A fast-time simulation study of shared aircraft intent information

The combination of flight management systems with data links could make aircraft intent information in the form of accurately predicted trajectories available to both ground-based air traffic control systems and other aircraft. The chief benefit to be expected from this capability is that it could make feasible the use of automated tools for detecting aircraft conflicts and for proposing resolution manoeuvres for such conflicts (automated CD&R tools). The INTENT Project, jointly funded by the European Commission and a Consortium of research organizations and industry, is studying the question of how the level of sharing of aircraft intent information might affect air traffic management (ATM) system design and traffic-handling capacity. The study reported here is the fast-time simulation component of the INTENT Project. This paper presents results on human workload for three different ATM operational concepts for use of intent-enabled automated CD&R tools in enroute airspace, and interprets these in terms of traffic handling capacity. The results indicate a potentially large capacity benefit for systems where aircrews supported by automated CD&R tools have the main responsibility for ensuring safe separation. The paper also presents some results on the effect of intent-based CD&R on flight efficiency.