IFATCA The Controller - 1st quarter 2002

R JOURNAL

ATC Maastrkht

2002

OF

AlR

TRAFFlC

CONTROL

I ATC in Mexico I Fatogue Manage ment I

ATM Crisis -

The Providers View

1/ 2002 1st quarter 2002 volume 41 ISSN0010- 807 3

Future Issues Th e next issue of The Controller will be distributed at the beginning of July and will contain a special section devoted to Research and Development in ATM with particular emphasis on ADS-B applications. We welcome contributions on this theme.

The October issue will highlight the latest developments in Training for ATM.Also, we will examine the state of the art simulators now available for cont roller training . If you wish to be involved with this important subject, please contact the Editor.

It is anticipated that there will be a lot of interest in these special issues and potential advertisers are asked to contact The Controller advertising manager, Lucy Leveson: EMAIL:

adman@ifatca.org

The Contr oller is sent to over 170 countries throughtout the world and read by some 60,000 individuals including those in Controller Associations and key personne l in the airline industry and government.

To advertise in The Controller ca ll +44(0) 20 8948 S638 or e mail adman@ifatca.org

THECONTROLLER

PUBLISHER IFATCA. International Federation of Air Traffic Controlle rs' Associations.

OLLER

TH

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA

JOUR N A L 0 F AIR

Samuel Lampkin President and Chief Executive Officer

ln This lssue

James Ferguson D eputy President

TR AFFIC

C ONT R OL

United Kingdom, March 2002 Volume 41 No l

Jean Robert Dumfries Exec utive Vice Presiden t Americas

Albert Taylor

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W E CA N GET T HER E FROM HERE Doug Churchill - EVPP

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ONCE UPON A TIM E IN M EX ICO ATC Eugenio Ort ega Alv are z

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CAPAC ITY VER SU S SA FETY - EGATS FORUM 2002 Philippe Domog ala

9

NEW STRATEGIES AN D INSTITUTIONS Patrick Schelling

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INCREASI NG BO TH SAF ETY AND CAPACITY Bert Ruitenberg

14

CONTRO LLING CHANGE Ray Curry

16

CRISES LAY BARE OL D INCONSISTENCIES Alain Rossier

19

ALL CHANGE - THE CHALLENGE Alexander ter Kuile

21

RECENT EVENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR AIRWAYS NEW ZEALAND AND THE ATS INDUSTRY Craig Sinclair

24

FATIGUE MANAG EMENT IN AIR TRAFFIC CENTRE Douglas T.E. Mei

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KYRGYZSTA N - A COUNT RY SOMEWHAT Philippe Domagala

Executive Vice-Pres ident Af rica/ Middle East

Phlllp Parker Executive Vice- Pres1dent Asia/Pacific

Marc Baumgartner Executive V ice-P resid ent Europe

Steph Simmonds Executive Vice -President Finance

Doug Churchill Execu tive Vic e-President Professional

Andrew

Beadle

Executi ve Vice-President Technical

Jack van Delft Executi ve Board Secretary/Conference

Manager

EDITOR Chris Stock .

25 Sprin gfield Lea , South Queensf erry, West Lothian, Scotland. EH30 9XD,

United Kingdom

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o eword WE CAN CiET THERE FROM HERE Doug Churchill Executive Vice President Professional "The future is not w hat it used to be!"

Perhaps at no other time were these words more applicable than the y are today, as we struggle to make sense of the events of September 11, 2001, and contemplate wha t is ahead for the aviation indu st ry! I think we can agree that these are not the best of times ... the futur e may not look like what we thought it would just a short time ago . Despite what some may see as a bleak forecast, ther e may be a silver lining in those dark clouds hovering above us . There usually is in any adverse situation, the challenge is to recognize it.

A great deal of talk , and even more print, has been devoted to the "crisis" in aviation sin ce last September. And rightly so . We must neve r downplay or underestimate the seriousness of the consequences of this horrible event . We must not forget the tough lessons learned fro m it, but most importantly, we can not overlook the opportunities it may present . Like any other tragedy, we must suffe r it, but we must mo v e on .

For t he past forty years the Federat ion has been st riving to meet the obligations of our Convention ... to do our part in contributing to t he improvement of international civil aviation, to uphold and protect our common professional interests, and ensu re the well-being of air traffic control le rs everywhere.

This has not always been an easy ta sk .

We are hampered somewhat by a lack of resources , both financial and human . But despite any perceived and / or rea l hand icaps, we hav e persevered! IFATCA has always stood up and been accountab le, and enthusiastically promoted our v iews where and when it was beneficial to our membe rshi p and the aviation industry. To illustrate, for some twe nty-five years, we faithfully co nt r ibuted t o var iou s ICAO panels and work in g groups, and as a consequence have been awarded Offici al Observer status by ICAO . This , due in no small part to our unfa ilin g comm itment and quality of work. We mus t co nt in ue th is tre nd.

In the European area we have gained hard-earned recogn it ion and res pect at all leve ls. Th is is a vast area with a mu lt itude of agenc ies and organizat ions, all w ith vary ing interests and agendas.

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The issues are many and complicated, but through the dedication and commitment of the many IFATCA representatives working in this Region on behalf of the Federation , we continue to make real progress towards our common goals.

The same holds true for other parts of the world as well. Although each Region has its own set of problems requiring vastly different approaches and solutions, we can safely say the IFATCA influence now stretches to all corners of the globe . We enjoy a high level of recognition ... our professional and technical expertise is requested almost daily as we receive invitations to participate in more meetings, panels and working groups, than perhaps at any other time. Our Members look to the Federation in increasing numbers for advice and assistance, on both a personal and regional level. Of course we do not always have the answers ... but we do always have the obligation and commitment to offer the full range of our support to our members and Member Associations.

Our affiliations with international organizations continue to strengthen . We have taken great care in building valuable alliances and friendships over the years with our colleagues in ICAO, the ILO, IFALPA, IATA, the ITF and others. Our pol icies of understanding, co-operation and collaboration have helped solidify our reputation.

We have com e a very long way in the past fort y years . We have realized many of our goals, but, there are always new goals, and the bar raised a bit higher . But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.

Th e Federation will always be presented with new challenges ... we welcome t hem. We need them to keep us sharp and to avoid complacency .

It is convenient pe rhaps, to place our faith and trust in those individuals who are in the forefront of IFATCA work. This is natural, as t her e will always be, in any volunteer organization, individuals who come forward time and time again. This formula wi ll not wo rk indefinitely. There is t he risk of "burn-out" unless we are able to identify and motiv ate indi vi duals

to re-fresh our supply of elected officials and representatives . The Federation has a diverse wealth of knowledge and experience within its ranks, and the key to future prosperity is the continued availability and effective utilization of that precious resource. We encourage those amongst us who have the expertise and the time to devote to the work , to come forward. We need the participation of our members .

As we put a tumultuous 2001 behind us, one thing is certain: the aviation industry will recover . It may take some time, but it will bounce back! September 11, 2001, must not be an excuse, but a catalyst for positive change . Most importantly, we as an organization, starting at the Executive Board level , need to take an introspective look, remind ourselves who and what we are, determine where we want to go and how we intend to get there . We will not be alone in this new approach . Service Providers, Airlines, governments and the aviation industry as a whole, are all reevaluating their positions and developing strategies for change.

Today we are seeing the rapid advancement of technology, an everincreasing importance in Human Factors in every aspect of ATM, as well as capacity issues, safety and security concerns that are unprecedented, social dialogue, the role of governments, the future of separation, staffing and recruiting concerns ... the list goes on!

Now that we have had some time to "digest " the events affecting the aviation world these past six months, it is perhaps an ideal time for each of us to take a look at our own situations, to think about the concerns we have for ATC in our unit, our country, our region, our world. We need not only identify problem areas but we must be prepared to offer solutions or alternatives to them.

We have come a long way, our organization is healthy, but we have mile s to go! Yes, there is a silver lining among those clouds. Let 's recognize it for the opportunity that it is ... as the chance to sharpen our focus, build on our accomplishments, and de ve lop new strategies t o ensure the Fed eration travels a path to prosperity we ll into the uncertain future.

THE CONTROLLER

Editorial Chris Stock Editor The tr agic events of 9/11 are now slipping back into histo ry although the impact on the world and its people still continue to reverberate in all quarters, none more so than aviation. Six months after, the aviation world is still coming to term s with the traumatic changes that have been forced upon it.

This issue contains three articles specifically written by the ATS Providers, which consider the post 9/ 11 world in ATM. We are happy to give space to ATSPs so that all sides of the current debate can be aired and we hope that, in the future, other points of view are submitted for publication .

Out of every major disaster, there are actions and stories, which reflect well on human nature when faced w ith situations that have not occurred befo re where courage, initiative, and sheer professionalism carry the day to ensure the safety of life. This was the situation that controllers in many states faced when the USA authorities closed the airspace after the attacks on the Twin Towe rs and the Pentagon. As Editor, I was privi leged to receive articles, which covered many facets of th e subseq uent events that materialised. After publication of the Decemb er issue, which prin ted the articles, I have received many favourable comments about the actions of the controllers. Indeed, many have come from external sources that wou ld not normally know of, let alone read "The Controller" . I consider that to be a tribute to the profession of ATC in gene ral and to the involved controllers in particular.

After the dire prophesies of the recession in the aviation world with airlines disappearing , thousands of jobs being shed, and the ATC being cut off from its sources of income, things may not be quite so bad as we thought or were told. No one wou ld suggest that it is any whe re back to the pre-9/ 11 situation although it is becoming more apparent that this situation was not quite what it seemed and that 9/ 11 was used as a precipitate to get any number of aviation organisations off the financial hook. The wor ld has changed but there wou ld appear to be agreement that 9/1 1 can give the ATM system an opportunity to catch up with the continuing crisis of insufficient capacity - provided that t he investment remains available to enable the many projects to continue.

Significantly, I attended two Eurocontrol workshops thi s year, one on Airspace Management in Europe and the other on ADS-B App lications. Both we re extremely well attended and both exuded a confidence about the future of ATM not only in Europe but also globa lly. Indeed the ADS-B symposium was very much concerned about the future ATM system and in particular, how the A DS-B applications may impact on th e control task.

I am planning that the July issue will focus on Research and Development in ATM w ith a specific consideration of ADS-B applications. The debate is underway and we, the contro llers, should be to the forefront of these discussions.

Finally: I hope that this issue will be distributed before the Annual Conference in Cancun. It w ill be the first time that the Federation w ill be able to discuss w ith all its Member Associations the changes brought about by 9/11 and their impact on the controllers. Also, the Committees' work programmes remain at a high level with a large number of wo rk-stud y items particularly in Committee B (Technical) and Committee C (Professional ).

Of particular intere st to the readers of thi s journal - or at least I hope it will be - will be a paper considering the future direction, possibly survival, of "The Controller". The journal has been financially self sufficient for many years however our income is declining because of reduced subscriptions and lower advertising revenue. Despite the best efforts of the CMG, we have not been able to turn the situation round although we do have some optimism about future income but that has yet to be realised.

If you have any thoughts on how "The Controller" should present itself in the future, please feel free to participate in the debate at conferenc e, or if you are unable to attend, write or email the Editor.

Former Director,

Institute

Henri Blunier of Air Navigation

Services , EUROCONTROL excellence in the qualit y of EUROCONTROL Training.

It is with deep regret, we have learned about the untimely death on Sunday 20 January 2002, at the age of 60, of Mr. Henri Blunier, former director of EUROCONTROLInstitute of Air Navigation Services in Luxembourg. Mr Blunier, a Swiss National, joined EUROCONTROL on 1 July 1996. He had previously been employed by Swisscontrol in Switzerland as Head of Operational training .

Sadly, he had been retired for only three weeks and was looking forward to enjoying life after a rewarding career. Henri was a profe ssional friend! We have always appreciated and enjoyed his presence at IFATCA events. His involvement and posit ive attitudes were an example to many of us. His efforts to promote our profession have not been left unnotic ed.

He will be remembered as a warm, kind and patient man who took over as Director of the Institute at a difficult time. During his term of office he worked with great success to raise standards in order to achieve a level of

With deep respect we w ill remember Henri Blunier and wish his family strength for the future .

CORRIGENDUM The gremlins were at work in the last issue with respect to the article by Alexand er Skonies zki entitl ed "Contro ller Shortage Situation in Europe .Alex writes "Allow me to correct some of the figures printed in para . 2 of my article on page 6. The staff shortage figure in the second sentence should read 25 % (instead of 3025 %) and the figure in the last sente nce of this para should read 25% (instead of 275 %). Since these figures are of importance to the reader and to avoid any misund er stand ing , I would apprec iate if you could include a short corrigendum in the next issue of "The Controller" . Sorry ab0ut the errors, Alex, howeve r I hope that t his correction puts the figures in their i:;iroperperspective. Edit or

THE CONTROLLER

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO ATC Eugenio Ortega Alvarez It is difficult to tell the story of the Air Traffi c Co ntro ller in Me xi co, or anywhere else in the w orl d , in just a few words . For me the story is in the black and white photo s, or talking with the controllers, te chnician s or engineers of the yesteryear who tell me how things were.

Mexico ACC [h rough the years

--.::-..,

association called ACTAM (Asociaci6n de Controladores de Transito A eroe de Me x ico) which belongs to IFATCA, and there is also a union SINACTA (Sindicato Nacional de Controladores de Transito Aereo de Me x ico) which was formed approxima tely three years ago.

Controlling has been in my blood all my life, as I am the son of controller . At an early age I learne d that A ,B,C was not A,B,C but Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and that English was to be my second lang uage. I learn ed also tha t all aircraft would eventually become my best frien ds and that the time on my wat ch would be UTC. Ten years ago my life changed forever!

After studying at C IAAC (Centro Interna cional de Adiestramiento de Aviacion Civil) fo llowed by on the job tra ining at the most incr edib le tower of the world, Puerto Vallarta on Me x ico's Pacific coast approximate ly 250 km west of Guadalajara, I began working in the amazing world of A ir T raff ic Control. My life became a dream and they paid me to do it!I! I remember well my father's words " If you love aircraft , adore aviation and do not want to be a millionaire, you are on the right airway" I will try to make this brief; as an air traff ic contro ller, I lov e to ta lk, and I want to tell you t he story of air traff ic contro l, here in Mexico.

In th is vast country, t here are approximately700 contro lle rs, who work for SENEAM (Serv icios a la Navegac i6n en el Espacio Aereo Me x icano). We have an

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and

In 1938 Me xicana Airlines was the first airline in Me x ico to use aero-navigational instruments . This wa s called "blind flying" All the airline's radio communication systems were updated .

Now the story .. ...

At the beginning of the 20th century the first flights in Mexico were on an ex perimental basis, or purely at air shows for the public. In 1910, Alberto Braniff flew in his biplane called "Vasin" .

The story that is remembered is the st ru ggle in wh ich we won the right to survive.

obtain the weather forecast en-route for the airports usin g the telegraph.

By 1920 , aviation was a novelty for the rich . The village people were astounded and fascinated by these flying machines but the religious people thought it was horrendous . Navigation aids in those days were landscape features e.g . a hill, a tall tree, rivers, haciendas or roads . With the invention of the compass and the application of co-ordinates, came a navigational procedure called the "g rey airway". This was to follow roads from the air.

Du ri ng the mid 1920 's aeronautical charts came into force and they show ed the height of the land and the location of the aerodromes. By the end of this decade we saw the beginning of radio telegraphic equipmen t , ope"rated by Me xicana Airlines using aircraft such as the three engine Ford Tri-motor and the Fokker 7. Space was left in the cabin fo r the radio operator .

About that time also , American Airlines installed navigation aids to give them access to the routes to Me x ico City all the way from Monterrey.

The blind flight concept allowed night flights, however they needed to insta ll new visual aids for landings . Torches were placed along the length and breadth of the runways. When the rain and winds were against them, taxis and cars replaced the torches and were parked with their lights on .

In 1943 ther e were twenty-three ground stations belonging to Mexicana Airlines, who employed 108 radio operators, 28 flight operators and 26 beacon mechanics .

