A Systematic Literature Review of the Effect of Increased Automation on the Air Traffic Control Industry

Abstract

As autonomous systems technology becomes more and more powerful and present in almost all aspects of human life, it is aiding in reducing the mental strain on humans that employ its benefits. An increasing area of interest to do so is in the air traffic control industry, where air traffic controllers are put under immense strain as they make split-second decisions and are responsible for the safety of hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals at any given moment. In this study, a systematic literature review of the intertwining topics of air traffic control automation and mental workload will be analyzed using tools such as Web of Science, Harzing’s Publish or Perish, VOSViewer, and MAXQDA. In order to determine the most pertinent papers, a co-citation analysis will be completed. It was found that increased automation in the air traffic control industry has had very positive effects on air traffic controllers. It has greatly reduced the mental strain by allowing an autonomous system to make some of the decisions in the split-second time that one has to do so, allowing the autonomous system and human controllers to work hand-in-hand. Given these positive results, it is likely that the systems developed for air traffic controllers will also be applicable to other high strain work environments that require high pace decision making.