IFATCA The Controller - 4th quarter 2005

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Welcome Letter Dearfriendsand colleagues!

On behalfof the OrganizingCommittee IFATCA 2006,I havethe pleasureof inviting your participationat the 45th International Federationof Air TrafficControllers' Associatiions AnnualConference, to be held in TheSplendorHotel,in the bustlingcity of Kaohsiung, Taiwanfrom March27-312006.

As you verywell know,IFATAC was estab· lishedwith the goalsof stressingthe importanceof regularityand safetyin ATC, and the promotionof the air traffic service profession.

Thisconference, now in its 45th year,remainsvery relevantin today'sbusy air travel industryby serviceas a forumfor the exchangeof ideasleadingto more effectivestrategiesto meetgrowing challenges.

ThisAnnualConference, to be attendedby probablymorethan 800 delegatesfrom the IFATCA family,will alsoincludean exhibition to featureaviatioin-relatedindustriesand businesses.

Awareof your long-timesupport of the air navigationandtravel industries, let me invite your participationin this exhi· bition. Formoredetails,pleasecheckthe exhibitionweb pageat http://www.ifatca2006.com.tw Again,let me expressmy gratefulnessfor your supportin makingthis eventa great success, and your continuedassistance in fosteringa betterandsaferair navigation and travel!

We look forwardto seeingyou soonin Kaohsiung!

Sincerelyyours,

Peter Chen Organising Committee CEOIFATCA2006

COVER PHOTOA B737aboutto be refueledat Trondheimairport (Norway) PhototakenbyTer1eOahlsengEide

or Officersor representatives, shallbe responsible for lossor damagecausedby errors,omissions.misprintsor misinterpretations of the contentshereof.

FurthermoreIFAT CAexpresslydisclaimall and any liability to any personwhethera purchaserof this publicationor not, in respectof anythingdoneor emitted, by any suchpersonin 1elianceon the contentsof this publication.COPYRIGHT. Themateiialshe,einarecopyrightIFATCA. No part of this documentmaybe reproduced, recast.reformattedor transmittedin any formsby any means,electronicand mechanical. includingphotocopying,recordingor any information sto1ageand retrievalsystem,without the prior wri1tenpermissionfrom IFAT CA.

VISITTHEIFATCAWE~SITES: yvww.ifatca'.org _andww_w.the-contr?ller.net

Editorial

Introducing the members of the Editorialteam

Patrik Peters.A controllerin MaastrichtUAC,he is the actualpresidentof EGATS. Hehasbeeninvolvedin IFATCA for manyyearsand with the EUSingleSkyinitiative(SES)sinceits implementation.Heknowshis subjectwell and is the perfectpersonto reporton the European issuesfor the Controller.

•• Want to subscribe or advertise. in the • Controller?

• Contact-Tatiana at: office@ifatca.org

CORRECTION : In the last issuewe ran an articleon the Europeansupportgivento Nenad, the Serbiancontrollerwho died during the IFATCA EURmeetingin Bucharest last year.Dueto an error,the last part of the articlewent missing,and sinceit is an importantone,we decidedto run the whole text oncemore,with the correctending.Weapologisefor this error.

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Tatiana lavorskaia:Tatianais the current OfficeManagerin Montreal,Canadaand has recentlytakenoverthe post of Subscription Manager.Bythe time you receivethis issue shewill also be actingas the Advertisement Managerfor the Controller.Thisdecisionwas takenas we decidedto offer our own subscriptionscontracts,especiallyaimedat targetingour corporatemembers.

Anyonewho would like to subscribeor advertisein the Controller,shouldcontactTatianaon office@ifatca.org

SUPPORT FORSERBIAN CONTROLLER. Youall heardof the tragicdeath,last October,duringthe BucharestEuropeanregionalMeetingof our colleaguefrom BelgradeACC.NenadOrasanin.Nicos,our IFATCA EVPEuropetook the initiativeto collectsomefundsto help his wife, Milka,and his 10 yearsold daughterSrna.

Manyindividualsand Europeanmembersassociations contributedto the fund,and morethan 5000eurosweretransferredto his wife in January.

TheSerbianand MontenegroAir TrafficControllersAssociation(SMATCA) to which Nenad belonged,hasalsofoundeda "NenadOrasaninFund"in which 10%of the membershipfeesare divertedon a monthlybasis.Thisalso helpsNenad'sfamily but is alsomeantto help directlyin the future,in anycasewhereanotherSMATCAmemberis in a similarsituation.Milka is also looking for a job now,but employmentin Belgradetoday is not easy.

THE CONTROLLER

Editorial

PhilippeDomagala,Editor

IS SENDINGCONTROLLERS TO JAILGOINGTO IMPROVESAFETY? eturningfrom the IFATCA regional meetingin Rhodes,and readingthe variouspressinformationI receive everyday,I seea pattern emergingthat you and I will not like.

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In Rhodes,I talkedto one of the Thessaloniki controllersand he explainedto me what happenedto one of his colleaguesinvolvedin the crashof a YAK42 in December1997.

Althoughthe final investigationreport exoneratedATC,the medianeededa culprit for the 74 deathsandwent on a campaignto accusethe controlleron duty that day.

Ohenyou only hearthe voicesof the pilot and of the controlleron the tapes,if the pilot is deadeverymediapointsthe finger at the controller.

Thefirst trial foundthe controllernot guilty, but the prosecutorwent into appealand in this secondtrial, the judgesfound him guilty of negligencefor not havingdeclaredemergency on behalfof the pilot (!) and he receiveda 4 yearsjail sentence.

TheGreekAssociationis planningto go to further appealto the EuropeanCourt in Strasburg,but this will cost in the regionof 60.000eurosin lawyerfees.

Duringthe regionalmeeting,ANACNA,the Italian Controllerassociationgavea briefing on the situationof the groundcontrolleron duty during the collisionon the runwayin Milan Linatein October2001involvinga CessnaCitationand a MD87.118 peopledied in this accident.Thereagainthe pilots of both aircrahdied andthe mediawent crazy blamingthe controllers.

Despitethat the final accidentreportdid not considerthat the tasksperformedby the

THE CONTROLLER

controllerwere the maincauseof the accident,the judges,on first appeal,sentenced the Groundcontrollerto 8 years imprisonment.Hisnamewas releasedto the press,and he was attackedand abusedby peoplein the street.

Theappealtrial starts in October,and IFATCA will sendan observerto that trial.

Education of the . media is about all vvecan do Next is the reportof a court casecurrently taking placein Franceconcerningthe trial of the 2 Towercontrollersinvolvedin the runway collisionin ParisCDGin May 2000,wherea Shortand a MD83collided,killing the co pilot and severelyinjuringthe captainof the Shorts.

Theprosecutorusedthe fact that old procedureswritten in a manualwere not followedto the letter,and askedfor 2 years jail for onecontrollerand 15 monthsfor the other.He recommended suspendedsentences.

Thereagainthe identitiesof the controllers were revealedby the mediaand printedin a major newspaper.Thejudgmentis expected towardsthe end of November.

These3 actualcasesdemonstratea pattern: lookingfor scapegoatsand air traffic controllers,becauseof the "confidentiality"or "ignorance"surroundingour jobs,makesus primetargetsfor the media.No-oneoutside Aviation understandsand can decipherICAO annexes,and veryfew can masterthe Aviation Englishnecessary to understandthe means behind"shall", a "should" and a "could" in thosedocuments.

We work in a world where"recommended

practices"meanabsolutecompliance,but the Englishword "recommended"means you do not haveto, it is an advicein literaryterms, not a must.Similarlyexplainingto the public and the mediathat a "Resolutionadvisory"is an orderthat pilots mustfollow almostblindly, is for them a contradictionin terms.

We live in an openworld whereeveryone believeshe can be an expertbecausehe can find everythingon the Internet.Journalistsare callingthemselves"Aviationspecialists"where often their closestrelationto Aviation is their yearlyvacationto a beachresortin a charteredB737.Thearticlefrom PhilipMarien on page25 on how to makeyour own radaris a good illustrationon how far this openworld extendsto. Educationof the media,to ensure that future casesare treatedwith a little more knowledge,is aboutall we can do. But this will be a long battle.

Youwill find in this issuesomethingaboutthe currentfuel crisis.Controversialperhaps,but this is what the Controlleris herefor. Reading what happenedto a controllerin Haiti (page 15)shouldremindus that mostof us are very fortunateto live and work wherewe do.

Finallythere are a few pageson the preparationfor nextyear Conferencein Taiwan.If you want to learnand change somethingfor the future,this will be the place to be in March2006.

Christmasis approachingwhen you will read this,and may I wish you all, in this end of 2005,all the bestfor you and your families and enjoyreadingour magazineoncemore.

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Aviation fuel crisis

Thecostof fuel... The priceof survival byAdrian Duma,AssistantDirectorAir TrafficManagaementof IATA he air transportindustrysupportsa value chain,comprisinga total operating budgetof over $410billion dollars,but contributingalmost4% of the world's Gross DomesticProduct- over4 trillion dollarsin globalvalue! Lastyear,over 1.8 billion passengers and nearly40% of the world's goodsby value,werecarriedby the air transportsector.Everyaviationstakeholderfrom airportsto air navigationservice providers,from pilotsto controllers,from travel agentsto aeronauticalengineers- all sharein that valuechain,and we all havea vested interestin ensuringthe viability of that value chain.

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Probablythe singlemostcritical issuefacing our industrytodayis the priceof aviationfuel, flowing from the extraordinaryincreasein the priceof crudeoil throughthe last two years.In 2003,the averagepriceof a barrelof crudeoil

was USD$29per barrel,resultingin a total fuel costto the airline industryof USD$44billion.

In 2004oil reachedan averageof USD$38a barrel,with a total fuel costof USD$63billion.

Thisyear,crudeoil will averageUSD$57a barrel,presentingour industrywith a staggeringtotal fuel bill of USD$97billion!

Fuelnow constitutesaround25% of airline total operatingcosts- andthe recordhighs show little sign of abating,beingdrivenby demandfor refinedproduct- not necessarily a shortageof crudeoil. Overthe last two years, IATAhasextendedits day-to-dayfuel and cost mitigationactivitiesinto a dedicatedand integratedFuelActionCampaign,involvingall areasof expertisewithin IATA- and seeking to engageall of the ATMcommunityoutsideof IATA. Thatcampaignhasbeenfocusedin threemain

-Fuel -Oil

areas.Thefirst is to look at how the airlines are dealingwith the fuel crisis,and to develop and offer assistance whereit is availableand practical.IATAhasdevelopeda "best practices"guidebook,aimedat crosspollinatingbestfuel practicesthroughall airlines.Thisis beingsupportedby fuel "GO TEAMS"- smallcross-functional audit teams designedto searchfor fuel conservation initiativeswithin target airlines.IATAexpects that this processwill realizebetween5 and 8% in fuel conservationbenefits.In 2005,IATA expectsto realizecloseto a billion dollarsin annualizedbenefitsfor our industry.

Thesecondfocusareais the institutional infrastructure.Here,IATAis seekingto reduce the impactof imposedcosts- taxes, surcharges, userchargesand so on. In 2005, IATAexpectsto realizeover $300million dollarsin annualizedbenefitsfor our industry.

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THE CONTROLLER

Aviation fuel crisis Thefinal focusareais operational infrastructure.

Thisincludesa numberof subareas,includingen-routedesignand route structures,terminalareadesign,airportdesign and utilisation,and effectiveness of ATCservice provision- throughthe SaveOneMinute campaign.

Muchof the currenten-routeinfrastructureis basedon navigationequipmentand requirements dating back40 to 50 years.

Increasingly, today'saircrafthaveon-board capabilitiesthat will allow themto "navigate throughthe eyeof a needle"- and to both tell the groundthey'vedoneit [enhanced communication] - and showthe groundthey've doneit [enhancedsurveillance]!IATAhasbeen seekingeveryopportunityto leveragethis capability,and to eitheroptimiseroutes- or to eliminatethem all together.In 2005,we anticipatebenefitsof overa billion dollars,on an annualizedbasis.

There-designof terminalairspace,to utilize emergingcapabilitiessuchas GNSS, RNAVand RNP,is expectedto becomea majorfocusarea through2006,with hugepotential benefits.As an example,the redesignof the PearlRiverDelta airspacein South-Eastern Chinais expectedto realizecloseto USDS500 million in airline benefits - annually!

JtUF.L- Some S1andard Assumptions- October 2005 Slall:rrtct r.;/atmg tofiiel bi r11..etr.Jsz1om·. cost. mr.i so 011 am cnt1ca!ly di!p,~mf,mr on mrcrafl and e11gp1,1 typ;:s. co,.ipany operatmg ir.d11dmg d1::p.1ch proa:Juro1t. mr tmffic n-.nn~g,ur..mt ,:on;1rtiu:t:, patse11gcr and cargo !oaC:mg, rn.1111t.,ruJ11cc proce:!t1r<':. fl.:;it 11t1h=n.t1011 am1 a 1mmbarof allier factor: - ,,,c/wiwg compa11yb11m!.!ssob1cct1\·es.it i: th.:rcfore 1,npos:'<bt.:10 be sp«•fic abotlf etl)' parncula.rmrcrojl p,1rformm:ce. or 01•/i,i;z

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Of most interestto air traffic controlis the SaveOneMinutecampaign.With over35 millionflights a year,averaging97 minutesper flight, and at an averagetotal operatingcostof $120per minute, the total airlinecostsfor 2005will be aroundUSD$410billion.Saving just 1 minute- around1% of flight time - on everyflight would delivera cross-industry benefitof USD$4billion!

IATA'sSaveOneMinutecampaignis being targetedboth tactically- at line operational controllersand roomsupervisors - and strategically- and airspacedesignersandATC proceduresspecialists.Nothingthat is being suggestedis intendedin ANYway to compromisesafety- but IATAis askingair navigationserviceproviderorganisationsto work with their operationaland planningstaff to look for anyopportunityto reducethe cost impactof fuel on our airlines.

Thisis not just about savingtime - thoughthis

THE CONTROLLER

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FUF.1.CONSU~IPTION Total Jct Al Fuel Consumption 2005 [source: IATA- Brian Pearcej: 55 billion US Gallons Tolal Nmnber of Au Transport Operations: 35 million per year Average Flight Time: 9i minutes= 1.62 hours !source: OAGJ· 56.7 million hours A,·cragc Fuel consumption- gallons 1551311 / 56,7 million]: 970 US Gallons per hour Aver:.1ge1-~ucl con~'UJ11ptlon-wclght I l US gallon weighs 3.1 kg or 6.82 lbsJ; J i\tcCricTonnes per hour FUEL COST Total Jet Al Fuel Consumption 2005 lsourcc. Brian Pearce - IATAJ: Average Fuel Price 2005: [source: Brian Pearce - IATA Economics lniefingJ: Potential Total Fuel Price 2005 - Unhedged !price x con.-;m1tption]: Hedged Total 1-''uelPrice 2005 [source: Brian Pearce - IAT:\]:

55 billion US Gallons USDS1.89/US Gallon USDS 104 blilion USDS97 billion

AVERAGETOTAL OPERATINGCOST Total Air Tra11spo11 Operating Costs 2005 ISource: Brian Pearce IATA]: USDS-111billion Total Flight lime !source OAG and EurocontroIJ· 3.4 billion minutes ,\\'cragc Total 011er-atlng Cost per minute (411bn / 3.4 bnl: USDSl20 SAVE ONE MINUTE

Total Air Transport Operating Costs 2005 [Source: B1ian Pearce l:\T:\]: Average Flight Time !Source: OAGJ: Save One Minute IS4 I I BN / 97nrins] equals:

USDS411 billion 97 minutes USDS4.2 billion

SAVE ONE KILOGRAM Fnel requ:ired10 cany 1 kilogram per aircraft per year !for I 890 OightsiycarJ 92 kg - 29.6 US gallons (v;ineib)• 1yptJ Fuel cost to cany l kilogram per aircraft per year Ifor 1750 llights./yearJ: USDS56 [nriuby 1ypr-] per aircraft Fuel coi.1Cocarry 1 kg 1>tralrcr.1fl p('r ,·car- all aircraft (S56 x 185001: USDSl million ENVIRONMENT Average CO~emissions per tom1cof fuel burned [source: IATA Envirom11cntJ: 3.2 tom1cs Total CO~emissions based on 56 billion gals I I 73.6M tonnesJ / year.