At the end of the World War II with the coming of peace, the world began a new era of civil aviation, utilising all the recent military aviation developments.

Bigger engines were created, the pressurised cabin was introduced, fuselages became larger and the volume of cargo increased .

Navigational electronic systems also became more advanced and finally came radar.

In 1945 a Me xican technician used two radio -go niometers in the cabin . This operation was known as radio-gonometry and it was the most accurate available at that time . It was based on a 360 scale and every reading was with reference to the nose of the plane . It indicated to the pilot (who was flying on in struments) the correct heading to follow to the station. It also indicated when the aircraft was over flying the station. This made it possible to create airways.

By the late 1930-s, th e radiogoniometer was comp lemented by grou nd stations.

In these stat ion s a signal was broadcast, w hich was recognised by the rad io-goniometer on board the aircraft.

The first aircraft to operate with t hi s tec hnology was the DC-3.

Meteorology also played an important role in those days as at last, we could

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In 1944 many companies came together with financing to form an aero-navigation service company to assist all aircraft operators - airlines and general aviation .

This company was named Radio Aeronautica Mexicana S .A. (RAMSA) and

Torreon Tower

without interruptions conditions.

due to bad weather

Due to increases in the size and number of aircraft, Mexico City Airport was rebuilt and began operation in 1952 . During that same year RAMSA was granted the concession for another 30 years to organise, co-ord inate, unite and provide all air traffic control services, meteorology, telecommunications and radio aids .

By 1965 there were 42 airports which had Air Traffic Control services .

The Aerodrome Control was operated in 18 control towers by Aeronaves de Mexico (Aeromexico) , in 19 by Mexicana Airlines and in 5 by RAMSA. The Approach Control service in Mexico City was given to RAMSA, who also ran the area control centre which was just beginning to operate at the International Airport of Me xi co City .

(PHOTO)

was a branch of the Aeronautical Radio Incorporated (ARINC) . Thomas Wilson Dowling was the first General Director .

In the following June, RAMSA began the operation of the first control tower at the old Me x ico City Airport (photo of the towers) The operation of the radiotelegraphy station began in 1947 in Hangar Number 1.

This had a power of 50 kilowatts and maintained contact with 27 radio stations throughout the country, and also Brownsville, Guatemala and Miami. It was operational 24 hrs a day and was equipped with 1 beacon, radio telephony communication between the ground and all airborne planes, point to point communication between the origin and destination stations and message transmission facilities .

Me xico Tower

Today, SENEAM has 773 ai r tr affi c controllers, of which 70 are wo men, who work in 56 control towers.

Th ese are divided into 23 visual approac h towe rs, 11 approach towers and 2 AFIS. Th ere are also four area contro l cen tr es , whi ch together provide fo r 20 sect o rs. Th ere are also 16 ILS, 16 NDB 's, 77 VOR D M E's and 56 meteorological stations .

And while we are talking about radio aids, Mexico also had 5 VOR's and 43 NDB's at that time .

Then the government asked the Tran sport and Communication Secretary to form the National Civil Aviation programme . The government financed Me x icana and Aerome x ico to upgrade their equipm ent and gave power to CIAAC to train technical aeronautical personnel.

In 1966, RAMSA became a governme nt run company with the state acquiring 51 % of the capital. By 1970, RAMSA op erated 21 control towers, 4 area control cent res, 26 VOR's, 10 DME, 14 NDB's , 4 ILS, 19 met eorological stat ion s, 50 rad io communication stations, 12 microw ave chann els, and 2 rad ars.

On e year later, SENEAM had 43 towe rs and 8 radar s, plu s a surfac e radar located in M ex ico Cit y .

THE CONTROLLER

At the beginning of this new m illenn ium, the organisations i.e. SENEAM , A CTAM or SINACTA need innovative leade rs, who know their work. They want peop le w ho strive to get the best results, kno w wh at is needed to implement efficienc y and accep t the challenge to achieve it . Me xic o has a new challenge - the creation of a new airport for the largest city in the wo rl d , and continuing to provide it with t he same high standard of air traffic contro l servi ce.

The centre could provide this service thanks to the new en-route rada rs located at Cerro Gordo and the International Airport. Both of these were operational by 1968 , the year Mexico hosted the Olympic Games.

RAMSA operated for twelv e years and in 1978 the Fede ral Government creat ed SENEAM . A company dependen t on t he Transport and Communica t ion Secretary.

Du ring th e 1940's VHF communic ation was obtain ed. Thi s mad e po ssible better q uality reception and t ransmi ssion to t he aircraft,

system, another is brough t in .

Fro m 19 80 to t he pre sent day, SENEAM has been upd ating all its t echn o logy , so t hat equipm ent is constant ly brou ght up to dat e. In this chang ing wo rld of tec hn ology , despit e limited f ina nc ial reso urces, as soon as we have learned the most recent

The M anagin g D irector of this compan y is Agusti n A rellano Eng,. The Directo r Of Air Traffic Con trol , is AT C Raymundo Sanchez (Assista nt Di rector). Th ese two di rect ors g ive all emplo yees, i.e . ATC's, technicians, eng in eer s, meteorological and adm inistrat ion staff, the confid ence that each and every fl ight w il l fly safely and pe acef ully . Th is is both because of the t ech no logy on t he ground and in the air, and t he dedicated team that wo rk 24 ho ur s/ 365 days, to ensure every aircraft reaches its destination safely .

Now we wait to welcome all cont ro lle rs from aro und the world, with open arms and with the confidence that your stay in ou r magnificent country and t he magic wor ld of Cancun will be unforgettable .

Radar serv ice te rm inated, future NOW

contact

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THE EGATS FORUM 2002 CAPACITY versus SAFETY Philippe Domogala,

European Editor,

Th e traditio nal EGATS FORUM this year was on "Capacity versus Safety" .

150 persons attende d the event held during the ATC 2002 exhibition in Maa stricht, Netherlands .

The Forum was opened by Mr Arnold Vandenbro uck e , Director of the Maastricht UAC, who said that air travel was st ill the safest form of transportation, but it was simply not enough to leave safety to experiences, then d raw conclusions fro m those e xperiences .

Changing procedures only after incidents occurre d was not the way to go . We should resist the so called "safety for granted "attitude , and needed to be proactive.

The Maastricht Centre was going to introdu ce new safety tools and procedures to prove that safety and capac ity were complementary and not opposite to one a nothe r .

Mr Albert Secen, strategist at LockheedMartin , explained to us the various levels of system automation. From initial automation that copied human actions, to advanced technology automation, that performed tasks where there was no human equivalent, or were beyond human possibilities . The perception that new automation was only safe if humans could take over from it, was only a perception, not a reality . For instance in some parts of today 's flights, such as Cat 3C approaches, systems were already performing tasks that no humans were able to do, yet they were not perceived as unsafe. He concluded by saying that familiarity with new technology helped in increasing our perception of safety. It did not mean the technology was safer, but our perception of it was . In other words, the perception of what is safe is as important as the real safety of a product .

Then Philipp e Domogala, of EGATS, introduced t he theme and asked a few questions to start the debate. Were all thes e new capacity-enhan cing programmes, all aimed at putting aircraft closer t ogether, not decreas ing safety?

He questioned the way some safety ana lyses were done, and raised so me doubts on the de lays cal cul atio ns that were often the drivers behind capacity enhancements programmes. He questioned t he benefits of t he so far unproven and un-validated " new techno logies" in res olving safety issues.

He concluded by sayi ng that controllers were not trained to "max imise capacity " but rat her to enforce safety. Controllers were also too ofte n used to prove things were safe after they were impl eme nted.

Following on , Bert Ruitenberg from IFATCA went deep into the human aspects of the capacity / safety equation adding the notion of environment, and possibly security. He felt that environment was becoming more and more important, as recent events such as the Schiphol runways configuration, the Crossair crash in Zurich, and the SAS crash in Linate clearly illustrated . He said that safety was something that did not come as a by-product, but was something that had to be built piece by piece, and was achieved largely by the work of pilots and controllers on a day-to-day basis . He continued by detailing the new technologies and procedures that enable us to incr ease capacity (RVSM, 8.33, Land after procedure , LAHSO, CDTI/ ASAS, CPDLC,etc.) He concluded by saying that all those things brought a lot of new problems, all affecting safety . He felt that unfortunat e ly pilots and controllers were left to deal wit h those problems, therefore putting them, as he said, between a rock and a ha rd place .

The first speaker was Mr Tzetomir Blajev, safety expert from the Euroco nt ro l agency, w ho detailed t he processes behind safety a nd capac ity. He s howed us how cr itica l events could lead to accidents and how work load, especia lly contro llers' work load , can influenc e t he process . He advocated a safety driven approach to capacity and conc luded by say ing that to keep safety around to lerab le leve ls, while increas ing capac ity , one needed to ap proach both problem s in a businesslikemann er .

8

completes the Single Aviation market and ensures a capacity increase within a protected safety environment. Lack of capacity at the moment is producing delays which have a detrimental effect on the safety of the system because they increase both the workload of controllers and the duty times of pilots, thereby inducing fatigue . The pilots advocate the need for a strong regulator with the same quality and safety record as currently provided by the Eurocontrol Agency. He finally explained and praised the social dialogue that has currently been put in place by the initiative .

Finally, Doctor-Captain Albert Mulder of the Delft University, gave us first an academic view on capacity, then went on to show us va rious future tools (for the period 2020-2030) that were currently being discussed within various research departments. He presented his view on a new 3-D cockpit that would allow for new procedures, with new capacity enhancement possibilities, and this without, according to him, affecting safety. He said that with proper 3 dimensional displays in a cockpit one could fly a curved, steeped, decelerating approach to 500ft , even in Cat 3B. He said that controllers could use future planning tools, where last minute chang es could be done, where flexibility could be scheduled to cancel small time prediction errors, in order to allow much tighter spacing between aircraft. His conclusion was very clear however : These new technologies would bring big benefits but also big questions .... !

The forum concluded with a debate where the audience could ask detailed questions of the speakers .

Later a drink re-united all participants, and discussions continued on this very hot topic.

The n Giancarlo Crivellaro, of the European Cockpit Association (ECA) presented the pilots' point of view on the European Single Sky initiative of the EU. The pilots welcomed the initiative as it

'if

CONTROLLER

ATC Maastricht 2002 New Strategies and Institutions for ATM AT C Maastricht 2002 Janes Conference.

Pat rick Schelling, Contributing Organised by Jane's, the event took place, for the twelfth time, at the Maastricht Conference Centre (MEEC) . This year's innovation was the increased numbers of speakers and hence the splitting of the first day's afternoon session in two strands . This had the advantage to select specific presentations, but there were some drawbacks when the choice was difficult!

After several years under pressure to cop e with increasing traffic demand, this year's conference opened with declining (traffic) numbers resulting from the general downturn of the Airline Industry after the tragic September 11 th

Editor

implemented.

However, should annual growth resume to around 5%, delays may increase by some 50 %, mainly due to airport regulation . The busiest European airports may reach saturation by 2006 , making them a potential constra int to traffic growth. One solution would be to promote point-topoint liaisons.

Wolfgang Philipp, Senior Director EATMP, spoke about setting priorities in overcoming ATM problems in Europe . He also believes that traffic will increase and therefore constraints to growth will need to be overcome.

At strategic level, the ATM2000+ Strat egy is currently being updated and a second edition should be available by mid-2002 .

New to this strategy, is the inclusion of a process called Strategic Performance Framework (SPF). This framewo rk is used to determine and select Operational Improv emen ts that late r wi ll form a Road Map . The proposed new draft ATM2000+ Strategy contains a Road Map in time increments .

At operational level , the challenge wi ll be to obtain agreement on new pe rformance targets , operational improvements and implementation objectives to drive implementat ion prog rammes.

EUR/km floWn

events. Consequently, the reduction in traffic also brought a de cline in delays.

0 .,

At institu t iona l level, the ratification of the rev ised (Eurocontrol) Convent ion still needs to be completed , while the acce ssio n of the European Community to Eurocontr ol is in the final stages of negotiatio ns . The joi nin g of the EC to Euroco ntrol is seen as a key factor to enforcing decisions.

The successful impl ement ation of the 0 .l RVSM Programme in • 91 . " ' 9 3 ' 9, • 95 ' 9 6 ' 9 7 . '99 2 000 200 t Europe just a few days before the conference was 30 still on everybody's mind u. 20 and therefore often used as 10 an example that large t0 projects can be 3.3 min. Regarding prior it ies, -1 0 implemented on a wide per flight Wolfgang Philipp concluded (/) -2 0 basis despite that only those agreed >30 multicultural / multilingual bet we en all stakeholde rs 40 differences and technical w cou ld lead to clear decisions 50 0 challenges . The RVSM act io ns on fut ure solutions.

-6 0 Programme was labelled the biggest change in This slide presented by W.Philipp shows the achievements of the However , the current system European airspace since the last 10 years regarding Cost , Traffic & Delay. The targ et is to can still be improv ed. Potent ial 1950s . Some 41 States, 5000 decrease delays to 1 minute average for summer 200 6. ex ists in the central management ATCOs, 100'000 Pilots and of traffic flows, further 10'000 aircraft improvement of t he ATS route netwo rk participated and made it happen. and enhancement of the airspace A new objective, Securit y, has be en added structure. A lso, comp let ion of ear lie r to cater for thre ats after last September 's After outlining the present situation, agreed imp rovements would add to events.

The idea is to re inforc e built-in Victor Aguado Di rector-General improve the current system , according to security for th e ATM system .

This would EUROCONTROL, who chaired the first Mr . Philipp. be achieved through Int ernat ional cosessions, said that development of ATM ordination, Preve ntion progr amm es and re main ed top priority as it weas a matter Privatisation versus State-run organisation Crisis management. The ot her (m ain) of tim e until the next (tr affic) upturn. The we re 'hot ' top ics as rece nt decl ining objectives set out w ithin the ATM2000 + long lead time s inherent to ou r indus try revenues put several privatised or Strate gy are Safety, Capacity, Costmean that we cannot be comp lacent now. coporatised Air Navigation Service s efficiency and Environment. A balancing Prov iders in rat her embar rassing financ ial of priorities at strategic, developmen ta l , Coping w ith demand re mains a major situations . For several years now budg ets operational and insti t utio nal leve l is issue and the risk of reaching th e 'capacity were made basing on steady growth needed to reach t hese objectives. wa ll' is real unless new ATM solutions are

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rHE CONTROLLER

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ATCMaas figures. Howe ver, revenu es sudden ly slumped aft er September 11th, 200 1.

Th is is partly due to the current adjustme nt mechani sm fo r use r cha rge s.

Most of the corporatised ANSP s are nonfor -pr of it organisations . Th is means that exce ss revenue cannot be accu mulated.

'Profits are given back directly t o t he airspace user and / or the route cha rge s are lowered. The refore, this mecha nism does not perm it to creat e a reserve 'cu shion' to absorb sudde n dow nturns as ex perienc ed rece ntly. Consequently, during times of cr isis, when airline s produce less revenue, the AN SPs are for ced to raise th eir charges, which in turn creat es an even higher burden on the air line ind ustry.

Dieter Kaden CEO of the DFS, suggests that the existing changi ng syste m shou ld be furth er developed within the sco pe of changes that are und er way all over Europe. For this, he suggested th e creat ion of a Task Force.

Despi te th e problems with the f inan cing mechanism, Kaden went on saying that the trend continues to point tow ards transition from State -run to priv atisatio n and ... "ATM will become a busi ness like any other bus iness in the Worl d! " .

The managem ent model for the DFS contains 6 business units namel y, Contro l Centre, Tower, Academy, Aero naut ical Data Management, Technical de partment (CNS) and Consulting . Currently, DFS is re-organis ing to become more competitive. One of the actions is t o move Dusse ldo rf (ACC) sectors to to Langen Centre in 2002. Kaden also sup ports t he Single Sky initiative including the cr eation of Functional Blocks of Airspace (FBA) . In short, privatisation leads to incr eased efficiency, greater customer satisfac t io n and higher safety standards, Kaden affirmed .

Hen ri-Georges Baudry , Director A ir Navigation, DGAC, France, presen t ed ATM from a State-run perspecti ve.

