Developing human informed automation in air traffic management

Abstract

This paper presents a vision of possible future air traffic management (ATM) automation in European airspace, to show the context in which human centered automation (HCA) must fit and work. An extraction of the HCA design principles that have evolved within aviation, and also other high-technology high-risk fields, is provided. A number of prototype future ATM system development projects are then given to consider the utility and practicality of implementing such HCA design principles, in particular focusing on a tool to aid controllers in their most critical task of aircraft conflict resolution. This leads to the conclusion that an HCA approach can be incorporated into ATM design and development strategies, and that the approach would benefit ATM, helping to protect it from 'automation-assisted failures', while it evolves over the next 10-15 years. However, some elaboration of the HCA concept is needed, to create a more balanced philosophy with system optimization as the primary goal.