IFATCA The Controller - March 2009

THE

CONTROLLER March 2009

Journal of Air Traffic Control

4 ECONOMICS

INTER-

TION OF AIR TRAFF ERA IC C FED

LLERS’ ASSNS. TRO ON

Also in this issue: 4 Focus on SUDAN 4 Interview CEO German DFS

NATIO NAL

• Financing ATC now and in the future • Impact of the crisis on ATC

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Contents

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March 2009 1st quarter 2009 Volume 48 ISSN 0010-8073

THE

CONTROLLER March 2009

Journal of Air Traffic Control

4 ECONOMICS

INTER-

TION OF AIR TRAFF ERA IC C FED

LLERS’ ASSNS. TRO ON

Also in this issue: 4 Focus on SUDAN 4 Interview CEO German DFS

NATIO NAL

• Financing ATC now and in the future • Impact of the crisis on ATC

Cover credit:

© Jsternig | Dreamstime.com

PUBLISHER IFATCA, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations.

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA Marc Baumgartner President and Chief Executive Officer Alexis Brathwaite Deputy President Alex Figuereo Executive Vice-President Americas Henry Nkondokaya Executive Vice-President Africa/ Middle East John Wagstaff Executive Vice-President Asia/Pacific Patrik Peters Executive Vice-President Europe Dale Wright Executive Vice-President Finance Scott Shallies Executive Vice-President Professional Vacant Executive Vice-President Technical Jack van Delft Secretary/Conference Executive EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Philippe Domogala Editorial address: Westerwaldstrasse 9 D 56337 ARZBACH, Germany Tel: +492603 8682 email: ed@ifatca.org Residence: 24 Rue Hector Berlioz F 17100 LES GONDS, France CORPORATE AFFAIRS Kevin Salter (Germany/UK) WEB SITE AND EDITOR ASSISTANT Philip Marien (EGATS)

In this issue:

Foreword by John Wagstaff .……..……………….….………….........

Editorial by Philip Marien ………………………….……………..…......

Economics Economics and ATC. The IFATCA view

by Marc Baumgartner .……………...........…………….........

Conference on the Economics of Airports and air Navigation services (CEANS) by Marc Baumgartner ….....

Is a blip just a blip? by Glen McDougall .…....……………...

Service Providers vs. the Recession

by Alexander ter Kuile .…………...………..………………...

Economics of European Air Traffic Management (ATM)

by Xavier Fron …………………………………………………

Global Aviation Crisis by Jeff Poole ……………………......

Challenges for European Services Providers

by Harry Bush ………………………………………………….

Interview with Dieter Kaden, CEO DFS

by Philippe Domogala…………………….…………………..

Human Factors Resilience & Just Culture by Richard Arnold …………………....

Spotlight Spotlight on Corporate Members by Kevin Salter………….……..…...

European News Responsibility and Liability in ATC by Giorgos Georgiou ..... ..

Malta Malta ATC by Philippe Domogala ………….……………………….……...

Americas News Americas Regional Meeting by Chrissie Callender-Wright ...

Africa & Middle East News Africa Middle East Regional Meeting

by Philippe Domogala and Henry Nkondokaya.

Interview Bushara Nasr Bushara

by Philippe Domogala ……….…………………..

Africa & Middle East: Sudan The New Khartoum ACC

by Philippe Domogala …………………....

Africa & Middle East IFATCA President visits Iran

by Marc Baumgartner ......…………….....……

Asia Pacific When the Unthinkable Happens

by John Wagstaff .…………………………………...

Philip Marien Feature A Brief History of Time

by Philip Marien ...……………....

Economic Charlie ……….……....……………......

4 5 6 8 9 11 13 14 16 17 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 33 35

REGIONAL EDITORS Africa-Middle East: Vacant Americas: Vacant Phil Parker (Hong Kong) Patrik Peters (Europe) COPY EDITORS Paul Robinson, Helena Sjöström, Stephen Broadbent and Brent Cash PRINTING-LAYOUT LITHO ART GmbH & Co. Druckvorlagen KG Friesenheimer Straße 6a D 68169 MANNHEIM, Germany Tel: +49 3 22 59 10 email: info@lithoart-ma.de

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this magazine are those of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) only when so indicated. Other views will be those of individual members or contributors concerned and will not necessarily be those of IFATCA, except where indicated. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is correct, IFATCA makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the nature or accuracy of the information. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or used in any form or by any means, without the specific prior written permission of IFATCA.

VISIT THE IFATCA WEB SITES:

www.ifatca.org and www.the-controller.net

Foreword Photo: Jo hn

st

Foreword from the Executive Board

W ag sia-Pacific VP A ,E aff

^ by John Wagstaff, EVP Asia-Pacific It’s Now or Never Boom or bust, Recession or Growth, Success or Failure . . . . These are familiar headlines in the aviation business – anyone who has been involved in it for more than a few years will be well aware that every period of expansion is followed by a period of contraction. The current situation the industry is experiencing, even though more extreme, is no different in many respects.

The continuing global financial turmoil is having an adverse effect on practically every sector of the aviation business with numerous airlines declaring bankruptcy and those that are still flying, being forced to take drastic actions to reduce costs.

However the one big difference between this economic crisis and those that came before (e. g. the financial meltdown in the West of the late 1980s, the Asian currency crisis of 1997, the post 9/11 problems, etc.), is that today there is a growing realisation of the necessity to continue recruitment and training in all licensed disciplines in the aviation industry – the pilots, the controllers and the engineers.

Lessons from the past In the past, at the slightest hint of a recession and the chance of a downturn in business, companies, organizations and governments would immediately halt recruitment and cut back on training. The consequence was that, after a few years, there would be a staffing problem that was usually resolved with the recruitment of the pool of qualified personnel that were always available from other sources.

The air navigation service providers were often the biggest culprits with the peaks

This is the one opportunity service providers will have to redress their omissions and mismanagement of the past.

and troughs of the supply of controllers constantly out of cycle with the demands of the traffic levels.

sion plans of the airlines because of staffing and equipment constraints.

Today the situation is very different - there is already a drought of staff. For the past year IFATCA has been highlighting the developing problem of a lack of planning for recruitment and retention of ATC staff.

Recently ICAO voiced its concern about future ATC staffing levels and the impact of a depleted workforce on the provision of future air traffic management services.

Now many well respected aviation organizations and journals (including the Flight Safety Foundation and Flight International) are all sending the same message – any downturn in business and reduction of traffic will only be temporary. No matter how bleak the situation may look today, the world economy will recover and within a few years we will be entering another period of upward trends with resurgent growth. Therefore it is essential to recruit and train NOW to meet future demands.

Whilst an airline can lease a new fleet of aircraft within a few weeks and train raw recruits to be a qualified first officer for the right hand seat of a new airliner in less than twelve months, it can take up to 5 years to produce a qualified radar controller and new ATC systems can take many years to purchase and test before they can be declared fully operational.

Not an Airline

Money invested today in staff recruitment and training and equipment upgrades will give guaranteed profitable returns in the future. ^

john.wags@gmail.com

Accountant's Nightmare Much as these messages may upset the accountants at a time of reduced revenue, this is not the time for service providers to be cutting back on staffing, cancelling training courses and postponing the acquisition of new or upgraded systems. Instead this period of economic turmoil should be regarded as a fortuitous break from the critical situation of a few months ago of an acute staffing deficit and over-loaded aging equipment. This is the one opportunity service providers will have to redress their omissions and mismanagement of the past and to commit to an organised and structured staff recruitment and training plan, complemented by an ATC systems modernisation programme. So that when the upturn comes, as surely it will, air traffic management will be ready to meet the new challenges with a full complement of controllers and modern equipment instead of restricting the development and expan-

^ It is essential to recruit and train NOW to meet future demands.

Photo: © DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH

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Editorial

Editorial ^ by Philip Marien, Editor Assistant As your regular Editor, Philippe Domogala, is off globe-trotting again, I have again the honour of writing an editorial as Editor Assistant of The Controller.

As if it’s not enough to be bombarded by the regular media with stories about recession, economic crisis and creditcrunch: here’s an issue of The Controller that focuses on economics. And more specifically, the impact of economics on our profession. Believe it or not, the idea to make this issue focus on just that precedes the worlds’ financial troubles by at least a

couple of months. It’s clear from the articles that air traffic control as we know it, is changing and the crisis may well accelerate this change. Can ‘first come, first serve’ survive, or will the best slots and levels be sold to the highest bidder?

Sadly, the IFATCA family has lost two of its much loved and appreciated members at the end of last year. In order to give them the credit they so much deserve, I’ll sign off here.

Take care,

Besides economics and the regular features, the magazine also has news on the regional meetings which were held late last year throughout the various regions.

There’s a closer look at the Africa & Middle East region, with focus on Sudan and, quite uniquely, on Iran.

webmaster@the-controller.net

Obituaries Bernhard O. Rüthy-Bögli † 2008 On receiving the news of the death of Bernhard Rüthy, peacefully and among his family on December 9th 2008, the IFATCA family felt the acute loss of a father figure, for Bernhard was there at the creation of our federation and has contributed so much that some viewed him as an institution in his own right.

On 20 October 1961 Bernhard was one of the original signatories to the IFATCA convention in Amsterdam and thereafter set about doing the work necessary to realise the dreams of those present. Bernhard served on the IFATCA executive board as federation’s treasurer from 1966 to 1970. It is the norm for many former board members to continue to actively contribute, but the breath of Bernhard’s contribution is unprecedented. He was mostly known for his work as the longstanding Editor of the IFATCA Manual. As such, Bernhard became the font of IFATCA’s knowledge and history and was always easily available to IFATCA officers who needed guidance or information. He thus engendered deep admiration from controllers from all countries some who knew him only through our annual conferences, which he attended up to 2007, not just to see friends, but as an active participant in working committee sessions. In 2001 Bernhard worked tirelessly with his Swiss ATCA to organise the 40th anniversary celebration at our annual conference in Geneva, reportedly working through the night when required.

Bernhard's contribution was formally recognised at the 1986 Conference with the award of the IFATCA Scroll of Honour for his service to the Federation. The international air traffic control community has benefited tremendously from the 47 years of service Bernhard dedicated to us and the love and respect he showed to the federation and air traffic controllers is reciprocated by the deep affection all who encountered him had for this true gentleman.

We thank Bernhard’s family for enduring the sacrifices that must come with such whole hearted dedication and wish them to know that the life Bernhard lived brought blessing to many people throughout the world.

Edward (Ted) Lang † 2008 On December 30th 2008, Australia lost one of its ATC stalwarts, former Civil Air president Ted Lang. Ted died at home, in the loving care of his family, after a short battle with cancer. He was someone who chose quality of life above quantity and all those who had the privilege of knowing him, will well recognise this as being one of his core values. Ted leaves behind his amazing wife Jenny, son Bray and daughter Amy, all of whom he adored.

As a regular at annual and regional conferences, Ted will be remembered by many of the IFATCA family for his humour, broad ranging knowledge of ATC and generosity of spirit. Rest in peace mate, you are sorely missed.

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4 Economics

Economics and ATC The IFATCA view ^ by Marc Baumgartner, President and CEO IFATCA Is Air traffic control providing safety at discount prices? Or why it is important to understand the impact of economics on Air Traffic Management.

Economics and ATM – one might question the relation between the two. However, a search in the IFATCA Manual and a review of our policies shows that the term ‘Economic’ is more often used than one might expect at first sight. A review by the Executive Board can link many, if not all, Member Association problems directly or indirectly to the economics of aviation and particular to the economics of Air Traffic Management (ATM).

In the current brittle state of the global world economies, going through a review of the impact of the application of a more business minded provision of ATM is certainly appropriate.

Air traffic control is about safety, efficiency and orderly flow of traffic. At least that is what many of us are taught in basic

4 Is ATM a business or a service?

training but reality is slightly different: capacity and economics have become the main drivers with the potential to offset safety requirements by questioning the financial impact of any safety measure which needs to be introduced.

Historical Background A bit of history: right after the Second World War, ICAO started looking into the regulatory framework that would deal with economic oversight of Air Traffic Control and Airports.

This trend of having ATM / ATC regulated

by ICAO rather than by the World Trade Organisation has lasted until the recent Conference on the Economics of Airports and Air Navigation services.

IFATCA has looked in the past at the problems of economics and the provision of ATM. Even more so in the last 10 years, where more and more Air Navigation providers were released from governmental budget and have applied more commercial or privatised ways of providing ATM. Is ATM a business or a service provision was mainly the question which had to be answered. IFATCA is of the opinion that it is a public service which can be run under different business models. Our “industry” is, compared to the airlines or airports, still very much in a transition phase. It hasn’t yet, in a systemic way, understood which of the chosen business models is the best. Additionally,

States also need to adapt to the changed environment, which has impacted ownership, regulatory oversight etc.

Some states have chosen to privatise the service provision to some extent or another. They have increased the regulatory control, both in economic and safety terms. Others have stopped halfway through the privatisation process after realising that the organisational form was not as important as the more performance based approach.

Again others have elaborated sophisticated performance minded tools to force the service providers and some airports to achieve an acceptable level of public service.

