Applying simulation techniques to an air traffic control study

摘要

Air traffic in the United States has expanded rapidly due to the rising demand of passengers for rapid, convenient, comfortable transportation, the increasing use of air freight, and the soaring growth of general aviation, which includes the recent proliferation of business jet aircraft. The primary purpose of the United States air traffic system is the safe, efficient movement of air traffic; it is required to accommodate all aircraft which place a demand upon it, from the large, fast commercial jet airliner to the small, slow privately owned airplane, and in so doing must accommodate the widely varying navigational and communications capabilities and performance characteristics of these aircraft.

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Aircraft types can change or be modified in a short time to accommodate a market---witness the increase in instrument flight capabilities among general aviation aircraft, or the experimental introduction of STOL aircraft into commercial service. Changes in the air traffic system, with its airports, air routes, navigation, and communication facilities, and geographic subdivisions, require much more time, partly because the system has to maintain service as it is being changed. Demands to modernize the system and to provide more airports have come from users and from Congress, while people living in neighborhoods of existing airports have demanded decreases in the aircraft noise levels emanating from these airports.