A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/898522
due to a variety of reasons but mostly it is to ensure that ramp personnel remain current and familiar with their primary ramp traffic management system, Aerobahn. Even when ramp personnel are not usin g the system, CLT tower TMCs continue to use the system for the increased efficiency and benefits it provides to their operation. The final connection between CLT and ZDC TBFM was completed on October 30th. Afte r successful testing on Oct. 31 , CLT began using the ATD - 2 system ' s IDAC - like capability beginning on November 1st. This feature allows CLT to schedule departures into ZDC ' s TBFM system. ATD - 2 schedules in a manner nearly identical to a standard FAA IDAC system. This means that when CLT schedules w ith ATD - 2, it will appear to ZDC TMCs in a manner identical to all of the other facilities within Washington Center that are using the IDAC component of TBFM. At CLT however, the front - end is different since controllers there are using the NASA ATD - 2 inter face rather than the standard FAA IDAC display. The chief difference between the two is, the ATD - 2 system uses timelines that show all departures and arrivals at a given runway as well as any available slots in overhead streams. This allows CLT TMCs and controllers to have a much more accurate picture of the actual demand at that runway for the time the aircraft is predicted to be ready for departure. This take s some of the ' guess - work ' out of requesting a release time and should allow for more accurate e stimates of not just when an aircraft will be ready to depart, but also, where it will fit into a constrained overhead stream. By having this information, TMCs and controllers are better able to plan the movement of aircraft on the surface in order to redu ce or eliminate the possibility of missing an available slot to a constrained destination. ATD - 2 takes this information a step further and automatically shares release times with ramp controllers which then allows them to better decide when to push aircr aft off the gate in order to meet their scheduled departure time. Sharing this info automatically with ramp controllers increases efficiency since it eliminates the need for time - consuming phone calls. With Phases 1A and 1B complete, the full capabilitie s of ATD - 2 are still on track to be implemented in micro - phase 1C by the end of November of this year. The three phases can be briefly described as follows: • Phase 1A : Data Exchange and Integration (Between ATC and Ramp) • Phase 1B : IDAC - style APREQ Negotiat ion with ZDC + Phase 1A Capabilities • Phase 1C : Full Surface Departure Metering + Phases 1A & 1B Capabilities Other ATD - 2 related activities that occurred since last update: • Oct . 12: Phase 1A: Data Exchange & Integration Status Meeting I • Oct . 18 & 19 : AT D - 2 support of TFDM Build 2 Kickoff Meeting in D . C . • Oct . 23 : Software Release 3.0.6 deployed to field • Oct . 24 : Phase 1A: Data Exchange & Integration Status Meeting II • Nov . 1 : Phase 1B: IDAC Style APREQ Negotiation with ZDC Further information about ATD - 2 c an be found here: