IFATCA The Controller - January 2012

THE

CONTROLLER January 2012

Journal of Air Traffic Control

4 MANAGEMENT & ATC

4 CANSO Datalink Policy Conference

INTER-

4 European ATCO Licence

TION OF AIR TRAFF ERA IC C FED

LLERS’ ASSNS. TRO ON

4 IFATCA Regional Meetings

NATIO NAL

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Contents

THE

January 2012 Volume 50 Issue 4 – ISSN 0010-8073

CONTROLLER THE

CONTROLLER January 2012

Journal of Air Traffic Control

Cover photo: 4 MANAGEMENT & ATC Also in this Issue: NATIO NAL INTER-

4 European ATCO Licence 4 CANSO Datalink Policy Conference

TION OF AIR TRAFF ERA IC C FED

LLERS’ ASSNS. TRO ON

4 IFATCA Regional Meetings

© Pixattitude | Dreamstime.com © Luis Louro | Dreamstime.com DFS

In this issue:

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA Alexis Brathwaite President and Chief Executive Officer

Patrik Peters Deputy President

Patrick Forrey Executive Vice-President Technical

Scott Shallies Executive Vice-President Professional

Darrell Meachum Executive Vice-President Finance

Keziah Ogutu Executive Vice-President Africa and Middle East

Ignacio Oliva Whiteley Executive Vice-President Americas

D. K. Behera Executive Vice-President Asia and Pacific

Željko Oreški Executive Vice-President Europe

Philippe Domogala Conference Executive

Adell Humphreys Secretary

The editorial team has endeavored to include all owner information, or at least source information for the images used in this issue. If you believe that an image was used without permission, please contact the editor via http:// www.the-controller.net

Editorial ....................................………………………………………

Foreword from the Executive Board .....................…………………

Management & ATC FAA and Union Collaboration .........…………

Leaders, not Bosses ....................……………

Would you like to work in Spain? ....………..

Regional Meeting Seminar ...…………………

The Bigger Picture ....…………………………..

Training: The Final Effort ............…………………………………………...…...

Int’l Day of The Controller 2011 ........………....………..………………………..

Europe Regional Meeting .......….......…………………

Situation Greece ........…………………………

Common Licence ........…………………………

Americas Regional Meeting .......……………..……..…..

Situation Argentina .......……………………....

Africa & Middle East Regional Meeting ....……....….…..…………..

Asia/Pacific Regional Meeting .......………………………………………………….

CANSO Datalink Policy Conference .............…………………………...…………

Le Bourget Airshow 2011 ..............…………………………………………...……

Charlie .......………………………………………………………………………...….

PUBLISHER IFATCA, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations 1255 University Street · Suite 408 Montreal, Quebec · H3B 3B6 · CANADA Phone: +1514 866 7040 Fax: +1514 866 7612 · Email: office@ifatca.org EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Philip Marien Van Dijcklaan 31 B-3500 Hasselt, Belgium email: bm@the-controller.net DEPUTY EDITOR Philippe Domogala email: dp@the-controller.net CORPORATE AFFAIRS Vacant

4 5 7 8 10 13 14 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 26 28 30 32 34

REGIONAL EDITORS Americas: Doug Church (USA) Phil Parker (Hong Kong) Europe: Patrik Peters & David Guerin COPY EDITORS Paul Robinson, Helena Sjöström, Stephen Broadbent, Brent Cash, Andrew Robinson and David Guerin LAYOUT & PRINTING LITHO ART GmbH & Co. Druckvorlagen KG Friesenheimer Straße 6a D 68169 Mannheim GERMANY Tel: +49 (0)621 3 22 59 10 Fax: +49 (0)621 3 22 59 14 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

THE

CONTROLLER

3

Editorial o Ph : to M H

HOW NOT TO MANAGE ATC …

Philip Marien, ^ by Editor

Depressing… That’s unfortunately the word that best describes this issue. As seems to be the trend in other industries, the privatisation wave has failed to improve anything in ATC – even on the contrary in most places. Where the situation wasn’t ideal before, those in charge have made a lot of promises that privatisation etc. would make things better, cheaper and more efficient. There are a lot of places where this did not happen and now, they’re out trying to find scapegoats… And what easier scapegoats than the “pampered, overpaid and underworked controllers”, as they are called in the media?

One minute of delay “costs” US$350, but a separation infringement is free…

Photo: Pixattitude, Dreamstime.com

In the aftermath of the privatisation wave, a lot of managers have embarked on large, high profile infrastructure and modernisation projects. Fuelled by (largely) bogus predictions that traffic would double in the next 10, 15 or 20 years, they’ve invested in everything, except their staff… When “suddenly”, the investments are not paying off what they had promised their shareholders (be it States or others), they’re trying to divert the attention away from their irresponsible bad management. Helped by what seems to be cleverly orchestrated media campaigns, it looks like more and more controllers are paying the bill for gross managerial incompetence.

4

As seen in a Dilbert cartoon a few years ago (http://goo.gl/KD4qC), for a lot of companies, their staff is no longer “their most valuable asset”: money is much more valuable! For an increasing number of ‘stakeholders’, (air traffic control) staff is the one and only thing standing between them and more revenue…

A number of companies in – what many people would consider civilized and democratic – countries have reverted to “managing” their air traffic controllers with methods that wouldn’t be out of place in a totalitarian dictatorship. And it would seem it’s just the top of the iceberg: reports are reaching us from across the world of companies believing that a cheaper, safe and efficient service can be enforced through bullying, fear and repression against their “most valuable assets”.

Equally worrying – for example in the recent European Commission’s review of the Single European Sky implementation – is that safety is not even part of the equation.

There are Key Performance Indicators(*)

for costs, for efficiency, for delays, for ecological elements, but not for safety… After all, one minute of delay “costs” US$350, but a separation infringement is free…

But possibly even more astounding is the deafening silence of the national and international regulators. If they know about the situation, but are ignoring it, they are criminally negligent. If they don’t know about the situation, they are not doing their job correctly. Whichever is the case, their regulations and evaluations are about as credible as sightings of Elvis…

But rambling aside: although perhaps it would have been better to set the theme of this issue as “How not to manage ATC”, it’s actually “Management & ATC”. Hopefully, between the bad examples, perhaps you’ll find inspiration from some of the more positive stories.

Also in this issue, there are reports of all 4 recent IFATCA regional meetings, as well as an overview of the various events organised around the world for the Int’l day of the controller.

The next issue of the magazine will, if nothing else interferes, have an in-depth look at datalink. In that respect, the article on the CANSO policy conference in this issue is an interesting introduction to that theme.

Despite the depressing tone of this editorial, I hope you’ll nevertheless enjoy this issue. ^

ed@the-controller.net (*) Key Performance Indicators is just a fancy term for ‘spreadsheets’: it would seem that in some places, as long as the spreadsheet is correct, everything is fine…

Foreword

THRIVING, COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS Darrell Meachum, ^ by IFATCA EVP Finance

As the first edition of “The Controller” since IFATCA celebrated its 50th birthday in October, it is only fitting that the focus of this publication concerns the relationship between air traffic controllers and ANSP management.

I have had the personal privilege of serving as an air traffic controller for almost 29 years, before my retirement in late 2010. For 20 of those years, I also served the membership of my home association, NATCA, as a union official.

Photo: Andriy Solovyov, Dreamstime.com

In that time, I gained a reputation as both a hard-nosed employee advocate and a valuable partner with management, willing to collaborate with my employer to forward the ANSP’s mission and to protect and safeguard employees and the profession.

I learned it was unnecessary to change my costume or even my attitude to deal with different management styles. I was the same person in every instance; serving more as a reflection or mirror image of the management official with whom I was working.

While I admit many people, on both sides of the management/labor equation, confuse position with personality, and individuals with organizational policy, I can honestly say, I felt pride in my profession for the entire length of my service, and that included pride in having worked for my employer. While individuals and management philosophy at the top of the Federal Aviation Administration changed, I still received my checks from the FAA, not the individual managers at the top. People employ this perspective every day when they say they do not like the particular leader of their nation, but remain loyal and faithful to their country.

What my 20 years as a Union official taught me, is that employers have more say in the development and outcome of the employer/employee relationship than employees.

I have heard employers dispute this, but employers hold more power in the relationship. How much sense does it make for an employer to say – though I have heard it often – “I will treat employees better once they treat me better”?

Frankly, the truth is that employees are a reflection of their employer. A management philosophy that treats employees with honor, dignity and respect is generally rewarded with the same; not distrust and destruction.

I know some of my friends in management will disagree, but I have experienced a variety of ATC management styles firsthand. I began my employment as an air traffic controller less than 9 months after the fateful PATCO strike in the USA, witnessed the rebirth of a union formed by replacement workers, and was buffeted by the swinging pendulums of management philosophy USA federal employees endure due to a routinely changing political climate in Washington.

One oft-stated theory concerning the underlying reasons behind the dispute between FAA management and USA air traffic controllers leading up to the 1981 PATCO strike was a lack of employee control in the workplace. FAA management stated the most recent management/labor dispute in the USA during the second Bush administration was largely predicated on the belief the employer needed to take back control of the workplace from the employees. The fact that employers occasionally see employee involvement as a loss of management “control” in the workplace reveals a lot about our chosen profession and the people in charge of establishing the necessary balance between management and employee rights.

5

Foreword

Photo: Banol2007, Dreamstime.com

It’s true that collaboration appears more expensive initially, as the employer must pay for ATCO involvement early in the process. As the 1981 and 2006 labor disputes in the USA demonstrated however, confrontation unavoidably results in delays in improving the system and eventually, additional expenditures are necessary to put faulty concepts and projects back on track.

IFATCA does not believe employer/employee collaboration will prevent all management/labor disputes or industrial actions. Clearly, technical and professional issues are only a portion of the issues that can lead to ATC management and labor crossing proverbial swords.

The real test of a thriving, collaborative relationship between employers and employees comes during the darkest of times, when external and internal forces are aligned against success. New employer or employee leadership, industrial relations disagreements, political shifts, societal turmoil, personality conflicts; all introduce tempting circumstances to diminish or abandon collaborative management/labor relationships concerning professional and technical issues.

Whereas IFATCA encourages employees and employers to collaborate as full partners at the ANSP level, IFATCA stands

6

ready to do the same internationally with our collective employers’ representative, CANSO. While IFATCA is not interested in serving as a substitute for interacting with organized labor officials, IFATCA sees opportunities in building a relationship with CANSO similar to the one IFALPA and IATA share.

IFATCA, similar to our sister Federation, IFALPA, is an apolitical Federation of occasionally political organizations, especially the half of our membership that function as labor unions. We believe it is wise for international Federations of employee and employer associations to avoid taking sides in industrial actions or management/labor disputes. It is clear to everyone though that the situation is complicated by the fact the principals in any workplace struggle are likely members of either CANSO or IFATCA, and that it is difficult to separate quality of life issues with quality of work issues.

CANSO and IFATCA have the opportunity, when such circumstances inevitably occur, to assist their members by keeping the lines of communication open.

That opportunity disappears the moment one Federation calls for action or attempts to influence the debate on behalf of one of its members against the other party in an internal-ANSP dispute.

To date, the IFATCA Executive Board has concluded CANSO is not yet prepared for a fully functioning collaborative partnership with air traffic controllers to promote safety, efficiency, and regularity in international air navigation through the

development of safe and orderly systems of air traffic control.

