DEPARTURE SEQUENCING SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20140278036A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Airlines Incorporated (American Airlines Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: US Airways Incorporated (American Airlines Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ince, Ilhan, Gumireddy, Lourdmareddy, Ergan, Hakan, Zhang, Bo
• Granted Patent: US 9,437,114 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/120
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0043 Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0065 for taking-off

Abstract

A departure sequencing system models airport operations and provides suggested gate pushback times for aircraft. In various embodiments, a departure sequencing system includes an airport state analyzer, a taxi-out predictor, and a pushback optimizer. The departure sequencing system may utilize stochastic models, and resolve aircraft conflicts using a business rules engine. Via use of the departure sequencing system, taxi times may be reduced, taxi fuel burn may be reduced, and airport throughput may be increased.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

modeling, by a processor for departure sequencing, aircraft ground traffic at an airport over a simulation time horizon, wherein the airport ground traffic comprises a plurality of aircraft scheduled for departure during the simulation time horizon; and

determining, by the processor, a suggested gate pushback time for each of the plurality of aircraft.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating, to a ramp controller, the suggested gate pushback time for each of the plurality of aircraft.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating, to a pilot, an anticipated hold time associated with an aircraft in the plurality of aircraft.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the modeling airport ground traffic comprises:

calculating, by the processor, taxi path and taxi time for each of the plurality of aircraft;

determining, by the processor, ground congestion at the airport; and

resolving, by the processor and using a business rules engine, taxi conflicts and gate conflicts among the plurality of aircraft.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the resolving comprises determining, by the processor, a departure sequence for the plurality of aircraft, wherein the departure sequence is configured to minimize overall taxi time for the plurality of aircraft.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the modeling airport ground traffic comprises executing, by the processor, an airport state analyzer, a taxi-out predictor, and a pushback optimizer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, for at least one flight in the plurality of flights, the suggested gate pushback time comprises no hold, and wherein, for at least one flight in the plurality of flights, the suggested gate pushback time comprises a hold exceeding three minutes.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating, to an airport ground control system, the suggested gate pushback time for each of the plurality of aircraft.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a suggested gate pushback time comprises assessing, by the processor, connection information associated with at least one of a passenger associated with a flight in the plurality of flights or an item of luggage associated with a flight in the plurality of flights.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the modeling is configured to maintain a departing runway minimum queue size.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the modeling is configured to maintain a departing runway queue size that is smaller than a departing runway maximum queue size.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the modeling is configured to ensure the hold time of each flight in the plurality of flights does not exceed a hold time threshold.

13. A method for departure sequencing, comprising:

creating a graph network representation of an airport;

associating business rules to state transitions in the graph network;

repeatedly executing, by a processor for departure sequencing, the graph network representation to obtain suggested gate pushback times for a plurality of flights; and

calibrating, by the processor, a parameter of the graph network representation utilizing historical flight information for the airport.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising communicating, to a ramp controller, the suggested gate pushback times for the plurality of flights.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the suggested gate pushback times are configured to maintain a departing runway minimum queue size.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the suggested gate pushback times are configured to maintain a departing runway queue size that is smaller than a departing runway maximum queue size.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the suggested gate pushback times are configured to ensure the hold time of each flight in the plurality of flights does not exceed a hold time threshold.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the calibrating comprises revising, by the processor, a speed zone distribution for a ground link in the graph network.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the calibrating comprises revising, by the processor, a business rule associated with a state transition in the graph network.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a processor for departure sequencing, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

modeling, by the processor, aircraft ground traffic at an airport over a simulation time horizon, wherein the airport ground traffic comprises a plurality of aircraft scheduled for departure during the simulation time horizon; and

determining, by the processor, a suggested gate pushback time for each of the plurality of aircraft.