The developing concept of free flight basically uses no centralized management or control system and instead, allows aircraft to use onboard radar and navigation equipment to fly and navigate their own way through the airspace – without being restricted to specific flight paths as defined or chosen by Air Traffic Control (ATC).
While this concept may provide a sense of freedom for pilots and airline companies, the notion of any aircraft being able to make independent flight path decisions may have wide ranging impacts on the industry.
This paper will firstly look at the benefits of the free flight concept. These benefits may initially appear to be appealing for many pilots and airline companies – however they do introduce a variety of risks and limitations which are also presented in this essay. If these risks and limitations are not correctly mitigated and resolved, then they may develop to be problematic for the aviation industry as a whole.
The advent of new and portable technologies that allow for navigation and anti-collision (GPS, TCAS etc) has led to the proposed implementation of the free flight concept. This would increase the role of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) in aircraft and would also diminish the role of ATC. In turn, this would also allow pilots and airlines to choose where they want to fly and not be restricted to defined flight paths.
Obvious benefits would include cost savings related to fuel efficiency as aircraft would then be able to fly directly to specific locations without the need of flying fixed or designated routes. Endsley (1997) states pilots would also be able to have more control in avoiding weather and dealing with other factors which crop up during a flight. Currently, pilots and airlines are restricted to approximately 5% of available air space and any ability for pilots in being able to plan or navigate in a more direct path would lead to cost savings related to fuel usage. There are also savings related to time and this would have flow-on affects for airline scheduling and also lower or delayed maintenance costs for aircraft.
However, the role of ATC and safety should not be forgotten. Aviation safety is a complex and dynamic subject involving many entities and “moving parts” and this complexity is reflected in the primary role of ATC in managing the safety of aircraft. Airservices Australia extends on this by further defining their role as managing the safe and orderly flow of aircraft into, out of, and across Australian airspace (Airservices Australia, 2017).
The concept of free flight would hinder this role as theoretically, under a free flight system, aircraft would not be flying in a managed manner and instead flying in a wider area of the sky resulting in an “adhoc” navigational structure. This may lead to a higher workload for pilots and flight crew as they would need to be more vigilant for other traffic – as opposed to knowing where traffic will be according to defined and ATC “advertised” flight plans.
Additionally, in order to safely manage the en-route flow, landings and departures for aircraft, ATC professionals currently utlise a process called “the picture” in which they envisage a model of the current or upcoming situation (Endsley, 1997). With a managed traffic process, this situational awareness is easy to obtain however the uncertainty of aircraft trajectories related to free flight may make it difficult for ATC in being able to safely manage the movement of aircraft – especially over population centres or when transitioning into controlled environments.
The concept of free flight may sound appealing for airlines and pilots. The romantic nature in being able to freely choose where you fly does have advantages in terms of savings related to fuel and time. The concept also allows pilots to immediately change direction or trajectory depending on circumstances. However, the increase in air traffic and the limitations of this concept does present issues in the primary goal of keeping the skies safe. These concerns may negate the advantages of this concept.
Free Flight is an interesting theory but more thought, research and discussion must be had before any model of this concept can be introduced. While finding cost and time savings are an important aspect of the aviation sector, it is vitally (if not more) important that the primary focus on safety is kept and maintained.
References
Airservices Australia, 2017. How air traffic control works. [Online]
Available at: http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/services/how-air-traffic-control-works/
[Accessed 10 June 2018].
Endsley, M., 1997. Situation Awareness, Automation & Free Flight, Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
