Chapter 9. Facility Statistical Data,
Reports, and Forms
Section
1. Operational Count Data
9-1-1. IFR
AIRCRAFT HANDLED
The IFR
Aircraft Handled count is the statistic maintained by ARTCCs.
The statistic is used to fulfill a variety of management
planning and administrative requirements, but one of the
primary requirements is that of determining controller grade
level. As such, it reflects the factors of knowledge and
skills required by and the responsibility involved with the
type of service being provided. Not every service provided
will qualify for an operational count, but those which do are
considered typical of the total facility responsibility.
9-1-2. CATEGORIES OF OPERATIONS
Maintain data on the following categories of aircraft
operations:
a. Air
Carrier: Operations by aircraft identified in Appendix 3, Air
Carrier Aircraft for Air Traffic Activity Operations Count,
which use three letter company designators.
b. Air
Taxi: Operations by aircraft other than those identified in
Appendix 3 which use three letter company designators or the
prefix “TANGO.”
NOTE-
Air Taxi operators who do not have a FAA-issued designator
have been authorized to use the prefix “TANGO.”
c. Military:
All classes of military operations.
d. General
Aviation: Civil operations which are not classified under
air carrier or air taxi.
9-1-3. CRITERIA FOR
IFR AIRCRAFT HANDLED COUNT
a. Basic
Criteria: ARTCCs must maintain a count of IFR Aircraft
Handled which meet both the following criteria:
1. The
aircraft must be:
(a) On
an IFR flight plan or a Special VFR clearance; or
(b) Provided
approved standard separation while conducting practice
instrument approaches; and
2. The
facility must have control jurisdiction over the aircraft.
Radio communication while doing this is not a requirement for
an allowable IFR Aircraft Handled count.
b. By
Operation Type: IFR Aircraft Handled is broken down as
Domestic aircraft handled and Oceanic operations. The Domestic
count is further subdivided into Departure operations, Arrival
operations, and Over operations. Presently, the counting of
Arrivals is only an option which may be exercised by ARTCCs
using a computer counting routine. Count those operations
which qualify under the following guidelines:
1. Domestic
Departures: Record one departure for each:
(a) IFR
flight which originates in an ARTCCs area and enters that
center's airspace. (ARTCCs must not count Departures which
operate solely under tower en route control nor any other
aircraft which never enters the center's airspace.)
(b) Airborne
aircraft changing from VFR to IFR except those covered in
subpara b3(b).
(c) VFR departure
from a Class D or Class E surface area when cleared by the
ARTCC in accordance with Special VFR procedures.
(d) IFR
flight plan extension (alternate or new destination, or
proceeding to original destination after completing practice
penetrations or low approaches en route) made after the
aircraft has been cleared for an approach by the center or
after jurisdiction has been received by approach control.
2. Domestic
Arrivals: Record one Arrival for each:
NOTE-
ARTCCs using a computer counting routine may elect to count
both Departures and Arrivals in lieu of counting only the
Departures and multiplying by two. The purpose of this option
is to provide sufficient flexibility in the counting
procedures to be compatible with efficient computer
utilization. When using this option, no change is made to the
Departure and Over operations procedures except as noted here.
(a) IFR flight terminating at an
airport within the ARTCCs area.
(b) VFR
entry into a Class D or Class E airspace when cleared by the
ARTCC in accordance with SVFR procedures in lieu of the
Departure count of subpara b1(c).
(c) VFR
aircraft that conducts a practice instrument approach
procedure and is provided IFR separation by the ARTCC when it
is providing approach control service in lieu of the Over
count in subpara b3(e).
3. Domestic
Overs: Record one Over count for each:
(a) IFR
flight not previously counted which proceeds from outside an
ARTCC's advisory area and passes through the area without
landing.
NOTE-
Such count is not taken for en route flights traversing
approach control airspace.
(b) Military
Training Route (MTR) operations as follows:
(1) IR
(IFR MTRs).
[a] Each
entry/reentry at an entry or alternate entry point.
[b] Each
recovery to IFR en route phase of flight after completing the
IR.
(2) VR
(VFR MTRs). No count is authorized for the VR route itself as
it is a VFR maneuver. Flight to and from a VR is normally
conducted on an IFR flight plan. When the aircraft completing
the VR requests IFR en route service:
[a] Record
an Over count, as in subpara b3(c)
below, for the recovery into ARTCC airspace for an IFR leg of
a composite flight plan.
[b] Record
a Departure count under subpara b1(b)
above for the recovery into center airspace when the aircraft
has not previously filed an IFR flight plan and is now
requesting IFR service.
(c) Military
aircraft recovering from a block of assigned airspace into the
ARTCC's area. Only the ARTCC into whose area the aircraft
recovers and which provides IFR en route service to that
aircraft must take this count.
NOTE-
Block of Assigned Airspace is airspace of defined
vertical/lateral limits, assigned by ATC for the purpose of
allowing the military to control and operate during specified
periods within these areas without interference from other IFR
aircraft. Such airspace includes special use airspace, ATCAAs,
MOAs, and Refueling Tracks, but does not include activities,
such as expanded route widths, course deviations, or random
altitude blocks.
(d) Civilian
aircraft which recover from a block of assigned airspace,
similar to the military count above, provided the block fits
the definition and its use is covered by a LOA.
(e) VFR aircraft
that conducts a practice instrument approach procedure and is
provided IFR separation by the ARTCC.
4. Oceanic
Operations: Facilities having oceanic airspace may record
one Oceanic operation count for each:
NOTE-
Oceanic operations are not categorized as Departures,
Arrivals, and Overs.
(a) IFR
flight which penetrates an oceanic ARTCC's area. This count is
independent of the Domestic count to be taken.