In his view, Air Navigation (services) is a public Authority t ask and should not be able to go bankrupt ' The main task is to provide a service - not to run a business, he said . The service provided is in the general intere st and Air Navigation is a public Author ity task. In addition , it const itutes a basis for a good function ing economy . Airspace M anagement conta ins elements of sover eignt y, which is another argume nt why these services shou ld be State-run

10

t 2002 On of th e arguments of the advocates for privatisati on in this fi eld , is the added fl ex ib ility gai ned w hen engaging financial resources. Own money can be invested witho ut going through lengthy approval processes and so on. Baudry said that this flexibility also exists as the DNA is attr ibuted a dedicated budget. Th ere is a parliament appr oval and a control process but the mec hanism is not much different form a privat ised enterprise. The financial resour ces come with a caveat, to consult Stakeholder such as Airlines and other airspa ce users . Unlike privatised provid ers, the advantage of a State-run or ganisatio n is to have the possibility to adap t the bud get if needed, which makes them less sensitiv e t o conjuncture, i.e . sudden slu mp in traff ic . Also, our books are open, contr ary to commercial company , w ho mi ght wa nt to hid e theirs, he said.

On pe rforman ce, Baudry asserted that despite being a State- run organisation , there is no (negat ive ) influence on performance. In 2001 , Air Navigation Serv ices in Franc e handled 2,5 Million Flig hts , with 100 days counting over 7500 flight s, and 13 days over 8000 flights . The raise in traffi c was 13 ,3% between 1998 and 2001 with a decline of 0 .6% betwe en 2000 and 2001.

Baudry conc lud ed that a State-run organisation does not impede it from bei ng customer-or iente d! The system w orks - but concedes th at not hin g is perf ect.

The German and French views on priva t isation differ considerably. Whi le th e fir st has some strong arg um ent s, reality has shown that privatise d or corporati sed Air Navigati on Serv ices Provid ers are vulnerable to sudden traffic decrease - at least w ith the prese nt charging syste m .

Mark Baumgartner, EVP Europe, IFATCA, responded to the conference's title by

Top 10 ATM roblem areas I. 2. .,.

4.

5.

ATC delays Capacity planning and implcmcnlalion Capncily al crilicnl nirports Transparenc y of ATC costs Producti vity of critical ACCs

6. Managemt:nl nnd use of airspace in core Europe

7. Planning and implcmcnlalion of European inte gration progrnm mc s

8. Dcci s ionwmuking processes in Europcun programmes 9. Timu and cost OVCfwntllS of new ATC systems

+

New prohlcm : Security in /\TM Traffi c demand iv,// increase. making

voicing the controller 's concerns on the future challenges . Excerpts: Political and institutional challenges "The current political initiative of the Europe an Commission is of great concern to the A TCO s in Europe . The proposed legislative text has the potential to seriously disrupt the current system ...

The recent exper ience of the privatised ATSPs in UK and Canada are of great concern to Air Traffic Controllers, and th eir experience should be carefully watched by the whole sector. It might simply show that the weaknesses are greater than the strength of these administrative structures ...

Economic challenges Significant financial resources are needed for t he current and future ATM [system].

This has to be realised by the customers and the governments . There is a price to be paid for a goo d ATC infrastructure and an eff ici ent service ...

The concerns with regard to Human Factors.

At what price? There wi ll be a drive for 'off- the -shelf' products with little regard for HF except to pay it lip service. Th e shortage of controllers will result in no direct invol vement in research and development by current operational personn el. This wil l continue to und erl in e the wrong imp ress ion that ATCOs are against change ...

The shortage of controllers wi ll result in no direct involv ement in research and development by current operational personnel. Thi s w ill continue to underlin e th e wrong impr essio n that ATCOs are agai nst change ...

W e are conc ern ed at the rapid pace changes are expe rienced in our industry and the rush to new technologi es and procedures (such as del egation of separatio n) see mingly w ithou t adequate investigat ion of all Human Facto rs impli cations . IFATCA has th e impression that we have come a long way in the past few years to bring attention to thes e issues and that some signifi cant progress were made in so me areas. Now w ith t he current cr isis, there is a rea l risk that t he needed momentum is lost due to the "exc use" of the 11 th September and it's imp act on the industry ..

1/ necessa,y

lo oi â&#x20AC;˘w¡come cons lruinl s to J<rowth

continued

on page 13

fHE CONTROLLER

ATCMaastricht 2002 Increasing both Safety and Capacity: Positioning the Controller Between a Rock and a Hard Place Bert Ruitenberg IFATCA Human Factors Specialist In the theme for this EGATS Forum the organisers identified two aspects from the aviation world that are often discussed together, i.e. "Cap acity" and "Safety". At the start of my presentation I would like to introduce two further aspects that I think are relevant for such a discussion. Those further aspects are "Environment" and "Security", and I'm introducing them with the aim to include the former and exclude the latter for the rest of my presentation .

On the subject of "Security" it is interesting to observe that the English language is the only language that I know of that actually has different words for the aspects "Security" and "Safety".

The other languages speak use the words "V eiligheid", "Securite", "Sicherheit" and "Seguridad" respectively to indicate both these aspects. Yet having two different words such as in English would actually be quite convenient for those other languages as well, for the underlying concepts are almost diametrical opposites! In my view "Security" is the effort to guard mankind against actions with intentional destructive outcomes, whereas in my view "Safety" is the effort to guard mankind against actions with unintentional destructive outcomes.

International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA) was founded, one of its stated objectives was "To promote safety, efficiency and regularity in International Air Navigation" .

As an Air Traffic Controller (ATCO) I'm proud to say that in the 41 years of its existence, IFATCA has made many significant contributions to those aspects of International Air Navigation, and to the aspect "Safety" in particular.

IFATCA acknowledges that "Security" in civil aviation is important but since we consider it a prerequisite for operationally handling the "Safety" aspects of aviation, an area in which we consider ourselves specialists, we're happy to leave "Security" issues to other specialists . Consequently, in the remainder of this presentation I 'II not discuss "Security" but rather focus on "Safety", "Capacity " and " Environment ".

The reason for introducing "Environment" as an aspect for discussion together wit h "Safety" and "Capacity" is a pragmatic one: I simply believe it is not realistic to have a discussion on any of those aspects of aviation without including the other two.

These three aspects are inter- related in a way where a change in one almost automatically implies a change in the others as well.

In civil aviation all "Security" measures for any flight have to be in place the moment the aircraft doors are clo sed. Passengers and luggage obviously have to be screened before that time, and if measures such as reinforced cockpit doors or on-board skymarshalls are necessary then these also need to be arranged before the last passenger boards the flight. But it's only after the doors are closed that a flight becomes "active" from an Air Traffic Control (ATC) perspective, and that pilots and controllers can begin dealing with the operatio~al "Safety" aspects of the flight.

For example, if the aviation industry were to double the aircraft separation standards that are to be applied by ATC, this potentially would improve "Safet y" and it also would be good for the "Environment" but it would be detrimental to "Capac ity" in the air navigation system. As another example, assuming that an increase in "Capacity" at an airport would be possible without a change in the "Safety" aspect , this probably would have a noticeabl e impact on the "Environment" aspect at that airport.

It is not my intention to imply that one of the two aspects is more import ant than the other. By pointing out this difference I just wa nt to argue that these aspects require different approaches. When in 1961 the

This were just a few rat he r abstract examples to illu strate t he interwoven relationship between the three aspects.

There are more direct examp les t hat I can use as we ll. Take for instance Amsterd am

THE CONTROLLER

Airport in The Netherlands, where the use of runway combinations is governed by environmental considerations more than operational considerations . Fortunately the overriding consideration there remains "Safety", although as recent as in 2000 environmental litigation became such a threat for the Airport Authority and the Ai r Traffic Services Provider (and possibly individual pilots and controllers too) that in hindsight it could be argued th at "Environment" for a while had reached the number one position - and with a bullet , as they say in Top 100 jargon .

Another direct and sad exa mple is the recent accident near Zurich , Switzerland, with a Crossair BA 146 that had to fly a nonprecision approach at nigh t -time ove r mountainou s terrain to a specific runway for environmental reasons. I would argue that in that case "Environment" was more import ant than "Safety", for if "Safet y" had been the highes t prior ity the flight would have been allowed the use of a runway with a precision approach proc edure even though it had to overfly a residential area.

Or take the low visibilit y runway accident at Milan Linate , a couple of weeks earlier, where it could be argu ed that "C apacity" got the better of "Safet y" ove r the months or perhaps even years befo re the fatal event. (At the time of preparing this presentation the Zu rich and Linate accidents are still und er invest igation ; it is highly probable that the f inal reports will identify severa l other facto rs that have cont ributed to the accidents.)

Until the intent ional acts of destruction in th e United St ates of Amer ica on Septembe r 11 t h last year airlines globally were crying out for more capac ity. The genera l view on the A ir Navigat ion System of every ind ividual airlin e seemed to be that the procedu res app lied by ATC were restricting the pote nt ial of the ir part icu lar company to make a profi t. The airl ine organisat ions (International Air Transport Associa t ion , Associat ion of European A irline s, etcetera) went to great length s to

11

ATC Maastricht 2002 convince political decision-makers that increasing the capacity of the ANS was the key to solving all the airlines' problems.

In Europe this resulted in programmes called EATCHIP and EATMP that are managed by Eurocontrol in Brussels.

Admittedly those programmes also have th e aim to enhance the free movement of labour within the European Union , but the main goal is to increase the number of aircraft that can fly around Europe without en co untering delays. And, the programmes of co urse are also meant to enhance aviation safety.

The rea son for adding this remark on "Safety" almost as an afterthought to the previous paragraph is quite deliberate .

From an ATC perspective it often appears as if "Safety" in the sky is taken for granted by the airlines , the political decisionmakers and the Eurocontrol programme managers . But safety doesn't happen by itself - it has to be achieved every single moment through the actions of pilots and ATCOs, and through the application of and adherence to standard procedures! let's take a look at some of the ideas that have emerged over the last decade or so to increase capacity, both in the sky and on the ground.

This overview is not exhaustive.

RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minima): by reducing the minimum standard for vertical separation above Flight level 290 from 2000 feet to 1000 feet, several "new" Flight Levels become available for use. This means more aircraft can operate at a level that is close to the optimum for a given part of the flight .

Alternati vely, more aircraft can use a given portion of airspace at the same time .

8.33 kHz frequency spacing: by redu cing t he spacing between adjacent VHF radio frequencies from 25 kHz to 8.33 kHz, more frequ encies become available for aviation use. This potentially reduces interference on freque ncies that are used by mo re than one station, and enables the creat ion of new sectors in (Up pe r) Area Control Centres.

uland After " procedure:

a procedure by wh ich a landing aircraft is allowed to touc h down on t he runway with the preceding aircraft st ill on that same runway.

LAHSO (Land And Hold Short) procedure:

a procedure by which an aircraft landing on one of two intersecting runw ays is told to

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stop the aircraft before reaching the crossing with the other runway. This is meant to enable take-offs and/or landings on the other runway simultaneously.

ASAS, CDTI (Airborne Separation Assurance/ Assistance Systems , Cockpit Display of Traffic Information) : technological flightdeck devices that will enable the (partial) transfer of responsibility for separation from the ground (i.e. ATC) to the cockpit (i.e. pilots).

(Controller - Pilot Data Link Communications): data link based technology that offers an alternative means to voice communication for pilots and ATCOs. This alternative means is seen as a solution to existing problems with voice communications, such as frequency congestion, poor reliability and readback/hearback errors. It is expected that the improved communications will allow ATCOs to handle more traffic on an individual basis than is the case today, thus increasing capacity .

CPDLC

Basically the ideas listed above can be divided into two categories: new procedures to allow us to do things we didn't do before, and new technology that will allow us to do more of the same things we've been doing for years . (Maybe ASAS/ CDTI belongs in a third category which is a combination of the other two.)

The result is that we're putting more aircraft into the system and have them flying and landing closer to each other than was the norm for the past 50 years - but "Safety" is allegedly not affected.

Next I would like to present some feedback from the operational environment regarding the impact of the ideas listed above for ATCOs and pilots.

RVSM: Despite earlier assurances from manufacturers and operators there are certain aircraft types that have not received an approval for RVSM operations . These include various older aircraft like the Tupolev 154 and the DC9 as well as the relatively young Embraer jet family and the BA 146 . This means ATCOs potentially have to apply two different separation standards to aircraft under their jurisdiction, unless these aircraft are excluded from operating in the RVSM level band .

8.33 kHz frequency spacing : This new technology has been introduced , but not witho ut some operational difficulties. Many

pilots at first appeared to have problems with selecting the correct frequency . With conventional 25 kHz spacing, a frequency change is communicated by saying "contact XYZ on 123.45". With 8.33 kHz spacing this becomes "contact XYZ on Channel 133.855", with the prefix "Channel" and an additional 6th digit . Especially this last digit often was not selected correctly by pilots, which meant they ended up on a wrong frequency and had to call back to the previous frequency to find out where they were really supposed to go. The good news is that over time pilots appear to become more accustomed to the use of 6-digit frequencies, and that ATCOs have invented little tricks to ensure that pilots do go to the correct frequency at the first attempt, so the operational consequences are becoming less of a nuisance already.

Even better news is that there appear to be hardly any cases of aircraft that are not equipped with the required radio sets to operate in the airspace where 8.33 kHz spaced frequencies are used, as was initially feared by ATCOs.

uland after": Although this new procedure is being considered in various ways by various states and/or ATS Providers, it is not yet widely applied so there is little operational feedback available from it. A potential point of concern however are the legal ramifications from a runway accident where an aircraft with a "land after" clearance rolling out on the runway collides w ith the preceding aircraft that didn't manage to vacate the runway in time. Since the pilot who accepted the "land after" clearance probably cannot be asked to give his views on the situation anymore, will this imply that the ATCO who gave the clearance has to face criminal charges? And if the answer to this question is anything other than "no, definitely not, never" , why would ATCOS want to apply this procedure in the first place? (Notice how I'm now discussing legal consequences rather than the "Safety" issue. My personal view is that the introduction of this procedure is a degradation of "Safety" under any conditions .)

LAHSO : The International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA) for safety-reasons has recently decided to advise it members to not accept any LAHSO clearances anymore. Of course this puts a burden on ATCOs at aerodromes where LAHSO operations are used to increase capacity. Other strategies will have to be applied, and maybe even the number of missed approaches will increase

THE CONTROLLER

ATC Maastricht 2002 in case pilots refuse the LAHSO clearance at the last minute - which could have safety-implications in itself too . This would appear a textbook example of a procedure by which "Capacity" could not be increased while maintaining an acceptable level of "Safety".

ASAS/CDTI: Although pilots undoubtedly encounter situations in which they wished they had a CDTI, again IFALPA has issued a statement opposing the concept of a transfer of responsibility for aircraft separation from the ground to the flightdeck . Also from an ATCO perspective there are serious reservations concerning the feasibility of the concept . If ATC remains ultimately responsible for the correct application of separation standards but is only allowed to intervene in traffic situations when the pilots and/or the automated separation assurance/ assistance systems cannot resolve the matter, then that responsibility is unacceptable. In such a situation there probably is no way for an ATCO to resolve that matter at the time of becoming involved in it, which will be at a fairly late stage . Such situations can only be avoided by an earlier intervention by ATC, which implies that in order to exercise effective control over the traffic ATC has to remain involved with it at all times. If ATC is to remain involved at all times, then

continued from page 10 : The concerns with regard to safety Safety has been taken for granted for many years. But why is it that no relevant safety figures are available and that tools which could help to enhance safety e.g .

MSAW, STCA, Conflict Probes etc are not or only being timidly implemented [?] An internal IFATCA survey [showed that] a

1% traffic increase means a 10% increase in safety critical incidents ...

The concerns with regard to new technologies .

IFATCA has always been positive towards change but not at any cost. We therefore do not necessarily accept some of the wild claims or timetables but we do accept that changes are occurring and respond positively to it ...

