Network Congestion Control of Airport Surface Operations

Abstract

The reduction of taxi-out times at airports has the potential to substantially reduce delays and fuel consumption on the airport surface, and to improve the air quality in surrounding communities. The taxiway and runway systems at an airport determine its maximum possible departure throughput, or the number of aircraft departures that it can handle per unit time. Current air traffic control procedures allow aircraft to push from their gates and enter the taxiway system as soon as they are ready. As this pushback rate approaches the maximum departure throughput of the airport, runway queues grow longer and surface congestion increases, resulting in increased taxi-out times.