A brief history of ATM

1903-1925: First powered flights

1903

First Air
Traffic
Controller ?

1906

Wright brothers (US)

Traian Vuia (Romania)

1903-1925: First aerodromes

(Bucharest)
1910

Chitila

Cotroceni

1903-1925: Early wireless

communications
1901
First radio signal across the
Atlantic by G. Marconi
1910
The world's first radio signal between an aircraft and the
ground takes place in the United States
1917
First air-to-ground and groundto-air radio communications by
AT&T engineers at Langley
Field in Virginia (US).

1903-1925: First airlines

1919 Dutch KLM worlds oldest continuously operated air
transport company. First air route Amsterdam to London

1920 French-Romanian Air Navigation Company

is founded in Paris, one of the first in the world.
1st intercontinental routes.

1903-1925: Mid-air collision

The first mid-air collision of

airliners took place on 7 April
1922 over Picardie, France.
The collision in fog of the
British aircraft flying CroydonParis with only mail on board
with the French aircraft flying
three passengers ParisCroydon resulted in seven
deaths.
Measures:
Carriage of radio
Defined set of routes to be
followed visually

1st NOTAM
Minor collision between arrival and
departure at Croydon resulted in a
Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) from the
Department of Civil Aviation.
Pilots to obtain order of priority and
await signal (flag) from the
controller to take off.

1st Advisory Service

Jimmy Jeffs (Croydon)
First advisory service
1st flight progress display
Map with pins
Moved on pilot reports and own
estimates
Labels with callsign and altitudes
Later holder of ATC Licence No.1 in
UK
NOTAM 109/1924:
When the aircraft is visible from the control tower , permission to
depart will be given from the tower
Introduction of Q code and 1st Standard Departure Routes (noise
abetment)

1930-1940
1930s: Bonfires are replaced by thousands of rotating
light beacons, forming the Transcontinental Lighted
Airway.
Mid 1930s: Radio Beacons emitting radio waves to
onboard receivers begin replacing the light beacons.
1933: US introduces Instrument Flight Rules

WW-II 1940-1945
1940s: During World War II, radar technology first
developed by the British is refined.

Post WWII
1950s: Radars are widely deployed to control U.S.
commercial traffic; planes continue to fly along fixed
air corridors.
1952: 1st airways in Europe (The Netherlands)
1953: Surveillance radar at Schiphol (10->25
arrivals/hour)
1959: 1st raw display radar for
terminal area in Australia

The 60s
Beginning of the Jet era
Planes begin carrying radar beacons, called
transponders, identifying planes and making radar more
efficient.
1962: 1st Secondary Surveillance Radar in Europe
(France)

The modern times

1970s: Air traffic control remains based on radars and
corridors, but the system becomes increasingly
computerized.
2000s: Plans emerge to replace radars some still
located on the same sites as early bonfires with a
satellite-guided system.
2020s: The decade by which the FAA hopes to have the
satellite system, called NextGen, fully operational in the
US
2015-2030: SESAR deployment in Europe