Air Traffic Control & Airline

Flight Operations
190116 Week 3
Semester 1, 2013

(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Lecture overview
Relevant course objective:
Discuss airline flight operations and air traffic
control procedures.

Topics explored this week:

Aviation terminology.
Provision and purpose of ATC.
Barriers to effective ATC.
Generic elements & structure of an ATC system.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Aviation terminology
Flight Plan:
Description of route an aircraft will take from origin to
destination; must be filed for most flights.

Airspace:
Region of fixed dimensions within the atmosphere
with its own rules governing flight operations.

Controlled airspace:
Airspace within which ATC is responsible management
of aircraft separation.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Aviation terminology (cont.)

Uncontrolled airspace:
Airspace within which aircraft not ATC are
responsible for maintenance of separation & flight
rules.

Separation:
Term given to minimum distances (vertical &
horizontal) required between aircraft and other
aircraft, terrain & other hazards.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Aviation terminology (cont.)

Clearance:
Formal permission from relevant ATC authority for
an aircraft to enter an airspace region and/or
perform some function e.g. take off, descend.

Air transport operations:

Legal designation usually given to flights of a
commercial nature involving carriage of
passengers.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Air traffic control/management

Traditionally provided by state provided and
run by government agencies in each nation.
Becoming increasingly complex due to:
Infrastructure & human development.
Technological change & industry growth.
Staffing costs & other human resource issues.

Many such services are being privatised, or

run as private organisations or ANSPs.
Air Navigation Service Providers.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Airways Corporation NZ
Controls all air movement
within NZs airspace.
Develops & maintains ASNP
infrastructure.
Manages ATC facilities.
Provides technical &
engineering facilities.
Develops/designs airspace,
maps & charts.
Trains air traffic controllers.
Provides flight inspection
services for airports.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Basics of flight operations

All flights from A to B conducted under either:
Visual (VFR) or Instrument flight rules (IFR), and in
Visual (VMC) or Instrument meteorological conditions
(IMC).

Airspace through which aircraft transit divided into

zones with different rules.
Zones mix of controlled & uncontrolled airspace
allowing different types of flight operation.
Rules intended to ensure safe separation of aircraft,
terrain & weather, and efficient operations.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

Basics of separation
Maintained by Air Traffic Control & pilots.
Separation puts a bubble around an aircraft
that is not supposed to be breached.
Size determined by a/c & flight characteristics.

Other factors considered by ATC are:

Runway characteristics.
Mixture of aircraft types using those runways.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

The separation bubble

(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

10

What does airspace look like?

(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

11

Standard navigation chart showing

airspace around Auckland

(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

12

ATC Functions
(Provide safe & efficient traffic flow)
Aircraft separation assurance:
Aircraft from each other and other hazards.

Traffic congestion management.

Particularly significant in developed regions.

Flight information:
For pilots, flight planning and scheduling activities.

Search and Rescue:

Responsible for coordination & communication.

Size of the problem

Comparison of aircraft movements 2011/12
Worlds Top 5 busiest airports
Airport

Total
movements

Atlanta

923,996

Chicago

878,798

Los Angeles

702,895

Dallas/Fort
Worth

646,803

Denver

628,796

(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

New Zealands Busiest

Airport

Total
Movements

Auckland

158,993

The total number of

Hamilton movements
132,210
aircraft
at ALL of New
Christchurch
124,368
Zealands
airports
in
Wellington
106,148
2012 totalled
Tauranga
1,098,08173,926
14

Factors determining ATC capacity

Demand:
Peak demand, hub & spoke networks.

Airspace capacity:
Airspace design, controller workload,
balkanization.

Airport capacity:
Runways, gates, landside limits, weather.

Environmental limits:
Noise, emissions

Barriers to effective ATM & ATM

Technology:
A significant proportion of ATC equipment in many
countries is 40+ years old and obsolete.
Lack of commonality between many countries ATC
systems.
Key navigation aids based on 30-40 year old
technology and not 100% reliable.