IFATCA wishes from new technology, be it concepts like Multi-Sector Planning, Cooperative ATS, Sector-less ATM, automated airspace that it is developed

THE CONTROLL ER

what's the point of attempting to delegate separation responsibility? And I'm not even mentioning the many institutional measures that would be required for such a delegation!

CPDLC: This alternative means of communicating is already in operational use, mainly in the Asia and Pacific regions .

Trials are conducted at other places as well, including the Maastricht Centre. And indeed this new technology has helped overcome several of the mentioned problems with voice communications. But (surprise, surprise!) CPDLC has introduced several new problems in itself: reading errors, keystroke input errors, message format errors, just to name a few of them.

Also, the indications are that sustained CPDLC exchanges comprise a higher workload for ATCOs when compared to voice communications. This factor may in part be related to HMI design aspects, but still it is one that doesn't quite correspond with increased capacity. In continental airspace CPDLC has a significant potential to alleviate some of the existing VHF frequency congestion, but only if the technology is applied smartly. CPDLC should be used to communicate non-time critical and routine information, while VHF is continued to be used for time-critical and non-routine communications . Any attempt to totally replace voice communications

with the involvement of ATCOs from the outset, that it is seen as an enabler and not a solution and that the improvements are done in incremental steps ...

What is the cost of safety7 Are sufficient funds made available to be as safe as we should be? ...

With the new safety management we must be aware that this might not be the only way to achieve a safe ATM system, since mitigation is often the solution and the problem stops at the controller . This must not be. Safety is and must remain the cornerstone of our industry and clear signals and commitment have to be given ...

The concerns with regard to new technologies.

The job of ATCOs is increasing in comple x ity, with multiple standa rds to be achieved from limited resources of airspace and ongoing training for new procedures and systems . Th e concern is that sufficient resources are not made

with CPDLC is in my view a waste of time .

What all this feedback has in common is that the introduction of those new procedures has created new problems in varying degrees of severity . The bottom line is that it is left to the pilots and air traffic controllers involved in real-time aircraft operations to deal with the consequences of a less-than-optimally designed and / or implemented procedure.

ATCOs are expected to continue to delive r "Safety" while enabling a higher "Capacity" by handling more aircraft that are operating closer together at the same time. This is what I call in the title of this presentation "positioning the controller between a rock and a hard place". It is not a comfortable position to be in, since both a rock and a hard place don't give way much when you push them to try and get more room. But if we consider "Safety " to be the rock, and "Capacity" to be the hard place , then I submit that by adding the factor "Environment" to "Capacity" there emerges a somewhat less-solid substance that possibly can be adjusted for comfort.

IFATCA's position is that ATCOs must always hav e the option to adjust their professional comfort on the "Capacit y" and "Environment" side without being force d to chip away at the bedrock foundation of their profession: "Safety".

available for refresher training. IFATCA has alw ays been positive t owa rds change but not at any cost. We therefore do not necessarily accept some of the w ild claims or timetables but we do accept that changes are occu rr ing and respo nd positively to it ...

IFATCA w ishes from new techno logy, be it concept s like Multi-Sector Planning , Coope rat ive ATS, Sector- less ATM , automated airspace that it is developed with the invo lveme nt of ATCOs from the outset , t hat it is seen as an enabler and not a solutio n and t hat t he imp rovements are done in increment al steps ... " The Jane's Conference at Maast ric ht is the annual fo rum where all ATM stake hold ers have a chance to express themse lves .

IFATCA, had fo r several years , presentat ion slots on the seco nd day - on mid to end afternoon. T he mer e fact that for the last two years IFATCA spo ke on the first day , shows the recogn it ion our Federat ion has gained w ith in the Internat ional ATM arena.

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Busi11ess l ssu es Controlling

Change

Ray Curry "Resistance is futile ." - Star Trek, The Next Generation The information explosion, including instantan eous mail and voice communication, immed iate document retrieval, and desktop electronic libraries, has changed the environment of modern ATC dramatically. Access to more inform ation in increasing amounts almost instantane ously leads to increased turmoil and complex ity for controllers. We must make decisions ever faster as both the amount and the rapidity of the information encountered increase . On the othe r hand, th~ human mind is capable of pro cess ing only a certain amount of inform at ion at a time, so more and more decisions have to be made on the basis of incomplete and ambiguous information.

We must control now more than ever in conditions of ambiguity and disarray , and log ic is sometimes at the mercy of our attitud e toward change .

Change is a silent juggernaut-a persistent , irre sistible force that marches onward. It silently invades everything and has no respect for people, cultures, or profe ssions ; including air traffic control.

Studies indicate we have entered a "postindustri al environment," characterized by more and increas ing information , more and increasin g turmoil and more and increasing comp lexity (Huber, 1984; Grayson & O'Dell , 1988) . For example, th e spee d and storage capacity of personal computer s has increased by more than 700 percent in t he past five years alone . Discounting the effects of September 11, air traffic levels are stead ily increa sing at mo re tha n seven percent per year. And more and more countries are shak ing hands on open skie s tr eaties. At the same time, advances in commun icat ions technology have increased data trans mission and retr ieval rates by more than 12 times their 1998 levels.

How do we in ATC respo nd to this dynam ic, never-ending change? We typ ica lly ch oose , consciously or by defau lt, to res ist, ignore, or sidestep the rea lities and impact of change-all pote ntially losing and self-defeating strateg ies . Instead, especially as we try to emp loy new techn ology and training

14

methods, we must "join" change, embrace it as a partner, and use it creatively for the advancement of our goals, our profession, and the aviation industry.

Some efficiency theorists, Taylor and Gantt for example , would argue that any given system could be optimized through change according to a managerial determined paradigm (Delavigne & Robertson, 1994) . What they failed to acknowledge though is the existence of variance within a system . Of course their theories were developed at the beginning of the last century when scientific management found wide acceptance during the industrial age. But, as antiquated and unrealistic as those managerial theories are, some current ATC managers and ATM "experts" still evaluate our systems based on this faulty reasoning.

In order to optimize our ATC systems we must first accept and understand the premise that variance is an integral part of the whole . We must appreciate that there is no "blueprint" or "one right way" to conduct aviation operations . What we can and should rely on is the probability that properly trained individuals, based on the interrelationship of prevailing variables, will make efficient and effective decisions .

What are the prevailing variables within air traffic systems? Obviously weather, aircraft characteristics and airspace capacity mold aviation operations efficiency. But the variables that should be host highly regarded by planners and change advocates are human reasoning and interaction. Will better technology and procedures provide a "silver bullet" solution to aviation safety and efficiency concerns? If it were possible to control the interrelationships of controllers, pilots and other aviation professionals that operate within the system as a whole, then we might expect to see a noticeable improvement to the system but not a complete and continuous optimal performance .

Call this reasoning "Chaos Theory" or whatever you want, but anyone who believes a perfect solution exists to system improvement is simply not viewing aviation as a holistic entity. The sum of the parts, do not equal the whole.

Therefore, you cannot alter part of the system and reasonably expect consistent results based on that change . Look at the integration of state-of-the-art radiotelephony equipment, for example .

Quality of ATC communications is not solely dependent on the hardware involved . It only takes one person with poor phraseology or discipline on either end of a rad io wave or voice line to degrade the communication process and product.

What's the po int of change then? In order to answer this question, we must understand the three types of change that exist : revolutionary, evolutionary and controlled change . Revolutionary change completely overhauls or remakes a system-it is volatile and potentially dangerous to the integral parts of a system . Evolutionary change occurs without much input or effort-it is a system's natural adjustment to its environment and internal flaws.

Controlled change, however , is a holistic attempt to examine, analyze, adjust and observe a system, its parts and its environment . It is an avenue toward continuous improvement . In order to function properly though, controlled change must be accepted and practiced at all levels within the system, not just at the planning or managerial levels .

What I'm suggesting, and what should be considered, is a paradigm shift toward a philosophy that each individual within the air traffic system has the potential to learn and improve upon their own function.

Each cell within the ATC body must be charged with the responsibility and authority to seek improvements in ATC operations on a continuous basis. Each element in the system must be empowered and encouraged to point out inefficiencies and potential improvements. And those charged with the responsibility to supervise others must take every care to support and listen to those they supervise .

As we look to the future, we must accept that if air traffic control is to succeed and thrive, it must re-create itself ap propriately using new techn ologi es and tra ining methods . This leads to t he

I I If: CONTROLLER

Business lssues number one issue facing ATC today . The most urgent need is for effectively initiating, implem enting , and managing intentional, meaningful, planned change-change creation .

Change creat ion is the process whereby an organiz ation or profession and its people : • Accept and welcome change as a vital component for ach ieving future success • Define the future they want to design and deliver • Develop and implement a comprehensive transition As our profession faces dynamic change, we must become more proactive and accepting of it and transition accordingly , if we are to serve effectively in the future .

The refore, managers , supervisors, and other technology integrators must become more effective practitioners of change creation . These key personnel should : • Take the genuine responsibility for leading change • Effectively define and plan for the desir ed change • Comprehensively prepare their organization for the change • Deve lop and implement a change approach that transfo rms people, processes , and circumstances Anyone who has worked a scope during a sudden radar outage understands the chaos that accomp anies shift ing

env ironments . Some controllers I have known muttered curses when faced with change, some adamantly refused to coop e rate, oth e rs like myself - though not openly welcomi ng the chaos-viewed the event as a challenge to be mastered . The difference in percept ions can be attributed to the degree of training as well as an underlying attitude toward change.

Some resist, some refuse, and some look for opportunity .

Think of change as an IFR flight plan-it must be planned, commun icated, and monitored if not act ively controlled. It takes voluntary and coordinated teamwo rk to execute effectively .

Obviously less resistance will be experienced if more participants are open toward the change.

No individual controller or supervisor can keep up with the pace of new technology and profess ional development techniques . Nor can any one technolog ist or training specialist individually help "almost all of the facility's personnel."

While each controller might be able to use new technology to help some other controllers, collaborations among supervisors, managers , training specialists, and technologists are likely to reach further and more efficiently .

By collaborating, these different professionals have a better chance of getting on top of the chaos, of identifying more effective and useful resou rces , and of develop ing mo re attra ctive and fea sible

programs for the mainstream ope rat iona l controllers . It may be just the rig ht t ime to apply some of the "Change Creation" principles, practices, and tools to the improvement of ATC operat ions and training .

For more inform ation abou t effect ive change creation and management explore the following Web sites : http ://www .change-managemen t .com /, http :/ /www .hrgopher.com /, and http :/ /knowledge .wharton .upenn .edu / .

As ATC administrators look strateg ically at how they can improve ATC efficienc y an d safety, perhaps they will recogn ize th e financial realities and the increase d potent ial for controllers in sh ifting away from the standard industry approac h .

Perhaps they will be able t o put t he nee ds of individual controllers in a cen tr al position for new ATM designs . Of cou rse if controllers are using techno logy and training methods that actua lly make th e ir pr imary duties more efficien t and inherently safe r, the res ista nce toward change may evapo rate of its own acco rd .

Who knows?

RayCurryis carrying out a Professional ATC survey and he has requested support and participation from "The Controll er " readership . Details can be obtained fro m this w ebsite: http :// www .surveys hare .com/ t . php ?s- 710

Th is survey will remain active until it exp ires on Apr il 2 , 2002 at 2 :15 PM .

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THF CONTROLLER

15

TM Crisis The ANSPView CRISES LAY BARE OLD INCONSISTENCIES Alain Rossier, CEO skyguide (Swiss Air Navigation Services Ltd) It is not necessary to begin with yet another analysis of the causes of the current int ernat io nal crisis affecting the airline industry. Enough articles have already been published on this subject .

Nevertheless it is w orth mentioning that Swit zerland and along with it skyguide, have been hit particularly hard, compared to other air tra ff ic control organisations, in the sense the y w ere, and continue to be, additionally affected by the bankruptcy of Swissair. The resulting situation will be a source of co ncern for some time to come.

financial reserves

3.

The crisis as a trigger for a fundamental reflection

As everyone knows , there are t w o sides to every coin. The current cri sis has highlighted old system deficiencies, which hitherto, thanks to a last in g positive f inancial situation, never needed to be addressed. Above all, States, who commission air traffic control services, are now compe lled to open their eyes.

Until now the overa ll ANS system simply worked and t he finances were balanced , so no one had to worry about possible bu ilt-in defects. If, as is now the case, money is short, then system deficiencies come to the fore . We have identified these and attempted , with reference to t he Swi ss environment , to divide them into five categor ies.

1.

16

Impossibility of building up

4. prevents a service provider from building up reserves for leaner times. Should such times occur, as airlines are also under pressure, it is hardly possible to raise the fees the service provider bears the full consequences of these unsatisfactory arrangements .

2.

An inconsistent decision-making process

In most European countries, the regulator's costs as well as nation al contributions to Eurocontrol are charged to the service provider .

Other costs which cannot be influenced in any way, like the meteorological service, for example, are frequently charged to the service provider. The provider has neither influence on the costs nor on the expected level of performance - the decisions are taken by other authorities without them having to bear the consequences.

Particularities of ANS charges calculation Today's system for calculating ANS charges is based on a simple formula : weight x distance. On the basis of this formula, small aircraft pay lower fees although their air traffic control requirements are the same as for large aircraft. As smaller planes are being incr easingly deployed on many Europ ean flights, it is to be expected that ANS providers will not be able to cove r their costs .

Th e formula must be reformed at int ernat ional leve l, by exploring inno vative options .

of services

It is generally recognised that transit flights are the most att ractive in terms of ANS revenues. A cross-subsidisation is currently taking place, in that transit flights carry heavier charges compared to aircraft in lower airspace . Airports and especially regional ones, as well as VFR users, benefit from the financial contribution of transit flights . It has become necessary to clearly define which services fall under the definition of "public service" and how these services are to be financed . A more equitable allocation of costs is urgently required, even more so since increasing efforts are deployed to establish a competitive relationship between service providers in the upper airspace.

Under the existing regulatory framework, air traffic control service providers have to pass on any profit to their customers in the form of cheaper fees for the future. This will work as long as the demand for services grows, but

Som e may be tempted, as an immediate react ion to the financial crisis, to focus on drast ic short term cost cutting measures alone . In the specific area of air t raffic contro l, it is important not to stop investing in equipmen t and training as a fi rst measure to counter financial difficu lti es. It is necessary to kee p a cool head and to proceed w ith caution, since in our industry, many short term mistakes can hardly be repaire d in the lon ger run .

Whi le some reasonab le costs cutting actio ns are legit imate, t he most effective manner of addressi ng t he crisis relies on a more fundamental refl ectio n aiming at longer term sol ut ions.

Cross-subsidisation

5.

No compensation for compelled services

Air traffic control companies are often compell ed to provide services without pre -agree d financial arrangements. the responsibility

In this way

for pro v iding Air

Traffic Services is occasionally delegated throug h State

THc CONTROLLER

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52

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FREEDOM

OF

COMMUNICATION

he ANS View manage the ANS system in a more efficient manner. A solution needs to be found which increas es the entrepreneurial

leeway of

ATC companies, while ensuring that the provision of "public services" and the many other state assignments are financed in a w ay other th an through cross-subsidies .

Ready to meet the next economic upswing We are convinced that the situation in the airline industry will recover in the next 6-18 months; w e are of course looking forward to a once again prosperou s airline industry . We are however not immune to a Agree ments , the f inancin g of which

identified

shortcomings.

is put off till later. Th e costs fo r

It is important to understand that

delega t ed service s fall to th e service

eliminating these system deficiencies

prov ider w he reas t he A NS rev enues flow

should by no means weaken our resolve

elsew here . Furt he r, during the last few

to convert air traffic control organisations

mo nt hs we have been obli ge d to pro v id e

into independent

servi ces for w hich airl ines were unable to

them as such . This is viewed as a

guarantee the requ ired fi nancial security .

condition for providers to enter the

The shortfa ll in payments di re ct ly affe cts

alliances and partn erships which are envi saged in the futu re to organise and

service providers.

companies or to run

new crisis : as experi ence shows , such situations are to be reckoned with every ten years . Through the aforementioned

measures and the

correction of system deficiencies , air traffic control companies should, however, no longer be so greatly ex posed and , in addition to high safety standards, also be able to maintain financial control of their busin ess.

