A TIME-BASED CONCEPT FOR TERMINAL-AREA TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Abstract

This paper describes an autcwnated air-traffic-management concept that has the potential for significantly increasing the efficiency of traffic flows in high-density terminal areas. The concept's implementation depends on techniques for controlling the landing time of a11 aircraft entering the terminal area, both those that are equipped with on-board four-dimensional (4D) guidance systems as we|l as those aircraft types that are conventionally equipped. The two major ground-based elements of the system are a scheduler which assigns conflict-free landing times and a profile descent advisor. Landing times provided by the scheduler are up]inked to equipped aircraft and translated into the appropriate 4D trajectory by the on-board flight-management system. The controller issues descent advisories to unequipped aircraft to help them achieve the assigned landing times. Air traffic control simulations have established that the concept provides an efficient method for controlling various mixes of 4D-equipped and unequipped, as well as low- and high-performance, aircraft. Piloted simulations of profiles flown with the aid of advisories have verified the ability to meet specified descent times with prescribed accuracy. I.