Space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) has revolutionized Air Traffic Control (ATC) by providing real-time, global surveillance coverage, removing the reliance on ground-based radars. But before Aireon pioneered the concept of space-based ADS-B, many current Aireon employees were on the front lines of Air Traffic Control, gaining first-hand operational experience that would later help shape Aireon’s innovative approach.
Collectively, the team at Aireon has more than 120 years of controller and ATC management experience, which is a key knowledge base to help the company understand and fully support our customers’ safety and operational missions.
The arrival of ADS-B, and particularly space-based ADS-B from Aireon, was a revolutionary shift in the air traffic control environment, providing unprecedented situational awareness and surveillance capabilities to the Air Traffic Control towers. But at its center, technology plays only a part in the safe operation and management of the skies. At its core, ATC is a partnership between technology and highly trained professionals who constantly analyze and adapt to situations as they arise. Technology helps, but the human element of ATC is essential to travel operations worldwide, ensuring safety and efficiency in the skies.
“Every individual controller must know all of the rules inside out, including what they can and cannot do within their airspace, and no one can tell them how to do it,” says Sinéad McCloskey, Senior Director of Safety and Compliance, and former Air Traffic Controller in the United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.
Public understanding of ATC and the role of Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCO) can often be shaped by limited exposure. Because of this, several misconceptions exist about the work of an ATCO, the level of responsibility that an ATCO has, and the skills required to properly do the job.
“The job of an ATCO is more than sitting in the control tower managing traffic on the ground or in the vicinity of an airport; the majority of ATCOs are also managing traffic in the climb, en route, and arrival phases of flights,” said Stuart Ratcliffe, AireonFLOW product manager and former air traffic controller in South Africa.
“There are real people guiding the flights from the minute they get on board, taxi out, take off and land at their destination, until the minute they get off again! And it’s still the BEST job in the world!” said McCloskey.
If a flight is delayed, most of the flying public would assume that the issue is related to ATCOs or a shortage of ATCOs, when the issue is typically weather, over demand, and equipment failure. “ATCOs do not typically cause delays, planes wanting to do the same thing at the same time are what causes delays,” says Mike Boyd, Vice President of Safety and Compliance and former Air Traffic Controller in New Zealand and Bahrain.
Like any profession, the role of an ATCO involves periods of stress. But what most do not understand is that the job of an ATCO is not defined by constant, overwhelming pressure. While being an ATCO carries a certain level of responsibility, much of the stress of the role is determined by uncertainty, specifically when a controller might feel unprepared or insufficiently experienced. “I have worked at a very busy, but well proceduralized Tower/Approach Control and most of the time the work was actually fun! But, I have also worked at smaller approach controls with poor procedures and less well-trained controllers where just a few flights arriving at the same time could get scary,” said Jim Bedow, Operations Specialist, and former Air Traffic Controller in the Southern United States.
In the event where surveillance technologies are degraded, the ATC system shifts from being supported by technology to relying on procedural discipline and human judgement. Typically, surveillance degradation is handled by increasing the distance between aircraft. In 2026, there are many redundancies in place to prevent ATCOs from having to use procedural control, such as Aireon ADS-B. Still, controllers must use great caution and sometimes refuse traffic when dealing with these hurdles. “Uncertainty is a contamination that poisons the sector and can make ATC impossible. The customers want a guarantee of safety, and you can’t guarantee anything when uncertainty is elevated,” says Bill Holtzman, Manager of Requirements and Test Engineering and Former Air Traffic Controller in the Washington D.C. area.
Understanding new technology and leveraging its benefits for air traffic control is an important component of the job as well. This is particularly relevant now with AI and automation tools being introduced in the consumer space. More specifically, it’s about understanding the applicability for air traffic control to enhance efficiency and safety, while at the same time keeping the controller in control of the situation.
The most important part of automation efforts is ensuring that ATCOs receive accurate information quickly in order to communicate efficiently. “Aireon is integral in this, by supplying position reports to systems globally. AI will also play a role in being able to predict conflicts, demand exceeding capacities, and offering potential solutions to ATCO and flow managers,” Ratcliffe said.
Advancements in ADS-B improved tracking accuracy and filled previous coverage gaps, allowing for reduced separation minima that increased the workload of ATCOs, while simultaneously enabling ATCOs to more efficiently deal with weather deviations, emergencies, efficient flight level requests and route diversions. ADS-B is also cheaper to install than ground radar systems. “Price and practicality (of installation and ongoing maintenance) have always traditionally been the barrier to surveillance control being the ‘norm’ over procedural control. This has been changed by ADS-B, especially over the oceans,” Boyd said.
When an aviation accident occurs, the media often fails to capture the technical realities of how ATC systems operate. The flying public doesn’t always understand the full picture, including that aircraft can disappear from surveillance, aircraft cannot be tracked by ADS-B unless the aircraft’s ADS-B transponder is turned on, and that in some parts of the world, aircraft are not tracked in real time by the ATC unit responsible for either separation or traffic information. “I do not think that most people realize how many flights never involve air traffic control. In a lot of accidents, the pilot never has any communication with air traffic control. Even when an accident involves a flight that is in communication with air traffic control, the cause is often something that cannot be detected in time or corrected by air traffic control,” said Bedow.