Transition As indicated, we are in a transition phase – and we realise that air traffic control and air traffic management can be provided regardless of the organisational setup. Control of the government over these organisations varies to the extent that nearly each country around the world has a different setup. Nevertheless, the public service, be it with some noteworthy hiccups, has served a boom industry since its inception. For the first time in well over 30 years, it is in a stagnation mode. Some analysts believe it will last only a few months before the global traffic will start to grow again and that the foreseen doubling of traffic compared to the year 2000 will be reached only 5 years later than initially forecast. Recent experiences such as 9/11, SARS and now the global economical crisis show the limits of the more commercialised approach. It sets new challenges to States which are guaranteeing a certain level of public service through a stateof-the-art ATM system.

The Future Can the ATM system resist the so called “market-led standardisation which relies on a com-

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Photo: © Karenr | Dreamstime.com

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4 Economics petitive market“ and which is introduced as a regional concept by the European Commission in the Single European Sky or by other regulatory mechanism to be expected by NEXTGEN? This model of market-led standardisation, where safety is much more critical than in other sectors does not work, just like applying economic efficiency rules to safety doesn’t work. Will regulators be given strong enough legal and technical tools to be able to resist powerful companies? In ATM and air transport (although monopolistic market) regulation cannot be of an economic nature only.

ATM is one of the most complex socio-technological systems which exists in current modern society. Therefore, when opening it to market forces or at least to business practices, there is a need for a strong legal and technical regulator as well as securing the interoperability on a global level through norms and standards. Service providers are subject to growing influences from users and unions to delay and safety pressure – there seems to be no incentive to innovate, though some are experimenting with new accounting standards and new financial products which make them directly dependent on the financial market. Witness the introduction of performance payment (up to 6 digits) to the top management which is not systemic output performance orientated but more to attract capable managers from other industries.

So What?

Is the ATM system as inefficient as some claim it is, or are we, the controllers – by our efficiency – perhaps outperforming the system? Be it in capacity and/or in costs? Talking about costs and the revenue for provision of ATM, as much as there are differing organisational forms of providing ATM. You will also find different forms of revenue for the service providers. From completely government-controlled (passenger tax) to route charge formulas as applied e.g. in Europe.

How can one expect that we are talking about a level playing field if one service provider is paid by a government budget and the other works (for operational reasons) in delegated airspace free of charge? But maybe we do not need a level playing field and we only need a harmonized framework with best suited organisational form to cater for the fabulous growth of aviation as the backbone of society. Commercialisation brought its changes to our working environment but has not tremendously improved the overall system. The technical paradigm shift which has been announced over the past 30 years has not happened because of organisational changes. So maybe the economic aspects are important for many among us, but they do

Photo: © Pdiaz | Dreamstime.com

not really improve the output performance to an order of magnitude some economists would have forecasted it would. The politicians are still talking about the “chimeras” of economy of scales (in form of functional airspace blocks) where we might rather try the economy of scope model as some economics propose.

Controller Numbers One thing this transformation process has not changed dramatically is the number of controllers. We have recently published the current figures on the shortage of controllers. This is the direct result of false cost cutting (providing safety at discount price?) over the past few years by commercially conscious service providers. The focus should be on reducing cost through improving the delivery instead of taking the short term solution by cutting back on essential staff. There is still a misconception in the aviation industry that controllers are expensive. It is interesting to note that the only time staff is not mentioned as the biggest costs (70% of the overall ANSP costs – out of this, 34% are for controllers), it’s in the human resources chapter of the

annual reports of these service providers. We are then gently called the biggest ASSET! From our experience, it is essential to invest sufficiently in this asset so that, together with the correct tools, a service can be delivered which meets the customers’ expectations. ^

pcx@ifatca.org

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Conference on the Economics of Airports and Air Navigation services (CEANS) ^

by Marc Baumgartner, President and CEO IFATCA

High level conference examines impact of modern management techniques.

At regular intervals, ICAO organises a conferences where States, airports, service providers and airspace users get together and discuss economic and management issues that underpin global aviation operations. CEANS 2008 was held in Montreal in September last year. 103 contracting states and many international organisations such as IFATCA participated in this conference. IFATCA did not present any working paper to this conference.

The conference was preceded by a very useful and successful seminar aimed at preparing the delegates and focussing on the debates which would be held during the week.

Ambitious The goals of the conference were outlined in three key and interrelated topics: economic oversight; performance management and consultation with users. As ICAO states, it is a uniquely collaborative success which highlights

ICAO’s important global role in this domain. Fifteen recommendations were endorsed by the conference and these recommendations are expected to bring about the increase in efficiency and cost-effectiveness that are currently being sought by all State and industry stakeholders.

The previous conference in 2000 focused more on the commercialised approach of management and operations of the airport and the air navigation service providers. This time, the aim was to come up with specific financial and managerial guidelines and focus of economic oversight to develop a strategy to cope effectively with the growth of air traffic worldwide. Commercialisation has brought to airport and air navigation service a marked improvement in overall management practises according to ICAO, with more incentives to be profitable and increased revenues to keep with the demand in infrastructure.

Importance of ICAO In his opening speech the President of the Council of ICAO, Roberto Kobeh González outlined the importance ICAO can and should play.

This despite the fact that a contracting State is not legally bound to adhere to the policies and that some of the charging policies deviate from provisions of the Chicago convention. With the commercialisation and privatisation of airports and air navigation services, there is a genuine risk that ICAO’s economic policies become less known and applied. This could lead to diverging approaches to user charges and taxations.

For example, the economic characteristics and capacity limitations of airports and ANSP, combined with the liberalisation of air transport services, have in certain circumstances, given rise to questions regarding the application on non-discrimination principle in Article 15 of the Chicago convention and the application of equitable cost recovery practises.

Recommendations

4 There is a genuine risk that

ICAO’s economic policies become less known and applied.

Of the 15 recommendation endorsed by the conference, ten seek to amend the document 90821. These were decided after extensive and interesting debates on objectives of economic oversight by states which should 1. prevent the potential risk that a service 1

8

ICAO‘s Policies on Charges for Airports and Air Navigation Services

4 Economic oversight, performance

management and consultation with users are interrelated and should be considered as a single package.

provider could engage in anti-competitive practise or abuse its dominant position 2. to ensure non discrimination and transparency in the application of charges 3. to ascertain that capacity meets future demand The symposium concluded that economic oversight, performance management and consultation with users are interrelated and should be considered as a single package.

It was reinforced that proper application of the principles related to these three topics would contribute to improved cooperation in the industry in general and to increased efficiency for service providers.

ITF presented a paper that staff should be consulted and not just the users. This paper received some interesting comments but was not kept in the recommendation of the conference.

Concluding I found the discussion very interesting. From a service providers’ point of view, the conference saw a very active and efficient CANSO organisation explaining to the States what their members think should be done

by States in order to increase the efficient management of service providers. A lot of discussion took place on ownership, oversight, regulatory resources etc. which are the points we do observe currently among our membership in this slow transformation process. The service providers have clearly flagged what they would like to see in the future. Other interesting discussions included more performance based programs such as ATM global concept. Key Performance Indicators and Performance Measurement systems were presented by both Eurocontrol and the European Commission.^

pcx@ifatca.org

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Photo: © Eric1513 | Dreamstime.com

4 Economics

4 Economics

Is a blip just a blip?

Controller Workload and Revenue Generation

^ by Glen McDougall, P.Eng., M.Sc. Economics Besides being President of MBS Ottawa Inc (Canada), Glen McDougall is also a Senior Fellow at the School of Public Policy, George Mason University (USA) and an Academic Fellow, AirNeth, University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Photo: © Louis Bréda

When assessing the workload of controllers, some say ‘a blip is a blip’, meaning that each aircraft ‘blip’ that appears on a controller’s display generates a similar amount of controller workload. Of course, there are differences between aircraft types that affect control tactics such as wake turbulence, different speeds and navigational capabilities, all affecting separation criteria and vectoring. Congestion is also a major determinant of workload: the more blips in a given sector, the more workload for the controller. These are all technical factors that are part of a controller’s job.

controllers and others, covers all operational costs such as electricity and maintenance, and covers debt payments for the purchase of equipment and facilities. In most countries in the world, air navigation services, including air traffic control, are paid for by those who use the services – airlines and commercial aviation customers, businesses with aircraft fleets and general aviation including recreational aircraft operators. The exception is the United States which still depends on taxes such as the air ticket tax and fuel taxes to fund its air navigation activities. Others have developed a system of user fees usually following ICAO Policies. These generally do not follow the ‘blip is a blip’ concept.

Controversial There are controversies surrounding the application of user fees, particularly concerning an aircraft weight component of the charge: heavier aircraft pay more than a lighter aircraft flying the same route or landing at the same airport. There is also disagreement on the principle of cost recovery, embedded in the ICAO policy (Doc 9082) which seems out of step for the new commercialized ANSPs where business-type pricing would be expected.

Unit Rate 4 A blip is a blip!

One Price for all?

For tower controllers, the same can be said of aircraft “an aircraft is just an aircraft” and the same can be said of navigation aids, communications facilities and surveillance equipment, including the computer systems that process flight and radar data. Whether the aircraft using these air navigation services is large or small, the impact on the system is immaterial. So all users should all pay the same amount for the the service they receive, right? Not so: when it comes to paying, the economics of revenue generation depend on an entirely different set of factors.

Perhaps nothing is more vital to the economics of air navigation services (ANS) than revenue generation. It pays the salaries of

For those not familiar with the way in which user fees are determined, a few words of explanation. For most countries, user fees are based on aircraft weight and distance flown multiplied by a Unit Rate. Each provider publishes Unit Rates that reflect the charges that most customers have to pay, often with exceptions for light aircraft. The cost base of the ANSP is projected for the upcoming year, as are flight movements by weight of aircraft and distance flown. Calculations are done that estimate the Unit Rate based on this forecast aviation activity and cost of service, which can be broken down to en route and terminal portions. When the year actually unfolds, ANSP costs and aviation activity are different than the estimate and the surplus or deficit in fees collected over costs is forwarded to a future year’s calculation of fees.

MTOW The weight factor used for aircraft charging is based on the maximum take-off weight of the

4 Glen McDougall aircraft and, according to ICAO principles, charges must be less than proportional to the weight.

This means service providers will often use a proportion of weight such as the square root in the charging formula. In addition, there are separate en-route and terminal fees plus other fees for oceanic services. A typical enroute charge is published as the Rate times the weight factor times the distance flown.

Terminal charges have different rates, may have different weight factors and do not have a distance factor.

As an example, the published NAV CANADA en-route rate for 2008 is 0.03445 and the weight factor is 0.5 (the square root). The en route fee in 2008 for an Airbus 319 weighing 75 metric tonnes flying from Calgary to Vancouver, a distance of 555 km outside terminal airspace, is $166 CDN (rate times square root of weight times distance). The en route fee for

Cost recovery […] seems out of step for the new commercialized ANSPs where businesstype pricing would be expected.

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4 Economics

4 Same route, same blip,

different cost to use air navigation services.

Photo: © Boeing

Approximation What justifies this difference?

The economic term is ‘value of service’. The Airbus can carry more than the Embraer. As passenger aircraft, the typical seat arrangements are 124 for the A319 and 98 for the E190, about a 26% greater capacity for the Airbus. While not exactly the same, it indicates the principle behind the weight factor. Aircraft weight is seen as a simple means of approximating value of service.

Airlines also include value of service in their pricing. A ‘seat is not a seat’ even in the same cabin on the same flight, although the airline cost per passenger is essentially the same.

Prices can vary depending on time purchased, duration of stay, available ‘seat sales’ and so on. This is ‘yield management’ and is practiced by the

A more commercialized approach to individual charges can be considered.

10

airlines to maximize revenue per flight while attempting to fill the aircraft.

Cost Recovery So why is this so controversial for service providers? This is where another misunderstood issue comes in to play: cost recovery. It has been crucial at ICAO to encourage countries to develop financially independent entities for ANS, but some customers argue that since the COST does not change perceptibly for the ANSP, all aircraft should pay the same fee, no matter the size of the aircraft.

However, service providers world-wide treat cost recovery as meaning that in total, they recover all costs for a given service (e.g. en route and terminal). This is then distributed among users, most using the weight factor as a form of capturing the value of service, i.e. those who derive more value from a flight are asked to pay more.

ICAO recently re-confirmed the relevance of the service principle. At the Conference on the Economics of Airports and Air Navigation Services (CEANS) held in Montreal in September 2008, member states agreed that aircraft weight may (not must) be taken into account for route, approach and terminal charges. Under Route Charges, the revised ICAO Document states: “This weight scale should take into account, less than proportionately, the relative productive capacities of the different aircraft types concerned.”

page, reward good environmental practices, or reduce congestion Charges may need to be location-specific and service-specific rather than system-wide to eliminate cross-subsidies. Flexibility may be necessary to allow performance rewards and penalties to be included in a service level agreement worked out with customers. Some of these principles are already implemented and there are likely to be more innovations in future.

In summary, the link between controller workload and the economics of revenue generation are nebulous indeed. The ‘value of service’ economic principle is embedded in the route and terminal charges you have today, but there is significant room for improvement to respond to current issues.

Even more tenuous is the tendency for rates to increase when traffic volume, and hence workload, decreases during an economic downturn as we are experiencing - but that is another story! ^

glen.mcdougall@mbsottawa.com

Innovate Pricing Policy There is pressure to develop more innovative types of pricing that consider other factors.

