Abstract: A method and a system for assisting air traffic controllers that automatically detects conflicts between aircraft trajectories and selects the conflicts that can be solved by minor modification(s) of aircraft speed, climbing rates or descending rates and lateral shifts of route. Minor modifications are selected so as to not interfere with current controllers' decision making process thereby circumventing the basic rule of uniqueness of control in a given piece of airspace. The minor modifications are automatically transmitted to aircraft for execution without requiring controllers' prior agreement. Thus, the method solves most conflicts, such that the air traffic delivered to the controllers is free of most of the pre-existing conflicts.

Abstract: A device for an automated and evolutionary assistance to air traffic control, and able to evolve toward a fully automated system, in that the device equipping an air traffic control system includes a computer programmed for receiving the aircraft flight plans and Radars and for elaborating and displaying them to a controller operator and for elaborating and displaying a time ordered controller agenda of conflicts, the device is laid out for establishing and updating a computer agenda of conflicts, on the basis of all the data and processing means available to the computer, for comparing, aircraft pair by aircraft pair, the controller agenda and the computer agenda, for elaborating optimal solutions to the conflicts of the computer agenda, for exchanging messages between the computer and the controllers by screens and for elaborating and performing aircraft collision avoidances.