History

CDM traces its origins to September 1993, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/Airline Data Exchange (FADE) experiment highlighted the benefits of NAS users providing updated schedule information, allowing for improved decision making by Traffic Flow Managers. Officially formed in 1995, the CDM Program is a joint/government industry initiative which has worked to develop new technology and procedures to ensure a safe and efficient NAS system beneficial for everyone: the aviation community and the flying public. The CDM Program focuses on several air traffic management initiatives and is not a single goal, but a philosophy of business.

1993
September – The FAA/Airline Data Exchange (FADE) experiment determines whether updated schedule information from NAS users affects Traffic Flow Management’s decision making.

1994
August – ATCSCC exercises the CDM concept in preparation for operational exercises. Human-in-the-loop exercises result in a total reduction of 10-40% of assigned airline delay.
December – A joint airline/ATCSCC exercise is conducted at Metron, Inc in Reston, Virginia to measure the combined effects of improved decision making and the new compression process. Total delay reduction is 10-35% depending upon the airport and scenario.

1995
Spring – CDM “Roles and Responsibilities” are agreed to by the ATCSCC and NAS users and signed by both the development and air traffic entities of the FAA.
Summer – Free Flight Task Force 3 takes place. CDM initiatives are captured in many of the committee’s recommendations, as well as the Free Flight Action Plan

1996
March – The Communications Working Group is established to determine the link over which real time data will be exchanged. A Collaborative Routing Working Group is formed to explore effective means of negotiating flight routes between AOCs and ATC before departure and en route in order to maximize efficiency and safety in the NAS.
October – Major airlines test the CDM concept and applications by using FSM to run “what if” scenarios.

1997
February – The AOCnet designed by Communications Working Group.
July – AOCnet goes operational with 7 airlines.
October – NAS Status Information priorities are established. Data Integration group begins work to place NAS Status data items on AOCnet.

1998
January – Prototype Operations begin. CDM uses San Francisco and Newark airports as test sites. Initial results from airlines show reduced delay up to 48% and significant cost savings.
April – Prototype Operations expand to LaGuardia and St. Louis airports.
September – Prototype Operations expand to all U.S. airports. NASSI Infrastructure is online.

1999
March – CDM Hub Site (Volpe) has new processing hub software and hardware for CDM.
April – CDM holds Open Season Training to bring on many new participants.

2000
June – CDM GDPE moves out of prototype to operational status.

– Collaborative Routing prototype to be developed and initiated
– Collaborative Routing operational testing
– Collaborative Routing data elements needed on AOCnet are identified based on operational testing
– NAS Status safety and efficiency information available on AOCnet to all users
– Collaborative Routing concepts to be implemented

Fall – End of GDPE Protoype Operation, GDPE becomes offically operational.

2001
Spring – Simplified Substitutions Deployed.
Near Real-Tem POET deployed to ATCSCC.

2002
August – Compliance Window reduced to +/- 5-minutes.
Fall – Slot Credit Substitutions (SCS) begins Human in the Loop (HITL) simulations.
NavCanada begins using RT FSA to monitor Canadian GDPs.

2003
Playbook Routes added to RMT.
May – Slot Credit Substitutions becomes operations on May 12.
October – SCS becomes operational

2004
January – WebPOET v1.0 a webbased POET was deployed to users.
July 21- POET v2.2 deployed. New data sources include FCA/FEA, CDR, and Playbook information. Map animation includes the display of dynamic sector bountaries.

November – FSM 7.9 (Java Based FSM) deployed with ECR functionality built in. GAAP and Distance-based GDPs are implemented.
December – DRVSM capabilites introduced in ETMS 7.9 release.

2005
June 6 – New state-of-the-art computers and telecommunications equipment were installed at the ETMS Hub Site and at over 77 FAA field sites. This represents the first steps toward modernizing the TFM system.

June 6 – New TFM tool called Reroute Monitor was deployed to assist traffic managers and dispatchers in identifying flight conformance of air traffic reroutes.