Continental Airlines, the 5th largest airline in the United States, manages thousands of take-offs and landings every day of the year. The company’s headquarters is located in Houston with hub airports in that city as well as in Newark and Cleveland. Aside from labor costs, an airline’s biggest expense is fuel. In recent months, as fuel costs have skyrocketed, the efficient scheduling and management of every aircraft has taken on increased importance because of the major impact to the airline’s bottom line. Continental has an excellent track record and takes considerable pride in actively seeking out and utilizing the newest and most advanced technologies.
The Challenge
Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport handles about 800 Continental Airlines daily arrivals and departures and is the company’s secondlargest hub. In 2004, the company completed construction of the Newark Operations Coordination Center (NOCC) to manage aircraft movement from runway to gate, all gate operations performed on the planes, and the return to the runway for departure. Recently, Continental’s operations have outgrown the capacity at Terminal C. The airline projects reaching 120 take-offs and landings per day at Terminal A, a distant terminal out of line-of-site control for the Terminal C NOCC. Continental must rely on other, competing airlines with direct oversight of Terminal A operations to manage their aircraft. Continental has little direct control or operations predictability, and unforeseen problems and increased costs are an ever-present risk. Continental faces the cost of building a second Control Center to keep up with its growing Terminal A operations and maintain efficient aircraft management.
The Solution
Continental chose the DVTel Network Video Management System (NVMS) and the company’s newest software solution, SceneTracker, to provide its Terminal C Coordination Center with the capabilities to more effectively manage the movement and servicing of hundreds of aircraft from runway to gate and back again. SceneTracker, powered by revolutionary Advanced Visualization Technology (AVT) provides a real-world, real-time perspective of multiple camera images in a single integrated view. After a few short months deployment, management decided to examine extending SceneTracker deployment to Terminal A. Such a deployment can create a “virtual tower” that would enable NOCC staff in Terminal C to control aircraft without any direct line of sight.
The Highlights
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Russell Rego, Continental Hub Operations Coordinator, “Using SceneTracker technology, we can see 10 gates on a single screen that unifies five camera views into a 200 degree view around the terminal. Before, multiple operators would monitor 10 aircraft on five different screens. Now, one operator sees one unified view of all 10 planes.” - With one staff member able to control 10 cameras, staff productivity increases tremendously. By one estimate, improved labor costs alone could equal more than $1.7 million per year in savings over a traditional CCTV surveillance system with limited views and control.
- Prior to deploying SceneTracker, NOCC users relied on PTZ cameras to pan within limited fields of view. This created two major problems: potential missed activity and conflict over control of the few PTZ views. With SceneTracker, any number of users, located anywhere, can navigate and zoom within the unified view—completely independent of each other. Such functionality minimizes department conflict and greatly increases potential users.
- Independent access and control with unlimited users enables Houston HQ personnel to potentially view improved, unified views at any of the three airports. Now, Houston can access separate remote views of the hub airports, but such perspe ctives did not offer adequate understanding of on the ground reality. The SceneTracker perspective allows the remote viewer to both see and understand.
- Operations personnel have long suffered from blind spots for line of sight and camera coverage. Blind spots can be eliminated by locating cameras atop the gates to provide new up close views superior to control tower views. Blind spot views can be put in a separate tile within the unified view. Such new views offer operators access to what previously could not be viewed and provide new, better views for inclement conditions such as fog and snow.
- Stitched images can created for any unified view the airline wants. If cameras cover the area, then that view can be integrated into a larger perspective. Because the system is modular, new views can be created as cameras are added and/or moved. For example, cameras that had sat unused can now be easily and effectively reconnected to enhance coverage and ensure that such past investment is not wasted.
- The Continental management “vision” is to centralize all activities. With DVTel and SceneTracker, it will be possible to control Houston, Cleveland, and Newark all from one control center in Houston. With such a system, all the best technology and the best people can be located in one, unified operation.
- For an airline, efficient management of aircraft in and out of the gates significantly impacts profitability, particularly given the high cost of jet fuel. SceneTracker’s unique and powerful viewing perspective will help avoid cascading operations problems by creating greater efficiencies in managing aircraft movement. Such improvements can enhance Continental’s competitive advantage in an extremely competitive market.
- Rego sees even more advantages, “We anticipate an even greater impact in terms of cost savings if we can use SceneTracker technology to create a ‘virtual tower’ control capability for our expanding operations at Terminal A within our current Terminal C control center.” A second control tower would cost 14 million dollars and take years to construct.
What’s remarkable about the Newark installation is how it demonstrates the power of the DVTel NVMS and SceneTracker to bring superior operational and ROI performance for a non-security application. It’s clear that SceneTracker has enormous potential to improve security and response, but the non-security applications such as management and operations applications are equally promising.
