2025 Agenda

Automation is rapidly transforming air traffic management, from decision-support tools and digital data exchange to trajectory-based operations and increasing levels of system autonomy. As aviation evolves to accommodate new airspace users, higher traffic volumes and more complex operational environments, automation will play an essential role in ensuring safety, efficiency and scalability.
Looking ahead to 2050 and beyond, the ATM community must consider how far automation could realistically evolve and what this means for the roles of humans, machines and organisations within the system. Strategic outlooks such as the CATS CONOPS for Future Skies highlight a potential evolution towards highly integrated, digitally enabled airspace where advanced automation supports increasingly complex operations.
This panel will explore possible futures for ATM automation, examining how emerging technologies could reshape operational responsibilities, safety assurance and human–machine collaboration. Experts from across the aviation ecosystem will discuss how automation may evolve from decision-support systems towards more integrated and adaptive operational environments.
The discussion will also address key questions for the decades ahead: What levels of automation are operationally and socially acceptable? How will roles and responsibilities evolve between humans and automated systems? And how can the aviation community ensure that innovation continues to strengthen safety, resilience and trust across the global ATM system?