Exploratory Research on Engineering the Transport Industries (ETI): Air-Traffic Management and Control Issues in the Terminal Area and in the Enroute National Airspace

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is made under the Exploratory Research on Engineering the Transport Industry (ETI) program solicitation. The research effort will address tactical and strategic planning decision support systems to aid Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel manage the air traffic in the terminal area and in the enroute National Airspace (NAS), as well as to aid policy makers in planning future directions and in formulating various operational guidelines. Related to the enroute airspace, a comprehensive Airspace Planning Model (APM) will be explored to select among alternative flight-plans for a set of flights in a collaborative decision making framework between FAA and airline carriers. The model will consider various issues concerned with safety and collision avoidance, sector workload, fuel and delay costs, and equity among the involved airlines. Related to the terminal area at hub airports, a comprehensive decision support system called the Airport Ground Control Advisory System (AGCAS) will be explored to aid in ground control issues pertaining to aircraft sequencing and runway operations, and pertaining to taxiway and airport ground network operations. The intent of this research is to develop a vision for an overall framework for ground and enroute air-traffic control, describing existing capabilities, and identifying needs and opportunities for improvements and coordination. To achieve this, new models will be proposed to aid in tactical decision making as well as in policy formulations regarding the airport terminal area and the enroute airspace. A framework for integrating these models with existing advanced ATC automation tools will be explored in collaboration with FAA and NASA in order to enhance air traffic management capabilities. The long-term impact expected from this research effort will be to improve airspace and airport handling capacities and to reduce delays and congestion effects through a more efficient and effective control and management of resources and operations.