The Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS), which is responsible for controlling German air space, has significantly improved its ATCO scheduling with the integrated Quintiq ATC Workforce Optimization Solution.

DFS needed to replace its legacy planning system and saw this as an opportunity to vastly improve their planning and scheduling capabilities. DFS chose the Quintiq ATC Workforce Optimization Solution, which was first implemented in the Bremen Control Centre and, over time, will be implemented in all of DFS’s control centres and towers.

For many reasons, planning and scheduling a large number of air traffic control officers (ATCOs) and flight assistants is an extremely complicated task. Firstly, government regulations regarding the number of controllers and the licensing necessary to man each sector are very strict.

Secondly, DFS has to deal with a complicated set of collective labour agreements, which can even vary from site to site. The Quintiq solution is flexible enough to include different labour agreements for each control centre and to take into consideration employee preferences.