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Influence of tower air traffic controller workload and airport layout on airport capacity

Author

Listed:
  • Mascio, Paola Di

    (Associate Professor at Department of Civil Building and Environmental Engineering, University of Rome, Italy)

  • Carrara, Riccardo

    (Civil Engineer in the Department of Civil Building and Environmental Engineering, University of Rome, Italy)

  • Frasacco, Luca

    (ENAV (Ente Nazionale Assistenza al Volo), Italy)

  • Luciano, Eleonora

    (ENAV (Ente Nazionale Assistenza al Volo), Italy)

  • Ponziani, Andrea

    (Head of Airport Enhanced Solutions at ENAV Ente Nazionale Assistenza al Volo-Italian Air Navigation Service Provider via Salaria, Italy)

  • Moretti, Laura

    (Department of Civil Environmental and Building Engineering, University of Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Air traffic control’s aim is to optimise airport capacity, that is, to increase the number of aircraft movements per hour maintaining a limited delay. There are several definitions of capacity, which depend on the considered airport element. This study focused on the development of a method that allows evaluating the impact of tower air traffic controllers’ workload on airport capacity. It adapts a model for the workload of sector controllers designed by Eurocontrol to tower controllers and tests it on a heavily busy international airport. In order to collect controllers’ working times, a campaign on data research has been carried out from which it was possible to extrapolate the hourly percentage of work of the various tower controllers using a fast-time simulation software. By imposing an hourly working threshold on tower air traffic controllers, it was possible to obtain a maximum number of manageable aircraft, which was compared with the airside capacity of the airport. The results show that the maximum traffic manageable from the airside would produce unacceptable workload for tower controllers, highlighting the link between airport capacity and human component.

Suggested Citation

  • Mascio, Paola Di & Carrara, Riccardo & Frasacco, Luca & Luciano, Eleonora & Ponziani, Andrea & Moretti, Laura, 2021. "Influence of tower air traffic controller workload and airport layout on airport capacity," Journal of Airport Management, Henry Stewart Publications, vol. 15(4), pages 408-423, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aza:jam000:y:2021:v:15:i:4:p:408-423
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    airport capacity; fast-time simulation; aircraft delay simulation models; Pareto frontiers; workload; tower air traffic controller; air traffic controller’s capacity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics
    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General
    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General

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