The FAA says a software program it developed a year ago is reducing airline delays by 1.1 million minutes a year, in the process saving the industry $27 million annually.
"This software pays an immediate dividend to passengers," crowed Robert
Sturgell, Acting Administrator of the FAA. "Whan a plane can't land because of weather, the software makes it possible for that slot to be filled automatically by another plane." The software in question is called Adaptive Compression, and is designed to complement the FAA's existing traffic management programs.
When demand exceeds capacity at an airport or in the air, which isn't uncommon during summer storm season, the FAA puts Airspace Flow Programs (AFP) into place. AFPs allow the agency to better manage traffic during severe weather by targeting only those flights that are scheduled to fly through storms, issuing estimated departure times. But slots often go unused in the case of weather-related delays or cancellations, resulting in lost capacity.
The Adaptive Compression software scans airports for arrival slots that become available when a plane is delayed, canceled, or rerouted, and then automatically routes the next available flight into that slot. Part of the reason the software works is because it automates a task previously handled by air traffic control. Adaptive Compression sends constantly updated slot assignments to ATC, giving overworked controllers one less thing to worry about.
Photo by Flickr user gTarded
