Impact of ADS-B on Controller Workload: Results from Alaska's Capstone Program
April 2007
Arthur P. Smith, The MITRE Corporation
Anand D. Mundra, The MITRE Corporation
ABSTRACT
The Capstone program introduced avionics in
Alaska that included ADS-B equipment, starting in
the year 2000. The program succeeded in
equipping 208 aircraft in the Yukon-Kuskokwim
Delta by the end of 2004, resulting in Capstone-equipped
aircraft accounting for nearly 100 percent of
Part-135 operations by airplanes based in that
region. This paper estimates the impact of the use
of Capstone equipment on controller workload. It
summarizes the results of a controller survey
regarding the effect of Capstone equipment on
controller tasks, and provides quantitative results
regarding the effect of ADS-B equipment on
controller workload. From the survey 57 percent of
controllers indicated that they needed less time
providing IFR separation services than without
ADS-B, and 79 percent of the controllers felt that the
overall efficiency of their operation had increased
with ADS-B. An analysis of flight progress strips
showed that the currently deployed Capstone
equipment, when operating properly as required by
ATC, would provide an 18 percent reduction in controller
communications workload. The analysis also
indicated that if all the aircraft in the Y-K Delta
were properly equipped, the reduction in
communications workload would be 26 percent.
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