Definition
A computer modeling tool used by the FAA to estimate aircraft delays at an airport by simulating how arriving and departing traffic interact with runways, taxiways, and gates under varying conditions such as weather, traffic volume, and airport configuration.
Plain English
A computer program that predicts how long airplanes will be held up at a given airport when conditions change. It mimics real airport operations to forecast where bottlenecks will form.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA acronym lists, airport planning material, and discussions of airport capacity or delay studies.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots rarely use ADSIM directly, but its results shape decisions about runway use, airport expansion, and traffic flow programs that affect daily flight delays and routing.
Intuition Check
ADSIM is not equipment installed in the airplane and not an air traffic control instruction. It is a computer simulation used for planning and estimating airport delay.
Example Sentence 1
The FAA used an ADSIM study to evaluate how a new taxiway would reduce arrival delays at the busy hub.
Example Sentence 2
Airport planners ran the airfield delay simulation model before deciding on new taxiway construction.