550 million 1om1esCO~emi5,sions 1¾ reduction In fuel burn !or 1 minute efficient reduction in Oighl time): 5.5 million (onnes C0 1 emissions

Fuelis around25% of airline operatingcosts

In the airportsfield, IATAis workingwith targetairports,to improvethroughput,and to ensurethat thoseairportsare ableto operate effectivelyyearround.Thiscan be as simpleas ensuringsecurityfencingis intact,to more complexprojectssuchas enhancedground surveillance.

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wi II generallyhelp.It is alsoabout understanding the businessobjectivesof an airlinefrom dayto day.Lookat the following example.An airlinemay start the day with a businessobjectiveto reducefuel burn - hence aircraftwill be plannedhigh,and slow [e.g., FL390at MO.BO].

As the daywearson, the airline mayattemptto regainschedulefor both customersatisfaction,and improvedfleet utilisation.

Thismay involvetrying to savetime by flying lowerand faster [e.g.,FL280and M0.84].An airline might also havea high numberof connectingpassengers, and maybe trying to reducethe likelihoodof missingthat connection- with commensurate cost implications- particularlyif passengers needto be put up in hotels.

Theseactionsmayseemcontradictory- but all of them havea potentiallypositivefinancial impactfor the airline.TheSaveOneMinute campaignis as muchabout askingcontrollers to understandthe operatingparadigmfor an airline,as lookingfor track shorteningor expeditedapproaches!In 2005,IATAexpects the SaveOneMinutecampaignto realizeover USD$300million in airlinebenefit.Sowhat can be donein ATC?Hereare a few examples.

Wheneversafelypossible,ATCshould: • "Keep'mRolling"on the ground- let the vehiclewait

• Accommodate aircrafttaxiingwith some enginesshut down • Approvealternaterunways • Approvetake-offin the directionof flight • Provideclearancesin time to accommodate rollingTake-Offs • Cancelthe SID'sas soonas practicable • Co-ordinatedirectroutes • Tryto approveoptimumaltitudes • Co-ordinateand issuedescentclearance early • If a hold is anticipatedlet them know early • Usespeedcontrol(slowthem down)rather thanVectors • If two aircraftaretied, try to give preferenceto "the gasguzzler".

TheIATAFuelBookmentionedabovecontains moredetailedsuggestionsfor controllersand proceduresspecialists- it is availableat www.iata.org/fuelaction . Thissite also providesa rangeof other informationthat will helpwith increasingawarenessof the actions that airlinesaretaking.

IATAis alsoencouragingmanagementof ANSPsto engagelocalairlinesat all levelsfrom line pilotsto dispatchersto controllersto ANSPmanagement- and viceversa- with the intent againof increasingawarenessof each other'sconstraints- and opportunities.

IATAcouldnot haveachievedthe savingswe haveoverthe last 2 yearswithout the positive engagementand help of our partnersincludingair traffic controllers.We needto continuethat positiverelationship,to ensure the continuedviability of our industry.

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Side views

CANTHEPRICEOFFUEL AFFECT ATC?byEdBoilat

to challengethe costof ATCand its perceived inefficiencies.

erewe go again- likevulturesthe airlinesare assailingattackson everybodyto divert attentionon their own failuresto providea sustainableaviation industry.Reducecosts- do not regulateus protectus - what elsewill we hear?Butwe want to continuede-regulatingthe industry and to liberalizeeverything.

TheCEOof IATAhasannouncedthat all the benefitsgainedby the effortsof ANSPsto be moreefficientduring the last yearwil I be negated by the increasein fuel costs.

AmericanAirlines- havestoppedfrom oneday to anotherto fly routesthey previouslyflew becausethey couldnot afford the pricefor fuel anymore.

Nearlyall of the USlegacycarriershavenow

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filed for Chapter11 protection.Not only do they continueto fly - to remainin businessbut the truth is that their coststructureis revieweddownward.And who paysfor this inefficiency?: Thegovernmentand the workforce.

DeltaAirlinesby not contributingto the pensionfund will possiblycostthe Pension BenefitGuarantyCorporationsome11 billion USD. Rightafter fuel (onwhich someof the airlines still do not paytax upon... ) the next cost factor for an airline is ATCserviceprovision.

Until now they havehadan influencevia their lobbyorganisationsthat will start a campaign

Theonly CEOI haveheardso far beinga little bit differentis Sir RichardBranson(maybeit is becausehe madehis wealth with virginsall the time - but that is certainlyanotherstory).He proposesthat his companyshouldactually acquireoil producingplatformsand then have controloverthe availabilityof cheaperfuel.

Increasein fuel costsis a real threat to mankind Haveyou everaskedyourselfwhy the Dinosaursdisappeared from the surfaceof the earth?Multiple explanationsaregiven- some of themof scientificnatureothersmore spiritual.LatelyI havecomeacrossa publicationof scientific,economicbut as well of an esotericallynaturewith regardto a phenomenaI call the dinosaursyndromefor aviation.No worries- the Airbus380 is not comparedto Tyrannosaurus Rexor the Boeing 787to Pterosaur.

No it is aboutthe possible extinctionof mankind- startingwith the crumblingof the transportsector- and in particularaviation.Yourememberthe scenario of the Mad Maxfilms - wherea few surviving humansare desperately fighting for the few oil reservesleft fighting eachother in a bitter war.

Well,this apocalypticscenariocouldnot be solvedin only onefilm: thereare3 continued episodesdescribinga humanmankindnoneof us would like to dreamof evenin our worst nightmare.Thinkthe unthinkable- is a very common(andsometimesalreadyoutdatedageof the dinosaurs)managementtactic.As mostof the controllersthink of themselvesas beingbetter managersthan the onesactually beingATMmanagers- I would like to invite youAir TrafficControllersto train your basic managementskills- and think the unthinkable.

Thescenariois the following: Thecurrentincreasein fuel costsis not just anotherhiccup;it is a real threatto mankind.

All oil productionfollows a bell curve,whether in an individualfield or on the planetas a whole.On the upslopeof the curveproduction costsaresignificantlylowerthan on the down slopewhenextraeffort (expense)is requiredto extractoil from reservoirsthat are being exhausted.Thepeakof the curvecoincideswith the point at which the world'sreservesof oil hasbeen50% depleted."Peakoil" is the industryterm for the top of the curve.Oncethe peakis passed,oil productionbeginsto go downwhile costbeginsto go up. In practical and considerablyoversimplifiedterms,this meansthat if 2000wasthe yearof PeakOil, worldwideoil productionin the year2020will be the sameas it was in 1980.Howeverthe

8

THE CONTROLLER

Side views word's populationin 2020will be muchlarger and muchmoreindustrializedthan it was in 1980.Consequently, worldwidedemandfor oil will outpaceworldwideproductionby a significantmargin.Whenwill this occur?

Optimistssaybetween2020-2035,realists tendto saybetween2004- 2010.

Unfortunatelywe won't know we havehit the peakuntil 3-4 yearsafter the fact.

Thecurrentpricerise,mistakenlyseenas a temporaryblip, is a forewarningof changesto comeand the questionof the priceof petrol.

Forthe mostpart, the alternativesto kerosene arewell documented,indeedsomehavebeen in productionfor decades,but their usein aeronauticsis dependentupontheir adaptabilitywith regardto certainkey characteristics: state (solid,liquid or gas), calorificvalue,density,solidifyingtemperature, environmentalimpact,availabilityand economicviability.Conceivable alternative fuelscan be split into threecategories:1 ).

Synthetickeroseneobtainedfrom coalor naturalgas,2). Biofuelsobtainedfrom biomassand 3): Cryogenicfuels In the areaof propulsion,prioritymust be givento finding substitutefuelscompatible (afteradaptation)with currentaircraft operations.

professionof Air TrafficControllers- and do not try to extendit to everyday life - as it is too depressing.

Sowhat would be the consequences of an oil shortageon the future of air transport?Your reflectionshouldbe coveringthe following aspects:the growingscarcityof oil resources, substitutefuels,propulsionunits,transport planes,economicaspectsand its impacton ATC.

Bythe way currentfuel prices(October2005): Productioncostfor a barrelin SaudiArabia:5 USProductioncostfor a barrelworldwide projectionstill 2010:from 22 to 36 USD Currentbarrelcosts:around65 USD Possiblelowestcostfor a barrelin the near future:45 USD

If you wish you canchooseto includein your reflectionthe useof nuclearpowerto power aircraft.

THINKthe unthinkablerequiresa lot of creativity- so your reflectionsshouldbe of creativenaturebut keepin mind;It will happen- when,we don't know - howeverit will hit someof us currentlyworking.What will be the impacton the sector,on our profession?

Whatarethe scenarioswhich canbe foreseen?

Goodcrisismanagementstartswith settingup a crisisportfolio.Soyour reflectionsshouldbe tendingtowardsestablishinga portfolioof a possiblecrisiswhichwill hit our professionin the comingyears.

Timeavailablefor this task maximumoneyear - as "Peakoil" will hit us by 2012and we haveto prepareas a professionfor possible alternativescenariosbeforeend of 2006.

References: 1.Savinar Matt,J.D.,TheOilAgeis Over,whatto expectastheWorldRunsoutof Cheap Oil,20052050and2 VilleG.,Transport aircraftandthefuel shortage letterno43/2005

SIDE VIEWS: SideViews is a topic where ideas and controversial subjects are discussed, Theseideas do not reflect the position of IFATCA but only that of the author

It is a difficult task I'm askingyou - however you might be amongthe first professionals in the world to haveto think the unthinkable through.In orderto keepthe task manageable pleaseonly imaginethe impacton the

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"Everysecondcounts..." + ...from an emergencyat highlevelto landingandeventuallya crash + ...showspilot, controllerandrescueworker responsesto an emergencysituation + ...25-minutefilm + ...complieswithICAOproceduresand EATMP trainingguidelines

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Comprehensive andreader-friendly checklist providingimmediatehelpfor all incidentsin ATC.Givesstructureto responseactionin ATC!

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THE CONTROLLER

9

Asian Affairs

ATCinitiatives for Fuel SavingStrategies

by Phil Parker, Vice Presidenttechnical/Professional HKATCAand RegionalEditorAsia Pacific A lack of co-operationand co-ordinationin all aspectsof ATCaroundthe world includingthe Asianarea,is costingour customers, the aviationindustry,dearlyin termsof inefficiencieswhich are in turn costingtime and fuel. Thecurrentcost of fuel to the industryis drivingall operatorsto look at ways of lesseninglessfuel burn by,in no particular order,carefulrouteselection,fuel surcharges to passengers, reducingaircraftweightsby carefullywatchingwhat is put on board(e.g. magazines, papers,water),washingaircraft, companyfuel savingSOPs, optimumflight levels,limitationsin useof reversethrust,flex take-offs,limiting useof APUsat the gate, constantdescentapproaches, optimizedclimb speedprofiles,flying to a costindexand so on.

IATAis trying to work with Air TrafficService providers,ATC,airlinesand other stakeholders with an initiativeto saveone minuteper flight throughbetterairspacedesign,proceduresand management.IATAsaythat this initiative "could reducetotal industryoperatingcostsby over$1 billion per year" and in addition "significantlyreduceenvironmental emissions".

IATAnow considerthat it is vital to pressure governmentsandAir TrafficServiceprovidersto seriouslytackleissuesof congestionand inefficientairspacemanagement.

As controllers,we know theseinefficienciesfirst hand.We know they resultin aircraftburning millionsof litresof extrafuel as aircraftwait in holdingpatterns,fly inefficientroutesto their destinationsand sit on the groundwith enginesrunning.Wecouldeasilyburyour headsin the sandand saythat we don't hold aircraft,vectorthem aroundthe skyor speed controlthem for the fun of it. After all, only one aircraftat a time can utilizea runwayand the delaysexperienced can't be helped.It's the airline'sfault for schedulingtoo manyaircraft.

Thereis nothingwe as controllersor Member Associationscando about it. But is this the case?CanourAssociationsbe morepro-active in gettingthe changesrequiredto makethe ATCsystemmoreefficientand makea positive contributionto the fuel savingsso desperately requiredby the airlines.I think the answeris a

10

resounding, YES!!!

It is the ATSproviders,our management, who carrythe greatestweight whendeciding airspacestructure,air routes,level availability and which separationstandardswe useand we as working controllersjust follow their rulings.Tomy mind,in manycases,they are just payinglip serviceto the industrywhen organizationssuchas IATAput forward initiatives.TheseAir TrafficServiceproviders, althoughadmittedwith somenotable exceptionsaroundthe world, saythat they will do their bit. Howeveras soonas the meeting or presentationis over,they go backto businessas usual.Theydo not work at the 'coal face' and that very remoteness means that they don't havea 'grassroots' understandingof how improvements can be made.I can't speakfor the rest of the world, but in Asia,whereI haveworkedfor 19 of my 37 yearsin ATC,changeis extremelyslow.

Thereis an over-allbackgroundof conservatism.

I'm not surewhetherthis is culturallybasedor simplythe fact that our collectivebossesjust don't want to makea decisionin casethey get it wrong.As TheodoreRooseveltoncesaid "Theonly man who makesno mistakesis the manwho neverdoesanything."

Let me tell you what our Association,the Hong KongAir TrafficControlAssociation,(HKATCA), hasdonein the past and what we aredoing now.Oneof the initiativeswhich IATAhas suggestedto airlinesis to makesureairline's pilots are "awareof air traffic control procedures, standards,and the limitationsor capabilitiesof the localATCsystems?"As a local initiative,the HKATCA with approvalof Management, havea programwherewe invite pilots of local airlinesto a 3-4 hourvisit on Saturdaymorningswherewe lectureabout airport,approachand enrouteprocedures.

This is includesa visit to the ATCCentreandTower.

Wedescribeour limitationswith regardto airspaceand what we requirefrom them for a smoothoperation.Of course,this is not one way andwe get feed-backon their limitations andwhat they canand cannotdo with their aircraft.TheHKATCA hasalsobeenproactive in gettingthe flight-deckfamiliarization programup and runningagainafter 9/11.

Flightdeckaccesshasof coursebeena problemdue to securityreasons,howeverthis hasbeenrecentlysortedout and a full programis aboutto re-startwith our 2 largest localairlines.I alsowrite regulararticleson ATCmattersfor CathayPacific's'CrewsNews'.