The IFATCA Executive Board foresees the necessity to manage the inevitable conflict of interests and perspectives between ATM employers and employees as an opportunity for both; one that we hope will lead to stronger collaboration at all levels.

In the mean time, the next generation systems are being designed and built. How quickly and efficiently these will become operational, will to a large extent depend upon the degree of involvement by line air traffic controllers in the future system’s conception and implementation.

We trust this edition of the magazine will provide some lessons learned from pastexperiences with various ATC management philosophies and open a door for more productive communications, if not a more collaborative working relationship between ANSP management and employees. ^ evpf@ifatca.org

Photo: Theumf, Dreamstime.com

Assuming they have the ability to insulate themselves from external political factors, ANSPs must decide how much influence their employees will receive in their workplace, especially when it concerns operational procedures and technical equipment. IFATCA will always encourage ANSPs to achieve their objectives through collaboration rather than confrontation with air traffic staff, regardless of whether a professional association and/or labor union represents the employees.

4 Management & ATC

FAA AND UNION COLLABORATION

4 David Grizzle Photo: FAA

THE SHORTER ROUTE TO BETTER DECISIONS David Grizzle, Chief Operating Officer, ^ by Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Organization.

The 2009 contract between the FAA and National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) provided multiple opportunities for collaboration. In addition, President Obama’s Executive Order of December 9, 2009, created a formal process of labor/management forums to improve delivery of government services. Finally, the FAA’s senior management believes strongly that robust collaboration and clear decision-making authority are a potent combination to drive better decisions with shorter overall cycle time.

After many discussions, the FAA and NATCA agreed on a sustainable collaborative process. Both labor and management wanted to create: • Cooperative and productive labor-management relations throughout the Agency, • Improved delivery of aviation services to the American people.

To accomplish this, NATCA and the FAA met during the spring of 2010 to discuss how collaboration would fit into the Agency’s mission and future. Why? The reason is simple.

People doing the day-to-day work know where change is needed and have the experience to find innovative solutions. Collaboration harnesses this expertise at a pivotal time, as the FAA champions the development and implementation of NextGen. Last year, FAA field managers and NATCA facility representatives at 10 test sites across the country began to formally collaborate on issues related to procedures, technol-

ogy and airspace. Already, this teamwork is paying dividends. Some examples: three air traffic facilities in Alaska collaboratively agreed to more than 20 changes to Letters of Agreement, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the flow of air traffic. At the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center, collaborative team came up with an airspace redesign plan. This will save airlines an estimated $19 million in annual fuel costs while reducing carbon emissions by more than 100,000 tons. In addition, a realignment of operational areas will save the facility almost $4 million a year in reduced payroll costs.

And seven facilities impacted by the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Airspace Redesign are using the collaborative process to resolve complex technical issues between multiple facilities. As a result, airplanes will soon be moving out of and through the New York area more efficiently.

In fact, the test sites have been so successful that we are rolling out the collaborative process nationwide. FAA managers and NATCA facility representatives from nearly every air traffic facility in the country have been trained in the collaborative process.

Collaboration is crucial to advancing safety throughout the National Airspace System and creating a vibrant and effective safety culture within the entire FAA. Over the past few years we have received thousands of valuable safety reports from controllers through the voluntary, non-punitive Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP).

We are now working with our other union counterparts to increase collaborative involvement. The FAA formed the Partnership for

Safety with NATCA and the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) to identify and mitigate risks before an incident or accident occurs. The FAA has partnered with NATCA and PASS to conduct in-depth studies on workplace fatigue among both Air Traffic and Technical Operations employees. And we recently began a Technical Operations Safety Action Program similar to ATSAP. Nationally, senior FAA executives and leaders of all unions that represent FAA employees have formed a Labor Management Forum to bring different perspectives to the table as together we tackle agency-wide issues. Strong union support was essential for the launch of our current Workforce Engagement initiative, which empowers employees to work together locally to improve their individual workplaces.

Collaboration at all levels is worth the effort because it almost always produces better outcomes. At the FAA we have been able to accomplish things that we probably couldn’t have done without collaboration. As facilities around the country form their own collaborative work groups, I expect many more successes. ^ david.grizzle@faa.gov

7

Photo: Steveheap, Dreamstime.com

A new spirit of cooperation between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its labor unions is enhancing our ability to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.

4 Management & ATC

LEADERS, NOT BOSSES A VIEW ON ATCO – COMPANY MANAGEMENT RELATIONS Željko Oreški, ^ by IFATCA EVP Europe Last April, I was appointed IFATCA Executive Vice-President - a new highly demanding task in my professional career, covering 44 European Member Associations of about 22,000 air traffic controllers.

Personally, I believe such an appointment is the result of hard work, commitment and utter dedication. My engagement in aviation, more specifically air navigation services started nineteen years ago: I joined Croatia Control Ltd (CCL) as a young ACC trainee.

From the very beginning, I’ve also been a member of Croatian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association. For fifteen years, I‘ve served my company as an Area Radar Surveillance Controller. In the last eight years, I’ve combined this with the presidency of the Croatian As-

It’s a matter of convincing people to follow you.

4 Željko Oreški

sociation, thereby trying to manage professional affairs with the CCL Management. My goal, above all, has been to try and become a good leader, rather than a good manager, since these are two different competencies.

Leadership is about giving directions, building teams and inspiring others by own vivid examples of performance, consistency and lots of communication. At least this has been my sincere intention and my devoted ambition in the past eight years.

I have obviously not been too bad at doing the President’s job - writing documents, running projects, investing all the possible energy, knowledge and experience and, at the same time, giving all my heart, “infected” with ATCO profession pride throughout the entire time of my service. I like to think it played a major role in being offered a managerial position within the company, almost 5 years ago.

Being offered such a function does not guarantee you are going to be accepted as a leader. It’s not a question of complying or agreeing; it’s a matter of convincing people to follow you, which is a process that takes time.

I was, and still am, aware that leadership and changes go together. Managing, i.e. simply running, an organization is more straightfor-

It was practically possible to manage all this because of the unique setup of our company: all the managers in ATM Division of CCL, starting with the Director and all the other lower positions, must have a valid license as fully operational air traffic controllers or at least to have over fifteen years of ATC operational background experience. This policy is defined and regulated in both CCL documentation and the collective agreement, and there seems to be no intention of changing the existing rules and regulations. This policy was also one of the main reasons why I decided to wear three hats - I actually do the same job, be it from three different perspectives. My duty is to control traffic if my colleague is the supervisor that day, but I am

4 Professional competency (knowledge, skill, experience) is an inevitable part of a leader’s profile Photo: EUROCONTROL

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ward when there is little change going on.

Yet, I was offered that position during the fundamental reorganisation in our company and at the end of a major system upgrade in the operations room. So, the managers had to learn how to ‘lead’ the changes. Bold as brass, I accepted the challenge! Only two years after becoming one of the youngest supervisors in our new ACS environment, I also became the Deputy Head of the Air Traffic Control Centre. Three roles at the same time: a leader, a fellow-controller and a subordinated ATC officer have proven to be a winning combination, even if I say so myself.

4 Management & ATC

4 Zagreb ACC Photo: CCL Ltd.

also responsible for taking care of the traffic distribution to the various sectors during my supervisor’s shift and finally to arrange and to manage, yes, to manage how to distribute monthly rosters to my colleagues. That is, to keep our Ops room ‘furnished’ with air traffic controllers enabled to handle over two thousand over- flight operations per day!

Managing comes from the Latin word for a hand, and it originally means handling something – a sword, a ship, a supply of money or a machine. One should notice that these are all things to be handled. Now it is very easy to transfer the ‘thing mentality’ across the line to people. In other words, one easily starts thinking of people as things that can be ‘managed’ like machines, money or (human) resources.

I realized a long time ago that professional competency (knowledge, skill, experience) is an inevitable part of a leader’s profile. Since 2006, I’ve attended all possible ATM and Human Factors courses in the Eurocontrol Institute in Luxembourg. In addition, I try to read as much as possible on these subjects – and in particular the work of John Adair.

Anyone familiar with his books should easily recognize where my views on being a leader instead of being a boss, capable of managing people, come from.

IFATCA policy, on Management of ATS providers, is that: ‘’ATC management staff directly concerned with executive air traffic control matters should have a thorough knowledge of air traffic control and be holders of an air traffic controller’s license and, to remain fully conversant with current air traffic

1 2

IFATCA Technical and Professional Manual 2011, page 4 1 2 3; 2.2.1 IFATCA Technical and Professional Manual 2011, page 4 1 2 3; 2.2.1

control problems, their knowledge should be continually updated.1’’ And further on: ‘’Where ATS providers are controlled by senior management who do not have experience as senior Air Traffic Controllers then the position of Chief Air Traffic Controller shall be created. The Chief Air Traffic Controller shall be an experienced senior air traffic controller and shall be answerable for, amongst other things, the safety of the air traffic control system. The Chief Air Traffic Controller shall report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ATS provider and to the head of the regulatory organization.2’’ An interesting statistic is that the ANSPs with the highest productivity are also the ones that have developed good/better/the best relationship between the management and the operating staff. More often than not, the professional associations were considered ‘stakeholders’. Open and honest communication between management and associations is a vital key to success.

ANSPs with the highest productivity are also the ones that have […] the best relationship between management and operating staff. been completely avoided, it’s fair to say that there’s a good chance it would have been resolved with much less disruption to the travelling public.

At an international level, IFATCA is open to cooperate with associations that unite employers and ANSP management.

The relationship with our international partners is by definition a matter for the entire Executive Board (EB) rather than a regional concern. At the same time, IFATCA encourages employees and employers to cooperate as full partners at local, ANSP level. ^ evpeur@ifatca.org

Unfortunately, a number of the well developed countries within European Union are currently struggling with how to ‘behave’: our Spanish or Greek colleagues to name but two, are involved in ugly struggles with their management and even their national government. It is more than certain that the service provider management in those cases is not following the best practice suggestions listed above. On the contrary, I am certain that they are not even following required EU regulations. While I wouldn’t go as far as saying that such confrontations would have

9

4 Management & ATC 4 Entrance to the Barcelona ACC Photo: Maria Eugenia Santa Coloma Costea

WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK IN SPAIN? DIRTY PRESS MANIPULATION AND TOTAL COLLAPSE OF SOCIAL DIALOGUE RESULT IN MAJOR SAFETY CONCERNS “President of AENA: controllers are lazy, overpaid and barely educated”.

4 Newspapers believed everything spoon-fed by AENA and the Spanish government.

Photo: DP

The names in this article have been changed for obvious reasons. But other than that, the account is truthful and described facts as experienced by Spanish controllers over the past 2 years.

I am an air traffic controller at Barcelona ACC. Today is Wednesday and I am rostered for a night shift. On the way to my car, I see my neighbour parking, returning from his job.

Lucky him, he is having dinner with his family; I haven’t had that chance for 6 days in a row now. We used to say hello and have a little chat, but he doesn’t even look at me anymore.

He has listened to the Minister, read the newspapers and believed them – who wouldn’t?

After the smear campaign carried out by the Spanish Government and media for the last two years – strongly supported by AENA, the state controlled company I work for – even my eldest daughter told me “there is no need for you to tell my friends what you do for a living, right?” She is smart; she does not want to be bullied at school, like other colleague’s children are. You cannot honestly blame those kids; they just repeat what they hear from their parents. And their parents just repeat what they have heard from the Minister and the President of AENA: controllers are lazy, overpaid and barely educated; they are noth-

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4 Management & ATC ing but unproductive privileged, selfish blackmailers and kidnappers of honest citizens.

