NATCA Bookshelf

of the Ramp part of ATD-2 in use at the American Airlines Ramp Tower during Bank 2 at CLT. The group then relocated to the FAA ATCT and TRACON to observe CLT TMCs using the ATD-2 IADS system during Bank 3. The group later convened in the NASA lab for an in-depth technical discussion with NASA covering all aspects of the ATD-2 Field Demo. Among the main topics of discussion were the ongoing collaboration between NASA and the FAA to fully leverage ATD-2 research for the benefit of the FAA's TFDM program. They also discussed investments that flight operators may wish to make in preparation for interfacing with TFDM in order to achieve the full benefits of Surface Departure Metering. NASA intends to transfer the technology behind ATD-2 not just to the FAA, but also to the airlines Flight Operations departments and to the vendors who supply the equipment the operators use in their ramp towers. On May 1-2, I attended the Spring CDM meeting at the FedEx building on the grounds of Memphis University. I participated in a briefing to the group on how ATD-2 has been used operationally at CLT. NASA provided the statistics and metrics that showed increased compliance with TMIs as well as fuel savings without impacting the dominant carrier's on and off times during Departure Metering. I provided input on the end-user perspective as to how the system has aided CLT in more effectively balancing demand at the runways, thus increasing throughput at the airport. While at this event, I also sat in for our regular Surface CDM (S-CDM) rep, Kyle Andrews (ORD), who was unable to attend. In Kyle's place, I represented our member's interests on future roles and responsibilities as we move towards Departure Metering under TFDM at other busy airports across the country. I also provided input to the SCDM group on how ATD-2 has benefited the air traffic operation at CLT. It is essential that NATCA remain engaged in this process so that policies and procedures that could have a negative impact on controller roles under these coming new procedures can be identified and mitigated at the earliest possible opportunity. We look forward to Kyle's continued participation and invaluable contribution as our representative in this emerging area. On May 14th, NASA conducted a one-day briefing on new features associated with the latest release (3.1.2) of the system. Key features in this release are: • Ability to modify TMIs rather than having to create a new one and delete the old, • Ability to APREQ from a Flights Table rather than only from a Timeline, • Simpler method of rescheduling APREQs. No need to cancel and re-request, • A new Flight Plan Demand view from the Timeline, • Improvements to the Departure FIX Status panel, • New ability to Suspend flights or Return them to Ramp as necessary to better reflect actual RWY demand. ATD-2's integration with the Advanced Electronic Flight Strip System (AEFS) continues to make progress. On June 12th, I will be at the Tech Center to demo the ATD-2 system for AEFS engineers. This activity will primarily focus on TMI handling and how to integrate TMIs with AEFS for controllers. Finally, an SRM panel will meet at CLT on June 6-7 to conduct a Safety Risk board on the new capabilities and procedures for Phase Two which begins October 1st of this year.

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