Ramp control: directing tlie action at our Inubs
In a continuing series in the Piedmonitor, we
have featured several of the success stories and
outstanding efforts that have been made across
the system to provide a safe, reliable, on-time
operation.
Many of these stories have exposed simpler,
more efficient ways of working with the old tools
of the trade, while others have shown how a to
tally new and innovative idea can be put to the
test and succeed.
Some ideas succeed simply by trimming time
off a portion of the operation as a whole. Others
revise an entire procedure.
Ramp control did just that.
It is an idea that is not new to the industry.
Rather, it is a function that an airline assumes
from the FAA when its operation becomes so
complex that it is in the company’s best interest
to directly control the ground movement of air
craft at its most time-critical centers of passen
ger operations—typically at its hubs.
As a result of the rapid growth we have experi
enced at our two largest hub cities. Piedmont re
cently took over the responsibility to provide
ramp control for all jet and commuter operations
at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and
likewise for all of Pier D at Baltimore/Washington
International Airport.
Under the direction of station performance
managers Doyle Keever at CLT and Mike Willis at
BWI, specially trained agents posted at Pied
mont's control towers at both facilities are
charged with coordinating the efficient move
ment of each and every aircraft on our ramps.
From the point when a flight crew calls from the
gate for push back clearance and taxi position, to
a spot at a taxiway where the aircraft is turned
over to FAA ground control to proceed for take
off, Piedmont’s ramp controllers direct the action.
objective the same
Some of the tracking methods and communi
cations procedures may vary between CLT and
BWI, based on differences in the facilities layout
at each hub and the geographical location of the
airport itself. But, the objective to maintain Pied
mont's schedule reliability is one and the same.
After months of planning and intense training
sessions with the FAA, Piedmont first introduced
ramp control this past April at the BWI hub.
Later, in July, Charlotte's ramp control program
was implemented. Shortly thereafter, one of
CLT's parallel runways suffered a two-week shut
down for resurfacing.
"That period of limited runway use actually
helped us out a little," Keever said. “It gave us an
opportunity to slowly gear up and grow accus
tomed to handling the ramp activity in a limited
capacity.”
But, now that everything is open and fully op
erational, Keever says his staff hasn't missed a
beat. Piedmont’s CLT controllers are responsible
for more than 440 departing flights each day:
257 Piedmont jets, 130 commuters, and 53 other-
carrier aircraft—and a like number of daily
arrivals.
“We're just now coming out of a learning curve
and have had nothing but good results. Most im
portant though, we’ve noticeably started getting
the aircraft to the gates a little faster,’' he said.
Back in BWI, time has proven that ramp con
trol does in fact make an impressive difference in
reliability, not only at the hub, but at its down
line stations. A comparison between June 1987
and June 1988 reveals dramatic improvements
that can only be attributed to the effectiveness of
ramp control on system performance.
According to Tim Spangler, system perfor
mance analyst. Piedmont lost only three perfor
mance points this June due to air traffic control
(ATC) and airport ground delays, as compared to
10 points for the same period last year. He mea
sures the difference in outbound on-time depar
tures against on-time downline arrivals—from
the hub to the spoke cities. An on-time operation
is one which arrives or departs within 14 min
utes of schedule.
“We now have the capability to better control
many of the delays that occur during this part of
the operation,” Willis said. “The majority of the
difference between outbound and downline per
formance is primarily with the taxi time at the
hub.”
Piedmont's BWI ramp control oversees more
than 260 departure operations per day, 131 of
which are Piedmont jets and 87 are commuters,
also with an equal number of arrivals.
“Just by implementing ramp control we've
seen a great improvement,” Willis said. “You
don't see the long lines of aircraft at the runways
wasting precious time and fuel waiting for clear
ance. And ramp congestion is almost nonexistent.
