Air Traffic Control-No Easy Solutions in a Complex Terminal Environment

The safe, expeditious and orderly flow of Air Traffic in a busy Terminal Area is achieved by skills and processes that are essentially human decision making minute by minute. The airspace, routes and many other limiting factors have developed over the years through various pressures and have not been the product of any overall long-term plan.

The purpose of the paper is to explain the extent of Air Traffic Control problems in one part of the London Air Traffic Control Terminal Area and at one particular Airport.

The paper will explain the problems and their present solutions and give some views on future development. By doing so it will show the difficulties in applying advanced technology resolutions to such a situation.