Multi-stakeholder Optimized Arrival Management with the Target Time Management System (TTMS): Operational Evidence from a Live Trial at Zurich Airport

We report the first multi-stakeholder, live test of the Target Time Management System (TTMS) for arrival sequencing under Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) regulations. TTMS integrates airline, airport, and air navigation service provider (ANSP) priorities by transforming airline cost functions into privacy-preserving weight maps and optimizing a single Target Time of Arrival (TTA) sequence per regulation. In an eight-week trial at Zurich Airport (51 regulations; 3,372 flights, including 2,078 operated by SWISS), TTMS improved SWISS arrival punctuality by 20.2% (+234 on-time flights) and reduced heavy delays (30+ minutes) by 23.5% (–103), while total allocated delay stayed within a band around a Computer-Assisted Slot Allocation (CASA) baseline. Airport-wide, total delay minutes fell by 11% and missed connections by 14%; for SWISS, missed connections decreased by 33.3% and critical connections by 19.8%. Equity analysis found no systematic disadvantage for non-participating airlines (Theil index T = 0.03072). We outline operational limitations (low declared rates, short lead times, current Most Penalizing Regulation handling) and the next phases (Q4 2025 extended trial; 2026 year-long evaluation) toward a scalable European rollout.