Air traffic controllers (ATCOs) are understaffed and Air Navigation Services Providers (ANSPs) have struggled with this for decades. Is this narrative accurate and does it apply everywhere?
Not everywhere all at once
Staffing issues are not the same everywhere. Restrictions resulting from political conflicts and wars impact ANSPs differently. Traffic bans over Russia and Belarus impact Finland, the Baltic countries and Poland differently. The conflict in Iran impacts traffic flows in the region. Turkey sees significantly less traffic while Azerbaijan has to handle more. Conflicts also inevitably cause increased military traffic. The timeline for a return to normal remains unknown and ANSPs must deal with it.
Seasonal traffic variations add another layer of complexity with the number of ATCOs required to operate at full capacity differing throughout the year. Even ANSPs managing continent-sized airspace lack ATCOs in some facilities, while others are overstaffed.
The employment situation also varies across the world, as Trish Gilbert, executive VP at IFATCA explains. “In the Caribbean and in South America, many ATCOs need second jobs to make ends meet. Very often, once they are qualified, they go abroad, leaving the ANSPs that trained them in an even more dire situation.”
One ATCO, one airspace, one workplace
ATCO’s licensing schemes are bound to specific airspaces and controlling another airspace requires extensive retraining. National borders exist in the air and each country has its own ANSP. The dynamic exchange of control over airspaces across multiple centres is not yet a reality.
Solutions and technical tools enabling ATCOs to control any airspace, from anywhere, with minimal retraining are defined and being tested but are still years from implementation. This model also raises sovereignty and defence questions which remain mostly unanswered. Requirements for local language fluency and the social implications of moving abroad also limit international ATCO mobility.
Thinking outside the box
ANSPs trying to attract new ATCOs and engineers face additional difficulties: many air traffic management jobs cannot be done remotely and require working around the clock. In a post-COVID world, this discourages potential candidates, and not only among younger generations. The US FAA and the Dutch ANSP LVNL, amongst others, have realised that gamers make for good ATCO candidates. These young adults possess useful skills that are transferable to a career in air traffic control, like demonstrated high cognitive functions, multitasking, spatial awareness, and strategy and problem-solving.
Civil and military organisations compete for ATCOs, and engineers are sought by ANSPs and system providers alike. For engineers, the long system lifecycles cause another challenge: the tools used in ATM are often outdated and not what new graduates are trained on and attracted to.
A wider focus
Except for the US, Canada and Australia, facilitating transfers of authority at a larger scale will require international cooperation. Airspace fragmentation, with one or more control centres per country, becomes unsustainable in the long term. In a model where airspace can be managed from multiple locations, each country can keep their centres operating while benefiting from better load balancing and resource allocation. This would let each country decide when to delegate their airspace and when not to. This cooperation model differs from what EUROCONTROL has been doing at the upper airspace control centre in Maastricht for over 50 years, where multiple countries share the same infrastructure and personnel living locally.
Technology must become a real enabler
The technical landscape must evolve rapidly. Enabling ATCOs to work different airspaces across borders and shortening the time required to adjust to new regions should be the priorities to supporting ATCO mobility, be it physical or virtual.
Implemented properly, the new software delivery model shortens development cycles and facilitates the evolution towards modern technologies, including reusing infrastructure building blocks. System providers can then focus on core ATM problems and not on secondary aspects that are important but have been solved in other industries already. Artificial intelligence has to find its way in ATM. First in training centres and supporting functions but ultimately also in operations.
SESAR must increase the rhythm of deliveries and the European system of systems should become more homogenous, increasing capacity across Europe and breaking vendor lock-ins. In the US, the Brand New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS) comes with a lot of promises and a very ambitious timeline, and aims at improving performance too. Whether both keep their promises, relieve overloaded ATCOs and help them bear the load remains to be seen.
Demography is the final frontier
The evolution of air traffic demand and the speed of innovation can be surprising and anticipating accurately is difficult. What is certain is the coming wave of retirements. Recruitment and training, improved operational performance, internationalisation and technology are the tools we have as an industry to survive all staffing challenges. If nothing changes, we risk seeing the overload narrative become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
