Automation and Systems Issues in Air Traffic Control: Blue Sky Concepts

This paper speculates about the evolution of air traffic control over the next fifty years or so, with particular reference to human factors aspects. While current air traffic control practices and known developments within that timescale are not ignored, these speculations do not merely extrapolate beyond them but consider some new factors that could appear in the meantime and influence the future evolution of air traffic control. It is assumed that aviation will remain a very large industry, and that fuel resources will not be a main limiting constraint.