It is high ti me that t hese weaknesses were removed. We are aware that t her e are cases where f ind ing solut ions w ill take a long ti me. In some, t he law needs to be change d or new laws created and passed by the polit ical authorit ies. In oth ers , mod ified or new internationa l reg ulations w ill be necessary, wh ich subsequent ly w ill have to be accepted by ind iv id ual states.

This shou ld however be no just ificat ion for not effectively and prompt ly address ing

18

T~lf CONTROLLER

s

ATMCrisis Th

ALL CHANGETHE CHALLENGE FOR ATM Alexander ter Kuile Secretary General CANSO

1

l

The aviation industry will remember the year 2001 as a turning point. Never before has our industry witnessed events as dramatic as the attacks on New York.

The resulting impacts will change the aviation business forever. In early 2002 one can already witness significant changes in many organisations. This will not stop; in fact change never stops. Our world is constantly adapting to new realities, to a changing external environment, whether brought on by terrorism, technology, politics or social developments.

One of the challenges in our fast moving world is for organisations and their staff to stay in touch with the outside world and to adjust to the different developments around us. Some people are challenged by change and adopt a ' leadership ' · approach; they are the first to adopt new mobile technology, have the latest DVD system at home and are among the first to recognize the power of new inventions .

Others take a more conservative approach and wait for others to cross the bridge first, but follow the leaders pretty soon.

And there are those who will resist change at all cost, their trust and familiarity with the present make the adoption of new ideas a near impossibility.

In ATM we need to be aware of the many external developments and how they impact our organisations . At the same time we need to appreciate the strengths of existing systems and procedures, and avoid changes for the mere sake of change. Clearly it is a fine line on which we walk. But that should not stop us from questioning are methods from time to time.

In 2001 our industry started to see the first signs of negative changes: an economic slow-down arrived on our doorstep. After many healthy years of growth, air traffic dropped well below forecast. By the beginning of the summer season the US airlines and airports experienced negative growth, a clear warning that our industry was heading for a downturn. In Europe and elsewhere the air t ransport system was still relatively healthy , though traffic growth was not as

rHE CONTROLLER

High growth rates resulted in 'over-recovery ' and signifant payback s. Since 2001 the reverse is true.

Revenues

l=============i

"" lndcr

Costs

Recover y

Sudden ,'under reco very ' is offset by : , - Highcrch 'a,ies ~ - hurt mdustry,M:' •·Cost cutting .,., lhmrt orgn111sn11on lill

...

,

1997

1998

..

,,

2000

1/19 2001

high as expected . By summer 2001 most Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) were starting to feel the pinch .

The events of 11 September 2001 changed our world. Demand for air travel dropped away by up to 30 % on the North Atlantic and Pacific routes. The airlines cancelled flights and closed routes at an unprecedented pace . Within weeks over 1 OOOaircraft were parked in distant places around the world . Never before has our industry witnessed impacts as dramatic as these . By November 2001 several major airlines declared bankruptcy: Swissair, Sabena , Ansett Australia, big names that have been part of our world since the 1920's, disappeared overnight . The financial impact was devastating on all players in the air transport industry.

%

our customers . As a result, short term cost savings are difficult to find.

The unprecedented downturn following September 2001 identified a number of serious shortcomings in our present ANS environment. Shortcomings that you will find highlighted by Alain Rossier, CEO of Skyguide, elsewhere in this magazine . For CANSO the developments meant urgent additional work supporting members in their cooperation with the different international organisations . From our discussions it has become clear that few organisations truly understand the financial framework in which ANSPs operate . For CANSO there is a clear task in the year 2002 to clarify developments in our industry .

In addition to the dramatic events of 2001, there are many political and technical developments that will have a significant impact on ANSPs in the near future . In October 2001 the European Commission published its legislative proposals for a 'r evolutionary' change to the design and operation of the Air Traffic System in the European Union. The Single European Sky proposals foresee the abolition of state boundaries in ATM fr om 2005 onwards. With the accessio n of many East European nations to the European Union , the proposed rules and regulation would apply to most of Europe .

Clearly if these proposals are adopted , major changes will occur in the European ATM environment.

lncreaaed Ops . Costs due

Revenues

to l~ocurity

..

Costs

i\'lo\'CnlCnts

···· ··s·~;'ii~·; ::aircr:ifi Ravanu ee nd ol 2001

Jan.

11 Srp t.

D0<.

The ANSPs , both public and private, had to undertake urgent actions to cut their costs in line with the rapid fall off in revenues. The difficult financial positio n in which many ANSPs found themselves required urgent act ion . Unlike the airlines, ANSPs cannot shut down part of their systems to cut costs. Our radar systems must operate at all times to guarantee safe and eff icient air travel for

The EU proposals call for one single 'European' licensing standard fo r ANS providers and the ir employees. Through harmonisation of the rules, regulat ion s and technology the EU expects greater operational fle xibilit y, low er costs and more effic ient use of airspace. Europe would have a single uppe r airspace Info rmation Region (EUIR) in wh ich no national borders would be recognised.

Th e ANS providers would each be allotted a 'Functional Block ' of this airspace. In add itio n close coo pe rat io n between civ il and milita ry operations would further imp rove t he effective management of European airspace . Most significantly, European nations wou ld be free to license any European ANSP to provide a service in the ir count ry .

19

Crsis European ATM system today

European ATM system today Single European Sky 2005 T he Single European Sky proposals pr esent an insti t utional , operational, social and financial challenge to the Europ ean ATM sy stem t hat some will ter m 'revo lut io nary'.

CANSO supports the Single European Sky, as ou r o rganisation believes that the pr esen t fra gmented A TM environment cannot be maintained forev er . Satellite te ch nol ogy, ACC capaci t y, and a political d esir e fo r gr eat er harmonisation make the current patch w ork of European ATM pro v ision obsol ete in th e long term . Our c hallen ge is to adopt a new framework in an accept able , efficient and pragmatic manne r . A manner t hat creates sufficient ro om fo r all vi ews and opinions to be we ig he d. Th e Europ ean Commission has start ed a wide proce ss of consultation that sho uld lead to a balanced proposal and u ltim ately to a w ell -considered decision.

On be half of t he A NSPs, CANSO is c lose ly invo lve d in t his proc ess.

So loo kin g at A TM dev elopmen ts in t he co min g yea rs, change seems to be a w ord at t he fo refr ont of man y peo ple s mind .

M any w ill w elcom e t hes e d ev elopme nts and seek to influ ence and shape t he process of change; ot hers will p refer t o ma inta in t he stat us qu o. We all have to recog ni ze t hat t he outside wor ld

20

The ANSPView Single European Sky 2005

continues to change and that we can not sit still. Therefore CAN SO will continue to support its members in seeking ATM developments that support customer requirements, while at the same time maintaining the aviation safety standards that the general public has come to ex pect .

Alexander ter Kuile (45) started his aviation career 23 years ago with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in their Flight Operations department. After working for the airline for seven years, he joined the Marketing & Sales department of the aircraft manufacturer Fokker Aircraft.

There Alexander was initially responsible for aircraft performance and economic evaluations, to move on to the position of sales director Western Europe. In 1996 Alexander moved into air transport consultancy joining the US based RAND Corporation and specialising in airline networks and the competitive forces among airline alliances.

authorities on a variety of strategic and market related issues . In addition he supported aircraft manufacturers and financial institutions performing market research into specific aircraft segments.

Mr. ter Kuile has published several articles on the competitive forces among airline alliances .

Alexander ter Kuile was appointed Secretary General of CANSO in January

2001.

Alexander ter Kuile Secretary General CANSO Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation Geneva, 5 March 2002

Before joining CANSO, Mr. ter Kuile worked as a Director in the Amsterdam office of Simat Helliessen & Eichner (SH&E) - the New York based air transport consultancy.

With SH&E Ale xander worked closely on fleet and network de v elopments , as well as on the privatisation and alliance partner selections of several airlines. He assisted airport owne rs and civil aviation

l HE CONTROLLER

ATMCrisis The ANSP View Recent Events and Future Prospects for Airways New Zealand and the Air Traffic Services Industry Craig Sinclair CEO Airways NZ The events of September virtually

11 have had

efficient as if it were in the private sector .

no impact on the oper ations of

Airw ays is run by a Board of Directo rs and

Airways New Zealand .

Management

Airways NZ has not had to lay off a single

business plan and apply corporate (not Government) standards to recruitment,

person

nor cancel or delay a dollar

pay

of

and

team

who

cond iti ons ,

develop

tendering

the

and

of air

selection of technology , bank loans etc,

traffic controllers continues as planned and

etc. There are no Governm ent guarantees fo r debt or for the perfo rman ce of the

operational

investment.

Training

there have been no cuts to pay or conditions . In essence it is business as usual, although some reductions have been made in discretionary

spending

bus iness.

The comp any is capital ised with an almos t equal mix of debt from the banks and

such as

equity from t he shareholders.

travel and head office costs .

A sensible

ratio in this regard mea ns the shareholde r The fundament al reason Airways NZ has

can absorb downside

been able to maintain

ret urns while the company can still pay the

notwithstanding

its momentum,

such a profound shock to

fluctuations

in the market or one off events

ban ks and the staff.

by forgoing

the ir

Thi s is a significant

of staff, th e

advantage ove r ATSPs which are heavily

events to occur .

With 15 years of corporatis ed experience, we have learned

investment programm e or the safety of the service . Ind eed, in the context of both the

leveraged with debt and therefore highly dependant on cash flow to pay the banks.

to expect both boom times and economic

Gulf War and the Asi a Crisis , September

downturn

11 is a relatively "normal" fluctuation.

the industry,

is because it expects such

and disaster as a normal part of

do not put at risk employment

Wi thin this structu re, the company

September

11 is not

revenue

shock

can

balance t he expectat ions of its three key

the aviation industry cycle . the

first

Airways

NZ

major

With a structure like any other busines s, Airways enjoys the freedom to manage its

has

business in the be st inter est s of its thre e

stake hold ers: customers, shareholders and staff.

it s

In relation to its customers, Airways NZ has

have survived both the Gulf War and the

shareholders and its people . The comp any

an obligation to provide the level of service

A sia Crisis as significant

owes

experienced

as a commercial entity. events

We which

di re ctly affected airl ine operations and th erefo re Airw ays NZ revenues . Mor e rece ntly

we

have

suffered

from

key

stak ehold ers : certain

relationship

airline market . We have also profited from the boom times of the mid 90 's, when the sig nificant

all too and

to

each

before with

discussing

the

each stake holde r, it is

important to set out th e basics of our co rporat e structure.

profitability.

Ai rway s NZ was set up in 1987 as a State Owned ATS / ANS

Ent erprise in New

(SOE) Zealand's

to

prov ide FIRs.

It

In

return, we have agreed prices with our customers that provide

us with

enough

fl ex ibili ty to ride out the bad t im es w ithou t an imp act on service qua lity , the investment

brie f

sustained

its customers require for a price they are wi lling to pay. That has meant we have had to reorganise our company and reduce our costs to match t he service requ ired .

Howe ver ,

of

obligations

the

and continued volatility in the Australasian

periods

cu stom ers ,

stakeholder and in t urn each stakeholder has responsibiliti es to the company.

collapse of our seco nd big ge st custome,

airlin es had one of their

it s

programme or staff levels and

benefits . These prices are based on assuming certain risks about costs and growth

and are not simply a function

of

where (like any other business) it is the

Act. Th e latter legislation provides t hat the Minister of State Own ed Enterprise and the

adding up the costs and setting the charge.

In fact, we have been able to reduc e prices over time as we have beco me more efficient and enjoyed the benefits of

shar ehold er who is w illin g to absorb the

Mini ster of Finance are share holders in t he

growth

imp act of a downt urn , in the expectation

bus iness - note the Mini ster of T ranspo rt is

Partnership

not invo lved . The Act also provides t hat

gives them access to financ ial information

the organisation must be as profitable and

and key performance indicat ors , as we ll as

What makes Airways NZ different to most other Air T raff ic Service Provid ers (ATSP s) is that we have a commercial struct ure

that he w ill profit up turn.

Thi s

THE CONTROLLER

from the (inevitable) means

that

normal

operates under both the NZ Compa nies Act (li ke any ot her business) and the SOE

in demand .

Plan with

There

is a forma l

custo mers which

21

e ANSP View setting a formula for price rebates when sufficient profits have been earned . The key issue here is that our customers

organisation . After nearly 15 years of doing business our safety record has shown continual improvement and there is

over the

believe we have behaved

no question of safety being at risk under

structure.

as a business

partner , not a cost plus monopoly.

the commercial model we have applied .

In relation to its shareholders,

We would therefore

preferable interference

Just Airways NZ

argue very strongly

risk of failure

as

there

government

are

risk of structure

in a privatised

concerns

ownership,

about

it has to be said

has an obligation to return at least the cost of equ ity capital over time.

This means

that corporatisation

delive r ing

compensates the shareholder for the risk of inv esting in Airways NZ. This return is

ensure a strong and resilient ATS organisation.

The key factor dri ving the success of the New Zealand model has

ownership typically works well where there is a need to improve the performance

higher

been the SOE Act, which has created a

fragmented businesses into effective market .

Certainly

a

than

equivalent

financial

Government

return

that

stock,

to that for utilities,

roughly

and lower

than for most other businesses.

In return,

Zealand

context

of ATS in the New

to accept the in a state ownership

is the ideal model to

corporate structure political interference

the sha reholder accepts that the profits from the business will be different in each

organisation

year because the airline market is volatile and that it is up to the Board and Management to produce long term sustainable performance . In some years

which it can meet its costs. Airways NZ does not have to provide serv ices in locations which do not require service, nor

the shareholder

Government

years

has made a loss, in other

he has made

excellent

returns

because the airline industry has performed well.

In relat io n to the employees , Airways has

customers

select

to

which prevents and enables the

who

serve

faithfully

the

pay the revenue

from

technology

benefit

which

objective

meets

a

yet provides

no

to the customer .

restructure

It is free to

its business without

regional or other employment

creating

issues and

that private sector ownership guarantee of success .

Private

of an organisation

business levels

and/or

is fragmented

of

service

is no sector

to consolidate a more the ATS

, with

provided

different to

aircraft

operating a single route, depending on the countries over flown . It seems inevitable that consolidation will take place over time, with the part privatisation of NATS and Europe taking a lead on Single European Sky.

Increasingly,

expected

governments

can be

to release ATS to the private

sector where

new

investment

or more

commercial skills are required to improve

to grow beyond its domestic business if the opportunities for growth add value to the

the

performance

of

Satellite technologies

the

organisation

.

and the expectations

an obligation to provide reasonable levels of employment security, the appropriate tools t o do the work and challenging and

shareholders investment .

of airline customers are also expected to have an impact on governments' attitude

This freedom from interference means the

towards ownership and control.

rewarding

Th e

business can be run as a business, with

should share in

investment in technology being driven by customer need and financed from the debt

Assuming

markets.

balancing

career

opportuni t ies.

people in the organisation

the good performance of the business dur in g the good times when the sha re holder and the customers also receive benefits. accept

that

organised

In return,

the

business

to balance

their

people must has to

be

expectations

with t hose of the customer (that it operates eff ici ent ly) and the shareholder (that it prov ides an investment).

Equally, investment in people is

d r iven by both the need to deliver consistent

a

level of service to customers

and by growth opportunities

where staff

private

a long

term

trend

investment , the all these

pressures

much the basic question private ownership, of government

key

towards issue

in

is not so

of state versus

but more the question

policy on private ownership

can be offered new challenges that utilise

and its implementation.

the

decision will require safeguards in terms of

skills

and

experience

they

have

developed in the operational environment .

safety

oversight,

Clearly, the policy

economic

regulation,

acce ptable return on In this con tex t , if the

While it has been suggested above that the

investment .

company has to reorgan ise the business,

New Zealand model has a track record of

t hen it must be done once and done effecti vely so that t he pain is not revis it ed w it h further "corre ctive" reorganisations .

