Implementation of a flightstrip-less system at Östgöta controlcentral

Abstract: Each year the number of flights around the world increases, and to be able to counter the increase of traffic the air traffic control (ATC) and the systems they use to control the traffic must be developed in the same pace. This is something that bigger ATCC’s around the world has gone through and experienced. To be able to maintain or increase the level of safety at the same time as the traffic load increases, you need to do more than just hire more air traffic controllers. The systems in use must always be developed in accordance to new regulations and as well become more effective. This leads to ATCC’s continuously going through changes in the form of implementations of new ATC systems. The research and development are moving forward in an immense speed, and the latest decade’s ATC in many places has gone from writing down information on paper strips to the more modern strip less systems. This has resulted in a remarkable increase of effectivity and safety in ATC. In Sweden, there are three bigger ATCC’s: Stockholm ATCC, Malmö ATCC and ÖKC. In both Stockholm and Malmö, the strip less systems are already in use while ÖKC uses a less developed ATC system. It is economically demanding to continuously keep the ATCC’s up to date with the most modern systems, and the controlling factor is demand. In a working environment where safety is of the highest concern, you need a carefully prepared method of both updating, implementing, and testing new systems, providing personnel with training and sequentially implementing it. To achieve this, you need to do thoroughly review the concerned ATCC before, during and after an implementation. With the help of interviews, surveys and literature studies the working methods and processes have been examined and analyzed on ÖKC. By gathering opinions from the personnel at ÖKC, a good understanding of ÖKC has been attained. The unique thing about ÖKC’s air traffic, compared to the other ATCC’s, is that a big portion of their air traffic is military flights, which leads to different traffic situations. This study has been conducted as a first step before an implementation, with the intention of analyzing how a strip less system affects ÖKC with its current working methods and processes, and the connection to situational awareness. The study intends to be used as a foundation to future inquiries of how ÖKC will be affected by an implementation of this kind. It also contains opinions from operative personnel at ÖKC, and how they feel about a change of an ATC system.