Policy Update
Nomula Pranay Goud
Introduction
Air Traffic Management (ATM) includes coordination of air traffic and the airspace in air traffic control (ATC), airspace management (ASM), air traffic flow management (ATFM). The major purpose of ATM is to secure the effective and safe flow of the aircraft between departure and arrival. As world air travel continues to expand, ATM systems in place are getting overburdened, which requires a big modernization process and international cooperation.
Functioning
1. Air travel control (ATC) – There is safe separation of the aircraft at every stage of the flight, i.e. ground movement, during take off, en route, descent and landings.
Sub-Divisions
- Tower Control: Instructs traffic on the ground, and also very near to the airport.
- Approach Control: Looks after and controls the flights on approach to or out of the terminal airspace (20-60 n. miles approximate).
- En-route Control: This level deals with aircrafts that are cruising at longer distances but higher altitudes.
Source: https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/06/41/37/37/360_F_641373797_s0e7zdZm49gC38FeNtirIYKuyjEobXNH.jpg
2. Airspace Management (ASM) – Enhances the sharing and utilization of the air space by the military, commercial, and other users.
Key Functions –
- Partitions the airspace into regulated/ unregulated regions.
- Allots controllable utilization of the airspace depending on the real-time necessity.
- Tetra co-ordinates civil and military airspace requirements.
Source: https://www.airnavigation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/airspace-management-300×194.jpg
3. Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) – Balances demand and capacity of air traffic to avoid the delays and to discourage congestion.
Key Functions:
- Forecast traffic, Slots are taken and given off schedules in takeoff and landings and Re-deploys flights when there are weather conditions or an overload.
4. Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS)
These are the technical enablers of ATM:
- Communication: Voice communication of the pilots and the ATC and digital communication.
- Navigation: Satellite (e.g. GPS) and ground based aids (e.g. VOR, ILS).
- Surveillance: Monitors aircraft, by radar or ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-broadcast) aircraft tracking systems.
5. Coordination and Flight Planning – Flight plans are filed by airlines (route, altitude, fuel etc.). Flight Information Regions (FIRs) verify all these plans as well as place plans in sequence. Adjustments are done in real time according to the weather, traffic or any emergencies.
6. Automation Decision Support Systems
The contemporary ATMs incorporate:
- Forecasting/delay/conflict decision support applications.
- Dynamic routing and flow management of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
- Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) the concept of sharing of data between all stakeholders in order to enhance the outcomes.
7. Disaster and Supply Management
The ATM systems are meant to:
- Dealing with emergency situations,to deal with emergencies in the air(loss of engine, physiological emergencies).
- Recite system failure see also 7-5-2.b. (e. g. radar failure).
- Divert or postpone flights to and fro natural disasters or political interruptions without jeopardizing or endangering them.
Flow of ATM functioning: [Flight Planning] → [ATC Clearance] → [Takeoff] → [En-route Control] → [Approach Control] → [Landing] → [Post-flight Data]
Performance
Key Performance Areas of ATM – Performance of ATM As per ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan, ATM performance, in general is assessed according to the following dimensions:
1. Safety – The capacity of an ATM to reduce risks and events in the activities of air traffic.
Indicators:
- The amount of airspace intrusions or near-miss occasions.
- The rate of errors in air traffic controllers.
- System reliability, and behavior in the event of failure.
- Objective: None of the accidents can be caused by an ATM.
2. Capacity – It is the factor that determines the highest number of aircraft possible to operate in a particular airspace or the airport without sacrificing safety.
Indicators:
- The amount of aircraft handled every hour in every sector.
- Flights per hour at the airport.
Target: Timely fulfilment, or better still, fulfill the traffic demand.
3. Efficiency – Absolute exploitation of the airspace and the airways to reduce fuel consumption and travel time.
Indicators:
- The airline average fuel consumption per flight.
- The presence of direct routing.
Goal: Minimum distance, minimum time of flight.
4. Predictability – Performance according to routines and schedules that should be expected on an ATM.
Indicators:
- On time departure/arrival rates.
- The differing flow and reroutes of air traffic.
Goal: Do as little training as possible of doubt.
5. Environmental Sustainability – The role of ATM in the mitigation of the aviation environmental impact.
Indicators:
- Emissions of CO2 and NOx.
- Airport noise footprint.
- Usage of eco-efficient trajectories.
Objective: Let the ATMs affect the environment less.
6. Cost-Effectiveness – The effectiveness of the use of financial and human resources in the course of ATM services.
Indicators:
- The cost per flight.
- The level of employee and facilities used.
Goal: Provide the best services using the least possible costs and not at the expense of quality or safety.
7. Flexibility and Resilience – Traffic system to adjust to dynamic traffic patterns, and be able to recover.
Indicators:
- The reaction to rerouting requirements.
- System or weather recovery time.
Objective: Immediate responsiveness-to-change on Demand.
Emerging Issues
1. Growing demand on Air Traffic – It is estimated that global passenger traffic will increase by a factor of 2 by 2040 (IATA). This will create congestion on the current ATM infrastructure and capacity especially hubs of large volume.
