WEATHER-PROOFING THE NETWORK, A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

Transcription

1 WEATHER-PROOFING THE NETWORK, A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH Weather assessment in Air France operations Raphael EYROLLE OCC ATM Desk Manager Loic ANDRO OCC Meteorology referent AIR FRANCE OPERATION CONTROL CENTER

2 MENU PART 1 - AIR FRANCE OPERATIONS PART 2 - PRE-TACTICAL WEATHER ASSESSMENT PART 3 TACTICAL WEATHER AVOIDANCE PART 4 WHAT COULD WE EXPECT? AIR FRANCE OPERATION CONTROL CENTER

3 PART 1 AIR FRANCE OPERATIONS AIR FRANCE OPERATION CONTROL CENTER p.3

4 01 AIR FRANCE S OPERATIONS Daily Air France operations represent: 1100 flights to more than 320 destinations in 120 countries passengers 105 LH aircrafts / 118 MH aircrafts / 93 SH aircrafts For 2018, Air France increases his traffic by 3,8%

5 01 AIR FRANCE S OPERATIONS Weather impact: Flight Cancellations + Flight Diversions + Delays Customer disagreements 2017 figures 408 Flights cancellations 400 Flights diverted ATFCM delays : ,60 per flight 33% ATFCM Delay 5

6 01 AIR FRANCE S OPERATIONS How Air France is handling all this irregularities? H24-7/7J year round More than 60 Operational experts Up to 24 Flight Dispatchers A dedicated ATM unit With 3 main objectives: 1- Flight safety and security 2- Ensure the best customer experience 3-Reach the best economical performance 6

7 PART 2 - PRE-TACTICAL WEATHER ASSESSMENT AIR FRANCE OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER p.7

8 02 PRE-TACTICAL WEATHER ASSESSMENT Like for all aviation s stakeholders, anticipation is a key. How do we handle this? Weather models analysis by flight dispatchers and ATM cell. Internal weather outlook by ATM Dispatchers Airport weather alerting system 8

9 02 PRE-TACTICAL WEATHER ASSESSMENT Weather Outlook up to 3 days Paris CDG Paris ORY 9

10 02 PRE-TACTICAL WEATHER ASSESSMENT These information are shared in our 2 daily internal briefings Disruption assessment will take into account - Economical cost - Customer rerouting - Commercial actions. Disruption assessment Risk Outlook Analysis Decision will be taken regarding our schedule: - Cancellations - Delay of flights - Communication to all stakeholders. Decision 10

11 02 PRE-TACTICAL WEATHER ASSEMENT Examples January Snowstorm over US East Coast January 4 th, after the weather assement, contact with our local station and full risk analysis, Air France OCC decided to cancel flights to New-York and Boston in order to avoid diversion and congestion. Air France West Indies Destination September 2017 Hurricane IRMA. From September 4 th actions were taken to organize our trajectories and crew positioning. On September 5 th, flights schedule to the French West Indies were advanced or postponed just before IRMA arrival. On September 6 th, aircraft were stored in Fort de France in order to be ready for recovery phase. 11

12 PART 3 - TACTICAL WEATHER AVOIDANCE AIR FRANCE OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER p.12

13 03 TACTICAL WEATHER AVOIDANCE Flight Watch Pilot and Dispatch cooperation Flight Planning Flight planning is following the most economical route. Sometimes this is not the best choice Based on weather forecasts and observations, the dispatcher plans a new routing to avoid the impacted area. 13

14 03 TACTICAL WEATHER AVOIDANCE Flight Watch Pilot and Dispatch cooperation En route Monitoring Pilots use their inboard weather radar to circumnavigate around weather hazards with a tactical view up to 160nm. The flight dispatcher provides him information regarding the situation for the next nm. The flight dispatcher uses: - ewas Dispatch (developed in collaboration with GTD) which combines observations and forecasts in a same view. - Météo France extranet for his satellite imagery and model guidance. 14

15 03 TACTICAL WEATHER AVOIDANCE Flight Watch Pilot and Dispatch cooperation Arrival Monitoring Convective activity has been predicted during the flight briefing. As the flight is coming to Houston, severe weather is building up along a line west of the airport, close to our alternates. Our ATM unit is monitoring the expected arrival load and the potential holdings. Based on those analysis, the pilot and the dispatcher share a common view of the arrival situation. A plan is established, with a maximum holding time and the expected alternate airport. This information is then communicated to all actors. 15

16 PART 4 WHAT COULD WE EXPECT AS AN AIRCRAFT OPERATOR? AIR FRANCE OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER p.16

17 04 WHAT COULD WE EXPECT AS AN AIRCRAFT OPERATOR? A network regulation scheme for European scale weather events. A good example is always better than words. It is derivate from a real situation met during summer Result: - Flight A got caught in 3 regulations with a heavy delay and complex to improve. Restriction 1 Restriction 2 Restriction 3 Departure Airport Restriction 1, put in place by the adjacent ACC who actually experience the thunderstorm. Restriction 2, put in place by the departing ACC to protect his South-West corner. - Flight B got restricted at departure with a moderate delay for a weather phenomenon that should not concerned him. It seems that in this situation only Restriction 1 or Restriction 2 are relevant to efficiently protect the network and ensure the safety. We really need to think collectivelyabout the best solution for each situation. Flights should not have more than 1 restriction for one phenomenon. Restriction 3, put in place by the airport to protect his runway. 17

18 04 WHATCOULDWEEXPECTAS AN AIRCRAFTOPERATOR? A delay assement tool for Aircraft Operators simulation tool based on historical and live data. There are always uncertainty on the delay value when a weather event is coming. Based on historical and predictive data made available nowadays, it should be possible to help Airlines Operations Centers to measure the potential impact on their operations. A weather disruption is forecasted in LFPG between 12h30z and 13h30z. With a 15 delay, there will be a limited impact on a few flights. Also we will be able to accommodate this delay before the end of the day. With a 45 delay, we will need to cancel flights, swap aircraft and rearrange the schedule. To be able to anticipate this disruption and its impact, here are 2 possible actions : - Give a full access to NM data to airlines so they can develop their own predictive tool. - Give access to a what if tool for those who need it. 18

19 04 WHATCOULDWEEXPECTAS AN AIRCRAFTOPERATOR? A way to protect airlines who takes pro-active actions to help the network. When flights are pro-actively cancelled due to weather reasons, passengers can claim an EU261 compensation. This refrain airlines from cancelling flights or take pro-active actions. To help airlines in those situations, it will be interesting to present how this pro-active actions had helped the network and by the end the European passenger. If by an easy way we could prove that those pro-active cancellations helped the network, then it could motivate airlines to anticipate actions. In France like in many other countries, major airports are coordinated. When an aircraft operator have slots on those airports, they need to demonstrate a level of regularity and punctuality on their operations. Those flights delayed or cancelled to help the network should not be taken into account in those regularity and punctuality assessment. 19

20 QUESTIONS?