Our airport operates around the clock, but only a small number of flights land or take off between 12:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. We set the limit annually, within a night flights “budget” established by Transport Canada. As a result, many carriers time their first inbound flights of the day to arrive soon after the overnight restriction ends. And some long-haul flights arrive ahead of schedule if they’ve managed to fly their routes more quickly than calculated in their official flight plans.

As passengers, we all like reaching our destination early. But at a busy hub like Toronto Pearson, it can be a problem. If there’s no gate free for an early-arriving flight, or no crew available to service it, the aircraft may have to wait on the ground until it’s possible to access the terminal. Or NAV Canada, which manages air traffic control, may put the flight on an airborne hold, asking it to “circle” for some time before landing. This latter option can have a negative impact on residents affected by aircraft noise. And either scenario is frustrating for passengers – and carriers – as the time we need to adjust for an unscheduled arrival understandably feels like a delay. What’s more, there’s an environmental cost as the extra idling or flying time burns more fuel and increases carbon emissions.

Improved on-time performance translated into a better passenger experience as ground handling, baggage processing and coordination of connecting flights proceeded more smoothly and efficiently.

A further complication is that when we reassign gates to early arrivals, we may not have enough available for regularly scheduled flights, which then makes it necessary to reduce inbound traffic to Pearson. And because it’s not feasible to redirect long-haul flights (other than in inclement weather), NAV Canada will instead instruct flights originating in nearby cities – Ottawa, for instance – to delay their scheduled departures. Once again, passengers are inconvenienced, connections may be missed and our collective carbon footprint grows as aircraft sit idling at other airports, waiting for word on when Pearson can receive them.

These problems have only intensified over time. But in the past year, we discovered a solution – thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between Toronto Pearson, our principal airlines and NAV Canada.

Benefits arrive on time

The first step was to determine which flights were regularly arriving early, and for that we needed concrete data. A team from the GTAA met representatives from NAV Canada and our two largest airline customers, Air Canada and WestJet (including their subsidiaries). After a series of information exchanges and working sessions, in November 2018 we launched the Toronto Pearson Early Morning Arrivals Trial.

To gain a clearer picture of the pattern of early arrivals – based on hard evidence, rather than anecdotal assumptions – the trial began with a detailed comparison of scheduled arrivals with actual runway times during the first hour after 6:30 a.m. The group then examined the individual trajectories of early flights. What was salient for all parties’ planning was not the time an aircraft touched down at Pearson, but when it reached one of five regional coordinating points, called “bedposts,” from which air traffic controllers guide flights into their final approach. After calculating the optimum arrival time over a designated bedpost for every inbound flight, the team could provide airline dispatchers with precise targets to insert into flight plans.

The key to this success story is a new level of collaboration within the traditional aviation triad of airport, airlines and air traffic control.

The results were immediate and dramatic. On-time arrivals rose by about 20 per cent in the first month; the rate was closer to 30 per cent when the team considered all flights arriving within five minutes of their scheduled times. And while this initial impact inevitably tapered off, average gains continued in the low double digits through most of the nine-month trial. What’s more, improved on-time performance translated into a better passenger experience as ground handling, baggage processing and coordination of connecting flights proceeded more smoothly and efficiently. Delays caused by early arrivals virtually disappeared, both at Pearson and at regional airports served by our hub. And then there were the sustainability benefits: eliminating airborne holds reduced noise over nearby communities; and flying at the speeds required for on-time arrivals saved significant amounts of fuel while shrinking airlines’ carbon footprint.

Best plan, best served

The Early Morning Arrivals Trial was so successful that it was soon extended further into the morning and broadened to engage more carriers. Now discussions are underway to apply the same strategy in managing other aspects of Pearson’s traffic flow – for instance, the high volume of long-haul European flights arriving during the afternoon, especially in summer. At the same time, the critical data-sharing component is migrating from a spreadsheet accessed by all parties as needed to the real-time digital tools that support our Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) program.

The key to this success story is a new level of collaboration within the traditional aviation triad of airport, airlines and air traffic control. Together, we’re better meeting the needs of all stakeholders – starting with passengers – by evolving our arrivals model from “First come, first served” to the far more efficient “Best plan, best served.”