Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport Benchmarks

-   The current capacity benchmark at Atlanta Hartsfield is 185-200
    flights per hour in good weather.

-   Current capacity falls to 167-174 flights (or fewer) per hour in
    adverse weather conditions, which may include poor visibility,
    unfavorable winds, or heavy precipitation.

-   In 2000, Atlanta was ranked eighth most delayed airport in the
    country overall, slightly less than 3% of all flights were delayed
    significantly (more than 15 minutes).

-   Scheduled operations at Atlanta are at or above good-weather
    capacity for almost two hours of the day.

-   Atlanta has eight well-defined periods of highly concentrated
    arrival and departure traffic during the day.

-   In adverse weather, capacity is lower and scheduled traffic exceeds
    capacity more than 8 hours of the day and the percentage of
    significantly delayed flights doubles to 6%.

-   A new runway, planned for completion in 2005, is expected to improve
    Atlanta's capacity benchmark by 31% (to 243-258 flights per hour) in
    good weather and by 27% (to 212-219 flights per hour) in adverse
    weather. This assumes that airspace, ground infrastructure, and
    environmental constraints allow full use of the runway.

-   In addition, technology and procedural improvements, when combined
    with the new runway are expected to increase Hartsfield's capacity
    benchmark by a total of 37% (to 254-269 flights per hour) in good
    weather over the next 10 years.

-   The adverse weather capacity benchmark will increase by a total of
    34% (to 224-231 flights per hour) compared to today.

-   These capacity increases could be brought about as a result of:

    -   PRM, which will allow triple simultaneous approaches with the
        new runway.

    -   pFAST, which assists the controller with sequencing aircraft,
        for a better flow of traffic into the terminal area.

    -   ADS-B/CDTI (with LAAS), which provides a cockpit display of the
        location of other aircraft and will help the pilot maintain the
        desired separation more precisely.

    -   FMS/RNAV routes, which allow a more consistent flow of aircraft
        to the runway.

-   Demand at Atlanta is expected to grow by 28% over the next 10 years.
    Capacity at Atlanta is expected to keep pace with the growth in
    demand, due primarily to the new runway at the airport.

    **Airport Capacity Benchmarks --** These values are for total
    operations achievable under specific conditions:

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-   **Optimum Rate** -- Visual Approaches (VAPS), unlimited ceiling and
    visibility

-   **Reduced Rate** -- Most commonly used instrument configuration,
    below visual approach minima

  ----------------------------------- ----------------- -----------------
  **Scenario**                        **Optimum Rate**  **Reduced Rate**

  Today                               **185-200**       **167-174**

  New Runway                          **243-258**       **212-219**

  Plus planned improvements           **254-269**       **224-231**
  ----------------------------------- ----------------- -----------------

![](media/image72.wmf)

-   The benchmarks describe an achievable level of performance for the
    given conditions, which can occasionally be exceeded. Lower rates
    can be expected under adverse conditions. Note: In some cases,
    facilities provided separate unbalanced maximum arrival and
    departure rates.

-   Planned Improvements include:

    -   PRM, which will allow triple simultaneous approaches with the
        new runway

    -   pFAST, which assists the controller with sequencing aircraft,
        for a better flow of traffic into the terminal area

    -   ADS-B/CDTI (with LAAS) -- provides a cockpit display of the
        location of other aircraft. This will help the pilot maintain
        the desired separation more precisely.

    -   FMS/RNAV Routes -- allows more consistent delivery of aircraft
        to the runway threshold.

-   Benefits from Planned Improvements assume that all required
    infrastructure and regulatory approvals will be in place. This
    includes aircraft equipage, airspace design, environmental reviews,
    frequencies, training, etc. as needed.

-   **Note:** These benchmarks do not consider any limitation on airport
    traffic flow that may be caused by non-runway constraints at the
    airport or elsewhere in the NAS. Such constraints may include:

    -   Taxiway and gate congestion, runway crossings, slot controls,
        construction activity

    -   Terminal airspace, especially limited departure headings

    -   Traffic flow restrictions caused by en route miles-in-trail
        restrictions, weather or congestion problems at other airports

These values were calculated for the Capacity Benchmarking task and
should not be used for other purposes, particularly if more detailed
analyses have been performed for the individual programs.

The list of Planned Improvements and their expected effects on capacity
does not imply FAA commitment to or approval of any item on the list.

### Current Operations -- Optimum Rate

-   Visual approaches, visual separation -- Optimum Rate of (100,100)
    was reported by the facility

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-   Arrivals primarily to the two outer runways

-   Departures from two inner runways

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-   ASPM data is actual hourly traffic counts for the month of April
    2000 for Visual Approach conditions. This data includes other runway
    configurations and off-peak periods.

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-   ATL frequently operates at close to maximum rate

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-   Solid line represents the calculated airport capacity during a busy
    hour, and the tradeoff between arrivals and departure rates

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-   ATL controllers are more flexible than the model, actively manage
    traffic for maximum throughput

![](media/image73.wmf){width="6.298611111111111in"
height="4.3069444444444445in"}

![](media/image74.png){width="2.1515748031496065in" height="2.2in"}

**Scheduled Departures and Arrivals and Current Departure and Arrival
Rate Boundaries (15-Minute Periods) Under Optimum Rate Conditions**

![](media/image75.wmf)![](media/image76.wmf)![](media/image77.wmf)

**Current Operations -- Reduced Rate**

-   Instrument approaches (below Visual Approach Minima)

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-   Arrivals to the two outer runways

-   Departures from two inner runways

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-   Reduced Rate of (84,90) was reported by the facility

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-   ASPM data for "Instrument Approaches" can include marginal VFR, with
    higher acceptance rates

-   Chart below represents observed traffic and expected rates in terms
    of operations per hour

![](media/image78.wmf){width="6.279861111111111in"
height="4.170833333333333in"}

### 

**Scheduled Departures and Arrivals and Current Departure and Arrival
Rate Boundaries (15-Minute Periods) Under Reduced Rate Conditions**

> ![](media/image79.wmf)![](media/image80.wmf)![](media/image81.wmf)