Within the umbrella of either total cost recovery, or pricing limits set by an economic regulator as in the UK or Australia, a more commercialized approach to individual charges can be considered, still consistent with ICAO policy. For example, a more precise factor than weight could be developed. Pricing incentives may be needed to encourage equi-

4 Should all aircraft pay the same fee?

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an Embraer 190 with MTOW of 51 metric tonnes flying the same route is $137. When the terminal fees are added for the flight, which use a different formula, the total is $921 for the Airbus and $692 for the Embraer, or about 33% more for the Airbus.

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4 Economics

Service Providers vs. the Recession How do ANSPs Respond to the Crisis

^ by Alexander ter Kuile, Secretary General of CANSO Alexander ter Kuile was appointed Secretary General of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, CANSO, in January 2001. The organisation represents 49 ANSPs and 42 associates, all stakeholders in the aviation community.

Starting his aviation career in 1978 with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, he also holds a Bachelors Degree in Economic Geography from London University and a MBA from Cranfield School of Management. He is a Board Member of the Air Transport Action Group and a Governor of the Flight Safety Foundation.

4 Alexander ter Kuile For the last twelve months, aviation has been facing an economic crisis. Following a brief return to growth and profit in recent years, in 2008 commercial air transport was first hit by a trebling of the oil price, then a dramatic decline in demand. The final few months of last year revealed that recession in every region of the world was plunging airlines into losses and even the most optimistic cannot foresee any growth in the market in 2009.

How have the world’s Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) responded to this crisis?

It must be remembered that unlike airlines, who can reduce capacity swiftly by grounding planes, ANSPs are fixed infrastructure providers who cannot simply turn radars off. However, in June CANSO members promised to increase their efforts to find airspace efficiencies (the CANSO ‘Madeira Statement’), and this was welcomed by the airlines. But with fuel prices now less of a problem, the focus has also moved to the cost base of ANSPs. While the rest of the economy cuts costs, what is ATM doing to seek efficiencies?

Deficient Charging Model The answer is that almost all ANSPs find themselves in a regulatory straightjacket, which prevents them from responding to economic cycles in the way any other business would. Within the confines of the system they operate in, many ANSPs have done their best to help airlines, but the reality is that most cannot significantly overcome the deficiencies of the ATM charging model, and this situation will continue to have negative repercussions on the aviation industry unless it is remedied.

Although it is important to note that no two ANSPs are the same, and that the problems of ATM economics do not apply equally in all parts of the world, broadly speaking, there are five deficiencies in ATM finance. Firstly, in many cases there is the impossibility of building reserves. Secondly, for those having to provide compulsory services, there is not always compensation in return. Thirdly, there are the many shortcomings of the cost recovery system. Fourthly, the problems with cross-subsidising services. And fifthly, there is the absence of normal business practices.

No Reserve In the current ‘cost recovery’ system, once traffic falls, revenue falls as well. It is a ‘fair weather’ system, which runs into great difficulty during a storm. This problem is acute in Europe, which runs on a ‘cash-flow’ basis.

In other parts of the world solutions exist; NAV CANADA, for example, is allowed to hold a contingency reserve. Under the cost recovery method, ANSPs have to balance the books, so under-recovery in one year requires them to compensate in future years, which can result in increased charges. In other cases, airline bankruptcies result in the unpaid fees being paid by surviving carriers.

This system, created during the years of predictable growth and protected national flag carriers, is no longer suitable for the modern, liberalised and dynamic aviation industry.

Uncertainty and Suspicion The result of this inflexible system is that the relationships between ANSPs and airlines

frequently become strained and planning becomes opaque and short-term. What should be a cooperative, equal and innovative process is instead a unilateral position breeding uncertainty and suspicion. Such fears are sometimes warranted, for example when the costs of provision are hidden, or the monies raised for services are diverted into other areas, or used to cross-subsidise other activities. Fortunately CANSO members have worked hard to improve transparency and open customer relations. The recent CANSO/IATA ‘Guide to customer relations in turbulent times’ is a good example of this cooperative spirit.

There are of course other areas of concern, which should be addressed, such as the potential imbalance between the amounts charged to large commercial airliners, compared to other airspace users.

But the core of the problem is still the fact that governments – particularly in Europe - set or approve navigation charges, and most ANSPs still have little control over their own businesses, rarely given the chance to set their charges according to service quality.

Almost all ANSPs find themselves in a regulatory straightjacket, which prevents them from responding to economic cycles.

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4 Economics Charging Model Requirements • Does not endanger (defined) safety levels, but enhances efficiency • Guarantees mid/long-term capacities • Is accepted by users and regulators • Must comply with national and international rules (to be modified if required) • Creates incentives (profits) and penalties (losses) • Provides business perspectives • Considers fair risk sharing • Reflects the (limited) flexibility of costs • Must be as robust as the current system but allow flexible adaptation

Frustratingly Slow While a corporatized environment has given many ANSPs greater independence, very few have true, full, financial independence. ANSPs remain businesses without access to proper business tools, and remain servants to, not masters of, their financial destiny. The move towards full operational managerial independence is a frustratingly slow process for most ANSPs, but there are some things which States can and should do quickly – actions which CANSO members have identified as representing best practice in the industry. Firstly, introduce a full separation between the state and ANSP budget. Secondly, achieve greater transparency of all individual charges. Thirdly, completely separate the provision and regulation aspects of ATM. Fourthly, state contributions to third parties (such as EUROCONTROL) should be outside the ANSP budget.

Implementing these steps across the board would mark a big advance for the ATM financial system, but it is clear that in the long-term, more fundamental reform is needed. The cost recovery system is fundamentally flawed, creating a shortage of capacity during an economic upturn, and unable to respond

to cost pressures in a downturn. While we completely accept that ATM remains a monopoly and must therefore be carefully regulated, we believe that like every other industry, it is time for ANSPs to be given the proper financial instruments and incentives to manage the size and shape of their industry.

Towards a Consensus?

So what hurdles are in the way of a successful implementation of these four recommendations? Crucially, there has not been agreement among all the various players of the best way forward. The various actors – states, ANSPs, airlines, and unions – all differ on the best economic prescription for ATM. But a slowly growing consensus has been given greater impetus by the economic crisis. For example, despite its flaws the European cost recovery system has been relatively stable over the last decade, but this is not going to be the case for the next few years. The stalled debate over the funding of the FAA looks like it may be re-opened.

And a number of ANSPs have been privatised or corporatized (albeit within a economic regulation framework) either as profit or non-profit enterprises, which has given rise to the concept of shareholder or stakeholder value. In Europe, the introduction of Funtional Airspace Blocks and the move to a Single European Sky will increasingly mean ANSPs co-operating on major investment issues such as procurement and training, which in turn may lead to new efficiencies and harmonised accounting systems.

CANSO members have laid down a number of key criteria by which any reforms to the charging system should be judged (see side bar). This can be summarised by a statement of principle, which holds that ANS is a public service, but it needs to be based on business principles for optimum effectiveness and efficiency, as an integrated part of the commercially-driven aviation value chain.

Transformation To further assist ANSPs manage this difficult process, CANSO’s ‘Business Transformation’ work programme is aimed at helping ANSPs become more performance-oriented and customer-focused organisations. We believe that the next few years mark a golden opportunity to reform the ATM system to create the conditions for a truly seamless airspace experience. CANSO is preparing best practice guidance and practical tools to enable ANSPs to transform themselves, and we are arguing vigorously for States to adopt a systems approach to aviation regulations.

Programmes such as the Single European Sky, and co-operative projects such as ASPIRE, are opportunities for this work to take route. Ultimately, ATM finance is just part of a package of long-term reform which needs to happen. But in the short term, CANSO is determined to push for the adoption of a set of reasonable, effective, and deliverable changes to the ATM financial system, to ensure that aviation emerges stronger from this economic crisis. ^

These changes create uncertainty, which must be managed carefully. To assist with this,

SG@canso.org

4 Unlike airlines, who can reduce capacity swiftly by grounding planes, ANSPs are fixed infrastructure providers who cannot simply turn radars off.

Photo: Alan Radecki | Wikipedia & GFDL

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Economics of European Air Traffic Management (ATM) Xavier Fron, Head of EUROCONTROL ^ by Performance Review Unit All illustations EUROCONTROL

The objectives of air traffic services are indicated in ICAO Annex 11 and include obligations for safe and efficient conduct of flights.

This article focuses on the economic efficiency aspect of the European ATM system (see 4 Xavier Fron key data in box).

ATM costs in Europe and in many other parts of the world are fully refunded from en-route and terminal navigation charges collected from airspace users.

Economic efficiency is of high significance: user charges amounted to more than eight billion euro in 2007 (see box).

isters of Transport adopted an Institutional Strategy. An independent Performance Review Commission (PRC) was created in the EUROCONTROL Organisation in 1998. It (inter alia) analyses and benchmarks the costeffectiveness and productivity of ANSPs. The PRC publishes its results in its annual ATM cost-effectiveness (ACE) Benchmarking reports. All of the PRC’s reports are on its website (http://www.eurocontrol.int/prc).

Although this is very light-handed regulation, it does have a clear positive impact on economic efficiency. Costs grew more slowly than traffic in the 2003-2008 period. This resulted in real unit costs (net of inflation) decreasing more or less in line with targets, as illustrated. Some 3 billion euro were saved in this period compared to constant unit costs.

Institutional Strategy In a first step to drive ATM performance, including economic efficiency, the ECAC Min-

Mr Micawber quoted in “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens

graph). However, such factors as cost of living, traffic complexity and variability would need to be taken in to account to identify actual efficiency gaps.

Monopolies European Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) are statutory monopolies which mostly operate under a full cost-recovery regime; this means that their revenues are virtually guaranteed. The United Kingdom is the only European State which applies the independent economic regulation option (price-cap) where any profit or loss remains with the ANSP, together with strong safety regulation and management systems.

Provided that all relevant international safety requirements are met, there is also a duty on ANSPs to ensure that the best possible service is provided at the lowest possible cost, even more when the economic climate is difficult.

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

Single European Sky

Benchmarking Highlights The ACE 2007 Benchmarking Report, which will be published in May 2009, highlights that: 1. Cost-effectiveness among ANSPs is generally improving since 2003 although the rate of improvement decreased in 2007 2. Reductions in support costs are a major element of the improvement 3. ATCO-hour productivity rose rapidly since 2003 mostly in many smaller ANSPs This is very welcome news, and reflects tremendous credit on all concerned.

However, the PRC considers that there is still ample scope for cost-effectiveness improvement of the ATM system, based on best practices identified through benchmarking analysis.

Wide variations in ATM-related unit costs borne by airspace users (i.e. taking into account user charges and quality of service in terms of ATFM delays – what is defined as “economic cost-effectiveness” in the graph below) are observed across Europe (see

A High Level Group report called for a continued drive towards improved ATM performance. The current economic crisis reinforces this need. The European Community adopted Single European Sky regulations in 2004, including a similar performance review system. A second package (SES II) is being negotiated, which contains a performance scheme with binding performance targets to be set at European and na-

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4 Economics tional/Functional Airspace Block levels. This is meant to have a further impact on ATM performance, including economic efficiency.

Collective Effort In 2009, traffic growth is likely to be lower than in previous years, if not negative. The challenge for the European system is to adapt to lower traffic growth by controlling costs, so as not to increase user charges, whilst retaining the flexibility to manage higher traffic levels when economic growth resumes.

ANSP management and staff through their associations and unions have a collective responsibility to address this challenge. ^

xavier.fron@eurocontrol.int

Countering the Global Aviation Crisis

^ by Jeff Poole, Director Industry Charges, Fuel & Taxation, IATA matically after their peak of $180 per barrel, the average fuel price for 2008 was still significantly higher than that for the previous year. And many airlines, hedged at higher levels, have yet to realise the full benefit.

4 Jeff Poole Present Crisis The industry is in crisis, with airlines expected to lose at least a further $5 billion in 2008. While fuel prices have dropped dra-

Since 2001 [airline] productivity is up 64%, fuel efficiency has improved by 19%, and non-fuel unit costs dropped 18%.

What started out as a cost crisis has evolved into a revenue crisis. Passenger and cargo demand has dropped sharply as the global recession deepens, impacting airline revenues. Airlines have had to reduce costs wherever possible in order to limit the financial damage. Since 2001 productivity is up 64%, fuel efficiency has improved by 19%, and non-fuel unit costs dropped 18%. However, even this progress has not been enough to deliver financial health and sustainability.

Further streamlining is needed and all industry partners must take steps to review costs and maximise efficiency.

Cost Crisis Campaign In an effort to mitigate the industry-wide effects of the crisis, IATA launched its Cost Crisis Campaign in June 2008 reaching out to industry stakeholders for ideas and concrete proposals that could deliver better productivity and efficiency. The response has been quite positive, especially from air navigation

service providers, with over 41 of the 66 contacted having either submitted proposals or achieved savings. Adding much-appreciated impetus to the industry campaign was the Madeira Statement issued at the CANSO AGM in June. The Madeira Statement committed to focus on measures that would yield short-term savings and established a CANSO Crisis Action Team for this purpose. This swift response has been widely praised and IATA is cooperating fully with CANSO to deliver the goals of the Madeira Statement.

Single European Sky In Europe, the Single European Sky (SES) is of paramount importance to the industry’s agenda for efficiency and the future of ATM. The failure to implement SES resulted last year in • 21 million minutes of delays; • 468 million kilometres of unnecessary flight; • 16 million tonnes of wasted CO2; with • an unnecessary cost to airlines of over EUR 5 billion.

