ABCD: Aircraft Based Concept Developments...ABCD: Aircraft Based Concept Developments December 1 st 2009 ADV •SYSTEMS A D V A N C E D L O G I S T I C S G R O U P 1 Summary Concept

A D V A N C E D L O G I S T I C S G R O U P

ABCD: Aircraft Based Concept

Developments

8th INO Workshop

December 1st 2009

Brétigny sur Orge, France

ADV • SYSTEMS

ABCD: Aircraft Based Concept Developments

December 1st 2009A D V A N C E D L O G I S T I C S G R O U PADV • SYSTEMS 1

Summary

� Concept definition (2007)

� Concept development � Concept evaluation

� Benefits assessment (2008)

� Lost ATFM slots analysis (CFMU level)� Cost Benefit Analysis (airline level)

� Prototype development (2009)

� Definition� Development� Validation � Upgrade

�Presentation Overview



Concept definition2008



Concept Outline

�What is ABCD?

To link individual flight plans related to the same aircraft by using the aircraft registration in order to:

� Monitor delay propagation all along the day of operations

� Propose an update of the departure time in case of inconsistency with actual operations.

Concept

1. Provide a better picture of operations in real time

� Improve flight predictability

2. Detect and notify earlier reactionary delays

� Optimize the slot allocation process

� Decrease the ATFM delay

� Mitigate the delay propagation on subsequent flights

Objectives and Benefits



Concept Outline

�Stakeholders interested in ABCD

� Prime stakeholder in the ABCD concept

� Improvement of the predictability of operations

� Reduction of delays

� Fleet optimization

� Benefits at local and network level

� Better use of ATC capacity

� Improvement of traffic flow predictability

� Optimization of the demand capacity balancing processes

� Improvement of the traffic predictability

� Better efficiency of network operations

� Optimization of the ATFM slot allocation process

� Better use of ATC capacity

� Improvement of service provision to the airlines through an improved resource allocation

� Enhancement of the airport quality of service

� Better management of the parking slot allocation process

� ABCD may complement A-CDM

European airfreight

market main

characteristicsABCD

AIRLINE

ANSPs – ATS

ATFM – CFMU

AIRPORT



First findings

� Statistical analysis from the CFMU archive

data

� Late notification of delays by airlines

� The earlier an airline notifies a delay, the

smaller the imposed ATFM delay

� ABCD would decrease ATFM delay10

12

14

16

18

20

22

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Anticipation in minutes

ATF

M d

ela

y in

min

ute

s

Average ATFM delay 18,2

� ABCD implementation strategy

At central level (CFMU) or at local level (airline)

Already equipped with powerful flight planning systems

� No interest in ABCD

ABCD would simplify their task and optimize their resources.

� Strong interest in ABCD

Low-cost and regional airlinesMajor or flag carrier airlines

� Interviews of airlines

Solution retained in the project follow-up



Benefits assessment2008



Lost ATFM Slots Analysis (CFMU level)

� Earlier notification of delay

messages to the CFMU

Lower number of

lost ATFM slots

Lower overall ATFM delayBetter use of the

available capacity

Better efficiency of the

ATFM service

• An ABCD-like tool will contribute to bring such benefits

ATFM fast-time simulations performed on real traffic days



Cost Benefit Analysis (airline level)

� Benefits resulting from the reduction in ATFM delay due to ABCD use by the airline

� Conservative assumptions

� Method: ATFM fast-time simulations

� Gains in ATFM delay are translated into financial gains:

� Aircraft model cost based on the marginal cost of one minute of ground delay spend at gate

� Limited investment costs:

� Acquisition cost (development of the software)

� Installation cost (ABCD operating with a standard computer)

� Maintenance

� Training cost (very low)

� Human resource cost (null)

Benefits Costs

Mean benefit per flight using ABCD

Average Case 300 €

Worst Case 100 €

Types of costs Cost

One-off costs 80 000 €

Operating costs (per annum)

7 200 €

Local implementation by an airline (regional/low-cost)

Positive CBA, including

for the worst case

⇒ The tool is worth the

investment



Prototype development2009


December 1st 2009A D V A N C E D L O G I S T I C S G R O U PADV • SYSTEMS

ABCD Functions1.Flights Monitoring:

•Displays the status of all the flights

2.Warning function

•Displays delayed flights, including the new EOBT proposal

3.Manage DLA messages

•Prepares a DLA message, with possible manual edition

•Sends DLA messages4.Reporting

•Generate customized reports about aircraft & flight statistics

Outputs

10

ABCD Prototype Definition

Airline Operations

Centre (AOC)

