ABSTRACT
The type of system exemplified by air traffic control is actually rather common. Examples include telephone switching, military command and control, railroad systems, automobile traffic systems, and electrical distribution systems. Automation is the concept applied to functions that exclude direct human intervention, which are quite numerous in air traffic systems. Many forms of computer assistance are being planned or have recently been introduced that are intended to support human cognitive functions or to promote the strategic rather than tactical control of air traffic. In air traffic control, there has been widespread automation of simple routine functions that are continuous or frequently repeated, but that were originally fulfilled by controllers, albeit in very different forms. The human-machine relationships with any bearing on air traffic systems can be listed in order to clarify what the actual relationships are, what alternative relationships are feasible, and what problems can be anticipated in matching human and machine.
