Reducing air traffic delay in a space-time network

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Abstract
The author describes a formulation of National Airspace System (NAS) traffic management problem as a multicommodity minimum cost flow problem over a network in space-time. It is a formulation of the multidestination delay minimization problem of managing traffic in the NAS. The model's potential for improving over present practice is described in terms of six assumptions of present practice. The space-time network model can address uncertainty in capacity values, restrictive airways capacities, and hubbing. The minimum cost flow formulation further assumes that attempted entries into the system are deterministic, not Poisson, and that actual entries are controllable. The formulation specifically allows dynamic capacities and possesses good potential for short execution time.