O nce the bus in ess is set up efficiently, t he

success in New Zealand, it is not necessarily suited to other countries. As

governments in choosing to privatise will be to select the best qualified candidate in the long term interest of the ATSP, rather

discussed, the model works so well because the rules are clear and political

than as a matter of political expediency .

The implementation risk is therefore very

interference

organ isat io n must

be able to ride

out

fluc t uatio ns in t he market so that t he emplo yees do not suffe r further uncerta inty t hrou gh sho rt term "knee jerk" react ion such as cutt in g capita l programmes or suspending training .

defence

is not permitted

long

challenge

term for

similar to the risk of political

interference

under the state ow nership

model,

the discipline exercised by politicians as it is a strictly legal issue. In fact, there are

requires a similar discipline to make the right decision for the right reasons.

and

many exa mples of corporatised ATSPs in other

countries

optimising

and overr idin g objective : t hat safety is the

t herefore,

fo undat io n for t he relat ionship

government

22

real

under the

A ll t hree stakeholde rs have one co mm o n

the m and for t he long tern v iab ility of t he

The

and

SOE Act. This is as much a consequence of

int erfe renc e

bet wee n

arrangements

ownership

who

which

their risks

suffer

political

prevents

bu siness.

There are,

inherent

ownership

them

in and

both private

The que stion is whether it is

It is inevitable that the private sector will become invol ve d in the ownership

and

management of ATSPs. Whether that is a good experience or a bad experience will ultimately

depend

governments

can act in the best interests

on

whet her

' , If: CONTROLLER

AGENDA of the ATSP - which means acting in the best interests of its staff and customers rather than in response to short term political pressures . The lessons from

developed and the right private investors are selected, we should be prepared to accept the risk that those private owners

6Qill

will adhere to the same prerequisites as

past privatisations should highlight the need to take care in the development of policy and its associated framework . If a robust policy governance environment is

we in the industry already live by - that safety is first and that shareholders, customers and staff should all benefit from a well run organisation.

15 - 19 41st Annu al Confe rence See details and forms in this issue

Craig Sinclair was appointed Chief Executive Officer at Airways Corporation of New Zealand Limited in November 1996.

Prior to this appointment Craig held the position of Deputy Chief Executive from 1994-96.

From 1989-1994 he held various executive roles within Airways - these included roles relating to the commercial performance of the organisation including shareholder and customer relations, business planning and strategy development.

From 1981-1989 Craig held various legal and management positions with Databank Systems Limited and was involved in electronic banking, deregulation of the banking industry and major hardware and software acqu isitions .

Craig has a Bachelor of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington and has attended the Stanford Executive Programme at Stanford University, California .

He is also a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Management and a Fellow of Royal Aeronautical Society .

2002 12-13 Executive Board Pre Confer ence M eeti ng

20 Post Conference EB Mee ting Contact - IFATCA Offi ce Manager , Tatiana lavorskaia Phone + 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 51486676 12 Email: offi ce@ifatca.org

~ 15 - 17 Global Navcom 02 Banff , Canada Contact: - Ralph Thomp son Assistant Director , CNS/ ATM (Implementation) Program Directo r FSG Inte rnational Ai r Transport Associat ion TEL: + 1 (514) 874-0202 ext: 3306 FAX : + 1 (514) 874-2661 June 06 -08 Executiv e Board Me et ing The Nethe rlands Contact - IFATCA Offi ce Ma nager, Tatiana lavorskaia Phone+ 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 51486676 12 Email: office@ifatca.org Octobe r 09 10 ATC Asia Pacific/ lFATCA W orkshop

CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) was founded in 1998 to represent

all air navigation

government

control.

Switzerland,

services suppl iers operat ing outsid e direct

The

and currently

organis .ation represents

is headquartered

in Geneva,

Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore Contact: Paula M ilburn , UBM Phone:+44 (0) 20 8987 7832 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8995 2788 Email:: pmilburn @ubmin te rnational.com

25 full members and 29 associate

members all stakeholders in the global aviation industry .

Full Members: Aerothai of Thailand, AENA Spain, ANS of the Czech Republic, Airservices

Australia,

ATNS South Africa , Airways

Zealand, Austrocontrol,

Belgocontrol,

Italy, Estonian ANS , Irish Aviation Authority, The Netherlands,

MoldATSA

Corporation

of New

CAA Uganda, DFS Germany, ENAV

Moldova,

LGS Latvia, LPS Slovakia , LVNL

NATS , NAV CANADA,

NAV .EP

Portugal, ROMATSA Romania , Serco Aerospace United Kingdom, Skyguide , Roberts Flight Information

Region (Sierra Leone , Libe ria and Gu inea) and

UkSATSE Ukraine .

Associate Members: American Airlines , A rinc, Air Canada , A ir Transport Association

Canada, Boeing,

British

Airways , CAA Slovenia,

University , Crossair , Federal Aviation Frequentis,

lndra ,

Kazaeronavigatsia Luftfartsverket Orthogon

Innovative Kazakhstan ,

Administration,

Solutions Lockh eed

Naviair De nma rk ,

Interna t ion al, Martin ,

Conco rdia

l nteg ra,

Hungarocon t rol,

(LFV) Sw eden , MITR E, NATA M Norway , No rt hw est A irli nes,

GmbH , Pr icewate rhouseCoope rs, Rayth eon , Robe rts - Roach &

Assoc iates , SCTA France , SITA, THALES AT M, United A ir lines, Wa v io nix Software .

CANSO -

phone: +41-22 -717 8240, info@canso_org,

THE CONTROLLER

fax: +41- 22-717 8244 ,

www _canso-org

23

Human Factors FATIGUE MAN A GEMENT IN AIR TRAF FIC CONTR OL Doug las T.E. M ei n Dir ector , A ir Navigation Services & Airspace, Transport Canada The issue of fatigue has a long, divisive hist ory in aviation . Fatigue is a complex phenomenon that can often lead to heated debate and polarized positions . Some asse rt that regulations can sometimes impose unrealistic restrictions on ope rato rs; and others worry that regulated pro v isions have to be so flexible, they may not be consistently effective . There are almost as many approaches to mitigating fatigue as there are State jurisdictions, but few are content with the results. To make matters wo rse, fatigue in air traffic control has traditionally been viewed in most ju risdictions as a contractual issue. The saf et y implications associated with the impaired judgment of a fatigued controller have in th e past been largely ignored.

Co nsequentl y , there was considerable unc ert aint y when, on June 9, 1999, a co nd it ion of a negotiated settlement betwe en NAV CANADA and the Canadian A ir T raffic Control Association (CATCA) w as a di rection to formally examine the issue of fat igue as it related to the pro v ision of air t raffic control services, so t hat t he safet y aspects of fatigue could be ide nt ified , and if appropriate, recommendations proposed . Transport Canad a be came th e thi rd party of what came t o be called t he Tripartite Working Gro up (TWG). which report ed to a Tripartite Steering Committe e . The latter w as made up of T ransport Canada's A ssist ant Deputy Minister , Safety & Securi ty, th e Pre sident of CATCA , and t he Pres ide nt and CEO of NAV CANADA 1 .

literature review pertaining to the subject human fatigue. The Working Group evaluated the various types of mitigation strategies employed within different transportation industries, and by air traffic control agencies around the world . They received numerous presentations by subject matter experts on such subjects as the NAV CANADA 's Human Factors Framework; subject-specific position papers; shift scheduling parameters; and software systems designed to schedule

and optimise shifts .

Six fu ll- t ime memb ers of the Working Gro up met eig ht tim es over the cour se of a o ne ye ar pe riod. Not lon g after they beg an , t he TWG m embers decided to adopt a performance -based approach to exa min e t hi s co ntrove rsial issue. Th at is t o say, t hey co nce ntr at ed on f indin g w ays t o re du ce t he ri sk of d egr ad ed human performa nce ste mmin g fro m fatigue .

The TWG's efforts paid dividends. One of th e most important findings was that "fatigue can pose a risk to safety, and must be managed systematically, holistically and comprehensively" .

This finding underscored th e importance that fatigue management be a shared responsibility between th e employer, individual employees and the bargaining agent. In effect , the workin g group went on record as statin g that the comple xity of fatigue is such that it can threaten each and every line-of -def ence depicted in Professor James Reason's model of accident causat ion 2 . Fatigue is a hazard that must

T he TW G exa mi ned f in d ings fro m resea rch and ana lyt ical report s and carefu lly studied a co m prehensiv e

be managed comprehensively . The policies , procedures and guidelines de velop ed w ithin a company must doveta il w ith , and be complemented by ,

24

the practices and behaviours of each and every operations manager and air traffic controller . Controllers must voluntarily adopt life-styles that will not degrade their performance, especially during more demanding shift cycles . Without such a holistic approach, fatigue will continue to degrade indi v idual performance.

It is predictable. It must be managed. And it is the responsibility of everyone .

Importantly, the working group agreed that the aim of an effective fatigue management program is to reduce the potential for fatigue to negatively impact safety. Adequate sleep is at the core of effective mitigation .

But in a 24 / 7 operation, fatigue is always a potential problem that could result in an accident.

NAV CANADA's Fatigue Management Program must therefore seek to reduce the potential for fatigue . Furthermore, strategies need to be employed to minimize the extent and nature of degraded human performance during shift work. And finally, measures must be inplace to defend against the inevitable occasions when fatigue-induced human error will occur . There must be resilience designed into the operation so that human errors are "captured" or otherwise diverted from resulting in an incident or an accident.

As part of its work, the TWG examined situations that might lead to fatigue.

It constructed thresholds in which it believed performance should generally be unimpaired by fatigue and it recommended effective counter-measures should such thresholds be exceeded .

These "thresholds of risk" became important management tools for managing fatigue in a 24/7 operation.

For instance, the literature reviewed by the TWG indicated t hat there wa s an increased probability of degraded performance when prolonged consecutive hours are worked. Following detailed discussion, a "threshold of risk" of 1 O consecutive hours of work was identified , after which it w as considered that appropriate fatigue

THE CONTROLLER

Human Factors counter-measures need to be actively employed. These measures included: naps; rest periods; fitness breaks; the avoidance of longer shifts that end during busy periods of air traffic; and compensation for any consequential sleep loss in the subsequent 24-hour period.

Management

Program including :

From this foundation,

an effective,

multi-

targeted approach to managing fatigue will measures to educate staff and managers about the factors that affect fatigue; a commitment to review scheduling practices to identify areas of potential risk; and the institutionalisation of formal alertness strategies such as naps, caffeine, fitness breaks and nutrition.

grow.

Although there will be challenges ,

and perhaps even setbacks, the progress that has been made so far is unlikely to be undone.

There can be no return to the

past when fatigue

the safety

were

not

Importantly,

the

consequences well

of

understood.

Steering

Committee

accepted the TWG's recommendation In this context, the considered numerous factors such as:

working group fatigue-inducing

total hours of work, and number consecutive days of work; midnight shifts ; rest periods between shifts; time on position; shift patterns; lighting; ergonomic design; and air quality, temperature and noise.

of

In each case, a menu of options was proposed to reduce the probability of an accident occurring because of the actions of a fatigued air traffic controller.

Progress in this regard has already been made.

Even before the TWG's Final Report was published, NAV CANADA announced a multi-year plan to develop and implement a comprehensive Fatigue

NAV CANADA also intends to develop methods and performance-based metrics to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of the corporation's fatigue management strategies as they are implemented .

The underlying controversy that has surrounded fatigue for over half a century has not completely disappeared.

But the work of the Tripartite Working Group is seen to have been an important step forward to improving the understanding of this complex phenomenon. It started as an imposed direction to settle a contract.

However, by taking a cooperative approach with the common goal of optimising human performance and improving safety performance, a solid foundation has been laid for all three parties to build upon well into the future.

Nonetheless, it must be borne in mind that such an alliance comes with key commitments, responsibilities and accountabilities!

integrate

NAV

Management corporation's

CANADA's Program

related

to

into

safety management

By taking this approach, excessive

to

Fatigue the system.

the safety-risks fatigue

will

be

managed and measured both proact ively and effectively.

1 For complete information,

see: Report to the Tripartite Steering Committee on ATC Fatigue, Transport Canada , TP 13742, September, 2001 available , in English and / or French, by contacting the author by e-mail at meind@tc.gc .ca

2 James Reason Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents , Ashga te Publishing Ltd, Ald er shot , 1997 . ISBN 1 84014 105 0.

SCI Meeting - Copenhagen Dave Grace's Farewell?

THE CONTROLLER

25

KYRGVZSTAN A country somewhat different Philippe Domogala, Europea n Editor Old Lenin Statue still there facing the mounta ins in Bishek , but nobody else seemed interested .

Centra l Asi a is now on th e spotlight after t he US St rik es in Afghan istan, following the Sept 11 tragedy. Kyrgystan is now med iatised , but by pure coincidence, I v isite d t hat coun t ry a few months before .

A t t he t ime we had difficulty finding the count ry on the map. But how does som eone end up there? Well, my son and I w ere loo king to do our annual 2001 trekk ing t ogether somewhere aro und t he Him alayas. V ery soon, we d iscov ere d ( t hat was ove r a yea r ago ) t hat most of the regions that were at t he r ight altitude to walk were politically extre mely unstable ( Tibet , Nepal, T ur kmenis t an ) o r even at war ( A fg han istan, Kashmir , Northern Pakis ta n / Indian Border) .

M y son had heard som eon e on t he radio pra isin g t he beauty and the friendliness of the Kyrgyz area, w hich open ed to tour ism , after being a clo sed area for fore ig ners unt il 1997 ( due t o a Sovi et mili tary test ing rang e fo r nucl ear w eapons and t he prox imi ty of t he Chin ese bo rder ).

How to get t here w as in fact t he o nly pro bl em . Fro m w est ern Europe only two Western air lin es are f lyin g to Bishkek , t he cap ital : Br it ish Med iterranean (LAJ) on

26

behalf of British airways, twice a week via Baku , and Turkish Airlines, 3 times a week via Istanbul. British Airways offered the best price but finding a set of dates leaving us a minimum of 10 days there during our holiday period proved difficult as all the flights are heavily booked .

The local airline, Ky rgyzstan Airlines, due to economic hardship , stopped flying to the west as we will see later. The country has less than 5 million people, mostly Kyrgyz , proud descendants of the Mongols, and some 15-20 % Russians who remained after their independence from the Soviet Empire in 1991 . The official language is Kyrgyz, with Russian still spoken here and there, and that is it ! The small Russian phrasebook we had taken along proved itself a very valuable tool But it is amazing how much someone can tell using his hands and body language.

In one small shop we wanted to buy still mineral water , w e had the water bit OK but the gestures we used to make them understand the "no-gas" bit, proved so hilarious to them that soon half of t he Bazar was watching the show of the 2 foreigners making theatre. We later found out that ther e is no bottled still mineral water t here . As one lady tried to

tell me : why would you want to buy mineral water without gas when you can use water from the tap for this . much cheaper!

The trekking possibilities were as promised and in fact , extremely good, but hardly used. During our entire trip we only met twice other foreigners, both were US citizens returning to their roots in organized trips . The nature is there for yourself alone.

94 % of the country is covered by mountains, some of the peaks are over 7000 metres ( 21,000 feet) The mountain tracks start just outside the city, but a GPS is a good help as recent local maps are difficult to get ( we managed to get a partial photocopy of one in Russian) The old Soviet maps are deliberately false , to give wrong information to foreign powers in case of an invasion . The old paranoia in those days ! .

The city of Bishkek is largely built below the t ree line of a very large wood . It gives a very pleasant atmosphere to the city, like a holiday resort. The Russians built this under the trees as the temperature in the summer reaches well abo ve 40 degrees Con most days . The ro ads are very wide , with little road tr affic.

, f

No

CONTROLLER

KyrgystanVisit the dams and the reservoirs for the whole area there. Now the Kyrgyz officials are trying to barter water for fuel - an interesting concept .