With the European Commission’s SES Package II proposal, particular emphasis must be placed on performance targets, Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs), harmonised safety

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4 Economics oversight by the European Aviation Safety Agency, and the SES ATM Research programme (SESAR).

4 Passenger […] demand has

dropped sharply as the global recession deepens.

Photo: © Embraer

Today, while states profess their endorsement of SES, performance targets are not being met.

• The EUROCONTROL target is to reduce average route extension by 2 km per year.

There was no improvement in 2007.

• The en-route delay target is 1 minute per flight. The 2007 average was 1.6 minutes and in the first 9 months of last year average delays jumped to 2.5 minutes.

• The en-route unit cost reduction target for 2008-2010 is 3% per annum in real terms.

Between 2008 and 2009 alone, unit rates for charges increase by 3.2%, suggesting the targets are far from being met.

To improve the performance of SES, binding top-down targets that are European Community-wide and national, independently validated and in line with ICAO policies for safety, environment, capacity and cost-efficiency are essential. Achieving improvements in productivity and efficiency won’t be easy and will require the collective efforts of traffic controllers, technical and managerial representatives.

Controller Shortage FABs are critical building blocks for the second stage of the SES but first we need to debunk the main myth: job loss for air traffic controllers is a misplaced fear. There is a global shortage of controllers - and as technical developments progress, the role of the controller will broaden in scope and importance. The move towards common controller training and licensing among FABs will mean that the skills of a controller in one country will be valid throughout the area, opening up employment opportunities across the entire region. As a result, controllers will have a fundamental role in realising the many benefits of FABs. Flexibility and willingness to adopt new technologies and processes will be key in delivering the essential improvements of the new European system.

Safety

Conclusion

From a safety point of view, the SES should reform the current fragmented approach to oversight by extending the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) domain of responsibilities to air traffic management and airports.

Furthermore, SESAR will deliver by 2020 the air traffic infrastructure of the future. Together these building blocks for the Single European Sky should increase safety by a factor of 10, reduce unit costs of ATM by 50%, reduce the per flight environmental impact of aviation by 10%, and increase capacity to meet traffic growth. To support SESAR, all stakeholders must equitably fund the necessary EUR 29 billion investment. A fair funding model requires a sound business case and assurance that the long-awaited improvements in performance will be delivered by 2020.

At the same time, SESAR’s counterpart in the United States, NextGen, intends to bring the latest technological advancements to ATM by 2025. To realise maximum cost efficiencies, Europe and the U.S. will need to coordinate and harmonise their systems.

It is a precarious time for the airline industry. While there are opportunities to produce a safe, streamlined and profitable industry, success is dependent on the cooperation of all partners. In ATM alone, the development and improvement plans present a substantial shift from the current model but we have already realised some remarkable successes.

SES will serve as a case study to ANSPs worldwide in their efforts to achieve the same goals of cost reduction, efficiency, and safety. The future of European ATM relies on the leadership of air traffic controllers to deliver the benefits of SES as quickly as possible. ^

poolej@iata.org

4 What started out as a cost crisis

has evolved into a revenue crisis.

Job losses for air traffic controllers is a misplaced fear.

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4 Economics

Challenges for European Services Providers Harry Bush CB, Group Director ^ by Economic Regulation, UK CAA Quest for Efficiency

4 Harry Bush Harry Bush CB is responsible for the economic regulation of the UK’s air traffic services provider (NATS) as well as economic regulation of the main London airports and other economic issues. He joined the CAA 6 years ago, after a 23-year career at the UK Treasury. He is a member of the Eurocontrol Performance Review Commission since 2005. In this article he sets out his views on some of the challenges facing the European air traffic services industry over the next few years.

The next few years are likely to be among the most challenging faced by European air traffic services – far exceeding the period after September 11 as the industry now faces not only a prolonged traffic slowdown driven by the fundamentals of demand rather than a terrorist attack, but also significant institutional change with the introduction of the enhanced performance regime under Single European Single II. And alongside this there will – rightly - be continued pressure on the industry to play its part in improving aviation’s environmental performance, particularly on climate change.

The European air traffic service industry’s recently improving unit cost performance has owed something to better cost control and improved efficiency. But it has also been helped by traffic growth enabling costs to be spread over a rising number of traffic movements. The sharp – and potentially prolonged – recession we have entered will put this into sharp reverse. It will require aviation companies throughout the supply chain to review their plans to ensure that they are consistent with more straitened economic circumstances. Air traffic service providers cannot – not withstanding their monopoly position – stand aside. It will be important that they continue – and enhance – the quest for efficiency.

Breathing Space But it will also be important that the breathing space provided by weaker demand is used to build a stronger platform for the eventual resumption of traffic growth – so that there is a better match between capacity and demand (without the increasing delays seen in some regions in recent years) and a better ongoing cost performance. Over the longer term the deployment of SESAR technologies should contribute to capacity but if it is to do so cost-efficiently the – hopefully short – breathing space provided by the recession needs to be used to get in place the structures of project management and control, cost justification and investment appraisal that will help ensure that what comes out really does contribute to better air traffic service management.

ate incentives on providers but within a clear system of accountability for performance; and if the system reinforces the essential partnership between providers and users rather than driving them apart as inevitably combative regulatory processes sometimes can.

PAN-European Setting requirements, as we do in the CAA, on price and service-quality for one provider – NATS – can be challenging enough. I therefore sometimes wonder whether the challenges in setting up a system which bites on 27 service providers throughout Europe – with Community-wide targets underpinned by binding national targets - are always fully appreciated. It could itself generate significant costs and bureaucratic inflexibility. But it need not do so as long as its architects are mindful of: • The need to keep things simple, particularly in the early years, recognising that there are no uniquely right answers and that a more simply achieved approximation to the right direction across Europe is likely to yield greater benefit than a complex, time consuming struggle for perfection.

• The step change that will nevertheless be required of all stakeholders including the Performance Review Body (building on the PRC) which will need to move from the relative (if intellectually demanding) comfort of assembling benchmarking data to reaching complex judgements upon it which may determine the relative burdens placed on different service providers

4 “I sometimes wonder whether the

Performance Regime The second key challenge in the next few years will be successful implementation of the new performance regime envisaged by the SESII package. A process for setting pan-European and national targets for key performance areas creates the prospect of enhanced ATM safety, efficiency and environmental performance across the whole industry. But it will only generate results if it affects the behaviours of service providers. And it will only do that if the targets are firmly grounded – stretching, yes, but also achievable if there are appropri-

challenges in setting up a system which bites on 27 service providers […] are always fully appreciated.”

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4 Economics • The importance of flexibility for national supervisory authorities to establish national targets and performance plans, underpinning the Community-wide targets, which target the areas of performance of greatest relevance to them.

• The need to ensure clarity about accountabilities. Service providers tasked with achieving performance outcomes need to have the tools and flexibilities to achieve them. In some cases that may mean negotiating a different (clearer) relationship with governing state entities, creating a more arms-length relationship. But it will be important in a more performance related world that tangled accountabilities do not provide a hiding place

If all this makes achievement of a new panEuropean performance system seem complex and, perhaps, rather difficult that is only because it is. And we should not pretend otherwise. But the rewards of a better performing system for all stakeholders – including these who work within service providers – should justify the hard work to get it right.

Photo: © Gudella | Dreamstime.com

• The benefits of stakeholder engagement throughout the process in particular between users and service providers. Such engagement requires goodwill on both sides, openness to genuine dialogue, and transparent and timely provision of information by service providers (but also by airlines on their requirements). But it is the best way of ensuring a better match between what service providers do and what users wants.

We have suggested experimenting with such an approach in the CAA’s forthcoming regulatory review of NATS.

for under-performers. Over time, it may be possible to set more targets at the level of Functional Airspace Blocks. This would certainly reduce and simplify interfaces in the system. But it will only deliver results if FABs are truly accountable, requiring an accompanying shift in responsibility and governance from state to FAB level.

4 The breathing space provided by weaker demand should be used to improve the system so delays can be avoided in the future.

Environment A final challenge for the period ahead is to meet the justified concerns for enhanced environmental performance. This will be a key part of the SES II framework. But it is worth singling out because it is so critical to achieving public acceptance for continued aviation growth.

Many of the key levers, particularly in respect of climate change (such as emissions trading), lie outside the air traffic service industry. But it can play its part through improving operational efficiency, putting greater emphasis on direct routings wherever possible and economic (recognising there is a trade-off with capacity) and looking to ensure through FABs and other initiatives that state borders do not stand in the way of necessary improvements.

This is quite an agenda for the next few years. But I hope it gives a sense of how challenging I think they will be. ^

Harry.Bush@caa.co.uk

Interview with Dieter Kaden, CEO DFS ^ by Philippe Domogala , Editor Philippe: What, in your opinion, will be the impact of the current economic crisis on air traffic management?

Dieter Kaden: The depth and duration of this crisis cannot easily be predicted. ATM is mainly affected by decreasing traffic volumes and the recent deployment by airlines of smaller aircraft. This means a decrease in revenue whilst maintaining a high level of safety at a time of growing customer expectations with regard to ATM performance, in particular reducing delay and lowering ATC charges.

Ph: A revenue decrease of which order of magnitude?

DK: For us, possibly something between 2 and 2.5%

Ph: How long do you expect the crisis, and this decrease in traffic levels, to continue?

DK: We are strongly convinced that we have not yet seen the worst of the recession. So far we think that after a rough year in 2009 traffic volumes will gradually stabilize and begin to recover in 2010.

Ph: If the trend continues will staff (controllers) be affected by this?

DK: Our manpower planning and recruitment plans for ATC controllers is based on a European medium term traffic growth scenario and remains unchanged due to the fact that a Controller becomes active only after a 3-4 years training and on the job period. But I foresee that all employees have to increase perform-

4 Dieter Kaden ance which includes from my point of view longer working shifts for the same level of salary. But this will not be restricted to controllers. I think this will apply to the whole society.

Ph: Do you foresee the routes charges go up in the coming years if traffic does not pick up quickly?

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4 Economics DK: As I said earlier, if we continue to observe a decrease of traffic, and airlines keep on using smaller aircraft, our revenue will decrease significantly [Ed: See Glen McDougal’s’ article on page 9 & 10] but ATC is caught in what I call the “Public sector dilemma“; Regardless of the amount of traffic, we still have to provide the same service 7 days a week and 365 days per year. A small adjustment (i.e. increase) in ATM charges might become necessary in the future if that trend continues. But the two large ATM projects in Europe (FABEC and SESAR) are expecting to bring us noticeable improvements in performance.

These efficiency gains will gradually open the door to reducing our costs, and consequently reducing our ATM charges.

Ph: DFS is part of FABEC. Will this initiative help in reducing the costs of the participating ANSPs or is it only an exercise aimed at reducing the costs for the airspace users?

DK: The aviation community has set high expectations with regard to the goals and benefits of the realization of FABEC. The participating ANSPs have agreed on a set of perform-

What is FABEC?

FABEC stands for Functional Airspace Block Europe Central. The goal of this initiative is to set up a common airspace among six States (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland) where ATM will be organized irrespective of national borders. For more information visit http://www. fab-europe-central.eu

ance targets. Those are aimed at improving safety, flight efficiency and (military) mission effectiveness. But those targets also include cost effectiveness (improvement of ANSP cost structure) and reducing the impact on environment.

Ph: Some of the current FABEC partners are opposed to Privatization. How do you see a public service ANSP run by civil servants merge operations with privatized ANSPs from other states?

DK: for me, there is no difference whether an ANSP is organized as a public agency or being corporatized. The critical success factor to make FABEC work is to define and implement an institutional and legal framework to be applied within the airspace of the 6 member states setting the operating environment and rules for the different ATM functions. We are presently working on promising solutions.

Ph: How are the ANSPs within FABEC going to share route charges generated within FABEC? Will you loose financial control of your (DFS) investments?

DK: The future allocation of costs within FABEC and its appropriate route charging system is currently being analyzed by a working group. It is not our intention to agree on measures which negatively impact our control over our investments without fully understanding the implications and rationale behind such measures. DFS is committed to the formation of FABEC. As the initiative evolves and certain functions are carried out at FABEC level, it is possible to

4 DFS Headquarters in Landen, Germany.

envisage adequate governance and financial structures to support these functions. We are convinced that “FABEC thinking” is the right way forward and that no ANSP will loose financial control of his investments.

Ph: Will FABEC implementation result in a further reduction of current ATC facilities (ACCs and UACs) or do you rather see a “virtual“ organization (i.e. sectors or areas being transferred to other existing facilities)?

DK: Both scenarios are possible. It all depends on the future institutional framework and the FABEC governance structure chosen.

If we want to achieve significant performance improvements we have to tackle all promising areas including consolidation or building an alliance (similar to what the airlines have done with Sky Team or Star Alliance) or even targeting for one single ANSP for the whole FABEC area. All options are open, but we have to realize synergies first.

Ph: Finally, what is the current DFS priority and how will this priority affect controllers?

DK: It’s all about performance in all areas of DFS. We are committed to delivering an outstanding level of performance to our customers but safety remains our top priority. Services are being tailored to the differing needs of our customers in an environmentally sustainable manner. As a recognized provider of air navigation services for complex airspaces and airports, we will improve the performance of the air transport system.