4 AENA Headquarters Photo: DP

Anyway, I still consider myself very lucky to have a job in a country where more than 1 in 5 people are unemployed... This is on my mind when I enter the operations room in my ACC, but I’m quickly reminded that today is another special day: procedures have changed again. Due to the budgetary restrictions there’s no need to give proper training.

In 2010, we had one single day of training; two days in 2011. New procedures in place?

Well, a paper in my mailbox is considered your training. Daily briefing? Only a bunch of papers on a notice board somewhere.

Today, they’ve changed the minimum horizontal radar separation: this, we first learned about from the newspapers…

I am just about to sit in my position when people from HR enter the room: they are delivering “Compulsory Service Coverage”(CSC) papers: these oblige someone to come to work on his/her free day. There is a tense silence in the room, everyone deals with it the best they can. While providing separation, without failing to talk to the planes, some of them try to hide their face from HR people to avoid being seen.

If you have two or three free days in a row, you are a good candidate for a CSC, especially on a weekend. My friend Ramón, for instance, was called to work with just one-hour notice on a free Sunday. He was hiking in the mountains with his family and had to rush to the ACC with all them in the car to get to work on time. At the gate, security told him that his family had to wait outside: visitors were not allowed.

But this time the CSC happens to be for me.

Great! Today was my sixth day in a row, ending the shift Thursday at 07h30 and starting again on Sunday for another 6 days. Since the arbitration, we only work a maximum of 1670 working hours per year, but some months can have up to 170 hours, excluding holidays

Some [were] actually working while on medication, including sedatives. from the count. We should have a roster of 5 days working and 3 days off (the first one being the sleeping day after the night), but the company is allowed to deviate from this in exceptional circumstances. 2011 appears to be a very exceptional year indeed, since most cycles appear to be of the 6/2 variety, even during the winter months.

Friday was my free day – and my son’s birthday. Now, thanks to the CSC, I will start working while he is still at school, and I will return home at 23h30; I will not see him. I console myself by thinking that it could be worse: some colleagues have got a CSC for the day their son was receiving his first Communion. Others, for the day they were best man at a wedding…

I do my best to calm myself down and sit down to work. My colleague beside me, Al-

exandra, looks sick. Checking whether she’s OK, it turns out that she is sick. I would like to tell her to go to the doctor in the ACC, but I stop myself. She will not go, and we both know why: she would need to sign a statement, declaring she is not faking illness.

If someone decides you’re not sick when you’ve signed this declaration, Spanish Air Safety Law (LSA) foresees sanctions from EUR 90.001 to EUR 225.000 for controller found pretending to be sick.

Additionally, his or her ATC license is immediately revoked.

The same penalties are defined for an unjustified absence of

4 Airport in Madrid Photo: AENA

11

4 Management & ATC fice. This office initially only had the staff for regional enquiries only. Predictably, as the office couldn’t cope with the requests, regulations are not implemented and we face permanently overloaded sectors, day after day.

4 Operations room of Barcelona ACC Photo: Maria Eugenia Santa Coloma Costea

one day from work; for not collaborating enough with a transition to a new service provider; or even for delaying or refusing to train new controllers, for instance. And I wonder: many of my colleagues, in towers that have just been sold, were forced to take the OJTI endorsement. If they ever have to evaluate a trainee who is simply not yet ready, will their judgment be influenced in some way by the Spanish law? Oh, and these are administrative sanctions, so there is actually no need for a trial or a court to determine whether you are guilty before you are fined and/ or deprived of your license.

Alexandra happened to be sick during summer 2010. Her summer holiday was cancelled with one month’s notice. This was after working two consecutive months of around 190 hours each, with barely 4 free days per month. She suffered insomnia and ended up being involved in a type-A incident. This was the final drop and she had a nervous breakdown. After less than

a week on sick leave, she was summoned by the state social security medical inspection.

They deemed she was fit enough to return to work, as was systematically done for almost all sickness absences. For 6 months, a regular Spanish doctor was not allowed to prescribe medical leave to controllers, not even for a broken leg. Only the official medical inspection was authorised to do this. Given the odds, would you dare to call sick if you were Alexandra?

Many people who were on sick leave, had this revoked. This resulted in some, like Alexandra, actually working while on medication, including sedatives. Some others would not dare to call sick for other reasons: with a salary cut of around 50% and being stuck with a nice mortgage, some could simply not afford to be sick, since every single day you were off on 2010, you were simply not paid.

Since the arbitration, it should only be a 25% reduction of salary. But it is still unclear: the company is continuously revising their own calculations and they add or subtract money from payrolls according to their change of will. They have done it 3 times this year. Let’s hope it is the last one.

Regulations and airport capacity still depends on management approval. During summer 2011, AENA required that all requests for flow restrictions would go via a single of-

7h30, the shift is over. I go to the canteen for breakfast, to avoid getting stuck in rush hour to enter the city. About half an hour later, the Chief of Division arrives, with some other managers. They don’t mingle. Someone mentions the “working together policy” and the “just culture” terms. The rest break out with bitter laughter. Only in Barcelona ACC, around 70 of us have disciplinary proceedings taken against us. Around 40 are facing penal court, with prison penalties and the loss of all their possessions at stake.

Over the past two years, 39 different laws, regulations and administrative provisions ad hominem have been issued in Spain targeting controllers. Will someone ever realize some day that this is not a sensible way to run a company? But what else could be expected of a company, in which the CEO himself publicly states that controllers just “measure distances between planes on a screen”? Maybe these are the reasons that have pushed some colleagues to try their options in Germany, Australia… and even Iraq. Some others just quit, with nothing else in mind. In Barcelona ACC alone, 4 controllers have left in the last 3 months. Others will surely follow…

So are you still sure you would like to come and work in Spain? ^ An air traffic controller from Barcelona ACC Note from the Editor: in 2010, Spain reported 47 severity A incidents to the Eurocontrol PRC. The same year, Portugal reported just one and UK reported none. Still according to Eurocontrol, Spain total delay per flight in Barcelona ACC has increased from 0.2 minutes in 2009 to 1.9 in 2010. In Madrid ACC, it increased from 1.2 to 2.5 minutes.

50TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE ERRATA Uganda (page 35) The GDP per capita is reported wrong. It should be 1,200 USD (as stated on page 75) Cyprus (page 40) Under “IFALPA Safety level”, read: “Critical Issues; Pilot-Controller coordination for the a/c crossing the common boundary

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between ANKARA and NICOSIA FIRs.” Under “Other Problem Areas”, read: “Lack of communication between the ATC centers of ANKARA and NICOSIA. Number of crews fail to follow the published ATM procedures. Intervention of the illegal station ‘ercan ACC’ in the working procedures of Nicosia ACC.” Further inquiries should be made directly to board@cyatca.org.

Japan (page 41) The GDP per capita is reported wrong. It should be 34,200 USD (as stated on page 54)

Serbia (page 67) During layout, the map of Serbia was inadvertently replaced by that of Poland. This is the correct map.

Thanks to all who made us aware of these issues. ^

4 Management & ATC

IFATCA SEMINAR 2011 MANAGEMENT OF AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES Patrik Peters, ^ by IFATCA Deputy President Economic pressure and the implied changes have had an effect on air traffic management for many years already. The ongoing discussion about what the future air traffic management system will look like - how airspaces will be organized, how air traffic can be managed more efficiently and more cost effective also has an impact on the management of the Air Navigation Services Providers (ANSP).

time. Instead of dealing with the questions as outlined above, the role and importance of IFATCA moved into the centre light. Picking up from last years seminar, IFATCA PCX & CEO Alexis Brathwaite outlined our involvement and why we matter. A representative from ITF presented his view of the relationships with management and issues on industrial strife.

What impact has this on the provision of safe and efficient air traffic services? For our air traffic controllers, there is still much confusion about how ANSPs should be managed and what role their ATC organization should play in this. For many providers, the poor relationship between the air traffic controller organizations and management have created working environments that are not conducive to the provision of safe and efficient services. While IFATCA sought to address the impact of privatization and develop policy, this has been hampered by the lack of data and vast differences that exists from country to country. However, there are clearly core issues that are common, regardless of the social or legal environment of a particular country.

At the European RM, Philippe Domogala, Conference Executive, moderated the event, where Sid Lawrence, EUROCONTROL agency, gave a comprehensive presentation about their role in service provision, with a focus on the safety angle. He also covered topics such as Critical Incident Stress Management, Team Resource Management, Just Culture, Safety Culture, Performance & Key Performance Indicators, Function Airspace Blocks, Human Performance and Network Management. Mr Lawrence highlighted the local ATC association being the best means for ATCO communication with their ANSP.

This was the starting point for this years’ IFATCA Global Seminar. We wanted to explore current experiences and with the input of the regional meetings delegates to identify these core issues that require solutions. As air traffic control employees, management has a direct impact on the way we perceive and carry out our jobs. To facilitate finding answers and create a debate, we sought input from various stakeholders in the aviation community, both local and internationally.

Organizations such as CANSO, IATA, ITF and IFALPA attended the seminar and presented their point of view.

The Africa Middle-East seminar quickly revealed an unforeseen challenge to the seminar as many of the delegates were attending an IFATCA regional meeting for their first

Milivoj Server Cuglin from Croatia Control Limited (CCL) talked about the structure and operation of the Croatian ANSP. All managers in their ATM division have to be fully operational Air Traffic Controllers or have at least some ATC background. This, he believed, facilitates good and fruitful communications with all members of the company.

In the following discussion, one striking point was noticed: According available EUROCONTROL data, ANSPs having the highest productivity are those with the best relationships between management and staff.

At the Americas Regional Meeting seminar, IFATCA PCX Alexis Brathwaite set the scene using the Indian story of the blind men and an elephant, which is used to illustrate the range of truths and fallacies. Different perceptions and backgrounds lead to various expectations, often being detached from reality. Presentations of Micilia AlbertusVerboom, Director General NAATC, and

4 Delegates during the Americas Regional Meeting Photo: PP

For […] controllers, there is still much confusion about how ANSPs should be managed. the South-American Regional Coordinator of ITF, Mr Edgar Diaz, as well as the vision of Joey Wong-A-Ton, President of CURATCA, illustrated the need for an-open-door policy to achieve trust, respect and cooperation. IFATCA Deputy President Patrik Peters led through the panel discussion, which focussed on the role of the professional association in this communication process with their local management.

How can we have influence?

How can the reporting culture be supported and improved?

Throughout the seminars, it was noted that staff associations must be seen as ‘stakeholders’ and that keeping open and honest communication between management and associations is a vital key to success. Proper management requires and appreciates feedback – and who would in a better position to provide this in a constructive and professional manner than the air traffic controller association representing the workforce? ^ dp@ifatca.org

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4 Management & ATC

THE BIGGER PICTURE THE LAWS THAT GOVERN ATC HAVE SHAPED ITS INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE. THERE ARE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED. Graham Lake, ^ by Director General of CANSO When the Chicago convention was signed over 60 years ago, key among the government responsibilities laid down was the obligation for all States to take up a regulatory role in aviation; and that all States ensure that air traffic control services are provided in their sovereign airspace. Importantly, the obligation is not to provide service, but to ensure that it is provided! Let’s focus on the service provision for a moment.

