Executive Summary Of The Interim Report Of The Environmental Review Panel Examining Air Traffic Management In Southern Ontario

In the late 1980s, Transport Canada concluded that air traffic congestion at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport required urgent corrective measures. In August 1989, a two-phase strategy was announced, with the first phase being the development of Pearson Airport to its optimum capacity by 2011, including construction of more runways, and the second phase being the developments of other airports in the area. This summary gives background information to the development of the airport and the formation of the panel; describes the current proposal, including demand and capacity for air services and the advantages and disadvantages of potential solutions; sets out stakeholder positions; and gives the panel's analysis, conclusions and recommendations.

The executive summary has been prepared as a separate, self-standing document. It is intended to meet the needs of those requiring the Panel's conclusions and recommendations, supported by sufficient background information for these findings to be fully understood and accurately interpreted, but without extensive technical detail.

This report comprises the interim report of the Panel examining the proposal to construct 3 new runways at Lester B. Pearson International Airport (LBPIA) at Toronto. The report describes the review process, the historical development of LBPIA, and the setting. The proposal looks at demand, runway capacity, potential solutions, proposed new runways, airport operations, noise, ecological and historical resources and the cost-benefit analysis. The various stakeholder positions are described next. The Panel's analysis covers background, the base case, possible improvements to the base case, directional imbalance and north-south capacity, east-west capacity, noise impacts, noise and health, social issues, ecological and historical resources, economic considerations, the spoke communities, policy turbulence, general aviation, and impact management. Conclusions and recommendations follow and appendices giving terms of reference, biographies for panel members and technical specialists, supplementary information, public hearings participants, and panel documents conclude the document.

Sections 1-2. Keyword Index.--Section 3. Personal author index.--Section 4. Corporate author index.-- Section 5. Contract/grant number index, NTIS order/report number index 1-E.--Section 6. NTIS order/report number index F-Z.

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TRB Special Report 301: Air Traffic Controller Staffing in the En Route Domain: A Review of the Federal Aviation Administration's Task Load Model examines the structure, empirical basis, and validation methods of a Federal Aviation Administration model that estimates the time controllers spend performing tasks when handling en route traffic. The model's task load output is being used to inform workforce planning. The committee that developed the report concluded that the model is superior to past models because it takes into account traffic complexity when estimating task load. However, the report recommends that more operational and experimental data on task performance be obtained to establish and validate many key model assumptions, relationships, and parameters.

TRB has released the final version of Special Report 314: The Federal Aviation Administration’s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs that examines the methods used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to estimate how many controllers are needed to staff its air traffic control facilities and its processes for using these estimates to properly distribute controllers across facilities. According to the report, the FAA’s models for determining air traffic controller staffing needs are suitable for developing initial estimates of the number of controllers required at terminal areas and airport towers, but the models used for the centers controlling aircraft en route between airports can be improved. In addition, as a matter of priority, the FAA should collaborate with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association to develop and implement an enhanced tool for all facilities that is capable of creating efficient controller work schedules that incorporate fatigue mitigation strategies. The report recommends that the FAA analyze a wide range of data, such as accident and incident reports and voluntary reports by controllers, to identify relationships between staffing and safety. In addition, the controller workforce should be involved in staffing decisions, particularly as knowledge emerges about relevant safety issues. The FAA also should ensure that staffing continues to be appropriate as it implements the new air traffic operations environment associated with the Next Generation Transportation System, a modernization initiative to shift air traffic management from ground-based radar to a satellite system, the report says. A press release on the report is available for download. A report summary has been published in TR News 297.