Originally Posted by
good egg
At this time it’s hard to envisage. But it’s a steady creep....more traffic, less ATCOs...more reliance on computers to squeeze the gaps (arrivals/departures/en-route).
This trend is only likely to continue with advancements in technology. On the upside for those left in work it ought to be highly highly paid....
Sure I can see a day with less ATCOs, just like flight decks now have only 1-2 crew. But what has happened is that computer assistance and semiautomation has significantly increased the productivity of each controller such that each individual can now manage far more flights simultaneously than in the past. I'm thinking electronic flight strips, automated coordination through AIDC messaging, improved surveillance with ADS-B automatically fused with and prioritised against other position information sources. All information displayed and automatically updated on a couple of screens, including a graphic PPI for all flights, including non-surveillance.
So really, for ANSPs embracing automation, at this point of development the number of ATCOs is relatively static, give and take, in an environment where the number of flights is increasing year on year.