Boeing

Boeing Air Traffic Management today announced that it has signed a contract with the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) to develop models to support the economic evaluation of air traffic management investments. Air Traffic Management, with help from decision consultants from Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) and the Boeing Research & Technology Center (BRTC) in Madrid, will work with EUROCONTROL to meet the following objectives:

• To develop concrete methods and support tools for the economic evaluation of all lifecycle phases of the air traffic system improvements described in the EUROCONTROL ATM 2000+ strategy, and
• To develop a collaborative process for economic evaluations that ensures stakeholder ownership of the results.

"This agreement is another step in our growing relationship with EUROCONTROL," said John Hayhurst, president of Boeing Air Traffic Management, "and it will provide critical economic data to aid EUROCONTROL's decision-making process."

The models will be built using Decision Advisor®, a decision-analysis software package from SmartOrg, which is designed to determine where and how best to invest resources in a project. Boeing has used Decision Advisor® since the early 1990s for a variety of projects, including a CNS/ATM Airline Focused Team (C/AFT) evaluation of Datalink for EUROCONTROL in 1998. EUROCONTROL purchased the software last year.

The current plan is to develop and test models for five stakeholder segments: service providers, airlines, airports, and military and general aviation. The schedule for the European Model for ATM Strategic Investment Analysis (EMOSIA) project runs from June through December 2003, with an option for additional developments in 2004.

"This project underscores the importance of international cooperation in solving the challenges facing the air traffic system as well as the breadth of the capabilities Boeing can bring to the quest for solutions," Hayhurst added.