Abstract
Air traffic complexity is one of the main drivers of the air traffic controllers’ workload. With the forecasted increase of air traffic, the impact of complexity on the controllers' workload will be even more pronounced in the coming years. The existing models and methods for determining air traffic complexity have drawbacks and issues which are still an unsolved challenge. In this paper, an overview is given of the most relevant literature on air traffic complexity and improvements that can be done in this field. The existing issues have been tackled and new solutions have been given on how to improve the determination of air traffic complexity. A preliminary communication is given on the future development of a novel method for determining air traffic complexity with the aim of designing a new air traffic complexity model based on air traffic controller tasks. The novel method uses new solutions, such as air traffic controller tasks defined on pre-conflict resolution parameters, experiment design, static images of traffic situations and generic airspace to improve the existing air traffic complexity models.
Highlights
The growth in traffic demand is a driver of air traffic development but it could lead to negative consequences such as airspace congestion, flight delays, high traffic density, flight inefficiency due to excessively long routes, increased fuel consumption, and increased flight costs and environmental impact
A preliminary communication is given on the future development of a novel method for determining air traffic complexity with the aim of designing a new air traffic complexity model based on air traffic controller tasks
The novel method uses new solutions, such as air traffic controller tasks defined on pre-conflict resolution parameters, experiment design, static images of traffic situations and generic airspace to improve the existing air traffic complexity models
Summary
The growth in traffic demand is a driver of air traffic development but it could lead to negative consequences such as airspace congestion, flight delays, high traffic density, flight inefficiency due to excessively long routes, increased fuel consumption, and increased flight costs and environmental impact. According to the EUROCONTROL medium-term forecast, it is estimated that the growth of IFR traffic will continue in the following years to the year 2025 with the average annual growth of 2.0% [3] In such conditions, more complex air traffic situations occur which may impede the provision of air traffic control service, in particular, specific air traffic controller tasks. Based on previous research findings, we identified the shortcomings on the existing models, presented a novel method for determining air traffic complexity and proposed a new model that should surpass the flaws that are still present in this field of research
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