Ground control support to evaluate runway sequence modifications: Design and evaluation

In today´s operation controllers plan a take-off sequence based on traffic demand and a first-come-first-served (FCFS) principle. Using this method to construct a sequence, does not take into account the preferences from the stakeholders. The Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process can be utilized to involve the different stakeholders in creating a planning in advance. Instead of using the FCFS principle and runway throughput, traffic that complies with the original plan is preferred to be handled as close as possible to this plan: a best-planned-best-served principle. Our proposed approach is to develop planning functions to support the controller with real-time optimization of the taxi traffic flow, taking into account the CDM requirements and the best-planned-best-served principle. This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a proposed planning function that supports the controller in evaluating runway sequence modifications.