Again, the report is too simplistic.
Under the procedures in force at the beginning of the trial, the objective of TEAM was to reduce inbound delay to the detriment of outbound delay in order to equalise them.
Half way through the Ops freedoms trials, the airlines approached the airport authority to discuss this. They believed that they would rather take the hit on inbound delay if it helped outbound punctuality, especially on the first rotation, so it was a change in priorities. TEAM was not to be used if there was any outbound delay.
The airlines have now re-assessed and it looks like it's going back the other way again.
The problem is that the timescales involved in TEAM are slightly too long to be called 'tactical'. Current thinking is that it's poor form for radar to give a runway change once off the stack, and depending on the runway config the TEAM runway may only be set up for RNAV or LOC/DME approaches, so radar offer the TEAM runway before. The aircraft gets to the stack. Also, we obviously try to TEAM the last heavy in a sequence or the first medium after a heavy, so there might not be one of those offering soon. This means you're talking 30 minutes or more before the first TEAM aircraft lands, once it is decided to TEAM. To judge what the holding point delay and start delay will be 30 to 40 minutes away is still mostly a guess!
Last edited by Gonzo; 27th Oct 2013 at 11:52.