Two years ago the nationa l airline tried to lease 2 Airbus A320s from Airbus lndustrie. But despite the fact that the A320 burns 2,8 times less fuel than a Tu154 ( for the same number of passengers !) the leasing terms were in US $ and became too much for the poor economy . Now, the airline is back with its Tu154s .

criminality whatsoever; one can walk safely at nightwhen it is likely that you meet a lot of people walking their dogs, and teenagers arms in arms in romantic cruises. It is also pleasant to see that the country is totally multi-ethnic , with many Russian-Mongol couples.

Now to aviation : when the Soviet empire collapsed in 1990, they left 57 airliners behind mostly Tupolevs 134s and 154s and a handful of Yak 40s . The Soviets also left a huge airport 20 Km from the capital, that was soon tr ansformed into the national airport, named after a local legendary hero - Manas .

destinations within the CIS, and with Moscow, while the 3 Yaks 40s still operational are used to lin k the capital with the three other regional airports when there is enough passengers and fuel.

When we were in Karakol, some 10 hours drive from Bishkek, we visited the local (deserted) airport to ask when was the ne xt flight to Bishkek : "Maybe next month!

"was the answer from the lady .

Fuel is a real problem because one thing that is lacking in Kyrgyzstan is fuel supplies. Its neighbors, Kazakhstan and Uzbekista, have plenty of it, but are short of water. One thing that Kyrgyzstan has is

From the 57 aircraft left by the Russians, only 9 are currently operational in 2001. Also, the airline is responsible for everything to do with aviation in the country: meteorological services, air traffic control, aviation

Despite their economic problems, the country is st ill very worth a visit, if you like mountains, good and inexpensive food and a bit of adventure with very friendly and ready to help people.

Accommodation is basic but ine xpe nsive if you stay with the locals.

They have just built a brand new Hilton Hotel, with western comfort but prices to match that!

plenty of water as the Soviets had built

Surprisingly the te lephone wo rks wel l, and the capital area is even cove red w ith mob ile GSM (European standa rd ) .

Parallel economy flouri sh on cheap PRC (China) imports.

We really enjoyed ou r stay in t his very diffe rent count ry , and we are even planning to come back in a couple of years to wa lk a diffe rent moun t ain range , this ti me clo se t o the Chines e border, if the politica l sit uation allows it then.

The Aviation Museum with its M IG21 set in concrete wh ich was left over from Sov iet times . The Building is st ill closed.

fuel distribution, the ground handling and the terminal.

A s the air traffic controllers are paid by the airline, this must ensure loyalty and less delays.

However, with th e current number of movements at Manas Airport, ATC delays are something unh eard of there. There are plan s to break up the various services and nationa lize them, in a truly western manner .

A few Tu15 4s are used in lin king Bishkek wit h a handful

THE CONTROLLER

27

Bo The Field Guide to Human Error Investigations.

Sidney Dekker Reviewed by Bert Ruitenberg.

IFATCA Human Factors Specialist Sidney Dekker , who was a much appreciated speaker at the 2001 IFATCA AFM Regional Mee t ing in Accra (Ghana). is an Associate Professor at the Linkoping Institute of Techno log y in Sweden . He earned his Ph . D. in Cog n itive Systems Engineering in 1996 at t he Ohio State University (USA) . He is a pilot and has gone through First Officer training on t he DC-9 . In this highly contemporary book th e aut ho r contrasts the "old" and the "new" view on human error, and how these views ea ch influence the characteristics of investigat ions into incidents and accidents.

The first part of the book describes the old v iew - t he problems it holds, the traps it rep re se nts and ho w one could fall into these.

The old view is characterised by what Dekker calls "the bad apple theory" : errors are made by unreliable people who thereby cause d istu rbances in an otherwise safe system; all t hat is required to restore safety is to ensure t hat defective practitioners (the "bad a pples ") do not contribute to system br e akdown again.

made; situations get misassessed.

In hindsight it is easy to see all of that. People inside the situations themselves may even see that. But the new view avoids judging people for this. It wants to go beyond saying what people should have noticed or could have done. Instead , the new view seeks to explain "why" . The new view of human error wants to understand why people made the assessments or decisions they made - why these assessments or decisions would have made sense from the point of view inside the situation. When you view people's situation from the inside, as much like these people did themselves as you can reconstruct, you may begin to see that they were trying to make the best of their circumstances, under the uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding them .

When viewed from inside the situation, their behaviour probably made sense - it was

Dek ker goes on to point out that the shortcomings of the bad apple theory are se ve re and de e p. For example, focusing on ind ividual failur es does not take away the un d erly ing problem.

In other words , c han g ing the make -up of the operational wor kforce by remo ving bad apples has little long-ter m effect if the basic conditions that pe opl e w ork under are left unchanged.

The se cond part of t he book is about the new v iew, in w hich human error is seen as a sy mptom of trouble deeper inside a system.

Human error th us bec o me s th e starting point fo r an investi g ation, as opposed to being the co nclusion (which oft e n is th e ca se in the old view - ho w man y accid e nt s reports have you seen in w hich "pilot e rror " or "controller e rro r" was t he ultimate finding ?).

In t he new view o n human erro r people are vita l to creating safet y. Th ey ar e th e only ones w ho ca n ne g otiate bet ween safet y and oth e r pres su res in actual op e rating conditions . Also in t he ne w view , human errors do not com e une xpec t edly . The y are th e ot he r sid e of hum an ex pert ise - the human abilit y to cond uct negot iat io ns wh ile fac e d w it h a mb ig u o us evid e nc e a nd unc erta in outco mes.

A stra ig ht qu ote fr om the b ook may be in o rder here: "The ne w view of human e rro r does not neces sar ily say tha t hum an error does not exist . Peo ple screw up t he w hole t ime . Goa ls are n 't met ; select ions are wrong ly

28

systemically connected to features of their tools, task and environment ." (pp. 64-65) .

The book's second part contains guidance on how to investigate human error according to the new view . Of particular significance is chapter 9 , which details a method for the reconstruction of people's unfolding mindset - Dekker considers this the central part around which the rest of the Field Guide revolves . But there is also an interesting chapter on Patterns of Failure, and an important chapter on how to write meaningful Human Factors recommendations. Again in the words of the aut hor: "A human error investigation should ultimately point to changes that will truly remo ve t he error pot ential from a system something that places a high premium on meaningful recommendations. ( ... ) If all recommend ations are rejected at the end,

then the investigation (pp. 133 / 140).

has missed its goal."

The penultimate chapter of the book is on organisational learning and neatly outlines why human error investigations must be conducted in the first place . The final chapter provides a summary of the previously described methods for human error investigation. Dekker uses the last page and a half of the text to point out the difference between explaining and excusing human performance, and that the former is what the Field Guide helps achieve but that the latter is something which depends on the norms and laws that govern practice and reactions to failure within a specific organisation or domain.

The text of the book is richly interspersed with examples to illustrate certain points made. If there is any criticism to be given at all, it would be that perhaps these examples could have been presented in a slightly more distinctive way from the main text . They are now just set in a smaller version of the same font (and sometimes even in the same size) between horizontal lines, which makes it not always easy to know whether on e is reading the main text or an anecdote . Also, Dekker has opted to not identify the involved companies etcetera in many of the examples used although in most cases these will be easily recognised by readers who are familiar with Human Factors literature . It could be argued that for the benefit of a new generation of readers it would be helpful to actually have the identifications given, so that they could retrieve more information about specific cases if required.

But these are just minor points. I found this a highly interesting book in which many of the ideas that have been emerging within Flight Safety and Human Factors circles over the last few years are captured in a wellstructured way. This book should become required reading for anyone who becomes involved in the investigation of incidents and accidents, and not just within the aviation domain. (After all, human error is not something the aviation industry has a monopoly on!)

The Field Guide to Human Error Investigations. Sidney Dekker (2002).

Ashgate Publishing Ltd ., Aldershot, Hants, GU11 3HR England . (www.ashgate .com) ISBN O 7546 1917 6 (hardback) 0 7546 1924 9 (paperback) .

'If CONTROLL ER

ControllersWorld ATCO Marketing and Communication Luc Staudt 'One cause for concern is the effect on recruitment of ill-informed criticism or public denigration of air traffic control and controllers . If any potential recruits are discouraged by their perception of the public image of air traffic control, this is particularly important because the image is false. Air traffic control is a very satisfying job and many enjoy it so much they wish no other job. There is therefore a gulf between the public image of air traffic control as a profession and the controllers' perception of it, their pride in it, and their identification with it, said Mr. David Hopkin, a commended Human Factors specialist in our domain. His words are some ten years old but still valid . Why is this so, what is wrong with our profession?

The problem in ATCO selection appears to be the same throughout the European continent and most probably throughout the world . National administrations in charge of the selection of ATCOs have faced high failure rates and, what is even worse, highly variable failure rates .

Recruiters believed their selection process was good but that training had to be improved . Trainers claimed that the poor quality of some candidates didn't all~w better success rates . Considering the high cost of failure, most of the Civil Aviation Authorities decided to tackle this problem by analysing their present selection and training methods.

In the past few years administrations have seen a significant drop in the return rate of forms following national advertisements campaigns . The rate of requests for an information pack remains high but the return rate of the applicants' forms has dropped steadily . Added to this, some administrations also notice a slight reduction in the quality of the applicants, the success rate at testing had dropped by just over 10 %.

The question that faces us is: why has this occurred? It is likely that there is no one simple answer. The probable causes are: Lack of awareness of the role of an ATCO; Poor publicity in the recent press about ATC. The academic standards required focuses on a highly motivated group who are

fH~ CONTROLLER

attracted to many other professions, especially in 'new technology' and computer systems .

Lack of awareness and poor publicity! The answer to this is Marketing and Communication!

Controllers are accustomed to being unseen and unappreciated but unaccustomed to unfair criticism, mainly initiated by airlines .

Within the Eurocontrol European Air Traffic Management Programme (EATMP) a study has been done on exactly this topic . After interviewing young people about the ATCO job, it became obvious that the career of ATCO is unfamiliar to most except for a few individuals acquainted with the aeronautical world.

Most of the students do not know about the ATCO job.

For example, when entering university, they never consider this particular career. This explains why students are not very receptive to the promotion of the ATCO job before or at the end of their time at university. The same applies for those who leave school and go straight into employment.

For an individual candidate, the time-span between the first awareness communication and effective application is estimated at around four years. This time corresponds to the period over which a potential candidate, aware of the ATCO job, will think about it, evaluate its advantages and consider the consequences of applying for it. This implies that the ATCO job communication should target young people between 16 (the earliest communication phase) and 24 (the last communication phase).

A lot of work remains to be done to improve the public image of air traffic control, and to place the blame for dela ys where it belongs so that air traffic control has no more than its fair share of it. The objective is to attract a continuou s suppl y of qualified and motivated candidate s to become air traffic controlle rs, who have realistic and well-informed expectations about the job for which the y are applying.

Numerous surveys show that the typic al European ATCO applicant is a universit y student or a school leaver holding a school certificate which entitle s him or he r to enter university and is 20 - 24 years old.

Air traffic control as a profession needs to press harde r fo r adequate media time to respond to criticis m of it, using professional representatives who have received media training in how to present their case to the best effect.

Every opportunity to educate and inform the general public about air traff ic control should be taken.

Practical methods includ e more high quality introductory texts and articles on air traff ic control , wellpresented and informat ive ta lks and lect ures, more publicity in school s and co lleges, more incisive and better trained professional lobb y ists, and more spon sors hip of films, videos and te levision programmes as publicity and educational material.

Air traff ic control can be intrins ically interesting to many people w ho know litt le or nothing about it.

The objective is not to over-exalt air traffic control. but to restore its good name and match its image and its rea lity .

Potential candidates for an ATCO job app ly for this position as long as they become aware of the ex iste nce of the and have been attracted to the job because of it s challenges, advantages benefits.

National and Internat ional Admin istrations should make the promotion of ou r profession a priority.

It is time our profession got the attent ion it deserves in order to attract young people to our jobl

The ATCO job has to be perceived and remembered as a potential job long before the decision is taken to apply for it.

The features of the ATCO job therefore have to be explained and presented to future candidates. Perceived images will be used to draw attention to the job as in the case of the job of pilots or engineers.

Tangible advantages, i.e . the material characteristics of the job of controller , will be made clear to the candidates to persuade them to apply for the ATCO job before deciding to make other applications.

w ill have job and

29

OCUS on

CorporateMembers

mid

V oice Switching User Interfaces Voice Switching User Interfaces Until a co up le of ye ar s ago , the crea tion of vo ice sw itchin g inte1faces for radio and teleph one co mmuni ca tion was the j ob of technicians. Depending on the infl uence of the co ntro llers and the fantasy and ab ility of these tec hni c ians, lots of diff erent user interfaces with a w ide ra nge of spec ial fu nct ions we re invented. Later on , the indu stry was aske d to crea te so me fun ctio nal replicas w ith modem sw itch ing tec hn o logy. Thi s ended up in a numb er of expensive, custo mer spec ific sys te ms.

When a group of contro llers is asked how a user interface of a modern vo ice sw itchin g so luti on should look lik e, the spec trum of the answe rs is extreme ly w ide. In mos t cases, co ntrollers ta lk imm ediately abou t thei r dreams, such as mo dem , co lourful touch sc ree ns . The next bur st of importa nt items co ntai ns all their trouble with the curren t wo rking pos itions . Very se ldom , controllers speak abo ut the dai ly fea tu res they usually need .

Site Inve s tig ation If the voice sw itching indus try wo uld a lways fo llow these w ishes and don ' ts, a new ge nera tion of opera tor po s itio ns wo uld be created , which wo ul d not fu lly take into acco unt the eve ry day requir ements . To recog nise these daily mu sts I spent a lot of time w ith severa l customers of differe nt AT C's all ove r the world . Th e discussion gave me always a ce rta in view of th e loca l feat ure s. Site investiga tion . by sittin g be hind the co ntrollers to analyse their opera tional behav iour , recove red a numb er of featu res, which w here not me nt ioned in the di scussions .

There does not exist 路'one路 路 sta ndard opera tor pos ition layo ut. However, ATC' s and the suppli ers have recog ni sed , th at havin g a spec ial , complete ly custome r specifica lly des igned layo ut is not only expensive, but it increases also the effort and risk in maintainab ility. As a comprom ise to fu lly user spec ific des ign , Schm id Telecom offe rs a lib ra ry o f di ffe rent app rove d sol uti ons . which ca n be adap ted th ro ugh co nfig ura tion . Thi s guara ntees functional co nsistency and red uc es the cos ts of the effort spent to adapt the opera to r pos itions manu als. Th e abilit y of runnin g diff erent layo uts in th e sa me system takes res pec t to the differen t needs of co ntro llers, pl ann ers or ass istants.

Readabi lity and Arrangemen t O ld , button contro lled so lutio ns showed the te lephony states "Off" (no active lamp) " Rin ging" thro ugh a blinkin g lamp and an 路'Act ive" co nnec tion throug h a stea dy light. Th e operator did not have to read the text be hind the butto n , beca use they knew a lready the co nnect io n name placed at that butto n pos itio n. Due to this fixed position, the rea dab ilit y o f the tex t on a blin king button was not a prob le m . The fixed po sition s implified the recog nition and access. At the other hand, the space for large button fields w ith m ore than 100 buttons was not avai lab le on standa rd co ntroller de sks . T his res ult ed in a lim ited nu mb er of access buttons dedi ca ted to the use r 's tas ks.

Mode rn to uc h pan e ls offer a number of se lec table pages. Th e usage of such multi ple page arc hitect ure allows the integ ratio n of a large numb er of direct acces s keys and spec ial functio ns on a reas onab le space. Dep end ing on the use rs de mand. impo rta nt butto ns are pla ced near the border on areas which are neve r covered by other pages. Less impo rtant butto ns are pl aced on pages and sub-pages. which may be tem porar ily cove red depending on the selec ted page. Incom ing ca lls are presen ted on a te lephon y_stack. Th e direct recog niti on of inco m ing ca lls clue to their pos ition is only po ss ible. if a co rres po nd ing d irect access key 1s v1s 1ble on the curr entl y se lected page. Thi s means . that readab ility is an impo rtant issue for ca ll recogn ition. B linking areas attra ct the operato rs eyes. howeve r. as the readabi lity in this case is reduced. I reco mmend rat her to use a brig ht co lour s uch as ye llow than to d iminish the reada bi lity by bl inking . ~

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r1if- CONTROLLER

Focus on CorporateMembers Schm· The Power of Colours After a colourless button field, the enthusiasm of ge ttin g a colourful touch panel is grea t. The fo llow ing conc urr ent reason s for the use of colours were identified: • Indication of different status inform ation (off, active, ringing, warning , error indic ation , ...)