Industry growth:
Industry growing 5% annually, airspace size as defined
by separation rules has not increased.

Lack of investment in infrastructure & training.

Capacity of existing controllers.

ATC Roles
Air Traffic
Service

Air Traffic
Control Unit

Flight
Information
Service

Aerodrome
Controller

Approach
Controller

Area Controller

TWR

APP

Alerting System

ACC or UAC

Aerodrome Control (TWR)

Services provided to all flights within vicinity of
an operating control tower, typically through
visual observation.
Zone of control depends upon volume and type
of traffic using aerodrome typically 5nm &
1500/2500.
Control all ground movements at aerodrome,
along with traffic entering and leaving control
zone and aerodrome traffic circuit.
Issuing of clearances.

Approach Controller
Based at radar equipped aerodromes they control
airspace immediately above (and around)
aerodrome zones.
Key role is management of IFR traffic flow into
and out of specific aerodromes via defined IFR
tracks:
Includes clearances to enter, transit, climb and
descend within controlled airspace.
Also provide clearance/directions to enter other zones.
Responsibility for aircraft passed to Aerodrome
Controller (TWR) once aircraft on final approach.

10

(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

21

Area Controller
Two basic types:
High altitude areas used by IFR traffic and
commercial operators.
Uncontrolled airspace used by general aviation
VFR traffic.

11

Generic elements of an ATC system

Communication systems:
Primarily radio based, mixture of VHF & HF.
Limited use of SATCOM.
Some data uploads/connections, but also limited.

Navigation systems:

En-route systems VOR, DME, GPS, INS

Approach systems some runways provide precision ILS,
non-precision systems are VOR,NDB.

Surveillance systems:
Methods by which ATC monitors traffic locations i.e. RADAR,
direct observation, transponders

Next Generation ATC

Initiative to modernise the US ATC system to:
Increase capacity and reliability.
Improve safety and security.
Minimise the environmental impact of aviation.

Vision behind Next Gen:

A system that is based on satellite navigation and
control, digital non-voice communication, automated
ATM, and advanced networking, and a sharing of
decision making between the ground and the cockpit.

Aiming for completion 2018-2025.

12

Next Gen & weather

Weather accounts for 70% of all air traffic delays
within the US:
FAA determined that 2/3 of these are preventable with
better weather information.

Average annual cost of delays is US$50b.

Next Gen requires integration of improved
weather information into decision systems:
Provides multiple users with common data.
Aims to increase consistency & reliability of data.
Improved data storage and dissemination processes.

More Aviation terminology

Load factor:
Measure of % of seats on an aircraft are occupied.

City-pair:
Two cities (origin & destination) that define a given route
flown by commercial aircraft on scheduled operations.

Scheduled operations:
Typically refers to operations of commercial airlines
promulgated ahead of time between defined city-pairs.
Usually conducted under supervision of ATC.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

26

13

Airline terminology (cont.)

Hub:
A hub is an airport that forms the principle base of
operations of a particular airline. Possible for airlines
to have multiple hubs in different regions.

Route network:
Set of city-pairs served by an airline.

Frequency:
Number of flights offered by an airline per city-pair as
part of its route network.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

27

Airline terminology (cont.)

Hub and spoke network:
Network where a central hub acts as focal point to smaller
spoke airports with all flights moving via the hub.

Point to point network:

Route network where aircraft fly from A B without
transiting through an intervening hub location.

Slot
Specific date & time during which an aircraft can take off
and/or land at a given airport. Subject to allocation and
management by relevant authority.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

28

14

Weekly Reading
Textbook Chapter 8
Sections 8.1 to 8.4 (inclusive)
Really only for interest for students not familiar with basic
airline operations

Textbook Chapter 13
Sections 13.1 to 13.4 (inclusive).
The important reading for the week, review the rest of the
chapter briefly if you wish but it is not necessary

STREAM Reading:
The Next Generation Air Transport System
Also a video relating to this and one on airline flight
operations.
(c) J.Murrie, School of Aviation, Massey University

29

15