TheHKATCA hasnot just beenproactivein the

THE CONTROLLER

Asian affairs last yearor so.Ourhistoryof "getting involved"goesbackmanyyears.If you have readNeilVidler'sbook "UnderControl" about the historyof IFATCA, you will havereadthat backin 1992,dueto severetraffic flow problemsover the SouthChinaSeaarea, HKATCAorganizeda meetingin HongKongin conjunctionwith JapanandTaiwan Associationsand the majorairlinesin the area,CathayPacific,JapanAirlines& China Airlinesplusthe HongKongCivilAviation Department.Thismeetingwas knownas the NEAT(North EastAir Traffic).ICAOcould not be involvedbecauseof politicsand in any case,we neededan urgentsolutionto an urgentproblemand airspacechangethrough ICAOcan be slow.Our first objectivewas to re-routeaircraftacrossthe SouthChinaSea insteadof over HongKong,and then sendthis traffic up the Eastcoastof Taiwan.We obtainedagreementfrom all M.A.sand airlinesthat this was a good ideaand each M.A.took the proposalbackto their own authorities.Within weeks,not years,and with approvalof ICAO,the new air routeswere promulgatedby NOTAMand new Lettersof Agreement(LOAs)weredrawn up by the affectedFIRs.Thoseroutesare still in place today.Soare the NEATmeetings,which have now becomea forum for discussionbetween the M.AsandATSprovidersfor improving traffic flow and smoothingout RVSM implementation.In fact the 10th NEAT meetingwill be held in Fukuokain November, immediatelyprecedingthe IFATCA Asia Pacific Regionalmeeting.

don't understandthesedraconianseparation standardsand therefore,our next target will be to reducethis longitudinalstandard.(We were using20 DMEfor aircraftat the same levelwith no closingspeed35 yearsago betweenAdelaideand Melbourneon routes with a 150 nm gap in radarcoverage.Over20 yearsago,Australiawas using30 nm, no closingspeedon RNAVroutesin procedural airspace,so long as the aircraftcouldup-date their RNAVsystemsat leastonceevery2 hours.)

costingthe airlinesdearly.TheHKATCA went to managementandaskedwhat couldbe done aboutthis. Managementsaid nothingcould be doneas our Letterof Agreementwas with Taiwanwho in turn had theirswith Nahawho in turn had theirswith Tokyo.SoHKATCA went "through the backdoor". We apprisedthe local IATArepresentative of this situation alongwith its historyand got them to do the work for us at a meetingin Tokyowherean agreementwas reachedto reducethe standard to 10 minutes.

We did havea smallwin on reducing standards2 yearsago.Goingback20 years, the air routesout of HongKongwhich went to Tokyoand beyond,requireda 15 minute longitudinalstandardfor aircraftat the same level,which was normalfor the time.The standardswere proceduralafter all, and radar did not coverthe entireairspacefrom Hong Kongto Japan.With the introductionof more and more long range aircraftgoing to Canada and the USAnon-stop from HongKong,Japan still wantedto arrange15 minutesfor the cross-Pacific airspace.Theirway of doing this was to tell NahaFIRthat all aircraftfrom their FIRat the samelevelmustbe 15 Minutes apart.Theeasiestway for Nahato do this was to havea LOAwith Taiwanfor 15 minutes.

Taiwanin turn askedHongKongin their LOA for 15 minutes.That'sthe way it hasbeenfor yearseventhough in the interveningtime,the numberor routesacrossthe Pacifichas increased,RVSMhasbeenimplementedand RNP10introduced.All aircraftoff the runway at HongKongto NorthAmericaare very heavy and only havelimited optionsfor levels (usuallyFL290).With this 15 minute requirement,(eventhough there had beena reductionin the standardacrossthe Pacificto 1Ominutes),meantthat we were only getting 1 aircraftevery15 minutesairbornefrom Hong Kongfor the Pacificroutes.Theonly alternative for them is to uselower,lessfuel efficient levels.Down-streamFIRswere (andstill are) getting us to do their work for them.Thisis

We are,however,still organizing10 minutes off the runwaywith Machnumbertechnique out of HongKongfor aircraftgoing to North Americabecauseof thesedownstreamLetters of Agreement.Thiswould be like Moscow Centretelling HeathrowTowerthat they want 10 minutesoff the runwayout of Londonfor aircraftoverflyingMoscowbecausethey need 10 minutewhen aircraftgo out of radar coverageto the Eastof Moscow.I couldjust imaginewhat NATSwould say.Theother thing to rememberis that by the time these departuresout of HongKongget out of radar coverage(after about 5 hours),they don't even want their original levelas they haveburnt off that amountof fuel. I would haveto saythat HKATCA would supportany IATAinitiativeto get this sort of wastefull time standard eliminated.Oneway we can do this is to enlist the cooperationof our fellow Member Associationsand againappriseIATAof the situation.

We needan urgentsolutionto an urgentproblem Our secondproposalat the first NEATmeeting was to createa parallelroute structure betweenHongKong& Tokyowith the idea that as soonas all of the gapsin radar coverageweresortedout, drasticreductionsin separationstandardscould be implemented.It was a great idea,howeverpoliticsand the military got in the way and it took manyyears beforethis routewas properlyorganized.

(About 2 yearsago).ThevariousATS authoritieswent aroundpatting themselveson the backabout what a greatjob they had done.We don't carewho getsthe credit,so long as it gets done.We still don't havea regularradarseparationstandardbetween HongKongandTokyo,eventhoughthere is radarcoverageall the way betweenboth cities and over 200 nm beyondTokyo.Thestandard is 5 minutesat the samelevel(or 30 nm on radarif 5 minutescan't be provided)and 10 minuteswith Mach numbertechniqueif aircraftare going beyondTokyoto North America.As a working controller,I'm afraid I

THE CONTROLLER

Anotherinitiativewhich local M.A.scould consideris informalmeetingswith pilot's associations.IFALPA, ALPA,GAPANand local AirlineAssociationsare a great sourceof informationaboutdaily aircraftoperationsand improvethe cooperationbetweenpilots and controllers.Improvedcooperationmeans improvedtraffic flow which in turn meansfuel savings.I'm surethat all M.Ascould look at their operationsthroughthe eyesof the working controllerand comeup in turn with somepracticalinitiativesfor savingfuel themselves.

11

Focus on Finland

INTERVIEW with SarniFabritus, President Finnish Controllers Association

by Ph.Domagala Ph:What is the main problemcontrollershave in Finland?

S:Actuallythe situation is quite good. At presentwe enjoyquite a good relationship with our management.

A newAviation Law that specifiesthe separationbetweenservice providerand Regulatorwill be implementedin a few months.Ourassociationwill haveto monitorcloselywhat will be the outcomeof this.We havejust negotiatedsuccessfully a new 4 yearscontract and our associationwill now concentratein getting moreinvolvedin professionaland internationalmatters.

Ph:Are you not afraid of SESand FABs?Finland seemto be a primecandidatefor integration into a NordicFAB. S:We are not afraidof the conceptbut concernedabout our managementreactionto it. In general,as one of the top last corner States,we do not fear too muchthat someone will comeand buy us.We haveverygood

We are not afraid of the SingleEuropean Skyconcept cooperationwith all otherATCcontrollers Associationsof Nordicstates,andwe madea joint positionstatementregardingSESand NUACprojects.

Swedenand Denmarksmanagementare more aggressivebut we believeour proposals( to keepexistingnationalACCsand developa "commonNordicSky" is a soundproposition.

Ph : Wheninterviewingthe FinnairPilots associationthey mentionedthe apparentlack of cooperationbetweenACCTampereandAPP Helsinki,is this true?

S:Thepilots haveonly a limited view of what is happening.An ACChasto mix jet and

turboproptraffic comingfrom 3 differententry pointsin a singlestreamto enterthe TMA.It is normalto reducethe speedof somea/c to achievethis.ThenAPPhasto adjustagain speedsto keepthe streamgoing.

Ph: Thepilots also mentionedtheir problems regardingKittila (EFKT)not beinga controlled airfield.What is the controllerspositionon this issue?

S:We basicallysupportthe pilot's view.Where there is commercialtraffic thereshouldbe ATC.Pilotsare veryactive in this issue,and our ANSPis morereluctant,it saystraffic .. loadsdo not justify this,that AFISis according 8' normalstandardsand that the proceduresin E g placeare safe.Butwe shouldalsosaythat } last year,during the very busyChristmas t traffic, somecontrollerswere sentthere,and o the airfield was upgradedas controlledduring that period.

'"

l 12

THECONTROLLER

Focus on Finland

VISITTOHELSINKI TWR AND APP

by Ph.Domagala

I was escortedfor this visit by KimmoKoivula, a controllerlicensedon both facilitiesand the IFATCA liaisonofficerfor the Finnish association.

The APPROACH:

Locatedbesidethe AirportTerminal,Helsinki Approachcontrolthe traffic using2 parallel and one crossingrunwayswith between400 and 600 movementsa day,but very much concentratedinto arrivaland departurepeaks.

Dependentparallelapproaches will be introducedby the endof this year,and parallelindependentapproaches are aimed later in 2006.The2 runwaysareseparatedby 1360meters,and saysKimmo:" Likeevery runwayin Finlandit is 60mwide,so we will gladlywelcomethe newAirbus380 ."

Themain problemfor controllersis to keep departureprofilesin accordance with the laid down noiserestrictions.Theyhave3 typesof departuresroutes:one for quiet jets,one for turbopropsand anotherfor noisier jets.

In Finlandall pilots speakEnglish,eventhe Finnishmilitaryswitchedto Englisha few yearsago,but Finnishis still spokenbyVFR pilots and somepilots of IFRflights goinginto smallregionalairfields,but as a courtesy, everyoneswitchesto Englishas soonas an Englishspeakingpilot comeson the frequency.

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gets busy,the controllerstake overand it is backto old vectorsagain.

A lessonfor thoseengineersthat believedthat PRNAVwould increasecapacity!TheFMSturn predictionsarestill far from beingharmonized and perfect.Thesameappliesfor meteringand sequencingtools suchas Maestro.A controller vectoringand adjustingspeedcanachieve more,by telling a pilot to crosspoint x at an exacttime in orderto follow a computer prediction.

by 45 degreesoverits lengthto fit the curved wall!

In the Opsarea,thereis, again,a proliferation of add-onequipment,makingit look like a mini constructionsite.A lift for strip holders, web camerashangingon the ceiling,light beamers,manydisplayseachneedingtheir own mouse,resultingin a particular"Mice nest" (seephoto)and a metalbridgecarrying stripsthat makeseverycontrollerduck under whenthey haveto movefrom one positionto another.

The TOWER: Visitingthe APPwhat surpriseseveryoneis the numberof add-onscreensstandingaroundthe main 2000squareEurocatradardisplays.There are 7 of them! (seephoto)Onesmallbackup display,one screenfor the APPsequence (Maestrotool), one for the weatherdata,one VCSpanel,onescreenfor surfacemovement radar.2 TVsreplicatingthe Towerstrip sequences by web camsand one large Electronicstrip display.If you addthe old paperstripsbayand a few keyboardsyou are luckyto find a placeto put your hands.

A typicalexampleof how add-onequipment, overthe years,endsup in an ergonomic nightmare,but onceyou get usedto it, you makeit work like always.

TheHelsinkiTMAis surroundedby 2 internationalFIRs:Tallinnin Estoniaand St Petersburg in Russia.Therecentcreationof PRNAVarrival routeshavereducedcontroller workloadand R/T(Pilotsperform3 or 4 turns without vectoringinstructions),but when it

THE CONTROLLER

Visitingthe Towernow,which is quite smallon the inside,in fact the restingareajust below the Opsareahasbeennamed"Smallestrest facility in Europe".Eventhe rest bed is tilted

Thebusiestpositionin the Toweris Ground.

Thiscanbe hecticat timesaccordingto Kimmo,who says:"Thechallengeis the new parallelrunwayoperations.As all the passengerterminalsstill remainon one side, this causesincreasedactivityof crossingof an activerunwayto get to and from the terminals.Thecurrentlighting controlsystemis not veryergonomicand the Surfacemovement radarwe havecouldbe used only for information.A newTowerhasbeenplanned and it would be warmlywelcomedby the controllers." "' Overallthe controllersin Finlandseemto be

1 happyto work theredespitethe verydifficult

g winter conditionsand the relativeisolation.As

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they say,"We arethe last countryon the right, whenyou look Northon the map". The ~ working atmosphereis indeedrelaxedand "if. friendly. :2

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13

Focus on Finland

INTERVIEW withlimo Einola,CaptainAirbus A320 Finnairby Ph.Domagala with icy runwayconditions.Helsinkiis FLYING IN FINLAND winds only CAT2 but our A320sare all CAT3 equippedwith no decisionheight,and all our pilots are Cat 3 trained.

Ph : Firstly,how would you rateATCin Finland?

Ph:And you do not mind flying a computer?

TE: I only fly in Europeso I can only compare with areasI fly to. I find FinnishATCto be pretty good,at leastequalto the other placesI fly into. Howeverif I had to dig somethingup that shouldbe better,it would be in the communications betweenHelsinkiAPPand TampereACC.Interfacebetweenthe two could improve.Forinstanceit is usualto be reduced byACCto 250 Kts andon transferto APPto be askedto performa high speedApproach.

Ph : Whatare peculiaritiesof Finlandfrom a pilot point of view?

TE:Climatemakesour operationsquite unique.

Winter operationsare extremehere,very low temperatures( altimetercorrections) icing,low visibility,you nameit. ..

But we havea verygood systemin the airports.It needan awful lot of bad weatherto closedown our airports.Usually,snow has not beena problem,only strongcrosswinds or fog makesus divert.

Ph:Howdoesthe A320performin that kind of environment?

TE:TheA320 is verygoodfor Europe.I flew the DC9beforeand the only time I would prefera DC9over the A320 is in extremecross

TE:No,it is the other way around,onceyou fly Airbuses,everythingelseseemold fashioned...

Ph:With all thoseairlinesmerging,how do you seethe future of Finnairin Europe?

TE: My personalopinionis that I do not seeus beingtakenover by a largercompany.Reason is that we havea uniqueconcepthere.We will remainsmalland like to remainindependent.

TE:Perhaps, but from a pilot's point of view we do not seereal problemswith this. Our Union negotiatedthe transferto this new company (AERO)and both pilots groupswill havethe samesalariesand working conditions.Our Pilot associationso far hasbeenable to keepit undercontrol.

the FinnishANSPto upgradeone large Regionalairportthere (Kittila, or EFKT, 800Km North of Helsinki)to be controlled.Thetraffic amountin that airport hasraisedso muchover the last 5 years,that we needATCover there.

Manyforeignoperatorsare usingthat airfield, and they are not all familiar with AFIS procedures.

Theyalsosometimesare unaware that they are in uncontrolledairspace,without ATC.Youhaveto realizethat there are now a lot of B757and 767 chartersin additionto Finnairown MD11s going there.We are deeply concernedaboutthis situation.

PH: FinallyI haveheardyou had serious problemswith the FinnishANSPoveran airfield in Lapland,couldyou elaborate?

Theproblemwe haveis the refusalby

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14

We will remainsmall and like to remain independent

Ph:I havelearnedthat Finnairdecidedto move their regionalATR42 fleet to Estoniato reduce costs.Are you not afraid this will be the future trend?

'

~ ,. .. -·

THE CONTROLLER

American affairs

AMERICAN AFFAIRS

byELKadurAcosta

or night, I could not movenor talk.

Thedeadlinefor the paymentwas 3:00PM.I was informedby the kidnappersaboutthis resolution;those remaininghourswerethe longestof my life. My family had to do whateverit took to obtain the demanded amount(US$8,000).Whenthe deadline approachedsomeoneenteredthe room.Bythe tone of his voiceI knew he was angry.Hehad not receivedthe call; he was getting readyto executeme.Suddenly,a cell phonerang.It was their bossto inform them the ransomhadjust beenpaid and told them to set me free.They took me out, left me on the roadand left me the equivalentof US$5 to get transportation back home.

HAITIAN CONTROLLER KIDNAPPED Thisis the true storyof a controllerin Haiti.

I wastakento a hiddenquiet dark room,with handsand legstied.Theplacewas very hot; it must havebeenaround40 degrees.I would be left there until they negotiatedmy ransom;or just kill me in casethey wouldn't reachan agreementwith my family.

