Air Traffic Controller and Management Attitudes Toward Automation: An Empirical Investigation

In the context of EUROCONTROL’s Conflict Resolution Assistant (CORA) project, a systematic assessment was made of ATC management and controller attitudes and beliefs, especially as they relate to potential future forms of automation. This was carried out through a series of seven site visits to ATC centres around western Europe. Focus groups and surveys were conducted at each site. Participants included both active controllers, and ATC managers. Quantitative and qualitative analysis was conducted, with an eye toward evaluating a set of fourteen research hypotheses. Finally, a qualitative descriptive model was constructed to help explain the factors influencing controller automation acceptance. Results challenge several of the commonly held notions about air traffic controller attitudes-as well as the factors (e.g., age) underlying such attitudes-and offer important lessons for those involved in ATM systems development.