Service providers, such as banks, telephone companies,

In the ATC world, monopoly is the order of the day.

4 CANSO Director General Graham Lake Photo: CANSO

media companies, utility providers, airlines, and even ANSPs, each have owners – shareholders in one form or another – and customers.

The customers determine what services are required and buy the services they want from the provider.

On behalf of the owners, the managing board plan the operation of the services to achieve the shareholders’ objectives. These objectives can vary: they might include fulfilling a legal obligation, as is the case for ATC services; others could be to build shareholder value or return dividend on investment.

With some types of company the shares can be traded. If (monopoly) laws permit, one company can buy another. Lufthansa now owns a large part of Austrian Airlines for example; but the regulator overseeing competition did not approve the Ryanair acquisition of Aer Lingus.

Yet in the ATC world, monopoly not competition is the order of the day. More often that not, a national government will be the only shareholder in an ANSP and these shares are not tradable. So NavCanada, a private nonshare capital company, cannot buy the FAA, a 100% government owned organisation.

But NavCanada, if it chose, might be able to buy Serco, a publicly listed company.

All this has a profound impact on the character, culture and capability of the ANSP world and on its employees. An example which is widespread is where a state may decide to establish a service provision organisation within its Transport Ministry. The ANSP employee in this case is usually a civil servant, which may be beneficial (job security, pension rights, …) or detrimental, as recent events in Greece, and some civil service pay scales elsewhere have clearly demonstrated.

A second option is for a state to establish a wholly owned subsidiary to provide the services, funded by Government, but separate

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from the Department of Transport. An example of that would be the US FAA. A third variety is a wholly owned company, not dependent on government funding (hence selffunding), managed on a corporatized basis, and able to raise its own capital from banks and other sources. DFS of Germany might be an example here.

A fourth option would be to sell all or part of its corporatised ANSP to third party shareholders. This may be the public and other investors, or the sale may be limited to stakeholders such as airlines and airports.

This privatised or part privatised ANSP may even be tasked with returning a profit to shareholders. UK NATS is an illustration of this second form of privatisation. If profit and growth is a shareholder objective, then other products and services might enter the portfolio; Training, consultancy, or specialised ATC related products may be on offer.

Finally, a State may elect to outsource the ANSP functions wholly or partly to a commercial provider, such as Serco. Examples are seen in the Middle East, and also at many airports around the world. The recent changes in terminal control in Spain, which saw NATS/ Ferrovial and ANS Czech Republic/SAERCO S.L. sub-contracted to provide services, reflect state decisions to outsource part of the ANSP service obligations in Spain.

The traditional state solution has been to establish a monopoly service provider. One of the usual consequences is that only staff trained by that provider, or at least to specific national criteria, could be employed.

This effectively usually leaves ATC staff with little or no option to work elsewhere. Similarly, staff is also dependent on one mandated source to receive ab-initio, continuation or specialised training.

Because of this legacy, ATC is still a long way from offering real employment options to controllers or aspiring controllers. This is out-dated if compared with what is already

4 Management & ATC available for aspiring pilots and other professionals in the air transport community.

A structural challenge that can only be resolved at the State level. For Europe, that also means at the EU level.

These structural issues give rise to today’s, sometimes unsatisfactory, industrial landscape. Certainly, I think you will agree that the arrangements are not open and conducive to a market-led ATC jobs environment.

An environment in which the next generation of aviation professionals have a wide range of options to enter their chosen career of Air Traffic Management. Or where existing staff can easily choose to work elsewhere for improved terms and conditions.

Service providers must meet legal obligations for safety and safe operation. Particularly in the case of monopoly service provision, sometimes there are also pricing obligations or limits, as well as other service obligations such as capacity growth and environmental requirements.

Unlike monopolies, most service providers normally compete for business using quality, price and other service differentiators to win and retain business. The constant evolution of the mobile phone service industry is typical of a competitive and essential service industry. Market dynamics have developed a globally harmonised technical, commercial and regulatory (licensing) solution that gives the customers what they demand – a phone that works almost everywhere. When mobile telephones were introduced, telecoms were governed by a system very like the one that oversees our ATC industry today. The International Telecommunications Union set out standards and operating procedures and coordinated international harmonisation. If the phone industry today was like the ATC world, the business traveller would need a dozen or more phones in the briefcase to ensure that he or she was able to communicate while travelling.

4 Entry Point Central is a joint ATM training academy, providing initial controller training in Hungary.

Photo: Entry Point Central

charges not on a competitive but a full cost recovery basis, yet also has the ability to close its airspace without penalty because of strike action.

Where does the accountability for ensuring uninterrupted service begin and end? The answer lies with the State.

Imagine suffering interruption to your water or electricity supply when you have no alternate supplier and no right to seek one out.

Consistent service provision must be the goal for ATM too. Market dynamics certainly have a lot to offer the ATM industry. Undoubtedly a consistent approach to training, licensing and employment of staff will help us all.

Why are there no performance and efficiency standards for ANSPs established at global level, against which each ANSP CEO can manage the business and set user expectation levels based on widely accepted criteria?

Why cannot a new aviation professional invest in his or her own training, be the owner

Service providers compete for business. of his or her development and use the resulting qualifications wherever he or she chooses to live, or which provider to work for, based on the conditions on offer?

The airline industry, like ANS, is also highly regulated. Yet consolidation is increasingly widespread. In the US and Europe carriers are merging to form global mega carriers.

Even where such mergers are prohibited by law, international alliances have been formed to deliver economies of scale and to develop product offerings that match market de-

This harmonisation issue is one reason why ANSPs are vulnerable to criticism from aircraft operators. Aircraft are obliged to carry multiple different system capabilities to meet the specific regional or national needs of ATC providers in different parts of the world.

For an airline, operating in a fiercely competitive environment, it is difficult to comprehend that a service provider that cannot go out of business, has no competitors, and

4 Private Spanish investor Ferrovial manages some of the UK’s largest airports.

Photo: ferrovial

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4 Management & ATC COOPANS currently unites 5 ANSPs (IAA of Ireland, LFV of Sweden, Naviair of Denmark, Austro Control of Austria and Croatia Control Ltd) have agreed to fully harmonise their Thales Eurocat ATM systems while working together with this developer to define future evolutions and maintenance requirements. COOPANS established a joint procurement business model with significant economic and operational benefits.

In June 2011, HungaroControl and Entry Point North (owned by the Swedish, the Danish and the Norwegian ANSPs) opened a joint ATM training academy in Budapest named Entry Point Central. This long-term, cross-border partnership has been created with the purpose of increasing the level of initial air traffic controller training in Hungary.

CEOs and DGs of Aena, DFS, DSNA, ENAV, NATS and the NORACON A6 Group have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in 2011 to pave the way for increased collaboration in the development and deployment phases of the SESAR programme. The MoC also creates an opportunity to optimise resources, share best practice, enhance common methods of operation and improve efficiencies.

mands. Indeed, these alliances were born out of the need to change despite the regulatory restrictions imposed by the ICAO system.

And our industry is changing too, be it slowly and hesitantly.

We are starting to see alliances develop in ANS: COOPANS, the Entry Point Central and the European A6 (see box on this page) are examples where the complex tasks of ATM system

Economic necessity creates political will.

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pect that some States will seek to leverage their ANSP asset, through sale or even some form of shareholder dividend. Equally, money for investment in next generation systems will be even harder to come by. Economic necessity creates political will. The ability to buy and sell shares in an ANSP, at least for the terminal services, elements may be closer than we think.

In absence of consistent government policies, CANSO has established a global benchmarking programme (http://www.canso.org/businesstransformation/ansperformance2010 against which ANSP managers can at least compare their own organisation’s performance against other participating ANSP.

For the future, change is a certainty of the political, economic and technological landscape that we inhabit. Those inevitable changes also offer significant opportunity to drive the ANS industry towards the seamless global system set out in the CANSO vision, and address the specific needs of the aviation industry. Experience has proven time and again that the interdependent nature of aviation requires all stakeholders work together, partnering for progress. ATC is a complex and regulated service industry. But it is neither alone in those characteristics, nor immune to the basic laws of economics.

The financial crisis enveloping much of the developed world will not pass us by. States looking for solutions are already showing signs of disposing of their assets to raise cash. Airports are high on the list for disposal, sometimes together with their associated ANSP activity. It would be reasonable to ex-

IFATCA and CANSO together have the tools to advocate the political and regulatory changes needed to support that progress.

As service providers, we have a duty to find effective mechanisms to deliver the results that the aviation industry requires. ^ graham.lake@canso.org

procurement, ATM training and ATM research have been tackled by a groups of ANSP seeking to leverage each other’s strengths to reduce risk and costs.

4 Consistent, uninterrupted service provision must be the goal for ATM Photo: © Olga Besnard | Dreamstime.com

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4 Training

THE FINAL EFFORT ENSURING ATCO TRAINING PAYS OFF Anders Halskov-Jensen, ^ by ATCO and Training Specialist at Entry Point North Educating air traffic controllers is a wellknown challenge. Even though screening processes have been improving since I started training a couple of decades ago, they still don’t ensure that selected students will actually validate as operational controllers.

Ideally, students who don’t meet the requirements should be discovered as early as possible, but we have all seen the faces of students who are being stopped during their final OJT. It’s a grim sight and it’s a huge loss for both the person who spent 2-3 years of his/her life on an education which is now in almost useless (or at least won’t get them a job) and for the service provider who spent a lot of money on the education but doesn’t get a controller out of it.

So what can be done to avoid that? Well, the clever and somewhat vague answer is that “it depends”. Of course, the benefit of the doubt should always go to air traffic safety and not towards a student, which is why it is possible to fail in the last minute, but sometimes a tailor-made effort towards an individual student is worth considering. Traditional ATCO education consists of theory lessons/ basic course followed by rating course(s) with hours of simulation and ending with OJT in live traffic at an operational ATC unit.

But it’s possible that live traffic doesn’t come up with the challenges that we want to be sure the student can handle. Seasonal changes in traffic intensity or complexity do not necessarily follow the progress of students, and there is really no way of ensuring that the student meets an appropriate number of

situations before validation. This we all know, and that’s how it’s always been.

In the current economic climate, simply waiting until the traffic increases again is no longer an option. At Entry Point North, the transnational ATS Academy of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, we were recently contacted by an aerodrome-unit who had a student on final OJT as a TWR controller. The instructors were reluctant to validate the student, because of slightly insecure behavior during complex situations which occurred very rarely. The student could equally argue that this insecurity was caused by the fact that the chance to practice these situations was rather remote – an educational “spiral of death”.

In order to break out of this deadlock, Entry Point North recreated the actual aerodrome and airspace in our TWR simulator. In cooperation with local expertise, a number of exercises were designed to provide the student with the traffic situations that needed to be practiced.

Together with instructors, the student spent a week in our 360° TWR simulator, going through all the tailor-made exercises. Both the student and his instructors felt happy with the outcome.

After returning to OJT, the student validated successfully within a month.

So, in borderline cases, it might be worth examining if customized simulation practice can supplement OJT. It does require a bit of additional resources or investments, either

Changes in traffic […] complexity do not necessarily follow the progress of students. preparing simulation yourself or buying it externally, but if this final effort is what it takes to validate an otherwise dismissed student, it’s a rather easy choice, don’t you think?

