EMMA KELLY / PERTH
Boeing is striving to improve the world's future air traffic management, while in Europe an alliance led by Airbus, EADS and Thales is matching the US company's initiative
In mid-May, Boeing Air Traffic Management released its global air traffic management (ATM) system definition document. The document - Working Together to Define the Future Global ATM System - is the product of more than 18 months' work by the airframer's ATM division and a result of a global co-operative effort the like of which has rarely been seen in the aviation industry.
Boeing succeeded in bringing together more than 100 air traffic system users and service providers from around the world, including government agencies, airlines, air traffic controllers, general aviation, cargo carriers, aviation associations and unions, to address the world's ATM shortfalls.
A global approach to solving ATM problems has long been recognised as the only way forward, but governments and aviation organisations have so far been unsuccessful.
Boeing sees its role in the process as a "neutral" and "independent" agent, "to help define an achievable path to the next-generation ATM system, and help orchestrate its development through to fruition". The manufacturer says it has no ATM systems to sell and its concern is the sustained growth of the global aviation industry, under threat from an inefficient ATM system. Boeing also believes only one unified global approach will bring success.
"ATM cannot sustain multiple competing visions of the future, nor should it withstand a head-to-head battle of industry titans for domain dominance," says the company. "Boeing strongly believes that the future ATM system must emerge from the meaningful input of as many stakeholders and system users who wish to participate in its conception. From that collective wisdom, a single future vision that will satisfy the majority of user needs will emerge."
A globally interoperable air traffic system promises efficiency benefits for everyone, says Boeing. "We do not envision a system built and managed by a single global air traffic service provider," says John Hayhurst, president of Boeing ATM. "Rather, we envision a global 'system of systems' that from the standpoint of the users has the look and feel of a single system. By building a common information network, by making better use of satellites for global coverage and by establishing common operating procedures and protocols, the numerous systems that exist can be tied together far better, affording a seamless, more cost-effective experience for all users."
A global solution can be achieved only through a global process. Boeing's efforts started in the USA in July 2001, then moved to Europe and lastly focused on the Asia-Pacific region. The company used a systems engineering process to develop future ATM concepts. "That process starts with a definition of future system requirements," it says. "An operational concept to meet those requirements is then defined, followed by the development of a system architecture that can support the operational concept. Finally, a plan for transitioning to a new system is developed." Throughout the process, modelling and simulation tools are used to analyse the concepts and demonstrate that benefits outweigh costs, it adds.
Boeing has completed the first phase of the programme - defining top-level future system performance requirements - after identifying performance requirements in the three geographical areas. "While we have started with the areas of the world with the highest levels of traffic - North America, Europe and Asia - we are interested in a global solution that works for everybody and thus are considering everybody's needs," says the company.
Gathering stakeholders' needs is fundamental to the system engineering process, says Boeing, because only after understanding system users' needs can you work out how it should operate. In the USA, Boeing brought together about 40 stakeholders, including airlines, cargo carriers, the military, air traffic controllers and general aviation. This "working together" effort culminated in the publication, in January 2002, of a system performance requirements document for the USA which included over 170 requirements for a future air traffic system. These requirements were then refined, resulting, in September 2002, in a set of 16 cornerstones that stakeholders saw as crucial. The cornerstones set targets for capacity, efficiency, delays and safety for the new US ATM system. Since the cornerstones document was completed, Boeing says it has been refining the operational concepts and future architectures for the US system, as well as studying costs and benefits.
Looking to Europe
Last October, Boeing turned to Europe and worked with Eurocontrol, European air traffic control organisations, airline groups, trade associations and European manufacturers to define European requirements. European stakeholders were enthusiastic participants, says Boeing ATM. The studies included incorporating Eurocontrol's future operational concept - the ATM-2000+ Strategy. European requirements proved to be similar to those of the USA.
"We reviewed the strategic objectives and resulting system requirements we developed with North American stakeholders with key stakeholders throughout Europe and found they lined up well with European views of a future system," says Boeing ATM. "There were some differences in terms of priorities, but no disagreements on the basics, so it was easy to merge the North American and European strategic objectives and requirements into a single transatlantic view of the desired capabilities of the next-generation system."
In January, Boeing ATM met 35 stakeholders in Asia to determine that region's ATM requirements. There is wide recognition of the need to expand system capacity, safety and security among Asian stakeholders, says the company. Asian stakeholders involved included the civil aviation authorities of China, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan, the Airports Authority of India and major Asian airlines including Air India, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways.
The work has resulted in a global ATM requirements document comprising 25 fundamentals for a future ATM system. These include safety, security, capacity, efficiency, interoperability and environmental considerations. In the area of safety, the report says a new ATM system should see the number of accidents caused by direct ATM contribution per 100,000 operations decrease faster than the rate of growth in the number of operations for commercial and state aircraft, with region-specific values set. The new system must provide security to ATM-related infrastructure, information and people, as well as enabling greater civil and military co-operation over airspace usage. In terms of capacity, the system should manage the expected demand for operations at an acceptable level of service, says the report. In the USA, by 2020 the system will need to handle 150 million to 250 million operations, of which 44 million to 59 million will be commercial. The next-generation ATM system should provide all users with the same access to runways and airspace.
