Ground Delay Program

Bad weather often forces the reconfiguration of runways at an airport or mandates the use of IFR arrival and departure procedures, reducing the number of flights per hour that are able to takeoff or land at the affected airport. To accommodate the degraded arrival capacity at the affected airport, the ATCSCC imposes a ground delay program (GDP), which allocates a reduced number of arrival slots to airlines at airports during time periods when demand exceeds capacity. The GDP suite of tools is used to keep congestion at an arrival airport at acceptable levels by issuing ground delays to aircraft before departure, as ground delays are less expensive and safer than in-flight holding delays. The FAA started GDP prototype operations in January 1998 at two airports and expanded the program to all commercial airports in the U.S. within nine months.

Ground Delay Program Enhancements (GDPE) significantly reduced delays due to compression—a process that is run periodically throughout the duration of a GDP. It reduces overall delays by identifying open arrival slots due to flight cancellations or delays and fills in the vacant slots by moving up operating flights that can use those slots. During the first two years of this program, almost 90,000 hours of scheduled delays were avoided due to compression, resulting in cost savings to the airline industry of more than $150 million. GDPE also has improved the flow of air traffic into airports; improved compliance to controlled times of departure; improved data quality and predictability; resulted in equity in delays across carriers; and often avoided the necessity to implement FAA ground delay programs, which can be disruptive to air carrier operations.