A training model based on clusters of similar sectors and airports is needed to make the training, licensing, and certification of air traffic controllers more flexible. However, to avoid increasing workload and compromising safety, dedicated support tools are essential – this is exactly what the IFAV3 project is addressing.
Remote Towers: the Training Challenge for Controllers
Among the most recent innovations in the aviation world are Remote Towers. These allow take-off and landing operations at low-medium-traffic airports to be managed remotely: air traffic controllers are no longer physically located in the airport but instead manage flights from a remote tower tower, using high-resolution video feeds from cameras installed on-site.
“A set of cameras and highly automated systems provides visual (and in some cases auditory) support to help maintain controllers’ situational awareness, as they no longer see aircraft directly through the tower windows,” explains Michela Terenzi, Cognitive Psychologist and Head of the Human Factors Applied Area at Deep Blue. “The benefits are mainly economic, with a significant reduction in infrastructure-related costs. Additionally, service provision at low- and medium-traffic airports becomes more flexible,” she continues.
Currently, each air traffic controller operating in a Remote Tower is responsible for managing a single airport. “However, the same controller may be assigned to manage another airport during a different shift or time window, according to the opening hours”, says Anna Giulia Vicario, Human Factors and Safety Psychologist and Senior Consultant at Deep Blue. “In order to operate at a specific airport, though, each controller must obtain a specific endorsement for that location, just as in conventional towers”. The problem is that this kind of specialized qualification usually requires a long period of on-the-job training, which can last several months for each airport and is a mandatory prerequisite for obtaining the operational certification.
“Given the time required to obtain each endorsement, controllers generally maintain a limited number of active qualifications at the same time, usually up to three”, Vicario continues. “Although this is a well-established model, it significantly limits operational flexibility and increases training costs, which in turn impact the overall effectiveness of Remote Tower technology”. It would be different if Remote Tower controllers received training and endorsement for a group of airports with similar characteristics for a group of airports with similar features. “This would ensure greater flexibility – but it’s not that simple,” warns Terenzi. “It’s not just a matter of changing a regulation; controllers should be supported through the operational transition”.
The IFAV3 Project: Airspace Sectors and Remote Towers
This is precisely the goal of IFAV3 (Increased Flexibility of ATCO Validations), a European project funded under the SESAR programme for modernising air traffic management in Europe. The research consortium – of which Deep Blue is a member – is developing tools and procedural adjustments, such as standardising and simplifying procedures across different airports, that will allow for the ‘shortening’ of On-the-Job Training and support a more flexible controller allocation. Initially in Remote Control Towers and, in the future, in a Multiple Towers Center. The IFAV3 project is continuing the research path started in 2016 by IFAV, the first edition of the project, which was exclusively focused on sectors controllers.
“The concept is essentially the same: instead of training controllers for a single sector – which requires continuous training, leading to a shortage of operational resources – it would be more efficient in terms of both time and cost, to group sectors with similar characteristics into a single cluster requiring only one type of endorsement”, explains Vicario.
“It’s a process of streamlining, a balancing of resources and costs. A controller trained with a certain set of skills can be deployed across multiple sectors more frequently and flexibly, as when, due to high air traffic demands, it becomes necessary to open multiple sectors,” adds Alfonso Levantesi, Psychologist and Consultant at Deep Blue. “This approach makes the entire system more dynamic and better equipped to handle complexity”.
Supporting Controllers Through Enabling Solutions
As part of the IFAV3 project focused on Remote Towers, several types of technical and procedural enablers have been defined. The technical enablers aim to reduce the specific knowledge required for operating at a given airport. – These include, for example, tools for briefing, enhanced information displays, and automated advisory systems. “One of these is the Coordination Support Tool, designed to facilitate coordination with airport stakeholders as well as with adjacent ATC (Air Traffic Control) Units,” explains Terenzi. “Another is the Aerodrome Info Display, created to support the handover phase and provide controllers with all the relevant information to operate an airport at the beginning of their shift”.
Procedural enablers, on the other hand, aim to ensure, as much as possible, the standardization and simplification of certain aspects of On-the-Job Training, converting it from being specific to a particular aerodrome into something applicable to a cluster of aerodromes.
“This would allow controllers to acquire the necessary skills for all the airports they’re qualified to operate at through a single training program,” adds Levantesi. “For example, the enabler “Standard Roles and Aerodrome Services Callsigns” defines a standard framework of roles and tasks, aligning local procedures and ground communications directly with these roles, rather than with specific local units or individuals. ”.
The solutions developed for sector controllers, already introduced in the first project edition, are more mature and geared towards quicker deployment. Pre-operational versions are already available and will be tested in a simulated environment. Feedback from these simulations – collected via interviews and standardised questionnaires – will help to assess elements such as the effectiveness of automation support, controllers’ situational awareness in the new operational environment, usability of the tools, and more.
The implementation of this concept in the Remote Towers environment, however, is still in its early stages. Starting in April, workshops will be held to consolidate the concept and present the enabler prototypes.
“During this phase, we’ll use questionnaires to explore various aspects such as cost-benefit analysis, environmental impact, safety, and human performance, to collect feedback that can help improve these tools,” concludes Vicario. “And Deep Blue will be leading this process”.
Source: deepblue