As you known we are looking for what we call “direct entry” controllers to come and work for us. We offer challenging work for aviation enthusiasts and innovative people from around the world who are seeking the opportunity to shape the future of air transport. ^

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Resilience & Just Culture 2 Short Educational films – Free to view on YouTube

^ by Richard Arnold

4 The films can be viewed on YouTube. changing. Resilience is the ability to recognise, adapt to, and absorb changes and disruptions in the system. The characteristics of resilient systems are spelled out in the film.

Just Culture Film

Producing Films Film is an extraordinary powerful medium for conveying ideas, and the Internet is an almost unimaginably efficient means of distributing them. I had previously made 2 training films, which were distributed mainly on DVD. This time I wanted to make a training film specifically for web distribution.

When Professor Sidney Dekker, one of the world's leading Human Factors specialists agreed to write the scripts and appear in the first two films, I knew the content would be leading edge and properly grounded. Nevertheless, before filming began, the film scripts were circulated and reviewed by a number of leading safety specialists and operational staff from different domains.

Films have to be funded, but a short film can convey a lot of information and still be made relatively inexpensively. Human factors training information has a specialist but global audience, not just in aviation, but all complex and high risk systems. I was confident that an industrial sponsor from the domain of oil, finance, transportation, healthcare, or nuclear power industries could be found, but I was very pleased when the Gdf agreed to fund the first 2 short films. Many other people supported the project; the Swedish Rescue Services provided funding for research; IFATCA provided subject matter experts; the Technical University of Darmstadt agreed to provide

a venue for the lectures and many individuals contributed expertise or support totally free.

Choosing YouTube Originally I intended to distribute the films as an e-mail attachment; later on I realized that it is more practical to simply use YouTube and circulate a web-link. YouTube can be used to distribute films instantly and globally, and they can usually be accessed in about 20 seconds. Although this platform limits the length of the films, it well suited my concept. I wanted the films to say something worthwhile and make a complete argument, but they had to be short. The short films are therefore very direct and limited to: what the subject is; why it is important, and how you get it. I thought this would be suitable for many people, but I knew others would want more detail. Accordingly, I also filmed two complete lectures. The lectures are too long for YouTube, they take about 5 minutes to uplink and are therefore available free only on the University of Lund Website.

Safety Resilience Film The first short film (4 minutes) is about Safety Resilience. I chose resilience because there seems to be widespread confusion about what it means in the context of safety in complex systems. Resilience is of particular interest today because new technology (especially computer technology) and global competition mean that the nature of accidents in complex systems is

The second short film (4 minutes) is about Just Culture.

Many operators think that ‘Just Culture’ equals ‘Blame Free’, but it does not. Just Culture acknowledges the notion of discretionary space and personal responsibility. Just Culture is actually about providing clarity about who gets to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and the role of domain experience in this process. It is about balancing accountability and learning, and changing the way we think about accountability – to forward looking accountability, so that it becomes compatible with learning.

To view the short films enter the YouTube website and then search under Sidney Dekker. The lectures can be viewed free at http://www.lusa.lu.se/research I would especially like to thank Professor Dekker for writing the film scripts and appearing in the films, and the Gdf for funding the project. In the first week about 1000 people viewed the films. Around 100 people a day visit the various film sites. ^

A short film can convey a lot of information and still be made relatively inexpensively.

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SPOTLIGHT

Spotlight on Corporate Members

to: Kevin Sl ate Pho r

Salter ^ Kevin Contributing Editor, Corporate Affairs Welcome to Spotlight. For the first issue in 2009, I have reviewed announcements from various corporate members and selected items that I believe will interest you. The first geographical area we will look at is

South Africa SRA Subsidiary Completes Site Acceptance at Cape Town SRA International, Inc., a leading provider of technology and strategic consulting services and solutions to government organizations and commercial clients, announced that Era Systems Corporation, a subsidiary of SRA, has achieved site acceptance with the ATNS, South Africa’s air navigation service provider (ANSP), for its terminal area ADSB and multilateration surveillance system at the Cape Town International Airport.

Era’s system provides wide area surveillance in the Cape Town terminal area out to 60 nautical miles from the Cape Town International Airport. Data from the system will be fed to the ATNS EUROCAT system and fused with primary and secondary surveillance radar information to provide air traffic controllers complete situational awareness. The system will be used operationally once certification from the South African CAA has been obtained.

“ATNS is proud of its pioneering work with multilateration and ADS-B, and we can see the benefits these technologies will bring

to our surveillance needs today and for our surveillance infrastructure of tomorrow,” said Chris Steyn, the Cape Town Wide Area Multilateration Project Manager. “Era has consistently proven that they are able to deliver sophisticated next generation surveillance systems that meet our stringent quality standards.”

Era’s ADS-B and multilateration system provides higher accuracy, greater update rates, better coverage and improved reliability when compared to traditional radar, at a much lower initial cost and with lower annual maintenance costs.

“ATNS is an industry-respected ANSP with extremely rigorous standards and we are honored that they have continually relied on Era to deliver next-generation surveillance solutions,” said SRA Senior Vice President of Air Traffic Systems, Kevin Layton.

Era is also currently in the process of completing two next generation surface surveillance systems for ATNS. The systems – one at Cape Town International and one at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg – are being installed to support the growing passenger demand and increased operations, especially as they prepare for the 2010 World Cup.

Czech Republic A contract was also awarded by ANS CR, the Czech Air Navigation Service Provider, to deploy a wide area multilateration system in Brno, Czech Republic.

Era’s solution, also capable of decoding ADSB signals, will provide surveillance coverage out to 80 nautical miles from the Brno airport.

Era’s system in Brno will be the third wide area multilateration system installed by ANS CR, following systems deployed in Ostrava and Prague, and will be the final system needed to provide complete nationwide coverage.

“It is our full intention to interconnect all three wide area multilateration systems early in 2010 to create the world’s first nationwide wide area multilateration capabil-

ity,” said Ivan Uhlir, ANS CR surveillance expert. “We are excited to once again be partnering with Era in this endeavor as they have proven time and again their industryleading multilateration capabilities.”

Multilateration is unique in that it can decode both traditional transponder signals as well as ADS-B transmissions, and when compared to conventional secondary radar, provides much higher position accuracy, faster update rates, better coverage and improved reliability.

“The ANS CR have always been innovators, installing the world’s first surface multilateration system and the world’s first wide area multilateration system,” said Russell Hulstrom, Vice President of Era’s Air Traffic Management business. “Creating the world’s first nationwide wide area multilateration solution is another important step towards the transition to a world ‘beyond radar.’

Acquired by SRA in July 2008, Era Systems Corporation provides advanced surveillance technologies for the air traffic management, airport operations, military and security markets.

About SRA International, Inc. SRA and its subsidiaries are dedicated to solving complex problems of global significance for government organizations serving the national security, civil government and global health markets. Founded in 1978, the company and its subsidiaries have expertise in such areas as air surveillance and air traffic management; contract research organization (CRO) services; cybersecurity; disaster response planning; enterprise resource planning; environmental strategies; IT systems, infrastructure and managed services; logistics; public health preparedness; strategic management consulting; systems engineering; and wireless integration.

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SPOTLIGHT Angola Thales wins contract to supply Air Traffic Management system to Angola Thales announces the signing of a contract with the Angolan Air Traffic Services provider ENANA1 (Empresa Nacional de Exploração de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea) to supply the latest version of its EUROCAT control centre and one Mode S radar to Luanda Airport. The EUROCAT centre controls aircraft through the departure, en-route and approach phases. The contract, which came into force in October 2008, will modernise and improve Angola’s current Communication Navigation Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (ATM) capabilities. The contract will supply Luanda Airport with an en-route and approach air traffic control system, a voice communication switch, a voice recording system, and a Mode S monopulse secondary radar with its remote monitoring and display systems. Under this contract, Thales will also be providing extensive training for ENANA. The training courses provided by Thales will include extensive air traffic controller qualification training courses as well as technical training courses. Thales is fully committed to developing ENANA’s internal expertise in the ATM domain. In addition to this contract, Thales is currently discussing with ENANA the provision of a primary radar to further enhance Angola’s airspace management capability.

Angola is one of many African countries that now use Thales technology to ensure a secure airspace. The following countries also use Thales ATM technology to provide consistent air space security: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and the eighteen ASECNA2 (Agence pour la Sécurité de la Navigation Aérienne en Afrique et à Madagascar) states.

Thales is world leader in ATM systems and civil radars (outside the USA) and holds more than a 70% share in the navigation aids market. Thales offers an integrated gate-to-gate solution, from pre-flight to landing, ensuring airport safety, efficient traffic handling operations, data sharing on aircraft and seamless handover operations between territories.

There are more than 260 EUROCAT centres, totalling some 4,000 controller positions in service throughout the world.

1 2

National Airport Exploration and Air Navigation company Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar

USA JFK Airport to Reduce Delays with Sensis Aerobahn Airport Management Tool to Improve Situational Awareness of Ground Operations Under contract to the Aviation Development Council (ADC), Sensis Corporation will provide its Aerobahn® Service, a web-based airport management tool, to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) for use at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Sensis Aerobahn will provide the PANYNJ and its stakeholders with greater awareness of aircraft traffic flow on the airport surface, including the gate areas, resulting in a reduction in delays and emissions and increased passenger satisfaction.

Sensis Aerobahn combines airside operational information with aircraft position data from the airport’s surface surveillance system for a real-time, highly accurate view of surface operations. At JFK, the FAA’s Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) system will provide realtime aircraft position data to Aerobahn.

“The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and its airline constituents at John F. Kennedy International Airport will be utilizing this technological tool that will enable them to reduce taxi times, enhance coordination of push-backs and arrivals to and from the airport’s gates, and better manage irregular operations, such as thunderstorms and de-icing events, with a goal towards improving overall operational efficiency and enhancing our customer’s travel experience at one of the world’s busiest airports,” said Bill Huisman, Executive Director of Aviation Development Council. Aerobahn users at JFK will have access to the following tools: • TaxiView – Providing a real-time situational display of aircraft taxiing on the surface.

TaxiView enables users to observe departure queues, view actual arrival demand, and contrast that demand with availability of gates for the arrival aircraft.

• OpsView – Delivering robust real-time and historical information for analysis and reporting. OpsView enables users to review operational events and identify trends, with the goal of mitigating the impact of future occurrences.

• QuickView – Providing a quick and accurate assessment of airfield operations, for example real-time status of arriving and departing flights. QuickView’s alerting function delivers a visual alert when user-configured performance thresholds, such as taxi in or taxi out times, are met or exceeded by particular aircraft, facilitating proactive management of operational events such as unmet arrivals.

“At JFK, the airport authority, air navigation service provider and airlines will all have realtime access to the same ground operations information through Sensis Aerobahn,” said Tony Lo Brutto, Vice President and General Manager of Sensis Air Traffic Systems. “By sharing this critical information with the FAA ATC SCC, JFK stakeholders can collaborate with the ATC SCC to increase the throughput and efficiency of JFK.” Sensis Aerobahn is operational in North America, Europe and Asia, providing airlines, airports and air service navigation providers with visibility into the status of critical airside operations. Aerobahn customers include Continental Airlines at Houston Intercontinental and Newark Liberty International Airports; Northwest Airlines at Detroit Metro and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airports; Federal Aviation Administration at John F. Kennedy International Airport; Service de la Navigation Aerienne for Paris Orly and Charles de Gaulle Airports; and the Civil Aviation Department for Hong Kong International Airport. This concludes `Spotlight´ for this issue. I would like to thank Danielle Pitel, THALES, Daniel Finkel, ERA, and Rob Conrad, SENSIS for their assistance in providing material for this issue.

Until next time and as usual, if any CM would like their company to be featured in `Spotlight´ this year, and likewise to any reader, who would like further information on any topic that was covered, please do not hesitate to contact me using the following address: Kevin Salter IFATCA Contributing 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

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4 European News

Responsibility and Liability in ATC ^ by Giorgos Georgiou, Cyprus ATCA Lawyers are like wake turbulence: don’t underestimate them as they can easily turn things upside down. Now imagine a big conference room full of them. Would you like to be there?

tractual arrangements between airlines and service providers, along with a common insurance coverage for ANSPs.

Complex Subject Defining jurisdiction and liability in international aviation often resembles the search for a unified field theory in physics. The universe will not fall apart without one, but if you remove the complex net of different legal systems, domestic law and international agreements regulating aviation, the result will be chaos. Unless of course if something else takes its place.

Could harmonisation be the missing link? Representatives of states, ANSPs, insurance companies and law firms, legislators, regulatory experts and academics attending a Workshop in Brussels last February thought so.

State sovereignty remains the cornerstone of the Chicago Convention. There is clearly a desire for a more „flexible“ use of sovereignty in air traffic management by making it more functional than territorial. But, as a prominent Air Law professor recently pointed out, States bear ultimate responsibility for the safety of international civil aviation, whatever arrangements they may make for the pooling of resources on for instance rule making and enforcement, or the transfer of tasks with respect to the provision of air navigation services, whether or not in the context of establishing Functional Airspace Blocks.

Discrepancies

Liability

The most significant point was harmonisation of control rules and procedures. The Single European Sky, Functional Airspace Blocks and cross-border provision of Air Navigation Services streamline air traffic but also raise a multitude of legal problems. To begin with, there are discrepancies between ICAO, Eurocontrol and European Union rules on ATM and ANS, concerning safety regulation and oversight, delegation of ATS and contingency.

