Viewpoint: ‘Future Thinking’ Should Drive ATC Training

At a March 4 hearing of the U.S. House Aviation Subcommittee focused on U.S. air traffic control (ATC) infrastructure and staffing, legislators and experts debated how to create the safest and most efficient system of air traffic management, including safe and efficient training of controllers.

Legislators across party lines wondered: How can controllers be trained more quickly? Can technology help to fill gaps?

As the former co-chair of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (Canso) Operational Training Task Force and the CEO of UFA, Inc., a developer of air traffic control and airport operations training technology, we have thought deeply about these questions and developed a blueprint for a future of ATC training alongside the development of new technologies.

Here is what legislators and others should know about what works—and what we should focus on for the future.

First, air traffic safety cannot be managed solely by humans or machines. Instead, aircraft safety is protected through layers of defense. Humans play a crucial role, which cannot be duplicated: they act as a backup when machines malfunction, and they provide the combined intuition and analysis to act in emergent situations.

As Gary Klein, author of the classic Sources of Power, noted: “Intuition is when we use our experience, and the patterns we have learned, to rapidly size up situations and know how to respond without going through deliberate analysis. Intuitions depend on the patterns we have acquired. Insight is about gaining new patterns.” 

Humans ensure safety when they act instantly based on nearly imperceptible or unquantifiable signals that anything is new or different.

How do you hone air traffic controllers’ instincts so that they can fulfill this unique position within an evolving system of machines? In many countries, air traffic controllers have been trained through highly realistic simulations using a training design philosophy based on 80% normal traffic. If an experienced controller entered that simulation, he or she would say: “That looks like a Thursday night.” 

Unless controllers know how a normal flow feels, they cannot recognize abnormal. Controllers are also trained in 20% abnormal simulated scenarios, so they are practiced in handling unexpected situations.

But when humans need to be sensitive to anything new in a time of fast-changing technologies, training them to understand current normal vs. abnormal operations is not enough; they must also notice differences in scenarios we cannot foresee. To manage this, ATC training must evolve based on core values:

• Critical Thinking: Controllers must be able to question what their decision support tools tell them, with situational awareness.
• Holistic Training: Controllers must be trained for a full career, hire to retire, so that they can adapt as technologies change.
• Systems Thinking: Controllers must understand how their decisions impact others in the system including pilots, other controllers, and airside drivers.
• Learner Centered: Controllers must develop unshakeable confidence in their instincts, so training must focus first on building individual knowledge, skills, and actions.
• Future Thinking: Controllers and their technology systems must be able to grow more efficient and creative with time. It is also critical to gather data to improve the training itself.

“Future thinking” as a core value, should drive planning for the evolution of ATC training and associated technology. Machine learning is already used in ATC training, in concert with leading-edge simulation and speech recognition. As ATM technology evolves, we believe that controllers should learn how modern technologies are created, to enhance their decision-making by allowing them to better identify normal and abnormal technology outputs and be prepared for new entrants on the horizon.

As the U.S. reviews the current infrastructure and staffing of its ATC system, we urge lawmakers and regulators to focus on solutions informed by the history of air traffic control as well as technological innovations in development. Both tell us that human beings must continue their crucial role in air traffic management and that technology and training must be designed together.

We must upgrade the training that prepares air traffic controllers to understand machines—while maintaining their uniquely human perspective.

Maggie MacGregor is the former co-chair of the Canso Operational Training Task Force and panel member for the development of the international competency framework for air traffic controllers and instructors for the International Civil Aviation Organization.

David Wolff is the CEO of UFA, Inc. He is an expert in educational technology for universities, K-12, special needs, and vocational training.