Patent ID: 8271152

Claim:
A method for displaying aircraft traffic information on an onboard display element of a host aircraft, the method comprising: obtaining current flight status data of the host aircraft and current flight status data of a second aircraft that is near the host aircraft via an aircraft-to-aircraft communication module; a processor which processes the current flight status data of the host aircraft and the current flight status data of the second aircraft to determine an in-trail procedure (ITP) opportunity region for the host aircraft, the ITP opportunity region being associated with conditions that satisfy ITP criteria for the host aircraft; rendering, on the onboard display element, an ITP display comprising graphical representations of the host aircraft and the second aircraft positioned in accordance with the current flight status data of the host aircraft and the current flight status data of the second aircraft, and the ITP display further comprising a graphical representation of the ITP opportunity region; and wherein the processor further analyzes the current flight status data of the host aircraft and the current flight status data of the second aircraft to determine whether the ITP criteria has been satisfied; wherein the ITP display is rendered such that at least a portion of the graphical representation of the host aircraft is displayed in contact with or in the graphical representation of the ITP opportunity region when the ITP criteria is satisfied; and wherein the ITP display is rendered such that no portion of the graphical representation of the host aircraft is displayed in contact with or in the graphical representation of the ITP opportunity region when the ITP criteria is not satisfied.