The stakeholders have set levels for delays in the new system. US stakeholders say average arrival delays attributable to ATM should be less than the 1998 levels; in Europe, departure delays should be less than those of 2002 and air traffic flow management en route delays should be less than 1min by 2006; and Asia-Pacific average arrival delays should be less than those in 2002. The next-generation ATM system should allow users to operate within 98% of the cost of time and fuel of their preferred flight profile, say the stakeholders.
Environmental considerations will be taken into account, with the ATM system providing capabilities to mitigate the noise and emissions impact of aircraft operating within the system with no degradation in safety. This should include optimising flight procedures and cruise flight tracks.
The next stage of the process requires a future operational concept supported by the stakeholders. A lot of work is under way on future operational concepts, including efforts by Eurocontrol, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organisation. "We envision a process, in the near future, whereby the stakeholders actively participate in determining the best elements of the individual operational concepts and identify the needed benefits analysis work and processes required to support the decision-making process," says Boeing.
The manufacturer concedes challenges lie ahead in the move towards a new ATM system and it will be a long process. "Designing and implementing a new system for a country the size of the USA will take about 10 years from the point of commitment to moving forward," it says. "Next-generation system development could take place simultaneously in other parts of the world."
Transition planning will be a challenge, but Boeing believes a bigger problem is political issues and getting everyone to work with a sense of urgency. "The challenge is to get government commitments to move forward before congestion, delays, safety and security problems overwhelm the industry, and to ensure the level of co-operation needed for global interoperability," it says.
Boeing is not alone in trying to tackle the world's ATM problems. European companies Airbus, EADS and Thales announced at last year's Farnborough air show that they were forming the Air Traffic Alliance (ATA) to create common ATM solutions.
The alliance brings together the expertise of Airbus, the satellite and technology knowledge of EADS and the ATM expertise of Thales. "The future ATM system will have to be defined through an integrated approach - air, ground and space," says Soeren Fischer, the ATA's vice-president strategy. "This is the reason why our partner companies have committed to jointly address the future of the ATM system."
The ATA partners are focusing on European shortfalls, first with a view to coming up with solutions that are interoperable worldwide. "The European environment is different from the US one," says Fischer. "There is a need for harmonisation on a regulatory, industrial and political level. So one focus of our efforts will be on European harmonisation and integration, while fully addressing the global interoperability and standardisation issues between Europe, the USA and the rest of the world. "
The alliance is open to other companies, but none has yet joined. "The alliance is an open industrial partnership and we are co-ordinating all our activities closely within [European industrial association] AECMA," says Fischer. "Since the creation, various discussions have been ongoing with many industrial partners, including Alenia Marconi Systems, and as the European ATM initiative develops, so will partnerships."
The alliance's objectives include implementing short-term ATM benefits through the best use of aircraft capabilities; developing and implementing a long-term vision - 2020 and beyond - involving a "paradigm shift in ATM operations"; accelerating the speed of ATM changes; and improving the creation of standards in terms of interoperability, safety, security and environment.
The alliance's short-term work is focused on deploying existing technologies, believing that benefits can be gained from a better use of them, including controller-pilot datalink communications; datalink-enhanced air/ground surveillance with downlink of real-time aircraft trajectory data and parameters to improve capacity and safety; and new navigation aids such as microwave- and satellite-based landing systems.
The partners aim to validate and deploy key technologies through to 2006. Longer-term technologies include four-dimensional trajectory air-ground data exchange; datalink-based separation assurance using automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast; satellite navigation using the global positioning system and Galileo; co-operative flight data processing and traffic flow control systems; and integrated airport surface management systems.
"Air and ground integration for improved automation is the cornerstone of the technological approach proposed by the ATA," says Fischer. "The objective is to capitalise in the short term on already proven technologies - CPDLC, datalink-enhanced air/ground surveillance and new navigation aids, including satellite navigation."
Alliance progress
The alliance has made progress in several areas, says Fischer, and is working closely with institutional and political stakeholders, including the European Commission, Eurocontrol and the FAA, as well as air traffic service providers and operators, he adds.
"We have developed an operational concept that is being evaluated by various players, have elaborated a proposal for a Single European Sky Implementation Programme, and are developing within AECMA and with Eurocontrol an ATM Masterplan," he says. The ATA has also submitted a proposal to lead the EC's Collaborative-ATM (C-ATM) project under the 6th framework programme and to participate in other 6th framework programmes.
The group's immediate task is to continue to integrate European efforts to facilitate progress in developing the ATM Masterplan and progress towards Single European Sky implementation, says Fischer.
"One milestone we have set ourselves is the launch of a major ATM initiative to support the implementation of the Single European Sky that will allow our air transport system to embrace the growth in air transport envisaged," he adds. This will include a large-scale validation of the concept involving 100 aircraft and up to four air traffic control centres with upgraded systems.
Boeing has welcomed the formation of the ATA. "ATA will help to galvanise support for system changes, which is our most important goal," says the company. The two camps have held talks and Airbus and Thales were part of Boeing's "working together" team to define future system performance requirements. "Our long-term goals are exactly the same and we have similar views on system architecture and operational concepts," says Boeing. "Our differences tend to be more on the approach to reaching those long-term objectives.
Source: Flight International
