A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/633543
the wa y that the Vegas hotels cater to them. The FAA cannot be in a position to give highest priority to the highest profile. A point of emphasis at LAS is managing slot programs and enforcing times, even against the pressure of high profile requests. o Electro nic Flight Data Features: As EFD implementation gets closer to the reality of high fidelity, real time data sharing, a dialogue among ATC users needs to take place about exactly what data is vital to provide efficient service, and what is the cost of that data. The functionality and availability of features without considering the cost can be tossed around a little too comfortably, not with bad intentions, but because everyone has become so used to computers/iPads/smart - phones putting everything at their fi ngertips at what feels like a very reasonable price. In the near term there should be a determination of what features are essential and what are simply helpful, and the cost effectiveness of these features. Without that determination, there will be no gui delines in place on what EFD should look like when the data sharing starts. o Block time: Airline operations continue to feel the need to build in block time for flights because flights are so consistently delayed. Each minute of block time represents in som e context time that the gate and parking areas could be used by another flight. In the ongoing concern about planes taking up gates while waiting for their time to taxi (issued by a Departure Metering Program) perhaps the trade will be block time for gate hold time. The increased predictability given by metering could offset small delays in push from the gate. o The highest objective for Surface CDM continues to be Departure Metering, managing queue length to realize the greatest efficiency gains. But in the p rocess of achieving that objective, there is now an understanding of efficiency gains that can made along the way. Here are three examples: Pre - taxi Call - For - Release - ATC currently waits for a Traffic Management Initiative (TMI) constrained aircraft to call for taxi before the calling Central Flow for that plane's release time. ATC then typically has to find a way to have that plane either jump the line to meet an imminent release window, or park the plane to wait until a more delayed future window arrives. W ith improved sharing of accurate information, ATC could confidently call well ahead of the taxi out time, and have a better chance of having the release window coincide with the time that the plane is ready to taxi. ATL tower already does a version of this Delta Airlines has a way to notify the ARMT automation when a plane pushes, which then highlights each plane on the ATC ARMT Display, so ATC has the extra lead time from push to call - for - taxi to work on the TMI release. o NOTE: Jeff Woods, Ron Foley and Kyl e Andrews had a discussion about this making sure Delta Airlines doesn't have a fair advantage . o Relief Of Frequency Congestion - During high volume traffic events, frequency congestion can severely inhibit the flow of traffic as the ground controller's transm issions are blocked by pilots trying to talk to him. Through real time data exchange, much of the information that currently needs to be