A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL AND SYSTEM PERFORMANCE INDICES FOR THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM

A simulation study was conducted to examine the relationships of several field facility air traffic controller performance indices with simulation--developed system performance measures. Thirty six air traffic controllers, ranging in age from 31 to 45, from four Air Route Traffic Control Centers served as test subjects. The study encompased performance criteria developed within two distinct environments; namely, the controller's home facility where he controlled live traffic, and a specifically designed micro-system or 'one-man ATC system' in a dynamic simulation environment at NAFEC. Thus, the experiment represented a comparative examination of several quantitative measures of system functioning derived from air traffic control simulation and, simultaneously, an investigation of these measures as indices for the objective evaluation of the individual air traffic controller. The study presents estimates of the relationship between various performance and evaluation indices. Data from the micro-system model suggested a new system performance criterion which was found senitive to system load differences. (Author)