Definition
An FAA air traffic management system that sequences and meters aircraft using calculated arrival or crossing times rather than mileage spacing. TBFM assigns each aircraft a scheduled time to cross a specific point — typically a meter fix near a busy arrival airport — and air traffic controllers issue speed adjustments, vectors, or path stretching to make the aircraft arrive at that point on time. This produces an orderly, evenly spaced stream of traffic into congested airspace.
Plain English
A traffic flow tool that gives each aircraft a target time to reach a certain point, and controllers adjust the aircraft's speed and route so it arrives at that point exactly on schedule. Instead of spacing planes by distance, this system spaces them by time.
Context Anchor
Seen in traffic-flow discussions, arrival planning, and air traffic control operations when many aircraft are moving toward the same airport or area.
Derivation
The name describes the method: managing the flow of traffic by assigning times rather than distances. "Meter" comes from the Greek metron, meaning "measure" — here, measuring traffic by the clock instead of the mile.
Why Pilots Care
It reduces unnecessary holding and vectoring, leading to more predictable arrival times and better use of airport capacity.
Intuition Check
Do not read “flow” as fuel, air, or fluid flow here. In TBFM, “flow” means the movement of aircraft through the air traffic system, managed by planned times.
Example Sentence 1
Approaching the meter fix, ATC assigned us a speed of 280 knots to meet our TBFM crossing time.
Example Sentence 2
TBFM allowed the facility to land more aircraft per hour by tightening the arrival schedule without extra spacing.