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MIT researches aim to cut flight delays
What traveler these days isn't tired of flight delays?Some of the best minds at America's preeminent technology university, MIT, are working on a computer program that could help reduce airline flight delays due to weather.
The technology is called the Route Availability Planning Tool, or RAPT. This being an MIT project, I really don't understand it. So I'll quote directly from a recent MIT news story:
"RAPT gives air traffic managers assistance in deciding whether to allow planes to take off during inclement weather, increasing the odds of sneaking a few jets out between thunderheads. The computerized tool takes weather information from satellites and radar systems, makes predictions about whether a pilot would choose to fly through such conditions, and displays the information graphically to enable an air traffic controller to make a quick decision.
"The RAPT display shows a map of the airport with lines radiating outward to indicate the various departure routes. A grid below the map lists departure times in rows, divided into columns of five minutes running from the present to half an hour in the future. The color of each rectangle on the grid indicates whether departure at that time along that route seems feasible. Red means the route is blocked. Yellow means there's some heavy weather that might pose problems. Dark green says there's weather, but that it shouldn't be an issue. Light green represents clear sailing."
You can read a full rundown of the technology in these lab notes from MIT's Lincoln Laboratory.
Researchers have already tested RAPT in the New York region, one of the nation's most congested, and found the technology cut weather delays there by 2,300 hours last year, saving airlines around $7.5 million in operating costs.
Filed under: Airlines
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