DLR Project Shows: Artificial Intelligence Can Relieve Air Traffic Controllers

In simulations, it became apparent that AI-assisted air traffic controllers were able to look after significantly more aircraft simultaneously than provided for under the previous maximum capacity. Specifically, the AI-supported controllers handled up to 25 percent more traffic. The DLR also explained that tasks could be efficiently divided between human and digital air traffic controllers.

Results from the Simulations

The DLR justifies the relevance of the results with a countervailing development: While global air traffic volumes are rising, staffing capacities in air traffic control are falling. AI systems could at least partially close this gap and relieve existing controllers without compromising safety – or so the researchers hope.

The assistance system for pilots is intended in future to provide suggestions for diversion routes and alternative landing sites directly in the cockpit – for example, in the event of sudden weather changes, technical problems, or bottlenecks at destination airports. This would enable pilots to react more quickly and redirect aircraft more precisely.

Assistance System for Pilots

The results were presented in Hamburg. The DLR itself initiated the four-year research project. According to the research center, several institutes and industrial partners were involved, jointly developing software, interfaces, and simulation environments.

Outlook: What Comes Next?

What happens after the end of the project remains open. According to the DLR, a phase of further development and testing in realistic test environments would be typical before a possible deployment in operational service could be examined. Certification by the European aviation authorities would in that case be a further step.

Regardless, the researchers see AI-assisted air traffic control as a building block for coping with growing traffic demand – without necessarily having to hire new controllers to the same extent. The system could thus also contribute to the economic efficiency of the aviation industry.