OPSNET Reports: Definitions of Variables

The following definitions define the fields in Operations Network (OPSNET) reports:

• % Change. Percentage of change between comparison and base data. The figure is obtained by dividing the difference between comparison and base numbers by the base number.
• % Operations Delayed. Percentage of delayed operations. Total Delays divided by Total Operations, times 100.
• Aircraft Handled. Indicates whether given facility is an Enroute Center Area (Yes/No).
• Activities (Airport Operations FAA, Airport Operations FTC, TRACON Ops, ARTCC Aircraft Handled, Total). Number of activities per type of activity: Airport Operations at FAA facilities, Airport Operations at Federal Contract Towers, TRACON operations, and ARTCC Aircraft Handled.
• Air Carrier. (AC) Aircraft with seating capacity of more than 60 seats or a maximum payload capacity of more than 18,000 pounds, carrying passengers or cargo for hire or compensation. This includes US and foreign-flagged carriers.
• Air Taxi. (AT) Aircraft designed to have a maximum seating capacity of 60 seats or less or a maximum payload capacity of 18,000 pounds or less, carrying passengers or cargo for hire or compensation.
• Airborne Delays. The number of Airborne Delays that occurred at the selected facilities caused by terminal or enroute constraints. Airborne Delays are a component of System Impact Delays and Occurred at Delays.
• Airborne Destination To Delay (Abrn Dest To Delay). The number of Airborne Delays for aircraft destined to the selected facility.
• Aircraft Handled. Number of operations by aircraft handled by ARTCCs and CERAPs. Data are retrieved by departures and overflights for domestic and oceanic flights.
• Airport Operations. All arrivals and departures at an airport (overflights are not included).
• Airport Operations. Indicates whether given facility reports Airport Operations (Yes/No).
• ARTCC. Operations counted by Air Route Control Center.
• AT MIL. Indicates whether air taxi or military operations take place at the given facility (Yes/No).
• Average Daily Operations. Average number of operations on a given day of the week, weekdays (Mon–Fri), or weekend (Sat–Sun).
• Base. Number of operations occurred in the set of dates selected in the 'Dates' section.
• Center Area. Enroute Center Area for given facility.
• Civil. Operations by all classes of private and commercial takeoffs and landings at FAA and FTC facilities.
• Class. Facility classification code.
• Classification. FAA Facility Classification.
• Comparison. Number of operations occurred in the set of dates selected in the 'Output/Comparison Report' section.
• Delays. In the Day of the Week Report, number of system impact delays (charged to the causal facility) for a given day of the week, weekday, and weekend.
• Delays By Category (Departure, Airborne, TMI). Number of System Impact Delays by category of delay: Departure, Airborne, TMI.
• Delays By Cause (Weather, Volume, Equipment, Runway, Other). Number of System Impact Delays by cause of delay: Weather, Volume, Equipment, Runway, Other.
• Delays By Class (Air Carrier, Air Taxi, General Aviation, Military). Number of System Impact Delays by user class: Air Carrier, Air Taxi, General Aviation, Military.
• Delays Per 1000 Operations. Total number of delayed flights per 1000 flights at selected facilities.
• Delays per 100,000 Activities (Volume, Equipment, Weather, Runway, Other, Volume Plus Equipment). Number of delays by cause per 100,000 activities.
• Departure Delays. Number of departure delays attributed to conditions at the departure airport. A component of System Impact Delays and Occurred at Delays.
• Difference. Difference between comparison and base operations.
• Domestic. Number of enroute IFR departures or overflights that occur over land.
• EDCT (Delays, Minutes, Average). In the Ground Delay report, number of delayed operations, total minutes of delay, and average minutes of delay per operation for flights that were issued an Estimated Departure Clearance Time (EDCT).
• EDCT (Total Delays, Total Minutes, Average Minutes, Weather Delay, Weather Minutes, Average Weather Minutes). In the Ground Stop/EDCT Delays Report, the number of delayed operations, total minutes of delay, average minutes of delay, total number of delays caused by weather, minutes of weather delay, and average minutes of weather delay per operation for flights that were issued an Estimated Departure Clearance Time (EDCT).
• End Date. End date of current record (year and month).
• FAA Form 7230-1. FAA form for reporting airport operations counts.
• FAA Form 7230–14. FAA form for reporting IFR aircraft handled counts.
• FAA Form 7230–26. FAA form for flight assist report.
• FAA Only. Filter options restricting results only to facilities under contract with the FAA.
• FAA Towers. Operations counted by ATCTs providing anywhere from full radar approach control services to low-activity VFR air traffic control services. These towered airports are staffed by FAA air traffic controllers.