• Indication of different functionality (telephon y, radio, page selectors , function keys, ...)

• Ge ogra phica l separation (intern al, externa l, ...)

• Indication of different priorities (normal , urgent , hotline , .. .)

The irrational combination of all these reaso ns wo uld end up in a very colourful Christmas tree.

In the daily live , the recog nition of different co lours has become standardise d. Red is genera lly recogn ised as ver y imp ortan t or eve n as an alert. Yellow is frequently used to highli ght something or to give a war nin g . Other colours such as blue or green are much less meanin gful. Th e least attractive colour is grey.

An alternative solution for the indic ation of different functionality's and the geogra phic al separa tion ca n eas ily be done by the placement or shape of buttons . If the use of colours is primarily aimed to indic ate different status inform ation , enr iched by so me priority inform ation , a pas sive screen without any activit y would appear in a not attractive, passive grey. A ye llow indication of an incomin g call would easily attract the operators eyes.

The following table shows an example of the indication of different telephone stat us inform ation .

Display

Description

(empty)

Indication of the idle state. The button is free at the moment. There is no telephone connection ready behind this button.

Indication of an outgoing call.

Indication of an incoming call. Touch this button to accept an active connection.

Indication of an ongoing (active) connection with a partner or an external networ k.

Indication of an active connection parked into the state on hold .

Indication of an active connection parked by the partner.

Indication of an outgoing call to an engaged partner.

Indication of an outgoing call to an engaged trunk.

Indication of a defective line or trunk .

Indication of an ongoing intrusion .

Indication of an ongoing hotline call.

calling ringing active on hold suspended busy line busy Error intruding hotline

Table 1 Examples of Telephone States

Fast, One- Touch Access Special functions such as buildin g a conference or ca ll diversion already exi sted on old button dri ven appli cations . However. as the handlin g of these features was tricky, these functions have only seldom been used. Th e simplifi cat ion of the creat ion of co nfere nces for briefings or a "Common Cra sh Call" is very usefu l. The exten sion of the function ality of "D irec t Access Key s"' enabl es the user to automa tica lly build up such co nfere nce s through a single click on a dedic ated key which rep rese nt such predefined conferences.

Voice Voice is sti ll the most imp ortant bi-directional com muni cation mean s fo r a fast interacti on in fl igh t manage ment . Even if the operational inte1face of the con tro ller positions become more and more attract ive . the form er usage and di stributi o n of the different voice source s stays the sam e . Some co ntroll ers like the combinat ion of telephon y and radi o commun icat ion o n their headsets . Other co ntroll er s prefer a dynamic sp lit of the audio into telephony and radi o du ring a te lepho ne co nversa tio n and the transmi ssion of rad io on both earp hones if no telephony comm unicat ion is active. A fu rther group of co ntro llers desi res the co mpl ete split of radio and te lephony and reque sts for the telephon e commun ication the usage of a separate hand set. D iffere nt pu sh to talk priorities and a fast override function fo r an instructor headset or microph one is of ten requ este d. So me co ntro llers req uire loca l side tone. Flex ibilit y in configuration is reque sted to fulfi l the diff erent behavio urs of the audio distribution in ATC ce ntres .

Conclusion T he change of a vo ice switchi ng system from one ge nera tion to a new ge neration is an important task. The technical sta ndard s and interfaces are g iven . For a success ful tran sition it is mandator y, that the op erators feel confide nt with the proposed so lution. Tria ls on a rea l system or at least a reduced demo equ ipm ent base d on rea l sw itching hardwar e are he lpful for an optima l soluti on.

1HF CONTROLLER

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0

co

CONCORDE

NEWS

D aniel Casanova On July 25 2000 an Air France Concorde crashed at Gonesse a few minutes after tak e-off , causing the death of 113 persons.

(See issue 4/ 2000) .

In response to t his tragedy, the British and French Authorities (Transport Ministry, Bu rea u Enquetes Accidents (BEA), Air Acciden t Investigation Branch , Justice,

et c .) , t he ope rat ors (Air France and British A irways) and t he Concor de manu fact ur ers (A irb us France, fo rme rly A erospatiale and A irb us UK, fo rme rly BA e) d ecid ed to do t heir ut m ost t o und er stand w hat had happe ned.

A irb us France 's reaction w as immediate .

T he acc id ent in ve sti gat ion co mmi t te e, co mposed of t he t echnical direc t or , the flig ht tests d irecto r, t he Conco rde chi ef enginee r , ex perts and manager s in various d isciplin es (includin g reti red emplo yee s) , met as soo n as t he accid ent wa s announced and co ntacted t he Airbus UK spec ialists.

A irb us France made its tec hni cal experts avail ab le to the off icla l co mmi ssion of inqu iry .

Suspension of fl ights A ir France im med iately suspended all its Concorde fl ights whereas Brit ish Airways

32

decided to operation .

continue

its

commercial

Mid-August 2000, the BEA, in liaison with its British counterpart, the AAIB, issued a preliminary report . Its recommendations concluded in the suspension of the Certificates of Airworthiness - which therefore meant grounding - of the 12

Concordes (5 for Air France and 7 for Brit ish Airw ays).

At the initiat ive of the British and French Transport Ministers, periodic meetings were organis ed to monit or progress of the inquiry and elements permitting th e aircraft to return to service.

The re w as a strong det ermination at Airbus France and Airbus UK to take all possible measures to enable Conco rde to fly again in optimum safet y conditions: both to satisfy the operator s and to fulfil their missio n of aircraft manufacturer .

Close co-ope ration between all actors concerned

The T ransport Min istry , the BEA, the British and French Airworthiness Au t hor itie s (CAA and DGAC). Airbus France and A irbus UK, Air France and Br it ish Ai rways, Rolls Royce , SNECMA and

their suppliers worked together to understand the accident and rapidly find solutions.

Work focused on three main themes : - understand, by a rigorous analysis of events that occurred before and during the accident, - identify the most probable scenario for

the accident - define the actions to be taken to that the sequence of events leading accident could never happen again reinforc e th e aircraft's airworthiness

ensure to the and to .

A sequence of events On the basis of the indications provided by the BEA in the inter im report, the aircraft manufacturers established the most probable scenario: - destruction of a tyre by a foreign object. creation of a massive fuel leak . combustion and sustained fl ame Study themes To solve the problem of tyre destruction, the diff erent tyr e manufactur ers wer e contacted to find if any research w as under w ay on a new t y pe of tyr e, mor e resilient to dama ge by fo re ign obje ct s.

To limit th e effect s of fuel leaks, st udie s

f Iâ&#x20AC;˘

CONTROLLER

Concorde were launched on the fitment of Kevlar lining in the aircraft's fuel tanks.

In addition, to stop any risk of a source of ignition in the landing gear bay, studies were carried out on the reinforcement of the electrical wiring armouring in the landing gear bay.

A detailed analysis of the phenomena was performed on powerful computers and consisted in modelling flows in the event of residual fuel leak and modelling foreign object impacts.

A cause and effect safety analysis was also performed on the systems and engines.

Tests on aircraft

On the military air base at lstres, which has the longest runway in Europe (5 km), two types of test were performed by an Air France Concorde with the assistance of the Flight Test Centre .

The purpose of the first series of tests, which took place at the end of January 2001, was to study the flow path of a residual fuel leak during high -speed taxi runs.

The second series, end of April beginning of May 2001, consisted in performing high-speed taxi runs with braking on dry and wet runways to analyse the behaviour of the new Michelin NZG tyres and associated systems (landing gear, brakes, wheels).

In Great Britain, mid-July 2001 , flight tests with a British Airways Concorde equipped with liner checked cor rect op e ration of the fuel systems .

rubber projectiles were fired at a Kevlarstrengthened fuel tank to assess the resistance of the structure to the impact of tyre debris .

Bench tests were performed for qualification of the NZG tyres.

Tyre damage tests were carried out in the Michelin laboratories and at the DERA in Great Britain tests were carried out on fuel ingestion by the engines .

Combustion tests were performed at the BAE SYSTEMS test centre (Warton) .

The modifications to Concorde Tyres

After the accident on 25 July 2000, Airbus France questioned the different aircraft tyre manufacturers on the feasibility of tyres for Concorde which would not burst in the way the one did which caused the accident .

MICHELIN was the only manufacturer to propose the development of a new tyre technology on the basis of research already performed by this company.

This development was speeded up to reach the indust rial production stage permitting the Concorde fleet to be equipped with these new tyres . The advantages of this new technology are in the radial structure of the tyre and the resistance of the material used .

This technology gives a tyre which stretch es less than pre vious ones (hence the name NZG = Near Zero Growth). These tyres are designed to be more resilient to damage by foreign objects and only in extreme cases can smaller, lighte r tread pieces be released, giving a much lowe r level of energy on impact.

of fuel from any leak which may be caused by perforation of the tank. Any remain ing leakage would be sufficiently low to present no danger for the aircraft and its engines.

Armouring of electrical wiring

Airbus France has defined a fle xible shield for the electrical wiring (28 Volts ) in the landing gear bay to eliminate the risk of impact of an object on these w ires creat ing an electrical spark and igniting the residua l fuel resulting from the damage created by the simultaneous impact of another objec t puncturing the fuel tanks located upst ream of the landing gear bay .

In addition, the electrical po wer (115 Volts) to the brake cooling fans will be switched off by the flight crew before ta ke-off and landing .

Brake unit and water deflector

Two other minor modifications have be en defined by Airbus France : The brake unit and the water deflec t or have been modified to accommodate t he slightly different profile of the new ty re.

All these modificat ion s have bee n de fined jointly by t he British and Frenc h aircraft manufacture rs and t he y have both participated in t he val idation a nd sub stan t iation of th ese mo difications acco rd ing to t he ag reed wo rksharing and the diffe rent test resou rce s ava ilable in each coun try .

ON LINE

Laboratory tests

The liner concept was developed in the Airbus France laboratories, where the first tests to assess its efficiency were also carried out.

At th e CEAT (Toulouse Aeronautical Test Centre) the efficiency of this concept was confirmed by wind tunn e l testing and

r1n=CONTROLLER

Liner

The flexible protection applied inside the tanks was specified by Airbu s France and manufactured

by AERAZUR (Rouen factory).

This lining technol ogy consistin g of Kevlar fibre-reinforced Viton will reduce the flow

Since Nove mber t he 1t h Brit ish airways and Air Franc e start aga in com mercia l flight. For all French media it wa s a ve ry good ne w. For peop le also , if the larg e part of t he popul at ion ca n't pay the tick et t hey are pro ud for European t echno log y in civil aviat ion!

33

C arlie's Co THROWING PEANUTS AT YOUR BOSS A Cathay Pacific pilot was sacked after throwing peanuts at the Cathay Pacific CEO, David Turnbull, during a party while both were sitting at a bar in Hong Kong .

The captain was re-hired immediately by Vi rgin.

The peanut incident apparently did not cause any problem to Virgin CEO (Sir Richa rd Branson) .When a Hong Kong j ourna list asked a Virgin executive if t hat att itude did not bother them , they replied : " If a Captain th rew some peanuts at our senio r execut ives, and certainly if he threw some peanuts at Richard, then I thin k the worst thing t hat could happen is that Richa rd would throw some peanu t s back at him."

n This taxiway is only 2000m long and gets narrower at the end. Arriving at the end, the pilot pulls up and while the gear leaves tyre marks on the snow after the taxi way, manages to take off. The crew continue as if nothing had happened .

Recently the FAA released the tapes on the co-ordination conversation between the TWR and Approach controllers and published it on the internet: Extracts : 2:42:45 Local Controller No he's going on the w rong . . .

2:42:47 North Radar Controller He 's on a taxi way 2 :42 :48 Local Cont roller He's on a taxiway

Runway 03 iat Lisbon (Portugal), for its flight to Paris.

This time the controller

initiated a stop

and after 800m, the aircraft indeed stopped . After waiting for its brakes to cool down, it took off, this time from the correct runway.

As someone else put it - Is this a global plan by Airbus to try to re-certify their aircraft a STOL (Short Take Off and Landing)?

OVERHEARD ON THE FREQUENCY: A pilot after having checked in on the ATIS on his first call to the TWR somewhere in Spain;

I lik e that.

AD V ERTISING THE PROFESSION IN STYLE NATCA, The National A ir Traffic Con t rollers Associat ion of USA announced in a press release that it is t eaming up with a Car Racing Team to advertise NATCA. They will start with t he wo rld famous Daytona 500 race; one old Pont iac Grand Prix racing car (bearin g Number 18) and belong ing t o a well known (in the USA, at least ) driver called Bobby Labonte, wi ll carry NATCA's red, w hite and blue logo. It seems, for those w ho know t he sport that the car is not a very perfo rme r but the d r iv er very good.

In a news release , NATCA Executi ve Vice President Ruth Ma rlin said: "For us, it's j ust like auto racing; if your driver isn't at t he t op of his game , it doesn't really matt er how good your car is. Air t raffic co ntro ller s have to be at the top of their game w het her or not t heir equipment is good en o ugh to w in at Dayton a " They are not ref er ring to an ATC manufac t urer by any chance ? I bet the FAA lov es it.

M IXING UP TAX IW AYS AND RUNWA YS Last January, a China Air Lines Airbus A340 with 254 passengers, left the park ing are a of the Te rminal of Anc ho rage airport in Alaska , t ax i-ing for t he Runway 32 for an 11 hou r flight to Ta ip ei . Just befor e arrivin g at t he runway t hr eshol d, t he TWR controll er gives him cle arance t o line up and t ake off on Run w ay 32. The A 34 0 , still on the perpe ndi cul ar tax iw ay (80 deg rees di ffe rence) sudd enly accelerates on t his tax i w ay and atte mp ts to take off on it.

34

2:42:49 North Radar Controller This is gonna be ugly 2 :42:50 Local Controller T his is gonna be seriously ugly call the crash phone make it an alert three

Pilot; TWR confirm the runway in use and the wind as indicated in the ATIS are correct?

TWR : Affirm.,Use

of Runway 24 is

mandatory .

2:42 :54 North Radar Controller Yeah geez [recording refers to other aircraft] 2:43 :21 Local Controll er He's airborne 2:43:22 North Radar Controller Yeah

Pilot: In that case , with that runway, we request a different wind ! .... .

Since our old friend Concorde is back flying: Beautiful British upper class accent in slow clear voice:

2 :4 3 :24 Pilot China Airlines flight 011: Tower Dynasty zero eh one one airborne (portion of transc ript not printed) 2:46:38 North Radar Controller Did he hit anything out th ere ?

2:46:39 Local Controll er We're still checking 2:46 :40 North Radar Controller Huh he's not climbing real good ...

2:46:43 Local Cont roller No he wasn't tax iing very well ....

"Heathrow this is Speed bird CON-CORDE 2, descending to 4000 ft ...... established on the ILS".

Before the controller could reply: "Ah .. Heathrow, this is Midland AIRBUS 134, also descending to 4000 ... " Next Call: "Oh Yes, and the Virgin BOEING is also on the frequency

.. "

BA002: Heathrow, when all those small AH .. our famous Airbus 340's rates of climb .. but take off distance at near maximum take off weight! Hey ...their next advertising campaign should read "We take off from anywhere ! ... "

aeroplanes are finished, could we get our clearance to continue please ... .

En-route: BA001: Gander is FL 600 available ?

A one off case would you say, well , wait, despite all the media coverage of that case, a few weeks later, (in February 2002) an Air France Airb us A320 with 65 passengers on board attempted to take off fr om the parallel taxi-way of the cleared

Gander: It is all yours if you can make it !

BA001 : Roger Sir , descending to FL 600

THE CONTROLLER

Mexico P cture Gallery

Torre Airport

rHE CONTROLLER

35

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