Thatwas how I was left in the placewhere four menkidnappedme.It took placeon July 29th, a normalday in my life: after saying goodbyeto my family and headingfor the airport.When I left the housefour armedmen surroundedthe car,askedme to get out and ran at an incrediblespeedto a town called Delmas4, which is all I could remember.From there they askedmeto providemy family's phonenumberin orderto contactthem, threateningto kill me if I didn't co-operate.

Theyalsosaidthey would kill me if my family wouldn't pay the ransom.Theythen left me alonein the roomand I heardseveral gunshotswhich terrifiedme,becausefor the first time in my life I thought I was approachingmy death.After a while thirst and hungerwere presentwith me,trappedin the dark disgustingroom.I lost count if it was day

THE CONTROLLER

Thatis the story,a real life story,the kidnappingof JaquesDeronethFrantzy,who left Haiti,after that episode,and now livesin Canada.Oncethe family was warnedand askedfor the ransom,they contactedthe HaitianAir TrafficController'sAssociation (APCAH).

Theymet immediatelywith the GeneralDirectorof CivilAviationto askfor their help.TheDCA,promptlyand without hesitation,collaboratedand helpedthe family.

It is the secondtime this yearthe DCAhasto do this as earlierthe son of the Directorof CivilAviationof Haiti was also kidnapped, wherethe ransompaymentwent as high as USS66,000.

clothes,food, medicine,evenarrangingshelter.

ManyATCOsnationwidevolunteeredto help.

A DisasterReliefFundwas created,which receiveda bit morethan US$10,000.The solidarityof their nationalcolleagueswas absolute.Fromdifferentregionslogisticalcoordinationwas set up to providesupportfor anythingfrom essentialsuppliesto staff.Crew reinforcementwas importantin orderto allow localATCOssometime with their families.

Toreceivea veryaccurateinsider'sview of the situation,the following informationwas providedby David"VR" Westbrook,who works in the NewOrleansLouisArmstrong InternationalAirport and RuthMarlin,NATCA's Vice-President.

Theywere part of the FAA's recoveryforce.Theyflew in on a KingAir from FortWorth's MeachamAirport to New Orleans.

Hereis their account.

Most operationswere performedby rescue helicopters,wherethey flew up to two hundredoperationsa day."I realizedthat this stuff reallydoeslook better on CNNthan in person",saysDavidWestbrook.Theyare currentlyliving at the airport,as Davidsays: "My new studioapartmentis within the confinesof a 7x7ft staff cubiclewhere I have configuredthe spaceto resemblea train sleepercompartment."

Theirday has manyworking hours,while there is not muchtime to rest,working up to 70 to 80 hoursa week.Theywereescorted

by Air ForceOfficialsplacedin New OrleansAirport to coordinateall the rescuehelp.Bothagreedthat respect ratherthan complaintscan be heardfrom the ATCOsworkingthere.

Theywere threatening to kill me if I didn't cooperate

USCONTROLLERS AFTERKATRINA After the hurricaneKatrinadevastatedthe US Gulf of Mexico'sStates,especiallyNew OrleansandAlabama,NATCA,the US ControllersAssociationset up a quick response to help the Controllersthat had beenaffected.

Dueto the disaster,manyATCOswere left without belongings.Oneof them was rescued from his apartmentbuildingafter spendingsix weekstrapped,runningout of supplies.But today NATCAhashappilyaccountedfor all missingcontrollersand helpedby providing

In an interviewwith USAToday,New OrleanscontrollerK.C.Leonardreported,"We are just stayingherearoundthe clock.You sleepwhen you canand get up and relieve someone."

Workand morework waits for the people involvedin the recoveryof this city,evenmore when it comesto rebuildingthe memoriesof their life. Now they haveto createnew ones.

Justlike Davesays"There'sno way to describe the forcethat this little pieceof the planet seemsto hold over me....and no storm is big enoughto completelydestroyits spirit. I feel encouragedand hopefulin manydifferent ways!"

Thoseare the wordsof peoplemotivatedto start over.

IS

Why do I do this? had my toothbrush,phoneand laptop.All the attendingmembersof TOCmet in the foyer and we went for dinnerand a coupleof beers; the perfectopportunityto discussthe workingsof IFATCA and I canassureyou that an amazingamountof think-tankingis done duringtheseoccasions.

Also a lot of talk about how things aredonein the placeswherethe other memberscomefrom (eachplaceis obviouslythe busiestin the world)followed by a few morepintsof 'Rickard'sPale'.Homeby midnightto do a coupleof hourswork now that my laptophad poweragain,then into bedfor a few restless,jetlaggedhourssleep.

Up earlyto searchfor my baggage;I preferto havecleanclotheson for meetings!Great news,Air Canadasucceeded in kindly deliveringmy baggageprior to breakfast.Iron a coupleof shirtsand racedown for breakfast with TOCmembers.Meetingsall daywith lunchin the meetinghotel.Outfor dinnerwith TOCfollowedby a few more,you guessedit: 'Rickard'sPale'.Repeatthis for the next coupleof days.

WHYDOI DOTHIS? David Guerin,IFATCATechnicalrepresentative,describesthe trials and tribulationsof a pilgrimageto Technicaland OperationalCommitteemeetingsin Montreal,the homeof IFATCA's headoffice.

watchingsportsare left for retirement(thereare some benefits!).In fact mywife is coveringfor me while I write • this.

his is a shortstoryto portraymy experiences as a representative for a volunteerorganization.I live in Australia and attendedthe Technicaland Operational Committee(TOC)meetingsin Montreal, Canadafrom the 1st to 3rd of February2005.

At this meetingI waswearingtwo hats:one as a voting memberof TOCas the Australian Representative and the other as a non-voting memberof TOCas the IFATCA Technicaland Professional Secretary(TPSec).

T

Lovelyweather:generallyfine dayswith the night-timetemperaturedownto a freshminus 18 althoughit onceracedup to a blistering minus4 (thanksfor the jacket,Matt). I organizedthreedaysleavefrom my operationalrosterline on Brisbaneand Gold CoastApproach(TMA),Australia,and swapped someshiftsso that I had enoughtime off for the trip. My family roseearlyto drop me off at the airportfor a domesticflight to Sydney leavingat six in the morning.I connectedwith an Air CanadaA340 directto Vancouver(nearly fifteen hoursflying) then an A319to Montreal.

Thanksgo to Air Canadafor kindlysponsoring me.IFATCA is a non profit organisationand costsneedto be kept low.

My familytime comesfirst.

Volunteerwork as the IFATCA TPSectakesup overtwenty hoursof my sparetime every week;I usuallyget about five hoursdoneat work duringbreaks(mycolleaguesseemto put up with me having'h hour breaksduringwhich I racedown to the canteen,grab a coffeeand openup my laptop)so mostof the time it is a gameof tryingto get as muchdoneas possible without destroyingmy family life. Peripheral choresdon't get doneas my familytime comes first; so gardening,handiwork,cleaningand

16

Bythe time I hoppedon the flight I was behindwith my preparationfor these meetings.Air Canadahad confirmedbeforedeparture - that my aircraftwould have plugsfor on-boardlaptop poweradapters.Unfortunately this waswrong and my old laptoponly had batterypower for just undertwo hourswork. No powerplugs in economy(theseticketsdon't allow for upgrades)and not a chanceof sneakinginto businessclass.Oneof the flight attendantswas marriedto a tower controllerfrom Canadaand did everythingto assist;this includedtrying to chargethe laptopin the crewrest areaas well as in the toilet.Thefinal prospectwas in the galleypowersupplyand as it only took a two pin plug,shesuggestedwe useher nail file to removethe third unusedearth pin from my plug. Sageadvicefrom a helpfuldeadheading pilot (repositioningto pick up anotherleg) suggestedthe supplywas415 Voltswhile my adaptertook 15 volts so not a good idea.You canseethe headlines:'AIRDISASTER BLAMED ON FIRESTARTED BYCONTROLLER ONFREE TICKET'.On the returnflight I swappedfrom the A340to the B767eventhough it wasa longerflight, in an attemptto get ten hours work doneas it was supposedto haveonboard chargerplugs.Alas I was met with the same powersupplyproblem- thank goodness becauseI neededsomeshuteye.

I arrivedin Montreallate afternoonafter a paltry twentyeight hourstravel (nothing comparedto the normalthirty nine hoursto Europewith BritishAirwaysvia SYDand LHR) only to find that my baggagehadgone someplacewarmer.LuckilyI was wearingmy suit (a prerequisiteto sponsoredtraveland mostcomfortablefor theselong trips!!!) and I

Finishedmeetingsearlyand racedout to buy presentsfor my childrenin the underground shoppingmall beneaththe Hoteland a paintingfor my wife that was displayedon the wall of the pub that soldthe 'Rickard'sPale'.

Musteredbackat the Hotelto attendtechnical discussions with ICAO'sAir NavigationBureau.

AndrewBeadle(EVPT), Akosvan der Plaat (ChairmanTOC),ChristophGilgen(SCRSP Rep) and I met with VincentGalottiand Chris Daltonof the Air TrafficManagementSection, to raisesomeof our concernsregarding certaintechnicalprojectsthat ICAOhad been workingon. Finallyrecoveredfrom jetlag,just in time to hop on the planehome.We barely spent45 minutesoutsideduringthis trip to Montrealand the only sightseeingwe did was whenwe saw the FleuveSaint-Laurent, as we bridgedit in the taxi to the airporton the way home.

Outcomes:nearlyall working papersfinalized; all were acceptedafter vigorousdebatewhen presentedat the MelbourneConference two monthslater.I had to rewriteone paperand write a reportaboutthe meetingas well as compilethe IFATCA WeeklyE-mailNews(a weeklynewsthat providesour Representatives and MemberAssociations with up to date informationaboutwhat is happeningin the world of ATC:I sendit out everySunday).Arrivedbackhomeat ten in the morning;my lovingwife and our gorgeous

THE CONTROLLER

Why do I do this?

childrenmet me at the airport.Luckythat I did that shift swapor elseI would be starting work in two hourstime. Now all I haveto do is checkmy emails(tpsecreceivesa miniscule 6000emailsa year)and then get throughthe 5 am shift tomorrowfollowedby the nightshift ('doggo'as we call it here)tomorrownight.

Thisshouldbe exciting,especiallywhile jetlagged.But it is incrediblyrewarding.

On my returna coupleof prankstersaskedme how the skiingwas in Canada.Hilarious!I regularlyask myself,"Why I do this?" The simpleanswer,it is incrediblyrewarding.Some comicalfriendshavesuggestedit is to get into a projectjob; but it isn't for directbetterment of my circumstances.

I acknowledgethat the experienceI gain from theserolescouldonly be obtainedby a few individualswithin the world of ATC.It is truthfullyan attemptto improvethe professionalimageand statusof ATCalongwith a pursuitof better technologiesfor controllersin all cornersof the globe.WhenI first sat on the technical standingcommittee(pun)in Geneva Conference 2001,I realisedhow differentand difficult it was for controllersin developing countries,whencomparedwith better equippedcountries.Thereis a lot of roomfor moreinvolvementby operationalcontrollersin technology'sbig leapforwardandthe voiceof air traffic controlmust be heard.IFATCA is that voiceof ATC.Everyoneneedsa hobbyand to be a part of a fellowshipor teamand this one happensto be mine.I havebeena little opinionatedat timesso I mayas well usethis

THE CONTROLLER

trait to its bestadvantage.It helpsthat I am goodat organizingpaperworkand fairly good at preparingpapersand beinginvolvedat meetings.A lot of this comesfrom nearlya dozenyearsholdingvariouspositionsin my MemberAssociation:CivilAir.Also I haveseen how luckywe are in Australiato have reasonableconditionsand pay but alsothe ability to travel easilyand haveopen discussions on topical issuesin the workplace.

A380, thoc, OM, •

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We havethe supportof a well respected MemberAssociationand the advantageof havingEnglishas our first language(but unfortunatelymy only language).I havean employerwho is slowlyunderstandingthat IFATCA is the professionalvoiceof ATCand they are startingto be supportiveof my role and acceptingof IFATCA. Lastlyand most importantly,I havea wonderfullysupportive family and I can't thank themenough.

............

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•••••••••••· ···············••·

17

Malmo ACC

THENEWMALMOACC inally the new MalmoACCis operational.

Theinitial operationaldate was 1997,but was soonrevisedtowardsa more "realistic" date of Christmas2000.Well, it endedup as March2005,but what are few yearsbetweenfriends?Anywayit was well worth waiting that long.TheATMsystemis the ThalesEurocat2000E(the E standsfor Europe) representingwhat is today the mostadvanced technologyin ATCusingexistingsensors(i.e. usingRadars).TheACCis situatedin a brand new buildingwith the Opsroomadjacentto the old ACC.Theuseof panelledlight wood and largewindowsallow the --......

Centreto havedaylightoperations and long rowsof 2000 x 2000 flat displays,madeby Barco,fill the room.

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160controllerswork in the Centre,as well as 20 Flightdata assistants,12 Supervisors and 10 Administrators(yes,correct,only 10Admin!).

Reasonbeing that about 50 of the controllers haveadd-ontasks,beingemployed50% in a control positionand 50% on other functions like Support,Systems,Lettersof Agreements etc.Thetechnicalsupportstaffs(maintenance, engineering,etc.) are not part of the organization;thesetasksare sub-contracted usinga companycalledEitel Network.

SinceJune2005,the old SwedishCAAhadto separatethe regulatoryrole from that of serviceprovision,and the newANSP,calledthe LFVGroup,hashad an "en route business area" which handlesthe ACCs. In the reorganization,SundsvallACCwas closeddown and movedto Stockholmso there are now only 2 ACCsleft in Sweden,Stockholm and Malmii.

On arrivalI was met by PederAlber,deputy managerof the ACC,who explainedhow the Centreworks,and what innovativeideaswere put in placeto allow it to be openedin March this year.

Firstof all, the environment:with the introductionof the newACCjust beforethe summer,familiarizationwith a totally new systemhad to take placein the busiestperiod of the year.Thecentreis currently10% understaffed,and there is a law in Swedenthat guarantees4 weeksof un-interruptedleaveto everyemployeeduringthe Summerperiod (Juneto August).Thelocal mediawere predictinghorrorstoriesof charterflights being delayedhours,but a quick solutionwas found: eachcontrollercould sell this right to take

18

j leavefor 1300 EURper weekand still allow the right for the leavedaysto be taken later in the winter.Somecontrollersagreedto this plus the agreementthat they would perform overtimeto makethe systemwork.

Thecontrollersat Malmii work in teams,but in practicethey havean individualrostercalled "Flexible". In a few monthsthey will alsobe able,usinga softwaretool called "TimeCare", to maketheir own rosterusingsomebasic rulessuchas,8 hoursbetweenduty time minimum,50 hoursin 7 daysmaximumwith a generalrule of 36 hoursa week.

TheCentrehascurrently500.000movementsa yearand is dividedinto 14 sectors(9 ACC,3 APPand 2 Military)with 3, so called, "ValidationGroups"so that eachcontroller hasto validateon a maximumof 4 sectors. ·ThenewATCsystemis basedon 2 radar displaysper sector,a 3 buttons-mouse, no strips.Backup systemis availableon a pushof a button on the supportscreen(calledthe secondaryscreen)which is a PCbasedversion of the old system.Multi radartracking, MediumTermconflict detectionwith 3 levelsof alerts,ShortTermSTCA, Airspacepenetration module(a line becomesred if an a/c penetrates a segregatedactivearea),Routeadherence monitoring(to seeif an aircraftdivertsfrom its Flight plan)are all tools that are availableto the controllers.An advancedlabel is available on a clickof the mouse,containsin additionto the flight plan data,the frequencyof the next sectorthe aircraft hasto be transferredto.