Once the exercises are made, they can be reused by future students with similar problems.

It might even be considered to let simulation become a natural part of final OJT. Maybe your national regulator could be persuaded to let simulation hours count as a part of the required OJT period, if the purpose and outcome is well described.

Simulation should be considered as more than preparing for OJT. With the right preparation, and customized to the individual student, it could be a powerful ”add on” that makes the difference between success and failure. ^ anh@trynorth.com

Photos: EPN

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4 Int‘l Day of the Controllers

OCTOBER 20TH – THE CELEBRATIONS AN OVERVIEW OF THE VARIOUS EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD Albania

Lithuania

The Albanian Air Traffic Controllers Association (ALBATCA) invited all their members, representatives of their administration and from local airlines, to a celebration party on October 20th.

The Lithuanian association invited all their members, including retired colleagues and managers of their ANSP “Oro Navigacija” to a big party.

Iran The Air Traffic Controllers’ Association of the Islamic Republic of Iran celebrated October 20th with a day for their members and their families.

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India The Indian Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild organized a 2-day seminar on the occasion of Int’l Day of the Air Traffic Controllers. Theme for the seminar was 100 year of Civil Aviation in India: A Celebration of Past, A Window

4 Int‘l Day of the Controllers

to the Future. Several dignitaries attended, including India’s former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam (addressing the meeting in the photograph), and Minister of Civil Aviation Mr Vayalar Ravi. Subjects discussed included “Challenges and Initiatives for Air Traffic Management”, “Opportunities and Challenges for Airport and Airline Operations” and “Managing Change in Civil Aviation”.

Moldova The association in Moldova organised a competition for their members. Eleven controllers participated in various disciplines, including a test on the history of civil aviation in Moldova, an English test, a radar-vectoring test (The Snake) and recognizing aircraft types.

Participants also had to prepare a presentation on a topic of their choice.

Overall winner was Roman Bologan. In second place came Plugaru Dorin and third was Pribega Maricel. They were honoured during the inevitable party that was organised afterwards!

All who attended agreed that it was the best Day of the Controller so far in Moldova!

good cooperation and congratulated IFATCA on its 50th anniversary.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands Willem Zuidveld, Akos van der Plaat and Matthijs Jongeneel, from the Dutch association, took the initiative to organize a party, coinciding with the International Day of the Controller and the birthday of our Federation.

They invited colleagues and friends back to the place where IFATCA was founded back in 1961: Amsterdam. The event included a boat trip on the canals, a dinner and, of course: a proper party. More than 70 people attended the event, which lasted until the wee hours of the morning…

Montréal, Canada The Executive Board organized an event in the Intercontinental hotel in Montreal/ Canada. During cocktail reception, Mervyn Fernando, Director of the Air Navigation Commission and Nancy Graham, Director of the Air Navigation Bureau highlighted the

Alexis Brathwaite presented an outlook at the work ahead of us. Paul McCarthy, IFALPA representative to ICAO and Carole Couchman, IFALPA regional officer handed a charter, commemorating the occasion and many years of close cooperation, to IFATCA president.

Close to 80 guests celebrated together with the Executive Board, former Board members and representatives from several member associations, such as CATCA (Canada), NATCA (USA) and the Moroccan ATCA. ^

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4 Europe

IFATCA EUROPEAN REGIONAL MEETING 2011 CROATIA, OCTOBER 28TH TO 30TH Philippe Domogala, ^ by Deputy Editor Photos: Guadalupe Cortes

global theme recurrent in all 4 regional meetings. This year, it was on the relations with management and the role of the Controller Association – for a report on that workshop see a special report on page 13. The busy schedule on the other days was dedicated to the very complex problems Europe currently faces: the economic crisis and the implications of SES, SESAR and the FABs…

4 Delegates from 34 member associations attended the 2011 Regional Meeting.

This years’ meeting was held in Cavtat, near Dubrovnik, Croatia from 28-30 October 2011.

Some 150 participants attended, representing 36 Member Associations of the 44 IFATCA members in Europe. The venue was the same as that of the 2009 IFATCA Annual Conference. Thanks to Jaksa Zizak and his team, the organisation was again impeccable, as was the beautiful weather. Unfortunately most of us missed out on that due to the tight meeting schedule!

Workshop The first day was dedicated to the traditional workshop, with a

An apparent new trend in Europe is for states to sell some Airport Tower Control services to private Air Navigation Service Providers.

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One of the key people invited to this years’ meeting was Joe Sultana, the COO of the Eurocontrol Network Management Directorate. Besides explaining the future role and new structure of Eurocontrol, he also made very pertinent interventions during the discussions. It was comforting to see that the Eurocontrol agency concurs with IFATCA on many points.

Discussions Subjects discussed included fatigue and the ever recurrent, sometimes acute, staff shortages. An apparent new trend in Europe is for States to sell some airport tower control services to private Air Navigation Service Providers, (e.g. Sweden and Spain). The meeting expressed its concern that terms and conditions of control staff working at those airports were likely to be negatively affected by the changeover.

Mediterranean Issues The meeting called on Cyprus and Turkey to address the issue of lack of communication between the ATC Centres at Ankara and Nicosia.

The meeting was informed of the latest government measures being enforced in Greece in order to deal with their current economic, social and financial situation; and how this is affecting the air traffic controllers. A separate article on the Greek situation is on page 21.

In Spain, the legal framework in which air navigation operates has had to endure more than 28 substantial changes in the 15 months.

Generally, these have never considered the impact on ATC operations: for example, Spanish controllers must be permanently available and can be forced to work with a few hours notice. This is enforced through strong fines of up to € 225,000 according to Spanish law, with the additional threat of losing the ATC license in case of non-compliance. Not surprisingly, these threats affect not only morale and motivation but are also eroding safety: according to independent Eurocontrol figures, 2010 ended with 47 nearcollisions (A-class incidents) a dramatic increase from previous years. Surprisingly, the meeting was told that the Spanish National Safety Agency is apparently not taking any action to address and rectify this situation.

The meeting also learned of the recent creation by Spain of a new type of “low cost controller”, which is being introduced at some airports (e.g. Hierro in the Canaries). This is done by “upgrading” AFIS operators into tower controllers after just a few weeks of training. Those “low-cost” controllers are being issued the same European ATCO license as regular controllers, who need to go through two to four years of extensive and certified/regulated training. This clearly and severely undermines the value of this European regulation/license!

Single European Sky (SES) Finally the meeting expressed its concern to the apparent lack of visibility about the upcoming application of the Single European Sky project, especially regarding the introduction of the so-called Functional Airspace Blocks, or FABs. These are aimed at reducing the current 27 fragmented European airspaces to only 9. The meeting noted that many actions due for implementation in the coming months have not yet started in many FABs, and that, for example, none of the 9 FABs had yet completed its own safety case.

The next EUR meeting will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, for 19 to 21 October 2012, while Sarajevo, in Bosnia Herzegovina was selected to host the 2014 ERM. ^

4 Europe

GREEK CRISIS BALANCING ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS Frederic Deleau, IFATCA European FAB coordinator, has close personal ties with Greece and elaborates on the impact on colleague Air Traffic Controllers.

TC: How is the Greek financial crisis affecting the controllers?

FD: As you most probably have already heard via the media, the situation is catastrophic! The increasing unemployment, salary cuts, new taxes and various measures announced nearly on a daily basis, have as good as wiped out the middle class. People are desperate and the majority don’t know what tomorrow will bring… This of course affects our colleagues as well. Their situation was quite bad already. When the crisis hit in full force, a bad situation for the controller simply became even worse.

TC: Why is Greek ATC in such a bad state?

FD: Despite European regulation, regulation and service provision in Greece are still managed by the same entity: the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA). This has enabled the government to use a large portion of the route charges for other purposes than for service provision.

Just one example: when state-owned Olympic Airways went bankrupt in 2009, hundreds of redundant employees were transferred to the Greek Civil Aviation Administration, with a guarantee of income. Someone has had to pay for all this…

Despite a traffic increase of more than 25% in 3 years, the HCAA’s budget has reduced by more than 55% in the same period... Greece has ‘managed’ to reduce the unit rate and that seems to have been the only performance indicator of interest to the airlines.

the required ICAO level 4 training, after the administration barely managed to pay an English company to come and give some initial courses. Necessary system upgrades and investments are continuously postponed.

The recent government measures are destroying the last line of defence: the controllers, who have kept the system running over the past years, despite all of the above. They have lost all motivation. They have seen their income reduced nearly 40% in just over one year!

Even this is not fully paid, as the administration has indefinitely postponed full payment of some allowances. And this is on top of the measures that affect everyone: new property taxes, extra social security taxes, increased VAT, increased mortgage rates, etc…

A recent decision to convert the ATCO population back into the public services hierarchy, thereby putting a ceiling on their career, was narrowly rejected by parliament! While trying to maintain their professionalism, the controllers are attacked time and time again for the increased delays and interruptions of the service.

Can anyone really expect controllers, unable to pay their bills, watching their personal life going down the drain and frustrated by mismanagement at administration and national level, to concentrate on the traffic anymore?

TC: Is there any way out of this?

FD: I can only hope that the warnings are clear enough for International Aviation Community! The Eurocontrols, EASAs, ICAOs and Commissions of this world have been made aware a long time ago, but have apparently chosen to completely ignore the problems so far. They need to act now, before something irreversible, like an accident, happens.

In the interests of safety, professional ATC standards must be maintained and supported; ATCOs must be able to work free from the stress induced by uncertain employment conditions… The Greek government seems incapable of ensuring this and the international community needs to help out!

It is already a human tragedy for the Greek population but if something catastrophic does happen, it will not have been due to the lack of warnings at both national and international level that the Greek controllers have given. It will not be possible for the international aviation community to continue to deny their overwhelming responsibility in this! ^ ed@the-controller.net

4 The Hellenic Parliament in Athens has been the scene of protests for months.

TC: Has this been flagged by the Greek association?

FD: For the past years, the Greek Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (GATCA) have continuously lobbied every level of national and international bodies, warning them of the catastrophic direction Greek ATC was heading in. But this has had little or no effect.

TC: How does this affect daily work for a controller?

FD: They are at breaking point. There’s hasn’t been any refresher training for the past years. Only a minority of controllers has Photo: © Kpikoulas | Dreamstime.com

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4 Europe

EUROPEAN LICENCE FOR CONTROLLERS NEW REGULATION INTRODUCES A COMMON LICENCE FOR MORE THAN 12,000 CONTROLLERS IN EUROPE. Marc Baumgartner, ^ by IFATCA SESAR/EASA Coordinator At last! The Air Traffic Controller (ATCO) license has become a European implementation regulation. It’s one of the important foundations for the success of the Single European Sky. In particular air traffic controllers have been working hard to get to this point. The license is covered by Implementation Regulation 805/2011 and has come into force. In practice, all European Member States and associated States to the Single European Sky will have to transpose it directly into a mandated application.

Mandating a European license of an air traffic controller recognizes the importance of the profession and promotes harmonization. This gives to the European ATCO the rights and privileges associated with the license and lays the foundation to possible future increased mobility as envisaged by the European Commission.

Background After the decision to set up the Single European Sky in 1999, one of the important moves was to improve harmonization of the air traffic controller licensing scheme and the associated training and medical requirements. Until then, most States were simply following their own interpretation of ICAO Annex 1. Eurocontrol had laid the foundations for a Common Core Content with regard to training and licensing. Building on the initial work by experts at Eurocontrol level,

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the Commission decided to elaborate this work into an EC directive.

