Tyler puts a lot of efford into his ATC planning so we enthusiasts and nerds can enjoy a lot of different airports around the world. These airports have to be large enough to handle the amount of traffic. That is why we see a lot of them again and again, which is a good thing. But there are so many airports around the world that can not handle a large amount of traffic but offer an amazing scenery… for example Juliaca, Mahe, Rio Negro ( SKRG ), La Paz, Paro ( which had ATC already, but just once? ) and so many more.
So my idea is, to give Tyler even more flexibility, would a slot system not help? For example, we fly the region of South America, which offers one of the most beautiful sceneries of all, and we have a mix of Major ones like SKBO, SBGR, SECL…and then also smaller ones like SKCL, SKRG,SLCB, MHTG…these would come with slot restriction.
Slot assignment is first come first serve, and a pilot is only allowed to land and take off once. No pattern work. Over the period of 24 hours there should be enough slots for everybody. And if one gets no slot then pilots could trade their slots or exchange them with another airport. Still the rule is: 1 take off and 1 landing.
That also would bring additional realism as the pilot needs to land at his arrival airport at his assigned slot time otherwise he will be denied, means an exact flight planning.
I dont know in which category this belongs but i think its not a feature request, it is just an idea to add some more smaller and challenging airports to the ATC schedule. But of course this also would add a lot more work and as Tyler has also a private life i personally think my idea is nice but not practically.
How does the community think about slots in IF?
I see what you’re getting at, but I think it will be hard to implement and hard for people to follow. Especially the pattern work idea. Patterns are very common all over the world. Also, issues with people missing slots and all that would prove too much to handle.
I would like to see something like that in IF (at least during some periods with a TFR).
It would only be doable if done via a digital Plattform though as no one is capable of handling all the slot requests.
@Lufthansa061:
I would suggest altering the post to fit more properly into the category. Would be very willing to vote if the post is more about why this would be good for IF and less like this part below:
Thanks for taking the time to share your idea though!
I have seen these kind of slots when members here had their events posted …
Also this amount of traffic is not compare able but would not just a lust with times be enough where one puts in his name ? And ATC at the Slot airports will enforce the slots. I think its even no more work for ATC as the traffic flow is plan-able and much more coordinated
I don’t think this will happen only because what about the pilots? If they can’t show up because of something last minute? And what if they are late to the destination? They’re slot will be taken.
IRL is a pilot asked to divert for missing a slot (other than the airport closing)? Wouldn’t that make the ATC responsible for the diversion?
an exact flight planning
How long is a slot time? Simply the way someone fly’s a departure can change the flight time by several minutes (eg. how long before accelerating to 250, whether to accelerate from 250 to 300 gradually or very quickly).
I think long hauls can starve the slots.
I’d rather see a system where there are no slot limits, but pilots can use the slot system to expect delays and therefore prepare fuel for holding/diversion. A pilot would be able to book slot before the flight if he/she wishes to, or simply take off and the game can estimate. This would actually give short hauls the advantage instead.