ATC slot (CTOT) tolerance windows
 

In Europe the CTOT has a 'window' of -5/+10. I have heard there is a possibility this could change.

In other parts of the world what are the slot tolerance 'windows' used by ATC? Are these achievable?

EastofKoksy,
I don't know about the present, but I'm sure around the late 1980s/early'90s the slot tolerance at EGCC was much less, -2/+5 seems to stick in my mind for some reason. Bear in mind this was in the days when much of the flow control was worked out by pen-and-paper and numerous telephone calls, before today's computer-wizardry. 'Clearance Expiry Times' were also quite common.
I gave up aerodrome control in 1996, but when -5/+10 was introduced, it did seem quite generous.

There are some trials across Europe of -3/+7 approaching.

DXB is -2/+2, and yes that makes things as interesting as you would imagine.

The original goal was +/- 2.

-5/+10 is bad enough.

Now they are at it again ? -3/+7 is impossible for many non airline operations.

Later this year (October?) they are going to remove our little get out clause of phoning Flow for a five min slot extension. Crews and handling agents will need to up their game.

How does the U.S. manage without all this slot time nonsense?

GF

They don't. http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp

There's a lot of green dots on that map so delays of less than 15 minutes.

Flow control in the US and Canada is for the most part dynamic. Certain airports and routes are flowed and ATC requests a time on taxy and for the most part delays are minimal even going to the bust airports.

When an airport experiences a reduction in capacity for weather or construction, then Ground Delay Programs are implemented with a target arrival rate. This is more like how Europe operates. Times are known in advance and delays can be late notice and extensive, especially for late filers or GA that operate outside a normal schedule.

The Ground Stop happens when a temporary reduction in capacity has led to backlogs of airborne inventory and further traffic from close by locations is stopped to facilitate a clearing of the backlog.

Our tolerances are +/-3 except destination ORD which is -3/0.