All involved parties agreed that the ATCO directive would have to be integrated in the European Aviation Safety Agency’s framework. EASA was instructed to create a fast track approach for the ATCO license. Following an EASA consultation conference in the summer of 2010, a proposal was presented to all stakeholders. The final version of the directive was published on 10 August 2011 and came into force 20 days later – on 30 August 2011.

cal, simulator and “on the job” training for the various forms of ATM. The regulation introduces 6 different ratings, which break down into the specificities of the various services offered. As an example we recognize three major categories of services commonly known in ATM as (Aerodrome, Approach or Terminal and En-route). To make things even a little bit more complicated for the reader and maybe also from an administrative point of view, each of the ratings has a set of specific endorsements: for example, in the case of Aerodrome, additional endorsements are Tower, Ground Movement, Ground Movement Surveillance Air or Aerodrome Radar.

Analysis of the Text The preamble gives a good overview of the political ambition of this regulation by stating: “in order to maintain a high uniform level of civil aviation safety in Europe, to achieve the highest standards of responsibility and competence, to improve the availability of air traffic controllers and to promote the mutual recognition of licenses while pursuing the objective of an overall improvement in air traffic safety and competence of personnel.”

When successful, the implementation of the ATCO directive should reduce the fragmentation of the current European ATM landscape. It furthermore recognises the important role the air traffic controllers play in maintaining safety at the highest level. It advocates incorporating best practices in training for air traffic controllers, based on ICAO SARPS and Eurocontrol work. It gives EASA the possibility to assess whether States comply with certification requirements, acceptable means of compliance and guidance material. It establishes that the license is like a professional diploma, on which additional skills acquired such as unit endorsements and ratings, are recorded.

The specific rating training can vary from 3 – 12 month targeted training, with theoreti-

The directive also acknowledges that the license should not automatically be linked to the ATCO’s involvement in safety incidents: revoking a license should only be seen as the last resort in extreme cases. These extreme cases however are not defined. One of the elements of the Single European Sky is the Safety Pillar and the notion of just culture. The fact that this is mentioned in the Implementation Regulation can only be applauded.

From a social partner or collective bargaining point of view, the license should not be used to circumnavigate national or company social partners arrangements.

Throughout the text, the importance of language proficiency is stressed. It directly links to the ICAO globally led initiative on language proficiency, which has become mandatory SARPS. From an IFATCA perspective however, this has not been successfully transposed in many states around the world. Even in the EU, some states, for mainly economic reasons have Ministers of Transport declaring that thousands of ATCOs are compliant with the language proficiency, whereas in reality no evidence of this has been provided (no exam, no training etc.). With the imple-

4 Europe

mentation regulation in force such national derogation will not be possible anymore and that can only be welcomed.

Initial Training As indicated, the directive also establishes a specific training standard for ATCOs, based on the Eurocontrol ATCO Common Core Content Initial Training specification and ICAO recommended practices. Recognising that initial training is quite expensive, it is important not only for controllers but also for Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) to be able to rely on training provided by others. This becomes of particular importance in the mentioned case of mutual recognition of the license and possibly increased mobility.

Eurocontrol’s Medical Certification requirements are the cornerstone for the medical requirements linked to an ATCO license.

Medical class 3 shall be the applied standard, also these might be adapted in the future, within the EASA framework.

Further recognised is the need to keep the skills of air traffic controllers updated. This is

important given the continuously changing environment.

The directive also explicitly states that social partners have to be closely involved in all the work related to the implementation regulation at EU level and that for those states where there might be an impact on daily working practices of ATCOs, the social partners at national level have to be consulted.

In Conclusion Following the political initiative of the single European sky the need for a harmonized approach to controller training and licensing has been put high on the agenda of the European Commission and has subsequently led from an EC directive to an implementation regulation.

From a professional point of view this is to be welcomed and certainly the end result as being in force now is meeting most of the modern requirements and scientific results an air traffic controller can expect. For the competent authorities and as well for the ANSP, the introduction of the implementa-

tion regulation means more administrative work, lesser possibility to have nationally differing system (e.g. declaring ATCOs language proficient – without the required training).

This could however be beneficial in cases where the mobility or the dynamic provision of air traffic control across borders will require to have a common standard and confidence in the others system.

For the air traffic controllers in Europe, it is a major achievement as their license can now be European wide recognized. ^ (the full text of this article was published in the July/September 2011 issue of The Aviation & Space Journal, published by the UniversitĂ Degli Studi Di Bologna) easa.coord@ifatca.org

23

4 Americas

IFATCA AMERICAS REGIONAL MEETING 2011 22ND EDITION HOSTED BY CURAÇAO ASSOCIATION Patrik Peters, ^ by IFATCA Deputy President Willemstadt on Curaçao, formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles and since 10th October 2010 a constituent country within the Kingdom of The Netherlands, played host to the 22nd Americas Regional Meeting. Participants were greeted by tropical rain and warm temperatures. In total 45 delegates from 13 regional IFATCA member associations, as well as from the Swedish association SATCA, the furthest traveler, took part in this 3-day meeting.

The global IFATCA seminar (see the article on page 13) filled the first day of the meeting, which ended with a welcome drink on the (man-made) beach at the venue hotel.

The second day began with the traditional opening ceremony

and speeches by honorable guests, including the Director General of the local air navigation service provider NAATC, Mrs Micilia Albertus-Verboom and the IFATCA Americas Regional Vice-President Mr. Ignacio Oliva Whiteley. Following the usual acceptance of minutes from previous meetings, most of the day was used to learn of the various problems member associations were facing in their own country or with their employers.

A problem heard several times was that certain deficiencies were reported by controllers to their management, but little or no action was taken to solve those problems. Acceptance of responsibilities was at times shifted between service providers and regulators.

The meeting then heard presentations on ‘fatigue’ from IFATCA PCX Alexis Brathwaite, Greg Myles, CATCA President and Trish Gilbert, NATCA Vice-President. This was followed by a lively discussion, during which additional input from outside the region with regards to manpower planning, rest time allocation and leave planning was provided

4 View of Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao. Photo: PP/HS

by Helena Sjostrom, SATCA President and Patrik Peters, IFATCA Dep. President. Delegates agreed that fatigue management is a shared responsibility between employers and employees.

The final day of the meeting started with a Critical Incident Stress Management presentation by Patrik Peters. Benefits and limitations were highlighted in another following lively discussion. In a second presentation on the topic of ‘How to deal with the media in case of a crisis’, Patrik Peters touched on the do’s and don’ts the spokesperson of an association should be aware of.

The meeting ended with a show of appreciation for the great hospitality of the Curaçao ATCA. It was well organized and a truly friendly and enjoyable meeting in the Caribbean style. A farewell dinner with live music and dancing marked the end of the 22nd AMA Regional Meeting. Unfortunately, the venue had to change at the last minute to escape the tropical rain! ^

dp@ifatca.org

4 Tower at Hato International Airport on Curaçao. Photo: PP/HS

4 IFATCA Deputy President Patrik Peters briefs the meeting on CISM Photo: HS

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4 Americas

ARGENTINA REINSTATES MILITARY RULE

4 Archive photo of Buenos

TURNING THE CLOCK BACK 5 YEARS…

^

Aires airport, still operated by the “Fuerza Aerea Argentina” Photo: DP

by Philippe Domogala, Deputy Editor

After President Néstor Kirchner decided in 2006 that air traffic control should be fully de-militarized by 2011, his widow – current Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – reversed that decision by signing a decree on November 13th 2011. She returned the national air traffic control service to the responsibility of the Argentinian Air Force.

After some heated discussions between unions and management, a number of controllers planned industrial actions due to start on Nov 11, 2011. The Argentinean government reacted harshly. Without warning, they issued a decree ordering the Argentinean Air Force to take over the country’s airspace and air traffic control in order to prevent the planned industrial actions.

A number of punitive steps were taken against the union and the controllers: initially, the Civil Aviation Authority had made a list of 12 controllers who were, according to them, directly responsible for the social unrest. The plan was to fire these individuals. On taking over, military authorities expanded that list immediately to over 40 controllers, who were labelled as disruptive and tagged for immediate dismissal.

A controller reports (anonymously for obvious reasons): “We as controllers are really disappointed, very nervous and stressed. Most of us are unable to do our job due to the stress this situation brings. We thought that this was ancient history and all of a sudden, this nightmare returns just before the start of the peak season, less than a month from now!”

As replacements for the controllers that would be fired, the Air Force has planned to call upon retired controllers, which are no longer in active duty. Some of them have not worked as controllers for more than 6 years.

ACTA Argentina and the official controller union, ATEPSA, are working together with the authorities to solve this conflict in a constructive way. Staff people from both organizations explained that there were many other ways of solving industrial disputes without re-militarizing air traffic control. As one representative put it: “We’re very sad and disappointed, but we are confident our government will withdraw this decree in the future. ^

4 Controllers protesting the decree that returns them to military rule.

Photo: ATEPSA

SOME REACTIONS The controllers’ association is collecting signatures from ANAC employees, requesting the President to change the decree. Their aim is to get at least 2500 colleagues to sign. On November 13th, the Air Force closed the airspace at 2030UTC, citing of “security reasons”. It’s not quite clear what these reasons were, as the situation in the ACC was calm. They were forced to reopen it again after half an hour.

4 Argentinian Defence Minister, Arturo Puricelli Photo: mindef.gov.ar

4 Entrance to the ACC, guarded by

military personnel. Photo: ATEPSA

Commenting on the escalation on behalf of the government, Argentinian Defence Minister Arturo Puricelli stated that the air traffic controllers who went on strike on November 11th should “take social responsibility” for their actions and get back to work. Puricelli labelled the protest a “boycott” and says the disruption to the service “happened for no reason”. Source: Buenos Aires Herald.

The Aeronautical Technicians Asociation (APTA) filed a lawsuit against Defence Minister Arturo Puricelli. The lawsuit claims that the official had “appointed untrained and unqualified personnel for the task and prevented airspace supervisors from working, ignoring the fact that their work is essential for air safety.” It also says that airport operations were under the control of “military personnel who had not worked in those function for two to eight years, did not have the necessary experience, nor the professional skills essential to the job.”

Source: Buenos Aires Herald.

25

4 Africa & Middle East

AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL MEETING 2011 DAKAR, SENEGAL OCTOBER 26TH TO 28TH Keziah Ogutu, ^ by IFATCA EVP Africa & Middle East The Africa and Middle East (AFM) Regional Meeting was held in the beautiful coastal city of Dakar, Senegal from October 26th to 28th 2011. Delegates came from all parts of the AFM region and beyond; twenty-eight member associations were represented. Invited guests included four international organizations from the aviation stakeholders.

This year’s regional meeting was special as it also marked the celebration of IFATCA’s 50th Anniversary. In line with IFATCA’s slogan, ‘One Sky One Voice’ was chosen as the main theme. The IFATCA Executive Board was represented by the President and CEO (PCX), Mr. Alexis Brathwaite and the Executive Vice President for Africa and Middle East (EVP AFM), Miss Keziah A Ogutu.

Also in attendance at the meeting was the former EVP AFM, Mr. Hisham Bazian of Jordan.

