FedEx Relying on Surface Management System Developed by Metron Aviation to Optimize Operations During Runway Closure

With the closure of runway 9/27 at Memphis International Airport for nine months beginning on March 1, 2009, FedEx relied on the Surface Management System (SMS) developed by Metron Aviation to optimize its surface operations in the face of reduced arrival and departure capacity. SMS gives FedEx powerful decision support features and predictive capabilities that reduce departure delays based on maximizing utilization of available resources. With the current runway closure at Memphis, FedEx used SMS to balance the increased traffic flow over the east and west runways with measurable benefits and reduced delays. On the first night of the runway closure, we depended on SMS predicted queue lengths and taxi times to maximize our runway utilization, said Steve Vail, Senior Manager, FedEx Air Traffic Operations. In fact, we handled the departure push better than expected because we were able to project bottlenecks and make changes proactively. This was not possible before SMS Based on SMS projections, FedEx was able to move flights from the west to the east runway, resulting in reduced delay under normal operations. The benefits to FedEx are expected to be even greater when faced with irregular operations and adverse conditions at Memphis.