Impact of airtaxi operations in the control zone on air traffic controllers

Abstract

AbstractUrban air mobility is one approach to reduce congested road traffic and door-to-door travel times. Introducing these vehicles into the urban areas challenges air traffic control once the designated corridors interfere with the control zone of an airport. In this paper, it is evaluated how the performance of air traffic controllers is affected by airtaxi operations in the control zone given the example of Hamburg airport. Moreover, it is assessed whether an enhanced airside situation display showing routes and labels is able to counteract adverse impacts on workload and situation awareness. As a method, eight controllers participated in three simulation runs: first with conventional air traffic, second with additional airtaxis, and third with airtaxis, and the enhanced airside situation display. It revealed that workload increases by more than 40% without reaching overload states in the simulation. The enhanced airside situation display is able to reduce some, but not all adverse impacts. Based on the results, further ways to handle UAM vehicles in the control zone are suggested.