A Human Performance Standard of Excellence for the Air Traffic Industry

While human performance is key in the air traffic industry, since controllers handle air traffic live in real-time, the uptake of Human Factors by different Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) is highly variable, from... [ view full abstract ]

While human performance is key in the air traffic industry, since controllers handle air traffic live in real-time, the uptake of Human Factors by different Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) is highly variable, from full HF Units to none whatsoever. To help difference ANSPs see how to start or where they could improve, a Human Performance Standard of Excellence (HPSoE) has been developed. This benchmarking approach contains twelve elements, e.g. HF in design, Wellbeing, Leadership, etc. seen as key in air traffic. Each ANSP can see where it currently sits on each element in the HPSoE compared to its peers. The approach is scalable, so that it does not penalize smaller ANSPs who may not be able to hire HF professionals. It has been piloted with 12 ANSPs in Europe and globally, all of whom found the approach easy to use and insightful. The next step is to develop it for full implementation at a global level. The approach will be made public in case other industries wish to tailor it or develop similar approaches for their domains.