The criminal liability of controllers was also discussed. There was also the suggestion to examine controller negligence in an accident not on the basis of the national criminal law of each state, but instead within a common European criminal law framework. While training and qualifications of controllers are harmonized through the Community Air Traffic Controller license, their possible criminal liability is decided each time by a different court, depending on the EU member state where they happen to work. It’s possible for the same negligent behaviour to be judged illegal in one EU state, and legal in another.

Accident A hypothetical accident of an aircraft with a multinational crew, with passengers from a dozen countries, under the control of an ACC within a four-country airspace block raises the problem of the need for legal certainty re civil liability.

A possible solution lies in allocating liabilities according to a system of bilateral and multilateral agreements between states and con-

4 Justice is interpreted

Sovereignty

Federation IFATCA President Marc Baumgartner stressed that a systemic approach is needed to move away from blaming the individual and towards establishing a Just Culture in ATM. He urged

4 David McMillan, Director General Eurocontrol, addresses the nearly 200 participants of the Workshop on Responsibility and Liability.

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Photo: GG

differently in each country.

Eurocontrol and member states to act urgently to prevent controllers from being prosecuted.

He stressed the importance of showing people, and judges in particular, how air traffic control works.

A possible course of action could be for each Controller Association to take the initiative against criminalisation locally. IFATCA could look into the prospect of preparing a common methodology of action, in such a way so as to ensure proper coordination and uniformity of goals between the different Associations, recognising at that time the need to adapt to each country‘s special conditions.

Media The involvement of the media will be necessary in the process of informing the public, the judiciary and legislators about what it means to be an air traffic controller and why mistakes in ATC should not be viewed as criminal acts. To enable this, IFATCA needs a communication strategy on a local, regional and international level. Will we finally succeed in establishing the equivalent of a unified field theory when it comes to civil and criminal liability in aviation? We will never know unless we try. Perhaps we can make a breakthrough where, in physics, Einstein and many others have failed…

Giorgos Georgiou (george. gag@cytanet.com.cy) is a lawyer by training and worked as a TV reporter before becoming a controller in Cyprus. ^

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Photo: © James Steidl | Dreamstime.com

Towards a unified field theory of liability?

4 Malta

Malta ATC ^

by Philippe Domogala Editor

History Malta is the smallest country in the European Union, joining in 2004. It is an archipelago of 3 islands located about 100 kilometres south of Sicily. It is quite small with only 400,000 inhabitants and an area of 316 square kilometres. Despite this it has a very large FIR from Tunisia to Greece and from Italy to Libya.

Until 1979, the UK Royal Air Force ran the Tower and Approach whilst IAL (now SERCO) ran the ACC. When the British left in 1979, they handed ATC over to the Maltese military authorities. In 1998 ATC became civilian and part of the Malta International Airport (MIA), a government enterprise, and all of the military controllers joined the new company. In 2002 MIA was privatised, but the Government wanted to keep ATC under its wing so it created Malta ATS, the enterprise now running ATC in Malta.

It has a very large FIR from Tunisia to Greece and from Italy to Libya.

ATC training

ACC building

They are about 10% short of staff, the deficit being resolved by voluntary overtime. Training is currently done in Shannon, Ireland but with a fixed hierarchy – first a controller will operate in Tower, and then as vacancies arise s/he will move over to APP, and later to ACC. This means that the average age of the ACC controllers is quite high.

Control tower The airport has about 150 commercial movements a day, plus some general aviation movements in varying numbers. As Malta has only one airport (LMML), everyone is based there. There are flying schools with Cessna 152s and 172s, plus 20 or so private microlights, including a pendular micro-light. However all these have to carry a transponder, so the traffic is well controlled.

The airport has a main runway able to accommodate all aircraft types with a secondary runway which can handle up to Code C aircraft.

Lufthansa Technik is building three new large hangars on the airport to be able to do the heavy maintenance on its Airbus A340s there.

(Incidentally the number of Philippines mechanics employed by them there is perhaps an indication of the times to come for all of us … I have been told that these are students as LH is also opening a facility in the Philippines).

Area control centre The ACC is co-located with the Tower at the airport. It has only one en-route and one approach sector, with about 300 movements per day. Their system is about 10 years old, built by SELEX, and features electronic strips.

The airspace is completely radar-controlled, from Malta’s two long-range radars with radar information from Greek radar for the eastern part of their FIR.

4 Malta ACC controllers

The future Talking to the Association (Union) Secretary, I learned that relations with their management are reasonably good. They have just signed a contract valid until 2012 which brings some stability. The major problem is their current staff shortage – 6 controllers have recently left Malta, 3 to work in the Middle East, 1 to Ireland, 1 to Brussels and 1 to become a pilot. This means that overtime has to be performed to maintain their roster. While their contract states 33 hours per week, with overtime this can stretch out to 40-44 hours per week.

What is also worrying the Association is the total lack of information regarding BLUEMED, the Functional Airspace Block (FAB) that Malta decided to join. They have not been kept in the loop as they were initially promised. The introduction of RVSM in Africa took place on 25th September, and affected them directly as most of the Europe/South Africa traffic passes through Malta to/from Libya.

Unfortunately at time there were no visits, or letter of agreement, with Tripoli to regulate the operation. However the controllers have reported that the RVSM in Tripoli is working well. Another problem is a bad VHF interface on the eastern part of their FIR. Their rest facilities, including kitchen and sleeping arrangements for the night, have recently been upgraded to a very good standard. Finally Robert Sant, a former executive of the Association and well-known IFATCA representative, has recently been appointed as the new Chief of Operations, so the relationship between management and controllers will certainly benefit from this appointment. ^

ed@ifatca.org

Photo credits: DP

There are currently 50 controllers, most of whom are triplerated (TWR, APP, and ACC).

4 Malta TWR and

4 Malta Tower controllers

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4 Americas News

Americas Regional Meeting ^ by Chrissie Callender-Wright, Jamaica ATCA Jamaica’s second city and tourist capital, Montego Bay, was the venue for the 19th IFATCA Annual Regional Conference of the Americas, held last October.

“Air traffic controllers, doing our part” Approximately 40 delegates representing 10 Controllers Associations attended the meeting. Also represented were pilots, airport workers, customs officers, as well as the corporate aviation sponsors who helped to make the conference possible. As providers of Air Traffic Management systems and solutions, companies such as Park Air Systems, Thales ATM, WCG, Ubitech and Intelcan made presentations on new technological innovations and implementation projects throughout the region. IATA (International Air Transport Association) gave a presentation on their “save a minute, save a mile” campaign.

Conference Opening The Conference opened with a video welcome by IFATCA President and CEO, Mr. Marc Baumgartner, who was unfortunately unable to attend in person. Deputy President, Alexis Brathwaite and EVP Americas Region, Mr. Alex Figuereo represented IFATCA. Other officials included Acting Director General JCAA, Lt. Colonel Oscar Derby as well as the first female President of the Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers Association, Ms. Gail Young.

Discussions and Presentations It is IFATCA’s mission to dignify and enhance the profession by promoting the recognition

and appreciation of air traffic controls’ contribution to their local economies. In addition, it needs to sensitize the various governing bodies to the human element involved in the provision of air traffic services by highlighting working conditions (the paramount factor being safety) and monitoring legal issues affecting controllers. The focus of most of the reports presented by the Associations addressed the need to adjust to the steady growth in the demand for air travel and air freight. These changes included the need for upgraded technology used to provide ATS surveillance and communication; the need to strengthen regulations governing our airspaces; redesigned ATS facilities, and to increase levels of staffing to accompany automation.

Canada, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas reported positive investments made in new infrastructure, facilities and technology, whether under construction or planned; while complaints around the region included glitches or delays in some system implementations, and the lack of adequate training and staffing with Mexico’s training school, the CIAAC actually closing due to lack of funding. The Bahamas highlighted that discussions were ongoing in relation to the nonissuance of controllers with licenses even though it is required by law.

Professional Matters Presentations and discussions within the conference included the ICAO English Language Proficiency Requirements and its impact on Safety, presented by Capt. C. Kirkaldy of the Flight Safety Department, JCAA; followed by the IFATCA Seminar on Safety and Crisis Management, presented by the IFATCA Executive Board, which focused on the IFATCA Crisis Guide, the current state of affairs detailed in a section called the Regional Block, a ‘Just Culture’ presentation and a question and answer session.

4 Head table.

Technical Matters Technical discussions along the lines of increased operational safety took place during a presentation on ADS-B applications, presented by Antonio Grimaldi of Thales. ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) is a cooperative surveillance technique for ATC and related applications. An ADS-B equipped aircraft determines its own position using GNSS and periodically broadcasts this position and other relevant information to potential ground stations and other aircraft with ADS-B. The safety benefits include improved visual acquisition for general aviation under VFR, as well as reduced runway incursions on the airport surface. It is also proposed that it enables increased capacity and efficiency within controlled airspace.

Parting Sentiments The local organizing committee of 12 members, headed by Mr. Mark Phillips did a superb job in planning and hosting this conference, despite formidable obstacles and challenges. For most, it was an unforgettable experience, while for us locals, it was time well spent as meaningful connections and lasting memories were made.^

evpama@ifatca.org

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Photos: JATCA

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4 Africa & Middle East News

Africa Middle East Regional Meeting (Khartoum, Sudan) ^ by Philippe Domogala and Henry Nkondokaya

4 The Head Table at the opening ceremony.

The 19th IFATCA AFM regional meeting was held at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, Sudan last November. It was opened by the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mr. Bakri Hassan Salih. The Director General of the Sudan CAA, and the Director of ANS also attended the opening ceremony.

Fourteen African and Middle East Associations of IFATCA and France participated. Panel Speakers from International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Federation of Air line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) also participated in the threeday event. The meeting theme was: Adopting a Just Culture – Essential for Enhancing Avia-

tion Safety. During the event many discussions turned around Just Culture, or rather the lack of it in the region. It was recommended that local authorities should implement a non-punitive incident reporting system in the interest of safety.

The sole purpose of accident/incident investigation should be to prevent recurrence and not to apportion blame or criminalize individuals, as it is too often the case in the region.

Like in all regional meetings this year, the first-day was a Safety Seminar whereby presentations were made on Safety Culture, Crisis Management and Just Culture, focusing this time on Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Marc Baumgartner, President and CEO of IFATCA contributed heavily to this seminar and led the debates.

the meeting. This attitude is not only denying the ASECNA controllers the benefits of meeting their neighbors, but excluding them from the Safety Seminar as well.

ASECNA

In general controllers everywhere should be trained in Crisis Management and CISM in order to make them better prepared to handle crises and also to restore their confidence and timely return to normal duties after serious incidents/accidents. However in the region, a major cultural problem is hindering this. Sharing of emotions and sentiments with others is not (yet) part of some cultures and would need some time to be properly explained.

Participants expressed their disappointment over the continued dispute between ASECNA and its air traffic controllers. We learned that many controllers in various countries who had taken part in the action last July are still facing various forms of punishment, including detention, dismissal, suspensions, denial of salaries, demotions, transfers to remote locations and re-assignment to non-ATC jobs. The meeting called on urgent negotiations to address the controller’s genuine grievances.

It was sadly noted than none of the 17 African States member of ASECNA could attend

RVSM Despite the successful implementation of RVSM last September, the current known communication deficiencies, as reported by the IFALPA representative, should be addressed as a matter of urgency. Controllers Associations should continue to monitor operations and submit reports of any deficiency in ATM/CNS infrastructure that would jeopardize safety.

Crisis Management, Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)

Fuel Crisis Associations present pledged to cooperate with IATA, whenever practicable, on meas-

4 The Minister of Transport opening the meeting.

Local authorities should implement a non-punitive incident reporting system in the interest of safety.

4 The Organizing committee.

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Photos: DP

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4 Africa & Middle East News ures to promote fuel efficient operations and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in order to protect the environment, following IATA’s plea in the matter.

Language Proficiency & Staff Shortage The meeting also urged Authorities to address the language proficiency shortcoming and the acute shortage of controllers in some

States. The next IFATCA AFM meeting will be held in Morocco in fall 2009. Morocco also offered 4 scholarships for SMS training to be conducted in Casablanca in early 2009. The beneficiary Associations chosen in a raffle were: Egypt, Ghana, Jordan and Tanzania. The meeting expressed gratitude for the kind sponsorship provided by the Sudanese CAA and commended the excellent work done by the SATCA Organizing Com-

mittee and by Bushara Nasr, their President. The meeting also noted with satisfaction the effort for modernization of air navigation infrastructures of Sudan and expressed the hope that the rest of the Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) of the region would follow this example. ^

Interview Bushara Nasr Bushara President Sudanese Air Traffic Controllers' Association

^ by Philippe Domogala Philippe: What are the problems the Sudanese controllers face today?

Bushara: Our main problem is staff shortage.

With the planned opening of our new ACC in a few months, we will need approximately 60 extra controllers to be able to operate the available sectors. As we are currently only around 100, and quite a number of us are not working actively as controllers anymore, you can see what huge effort will be needed in the near future. Our next problem is the current Government decision to change the qualifications for public service employees and apply these new requirements to existing controllers if they wanted to work in the new ACC. So people like me, above 50 years old, would have to go back to school/university to get a degree in order to keep our jobs! Also there is no ATC university –level related studies in our country. We are trying to overcome this by direct discussions with the University of Sudan to find a suitable compromise.

Ph: And on the technical side?

