Hurry up and wait

Precision navigation has allowed air routes to have less separation between aircraft than once was required and additional runways are being built to help those aircraft back to earth with minimal delay. Yet it is difficult to see how the slow, major undertaking of building infrastructure can keep pace with the dynamic pace of passenger growth as more of the world takes to the air.

Speed reduction, holding patterns and waiting on the taxiway for a parking bay are a common way of life at airports where such issues never once existed. The aircraft are becoming increasingly efficient, but the world in which they operate has physical limitations. It’s a bit like trying to stretch the legs of a Ferrari in a cul-de-sac.

There are many moves afoot. The development of 4D airspace, enhanced approach and landing capability and even the ability to ‘fold wings’ for larger airliners on shrinking parking bays. These all take time, although not as long as the politics of building new airports one must admit. Even so, when the weather decides to throw its influence into the equation, chaos can follow. And then there is the periodic meltdown of automated booking and check-in systems that bring proceedings to a grinding halt.

There is no ‘finger-pointing’ here; these events are simply by-products of a system that is constantly operating close to the limits of its capacity.

There is such little slack in the system to cope with something out of the ordinary, that the knock-on effect can be significant. It is no secret that in a commercial sense ‘slack in the system’ is costly and aircraft need to be flying to generate revenue. And so the paradox grows. The affordability of air travel in the modern age has introduced a generation of passengers who once could never have imagined flying to a destination for a holiday. Additionally, growing international economies and their associated middle class have brought an entirely new demographic into frame in staggering numbers. Consequently as these numbers grew, the major aircraft manufacturers adjusted their projections for the future. Many more pilots and many more aeroplanes would be needed to cope with the forecast growth.

The production of more seats and bums to sit on them is not a mystic formula. It can be done through manufacturing and marketing, but once the aircraft roll off the production line they will still be confronted by airspace congestion and terminal area gridlock. Add into the equation the fact that there are always peak periods and lulls – in those peaks, parking can be a premium and clearing customs can be a very long process. Having flown 7,500 miles, that final single mile from the runway to the arrivals hall can be the toughest.

More airports is one way of easing the load, but creating them is a slow process and they possess their own infrastructure issues. Once the funnel has poured forth its passengers at the airport, those same passengers need to funnel further into the city and suburbs. Likewise, workers need frequent access to the airport around the clock. Establishing road systems and rail networks revisit the same issues of congestion and infrastructure, albeit at ground level. Throw into the mix airport curfews and ‘no-noise’ lobby groups and there are a good many challenges to overcome.

It’s rather strange that the mystery of flight threw up seemingly insurmountable problems and yet within a century we have been able to leave our atmosphere, travel at supersonic speeds and span oceans with hundreds of passengers watching nonstop movies from their seats. For civil air travel, the modern issues don’t relate to the physics but the efficiencies. It is more a case of how passengers can be conveyed more economically, and once they are on their way, how can so many planes and people be channelled into the narrow corridors and airports at either end? Brains far greater than my walnut are setting their minds to finding the solutions, but it is hard to imagine that such substantial answers can be found and enacted with any great speed. And once found, how far into the future will those plans project and satisfy the insatiable demand for air travel? All the while the contrails overhead will continue to remind us just how busy the skies can be. Their jinking turns will paint a tale of extra track miles and their curving arcs will hint at the point where airliners come to hold. Despite these delays and frustrations stemming from the congestion, the reality is that it is still a far more speedy means of travel and more affordable than any time in history. With that comforting thought stirring as we sit waiting for an empty aerobridge to taxi forth and dock remember, sometimes it is just a case of ‘hurry up and wait’.