Analysis of New Proposed Air Traffic Control Alerts in the NextGen Midterm

Abstract

In an effort to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS) the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has introduced the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The introduction of new systems and procedures as described in NextGen offers the potential for significant changes to the daily activities of air traffic controllers. Along with the many proposed NextGen capabilities and improvements comes the need for new controller alerts and notifications. This research presents fourteen potential new alerts directly or indirectly proposed by literature describing NextGen midterm operations. Each new alert along with the potential positive and negative implications of providing the controller with the alert is discussed. This high-level survey of alerts should serve to inform researchers and system designers as they develop research and design requirements.

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