DELAY IN TERMINAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

In this paper delay problems where departure and landing operations are performed on a runway or within the glide path of a terminal air traffic system are studied. The distribution of delays, the number of delayed aircraft, and the effect of multiple streams feeding the service system are discussed. Delay models include cases where two priority classes are serviced by one runway. The conditions under which the highest priority leads to lowest expected costs or average delays are also discussed. Priorities are established such that aircraft having a service time less than a critical value are placed in the top priority. The analysis extends to more than two priority classes within a stream of landing and departing aircraft. Delay models are discussed which include, the addition to the usual assumptions about service times, the additional features that constant minimum spacings must be maintained between all users of the runway or glide path and that low-priority aircraft are interposed between high-priority aircraft. Delays due to self-clearing rules are discussed; long runs of one type of aircraft follow long runs of another type of aircraft until all queues are completely dissipated.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of California, Berkeley

  California PATH Program, Institute of Transportation Studies
  Richmond Field Station, 1357 South 46th Street
  Richmond, CA  United States  94804-4648
• Authors:
  • Oliver, R
• Publication Date: 1964-3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft separation; Airport capacity; Glide path systems; Landing; Queuing theory; Traffic delays
• Uncontrolled Terms: Airspace capacity
• Old TRIS Terms: Queueing models
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00074071
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: FLIGHT TRANSPORTATION LABORATORY, MIT DEPT. OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS
• Report/Paper Numbers: 138
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 5 1974 12:00AM