EU-funded project runs an experiment on collaborative decision making
19 October 2009
Austria
The project, known as CATS - the Contract-based Air Transportation System, was launched on 6th November 2007 in Vienna. CATS’ main objective is to propose solutions to cope with the traffic growth and to improve the efficiency of the European air transportation system. It is based on an innovative operational concept, the Contract of Objectives. The Contract of Objectives will provide well-defined objectives for each actor involved in a flight (air traffic controllers, aircrew, airport, airlines, and air navigation service providers) and through the Contract of Objectives, a guarantee of results such as respect of punctuality is offered to the airspace users. These objectives represent the commitment from each actor to deliver a particular aircraft inside temporal and spatial intervals. Agreement over the Contract of Objectives is reached through a collaborative decision making process, allowing for the right balance between productivity and safety.
The experiment, which started on 19th of October 2009 and will last for a period of two weeks, involves four Italian controllers and two French pilots. The simulation aims at validating not only the expected benefits of the Contract of Objectives, but it is also a first attempt, using the operational environment from the Geneva ACC at skyguide, of a joint simulation platform mixing four controllers positions and two flight simulators positions, all adapted by SkySoft-ATM.
“It was really an interesting challenge to test future concepts by linking our simulation platform with two Flight Simulator positions, adapted for CATS needs. Both systems can now have a synchronised view of the Target Windows used to represent the Contract of Objectives,” says Pierre Henri Guisan, SkySoft ATM Managing Director.
“The CATS project takes a proved method – collaborative decision making – and applies it in an innovative way. It is based on the “arriving on schedule” concept while improving efficiency and synergy between all ATM actors. CATS ensures the operational continuity of a flight and is fully in line with the SESAR objectives and the notion of Business Trajectory management” says Laurent Guichard, EUROCONTROL Project Manager.
This experiment will be followed by a second one, running in June 2010, to further investigate the renegotiation aspect of this Contract of Objectives.
The experiment, which started on 19th of October 2009 and will last for a period of two weeks, involves four Italian controllers and two French pilots. The simulation aims at validating not only the expected benefits of the Contract of Objectives, but it is also a first attempt, using the operational environment from the Geneva ACC at skyguide, of a joint simulation platform mixing four controllers positions and two flight simulators positions, all adapted by SkySoft-ATM.
“It was really an interesting challenge to test future concepts by linking our simulation platform with two Flight Simulator positions, adapted for CATS needs. Both systems can now have a synchronised view of the Target Windows used to represent the Contract of Objectives,” says Pierre Henri Guisan, SkySoft ATM Managing Director.
“The CATS project takes a proved method – collaborative decision making – and applies it in an innovative way. It is based on the “arriving on schedule” concept while improving efficiency and synergy between all ATM actors. CATS ensures the operational continuity of a flight and is fully in line with the SESAR objectives and the notion of Business Trajectory management” says Laurent Guichard, EUROCONTROL Project Manager.
This experiment will be followed by a second one, running in June 2010, to further investigate the renegotiation aspect of this Contract of Objectives.