Digital Tower Assistant Functionality and Design – Planning, Analysis and Operative Interfaces based on Workshops with ATCOs

Multi Remote Tower Operations (MRTO), where one ATCO has the responsibility of two airports simultaneously, have become an important means to reduce the cost for air traffic control at small regional airports in Sweden without sacrificing safety or service levels. A challenge in MRTO is to keep normal movements operational on an airport while there is busy traffic on the second airport handled by the same ATCO. Earlier work has described the potential of using a digital tower assistant (DiTA), an automation that handles the communication and monitoring of e.g. a single, simple approach and landing on an airport with an otherwise empty sky, while the ATCO needs to focus their attention on the other airport. In this paper we let two interaction designers analyse the interview material from a recent study with five experienced ATCOs, each performing two scenarios using DiTA, and present the conclusions made from an interaction design perspective.