B: For more than 3 years we've had en-route and approach radar. We were supposed to move to the new centre some months ago, but the communications part is not working there. So we had to come back to the old centre, where communications is working, but not the radar, which was moved to the new centre. So now since August 2008, we are back to working procedurally. For a lot of controllers it has been a difficult time, as everyone had been working 3 or 4 years radar and suddenly had to go back to the old procedural control. Traffic has also tremendously increased in those 3 years, making it

Photo: DP

even more complex. ATC wise, this set us back 10 years!

Ph: How is the situation in Khartoum airport?

B: Not that good, as you saw this airport is now in the middle of the city and cannot be changed. The layout is very bad, parking is limited and traffic is increasing fast. More new airlines start up or decide to come, more freight aircraft and lots of UN flights as well. It is not uncommon nowadays to ask an aircraft to hold, until another aircraft has departed to get a parking space. The taxiway layout also means that most aircraft have to backtrack after landing. Runway occupancy is terrible. A good pilot will take 5 minutes to land and clear the runway, a bad one can take up to 7 minutes. Again asking aircraft on final to make a orbit is not uncommon.

Ph: How are the salaries and social conditions of the Sudanese controllers?

B: Compared to the general population, we have relatively good salaries, but those have not been increased in the last 4 years. There is also a Government initiative to harmonize government employees’ salaries, which is not good for us. We are still far away from other categories of aviation personnel, like pilots for instance.

Ph: What are your expectations after this IFATCA meeting coming to Sudan?

B: We hope that with this IFATCA meeting we will raise the awareness of the public and our bosses about our profession special needs. My personal aim was to educate the people taking decisions that directly affect us about air traffic control. In doing so we will improve our conditions. Many decision makers and politicians are unaware about ATC. Our Government has also decided to separate Service Provision from Regulation. So our Air Traffic Services are going to be commercialized or privatized. Our Association, SATCA, supports this move but wants to be involved in defining the conditions of this change so as to have positive results for our controllers and our country.

Having this meeting in Khartoum brought the Minister and the DG of our CAA here. As a result we got interviews on television at prime time, full pages in the main daily newspaper.

My expectation is that this will bring fruit in the future. ^

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4 Africa & Middle East: Sudan

The New Khartoum ACC ^ by Philippe Domogala

4 The new ACC.

Sudan is going to have a brand new ACC. “The project was driven by the need to ensure national security and safety in the entire Sudanese airspace”, said the former Director Air Navigation Services, Mr Ibrahim, “and to show the rest of Africa the modernity of Sudan.”

The ACC complex, built by a Chinese company, is located near the runway of Khartoum airport, inside the city. It has been financed by the Sudanese CAA’s own resources and

4 The working positions.

With the new ACC they expect to have full radar coverage over the North of the Country, and ADS-B coverage over the South.

the CAA also did the Project management.

They used South Africa ATNS as consultant and bought the Thales Eurocat-X system.

This is the same system currently used in South Africa, Egypt and Australia, and is fully compliant with the ICAO AFI plan.

100 staff currently work on the project, all trained in South Africa and Australia. The system integration has been completed and they expect an operational date around June 2009, with the Khartoum APP sector possibly moving a few months earlier.

New ACC Building The complex is made of 3 buildings, the ACC itself (see photo), the Training centre with its simulator, and an Engineering building.

The simulator is in fact 2 fully equipped sectors and they can be used as full back up facilities for both the ACC and APP. Four long-range radars will feed the system.

Communication systems include the VSAT network and the plan is to have full VHF coverage over the whole country. They also plan to include ADS-B, some military radars, and ADS-C (Fans1/A data link) to help cover their whole territory.

The Airspace Complexity Sudan is a huge country: it is the largest FIR in Africa with 2,5 Million km2 (or 5 times France). It is surrounded by 11 other FIRs: to the North (e.g. borders with Libya and Egypt) is full desert area; to the East (e.g. borders

4 On approach to Khartoum Airport. with Eritrea and Ethiopia) is mountainous; the South (e.g. borders with Kenya, Uganda and RD Congo) is hot and humid; to the West (e.g. borders with Central African Republic and Chad) are sub-Sahara. They also have their largest second city (Port Sudan) on the Red Sea bordering Saudi Arabia. This huge mix of countries, cultures and ethnic diversities, both inside Sudan (there are over 100 different ethnic groups in Sudan) and at their borders, mean that Sudan faces a huge challenge. As one ACC supervisor said: “In here a perfectly clear direct telephone line between 2 countries does not automatically mean you have 2-way communications! “ Currently, there are about 80 to 100 aircraft over-flying Sudan per day and about 50 visiting Khartoum airport. During the Hajj these numbers rise very significantly, of course.

But those operations are very concentrated

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4 Africa & Middle East: Sudan to within a few hours and that causes a lot of difficulties for the controllers today, since most of the crossings have to be done procedurally. With the new ACC they expect to have full radar coverage over the north of the Country, and ADS-B coverage over the south, enabling a positive surveillance standard all over the country.

the airport for 3 hours everyday for the past 3 months. There are plans to build a new airport some 40 km from the city in the next few years. The plan includes 2 parallel runways and enough parking spaces, but until then the difficulties around Khartoum airport are likely to continue.

Khartoum Airport

Seeing the size of the ops room of the new ACC, the quality and sophistication of the surveillance and communications equipment being put in place, it is obvious that the Sudanese CAA has big plans for the future. It would seem the investment is going far beyond the current traffic load needs. I would guess that offering their services to adjacent countries is a distinct possibility. The Single European Sky ideas are slowly migrating south it would seem. ^

Operations around Khartoum airport are very difficult at the moment due to many factors: the layout of the airport and lack of parking space are hindering operations, the current lack of radar services forcing the controllers to use procedural control, the high number of UN flights because of the situation in Darfur and in the south of Sudan and finally the current runway maintenance program that shuts down

Conclusion:

4 ADS-B targets (screen shot).

4 The Meroe site.

4 Inside a pyramid.

The Sudanese Culture

4 Some Meroe pyramids.

Everyone believes advanced civilization in Africa started and ended in Egypt. Little known fact is that, when the Romans invaded Egypt in 30 BC, effectively ending the “pure” Egyptian civilization, some of it continued in Sudan for 4 more centuries after that.

Around 650 BC, the last Sudanese pharaohs (Nubians) that ruled over Egypt were defeated and fled back to Sudan, to an area north of present-day Khartoum. They continued their “Egyptian“ traditions well after the Roman occupation and continued to build pyramids to burry their kings until around 400 AD. In fact there are today more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt. Some of these pyramids are only some 200 Km north of Khartoum and are extremely well preserved. They amongst the most stunning archeological places I have ever seen and well worth a visit.

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4 Africa & Middle East

IFATCA President Visits Iran Marc Baumgartner, ^ by President and CEO IFATCA Following a long-standing invitation from one of IFATCA‘s most junior member associations (they joined at the 2005 Melbourne Conference), I attended a seminar “The current issues of ATM of Civil Aviation” hosted by the Iranian Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The seminar had 400 registered participants and all the major units and the 54 airports of Iran sent delegations to attend this event in the capital Tehran. The meeting was held on the 13th of December and covered a wide spectrum of presentations. The permanent representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to ICAO, Dr. Shahbazilar, chaired this successful event.

Seminar IFATCA presentations were very similar to those presented during the safety seminar day organised in conjunction with the 2008 regional meetings and included topics such as understanding safety, just culture and expanded on the global ATM and the future challenges for the controller profession. I had the opportunity to explain what IFATCA is and why it is essential as an air traffic controller to be part of the big worldwide family of air traffic controllers.

After each block of presentations a small question and answer session gave time to explain some of the presented topics in more depth. The safety seminar was covered in newspaper articles and by one of the official TV Channels.

Our member association organised a very professional seminar and with the presentations made by the various speakers, I believe that participants benefited considerably from this event. In combination with attending the seminar, I had the privilege and unique opportunity to visit various ATC Facilities (Tehran ACC, APP and the Towers of Mehrabad, Imam Khommeini Airport and Esfahan) as well one day of great tourist interest a visit at the historic sites in Esfahan.

Crossroads Iran is located in the middle of century old trading routes and this particular geographic situation is reflected also in the current ATM landscape of this region. At a strategic position between Asia, Middle East and Europe, one of the main routes through Iran is the socalled Europe, Middle East, and Asia Route Structure South of the Himalayas (EMARSSH), which was introduced in 2002. ICAO and IATA played a leading role in this ICAO task force whose work has resulted in the reformed route structure. In the process, at least 21 States, airlines, military agencies and the air navigation chart maker Jeppesen contributed to the largest ever route overhaul in civil aviation. More than 1200 Nm of these routes transit through the airspace of Iran. With the booming aviation plans of the various countries around the Persian Gulf, Iran has seen a huge increase in the traffic serving airports like Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and others.

4 IFATCA PCX during his tour of

Challenges During the visit of the Area Control Centre an impressive display of current challenges the air traffic control system is facing was presented. Adjacent airspaces to Iran are Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq. The complexity of high intensity traffic in radar environment with a lot of restricted airspace combined with procedural control with some of the adjacent area control centers and the operating of a military air force (without any form of communication or letter of agreements) located on aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf makes the job of a controller very challenging indeed.

Our member association did a great job in organizing the seminar and the welcome I have been given was outstanding and unequalled in terms of hospitality. ^

pcx@ifatca.org

[The] geographic situation is reflected also in the current ATM landscape.

Photo: IRAN ATCA

Iran, here at Tehran ACC.

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4 Asia Pacific

When the Unthinkable Happens Asia Pacific RM looks at CISM

^ by John Wagstaff, EVPASP At the Asia Pacific Regional Meeting 2008, hosted by the Hong Kong Air Traffic Control Association, the 80 delegates attending from the region had the opportunity to hear a series of excellent presentations from five experts in the field of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Each of the knowledgeable presenters addressed the subject from the different phases of an incident, be it a personal crisis or a serious accident. They gave presentations of the highest quality with informative and interesting material from around the world.

Bert Ruitenberg (HFS Specialist, IFATCA) ably demonstrated how anybody and everybody is vulnerable to stress - with the help of an unlikely, but very effective medium, a French music video from MTV! Chris Henry (Head of Research Project, Texas University) detailed the establishment of the Threat and Error Management (TEM) process for airlines. He has since gone on to develop the Normal Operations Safety Survey (NOSS) procedures to detect the numerous latent problems that are faced every day in normal ATC operations which directly relate to incipient stress.

Bruce Parry (IPS Worldwide) showed how a specialist organisation can establish a programme to lead victims through a comprehensive treatment programme after experiencing a traumatic incident.

Christoph Gilgen (Swiss ATCA, IFATCA) provided his own experiences whilst he helped counsel the controllers directly involved in the Uberlingen and Brasilia mid-air collisions.

David Gault (Kenyon International Emergency Services) provided details of a company that can provide a quick response disaster management service to an airline when a tragedy does occur, covering everything from immediate trauma support for those on duty at the time, caring for friends and relatives of victims, to handling the media.

Overview & Examples The speakers showed what facilities and resources are available right now and gave contrasting examples of those organisations that understood the problem and were ad-

When it does happen – A personal perspective

by Phil Parker – Regional Editor On August 22, 1999, I was the duty Aerodrome controller for handling movements on 25L at Hong Kong International Airport. The weather was terrible with a typhoon having just passed through Hong Kong. A Mandarin (China Airlines) MD11 was on final and a B777-300 was taxiing eastbound on the parallel taxiway having just vacated the runway. The MD11 approach appeared stable and a final wind check given. On touchdown however, according to the subsequent report, the MD11 had a very high sink rate. The right main gear collapsed on touchdown and the wing snapped near the wing box releasing a large amount of fuel which immediately ignited. Lift from the left wing rolled the aircraft over. As it slid off the runway engulfed in flames, it turned around with the tail in the landing direction. It came to rest between the runway and taxiway in front of the Tower. If you want to watch a video of it, you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK5te5Yp0_8 The pilot of the B777 taxiing in was able to make 2 quick turns and get onto the other parallel taxiway just in time, and was beside the MD11 when it came to rest. We potentially had another Tenerife on our hands. If you can imagine, all in the space of a few seconds, I went from watching a normal landing, to “I don’t believe what I am seeing, I’m watching 200 people die”. I then looked toward the B777 and thought “Oh no! Another 200 dead” (Miraculously, only 4 people lost their life; over 100 were injured). I could write an entire article on the Human Factors elements on what was going on in my head at the time. I immediately pressed the crash alarm, approved the rescue services on to the runway.

Suffering shock I guess, I initially refused an offer for a colleague to take over but after a minute, I thought, “this is stupid” and handed over to him.

I left work after writing my report. Transport was minimal due to the typhoon and it took an hour to walk home in the strong wind and driving rain from the nearest railway station.

My wife was in Australia visiting relatives at the time, so I came home to an empty flat with no one to talk to. Soon after I got inside, I had a phone call from one of my Canadian colleagues from work who had been involved with Critical Incident Stress Debrief (CISD) in Canada from its earliest days. We had a good talk and I agreed that if I wanted any further counselling, that I would talk to him again. It was fantastic relief to get that call.

