User Centred Revision of En-Route Air Traffic Control

Abstract

Contemporary Air Traffic Control has evolved through the incorporation of technical innovations, in the absence of any systematic design. It now incorporates 1930's communication systems and 1990's computer data processing. A preliminary systematic analysis of ‘en route' control suggests a re-allocation of activities to provide a satisfying task for the human controller. Displays (and controls) should be designed for these tasks. This demonstration shows how the controllers' interface can be re-modeled using existing display/control principles to produce a control system with greatly enhanced capacity.