1 Results - Experience of Participating Air Traffic Controller By T. Symmans EUROCONTROL

2 My Background l Air traffic controller l Approach/tower l ACC l National and local examiner l Supervisor/training officer l Other related l Jet/piston flying l Avionics (radar, comms, nav systems) l Phare l PD 2 and PD 3 l Current l Eurocontrol airspace management and navigation unit

3 Caveat l Personal viewpoints l Augmented by canvassing opinions among some other participants l Not solicited or influenced by any organisation participating in PHARE l Not the position of any official body

4 Ease of Understanding the Concept l Increasing traffic demands l Unlikely to be met by existing ATM systems l Need for advanced assistance l Change in controller philosophy l New relationship between air and ground systems

5 Initial Concerns l Safety? l Workload? l Efficiency?

6 PHARE Training l Need l Training supplied/atcos reaction l CBT l One-to-one OJT l Handouts/charts

7 Some ATCO Issues l Safety l Workload l Monitoring l Decision-making time l Track predictability and repeatability l Sequencing efficiency l Awareness of pilots about ATCO planning

8 More ATCO Issues l Education (hearts and minds) l Training in new techniques l Legal aspects l Deskilling/currency l Teamwork l Safety again!!

9 Tools l Easy to understand l Easy to use l Time available for monitoring l Trustworthy

10 Functionalities l System generated advisories l System generated predictions (FPL and/or dynamic) l Arrival managers l Understanding of co-ordination methods and messages

11 Perceived Plusses l Remarkable increase in traffic handling ability l Reduced RTF workload l Planning much easier and relaxed l Profiles more easily accommodated l Increasing 4D proportion means consequent improvement in accommodating non-equipped aircraft l Stripless environment gives more looking at radar time

12 ATCO Concerns l Robustness of system l What happens if system fails? l Uncertainty on who was responsible for and who was actually resolving conflictions l Is solution efficient ? l Ease of understanding conflictions

13 The Future ? l Effectiveness in busy or complex airspace l Computer power requirements l Controller acceptance l Transition to implementation l System responsibility issues l Value of programme to date l Need for further research

14 Some ATCO Comments l It is difficult to imagine, that in the core part of europe, all these flights will appear in your sector from all different directions, at different speeds and descending and already be arranged into an efficient sequence - certainly not in my lifetime!! l I couldnt do this without the computer - I just hope it doesnt hiccup! l It was remarkable to find that, at 45 years of age and having not been an operational ATCO for 5 years, they gave me 2 days training, to carry out 2 peoples jobs at traffic levels which were at one-and-a-half times todays peak, and yet I was only moderately busy!