Step Toward Remote Tower Center Deployment: Optimizing Staff Schedules

Abstract

Remote Tower Service (RTSs) is one of the technological and operational solutions delivered for deployment by the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Programme. This new concept fundamentally changes how operators provide Air Traffic Services, as it becomes possible to control several airports from a single remote center. In such settings an air traffic controller works at a so-called "multiple position" in the remote center, that is, he/she handles two or more airports from one Remote Tower Module (RTM), i.e the controller working position. In this paper, we present an optimization framework for the traffic management at five Swedish airports that were chosen for remote operation using a Remote Tower Center designed to serve a number of airports. We highlight the problems experienced with real airport schedules, and present optimal assignments of the airports to the RTMs. We consider both scheduled traffic and special (non-scheduled) traffic at these five airports.