Scientific Evaluation of the increase in the retirement age on Air Traffic Controllers’ (ATCOs) cognitive functions and well-being

The Swiss Federal Council's requested to increase the retirement age of ATCOs to 60 by 2024. Skyguide and HelvetiCA have jointly commissioned a psycho-cognitive study which started on 1st of February 2022 and lasted until 2023. The consortium running the study involved EUROCONTROL, ENAC, ESAE and Welbees to assess how this increase could be managed without negatively impacting operational safety and the ATCO’s well-being. Therefore, the aim of the study was to: - assess how the ageing of ATCOs could impact their ability to perform their operational tasks safely and affect their adaptation to their working conditions and job demands at the same time; - assess the cognitive functions useful and important in the ATCO job impacted by ageing.