(1) Only
one Domestic and one Oceanic count is normally accrued by a
flight transiting domestic and oceanic areas. If the aircraft
exits the FIR and then subsequently reenters, or exits ARTCC
airspace to another ARTCC and then reenters, additional counts
may be taken.
(2) ARTCCs
must not take more than one Domestic count, even though the
aircraft exits an ARTCC's domestic area, crosses the same
ARTCC's oceanic area, and again enters the domestic area.
(3) An
Oceanic count must not be taken for each hour an aircraft is
operating “on station.”
(b) IFR
flight which originates in an ARTCC's oceanic airspace.
9-1-4. MILITARY AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS
The
military services frequently fly several aircraft in formation
receiving ATC services as if they were a single unit. Such
operations must qualify for a Departure, Arrival, or Over
count using the guidelines in para 9-1-3, Criteria for
IFR Aircraft Handled Count. Count such military aircraft
movements as follows:
a. Consider flights of more than one
aircraft operating in a formation and handled as a single
aircraft as a single unit, however, if the formation breaks up
into smaller formations, take another count for each
individual formation or individual flight.
b. Consider
as a military mission any operation involving two or more
military aircraft flying over routes which require
coordination to reserve an altitude or a block of altitudes
and count the entire mission as one flight.
NOTE-
“Military Mission” refers to an “altitude reservation” that is
approved by CARF or by the ARTCC when the operation is not
covered in a letter of agreement.
c. Take
a separate operations count for each aircraft in a military
mission when:
1. Radar
service is provided to individual aircraft (or flights).
2. Aircraft
operating outside areas of radar coverage have at least 15
minutes separation.
9-1-5. USE OF AUTOMATED COUNTS
ARTCCs
may elect to use a computer counting routine or a combination
of manual and automated counting procedures. For example, a
computer count may be used for typical airline Departures and
Overs, while the more unique military Overs are added in
manually. The accuracy of computer counts must be verified
periodically to be within plus/minus 3 percent of the actual
traffic count.
9-1-6. FAA FORM 7230-14, ARTCC OPERATIONS DAILY SUMMARY
The FAA
Form 7230-14 is a monthly form which must be used by ARTCCs
and CERAPs for reporting their daily and monthly operational
traffic counts. The front side of the form is for Domestic
operations and VFR advisory count. This side will meet the
normal requirements of most facilities. The back of the form
is for Oceanic operations and must be filled out by those
facilities having oceanic airspace. In addition, the areas
might be used by any or all facilities. Any time the back of
the form is used, the facility must fill in the month and the
year blocks and the facility's location identifier. This
provision ensures proper identification in the case of
multiple copies. Forms forwarded as the official facility
traffic count must be neat and readable as each column will be
keypunched for computer processing and storage.
9-1-7. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING FAA FORM 7230-14
a. FRONT
SIDE: Enter the facility's name and location. Use two digits
each for the month and the year (March 2004 would be 03, 04),
and fill in the facility's three-letter identifier.
1. Domestic
Operations: Each day record by category the count for
Departures, Arrivals, and Overs. These columns are added
across to get the “Domestic Aircraft Handled” column. Those
facilities not using an arrival count must leave those columns
blank, enter the actual number of departures in the departure
column, and reflect departures multiplied by 2 plus overs in
the “Domestic Aircraft Handled” column. Safety and Operations
Support does not keypunch the “Domestic Aircraft Handled”
column. Rather, it uses a computer routine to add the
individual entries, and that column is provided only for the
convenience of the facilities and the Service Area office. At
the bottom of the form, a row marked “TOTAL” is for the
monthly total of each column. Below that row, and at the very
bottom, is a row marked “1,” which may be used any way the
facility desires to use it.
2. VFR
Advisories: The far right-hand column is for the VFR
Advisories count. The count is used in various studies of
expanded ARTCC service and is required of all facilities.
b. REVERSE
SIDE: Facilities which are required to use the back
side for any reason must repeat the entries for the month, the
year, and the facility location identifier.
1. Oceanic
Operations: The primary use of the back of the form is for
Oceanic operations. If a facility has oceanic airspace,
Oceanic operations must be filled in each day by category. If
a category has no Oceanic operations for a day, leave it
blank, do not use a zero. These columns are added across to
get the “TOTAL” Oceanic operations column. At the bottom of
the form, a row marked “TOTAL” is for the monthly total of
each column.
2. Grand
Total: For the convenience of the facility (it is not
keypunched), this column provides space to add the Domestic
total to the Oceanic total to get a grand total for the day.
The form is designed to be folded so that the three columns
are side by side and folding instructions are printed on the
form.
3. Special Use: Routinely
these columns are not used, but are provided for the
occasional special project which may be directed by Washington
or En Route and Oceanic Operations Area offices offices.
4. Remarks:
The remarks column may be used at any time to enter pertinent
remarks concerning other portions of the form.
9-1-8. DISTRIBUTION AND AMENDMENT
a. Distribute
FAA Form 7230-14 as follows (it may be combined in one
envelope with the other monthly forms):
1. The
original and one copy to the Service Area office not later
than the 2nd workday (Monday-Friday) of the following month.
2. One
copy to the facility's files.
b. Correct
any errors in the forms sent in last month by completing a new
form, circling the revised fields, and marking the form
“AMENDED COPY.” Amended copies of forms more than 1 month old
will not be accepted unless approval has been obtained from
Acquisition and Business Services, ATO Information Technology,
Data Services by the En Route and Oceanic Operations Area
Office. Send amended copies along with the current reporting
month's forms to the En Route and Oceanic Operations Area
Office. |