Lift in the wing profile is produced by the pressure difference between the air flows that pass through the extrados (upper) compared to the intrados (lower). During the different scenarios that can normally occur in a flight, the magnitude of the speed of these flows can vary. This causes the air flow to not completely travel along the profile along the edges, which would be called a detachment of the boundary layer. This flow release will be progressive until critical conditions where the plane's lift will not be sufficient to compensate for the weight of the aircraft in flight, resulting in a stall. Different factors, such as profile characteristics, speed, angle of attack, aircraft type, weight and flight conditions, can affect this lift/weight ratio.

The function of the vortex generators is, as their name indicates, to generate a series of micro vortices along the wing profile. This prevents the detachment of the aforementioned boundary layer, resulting in a reduction in stall speed. This effect is quite useful not only from the point of view of flight safety, especially in slow flight, but also improves the perception of aircraft stability without affecting its characteristics in straight and level flight conditions.

These elements can also be installed in the tail of the aircraft, since they improve the perception of the rudder and elevator response in slow flight conditions, by taking advantage of the effect of micro vortices to ensure the correct air flow through this control surfaces.