Analysis of the performance characteristics of controllers' strategies in en route air traffic control tasks

For addressing human factor issues in the air traffic control (ATC) domain, further comprehension of controllers' working methods during actual work is required. The objective of the present research is to analyze the performance characteristics of control strategies, which can be a major means to manage a traffic situation and workload for controllers, by using our process visualization tool of ATC tasks called COMPASi (COMPAS in interactive mode/COMPAS: COgnitive system Model for simulating Projection-based behaviors of Air traffic controllers in dynamic Situations). The computer-based simulation using COMPASi has clearly demonstrated the performance differences in the types of control strategies derived from a high-fidelity human-in-the-loop simulation (HITLS) for safety, efficiency of completing ATC tasks, and fuel economy of aircraft in a specific situation, and also differences in their tolerance of situational variability. The analysis results have been supported by performance evaluations carried out by ATC training instructors. In addition, a comparative analysis between simulation results under several simulation conditions by COMPASi and evaluation results by the instructor has strongly implied that the tolerance for the variability of situations might be a major factor in selection of control strategies by a controller. These contributions of the present research may be useful for practical purposes such as further improvement of education and training for controllers.