Task Analysis for Feasibility Assessment of a Collaborative Traffic Flow Management Concept

A far-term collaborative traffic flow management concept has been proposed for mitigating flow constraint situations that result in imbalance between demand and capacity in the National Airspace System. This paper presents a scenario-based task analysis of core attributes of the concept in the expected future traffic environment. These attributes include a dynamic allocation of some traffic flow management responsibility to airline operation centers, while the traffic flow managers maintain a supervisory role, monitoring performance and intervening increasingly as time-to-constraint decreases. This analysis proposes a three-tier time horizon with different collaboration schemes between traffic flow managers and airlines within each tier. In the outer tier, the airlines are responsible for modifying flight trajectories to mitigate the constraints identified by the traffic flow managers, before any flow plan is needed. In the middle tier, the traffic flow managers collaborate with the airlines to select and impose a flow plan, while the airlines continue to modify trajectories according to the flow plan. In the inner tier, the flow managers take over responsibility for modifying flight trajectories while incorporating airline preferences for flights, reroutes, and delay. The task analysis describes the activities in each tier to the level required for identifying the communication and information sharing between the airlines and the traffic flow managers. It also identifies benefit mechanisms and feasibility issues. Some key benefits mechanisms include reducing the traffic flow manager workload by shifting some responsibilities to airlines and increasing airline satisfaction by increasing their proactive participation and incorporating their preferences. Some key feasibility issues identified include the ability to delegate responsibility for flight trajectory changes to airlines and to coordinate among them. Addressing these issues avoids creating constraints elsewhere and ensures equity. Implications of the task analysis on future research related to feasibility and benefit assessments of the concept are discussed