Nicesystemand it doeswork.

Theworking conditionsof the controllers: Theyhavebetween29 and 34 vacationdaysa year,public holidaysbeingcompensated financially,not in time. Basicnet starting salaryis from 1500EURmonth risingto an endof careersalaryof 3000 EUR makingthem well below the Europeanaverage.Retirement is at 60 yearson two thirds salary.

Now after the managementviews,I talkedto MorganEklov,Presidentof the Controllers Associationto seeif they are happy.Hesaid: "Fromthe controllerspoint of view our main problemis a socialone: to raisethe salaries to Europeanlevels."

"On the newACC,therewere somesmall issues,like de-buggingthe system,and there are still somesmallbut irritating bugs(or "issues"asThalesprefersto call them),but the truth is that the systemis extremely reliableand almosteverycontrolleris pleased with it. Thereliabilityin the first monthsof operationswas 99.80%. Thesystemis really nice,clear,and easyto useand providesa lot moresafetybecauseof the warningsystems.

Whenwe havegainedmoreconfidencewith it we can probablyacceptmoretraffic than we couldwith the old system.Whatwe also have a problemwith is the labels.On this system they are very large. Whentraffic is dense,we havewhat we call "label salad" with labels overlappingeachother all the time.Separating the labelsbecomesanothertask to perform that can take a lot of time.Thereforeyou really need2 peopleto operatethe system,a

THE CONTROLLER

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Finlandand Denmarkhavealso boughtthe samesystem,and Morgansaidthat when he was in Tampererecently,he just sat down on a position,movedthe mouse,clickeda few times and felt just at home.Hejust said:"OK, I know the system.Whereis the traffic?" Meaning that compatibilitybetweenNordicACCswill becomea reality.

Concerningthe future plans,he said:"We are now callingthe latest versionNUAC,for new NordicUpperAirspace Centre,for controlling the upperairspaceof Demarkand Sweden, but it will now probablytake overthe

VETERAN CONTROLLERS ..... .WHATFOR?.!

Don'tworry,they are not supposedto solvemanagementproblemsor,evenless, to ~akeover_o~erational duties. But they exist - Forinstancein Sweden,they havea very activeAssoc1at1on, reportsGunnarAtterholm,himselfan IFATCA oldtimerfrom the 60s-70s and formerExecutiveBoardmember.

"Retiredpeoples'associations maybe goodenoughfor gettingtogetherbut it is even betterto be amongcolleaguesand friends.So retiredSwedishcontrollersformeda club 20 yearsago,with today'smembership totalling morethan 200 members, gatheringtwo or threetimesa yearat Gunnar, showing the past variousplaceswith an ATSconnection.

Needless to saythat this enhancesour friendshipand professionalspirit. On the programmethere is alwaysa point relatedto our formertrade,helpingus to stay in touch and it is gratifyingto seethat our formeremployerassistsus with the arrangements".

Soyes,there is life beyondAir traffic Control!

Photo:PhillipeDomogala

THE CONTROLLER

lowerairspaceas well, leavingonly the CTRs of someairportsto be controlledlocally.For this NUAC,the currentplan is to start a joint companybetweenDenmarkNaviairand SwedenLFVthat will provideATMfor both countries.A projectgrouphasbeenset up and the new companyshouldstart in 201O- 2012.

Thereare currently3 ACCinvolvedin that project:Stockholm,Malmoand Copenhagen.

How manywill surviveis uncertain,but we hopeof coursethat Malmowill be there"................. then followeda largesmile.

WhenI readthe glossyvisitorsbrochure advertisingthe Centre,onecanfind the sentence:"Thegoal of ACCMalmois to becomeone of the few remaininglarge ATCcentersthat will be ableto superviseATCin Europe".Themessage is clear,and after seeingthe equipment, the sizeof the opsroomand the motivationof the staff,onecanseethey havea goodchance.But I guessthe guysin Copenhagen are sayingthe samething .....

19

l

European Regional Meeting

EUROPEAN REGIONA MEETING OF CONTROLLE S byPatrikPetersandPhilippeDomagala

his year IFATCA Regionalmeetingwas held in the Greekislandof Rhodesin the AgeanSea. It was attendedby 300Air TrafficControllers from 41 EuropeanCountriesand oncemore seriousconcernswere expressed.

In addressingthe meetingVictorAguado, DirectorGeneralof Eurocontrol,declaredthat "Thefocusfor the future shouldbe on safety and capacity"

T

In safetythe importanceof non punitive reportingis fundamentalif we want to improve the system.A presentationby RaduCioponea, alsofrom Eurocontrol,focusedon the

20

importanceof a "JustCulture" in reporting incidentsand on a legalfair judiciaryprocessin the caseof an accident. Hesaidthat we need a just culture,not only for ATC,but for Aviation in general,as we are not big enoughto constitutea good lobby.Thereis currentlya lack of trust betweenthe media,the justice systemand ourselves,but our final aim is the same:protectingthe publicand servingthe public'sbest interests.

Recenteventsin Greeceand in Italy are provingto us that the road is still long,(seethe Editorialon page5 of this issue) It will take a very long time,yearsfor certain,but he advocatedthat we shouldnot give up," We

owe it to the next generation" he said .

Themeetingwas precededby a Workshopon airport operationsand a largepresentation coveringthe latestinformationon the EU SingleEuropeanSkyinitiative (SES)and SESAME, its implementationprogram.

THE CONTROLLER

European Regional Meeting Everyoneseemto agreethat European airspaceis too fragmented,( i.e.too many smallsectorsand too manysmallcountries).

But thereseemedto be a generallack of understandingof the reasonsthat lay behind that fragmentation.Therewill be costs incurredwhen we movetowardsdefragmentationand they are likelyto be extremelyhigh. No-oneseemedto realisethis fact. UnifyingEuropeairspaceshouldbe based uponoperationalrequirementsrather than political and economicinterests.We seeat this momentwith someStatesformingeconomical groupswith the aim to bid for controlof their neighbour'sairspace.Mr Aguado,DG Eurocontrol,said "We needcooperationmore than competition".

But the maindiscussionwas,of course,centred aroundthe so calledFunctionalAirspace Blocksor FABs.Everyoneagreedthat there is no cleardefinitionof what reallya FABis. For Marc Baumbartner, Presidentand CEOof IFATCA, a FABcouldbe a TrojanHorse,led by the airlinesthat havea very differentview on ATCthan we do. Hefearedairlinescould use the FABsto advancetheir own controversial planson deciding( and payingfor) the levelof servicethey want to have.

Thereis a generalfeelingamongstcontrollers throughoutEuropethat the ATMsystemis still very muchdrivenby financialrequirements and the perceivedneedby someAir NavigationServiceProvidersto reducecosts.

Duringthe 3 daysof intensivediscussionand debate,delegatesat the meetingaddressed manyissuesand expressedconcernover severalissues.Theseincluded:

e Increasingtraffic levels Increasingair traffic levelsare being continuouslyreportedwith majorgrowth beingshownin EasternEurope,yet these geographicalareastend to be the ones with the leastresourcesto copewith the increasingdemand.

•

Shortageof Air TrafficControllers A Europeanshortageof Air Traffic Controllerswas a causefor concernwhen coupledwith the perceivedreluctanceby manyemployersto investin the necessary resourcesin orderto addressthe issue.As an examplestaffing problemsin Greece wi II probablynecessitatea drastic reductionin air traffic capacitywithin Greeceduringsummer2006.

•

Accidentsand the Media Concernwas raisedoverthe lack of privacybeingshowntowardsthe identity of ATCpersonnelfollowing an accident, togetherwith an increasinglevelof speculationon the causeof an accident beingpromotedprior to the findingsof any official investigationbeing published.

Thislast one is, of course,directlyrelatingto the HELIOS Boeing737 crashthis summer.The Media,who had nothingto releaseduringthe first days,went on a frenzyaboutthe 2 controllersalthoughtherewas no ATC involvementin the accident.Theinvestigation is still taking place.On the technicalside,in Switzerland,2 seriousAirproxwere causedby aircraftdisappearingfrom the radardisplays.

Also an aircraft,experiencinga decompression, declaredan emergencyand startedan

emergencydescentfrom 35.000feet. Thepilot squawkedA7700and disappearedfrom the radardisplays.It crossedall levelsof busy airspacewithout beingdetected,but more worrying,without beingdetectedby the TCAS of other aircraftduringthe descent.Thecause was identifiedas a faulty new modelof transponderand actionis being takenwith the manufacturer.

ICAOhas beenaddressedand hopefullythe problemwill be resolved,but it still existsat the time of writing.

Thesocialsideof the meetingwas exceptional.Thanksto verygenerous sponsorshipof Thales,AgeanAirlines,The GreekControllersAssociationand the Rodos PalaceHotel,the hotel wherewe were staying; everyeveningwas a niceeventwhere everyonemet in a relaxedatmosphereto continuethe day'sdebate.

Theorganisingcommitteedid a wonderfuljob, andwith 300 participants,it was not a regionalmeetinganymorebut a smallannual conference.

Manythanksto all, and Effie Papadopoulou in particularwho introducedus to Greekmusicand dancingduring the eveningsand whosecharmwill makeus want to comebackagainto thosebeautifulGreek islands.

Nicos (EVP Europe) and Marc (IFATCA President and CEO)

THE CONTROLLER

21

on Corporate Members KevinSalter - ContributingEditor,CorporateAffairs Welcome,once more, to our popular Corporate Membersfeature ·spotlight' As mentioned in our last issue,our focus this time is on our corporate member,

moretraffic is now handledby the same,or less,numberof ATCOs alsospeaksfor more responsive systemsandthe needfor improved ergonomics to increasethe workingefficiency.

Oneof the crucialANSPobjectivesis to gain bettercontrolof the globalproject management process.

A numberof keysuccess factorscouldthen be identified: • Openarchitecturesolutions - Projectmanagement autonomy • In-housesystemdesign - Closecollaborationbetweenend-users and projectteam - Flexiblespecifications - Internalintegrationteams • Systemdurability

A new way to think ATM projects SkySoft-ATM, a SwissCompanybasedin Geneva,offersa completerangeof innovative and operationalATMsolutionsand services helpingANSP'soptimisetheir safetyand productivity.

SkySoft-ATM designs,developsanddeploys ATMdata processing anddisplaysystemswhich are marketedin variousSkyModules.

ATMmarketevolutions, ANSPneeds Thefast technological progress, strict safety requirements and increased operational complexityposesnewchallenges for the ANSP's.

Thisrapidlyevolvingenvironment makesit unfeasibleto continuewith large, expensivemonolithicsystemsthat takeyearsto developand rathercallsfor modularand flexibledesignswhichcangrow with new operationalrequirements.

Thisdrivesthe markettowardsan incremental development of flexibleand intelligentATC systemswith a modulardesignbasedon expert know-how,operationalexperience and a lean and efficientdevelopment process.

Variousproject-management relatedfactors alsospeakin favourof a newapproach: • MostANSPshavesimilar requirements.

It is oftenestimated that 50%of the projectcostis for capabilitiesalreadydevelopedin othercountries.

- ATCOsare moreinvolvedin the buyingprocess.

A continuous evaluationmustbe implemented duringthe wholeproject,requiring flexiblesolutions.

• Userscanno longervalidate theoreticalsystems.

- Largeprogramsare oftendelayed, expensiveinterimprojectsand ATCsystemmigrationdifficulties are frequentlyreportedin the specialised press ATMprojectshavenow becomeso complex that it is no longerfeasibleto freezesystem

specifications at the outsetof a project.It is necessary to adopta flexibledevelopment processandarchitectureto absorbthe incrementalchangesthat will inevitablyoccur duringthe projectlife andto minimizetheir impacton the overallcostand schedule.

SkySoft-ATM offer and general benefits In orderto meettheATMmarketevolution, SkySoft-ATM hasdevelopeda coherent frameworkof SkyModules that constitutea solidbasisfor a new projectmanagement approachwhenassociated with the SkyProject concept.

Themodulescanbe implemented asstandard turn-keysolutionsevenif, in mostcases,they are customised and integratedinto an existing environment.

Theflexibilityofferedby this modularconceptis the mainadvantageof the SkySoft-ATM approach.

SkyVisual,workingin conjunctionwith dataprocessing softwareengines,is a complete graphicalradardisplayusedbyATCOs to access the ATCinformationand data.It not onlyworks asan "output HMI" but alsoas an "input HMI" to giveinstructionsto the mainATCsystems.

Thisputsthe HMI at the verycentreof the globalATMsystemevolution.

In parallel,SkyServerprovidesthe main intelligenceof the systemprovidingkey functionssuchasATMautomationand decision supporttools.Operationalfunctionsinclude automaticconflictdetection/resolution over coordinationpoints,trajectorypredictions, route adherencemonitoring,customisedMTCD,FDP access(modifiableon-linefromanyCWP),

ANSPsalsowant to gain technological independence (openarchitectures, source-code accessetc.)andsupplierindependence (COTS) in orderto meetnew technicalchallenges and satisfyoperationalneedssuchasATC automation,decisionsupporttools,stripless systems, videorecordingetc.

Thecriticalincreasein airspacecapacity,where

liblE€0NTROLLER

Spotlight DynamicAirspaceManagement(DAM)etc.One of its mainbenefitsis its capabilityto be integratedinto an existingarchitecturethanks to its modularandflexibledesign.

SkySupervisionis a technicalmaintenance, configurationand monitoringmanagement tool usedto controlan entireACCsystemaswell as all radarCWPs. SkyRecis a complete,integratedrecord-andreplaysystemfor ATCflows (radar,FPL,weather etc.) aswell as all the CWPgraphicaldata (videorecording).

SkyTechconsistsof a numberof gatewaysthat facilitatethe integrationof SkyModules into an existingenvironment by providingprotocol conversions.

Completingthis modularoffer,SkyStation is a stand-aloneCWPwith all the necessary hardwareand softwareincluded.

SkyProject isthe projectmanagement frameworkwhichincludes: • In-depthATMexpertise • Flexibleprojectmanagement • HMIandfunctionalprototyping • Customisation, development and integration • On-siteintegrationand installation • Training Thisis SkySoft-ATM's frameworkfor a modular andflexibleprojectmethodology.

Throughout the projectduration,it is basedon a close cooperationbetweentheATCOs, the customers' technicalteamandSkySoft-ATM's projectteam.

In tune with this forward-lookingproject management approach,the SkyModules are alsousedas a basisfor ATMresearchand development of newATMfunctions.

Thus,SkyProject combinedwith SkyModules contributesto efficientprojectmanagement and offersseveralkeybenefitsto their customers: • An extensiveuseof prototypingthat enablesend-usersto gaina better understanding of their requirements • An incrementalprojectdevelopment whichaccelerates the development process • Constantprojectfine-tuningto match evolvingrequirements.

• A modularapproachallowinggradual improvements of the existingsystems insteadof radicalchangesat once • In-depthATMexpertiseand real-life experience in integratingthese solutionsin existingenvironments • Thebestguaranteefor an easy transitionfromdevelopment to operations • EarlyATCO"ownership"of their solutions,leadingto reducedtraining requirements and maximisedworking performances

THE CONTROLLER

• Localadaptationsinsteadof constant redoing;codingoptimisationat the serviceof theANSPcommunity • Earlyand efficienttraining • A bettercontroloverprojectcostand globalprojectschedulemanagement (monthsto marketinsteadof years,as frequentlyseen) TheSkyModules havebeendevelopedusingthe latestsoftwaredevelopment methodscombined with an efficientand pragmaticapproach.The advantages with regardsto performance, maintenance and growthpotentialspeakfor themselves.

regulationwas "manually"managedand consequently time-consuming.

