The FAA needs to lead the ever-changing landscape of NAS traffic management. In keeping with this effort, the FAA needed an updated look at how TFMS is used today by FAA traffic management units, air traffic managers, and aircraft operators and has an envisioned future TFMS state. Complimentary to the TFMS future state, the FAA also wanted a first look at which TFMS components would benefit from migration to a cloud-based platform.
Cavan Solutions developed a TFMS ConUse that identified the As-Is capabilities and shortfalls and a To-Be state for TFMS enhancing user capabilities and NAS efficiency and predictability across the pre-operational, operational, and post-operational time horizons. The ConUse also identified next steps including developing a TFMS Roadmap to achieve the To-Be state and a focused TFMS/TBFM/Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) (3T) integration effort to leverage these interdependent capabilities.
Cavan Solutions assisted the FAA’s NextGen office in conducting stakeholder interviews, building use cases and scenarios, and drawing the lines between how TFMS is used today and how TFMS is envisioned to be used in the future. We also analyzed cloud suitability for the various TFMS system components. The analysis augmented the NextGen cloud framework methodology to provide the FAA with a set of recommendations to support architectural and deployment considerations for cloud technology use by TFMS.
The resulting TFMS ConUse Study and TFMS Cloud Suitability Study gave the FAA detailed information and deep insight into the current and future state of its primary traffic flow management system. The FAA initiated the Future Flow Management effort as a result of our recommendations.