“Overall, it is well-orchestrated, safe, and very
efficient. And the passengers are getting what
they deserve—on-time service,” he said.
how it all works
Ramp control allows us to do much more than
move aircraft around a ramp. It provides us with
an opportunity to prepare ahead of time with the
big picture in mind and to maximize on effi
ciency. It gives us an edge on time, before any
possible delays caused by weather, maintenance,
passengers or servicing can take it away.
By assuming ramp control coordination at CLT
and BWI, Piedmont relieved the FAA of a service
it has been providing at both airports. The FAA's
policy on ramp control was very simple: first
come, first served. The first aircraft to call FAA
ground control for push back clearance and taxi,
was the first aircraft to the runway. The next air
craft to call was the second in line, and so on, de
spite which runway the aircraft would use or its
ultimate destination.
This approach works well at airports where air
line operations are not quite as braided together
and time-sensitive as at CLT and BWI.
But, as Willis pointed out, if he has a CLT-
bound flight that is running 30 minutes late, sit
ting at the gate in BWI with more than 100
downline connections in jeopardy, the company
cannot afford to allow that aircraft to wait in line
behind five or six other, less-critical operations
just because they had called first for push back.
“Now we're in control, and that aircraft is given
priority clearance to the taxiway,’’ he said. “It’s
simple. We’re looking out for the passengers,
which is in our best interest.”
Willis cautioned, however, that Piedmont’s de
termination to utilize ramp control to run a safe,
on-time hub operation need not be misconstrued
as a license to disadvantage the competition.
“In fact, it often appears as though we're lend
ing the other carriers preferential treatment, sim
ply in our efforts to get them out of the picture
and on their way, so we can better concentrate
on our own operations,” he said.
‘spacers’
Other airlines' aircraft are also frequently used
as “spacers” at BWI, he added, which often re
sults in a seemingly preferential position in the
taxiway queue.
For instance, if Piedmont has two or more air
craft in a complex that will be departing in the
same general direction —say to Boston, New York
and Philadelphia—each aircraft must be se
quenced for takeoff so that once they are air
borne they will not run nose-to-tail across the
same fix or departure transition area (a naviga
tional intersection in the sky). The FAA requires
a 15-mile space between aircraft departing to the
same fix, which translates into three to five min
utes, which creates taxi delays if the departing
operation is not well sequenced with this restric
tion in mind. So, by placing other carriers and
commuters with different fixes between our
northbound departures, we can achieve a
smoother, safer and more equitable departure
line-up.
As mentioned earlier, there are fundamental
differences between CLT and BWI when it comes
to ramp management of aircraft. That is, CLT is
primarily concerned with handling heavy vol
umes of aircraft and the congestion caused by an
overlapping ebb and flow of activity, while BWI’s
primary focus is on efficient sequencing of air
craft into the crowded skies of the Northeast
corridor.
ramp control desk
The ramp control desk at CLT is manned by
an inbound agent and an outbound agent who
work side by side, monitoring their respective
radio frequencies, to assure that the aircraft are
properly guided and positioned at their predeter
mined gates, with the least possible ramp
congestion.
According to Steve Yancy, senior supervisor-
CLT, this is where CLT ramp control will focus its
energies, at least for the present.
“Baltimore has only one runway at any given
time for jet departures, while we are able to
simultaneously utilize two,” Yancy said. “To the
extent that we prearrange the assignment of in
bound operations on each concourse based on its
outbound direction, sequencing based on the
fixes is of secondary importance now.
continued on page 5
The noon-hour complex is one of the busiest
times at Piedmont’s CLT control tower as ramp
control agents Don Abernathy (left), Bill
Howell (right), and senior supervisor Steve
Yancy (center) gear up for the activity.
system performance
July performance began well, but declined
considerably under the influence of weather,
associated air traffic control, and the “echo”
effect of these lengthy delays on turnaround
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
performance. Air traffic control/airport delays
alone accounted for more delay than all de
parture delays in July of last year.
DAILY ON-TIME PERFORMANCE - JULY 1988
Dep Goal
Departures ^ Arrivals
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Piedmonitor • August 1988