits – no quantitative analyses of benefits
Focus on “how” starting this week.
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

6. From Stakeholder Feedback to Technical Objectives – The Process
Survey
Broad Issue Categories
Sort and Focus
Issues
Literature
Survey
Convert issues to technical goals
Parallel NASA/CCI paths – CCI trying to quantify issues and benefits
Expected a diversity of opinions based on diversity of interests – team had to sort and find the intersection of all interests (including NASA)
A key aspect was getting a level of common understanding on the existing technology and procedures
Candidate technical objectives
ATD-2 Objectives
Technical Goals
Feasibility?
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

7. Stakeholder Survey Process
Four stakeholder segments were surveyed
Airlines
Airports
Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs)
Industry service/product providers
Contacted stakeholders with knowledge of operational and financial aspects of their companies.
The survey was conducted in two phases
Phase I: broad survey of issues
Phase II: focused survey on a potential solution
For both phases, stakeholder’s were interviewed in-person or by telephone.
A statement on the purpose of the survey and several questions were provided prior to the interview
All interviews were conducted in the February to September, 2014 time frame.
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

8. Stakeholders Surveyed
We use both Formal and informal mechanisms but mostly via telecons
United got most coverage
A few still in process – trying to get some international perspective through IATA
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

9. Performance Metrics That Influence Industry Practice
OUT
BLOCK TIME IN
OFF ON
CRUISE
CLIMB
DESCENT
Block Times:
IN time – OUT time
used for airline cost and schedule planning
“On-Time” Metrics (Reported to the Department of Transportation):
On time departure: Actual OUT time ≤ Scheduled OUT time + 15 min
On time arrival: Actual IN time ≤ Scheduled IN time + 15 min
Sophisticated databases of block times
Block time “buffers” are used to satisfy on-time performance metrics while accounting for actual schedule variability
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

10. Phase I Stakeholder Survey Results Summary (Airlines)
Airline schedule and cost planning centers on block times
Unpredictability in actual bock time,
Hampers scheduling and route planning
Adversely affects network integrity
Airlines “pad” estimated block times to compensate for schedule unpredictability
Increased block times leads to increased cost and less efficient fleet utilization
The departure phase of a flight is the most unpredictable in terms of schedule
ATC’s first-come/first-served operating principle for departures is a primary factor
Better information sharing on NAS status will facilitate improved strategic planning
Limited use of installed RNAV/RNP capability – better equipped not better served
Variability/unpredictability in schedule leads to growth in block times
Possibility to influence block times by reducing variability/unpredictability
Airports focused on maximizing throughput
FAA interested in making incremental improvements to throughput
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

11. Phase I Stakeholder Survey Results Summary (Airports & FAA)
Would like “all weather” constant throughput
Missed arrival slots caused by inaccurate information
Need improved data interpretation and decision-support tools for performance management
FAA:
Integrate existing and planned FAA capabilities
Reduce manual communication delays through intelligent data sharing
Collaborative planning to facilitate smooth traffic flows into large airports
Need improved metrics to incentivize better behavior by all stakeholders
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

12. Phase I Stakeholder Survey Results Summary (Industry)
Largely manual process is high workload and responds slowly to constraints
Need integrated solutions as opposed to silo’d solutions
Improved information sharing between stakeholders and more intelligent automation
Need improved metrics to measure NAS performance and incentivize efficiency
Improve airline schedule predictability
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

13. Translating Issues to Technical Objectives
Solutions
Technical Objectives
Improve predictability of flight schedules
Change operating paradigm to time-based scheduling
Apply time-based metering to departure operations
Make Departures More Predictable and Efficient
Reduce lost throughput due to inefficient planning
Develop collaborative strategic and tactical planning capability
Use strategic/tactical departure scheduling and collaborative planning
More efficient routing using existing advanced navigation capabilities
Incorporate RNAV/RNP routes in strategic and tactical planning
Incorporate RNAV/RNP routing in the departure scheduler
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

14. Relevant FAA Programs and Tools
FAA has three on-going programs that are relevant to IADS operations
Time-Based Flow Management (TBFM)
Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM)
Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS)
TBFM
Introduces time-based metering to manage arrivals (based on NASA’s TMA concept)
Arrival precision will be improved using NASA’s TSS technology
Departure management will be automated using NASA’s PDRC technology
TFDM
Proposed system that integrated airport surveillance, flight data, and automation systems to improve airport surface and terminal area operations
Includes a collaborative planning concept for managing departures
TFMS
Primary tool for traffic flow management
Assesses demand on the NAS against potential constraints
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

15. Potential Solution Departure Operations – Current (Most Airports)
TBFM
TFMS
Arrival metering
Traffic demand, TMIs
ARTCC/TRACON
First-come/First-served Departure Queue
Takeoff approval
(manual CFR, EDCT)
Arrival
ETA/STA
XY123
YZ234
ZX345
Taxi request/clearance – FCFS
Push time
Airline Ops
ATCT
Aircraft situational awareness
Airline DSTs for flight management
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

16. Potential Solution Departure Operations – Future System (~FY18)
TBFM
TFMS
Arrival metering
Traffic demand, TMIs
ARTCC/TRACON
First-come/First-served Departure Queue
Automated CFR
Arrival
ETA/STA
(TBFM/TSS)
TBFM (IDAC)
XY123
YZ234
ZX345
Taxi request/clearance
TFDM
(EFD)
Push time
Push preferences/ target times
ATCT
Airline 1
Ops
TFDM
(Surface CDM)
CDM interface
Airline 1 DSTs
TMIs
TFMS
Airline 2 DSTs
Airline 2
Ops
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

17. Potential Solution Departure Operations – Future System (~FY20)
TBFM
TFMS
ARTCC/TRACON
Optimized Tactical Departure Queue/Sequence
XY123
YZ234
ZX345
TBFM (IDAC)
Target takeoff times/ sequence
Taxi request/clearance
TFDM
(EFD)
TBFM
Departure Scheduler
Push time
Push preferences/ target times
ATCT
Airline 1
Ops
TFMS
TFDM
(Surface CDM)
Airline preferences
CDM interface
Airline 1 DSTs
XY123
YZ234
ZX345
Optimized Strategic Departure Queue/Sequence
Target push times
TFMS
Airline 2 DSTs
Airline 2
Ops
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX 17

18. Stakeholder Feedback on the Departure Scheduler Concept
Unanimous feedback that a Departure Scheduler would benefit the NAS
“Moving to a time-based paradigm on the surface is key”
“Schedule predictability is paramount to airlines”
The scheduler must be:
Timely
Flexible
Robust
Transparent/equitable
The scheduler must work in metroplex environments
Incorporate airspace constraints and allow alternate/efficient departure routes
Must work at different airports with different systems
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

19. 15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX
Conclusions
The goal of the ATD-2 project is to develop and demonstrate technologies that will integrate and improve arrival, departure, surface operations.
Surveyed stakeholders in arrival, departure, surface operations to understand critical issues and identify potential solutions.
Primary issues were:
Improve flight schedule predictability
Reduce lost throughput
Incorporate efficient routing in the solution
A departure scheduling concept coupled with collaborative planning was identified as a potential solution.
Scheduler will integrate with existing FAA and industry technologies
Potential benefits confirmed by the stakeholders
ATD-2 project planning team is using this information to set project goals and technical objectives.
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX

20. 15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS ?
15th AIAA ATIO Conference, Dallas, TX