Complexity science in air traffic management

"Air traffic management (ATM) comprises a highly complex socio-technical system that keeps air traffic flowing safely and efficiently, worldwide, every minute of the year. Over the last few decades, several ambitious ATM performance improvement programmes have been undertaken. Such programmes have mostly delivered local technological solutions, whilst corresponding ATM performance improvements have fallen short of stakeholder expectations. In hindsight, this can be substantially explained from a complexity science perspective: ATM is simply too complex to address through classical approaches such as system engineering and human factors. In order to change this, complexity science has to be embraced as ATM's 'best friend'. The applicability of complexity science paradigms to the analysis and modelling of future operations is driven by the need to accommodate long-term air traffic growth within an already-saturated ATM infrastructure"--Provided by publisher.

Introduction / Marc Bourgois, Innovative Research Manager, Eurocontrol Experimental Centre, Brétigny-sur-orge, France -- Complex network theory / Dr Andrew Cook, Principal Research Fellow, Department of Planning and Transport, University of Westminster, London, UK; Dr Massimiliano Zanin, Principal Researcher, The Innaxis Foundation & Research Institute, Madrid, Spain -- Complex networks in air transport / Fabrizio Lillo, Associate professor, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy; Rosario N. Mantegna, Full professor, Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy and Center for Network Science and Department of Economics, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary; Salvatore Miccichè, Associate professor, Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy -- Uncertainty / Damián Rivas, Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain; Rafael Vazquez, Associate professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain -- Resilience / Dr Henk A.P. Blom, Full professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands and Principal scientist, Nat…