SCENARIOS FOR EVOLUTION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

Over the past two decades, computers have been playing an increasingly important role in Air Traffic Control (ATC) in the United States. Despite this progress, the process of ATC and particularly the decision-making role remain the responsibility of the air traffic controller. He is still responsible for the second-to-second controll of aircraft. Advances in computer hardware and software technology now promise greater automation of the ATC process and a significantly different role for the controller. This automation brings with it the prospect for greater productivity for controllers and more fuel efficient flight. Since the mid-1970s, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been exploring means of achieving these promised benefits. Laboratory simulations have demonstrated that computers can be programmed to generate fuel-efficient, conflict-free flight profiles and the necessary aircraft clearances (i.e. commands) for automatic transmission to pilots. This report describes and compares the critical human-factors problems involved in Automated En Route ATC (AERA) and a particular alternative called Shared Control. The results were generated by applying the somewhat limited existing body of knowledge on human factors in man/computer interactions to future ATC concepts that substantially exceed current experience in terms of task complexity and level of automation. The analysis reported here and the conclusions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of each concept must therefore be presented mainly in qualitative terms.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0833003607
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Prepared for the Federal Aviation Administration
• Corporate Authors:

  RAND Corporation

  1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138
  Santa Monica, CA  United States  90407-2138
• Authors:
  • Wesson, R
  • Solomon, K
  • Steeb, R
  • Thorndyke, P
  • Wescourt, K
• Publication Date: 1981-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 73 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air traffic control; Air traffic controllers; Automatic radio information; Computer programs; Decision making; Evolution; Flight control systems; Productivity; Simulation; Software
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Environment; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00782497
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0833003607
• Report/Paper Numbers: R-2698-FAA
• Contract Numbers: MD903-81-C-0211
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 25 2000 12:00AM