Source: https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Gaps-in-the-map-1.jpg
2. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) / Drones The most significant step towards the integration of flight. Drones and UAVs are becoming more and more utilized in commerce, warfare, and hobby. The low-altitude and unmanned aircraft are not suited within the traditional ATM structure.
3. Sustainability Pressures on Earth – Aviation is responsible for about 2.5 per cent of world CO2 emissions. Coercion of ATM to minimize the aircraft fuel burn and exhausts used by optimized routing.
4. Cybersecurity Threats – The digitization and automation of the ATM systems are now more advanced; these systems expose weaknesses. Possibility of hacking or interference of communication and navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems.
5. Late Modernization in the Third World – Most of the countries are using legacy radar and voice-based systems. Insecurities and ineffectiveness of handling cross-border or high-altitude flights.
6. Congestion of Airspace where Air Traffic is High. Bottlenecks arise because of congestion over Europe, Asia-Pacific routes, and in the cities in the airports. More delays, holding patterns, fuel consumption and controller stress.
7. Climate Change – Higher rate of occurrences of weather events (storms, turbulence and heatwaves). More flight cancellations, change of routes, and burden on the ATC to coordinate.
Way Forward
1. Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Decision support with the use of AI: The use of AI will aid controllers in forecasting of traffic conflicts, optimise routes and congestion management.
Automated Separation Assurance: AI is being tested on systems such as NASA ATD-2 and Europe SESAR, to perform routine separation functions so that the workload on the controllers can be minimized.
Anomaly Detection through Machine Learning: Real-time detection of any suspicious or abnormal flight behavior or possible security risk can be done through AI.
2. Digital Remote Towers
Remote Tower Technology: Airports (particularly smaller ones) will be available through cameras and sensors, enabling the controllers to traffic-manage at a remote location (e.g., Saab Digital Tower in Sweden).
Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR): The controllers can employ the use of AR overlays to improve situational standing.
3. Avionics (ADS-B, CPDLC)
ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast): Provides and increases aircraft tracking in the real time, eliminating radar in multiple areas.
CPDLC (Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications): Voice congestion is minimized through text based ATC communication.
4. Drones & Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM)
Drones Integration and eVTOLs: new ATC systems will deal with drone traffic at a low altitude with conventional aviation (e.g., the UTM Project by the FAA).
Dynamic Routing with AI: The dynamic routing will become autonomous and can redirect flight routes on the fly.
5. Cybersecurity & Resilience
Security of ATC Systems: The more systems go digital, the more they require protection against cyber attacks (e.g. spoofing, hacking via GPS).
Blockchain in Secure Data Sharing: It may improve the confidence in the flight data communications between airline companies and ATC.
6. Global (ICAO and Regional Efforts) Harmonization
Single European Sky (SESAR) & FAA NextGen: The attempts, or rather efforts towards uniformity of ATC modernization across countries.
Space-Based ATC: In the future, ATC can be held by constellation satellites globally.
7. Green ATC Projects
Dynamic Airspace Management: Developing the best flights with reference to fuel consumed and reduction in emissions.
Continuous Descent Operations (CDO) Intuitive (smoother) practices to do away with noise and fuel burning.
8. Human-Machine Teaming
Role Redefining Controller: Controllers will not deal any more with manual separation action but merely will oversee and control AI systems and exceptions.
Advanced Simulation & Training: VR-based usage of ATC in the future.
References
Airservices Australia. (n.d.). Air traffic flow management. https://www.airservicesaustralia.com/about-us/our-services/air-traffic-flow-management/#:~:text=Harmony,in%20a%20read%20only%20format
Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation. (2021). Global air navigation services performance report 2017–2021.
https://canso.org/publication/global-air-navigation-services-performance-report-2017-2021/
Federal Aviation Administration. (n.d.). Air traffic by the numbers. https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/by_the_numbers
Federal Aviation Administration. (2019). NextGen implementation plan 2018–2019 [PDF]. https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/NextGen_Implementation_Plan_2018-19%20%281%29.pdf
Federal Aviation Administration. (n.d.). NextGen–SESAR: State of harmonisation [PDF]. https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/NextGen-SESAR_State_of_Harmonisation.pdf
Indian Aerospace & Defence Bulletin. (2023, February 11). Air space management: Need for review. https://www.iadb.in/2023/02/11/air-space-management-need-for-review/
International Civil Aviation Organization. (n.d.). About ICAO. https://www.icao.int/about-icao
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (n.d.). Planes, shipping lanes, and automobiles. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/planes-shipping-lanes-and-automobiles/
National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2018, April 16). Cybersecurity framework for improving critical infrastructure [White paper]. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/cswp/nist.cswp.04162018.pdf
Skybrary. (n.d.). ICAO safety management manual (Doc 9859). https://skybrary.aero/articles/icao-safety-management-manual-doc-9859
About the Contributor: Nomula Pranay Goud, Master’s student in International Relations at Manipal University Jaipur, and a Research intern at Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI).
Acknowledgement: The author sincerely thanks Ms. Bhaktiba Jadeja and the IMPRI team for their valuable support.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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