Forthe GenevaFIR,SkySoft-ATM therefore developeda softwareengine(implemented asa SkyServer function)with the followingkey functions: • Aircrafttrajectorypredictionand estimated time overcoordinationpoints • Automaticconflictdetectionover coordinationpoints • Conflictresolutionproposals

SKYSOFTIN SWITZERLAND:

In orderto attain this functionalitythe Geneva ACC/APP ATCO'sexpertisewasdistilledinto a numberof pre-definedruleswhichwere integratedinto the system.Theresultis a systemthat is so safeandaccuratethat more than 95%of the conflictresolutionproposals arevalidatedby theATCOs.

Froman incrementalHMIto the SwissUpper AreaControl(UAC)

Thishasledto a numberof importantbenefits for Skyguide:

Thisinnovativeandefficientdevelopment approachhasalreadybeenput in practice togetherwith Skyguide(the SwissANSP)to harmonisetheir mainATCsystemsovera 5 year transitionalperiod(2001-2006).

Thanksto a closecollaborationandto the flexibilityof SkySoft-ATM's approach,it hasbeenpossibleto implementa largenumberof newtechnicaland operationalconceptsand featuresconceivedby Skyguide.

Thisprogramconsistsin threemain phases: • Implementan automaticconflictdetection and resolutiontool overcoordinatepoints • Putin operationa newradarvisualization solution • Usethis new HMIasa pivotalpoint for the newATMsolutionandgraduallyenhanceits functionalitiesto build the striplessSwiss UpperAreaControl(CH-UAC).

• Staffoptimisationdirectlymovedto higher airspacecapacity.Thisnew systemhas allowedthe GenevaACC/APP to savethe 5 regulatorpositions(corresponding to 13 ATCOsfor 24 h/dayduty).Thanksto the staff reallocationmadepossible,they havebeen ableto increasetheir airspacecapacityby 9% in a few months,a veryfast returnon investment.

Phase 1; Automatic conflict detection and resolution (AFREG) Theautomaticexit conditionstool (AFREG, put in operationin April 2001), an integralpart of SkyServer, workstogetherwith SkyVisual and is usedasthe corebasisfor the incremental systemevolution.

Upuntil May2000the GenevaACC/APP had5 regulatorpositionspermanently dedicatedto handlethe aircraftexit conditions.

The

• ValuableATCO- developersynergies Throughoutthe project,frequentworkshops havebeenorganisedinvolvingtheATCOs and SkySoft-ATM's experts,the bestway to guaranteethat the systemfulfilled all the localrequirements.

• Permanent fine-tuninggivingmorevaluefor moneyThanksto the possibilityof finetuningthe conflictparameters andthe automaticresolutionproposals, the systems flexibilityand growthpotentialis assured.

Theseparameters are definedby theATCOs themselves and canbe updatedby the ANSP without SkySoft-ATM's intervention.

• Fastimplementation, earlyacceptance and shorttrainingThenew solutionhasbeen developedin only 10 monthswhich demonstrates SkyServer's flexibilityand adaptabilityto localrequirements.

Theearly

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Spotlight involvementof the ATCOs hasincreased theirfeelingof "ownership"as it immediatelybecametheir project.

Phase 2: From AFREGto IFREG Basedon SkyVisual, AFREG hassincebeen decentralized andintegratedinto all the Geneva ACC/APP CWP'sradarcontrollerand assistantpositionsin the scopeof the IFREG project(put in operationin February 2003}.This wasaccomplished throughthe implementation of a newradarvisualization systemthat includesAFREG's regulationfeatures.

SkyVisual providesa completeandaccurate pictureof the en-routeair situationandoffers directaccessto the flight plans.Workingin combinationwith SkyServer's integratedflight progressmonitoring,this leadsto an autoregulationof air trafficflowsandto an automaticcoordination with adjacentcentres usingOldimessages.

It is alsousedasthe main exchange link betweenotherATCdatabases (meteorology etc.}.

SkyServer hasbeencombinedwith SkySupervision in orderto offera constant surveillance andauto-diagnosis of the global operationalsystem.

A centralworkstation automatically monitorsthe systems technical parameters suchassoftwareandnetwork status,radarsources, CPUloads,CPU temperatures etc.SkySupervision alsoincludes configuration management toolsandan applicationdistributionfeaturecapableof updatingthe completesoftwareof all Geneva ACC/APP CWPsandserversin lessthan 5 minutes.

SkyRec hasalsobeenintegratedinto the main system.Thishasbeendonein two phases, the first onefor radarandflight-plandata in June 2003and the secondonefor videorecordingin March2005.All operations, suchasradardata exchanges, controlleractions,supervisor commands etc.,arerecordedandbackedup in orderto providea 100%accuratereplay capability.

Programbatcheswith newfunctions,arebeing put into operationin the Geneva ACC/APP 3 to 4 timesperyearasshownbelow: • TheDAM(Dynamic AirspaceManagement) wasaddedto SkyServer in January2005.It automaticallymanages the mapsof active specificairspacezones(military,parachute, glideretc.}for all the CWP'sand improves theATCO'sresponsiveness • Frequency windowtrackadaptations • Conflictsresolutionlabels • VariousHMIimprovements Thekeysuccess factorin this projectwasthe useof the HMIasa pivotalpointfromwhich the modifications to the mainsystemwere derived.

ThisSkySoft-ATM solutionhasdemonstrated its outstandingstabilityandreliabilitythrough

24

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morethan 4 yearsof round-the-clock operationaluse.

Thanksto the success of this systemandto the highcustomer's satisfactiona similarHMIhas beendeveloped for the ZurichACCandwas deployedinApril 2003.

Phase3: FromIFREG to the SwissUpperArea Control(CHUAC) Theincremental systemdevelopment continues in closecollaboration with Skyguide towards its final goal,the implementation of the Swiss UpperAreaControl(CH-UAC).

TheUACprogramrequiresthe introductionof a numberof importantstepsin orderto reach the complete,striplesssystemwhichis scheduled to be operationalduring2006.

Themajorstepsare: • Silentsectorcoordination • Implementation of a customised MTCDthat consistsof two differenttools.The HorizontalScanning Tool(HST}continuously monitorsaircrafttrajectorieson eachflight levelandthe DynamicScanning Tool(DST) monitorsaircraftverticalmovements andis eventtriggeredon CFL,headingandroute changesetc.

• Displayof on-screen stripmessages with the aim of providingthe ATCOs with the sameinformationthat is currentlyavailable usingthe paper-strip system • Integrationof the Zurichupperairspaceinto the CH-UAC airspacehandledby Geneva ACC.Thiswill be accomplished by addinga numberof CWPsto the GenevaACC/APP andtransferringa numberof ATCOs from Zurichto Geneva Thisincremental approach, assuresa smooth transitionduringthe implementation of the newoperationalfunctions.

SkySoft-ATM 's expertsandtheATCOshave jointly developedthe systemspecifications in an incremental fashionduringa seriesof workshops.

Keybenefitsof this close cooperation arethe earlyacceptance of the new functionsandminimizedtraining requirements (onlyabouthalf a dayper UAC batch).

Thisflexibleandefficientprojectmanagement is possiblethanksto the SkyModules modular structure,the smallcode-size coupledwith an efficientand leansoftwarearchitecture and theirwillingnessto listento andinvolvethe end-users in the development.

Theexperience gainedfrom the Skyguide collaboration, hasallowedSkySoft-ATM to developandput into operationa complete systemwith realinnovativeandperforming featuresin oneof the mostcomplex environment in Europe.Thanksto this successful experience SkySoft-ATM hasalready started,andwill continue,to bringthis knowledgeto otherANSPs. It allowsthemto customise ATMsolutionsandadaptthemto the localATCenvironments of anycountry, somethingthat setsthemapartin this market.

Conclusion SkySoft'shigh-speed projectframeworkis drivenby theirATCexpertise, efficientand lean softwarearchitecture andthe COTS principle, creatingan accelerated technological development process.

Thisnewphilosophyin combination with close business relationships, offerstheir customers increased freedomthroughvendor independence, source-code accessandexpert supportfrom a provensystemintegrator.

Theeaseof systemsmaintenance andtheir closeandefficientsupportallowstheir customers to enjoythe benefitsof very advancedandflexibletechnicalsystemswith a highsafety-level at an affordablecost.It opens the doorto manyinnovativeandforwardlookingcooperative business-models in the ATMworld,whichhasbeenwidely demonstrated by their manycustomer installationsin severalcountries.

Thisconcludes our Spotlightfeaturefor 2005.I wouldliketo takethis opportunityto thankall of my corporatecontactswhoseinputgreatly helpedin makingthis featureso popular.My thanksalsogo to thosememberswho contactedme regardingthe contentof Spotlight.Yourfeedbackwasveryusefulin ensuringthe contentmetthe needsof our membership.

Finally,in the 'thankyou· department, thanksmustgo to Laurent Courtois SkySoft'sSalesand Marketing Manager without whose help this issue'sfeature would not have been possible.

As normal,to ourcorporatemembership readers,if youwould likeyourcompanyto be featuredin 'Spotlight',and likewiseto any reader,who wouldlikefurtherinformationon anytopicthat wascovered,pleasedo not hesitateto contactme usingthe following address: Kevin Salter IFATCAContributing Editor Corporate Affairs Flugsicherungsakademie Am DFS-Campus 4 D-63225 Langen Tel: + 49 (0)6103 707 5202 Fax: + 49 (0)6103 707 5177 E-Mail: kevin-john.salter@dfs.de or E-Mail: kevinjsalter2008@aol.com

Internet radar

Getyourownpersonal (virtual)radar ByPhilipMarien It had to happen.Tofurther enhancethe 'spotters'experience,a UKbasedcompanyhas developedthe first 'virtual radar'.An affordablecombinationof a hardwarereceiver and PCbasedsoftware,the systemuses Mode-SandADS-8(AutomaticDependant Surveillance-Broadcast) signalsto build a 'radar' pictureon your computer.

Howdoesit work? Both Mode-5andADS-B usethe samefrequencyas a regularModeA/C transponder(1090MHz).Insteadof the 4096 combinationsthat ModeA/Chasto offer, Mode-5repliesto a secondaryradar interrogationwith a 24 bit answer.In these24 bits,informationsuchas a unique identificationcodeof the aircraftcan be coded.Simplycrossreferencingthis fixed code with a databasecan giveyou the identity of the aircraft (company,type ... ).

ADS-Btransmitsinformationfrom the airplane'son-boardsystems.It usesthe same frequencyas modeA/C/S.Thedifferencewith regulartransponderinformationis that it doesn'tansweran interrogationfrom the ground.Instead,it regularlybroadcaststhe informationfor anyoneto pick up. Most obviousand currentlyused,is positionand speedvector informationof the aircraft togetherwith someidentificationsuchas the callsign.Thepositionand speedvector is derivedfrom the onboardnavigation systemand thereforeshouldbe very accurate.Becausethe informationis very regularlybroadcast(typicallyonceevery second)it is muchmoreup to date than other systemssuchasACARS.In the future, other informationmaybe transmitted,such as selectedaltitude,speedor evenroute information.

Couplingboth Mode-SandADS-B positionand vectorinformation,a receiverstation can createa situationdisplay,which somepeople would call a virtual radar- Don't let any IFATCA Technicalcommittee memberhearyou or you'll haveto sufferhis or her wrath for callingit a radar! With a good antenna setup,it shouldbe possibleto receivethe broadcastsfrom equipped aircraftas far as 200-250Nm away.Of course the systemwill only displayaircraftthat carry this equipment.But in a lot of regions,it is mandatoryalreadyor it will becomerequired in the very nearfuture - unlikeACARS.

THE CONTROLLER

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UKbasedKineticAvionics(www.kineticavionics.co.uk) marketsthe receiverwhich connectsto a PCvia USB(an Ethernetversion is underdevelopment).

While not cheap( 750 or US$900),it is well within budgetof many spotters,aviationgeeksand whoeverwants to know what's flying abovetheir head.The devicedoesn'tactuallyinterrogatethe aircraft but interceptsthe Mode-Srepliesto radar stationsas well as the ADS-Bbroadcasts.In combinationwith a laptop,it is quite portable and can be usedon the move(e.g.from a car).

While currentlythe softwareoperatesas standalone,a versionthat can network differentusersis underdevelopment:by sharingthe receivedinformationvia the internet,a muchbiggerareawill become availableand it will be possibleto seelarge geographicalareas,without line-of-sightlimits that the receiverhas.Accessto the information couldthen not be limitedto peoplewho own the hardware,but couldbe extendedto people who buy a pieceof softwareand/ora subscription.Somethingsimilaralreadyexists for ACARSinformation(e.g. www.airnavsystems.com), but the updaterate is nowherenearthat of an ADS-Bsystem.

Whilethe obvioustarget audiencefor a device like this is aviationenthusiasts,it is quite easy to imagine'alternative'uses.Thefirst airmiss

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reportsare alreadycirculatingon internet forums.It would of coursebe easyenoughto implementconflictdetectionalgorithmsin the softwareprogram.And it doesn'tstop there: the currentTCASsystemsalso usethe 1090 MHzbandfor coordinatingTCASRA's betweenthe aircraftinvolved.It shouldnot be too difficult to adaptthe softwareto catch TCASRA'sas they happen.An easyand cheap way for tabloid newspapersto generate sensationalheadlines,without any needfor annoyingexpertiseto put thingsin perspective ...

Otherconcernsincludesecurityissues:I don't know whetherit's equipped,but imagine beingableto trackAir ForceOnewith a systemlike this... I'm surethe SecretService won't be impressed.It couldeventempt certainindividualswith a two-wayradio to issueclearancesto the aircraftthey seeon their system,as opposedto 'transmitting blind', as has happenedin the past.

While monitoringATCthroughscannersis alreadywidespread,the ability to monitor actualtraffic situationswith systemslike these will makeour jobs muchmoretransparent.

Hopefully,it'll increasethe appreciationand admirationfor the job we do. I candream, can't I?

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25

Taiwan Conference

Preparation for 2006 IFAT CA( 0 nferenee

byGraceChiuandPeterChen

irst of all, visit our web site: www.ifatca2006.com.tw for latest information

F

Everythingwill be thereand updatedregularly.

What is belowis generalinformationin order to helpyou prepareyour visit.

Theplaceis Kaohsiung,on the Southof Taiwanand the datesare March27 to 31, 2006.TheConference venuewill be in the SplendorHotelin Kaohsiung.

TheRegistrationfee is set from 3500( approx 100 USO) to 4750 NTD( 1USOis approx35 NTD)dependingwho you are and whenyou register.Theregistrationfee includeslunches, Dinnerevents,coffeebreaks,transportationto and from Kaohsiungairport,aswell as transportationto and from conferencevenue from other hotels.Once you haveregistered, you will receivefrom the secretariata confirmationletter.

Toget thereare manyairlinesbut the 2 internationalTaiwanese carriers,Chinaairlines and EVAairlinesare grantingAD75(i.e.75% reduction)for participants.Forschedulescheck their websitesat www.evaair.com and www.china-airlines.com Participantswho want to usethis facility have first to register, wait until they get their confirmationletter,and togetherwith this letter,fill a transportationform availableon the ifatca2006web site and sendthis to the Conference secretariatnot laterthan 15 February2006.

Thehotel nightsare between 50 and 150 USD, but a singleroomin the venueHotelwill cost around110 USD.Seemoredetailedinfo on the formsin the oppositepage.Beawarethat if you cancelyour attendanceafter having registered,50% of the fee will be kept if you cancelbeforeMarch11, but after March 12, no refundwill be made.

