System Problems in Air Traffic Control

Abstract

Air Traffic Control is part of the process by which aircraft ‘go about their ways’ and thus can fairly be regarded as a branch of navigation. Because of the existence of centralised control organizations, and because much of the total flight time is spent in the vicinity of system ‘hubs’, air traffic interacts with itself in very complex ways. For this reason the traffic as a whole behaves in a manner that could not easily be predicted from an inspection of the system elements. Thus there can be said to be a ‘system’ problem, where by a system is meant, not the specific hardware but the abstract elements which determine the essential overall performance. These abstractions would, for example, be common to a computer simulation of an ATC system and to its real-life counterpart. The present paper will attempt to discuss, at this ‘system’ level of abstraction, the problems facing air traffic control and the principles on which the system design should be based.