How can air traffic controllers be incentivized to prioritize safety?

2 The challenges of incentivizing safety

Incentivizing safety for air traffic controllers is not a simple task. Safety is a complex and multidimensional concept that depends on various factors, such as human, technical, organizational, and environmental. Safety is also difficult to measure and quantify, as it involves both the prevention of negative outcomes, such as incidents and injuries, and the promotion of positive outcomes, such as compliance and resilience. Moreover, safety is not always aligned with other goals, such as efficiency, productivity, or customer satisfaction, which may create trade-offs or dilemmas for air traffic controllers.

3 The types of incentives for safety

There are different types of incentives that can be used to encourage safety for air traffic controllers, such as performance-based, behavior-based, and outcome-based incentives. Performance-based incentives reward air traffic controllers for achieving or exceeding safety standards or targets, while behavior-based incentives reward them for exhibiting or adopting certain safety behaviors or attitudes. Outcome-based incentives, on the other hand, reward air traffic controllers for the absence or reduction of negative safety outcomes. These incentives can motivate air traffic controllers to improve their skills and knowledge, enhance their safety culture and communication, and prevent or mitigate the consequences of errors and hazards. However, these incentives may also create perverse incentives, conformity, dependency, complacency, overconfidence, or luck.

4 The best practices for incentivizing safety

Incentivizing safety for air traffic controllers requires a careful and balanced approach that considers the benefits and drawbacks of each type of incentive, as well as the context and characteristics of the job, the organization, and the individual. For example, incentives should be consistent with the vision, mission, and culture of safety in the organization. Additionally, they should be combined with other interventions such as education, training, supervision, feedback, support, recognition, and empowerment to enhance the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors of air traffic controllers. Furthermore, incentives should be tailored to individual preferences and motivations to respect intrinsic motivation and professionalism. It is also important that incentives are transparent, fair, credible, and adaptive to changing needs and circumstances.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?