And it is not just the sheer scale of operations presenting a challenge. Airspace users – from drones to urban air mobility and space vehicles – are growing increasingly diverse, bringing with them a wide spectrum of performance capabilities. Again, machines will be needed to support humans to manage this variety and breadth of air traffic. 

In short, ATM is approaching a tipping point where the complexity and volume of decisions required will exceed human processing ability, particularly under time pressure and uncertainty.

As airspace and airspace users undergo an industry-defining transformation, the role of the human must adapt to new realities.

Traffic density is set to increase, for example, meaning tighter performance margins will be required. This will push manual ATM systems beyond their limits and lead to an even greater need for automation.

Industry thought leadership – such as that provided by the Complete Air Traffic System (CATS) Global Council – suggests that the role of the human will evolve from tactical control to strategic oversight. Air traffic controllers (ATCO) will become Strategic Airspace Managers, overseeing system-wide performance. All routine and time-critical tasks, such as separation, trajectory optimisation or conflict resolution, will be managed by automation.

The aim is to leverage expert human judgment, adaptability and ethical decision-making where and when it matters most.

But as ATCO requirements change, so too must the training.

Miguel Villegas, the newly appointed Director of Skyway’s Training School in Spain, says this challenge is made greater by a general need for more ATCOs, a result of the loss of talent during the COVID pandemic as well as the increase in traffic.

Miguel Villegas, Director of Skyway Training School, Spain

First, we are having to deal with a significant growth in air traffic. In Europe, every extra one per cent of traffic means there are five per cent more delays. There is a real need to get more ATCOs trained so we can change that equation.

One way to help address this is by continuing the liberalisation of control towers across Europe.

This would allow the reallocation of ATCOs to area control centres where staffing needs are more acute while also opening the door for private ANSPs to enter the market and contribute to training the next generation of controllers.

This requires balancing the speed of training with the limits on human ability to process information. Of course, you can never lower the standards. You can’t immediately put someone in a simulator if they don’t have a good grounding in theory. But that doesn’t mean you can’t improve and get ATCOs in the chair faster.

How ATCOs train will also change. Once the theory is understood then platforms designed as games – so-called gamification – will help with phraseology, flight levels and other basic information. New technologies will assist the effort. Skyway is exploring how to use Generative AI to help answer specific questions so each student effectively gets individual attention through intelligent assistance

Of course, basic skills won’t go away. One of the components of required flexibility will be the ability to step in if the machines aren’t working. Those core skills will always be essential.

“The work of the future ATCO will be easier as long as things are going right,” says Villegas. “But if something goes wrong then it will be more difficult to resolve because there will be more traffic and more complexity. Unravelling that will take a set of new skills. Things will happen that we can’t envisage yet. ATCOs of the future will need to have the ability to take these unknowns in their stride.”.

Communication is another skill under review. Most of the communication with pilots will be done by machines so communication skills in one sense could deteriorate. But the need to resolve complex disruptive events means communication must become second nature and done in a precise way. How to balance these two new realities is another element in ensuring safer and more efficient future skies.

“We need ATCOs to adapt and be much better at disruption,” says Villegas. “They must have the flexibility, resilience and communication skills to deal with unusual situations.”

Any solutions implemented, however, must incorporate an understanding of the future ATCO role in strategic oversight. “The necessary skills are changing,” agrees Villegas. “ATCOs of the future will be working with AI and automation. So, many of the routine tasks today won’t be necessary but there will be a need for more flexibility, more resilience and a thorough understanding of how the AI makes decisions. ATCOs and intelligent assistants must work as a team so the human-machine interface will be critical. It is imperative to understand how the human will operate and add value.”

Villegas suggests that situational awareness will be a key area. Even if many tasks are automated there will be a need to know what is happening and what decisions are being made.

There will be other considerations in developing the next generation of air traffic management professionals.

There are social contract issues that demand open and transparent dialogue, such as well-being, inclusion, and job security. Meanwhile, liability frameworks must also evolve to match the changing nature of human responsibility. How to account for actions between humans and machines – particularly in regard to system failures or errors – will become a hot topic, forcing new legal and ethical protections.

But it is not just ATCOs that will see a change in the job description. At management level, there will be equally seismic shifts as new business models, partnerships and regulations come to the fore.

One way to prepare for this is to have a “mirror board” of young executives that engage with the strategic decisions of an actual ANSP board, an idea pioneered by Swiss ANSP, skyguide. In return, skyguide gets fresh perspectives for a forward-looking approach. In other words, the mirror board is a reflective process, where the organisation looks at its strategic direction through the lens of its younger workforce. 

A phased roadmap for integrating AI and other future technologies is also suggested. This will include new certification methods, post-deployment monitoring and strong ethical safeguards to maintain human oversight and regulatory trust.

“All stakeholders must be involved in these transitions, ensuring that professionals are empowered, not displaced,” concludes Villegas. “We can train young talent, but everybody needs to understand what we are training them for. That is how we will maintain the trust everybody has in the safety and efficiency of our skies.”

Overriding all these considerations is the need for trust in machines and automation.

This must be earned through transparent system design, rigorous testing and continuous user engagement. Professionals must be similarly equipped to thrive in increasingly automated environments by enhancing decision-making skills and strengthening human-machine collaboration.

CATS also calls for robust training programmes to prepare staff for strategic, data-centric roles – emphasising analytics, system performance management and digital collaboration.