Surface operation automation research for airport tower and flight deck automation

Air traffic growth has resulted in serious peak-traffic flight delays in our National Airspace System, and congestion at key airports has been recognized as one of the key factors contributing to the problem. Airport expansion plans designed to increase the airports' capacities cannot fully realize their potential benefits because they tend to increase the complexity of the airport configurations, thus reducing the efficiency of the system. The surface operation automation research (SOAR) concept was proposed in a previous article as a collaborative concept to provide automation for surface-traffic management and the flight deck to enhance the operational efficiency in complex airport environments. Development and evaluation of the SOAR concept is being pursued in a 5-year program. This work presents a progress update of the program.