Browsing by Author "Fewings, Rodney"
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Item Open Access Analysis of the bird strike reports received by the Finnish Transport Safety Agency between the years 2000 and 2011(Cranfield University, 2013-12) Nikolajeff, Jukka-Pekka; Fewings, RodneyAs soon as people started to fly, bird strikes became a significant safety issue. At present, hundreds of bird strikes are reported every year, and the consequences vary between a scared pilot to a total aircraft hull loss. It has been estimated that the material cost of bird strikes may be more than one billion Euros annually. But in addition, there is the immeasurable cost of losing human lives. How could we fly safely sharing the same sky with the birds? The question is difficult to answer because of the complex reasons why bird strikes happen. The increasing number of flights and growing bird population will also bring new challenges in the future. This thesis approaches the subject by concentrating on the benefits of bird strike reporting in Finland. The thesis reviews all bird strike reports received by the Finnish Transport Safety Agency between the years 2000 and 2011. According to this data, the number of bird strike reports has been increasing significantly during the past few years. Unfortunately, at the same time, the quality of bird strike reports has been decreasing in Finland. Based on the reports analysed, the importance of good bird strike reporting was not yet clear for all stakeholders. The bird species were often poorly identified, and a lot of other valuable data, such as weather details, were frequently missing from bird strike reports. In addition, bird strikes that did not cause any damage were often not reported. This was because bird strike reporting is not yet mandatory in Finland. The aim in bird strike reporting should be better quality and higher frequency than what is currently found in Finland. This could certainly improve aviation safety.Item Open Access Aspects of cooperation in air navigation services : current status and future directions(Cranfield University, 2006-06) Singh, M.; Fewings, RodneyCooperation has been identified as an essential requirement for the strategic performance of air transport organisations. From an academic perspective, the debate on theory and practice of such cooperation mainly centres on questions regarding aspects of the increasingly strategic alliances among airlines. Recent developments in the air navigation service (ANS) industry, point towards a new organisational philosophy for ANS provision, which would incorporate the concept of international cooperation. This research shifts the focus and expands the growing body of knowledge in air transport cooperation, by exploring comprehensively, from ~a strategic management perspective, the area of cooperation involving air-navigation service providers (ANSPS), which potentially could improve service provision and reduce costs -in the future. The research presented in this thesis follows a conceptual path, beginning with, an analysis of air transport cooperation literature in great detail, to extract lessons applicable for ANSPS in their quest to cooperate. The ANS business model and its a international regulatory environment are .examined comprehensively to get an overview of how these are evolving and discover the underlying traits. From a empirical perspective, findings of two consecutive questionnaire surveys performed on ANSPs are presented, to develop insights into and understanding of, the current status and the future direction of cooperation in the key areas of ANS and cooperation between ANSPs and their industry partners. Having identified the future direction of cooperation, together with a critical review of the associated drivers and barriers to cooperation, enables the research, to develop solution methods in the form of recommendations to the stakeholders on how to enhance cooperation in ANS. The findings indicate conclusively that future progress is dependent on the scale and dynamics of the ANS industry, including the strategies ANSPs employ to interact with the regulatory and public bodies. Furthermore, cooperation to date has been driven by operational requirements to improve operational efficiency. Strategic cooperation does not come naturally° but is now being driven by commercialisation objectives -and is supported in 'Europe by changes in the regulatory framework. Where cooperation is likely to significantly impact the core business there are still significant issues outside the control of the ANSPS, and which require intervention from political and other stakeholders to collectively devise a outcome. This research highlights that standardisation is a key strategic issue for the industry as' more benefits and intense' cooperation can be expected, after standardisation is achieved in procedures, technology, air traffic control training content and safety management system product. To investigate another interesting aspect of this research, the European air traffic management (ATM) was examined in order to compare it with the South East (SE) Asia ATM situation. To support the point, that cross border rationalisation initiatives require a related business case as a complementary planning tool to build an economic argument against political barriers, this research developed a comprehensive sample business case methodology incorporating a quantitative cost benefit analysis which was used to validate the recommendation that SE Asian ANSPS consolidate the entire regions CNS infrastructure into a Regional CNS Organisation.Item Open Access An evaluation of the provision of terminal facilities for the design of low cost airport terminals(Cranfield University, 2009-01) Sabar, Rohafiz; Fewings, RodneyThe growth of the Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) in the world will have a significant impact on future airport development. LCCs such as Ryanair, Air Asia and EasyJet prefer only basic terminal facilities (TFs) at Low Cost Terminals (LCTs) to reduce associated costs (airport charges, capital investment, operational costs). Pressure by LCCs for reduced airport charges has led to the inclusion of only basic TFs so as to reduce capital investment and operational costs. This has raised an interest in the evaluation of TFs within LCT design. A reduction of airport charges, which is possible through LCTs, is indirectly linked to the reduction in air fares. The debate concerning the development of the ‘right’ TFs has led to considerable discussion by airport operators. Airports have to retain the airlines as business partners and customers. To this end, they need to develop facilities that offer best value in order to retain their custom. In addition, airports must be flexible enough to meet the changing needs of passengers. With particular emphasis on experiences at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), this research is an evaluation the provision of TFs for a LCT model, taking into account potentially conflicting expectations of airline and airport managements, and passengers. A research framework was developed as the result of a literature review of LCT design and development. The research itself used multiple questionnaires in pre- and postdevelopment surveys involving three different parties: airline management (Air Asia Berhad), airport operator (Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad) and passengers (LCT users). The headquarters of Air Asia Berhad and Malaysia Airports Berhad were visited and surveys were undertaken to ascertain the viewpoints of LCC passengers flying with Air Asia, a low-cost airline based at KLIA, Malaysia. The main focus of this research has been to propose a possible conceptual model for LCT design with an emphasis on simplifying the provision of TFs in such a way as to reduce capital investment and operational and airport charges, while at the same time being able to generate additional airport revenues. The evidence from the surveys reveals that, in LCT design, there are conflicting expectations between airlines, airport authorities and passengers on the adequacy of TFs whose design is influenced by consideration of cost and revenue structures. The proposed conceptual model indicates the preferences for core and secondary TFs within LCT design after the cost and revenue structures, and airline management, airport operator and passenger’s expectations, are considered.Item Open Access Pre-tactical trajectory compatibility determination to reduce air traffic controllers' tactical workload(Cranfield University, 2012-03) Portillo, Yolanda; Fewings, Rodney; Lei, ZhengThe current Air Traffic Management (ATM) system, based on principles established more than 50 years ago, is starting to show clear signs of saturation. This fact. joined to increasingly environmental awareness, leads to a paradigm shift from the current sector-based ATM system, to a future trajectory-based ATM system. Within this research, factors and processes affecting trajectory-based operations are analysed, and the main factors hindering an accurate trajectory definition identified, in order to establish the criteria under which two aircraft trajectories could be declared as compatible in a pre-tactical management stage. Trajectory compatibility determination will endeavour to reduce the real-time Air Traffic Controller‟s (ATCO‟s) workload in the tactical stage, currently identified as one of the main bottlenecks in the existing ATM system. The obtained results are based on a trade-off between the system capacity, understood as the number of ATCO tactical interventions, versus the system predictability, as the number of misdetections or probability of conflict to be assumed in a pre-tactical timeframe. A criterion to identify when two trajectories are compatible is presented, firstly considering the movement as horizontal only, then including the vertical components when one or both aircraft are climbing or descending. The research initial results were presented in a Paper in the first SESAR Innovation Days which took place at Toulouse from the 29th of November 2011 to the 1st of December 2011 (Paper included as Annex V).