Forthe hotel reservation,cancellationbefore March20 will be at no charge,after that 1 night staywill be charged,Thesameappliesfor no show.

Forcorporatememberswantingto exhibit duringthe conference, specialfurnishedbooths

26

(3mx 3m) will be availablein the Conference venue.Rateper booth is 38.000NTDand includes2 registrations.Formoredetails check the web site underExhibitorinformation..

Youwill find the RegistrationForm,as well as informationon the hotelsand the tours in the following pages.More Informationon the SplendorHotel,the conferencevenue,on the backcoverof the magazine.

As we said in the welcomeletter on page2, we expect

somethingaround800 participants,so bookearlyif you want to makesureto have your preferredhotel choice.

TheConference Secretariatis GeneralInnovationServices(GIS) 2F 316WenChangStreetTAIPEI 110, TaiwanROC Tel: +886-287805688 Fax: +886 2 87893602

THE CONTROLLER

Taiwan Conference

Registration Form Participant Information:

Prof./ Dr./Mr./ /Ms. Last Name:

First Name: Tel:+

E-mail:

Fax:+

Address:

Zip/Post Code:

PassportNo.:

Date of Birth (YYYY/MM/DD):

Country of Issue:

Status:

Association/Organization/Company: Preferred Name On Badge: Dietary Requirements:

0 Vegetarian

0 Pork Free

0 Beef Free 0 Seafood Free

0 Other Preference

Function at Conference:

OIFATCA

□ DIRECTOR

7DELEGATE

0 CONFERENCE OFFICER 0 INVITEDADVISOR 0 PANELSPEAKER*

0 DEPUTYDIRECTOR

7 INDIVIDUALMEMBER , C0RP0RSTEMEMBER

□ OBSERVER*

'A Panel Speaker or Observer Is a person attending Conference by invitation or approval of the Executive Board

0 Accompany Person 1.Mr./Ms.First Name

Last Name

2. Mr./Ms.First Name

last Name

3. Mr./Ms.First Name

Last Name

Registration Fees includes GST

Before 28 February2006

After 1 March 2006

IFATCAOfficer

NTD3,500

NTD4,000

Conference Officer

NTD3,500

NTD 4,000

Invited Advisor

NTD3,500

NTD4,000

PanelSpeaker

NTD 3,500

NTD4,000

Director (1 per MA)

NTD3,500

NTD4,000

Deputy Director (max 3 per MA)

NTD3,500

NTD4,000

Delegate

NTD4,250

NTD4,750

Accompanying person

NTD4,250

NTD4,750

Individual Member

NTD4,250

NTD4,750

Corporate Member

NTD4,250

NTD4,750

Observer

NTD4,250

NTD4,750

S.UB-Total{A)

THE CONTROLLER

NTD

27

Taiwan Conference HOTEL RESERVATION FORM

D Reservation throuth Administrative

D Self-arrangment

Secretariat

The room rates below include 5% tax and 10% service charge, and breakfast. Please prioritize your preference at the following hotels. Due to the CPI has increased recently in Taiwan, the Accommodation fee raises a little bit from the original proposed price.

Shuttle buses are arranged for all participants Splendor Kaohsiung.

between the hotels and conference & exhibition

venue -

The Splendor Hotel

D Single room NT$3,700 x D Twin room NT$4,000 x

nights= NTD nights= NTD

Grand Hi Lai Hotel

D Single room NT$3,300 x D Twin room NT$3,600 x

nights= NTD nights= NTD

Ambassador Hotel

D Singe room NT$3,500 x D Twin room NT$3,800 x

nights= NTD nights= NTD

Howard Plaza Hotel Kaohsiung

I I Single room NT$3,000 x

nights= NTD

D Twin room NT$3,200 x D Triple room NT$3,800 x D Family room NT$4,300 (Max. 4 ) x

nights= NTD nights= NTD nights= NTD

Kingdom Hotel

D Single room NT$2, 100 x D Twin room NT$2,500 x

nights= NTD nights= NTD

Few budgeted hotels are available upon your request; please contact the Conference Secretariat for further information.

CHECK IN DATE:__

(M) __

CHECK OUT DATE: __

(D)

(M) __

(D)

SUB-Total (B)

NTD

ACCOMPANYING PERSON PROGRAM (The following prices are tentative, the final prices will be announced soon) Half-day Tour D AP-1 Kaohsiung City Tour

Date 3/27 - 3/31

Fee for Adult Free___ p

Fee for Child Free___ p

Amount

(Flrst Come First Service. Max. 40 participants daily)

D AP-2 Cultural Tour D AP-3 Nostalgic Tour D AP-4 Tour in Kenting D AP-5 Taipei City Tour D AP-6 Hua lien Tour D AP-7 Kinmen Tour

3/28- 3/31 3/28- 3/31 3/28 - 3/31 Mar.28 Mar.29 Mar.30

SUB-Total (C)

Grand Total =(A)+(B)+(C)-

NTD3,000 x __ NTD3,000 x __ NTD4,500 x __ NTD7,200 x __ NTD7,100 x __ NTD7, 100 x __

p p p p p p

NTD2,000 x__ NTD2,000 x__ NTD3,500 x __ NTD6,700 x __ NTD6,600 x __ NTD6,600 x_P

p p p p p

NTD

NTD

(Reference Exchange Rate: NTO:USD- 33:1)

I authoriseGeneralInnovationServices(GIS)to debit my creditcardfor the grandtotal of NTD..............

-----······(total

of both forms)

by: Mastercard/VISA/ AMEX (deleteas appropriate) Number........................................................ .

expirydate .......................... ./..................... .......... ..1.

Nameon card(print ) .....................................................................................................

Signature............................................................................................... date............................................. .

28

THECONTROLLER

Taiwan Conference

Accommodation Splendor Kaohsiung

Thehotel is situatedin the 85 SkyTowerin the centreof the city'snew businessand shopping district,just 20 minutesfrom Kaohsiung InternationalAirport and 10 minutesfrom the local train station.Our facilitiesare located betweenfloors 38 and 70 (inclusive)and face the harbour.Our592 spaciousroomsare locatedbetweenfloors45 and 70 and include five ExecutiveFloors,SuperiorRooms,Deluxe Rooms,OceanSuitesand Panorama Suites.

Hi-lai Hotel

Theneoclassical GrandHi-LaiHotelis located in Kaohsiung'sbustlingcommercialcentre,and looksdown on the city from a heightof 186 meters.TheHi-Laihopesthat its sumptuous, refinedappearance, exquisitefurnishingsand consideratethoughtfulservice,will give guests a wonderfulexperience.

Thehotel containsart treasuresvisibleeverywhere, 550 comfortable guestrooms,17 EasternandWestern

TourInformation Taipei

Taiwanhasa completerangeof optionsfor your leisure-timeactivities:traditionalculture, art, fascinatingtemples,museums,impressive monuments,performances

by International starsof stageand opera,movies,shopping, sportsand more.

At Taipei'sfascinatingNationalPalace Museumyou canseepart of the world's largestassemblage of pricelessChineseart treasures,one of which spansnearlythe entire 5,000yearhistoryof the world's oldest civilisation.Most of the museum'sart objects were part of the immenseChineseImperial collection,and the Jade,porcelain,paintings and bronzeson displayare regularlyrotated, so eachvisit is unique.Themuseumhasdaily guidedtours in Englishat 10.00and 15.00.

Taipei'smajesticChiangKai-shekmemorial Hall is the Island'smost impressivemonument to the late President.

Thecolossalmarble edificedominatesbeautifulgardens,graceful pavillionsand placidponds.An elegantMingstylearchat the mainentranceis flankedby

THE CONTROLLER

restaurantsand an exclusiveBusinessClub. It also containsthe largestdepartmentstorein Taiwan,expansivebanquetrooms.anallfunctionconferencecentreand 1,000parking spaces.Countlesswell-plannedfeaturesshow the GrandHi-Lai'sability to combinebusiness, leisure,entertainment,art and an International outlook.

Ambassador Hotel

TheAmbassadoris convenientlylocatedin the centreof Kaoshiung's financialdistrict nearthe scenicLoveRiverand is in the vicinityof a numberof famoustourist attractions.Thehotel hasrecentlybeenrenovatedand offers453 guestroomsdesignedto International standards.

We offer a distinguishedselection of fine diningvenuesfeaturingChineseand Westernmenus,anda wide selectionof banquet, meeting& conference, andtourist packages.

Howard Hotel

HowardPlazaHotelis convenientlylocatedin the heartof Kaohsiung's businessand commercialdistricts,within a 5 minutedriveof

two classicalstyle buidings:TheNational TheatreandTheNationalConcertHall,exotic venuesfor a host of Internationallyrenowned performers.

Thesquarebetweenthe buildings is a populargatheringplaceon specialfestive days.

Hualien

EasternTaiwanhassomeof the island'smost beautifuland accessibleattractions:a breathtakingcoastalroadcarvedfrom sheer cliffs abovethe ocean,unspoiltemerald islands,aboriginetribes,water sports,hot springsandtwo crossislandhighwayswith magnificentscenery.

HualienCity boastsan amazingrangeof mableproducts,songand danceperformances by aborigines,and is a startingpoint for excursionsto nearbyscenicareas.Taroko Gorgeis a beautiful,narrowravineof towering cliffs of marbleand graniteabovea rushing river,with waterfalls,pavillions,pagodasand templesclingingto mist shrouded mountainsides.

Thegorgeis an easytrip from Hualien.

TheEastCoastNationalScenicAreais an isolated,pollution-freeregionthat boasts

the RailwayStationand ChungShanFreeway, and a 15 minutedrive to the Kaohsiung InternationalAirport.TheHowardHotelis the preferredhotel for discriminatingtravellersto this southernport city.Thehotel fetures328 roomsand suiteswith the traditionalelegance of rosewoodfurmitureand magnificentart piecesand the convenience of modern technology,includingthe latestin telecommunications.

Thereare non-smoking floorsand the RosewoodClub.

Hotel Kingdom

Thehotel is locatednext to the adoringLove River.Theriver is one minuteswalk from the hotel.Thefounder,Mr.Wu Yao-ting,is the first annualTenOutstandingYoungPersons winner.

After 10 yearsof planningand developing, HotelKingdomopenedoficiallyin 1968.It is the first 5 star InternationaltourismHotelin SouthTaiwan."Reveringguestswith all our sincereand respectingguestswith all our heart" is the hotelscorestrengthto provide guestswith a personalised service.

lovelybeaches,shrinesin moutainsidecaves, incrediblerock sculptures,coral reefs,and the river offersexcitingwhite-waterraft trips.

Kinmen

Also knownas Quermoy,Kinmenis a small islandof greatreputation.Situatedoff the coastof mainlandChina,it was the site of fiercefighting betweenCommunistand Nationalistforceswhen the latterwithdrew from the mainlandin 1949.In the fighting the Nationalistsemergedvictorious,forging storiesof loyaltyand valor that live on today as an importantpart of the historicallegacy, and is regardedas almostsacredgroundby the Republicof China.Until recentlyclosedto outsidevisitorsbecauseof its statusas an islandfortress,guardingagainsta continuing Communistthreat,it hasrecentlyopenedfor tourism.Kinmenhasprovideda havenfor Japanese adventurersand piratesin the past, and wallsand moatswereconstructedas a defensein 1387duringthe reignof Emporor Taitsuof Ming dynasty.ThisearnedKinmen the nameby which it is knowntoday;literally "GoldenGate", the nameactuallytranlates roughlyas "ImpregnableGateway".

29

NOSS trials

FirstNOSStrialsconducted successfull inAustraliaand NewZealand Marcus Knauer - AirservicesAustralia Paul Fallow - AirwaysCorporationNew Zealand Bert Ruitenberg - IFATCANOSSSGrepresentative

WHATIS NOSS7 TheNormalOperationsSafetySurvey(NOSS) is a tool for the collectionof safetydata during normalATCoperations.Thistool is developedby ICAOand is theATCequivalentof the Line OperationsSafetyAudit (LOSA) tool that is usedin airlineoperations.Bothtools are basedon the Threatand ErrorManagement(TEM)frameworkas developedby the Universityof Texas.

Wherethe aviationindustryhasbuilt up an enviablesafetyrecordby learninglessonsfrom thingsthat went wrong(i.e.incident-and accidentinvestigations), NOSSand LOSAexplorethe optionto learnadditionallessonsfrom thingsthat went well (i.e.operationsthat haven't resultedin an incidentor an accident,in otherwordsthe majorityof operations).

In both NOSSand LOSAtrainedobserversrecordspecificitemsfrom the contextin whichATCor flight operationstakeplace.Thisby the way is whereNOSSand LOSAdiffer significantly from proficiencychecks:NOSSand LOSAlook at the contextwhereasin proficiencychecksthe focusis on individualpersons.

CurrentIFATCA Policyon NOSSis : MonitoringSafetyin NormalOperationsmustbe seenas an integralelementof a Safety Management System.A Safetytool suchas NOSS, shallmeetthe followingconditions:joint management/controller sponsorship, voluntaryparticipation;trainedobservers; set targetsof safetyenhancements; de-identified,confidential,and non-disciplinary data collection;and adequatefeedbackof the resultsto the controller.

Formorebackground informationseethearticletitled'NOSSWorkshop" in TheController1/2004by BertRuitenberg.

n May andJune2005the first ever operationaltrials of NOSStook placein selectedATCfacilitiesin Australiaand New Zealand.Supportwas obtainedfrom both Airservices Australiaandthe Airways CorporationNewZealandandfrom the organisationsrepresenting the controllers(i.e. the IFATCA MemberAssociations fromAustralia and New Zealand).Both trials weresupported by a specialistfrom the Universityof Texas(UT) with LOSAexperience.

Heprovidedthe training for the observers, assistedin answering questionsduringthe observations, and chaired the data cleaningsessionsafter the collection period.

I

First trial - Brisbane,Australia Thefocusof this first trial wastwo-fold.First, to determinewhethersucha conceptwas appropriatewithin an ATSenvironment,and secondly, whetherthe methodologydeveloped to date by the ICAOStudyGroupwas suitable.

A numberof communications to staff (Web site,newsletter,circulars,etc.)on the pending NOSStrial werepublishedin orderto givestaff a greaterunderstanding of what the philosophyof NOSSwasand what controllers couldexpect.EachControllerwithin the centre

30

receiveda 1 hourbriefingon NOSSoperating characteristics and "Threatand Error Management"duringtheir mandatory refreshertraining.Duringthe courseof the briefingscontrollerswereaskedif they had interestto becomeobservers.

Thosewere selectedand approvedby both Management and ControllerAssociation.

As a minimumthe observershadto hold a currentATClicense,be well-respected by peersand haveprofessional credibility.

Theirtheorytraining lastedfor 2 days.The majorityof time was spentexplainingthe conceptof threats;in particulartryingto get the observers to understandthat normal everydayoperationaleventscanbe threatsin the contextof the Threatand Error Management framework.

Oneof the big issueswhich cameto light was the time it took to completethe reports.It was quite considerable andwhilst in part this was attributedto the observersnot beingfamiliar with the data collectiontool or the observation form it wasfoundthat someobservers werea little disheartened despitereassurances that it would get better.

A total of 52 observations wereconductedover two weeksin Brisbane.

All observations were conductedon radaren-routeand arrival sectors,totalling 14 sectorsalongthe AustralianEastcoast.In total therewere5 observers; eachobservationlastedbetween1 and 1'h hoursand wasdoneby a single observer.

Therearea numberof issuesthat needto be consideredfor future data collection: Workloadis high.Althoughthis was explained duringtraininga few of the observers were shockedat the amountof work expected.

Observers shouldnot be expectedto do any morethan 2 weeksof consecutive observations.

