Free flight (air traffic control)

Free flight is a developing air traffic control method that uses no centralized control (e.g. air traffic controllers). Instead, parts of airspace are reserved dynamically and automatically in a distributed way using computer communication to ensure the required separation between aircraft. This new system may be implemented into the U.S. air traffic control system in the next decade. Its potential impact on the operations of the national airspace system is disputed, however.

Free flight is a new concept being developed to take the place of the current air traffic management methods through the use of technology. True free flight eliminates the need for air traffic control (ATC) operators by giving the responsibility to the pilot in command. This gives the pilot the ability to change trajectory in mid-flight. With the aid of computer systems and/or ATC, pilots will be able to make more flight path decisions independently. As in most complex systems, distributed yet cooperative decision making is believed to be more efficient than the centralized control characterized by the current mode of air traffic management.

Free flight began as an effort to become less dependent on the human factor and more dependent on the growing technology of its day. As airlines expanded their fleets in the 1960s, they increased the need for air traffic management (ATM). ATM created instrument flight rules (commonly known as "IFR") to manage the growing numbers of aircraft. This helped control air traffic, but required a significant amount of time, effort, and resources to maintain IFR flight.

In 1968, the Federal Aviation Administration issued the High Density Airport Rule to reduce the amount of aircraft in a given airport. Twenty years earlier Crocker Snow used television cameras to locate his position when flying an aircraft. He sent up signals to the aircraft so they could get a third person perspective of the aircraft’s surrounding. This idea worked but was too costly and was impractical. In the 1960s transponders removed the need to use television cameras.

Other problems that occurred in the air traffic industry were the OPEC fuel crises and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike of 1982 resulting the firing of thousands of controllers by President Ronald Reagan. This showed how vulnerable air transportation was to economic forces.

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