System and method for operating an aircraft in a required time of arrival mode

A method for a system comprising:

• an aircraft configured to operate in a required time of arrival (RTA) mode, wherein the aircraft comprises sensors configured to detect various aspects of the aircraft, and wherein the sensors are further configured to output tail-specific data indicative of the various aspects of the aircraft;
• and
• a control unit including one or more processors configured to:
• determine the tail-specific data for the aircraft from one or more previous flights of the aircraft, and
• adapt one or more RTA parameters for the RTA mode of the aircraft for a current flight that occurs after the one or more previous flights based on the tail-specific data as determined from the one or more previous flights of the aircraft, and weather conditions at different locations along a flight path of the aircraft in the RTA mode,
• wherein the aircraft is operated during the current flight in the RTA mode having the RTA parameters as adapted by the control unit,
• the method comprising:
• adapting, by the control unit, the one or more RTA parameters for the RTA mode of the aircraft based on the tail-specific data for the aircraft, and the weather conditions at the different locations along the flight path of the aircraft in the RTA mode;
• and
• operating the aircraft during the current flight in the RTA mode having the RTA parameters as adapted by the control unit.

An aircraft comprising:

• sensors configured to detect various aspects of the aircraft, and wherein the sensors are further configured to output tail-specific data indicative of the various aspects of the aircraft;
• one or more controls configured to control operation of the aircraft;
• and
• a system for operating the aircraft in a required time of arrival (RTA) mode, the system comprising:
• a control unit including one or more processors configured to:
• determine the tail-specific data for the aircraft from one or more previous flights of the aircraft,
• adapt one or more RTA parameters for the RTA mode of the aircraft for a current flight that occurs after the one or more previous flights based on the tail-specific data as determined from the one or more previous flights of the aircraft, and weather conditions at different locations along a flight path of the aircraft in the RTA mode, wherein the RTA parameter comprises an airspeed and altitude, and wherein the weather conditions include current weather conditions and predicted weather conditions at the different locations along the flight path, and
• assign different weights to different legs of the flight path based on distances of the different legs,
• wherein the aircraft is operated during the current flight in the RTA mode having the RTA parameters as adapted by the control unit.