One in, One Out

You’re stuck on the ramp waiting to go, many planes ahead of you, arrivals holding and waiting on departures, departures waiting on arrivals. Whassupwidat?

maclawler

Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Airports with continuous radar service to the surface (e.g., Class B and C) can handle simultaneous IFR arrivals and departures due to precise monitoring and closer aircraft spacing, a capability often lacking at Class D, E, or G airports.
The presence of a control tower enables simultaneous IFR operations at Class D airports, as controllers can provide visual separation and manage unforeseen events, a critical safety element absent at non-towered airports.
Efficiency also depends on whether IFR approaches are managed by dedicated Approach Control (more accurate radar) or En-route Control (Center, requiring greater separation or coordination due to less precise radar).
Advanced radar technologies like WAAS (ADS-B) significantly improve the precision of En-route Control, allowing for closer separation and increasing the capacity for simultaneous IFR operations at equipped Class D airports.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Recently I received a good question about air traffic control procedures regarding approaches and departures. The question is: Why are some airports just one IFR arrival or departure at a time, while others permit a string of intermixed traffic? Well, lend me your ears (eyes) and let me tell you.

Why? Just Why?

The reason this is such an important question is the ability for ATC to permit a string of intermixed traffic obviously makes that airport much more efficient than those airports only permitting one at a time. Conversely, airports that don’t allow that string of intermixed traffic wind up with backlogs of aircraft trying to get in and out of them.