The IFATS project proposes to study a revolutionary concept for a future air transportation system by adding as much onboard automation and autonomy to the aircraft as necessary to fulfil the overall requirements of improved efficiency and safety of air transportation.
All the various air and ground components of the system communicate with one another through a network-centric architecture:
IFATS project involves 11 contractors
This project is a European Commission funded project under the FP6 program. http://www.ifats-project.org