Expected teamwork attributes between human operator and automation in air traffic control

Abstract

To meet the increasing demands within the air traffic control (ATC) industry, automation is seen as one solution to increase efficiency, safety, and capacity. In ATC, teamwork between air traffic controllers (ATCO) is a key component to safely direct the aircraft. With increasing automation, the human-automation teamwork will become even more important to keep the human operator in the loop and contribute to the operator’s involvement in decision-making. However, operators can be cautious to new automation due to experience has taught them to be cautious and the willingness to accept automation can relate to the purpose of the automation. Therefore, this study presents how ATCOs want to work with an automated tool in the future, what qualities the automation should have, and what the human should be able to do when working with an automated system. Through an online questionnaire, 113 operational ATCOs answered questions about ATCOs’ experiences and expectations of current and future ATM systems, as well as teamwork between the ATCO and automated systems. For this paper, the teamwork aspects of the questionnaire are presented and discussed. The ATCOs believed that they should be able to trust the automation, know the reasoning behind the automation’s suggestions and decisions, and be able to always take control of the situation from the automation. The results will be used in early development processes of automation, in both the ATM domain but also in other control domains, that faces similar challenges.

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