<title>Free flight: air traffic control evolution or revolution</title>

Abstract

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and industry are moving towards a more flexible, user orientated air traffic control system. The question is: does this point to a natural evolution or revolution in the world ofthe air traffic controller? The National Airspace System (NAS) is, by all accounts the safest in the world. How will we sustain this record of performance with increased flexibility and user involvement? How will controllers and pilots react to a new more dynamic paradigm? Is the current state of automation, modeling, and analysis what is needed to make Free Flight a reality? How will FAA insure that all human factors questions are answered before implementation? How will we quantify the impact of unanswered questions and their influence on safety? These, and many more questions need to be answered to ensure that the benefits promised by Free Flight are realized by all parties. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) supports the new concept. Yet, we are seriously concerned about the actual implementation of Free Flight's various components.