Sponsored by nine organizations, including Thales, ASECNA, The National Civil Aviation Agency of Senegal (ANACS), Senegal Airlines, Senegal Tours, Airport International Blaise DIAGNES, Aeroports Du Senegal (ADS), and Senegal Handling Services, the meeting was well organized. Speak-

26

ers came from ITF, IFALPA, IATA, ASECNA, ARMA and some of the sponsors. In addition to this, member associations presented a number of very informative and challenging working papers.

The meeting was officially opened by Mr. Boubacar Camara, the Senegalese Secretary General of the Ministry of International Cooperation, Air Transport Infrastructure and Energy on behalf of the Minister, His Excellency Mr. Karim Wade; he was accompanied by a number of government officials, the CAA and the ANSP, ASECNA.

The Highlights Day one was allocated to the IFATCA Seminar; delegates were taken through the aims, objectives and future plans of IFATCA in the topic ‘Why IFATCA?’ by the IFATCA PCX. Later in the day, the ITF representative, Mr. Nazi Kabore, gave a presentation on how to productively engage with management. This topic was dear to the hearts of many of the members present at the meeting. The talk highlighted how member associations either through their unions or professional bodies can have successful cooperative interaction with their management. Following this session, the delegates resolved to urge MAs to inform IFATCA and ITF on issues that affect them well in advance, so as to receive professional advice. It is hoped that this can reduce the number of strikes that may be seen in future in the region.

Day two was equally interesting with presentations from IATA, ASCENA, IFALPA, and Member Associations. Highlights included a resolution to request IATA to assist with co-

ordinating with her member airlines through IFATCA in providing controllers in the region with familiarization flights; the establishment of a regional fund which will help promote the plans of the region and assist one another; the resolution that MAs should work towards actively providing information to IFATCA concerning the developments in air navigation in the region so as to influence the decisions made at the ICAO Air Navigation Commission meetings; the request to the CAAs to harmonize ATM equipment in the region; the request for IFATCA to approach the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA), a branch of the East African Community that deals with civil Aviation, to allow IFATCA representation in the CASSOA Technical committees; and finally a lively discussion on managing fatigue in air traffic control.

It was not all business: on the third day, the delegates got an opportunity to visit the famous Monument of African Renaissance. This is a 49m tall bronze statue located on top of one of the twin hills outside Dakar. Later all enjoyed a lovely farewell dinner held in a beautiful beach hotel. The delegates who travelled after Saturday having stayed behind after the meeting got an opportunity to visit Gorée Island, a historical site reported as being at one time the center of the West African Slave trade. They had a chance to see the Slave House with a door of ‘no return’ a place which played a major role in the history of west Africa.

At the AFM RM 2011 a lot of milestones were achieved and we look forward to following up on the recommendations and resolutions in the coming year as we cooperate with our stakeholders to uphold our theme ‘One Sky One Voice. ^

4 Africa & Middle Eastt

To be a controller in…

Jordan

Photo: DP

Photo: ACC

Service Provider Facts & Figures Name: Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission Status: state Number Enroute ACCs: 1 Number int’l airports: 1 IFR Traffic/Mvts per year: N/A

“One of those unachievable jobs”

Photo: AN

Name: Ahmad Awad Natour Place of work: Amman, Jordan.

Age: 27 years.

House: owns his apartment Monthly salary: 1700 USD all-inclusive, no overtime Marital status: married and one daughter.

Car: 2001 Hyundai

1. Why did you become a controller?

Since I’m young I wanted to do a job that mentally challenged me and gives me a lot of things, like self-confidence, good judgment, challenge to be better and better every day and the honor to serve my country, I never really thought about doing ATC, thinking it was one of those “unachievable” jobs that you have to train for years and years to get. I was much pleasured to be Air Traffic Controller.

2. How is the training organized in your country?

The Basic Air Traffic Controller Course at one of the specialized Jordanian schools may take one and a half year, after you finish this course you will start your “On Job Training” to get your license, now either you continue in the Tower as a Tower controller or take the Approach and Area Course Procedure and radar.

These courses take from 2, 5 years to 3 years.

Jordan - FACTS Population: 6.5 million GDP per capita: 5,300 USD Bread 1 kg Milk: 1 liter Cup coffee Taxi 10 km Movie Ticket

0.2 USD 1 USD 2 USD 4 USD 10 USD

3. What do like in your job?

The knowledge that what I’m doing every day keep thousands of lives safe in sky.

5. What is the most unpleasant situation for you in your daily job?

The absolute knowing that you have to be above average 100% all the time without any mistake or you will kill a bunch of people.

6. What would you change in your working environment?

Anything can help to reduce any kind of stress and pressure in our work.

7. What is the funniest thing that happened to you while being a controller?

I can’t remember something now, but once I start talking in the headset without insert the plug in the desk ☺ thank god that I have assistant to tell me, put the plug please. a.natour@jatca.org

4. What is the current operational hot topic you have in your place of work?

That we are preparing to install a new radar system.

27

4 Asia/Pacific

ASIA/PACIFIC REGIONAL MEETING 2011 SINGAPORE, 1-4 NOVEMBER DK Behera, ^ by IFATCA EVP Asia/Pacific The 28th IFATCA Asia Pacific Regional Meeting was organised by the Air Traffic Controllers Association (Singapore) at Singapore’s Hotel Holiday Inn from 1st to 4th November. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Towards Greener Skies: ATC’s Role in Eco-Friendly Aviation”. The meeting was of special significance to ATCA Singapore because the nation is celebrating 100 Years of Aviation in Singapore. With about 120 delegates from Member Associations of the Region participating, this was one of the largest attendances in the history of IFATCA APRM meetings.

1st November The first day was reserved for registration of delegates and a welcome cocktail in the evening. The delegates moved around the beautiful city in a relaxed mood before joining the evening cocktail where they interacted with delegates from fellow Asia Pacific member associations and guests from other organizations.

4 Dignitaries attending the ASP regional meeting.

Photo: Singapore ATCA

4 Head table during one of the panel discussions Photo: Singapore ATCA

2nd November The meeting started on the 2nd with the opening session; the highlights being the cultural programmes representing the different member countries and the welcome address by the guest-of-honour, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Mr. Lui Tuck Yew, Executive Vice President Asia Pacific Mr. D K Behera and President ATCA Singapore Mr. Mohamed Ansari.

After the mandatory roll call and confirmation of the minutes of the previous year’s meeting, IFATCA EVP Technical Patrick Forrey presented the report of the IFATCA Executive Board. EVPASP D K Behera presented the activity report of the region. Capt K K Goh, VP (Flight Operations) of Singapore Airlines, one of the sponsors of the event, also presented a paper on the theme of the Seminar. A very informative video presentation on 100 years of Aviation in Singapore tracing the history of aviation in Singapore was shown which was much appreciated by the delegates present.

Next were the Working Papers on the theme of the meeting presented by ATC Association, Singapore, CAA of Singapore, ASPIRE and NATS. Willem Zuidveld, Coordinator of IFATCA Global Environment Team, made an informative presentation on “Environmental Issues in ATM” to end the day’s proceedings.

3rd November A presentation paper on “IFATCA & ICAO”

by Scott Shallies, IFATCA EVP Professional giving an overview of the relationship between IFATCA and ICAO started the proceedings of the day. It was followed by presentations on eco-friendly aviation by EUROCONTROL, Thales, Singapore Airlines, Iran ATC Association, University of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Sri Lankan ATC Association, and the Malaysian ATC Association.

The day ended with a very innovative panel discussion on ATC’s Role in Eco-Friendly Aviation which was chaired by Mr D K Be-

28

hera. Other panel Members were Mr Patrick Forrey, Mr Scott Sallies, Mr Willem Zuidveld, Mr Rob Peters of Eurocontrol and Singapore Airlines Capt. Jaffar bin Hassan.

4th November The Singapore Airline Pilots Association, the Hong Kong ATC Association and the ATC Guild (India) presented working papers on topics related to the Greener Skies theme of the meeting.

This was followed by the much-awaited activity reports by the member associations of Asia-Pacific Region who highlighted their efforts, achievements and concerns during the past year.

New Delhi, India was confirmed as the venue for the APRM 2012 and the Singapore ATC Association handed over the flag to the ATC Guild (India). The Sri Lanka ATC Association expressed its readiness to host the APRM 2013. Nepal briefed the delegates on the arrangements made for the upcoming IFATCA Annual Conference in Kathmandu.

There being no other business, the IFATCA EVPASP made the closing speech and declared the meeting closed.

Visits to the Singapore Aviation Academy and to the Singapore ACC were arranged for the delegates. A gala dinner accompanied by dances, cultural programmes, magic shows and general bonhomie followed.

This account cannot be concluded without mentioning that the ATC Association of Singapore has set a very high standard by taking care of all delegates even outside the meeting hours. The Singapore Controllers did a fantastic job of taking care of the delegates.

There were plenty of volunteers willing to go the extra mile to make everyone feel comfortable. The delegates went back with lot of good memories, a wealth of knowledge and a great many friends. ^

evpasp@ifatca.org

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CANSO DATALINK POLICY CONFERENCE COMPLEX ISSUES HIGHLIGHTED AT CANSO EVENT IN AMSTERDAM Philippe Domogala, ^ by Deputy Editor This conference, organized

by CANSO, was held in Amsterdam from September 6th to 8th 2011. It was attended by around 90 high-level experts from very diverse backgrounds. While this included service providers, most were from other parts of our industry: Airbus, Boeing, SITA, ARINC, ICAO, etc… IFATCA was invited and I had the privilege of representing EVP Technical and our Technical and Ops Committee, as they had

Basic oceanic and advanced continental data link services require integration.

other commitments in Montreal that week (see box).

Nothing New Most revealing at this event was to hear the same debates and questions in 2011 that I had heard in 1990 during my ICAO FANSII meeting days – having been IFATCA rep to ICAO FANS in the nineties. Commonly heard statements then and now are things like “Anything ‘not invented here’ has little chances of being mandated in the US”.

Second favourite is that a single data link standard is still not there yet. Even ATN’s VDL2 has now apparently shortcomings, as it

cannot support such things as 4D trajectory negotiations and live weather data uplink. In third; that there are no real incentives for airlines to equip new aircraft, and that it makes even less sense to retrofit older machines.

It’s too expensive and there are no clear benefits (read savings) when they are equipped.

And finally, the ‘Best equipped –Best served’ paradigm is still not resolved. It would seem unlikely that it can be implemented any time soon, if you ask me.

Cost-Benefit During the debate, a few interesting facts and figures came to light. For example, a recent

Photo: CANSO

IFATCA wants a single set of standards The presentation was prepared by Jael Roustan from IFATCA TOC and delivered by Philippe Domogala. The key points were to remind the audience that Controllers should not be asked to compensate for design flaws by performing extra tasks, like determining which equipment is on board a/c, which messages are sustained by which system, and having to maintain R/T voice read backs to cover persistent safety issues.

30

The price we do not want to pay as controllers is to become the human workaround for incompatible technologies. Controllers cannot be used to mitigate design flaws in new tools.

IFATCA advocates a single set of standards, adopted in every oceanic and continental airspace; and a global, harmonised CPDLC implementation. For the moment, IFATCA supports CPDLC VDL Mode 2 ATN and ICAO approved SARPS as the global standard to aim for. ^

4 Technologyy Photo: DP

Eurocontrol study has shown that, in Europe, datalink can deliver 11% more capacity, but not much more. UK service provider NATS estimates in a recent cost-benefit assessment that the cost for the company of installing full ATN datalink in the UK would cost around 10 million EUR per centre (they have 2) plus another million euro per year to maintain – this includes training. In their most favourable scenario, which requires the majority of aircraft to be equipped, at best it would save them 10 controllers per centre. They conclude that they would never see a return on their investment and that there’s no healthy business case for an ANSP to install datalink.

