Various aviation regulatory agencies exist that regulate flight operations within a defined airspace environment. For example, within the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains regulatory and control authority within various segments of the National Airspace System (NAS). Accordingly, the FAA has established various enroute structures that provide for the safe and efficient movement of aircraft throughout the U.S. The enroute structures (e.g., the low and high altitude structures) are further organized into a plurality of air routes that extend to substantially all portions of the country, and are configured to provide suitable terrain clearance for aircraft navigating along a selected air route while simultaneously permitting uninterrupted navigational and communications contact with ground facilities while the aircraft navigates along the route. In addition, suitable air surveillance radar facilities have been established within the NAS so that continuous radar surveillance of all aircraft within the enroute structures is presently available.
In general terms, aircraft movements during the departure, enroute, and approach phases of flight are managed by one or more ground-based facilities (e.g., an enroute air route traffic control center (ARTCC), a terminal radar approach control facility (TRACON), an airport control tower or even a Flight Service Station (FSS)) to cooperatively control the release of traffic from a departure airport, and to guide the aircraft into the enroute structure. In particular, the foregoing facilities provide appropriate sequencing and positioning of the aircraft during all phases of flight, so that a required separation between aircraft exists. Presently, traffic spacing considerations are determined principally by a conservative estimation of an uncertainty associated with a positional location, and is generally strictly maintained by the controlling ground-based facility.
Although the present configuration and management of the NAS provides for the safe and efficient management of air traffic, numerous disadvantages exist. For example, the volume of traffic that may be accommodated on the route is often limited due to traffic spacing requirements, which generally contributes to substantial departure delays at airports. Further, since the air routes in the enroute structure generally extend between ground-based navigational aids (NAVAIDS), in the event that one or more NAVAIDS along a selected air route is not operative, traffic may be routed onto other air routes, which further contributes to air route congestion and departure delays.
Still other disadvantages exist in the present configuration and management of the NAS. In particular, the present ground-based navigational and surveillance systems, such as NAVAIDS and surveillance radar systems, respectively, are costly to install and maintain. Further, the ground-based control facilities require significant numbers of highly trained personnel to observe the air traffic and to provide instructions to the aircraft, usually by means of voice communications. Consequently, present control facilities are highly labor-intensive, further increasing the overall cost of the current air traffic control system.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method to manage and positively control aircraft in a controlled flight environment.