ABCD

CFMU

New EOBT

Proposals and DLA

generation

Flight Planning

Information

Messages

exchanged between CFMU

and airlineFlight Plan Management

System

AIRLINE

Messages

exchange

DLA

notification

• Messages (related to flight plan, ATFM, flight progress)

• Aircraft schedule

• Minimum Turn-Around Time

Inputs

Calculation

1. ABCD updates the databasecontinuously, incorporating received new data

2. ABCD continually checks if the flights can comply with their EOBT/CTOT

Airline support tool to delay message management:

•Detection of reactionary delays

•EOBT update proposal

No impact on current

airline systems



Key aspects of prototype development

Repository that contains all the necessary information for the correct operation of ABCD

Core of the ABCD prototype

Set of algorithms which detect the propagation of reactionary delays through consecutive flights of the same aircraft

Main functions

• To calculate EPOBT (Earliest Possible

Off Block Time) for each scheduled flight using available information from the previous flights

• To perform new EOBT proposals

depending on the tolerance windows and the established stability criteria

Clear, intuitive, ergonomic

Communicationbetween ABCD, airline’s AOC and the outside world carried out through messages, passing through a shared folder



�

Prototype verification

• Prototype compliance with specifications

• Alignment of the tool with the airline operating conditions

• Calibration of the tool for the final validation process

��

��

Are we building the tool right?

Simulating of the ABCD software at a test environment using real data from the

activity of a regional airline:



Prototype Validation

Tool purpose

• ABCD fulfils its purpose: to make EOBT feasible proposals

Tool operation

• Tasks performed in reasonable time

• Vey simple tool management

• ABCD functions quickly accessible

• Easy to learn

• ABCD user manualdocument: complete and very useful

HMI

• Clear & comprehensibly designed

• Changes on the flight planning information are easily detected

• Intuitive, the user easily finds out how to use it

• Oriented to the specific user

• Highly ergonomic

Air Nostrum confirmed their interest in incorporating ABCD tool

to their set of Flight Planning tools

Tool software

• No software errors

• Software proved to be robust

��

��

Are we building the right tool?

On-site and real time validation



Tool upgrade (1)

� Interoperability of ABCD with CFMU applications

� Proposition: Provide ABCD with access to new CFMU services (e.g. NOP portal applications, CHMI/CIAO, Data Distribution Service / ETFMS Flight Data)

� Objective: Improve the quality of ABCD input data, hence the relevance of EOBT proposals

� What-if Mode

� Proposition: Upgrade ABCD to consider CFMU proposals in addition to “effective” messages (e.g. slot proposal / rerouting proposal / slot swapping opportunities)

� Objective: Provide support to analyse the impact of proposals on the next flights



Tool upgrade (2)

� Compatibility between ABCD and Airport CDM

Non-CDM Airport CDM Airport Non-CDM Airport

Flight N-2 Flight N-1 Flight N Flight N+1

CDMABCD ABCD

� Proposition: Deactivate the EOBT proposal function for any flight departing from a CDM airport

� Objective: Ensure compatibility with CDM, increase predictability thanks to CDM

ABCDCDM

No CDM

No

CDM

No

CDM

No

CDM

No

CDM

No CDM



ABCD in brief

� A building block for the integration of flight planning and ATFCM operations

� A concept based on flight plan linkage, reactionary delay monitoring and

tactical re-planning

� A tool to implement the concept requirements, validated in an real airline

environment

� Benefits for the airline (ATFM delay reduction) and for the network (reduction

of lost ATFM slots)

� Minimum investment - acquisition, integration and operating costs

� A solution for regional and low-cost airlines

Thank you for your attention

ADV • SYSTEMS

Questions?

Meet us at the exhibit

Contact us

Julien Morvan Ruben Martinez

[email protected] [email protected]




18

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

10 20 30 45 60 90 120

Lo

st s

lots

rec

ove

ry

(in

%)

Simulated anticipation improvement (in min, with respect to the real situation)

Increase of the slot usage up to 20%

�Optimisation of the ATFM slot allocation mechanism




19

�ATFM delay reduction at central level (CFMU)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

10 20 30 45 60 90 120

Simulated anticipation improvement (in min, with respect to the real situation)

AT

FM

del

ay r

edu

ctio

n

(in

%)

Reductions of ATFM delay up to 30%



HMI

20

Additional screens:

• Missing Data

• Aircraft Summary

• Aircraft Type Summary

List of flights with

inconsistency in the EOBT => New EOBT

Proposal by ABCD

List of all flights for the day of operations

ABCD MAIN SCREEN

Documents

ABCD: Aircraft Based Concept Developments...ABCD: Aircraft Based Concept Developments December 1 st 2009 ADV •SYSTEMS A D V A N C E D L O G I S T I C S G R O U P 1 Summary Concept