The local HKATCA asked management for some form of counselling to be provided. They arranged for a Hong Kong Health Department clinical psychologist to come to the airport to provide help to the group of us working at the time of the accident. While not ideal, it was of some good. This was the first time such help had been sought by the Civil Aviation Department and it has not been done since. We still have no CISM system in place to cover accidents and serious incidents. From personal experience, we need it. philatcinhk@netvigator.com

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4 Asia Pacific dressing it, as opposed to those that remained oblivious to their weaknesses and ignore it. Therefore on the final day of the meeting it was good to have a presentation by Yoshitoshi Hagiwara (JFATC) giving details of the CISM programme that is in place in Japan and

the support that is available to controllers.

Regrettably, of the 15 other Member Associations in the Asia Pacific region, none can claim to have a developed CISM programme similar to Japan, with very few having any CISM programme in place.

of the above experts, but it is never too early for every Air Navigation Service Provider to start planning for the unthinkable.

(Further information on the presentations is available from the Hong Kong Air Traffic Control Association) ^

We all hope that we will never experience a situation where we need the services of any

john.wags@gmail.com

4 Bert Ruitenberg, Bill Leung (HKATCA Secretary), Christoph Gilgen, Scott Shallies (EVPP) and Bruce Parry during the Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology Seminar on

Single European Sky Unified Air Traffic Control Tuesday, 19 May 2009 | The IET | Savoy Place | London | UK

The Single European Sky programme is driving some of the biggest transformations facing aviation today. This event is focused on the implications of the programme and how stakeholders can influence and benefit from the process.

The opportunities for change are many and the stakeholders are equally diverse. Hear from the key players about: n n n n

An update on the Single European Sky programme SES interoperability framework and regulations Mandate of the public and private joint undertaking New technologies and opportunities arising out of SESAR and what it means to the supply chain

Speakers include: Pierre Andribet, Principal Manager, SESAR Contribution and Site Manager, EUROCONTROL Tony Vaudrey, SESAR Systems Engineering Manager, NATS Peter Green, Regulatory Expert, EUROCONTROL Supported by

Register your place today at:

www.theiet.org/single-sky or telephone +44 (0) 1438 765 657

4 Philip Marien Feature

A Brief History of Time ^ by Philip Marien, Editor Assistant

Defining Time Time is ‘man-made’: there is nothing in nature that defines one second, a minute or an hour. As civilisations developed, it became necessary to keep more accurate track of time besides the obvious day/night cycle.

From about 4000 years ago, both Sumerians (northern Iraq) and Egyptians started dividing their days into 12 hours of day and 12 of night: the length of these varied seasonally, as days could be longer than nights in summer or vice-versa during winter. Further divisions used a sexagesimal system (based on the number 60): an hour was 60 minutes and a minute was 60 seconds. The system caught on and ‘soon’ other civilisations were using the sexagesimal system to track time.

Sixty Despite being unable to actually measure it, Babylonians were known to subdivide time to at least six places after the sexagesimal point, a precision of less than 2 microseconds. For example, they specified that a month lasted 29;31,50,8,20 days (four fractional sexagesimal positions). This is still the basis of current-day Hebrew calendars. Around 2200 years ago, Greek astronomers introduced a mean hour as 1/24 of a day.

Although small refinements were made, for well over 2000 years, True Solar Time, based on Earth‘s rotational period (the length of one day) was considered accurate enough. Biggest problem was to measure it accurately.

Clocks For most uses, the sundial was accurate enough. It would simply tell you how far one day had progressed. Big disadvantage was that it would only work in nice weather: probably not too problematic for the Egyptians and Babylonians, but not so in less favourable climates. Particularly for astronomers, even more annoying was that it never worked at night… They also needed more precise timepieces for their observations.

4 Example of an Photo: S Sepp | Wikipedia GFDL

Time is money, so the subject of time fits right in with the main topic of this issue, economics. But despite the fact that everyone uses time in one way or another every single day, few people consider what a complex subject time has become. This article will hopefully enlighten you somewhat…

hourglass. Running time of this particular one: 1 hour.

Enter the water clock or clepsydra: water would drip or run from a higher basin to a lower one. By measuring how much water had displaced, time could be measured. Contrary to a sundial, it could be used even at night by simply keeping it supplied with water. Arab inventors in particular made improvements on the use of water clocks up to the Middle Ages. Hourglasses are based on the same principle, but use very fine sand instead of water. If the rate by which the sand passes a small opening is known, a period of time can be accurately measured.

Gears and weights In the 11th century, Arab and Chinese engineers invented the first mechanical clocks, driven by weights and gears. While this improved precision, the clocks were generally large and couldn’t be moved easily. This prevented them from being used for maritime navigation: when he circumnavigated the world in 1522, Magallan still used 18 hourglasses filled with sand on each of his ships.

Mechanical clocks were kept in abbeys and churches, and ringing bells would announce the time to anyone who lived close enough.

The first clock that could measure time in seconds was created by Taqi al-Din at the Istanbul observatory of al-Din in the late 1500s. It had three dials which showed the hours, the minutes, and the seconds. About 100 years later, Dutchman Christian Huygens introduced the pendulum clock, to which William Clement added a seconds pendulum. For the first time, seconds could be measured with a reasonable degree of accuracy over a long period of time.

Rotation The length of one second was still derived from True Solar time – the length of one day, which is defined by the rotation of the earth around her axis. However, analyses of eclipse records made in the 19th century revealed that the rate at which Earth rotates is

gradually slowing. More accurate clocks at the beginning of the 20th century made it clear that the speed also varies seasonally. As this influenced the length of a second, it created a problem for experimental science, which required increasingly accurate and uniform time measurements.

After lengthy discussions and calculations, the world agreed on a uniform definition of a second in 1956: it would be based on the period of revolution of the Earth around the Sun for a particular epoch.

The Earth‘s motion was at the epoch 1900 based on astronomical observations made between 1750 and 1892. Derived from that was the second as 1/31,556,925.9747 of the tropical year for 1900 January 0 at 12 hours ephemeris time.

This definition was ratified by the Eleventh General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960. The tropical year in the definition was not measured, but calculated from a formula describing a mean tropical year which decreased linearly over time, hence the curious reference to a specific instantaneous tropical year.

Atomic Clocks Around the same time, a new type of clock was being developed based on a certain transition of the caesium-133 atom:

Babylonians were known to subdivide time to at least six places after the sexagesimal point, a precision of less than 2 microseconds.

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4 Philip Marien Feature Photo: NIST

4 Atomic Cesium Fountain

NIST-F1, kept at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) physics lab in Boulder, Colorado (USA).

an atomic clock. The first accurate model was built by Louis Essen and Jack Parry in 1955 at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK. These atomic clocks quickly made it evident that the just agreed mean solar second was utterly useless. After three years of comparisons with lunar observations it was determined that the ephemeris second corresponded to 9,192,631,770 cycles of the caesium resonance.

In 1967 the Thirteenth General Conference on Weights and Measures defined the second of atomic time in the International System of Units as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.

As of 2009, TAI is exactly 34 seconds ahead of UTC.

Photo: Wikipedia

This defines a second to an extreme accuracy. The latest atomic clocks are about 1 second off every 60 million years! You may wonder why this accuracy is needed, but while not everyone needs to synchronise radio-telescopes across the world, the GPS system is an example of a very practical need for accuracy: a one nanosecond (one billionth of a second) inaccuracy translates into a difference of 30 centimetres on the ground.

The increase accuracy of measuring seconds also introduces a problem: 86400 atomic seconds don’t correspond to one day. It’s close, but the error would become bigger over the years.

GMT, UT1 The International Meridian Conference in 1884 agreed to use Greenwich as the Prime Meridian from which other time zones extrapolate. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), now formally referred to as UT1 for Universal Time 1, is a mean solar time. It is derived by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) from measurements of the earths’ rotation.

A different body, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (abbreviated from its French name to BIPM) near Paris, France, gathers information from about 260 atomic clocks around the world to calculate the International Atomic Time (TAI). This is a continuous time scale, which is not derived from the Earth’s rotation or any other celestial movement. It just counts standard-length seconds, roughly since 01 January 1958.

The BIPM estimates that this time reference doesn’t deviate from an imaginary perfect clock by more than about one tenth of a microsecond (0.0000001 second) per year.

UTC In order to calculate what we know as Coordinated Universal Time (Temps Universel

4 24 Hour clock located at Royal Observatory in Greenwich. This was one of the earliest electrically driven public clocks and was installed in 1852. It is accurate to within ½ a second. Also note the ‘standard’ imperial measures below.

Coordonné – UTC), leap seconds are added or subtracted from TAI, to adjust the time scale UTC to the apparent motion of the Sun, i.e. to Earth rotation. They are introduced in such a way that UT1-UTC stays smaller than 0.9 s in absolute value.

As of 2009, TAI is exactly 34 seconds ahead of UTC: an initial difference of 10 seconds at the start of 1972 (when TAI was defined), plus 24 leap seconds in UTC since 1972 (the last leap second being added on December 31, 2008).

Other Time Standards

4Atomic clocks are needed to ensure the accuracy of the GPS system.

Photo: NASA

There are a surprising number of other time standards that have little or no use in everyday life. Who’s ever heard of Barycentric Coordinate Time (TCB)? This standard has its spatial origin at the solar system barycentre (=center of gravity). It is slightly different from time on earth: thanks to Einstein, we all know that gravity influences how fast time goes…

One last remark: in researching this, I haven’t been able to find why the abbreviation for Temps Universel Coordonné is UTC and not TUC or CUT. If anyone knows, please let me know… ^

webmaster@the-controller.net

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Economic Charlie

Charlie's Corner How to Increase Revenue in Africa A newspaper in Cameroon reported an airline, Air Niamey, chartered a Boeing 757-200 from a unknown airline (*) to carry 307 pilgrims from Garoua (Cameroon) to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) for the Hajj, last November. Problem was that the B757 only had 220 seats. Supposedly they decided to lift the arm rests and put 4 pilgrims per rows of 3 seats. The unfortunate passengers didn’t complain apparently, but due to a technical problem, the aircraft had to abort take-off: some tires caught fire and the aircraft had to be evacuated. Only then the authorities discovered that there were 307 passengers on board. According to another newspaper, Air Niamey denied any wrongdoing claiming they got special permission from the Cameroon‘s Civil Aviation Authority to cram 307 passengers on the airplane. In addition, they said, they operated the aircraft well within its structural weight limit. So why worry, hey?

fire brigade hey?). After only 3 months of cost saving, the remainder of the year is watched with great expectation by everyone in that centre.

(*) the “unknown” airline is reported to be either Aurela from Lithuania or Air Finland, but both airlines strongly deny any involvement).

How to Save Money in an ATC Centre

How to Get more Revenue from In-flight Sales

Recently one of the bosses of this ACC decided that in time of crisis, one should save money and decided that from Jan 1st there would be no more free coffee in the centre. This was to save over 5000 Euros per year! Three months later, the accountants noticed the electricity bill for the centre had gone up by 2000 euros: every office was now equipped with various models of coffee machines, which were regularly left on of course. A few made it into the ops room and without shelves or tables, they were put in various, mostly unsuitable, places. When one fell on the floor, it made a large stain on the carpet, costing a few hundred Euros to replace.

When someone in an office forgot to switch it off before he left, the coffee evaporated and the machine overheated, triggering the smoke detector. The fire brigade, automatically notified by the fire alarm, arrived at the centre in full force.

As this was a false alarm, they filed the new “False Alarm Reporting Form”: this resulted in 3000 euro bill for “false displacement of fire brigade” (everybody needs to save money in this crisis times, so why not the

Everyone one knows that in the low cost airlines you have to pay for your food and drinks. But this airline has pushed the concept further: as you can see on their in-flight brochure, their economics is very innovative: buy the whole cute kids-menu to keep your toddler happy and pay more than by ordering the items separately!

Well done!

How to Make Money from (Road) Radars

“Dear Police Station, Thank you very much for your letter which helped us put an end to one of our major investigations. On the day in question, one of our Air Defence Tornados was targeted by an unknown radar. In accordance with current anti-terrorist measures, it was labelled ‘hostile’. The on-board computer automatically engaged the target and 2 Sidewinder missiles were armed to be fired at the radar.

Unfortunately, the radar stopped emitting before the missiles could be fired.” ^

charlie@the-controller.net

The UK police are encouraged to get more revenue (read fines) by using their speed traps. This particular brigade flashed what they thought was a car at 470 mph (over 750 km/h)! Someone calculated that this will bring £GBP 50,000 to the kitty! Unfortunately the photo showed this was not a car but a Tornado jet from the Royal air force passing (very) low level over a road on the top of a hill. Someone with a good sense of humour decided to send the fine to the Ministry of Defence to see their reaction.

Photo: © Bsauter | Dreamstime.com

They did acknowledge the letter and the answer was sublime:

4 If you can afford a Tornado fighter, you can afford a £50,000 fine!

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YOU’LL FIND US PUSHING TECHNOLOGICAL BOUNDARIES Driven by the same determination to further enhance safety and increase efficiency in Air Traffic Management, CAAS “Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore” and Thales introduce LORADS III, a next generation of Air Traffic Management system in Singapore.

Developed by pooling technological and operational expertise, LORADS III is the answer to the future challenges in air transport, both on the ground and in flight: sector load balancing and traffic forecasting, tailored arrivals, departure and en-route flow management, and air traffic navigation.

In an ever more dense and complex environment LORADS III allows Green Air Traffic Management to take-off, brings a higher level of safety, reduces cost of operations, and enhances the satisfaction of all airspace users.

LORADS III a new era of Air Traffic Management.

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