Is experience the key to effective decision making in an Australian airlines operations control centre?

The environment in which an airline's Operations Control Centre exists is typically dynamic, highly pressured and intense. In Australia, airline activity is heavily concentrated between relatively close major cities, demanding rapid decision making to solve operational problems within critical timeframes. Past research into decision making cannot sufficiently explain how decisions are made in Operations Control. Research in Naturalistic Decision Making effective decision making is largely contingent on the experience of the decision maker. A pilot study was undertaken to examine the role of experience in decision making in the Operations Control Centre of a major Australian airline. An extension of this study should contribute to theory on NDM and provide practical recommendations for the recruitment, selection and training of Operations Controllers in the airline industry.