Theother issuewasto makesure trainingand checkschedulesare knownin advanceif possibleto helpin programmingof observations.

At the endof the data collection period,whenthe reportsfrom the observers had beenreceived,a DataCleaningsession washeld.In this session,whichtook several daysto complete,(in fact 2 '/, veryintense days.)all threatsand errorsfromthe reports wereverifiedagainstexistingprocedures, rules and regulations.

Thesessionwasalsousedto identifyundesiredstatesin the reports.

THE CONTROLLER

NOSS trials Second trial - Christchurch / Auckland / Wellington, New Zealand After the meetingswith managementand controllerassociationrepresentatives there wasa generalagreementthat the NOSS conceptwould comfortablyfit with the company'scurrentsafetystrategyand that a trial was a logicalfirst step.It was decided that a target of 60 observationsspreadover the ChristchurchRadarCentreand 3 InternationalTowerswould be appropriate.

Therealso,to inform staff,noticeswere issued overa five monthperiodleadingup to the trial.

memberof the team,in this instancethe Aerodromecontroller.Thetrial was conducted over a periodof 2'/, weekscompleting63 observationsin total. Thismeantthat each observerwas requiredto complete approximately10 observations.It was clearby the endof the trial that this numberwas close to the maximumthat individualscouldhandle without detractingfrom the quality of their report. Havingsaidthat, mostobserversfound the task to be very interestingand challenging and displayeda high degreeof enthusiasm throughout.

Briefingswere alsogivento the team leaders and supervisorsin relationto their involvement(or lackof it) in the process.

Thewillingnessof staff to haveobservations take placewas veryencouragingand most seemedgenuinelyinterestedin the concept.

Thisdid causesomeproblemsin quieter periods,as it was verydifficult for the observersto remainas "flies on the wall" and avoidsomeconversationwithout makingthe situationawkward. Theobserverstried hardto limit this interactionas muchas possible,and pushbackfrom the operatingpositionwhen the opportunityarose.As traffic got busierthe observerspresencebecamelessof an issue.

As in Australia,expressionsof interestwere soughtfor staff wishingto be consideredfor Observertraining.Thisapproachwas usedin preferenceto directlyapproachingand appointingindividualsconsideredsuitablefor mainlypolitical reasonswithin the organisation.Out of the pool of candidates4 radarobservers(plusthe projectofficer)and 2 tower observerswere appointed.Tohelp ensurea high levelof transparencyin the processa memberof the unioncounselwas includedas one of the observers.

Thevery basiccriteria usedfor the selectioncomprised: professionalcredibilityin the eyesof staff, demonstratedanalyticalcharacteristics, enthusiasmfor the conceptand relativelyopen mindedto differentconcepts.

Theteam allowed2 daysof classroomtime to bring the observersup to speedwith TEM theoryand the write up of requirementsetc.

At the end of the training sometime was spentwith short briefingsof eachof the individualsector'soperation,highlightingthe specificelementsthat were unusual.

Throughoutthe training the magnitudeand intensityof the observationtask aheadwas repeatedlyhighlighted.Thiswas an essential elementof the training processto prevent observersgetting disheartenedin the early stages.

Threedifferentenvironmentswereobserved Terminalsectorscomprisingteamsof 2 to 3 staff,typicallya Planner,a Departures controllerand an Arrivalscontroller.Giventhe relativelysmallnumbersof observationsthat would be conductedon eachsectorit was decidedto only observethe Departures controllerson thesesectors.Area Radar sectorscomprisinga singlecontroller monitoringmainlyen-routetraffic.And InternationalTowerscomprisingteamsof 2 to 3 staff,typicallyanAerodromecontroller,Coordinator,and Clearancedelivery/ Surface movements.

As was the casein the Terminal sectorsit was decidedto observeonly one

THE CONTROLLER

Toavoid disruptionsdueto training,checks etc, a schedulewas givento eachobserverso they couldplan their observationsaround theseevents.Therewere howeversome difficultiesin the earlystageswhen part way throughobservationhandoverstook place which involvedtraineescomingon position.

Thisissuewas overcomeby an agreement from the SectorManagersthat if a handover took placeduring an observation,the trainee would not sit on positionuntil after the observationwas complete.

Initially the team had plannedfor the observersto completetwo observationsper day,includingwrite up, however,a more realistictarget was three observationsper 2 days.Thiswas basedon 1 to 1'h hoursper observation,which provedampleto gain usefuldata. Oneof the observerswas a union councilmember,which helpedpromotethe transparencyof the processin the eyesof staff. Thetask took 3 very intensedays.They did not useany outsideexpertise,but reliedon the knowledgeof the groupwith referenceto manualswhen required.Therewas lively debateon manyissuesand in generalthey were able to gain a consensuson the outcomes.Thegroupdid havesomedifficulty in differentiatingbetweenwhat they consideredas normaltraffic handling procedures, and what was threat management.In generalundesiredstateswere not codedduringthe observation,but were left for the data cleaningprocessto pick up.

Thisapproachprovedsatisfactory,and did allow for an in-depthlook at eachsituationto ensurevaluabledata was not missed.

Overallthe planningand executionof the trial was a relativelyeasyand straightforward process.

Thewillingnessof staff and managementto embracethe NOSSconcept was very encouragingand setsa sound footing for the future.Equallyencouraging was management'scommitmentto address the issues.

Results of the Trial for Airservices Australia Oneof the thingsthe NOSSreportdid was validatingincidentreportsand incident investigationfindingsthat had occurred recently.Thecausalfactorsin recentincidents werethe sameas someof the errorsobserved duringthe Trial,which providedassurancethat actionstakento addresssuchissuesarising from recentincidentswas valid.Action items drawn from the reportreceivedfrom UTare currentlybeing identifiedand will be addressedas part of AirservicesAustralia's SafetyManagementSystem.

Results of the Trial for Airways New Zealand Whilethe trial only conducted63 observations therewere severalareasof interestthat will be a catalystfor changewithin the organisation.

Overallof all the threatsobservedthe largest proportionwere airborne,i.e. R/T communication,similarcall-signsand unusual traffic patterns/mixetc. Howeverthe most frequentlymismanagedthreatswere those posedby other controllers,for example incomplete/incorrect coordinationbetween sectors.In additionto this there wererelatively high numbersof incompletebriefingsgiven during handing-over/take-over of operating positions. It was alsointerestingthat mismanagedequipment/automation errors while not occurringvery often,tendedto be consequentialwhen they did.

Oneof the most importantpointsidentified from this NOSStrial was that AirwaysNZ doesnot havethe ability to resolveall of its threats/errorsinternally.Thecompanymust work in partnershipwith the airspaceusers and considerthe combinedfindingsfrom NOSS/LOSA to form a joint frameworkthat will improvethe overallenvironmentfor all parties.Thenext trial will be held endof 2005,in Vancouver, Canada.Thefinal ICAO TEMand NOSSManualthat the SGis tasked to producefor ICAO is plannedfor late 2006.

TheICAONOSSSGhasproduceda Circularon Threatand ErrorManagementin ATC.Thefinal draft versionof this Circularis availablefor registeredIFATCAmembersfrom the IFATCA website(Forumarea,look under "ICAO Manuals> New Manuals").

31

African affairs

"COOPERATION & COLLABORATIO Theta11orderfor success

by MD Matale,AFMregionalEditor

ooperationand collaborationamongst all partiesconcernedwith provisionof Air TrafficControlis fundamentalto the successof the professionin the largeexpanse of the Africa and Middle East-AFMRegion.

C

In the naturalsense,successin the prevention of collisionbetweenaircraft,the preventionof collisionbetweenaircraftand ground obstructionsas well as expeditingand maintainingorderlyflow of air traffic, doesnot solelydepend on duty air traffic controllersof the day.

It's somekind of imperceptiblefactor that exist far beyondthe scopeof the basicICAO StandardAnd Recommended Practices, that ultimatelydeterminethe prevailinglevelsof safetyand efficiencyin the provisionof air traffic control.

Satisfactorylevelsof practicesthat we seein other regionsof the world, resultfrom concertedeffort coupledwith the accomplishment of widespreadcooperation and collaborationamongstall concerned parties.

Theseincludeperfectcooperationand collaborationbetweenATCunits and the relevantAir NavigationServiceProvidersANSPs;and furthermore,betweenANSPsand PolicyMakers,etc.

Forexample,in the Europeanregion,there is apparentlyan effectivelevelof cooperation and collaborationbetweenAir Navigation ServiceProvidersand Governments.

Whilethe rest of the world is alreadyplanning for ATCin the next 25 years,the AFMregionis still at the thresholdstrugglingfor recognition of the profession.

Thisis demonstratedby the fact that representatives of Europeanauthorities includingthe EuropeanUnionitself,always participateand make noteworthy contributionsduring annualconferences of the InternationalFederationof Air Traffic ControllersAssociations.

Aboveall, high profile cooperationand collaborationwithin the regionis duly commendablefor facilitating giganticprojectssuchas the SES,the Single EuropeanSkies.

It is an absolutemisfortuneto note that, in multiplesof cases,suchrecognitioneither doesnot existor is hardlyadequate.Also,to note that ANSPsin this region,havea recordedhistoryof opting to punishair traffic controllersfor non-criminalerrorsas well as for errorsresultingfrom their own failuresto act proactivelyto mattersconcerningsafetyof flights.

It is only when our regionalso reachesthat levelof participationby our Aviation Administratorsthat we will havemorereason to believethat indeedthere is light at the end of the tunnel.

32

Theend resultof this inadequacyin cooperationand collaborationwithin the AFM regionis a factorthat callsfor ATC professionalsandtheir respectiveCivil AviationAuthoritiesor Departmentsto act promptlyin educatingand sensitizingpolicy makers.

In any case,the AFM Regionis not wholly experiencingthis worrisomeshortfall.There are countrieswithin the regionwhich have overcomemostof the barriers.It is therefore advisablefor thosestill lacking,to benchmark with their closestcounterpartswithin the regionin effortsto infusebetter understanding.

Finally,the fact that Cooperationand Collaborationstandsout asTheTall Orderfor the Success of Air TrafficControlservicein the AFM Region,can neverbe overemphasized.

NB:PleasesendyourAFM newsreleases& articlesto the RegionalEditor: mdmatale@yahoo.co.uk

THE CONTROLLER

Charlie's Column

CHARLIE'SCOLUMN Great VORsof China FUQUING(FQG)south of ZSPPin Qiaoxiang ( 25.44.24 N and 119.23.00 E ) WANG QUING(WQG)near Dalian (43.17.42N 129.47.00 E) I would not dareto makecomments:they are officialVORs. DANISHAIR FORCECOMPENSATES FATHER CHRISTMASFORHAVINGFRIGHTENED TO DEATHONEOF ITSREINDEERS Youmight think that this is a joke,but it is fact a true story:A part time FatherChristmascalled Olavi Nikkanoffreceived4200 euros compensationfrom the DanishAir Forceafter 2 of their Fl 6s causedthe deathof a reindeer( calledRudolph) after overflying at low level the field wherethe poor animalwas resting.

ThefarmerI FatherChristmashadsenta complaintto the Air Force,which was investigated,and they found that the poor animalhad died of a heartattack.TheAir Force rep (a Capt.Jansen)said "The medicalreports and the time of the deathcorrespondto one of our patrolsover flying the areaand we are probablyresponsible.

We are happyto pay if that meansthat childrenin the whole world will be ableto receivetheir presents."

RYANAIRCALLSFORMOREEFFICIENT AIR TRAFFICCONTROL It is a long time sincewe talkedof Ryanair.

PeterSherrard,Ryanair'sHeadof Communications said in a pressreleaseon 11 August05: "Whenthe OpenSkiespolicyliberalizedair traffic in Europein 1997,it resultedin massivelylower faresfor ordinarypassengers and openedup manyof Europe'speripheral regionsto the benefitsof year roundtourism.

"Now it is time to repeatthis successin EuropeanAir TrafficControlby: • Creatingpracticalairspaceblocksratherthan Nationalboundaries • Creatingcompetitionfor the provisionof ATC servicesin eachof theseblocks" But I haveevenbetterideasfor Ryanair:Why not indeedusethe samekeysuccessareasthat Ryanairpioneeredinto ATC: Suchas: Makingthe ATCRoutechargesdependingon the time you file your flight plan:the earlier you file, the cheaperit is, on short notice:it will be very expensive.

Any changein your flight plan ( like type of aircraft,flight level,etc) will nullify the previous

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plan.Youhaveto file againon the new prices.

Missedyour departureslot?Toobad,you have to file a new flight plan with the expensivelast minuteprices,and sorry,no,the moneyyou paid for the previousflight plan is lost. You want to do this on the Groundfrequency.Sorry, only on internet.

TheATISat the airport of destinationshould start with: Goodmorning,you havereached the AutomaticWeatherInformationBroadcast for ABCmunicipalairport,owned by the City Councilwherethe local Hotel,'TheSeaView· will happilyreceiveyour businessif you stay over,you can call them on 2345678.Now if you want the actualweatherpress1, if you want the visibility press2, the RVR,press3, etc... etc...

Youwant a printed mapof the weather, Notams?Sorryonly on internet.

Theactualrunwaythresholdshouldalsobe usedfor advertisements, the QFUnumberbeing reducedin sizeto allow for larger advertisements.

RUSSIANWAY: Lastsummera TupolevTU 154of Pulkovo Aviationwas flying the route St PetersburgNicein France.Surprisinglythis aircraftwas flying the RNAVroutesexactlyand perfectly, evenbetterthan the modernjets of more prestigiousairlines. Puzzledby this,a local Controllerin Nicewent to the cockpitduring one of their last flights to congratulatethem and to seewhat kind of avionicsthis old Russianaircraft reallyhad. Well the captain proudlyshowedhim a smallhand held Garmin GPS,with an antennastuckwith a rubber suction-cupon one of the cockpitwindows.

Theyhadan old Navigatoron the jump seat that readthe GPSand gavethe correction headingsto the pilot.

Thisis what I call real aviation.Do not let the bureaucratsspoil your day and your business.

ANOTHER(OLD)LANDINGSTORY: In Gothenburg/ Sweden,at TorslandaAirport (sincemanyyearsclosedand replacedby Landvetter)BritishEuropeanAirwayshaddaily flights from Heathrowwith a Comet.Thepilots did not like the short runwaysand on a particularSunday,despitesky clearand unlimitedvisibility,therewas a strong crosswindon the mainrunway. Dueto this the captaindecidedto hold over the field.

Thiswent on for 25-30minutes.Thenthe supervisorin an attemptto be helpfulcalled the captain: "Couldyou possiblyuserunway xx instead,wind is exactlyin the runwayaxis, 22 knots ?"

After 15 secondsof silencethe captain, superciliously:"Are you joking, Sir? I havea veryexpensivemachine."

NOTHINGIS IMPOSSIBLE FORUS: Nicestoryin Peru: A charteredTri-Star carrying300 football fans fakedan emergency landingin Piura Airport, North Peru,in order for them to watch a soccermatchin time.

TheTri-Starbelongingto the Jordanian companyAir Rum{I like the namealready) madea charterfrom Gambia(Africa)to Peru wherethe NationalGambianjunior (under17 yearsold)Teamwas playingthe finalsagainst Qatar,Theairlinewere unableto get permission to land at Piura,so they filed a flight plan to Lima,the Peruviancapital,and onceover the border,the crew fakeda fuel emergencyto get to Piura,wherethe matchwas beingheld.The Peruvianauthoritiesare not amusedand impoundedthe aircraft.Theyshouldhave lookedat the web site of the airline (www.airrum.com) that says:"Nothing is impossiblefor Air Rumcrews" We believeit now. Anywaythe Gambianswon the match3 to 1.

33

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