The highlights video and other materials of the Dissemination Event held in Bled, Slovenia, are now available. The gathering brought together experts from five SESAR projects – ASTRA, SynthAir, CODA, TRUSTY and Engage 2 – to discuss the integration of Artificial Intelligence within the ATM ecosystem.

From research to operational reality

The event focused on moving beyond the conceptual stage of AI to address concrete challenges such as system modernization, climate impact, and the evolving role of human operators. Key takeaways from the participating projects included:

• Human-centric AI (CODA). Developing neuro-adaptive teaming where the system dynamically adjusts support based on the controller’s state.
• The Trust Paradox (TRUSTY). Analyzing how technical explainability affects user trust, noting that excessive information can sometimes lead to cognitive overload.
• Predictive Complexity (ASTRA). Using machine learning to identify traffic “hotspots” and support Flow Management Positions (FMP) with data-driven complexity scores.
• Synthetic Data (SynthAir). Generating robust datasets to overcome privacy and scarcity issues in AI training.

Future outlook

Discussions during the event highlighted that the next decade of ATM will be shaped by the need for new ethical and regulatory frameworks. The transition of theATCOs from a tactical executor to a strategic manager remains a central theme, requiring evolved training and certification processes for AI systems that learn post-deployment.

As noted by Micol Biscotto (Engage 2 Coordinator), organizing joint events is a fundamental step for projects to share results and collaborate on common challenges, ensuring that research aligns with the operational realities of European aviation. The official presentations and technical slides from the event are also available for further review on the project websites.