• Facility Type. Old and new codes for FAA facility types. These are the OPSNET code per facility types: A - TRACONs, RAPCONs; B - Towers with Radar; C - Limited Radar Towers; D - Towers without Radar; E - VFR Towers; F - Non-FAA Facilities; G - Contract Towers; H - ARTCC (Centers).
• Federal Contract Tower. (FCT) Operations counted by low-activity VFR ATCTs providing air traffic control services for a municipality or subdivision thereof while under contract to the FAA.
• Fiscal Year. Selected time period, beginning on October 1 of previous calendar year and ending on September 30 of the current calendar year.
• General Aviation. (GA) Takeoffs and landings of all civil aircraft, except for air carriers or air taxis.
• Ground Delay Program Minutes At The Selected Facilities (GDP Minutes, Cumulative Total, Daily Average). The number of minutes of delay charged to the facility that is the originating cause of the Ground Delay Program, including cumulative total and daily average. These delays are experienced by aircraft at the departure airport but are charged to the causal facility.
• Ground Stops (Delays, Minutes, Average). In the Ground Delay report, number of delayed operations, total minutes of delay, and average minutes of delay per operation for aircraft included in a ground stop and delayed for 15 or more consecutive minutes.
• Ground Stop (Total Delays, Total Minutes, Average Minutes, Weather Delay, Weather Minutes, Average Weather Minutes). In the Ground Stop/EDCT Delays Report, the number of delayed operations, total minutes of delay, average minutes of delay, total number of delays caused by weather, minutes of weather delay, and average minutes of weather delay per operation for aircraft included in a ground stop and delayed for 15 or more consecutive minutes.
• Ground Stop Minutes At The Selected Facilities (GS Minutes, Cumulative Total, Daily Average). The number of minutes of delay charged to the facility that is the originating cause of a Ground Stop, including cumulative total and daily average. These delays are experienced by aircraft at the departure airport but are charged to the causal facility.
• Hours of Operations. Hours of operations at a given facility.
• IFR. Instrument Flight Rules.
• Instrument Approaches. Indicates whether given facility reports Instrument Approaches (Yes/No).
• Instrument Operations. Indicates whether given facility used to report Instrument Operations. Instrument Operations are no longer used in OPSNET, having being replaced by “TRACON Operations” for Add facilities and “Tower Operations” for Non-add facilities. This field is kept in OPSNET reports for historical purposes.
• Itinerant. Operations performed by an aircraft, either IFR or VFR, that land at an airport arriving from outside the airport area, or depart from an airport and leave the airport area.
• Limited Radar Tower. Operations counted by limited radar towers.
• Local. Operations performed by an aircraft that remain in the local traffic pattern, execute simulated instrument approaches or low passes at the airport, and operations to or from the same airport within a designated practice area within a 20-miles radius of the tower.
• Local Traffic Management Initiative (TMI) From Delays. Delays resulting from a local traffic management initiative requested by the local TRACON or ARTCC as experienced by aircraft departing from the selected facilities. When a departure facility charges OPSNET delays to its associated TRACON or ARTCC, the delays are categorized as Local Departure Delays. Prior to 3/21/2018, delays charged to any TRACON or ARTCC could be categorized as Local TMI From Delays. Data from 1/1/2000 forward have been updated to reflect the revised definition. TMI From Delays are a component of Occurred At Delays.
• Military. (MIL) Operations by all classes of military takeoffs and landings at FAA and FTC facilities.
• Missing Days. Specific days of the month in which OPSNET data were not provided for a given facility.
• Missing Facilities. Facilities for which OPSNET data have not been reported.
• New Level. 1–14.
• Non-Add. Facilities that were previously counted among Instrument Operations. Denomination is no longer used and is kept for historical purposes.
• Non-Local Traffic Management Initiative (TMI) From Delays. Delays resulting from a national traffic management initiative as reported in OPSNET as experienced by aircraft departing from the selected facilities. Such initiatives include departure spacing (DSP), en route spacing (ESP), arrival spacing (ASP), miles-in-trail (MIT), minutes-in-trail (MINIT), Estimated Departure Clearance Time (EDCT), Ground Stops, and Severe Weather Avoidance Plan (SWAP). TMI From Delays are a component of Occurred At Delays.
• Nonradar Tower. Operations counted by tower without radars.
• Not an FAA Facility. Operations counted by non-federal low-activity VFR ATCT providing air traffic control services for a municipality or subdivision thereof which is not under contract to the FAA.
