Objective and Subjective Workload of Remote and Physical Tower Controllers.

Introduction: The remote tower system is a new mode of air traffic control operation that solves many prominent problems in civil aviation operations. The most important concern is the safety of the remote tower. Therefore, to effectively evaluate the safety of remote tower system operations, this paper discusses and analyzes the workload of controllers in remote towers from the perspective of human factors.

Methods: Front-line controllers were selected as subjects to conduct control command under two control modes, traditional physical and remote tower. Heart rate variability and NASA-Task Load Index data were obtained from controllers and analyzed.

Results: The results showed that there were no significant differences in standard deviation of NN intervals (SDNN), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) between adjacent NN intervals, percentage of successive RR intervals that differ by more than 50 ms (PNN50) indexes, and NASA-Task Load Index data between the two control modes. The SDNN index had a significant positive correlation with the RMSSD index. There was a significant positive correlation between the SDNN index and the PNN50 index. The RMSSD index was positively correlated with the PNN50 index.

Discussion: Compared with traditional physical tower control, controllers in this study had no extra workload increase when carrying out remote tower control. Based on the analysis of objective heart rate variability indexes and subjective workload estimates of controllers in this study, it can be preliminarily judged that the operational safety of remote towers appears to be comparable to that of traditional physical towers. Shen H, An Z, Lu T, Wang Y, Li W-C. Objective and subjective workload of remote and physical tower controllers. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2025; 96(6):485-489.