• Oceanic. Enroute IFR or overflights that occur over the ocean. Field may indicate whether oceanic traffic is handled by Enroute Center Area (Yes/No).
• Old Level. 1–5.
• Operations At The Selected Facilities (Operations, Cumulative Total, Daily Average). In the Delays view, indicates total operations count at the selected facilities, including cumulative total and daily average of operations.
• Operations. In the Delays view, indicates facility traffic count, as reported in OPSNET. The traffic count rules determining the number of operations vary by type of facility. For more information on Operations, please see OPSNET).
• Overflights. IFR and VFR operations performed by an aircraft that originates outside the towers' airspace and enters and exits the towers' or TRACON’s airspace without landing. This count also includes helicopter operations that land or depart from an airport non-movement area or from an off-airport location.
• Primary Facility. Facilities that were previously counted among Instrument Operations. Denomination is no longer used and is kept for historical purposes.
• Radar Tower. Operations counted by towers with radars.
• Region. FAA Region.
• Seasonal. Indicates whether given facility operates seasonally.
• Service Area. FAA Service Area.
• Stage III/TCA. Indicates whether facility reported Stage III/TCA. The denominations Stage III/TCA are no longer used in OPSNET, but they are kept in the OPSNET reports for historical purposes.
• Start Date. Begin date of current record (year and month).
• System Impact Delays. Delays assigned to causal facilities in OPSNET, composed of TMI To Delays, Departure Delays, and Airborne Delays. System Impact Delays are also the basis for Delays by Class and Delays by Cause in OPSNET.
• Time (Average). In the Delays view, indicates the total minutes of System Impact Delay for all delayed operations divided by the total number of delayed operations for the selected facilities.
• Total (Delays, Minutes, Average). In the Ground Delay Report, the total number of delayed operations, minutes of delay, and average minutes of delay per delayed operation.
• Total Local Departure Delays. The sum of Departure Delays attributed to conditions at the departure airport and Local TMI From Delays resulting from traffic management initiatives requested by the local TRACON or ARTCC as experienced by aircraft departing from the selected airports.
• Time (Total). In the Delays view, indicates the total minutes of System Impact Delay for all delayed operations for the selected facilities.
• Total Delays For All Facilities (Delays, Cumulative Total, Daily Average). Total number of delayed operations for all facilities, including cumulative total and daily average of delays.
• Total Delays For Selected Airports (Delays, Cumulative Total, Daily Average). Total number of delayed operations for selected airports, including cumulative total and daily average of delays.
• Total Delays For Selected Facilities. (Delays, Cumulative Total, Daily Average).Total number of delayed operations for selected facilities, including cumulative total and daily average of delays.
• Total Delays. The total number of System Impact Delays for selected facilities as reported in OPSNET. Sum of TMI To Delays, Departure Delays, and Airborne Delays.
• Total Occurred At Delays. The total number of delays that occurred at selected facilities as reported in OPSNET. The sum of Departure Delays, Airborne Delays, and TMI From Delays.
• Total Operations For Reporting Airports (Operations, Cumulative Total, Daily Average, Non-Reporting). The total number of operations for all reporting airports for the time period specified, including cumulative total and daily average. The Non-Reporting field is a count of the number of airports that did not provide operations counts.
• Total Operations. Total facility traffic count, as reported in OPSNET. The traffic count rules determining the number of operations vary by type of facility. For more information on Operations, please see OPSNET.
• Total Terminal Operations. Total tower and TRACON operations performed at the facility on a specified date.
• Tower Operations. Number of aircraft worked by the Tower as well as all takeoffs and landings at the airport and including overflights.
• TRACON Operations. Number of aircraft worked by the TRACON as well as takeoffs and landings at the airport and including overflights.
• TRACONS, RAPCONS, CERAPS. Total number of operations performed by TRACONS, RAPCONS, and CERAPS.
• Traffic Management Initiative (TMI) To Delays. Delays resulting from a national or local traffic management initiative as reported in OPSNET and charged to the facility that is the originating cause of the restriction. The facility may be either an airport, TRACON, or ARTCC. Such initiatives include departure spacing (DSP), en route spacing (ESP), arrival spacing (ASP), miles-in-trail (MIT), minutes-in-trail (MINIT), Estimated Departure Clearance Time (EDCT), Ground Stops, and Severe Weather Avoidance Plan (SWAP). These delays may be experienced by aircraft at another facility, but are charged to the causal facility. They are a component of System Impact Delays.
• VFR Tower. Operations counted by tower working under Visual Flight Rules.
• VFR. Visual Flight Rules. VFR access varies according to airspace classification.