The Airlines United and Emirates, 2 of the airlines present, also failed to see a good business case for datalink, unless ANSPs guarantee tangibles. These would have to come in the form of shorter routes, quicker turn arouinds and departures, less taxi time, direct city pairs, etc. Mandatory retrofits, ordered by the regulator, could break the stalemate but Emirates warned that anything lasting more than 2 or 3 hours cannot be performed during a routine (“A” check) maintenance. This will result in it being automatically postponed to a “C” check. For an Emirates B-777, this is typically every 3 to 4 years.

Equipment Manufacturers The message from the industry, represented by Thales and Honeywell, was that they hadn’t been given collective requirements to build a global system. Every service provider wants something different: some want FANS1/A only, some FANS + ATN, some ATN only, some want another combination

or variation… There is no standard. If everyone can agree on a standard, industry will be more than happy to build it! But they also warned that from finalised and frozen specifications to delivery, it would take 3 to 5 years, depending on the complexity. So to start from scratch by developing those specifications to having them certified and ready to be installed, a finished product shouldn’t be expected before 2018- 2020.

Aircraft Manufacturers For aircraft manufacturers, the whole thing is a nightmare. Boeing argued that ATC doesn’t need to be so different from place to place. ANSPs shouldn’t ask for regional solutions, because that means equipping and training differently depending on the region. It means more cost and less aircraft equipped… Boeing warned that if procedures are not global, aircrew are more likely to make mistakes. This effectively means that Basic Oceanic and Advanced Continental datalink services require a common approach and integration.

A global map showed that ATN is used only in a very tiny portion of the world’s airspace.

Photo: Boing

While much more dominant, FANS1/A cannot sustain complex clearances and those cannot be entered manually either. Both SESAR and NextGen plan to rely heavily on full 4D trajectories, which require complex exchanges between air and ground. Since ATN cannot do that, conclusion must be that the medium to handle this does not exist yet.

A representative from NavCanada (Gander) summed it up nicely: “As ANSP and Airlines Operators, we’re just running behind technology; we’re not really defining what we need.”

Conclusion This so-called “ Policy Conference” highlighted the extreme complexity of Global data link communications to everyone.

It clearly demonstrated the difference between the old days (where you could buy a radar worth 10 million for an airport having 20 movements per day because it was good for safety and no-one questioned the costs) to today’s economically run ATM: the truth is that there is no real business case for certain technologies such as complex datalink systems.

This is especially so when looking at the short term, which is the only thing airlines are considering: today, Emirates uses a cost-benefit window of 16 to 18 months.

CANSO wants to be the leader in forcing ANSPS to get their act together to get started and “get going with datalink”.

From the reactions I heard, I doubt this will work. But I might be wrong… ^

dp@the-controller.net 31

4 Industry News

LE BOURGET PARIS AIR SHOW 2011

Performance of the new Boeing 787 is basically similar to that of the 767 or 777.

Philippe Domogala, ^ by Deputy Editor Due to the 50th anniversary issue of The Controller, we’ve had to delay this report of the 49th Le Bourget Paris Air show.

The show was held in June and among the 150 aircraft on display, three long awaited new

comers were the stars of the show: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Airbus A400M and the Solar Impulse.

lot – see the box. It’s a magnificent aircraft to look at. This was the first prototype (ZA001) and the test equipment was still inside.

I had the chance to go onboard the Boeing 787, visit the cockpit and have a chat with Mike Carriker, the Boeing Dreamliner Chief Test Pi-

Less aesthetically pleasing, but very impressive nevertheless was the Airbus A400M. It’s mainly aimed at replacing the Transall

Short Interview Mike CARRIKER, Chief Test Pilot B787

Philippe: I noticed the aircraft is very aerodynamic and has very fine wings. How is the speed reduction on final approach? Can we expect the same problems as with the 737NG (difficult to slow down)?

Mike: No, the aircraft has very good speed reduction possibilities. The spoilers on this type are very effective.

Philippe: What are the main positive points of this aircraft to you as a pilot?

Mike: The cockpit and its interface are every pilots dream: the cockpit is very roomy and it has very large LCD panels. These allow very comfortable interaction with CPDLC applications (for oceanic clearances etc,), the aircraft

is fully equipped for ADS-B and CPDLC data link with VDL mode 2. The screens can also reproduce any Jespersen map and we can superimpose traffic on it. For example we can see on the ground map other traffic provided they are using Mode S of course. ^

Philippe: How does the performance of this aircraft compare to others?

Mike: It’s basically the same as a standard Boeing 767 or 777: cruising speed is mach 0.840.85. When fully loaded, it will cruise in the low 30,000ft flight level band. It’s maximum operating ceiling is 41,000 ft.

32

4 Industry News

Photos: DP

(C160) and Hercules (C130) military transport aircraft. The performance of this brand new aircraft is very, very interesting and will probably pose a challenge to ATC when fully deployed – again see the box.

announced it had secured some 730 orders at the show, mostly A320s. The only way the economic crisis was visible this year was unfortunately through the greatly reduced number of flying displays this year.

The last star and the most talked about was Bertrand Piccard’s Solar Impulse. As featured in this magazine previously, he plans another round the world trip: this time not in a balloon, but with this huge aircraft, roughly the size of an Airbus A340. It’s powered by 4 small electrical engines of 10 HP each (!) and uses nearly 12,000 solar cells on the wings to charge a large array of batteries. During its attempt to circumnavigate the planet, the aircraft will present quite a challenge for ATC: he will have to penetrate various classes of airspace in VFR and, depending on atmospheric conditions, will be frequently climbing or descending (e.g. at night). The aircraft on display in Paris had flown from Brussels on June 13th. It took off at 05:20 and landed at 21:00, taking over 15 hours to travel only 300 Km. This gives an idea of the challenge ahead! Due to the weather, including winds that were too strong, it unfortunately could not make flying displays but it was on display inside in a huge tent. At the end of the week however, the weather became more favorable and the aircraft took off for its trip back to its home base in Payerne, Switzerland.

In 2013 it will be the 50th edition of the world’s oldest and largest airshow. Undoubtedly, it’ll be worth visiting again. ^

It took 15 hours for the Solar Impulse to fly from Brussels to Paris, a distance of 300Km!

dp@the-controller.net

The Airbus A400M ATC Challenge!

A huge beast (roughly twice the capabilities and payload of a C-130 Hercules) The challenge for ATC will be its operating sped and altitude; it can fly up to 37.000 ft but max speed will be M.72!

Its more economic cruise will be around FL320-330 at M.68. On the positive side, it can do very high rates of descent apparently. The cockpit is like any Airbus

cockpit with a side stick and LCD displays. The engines are monsters (11.000 HP each) and have peculiar opposite turning propellers. It can land on unprepared, dirt runways. Except for Malaysia, most of the orders are coming from Europe; Belgium (7), France (50) Germany (53) Luxemburg (1), Spain (27) Turkey(10) and the UK (22). ^

As you can see from the photo, the show was a real success: over 350,000 visitors and over 2,100 exhibitors, an increase from the previous event 2 years ago. Airbus alone

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And then there is...

CHARLIE Shortest Take-Off Distance and iPads

appropriate to talk about “turkey safety”: the birds seem to survive the drop and the landing, but it’s afterwards that things seem to become dangerous for them!

The iPad is revolutionizing aviation in a way that no other bit of technology has done in recent years, perhaps not considering GPS. Even the FAA got hooked on to it – I suspect that the big boss is a big fan of Apple and has one himself.

Every year in May, a short take-off-andland competition is held in Valdez, Alaska.

This year’s winner of the shortest take-off was 17-year old Bobby Breeden. He’s a student pilot from Virginia, who built his own airplane from scratch. In his aircraft, which looked a bit like Piper Cub (PA18), he managed to take off in 36 feet (12 meter)! Look at the video on http://goo. gl/2Bd4A During the required pre-competition FAA check, it turned out that Bobby had forgotten the aircraft’s registration and airworthiness documents. This meant he would be barred from entering the competition. But someone back home in Virginia scanned the required paper and e-mailed them to Bobby’s iPad. He showed the scans to the FAA officials and the FAA officials allowed him to fly so long as he had the iPad on board!

Overheard on the frequency Inbound to Kennedy in the 1960s. Aircraft are lined up on the inbound radial via Canarsie and told to keep 210 knots.

Controller: “American 123, what’s your speed?”

American 123: “210” Controller: “Scandinavian 456, what’s your speed?”

Scandinavian 456: “210” Controller: “Air France 789, what’s your speed?”

Air France 789: “210.”

[Silence for a while. Then ...]

Controller: “Well then one of you is a #*@! liar!”

Hard Landing and Losing Engines An Aeropostal Douglas DC-9-50, inbound from Caracas with 125 passengers on board, made a rather hard landing at Pu-

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Apparently, the custom is nearly 70 years old – originally the animals were thrown off a building in the town square. Miss Turkey Trot 2011 was not available for comment…

Low Costs Repairs erto Ordaz (Venezuela). This caused both engines to fall off, nearly separating them from the airframe. The pilots managed to bring the DC9 to a stop on the runway. No one was injured, the passengers disembarked onto the runway and the aircraft was towed to the terminal.

More and more photos, taken by passengers, showing duct-tape repairs on aircraft are surfacing on the internet. The concept of low-cost airlines appears to be spreading to low-cost repairs. It’s not a new thing however: during the Vietnam war, the US Air force relied heavily on something similar – called “high-speed tape”.

Hugo Chavez, Venezuela President was reported (but not verified) to have posted the following on his blog: „This accident has nothing to do with Venezuelan Pilots, or the state of our Aviation industry here. This accident is a result of American treachery in sending us inferior aircraft to make us look bad.“

No more turkey drops in the USA! Controversy rages between the FAA and Yellville, a small town in Arkansas (USA).

The town’s main annual event is the “Turkey Trot”. There’s a parade, Miss Drumstick and Miss Turkey Trot beauty competitions, but the main event consists of pushing wild turkeys out of an aircraft while overflying the town center. People on the ground try to catch them, in order to eat them later.

The organizers maintain that the turkeys can glide safely to the ground, so it’s a bit like parachuting. The FAA sees it as dropping animals (or anything else without a parachute) from aircraft, which is prohibited. The debate rages, or as FAA spokeswoman Lynn Lunford declared: “We could be talking about turkeys or boxes of paper. It doesn’t matter. If you throw something out of an aircraft, it can cause damage to people or property on the ground.

Our concern is always with public safety.”

In this particular case, it would be more

Photos: Internet

Since cost reduction is all the talk in ATC these days as well, it’s only a matter of time before duct tape repairs start surfacing in your operations room, towers or radars. If it does, send us a photo! ^

Charlie@the-controller.net

Amsterdam 52° 21’ 0” N / 4° 55’ 0” E

Washington 47° 23’ 30” N / 121° 34’ 14” W Abu Dhabi 24° 28’ 0” N / 54° 22’ 0” E

Bangkok 13° 45’ 0” N / 100° 31’ 0” E

Johannesburg 26° 12’ 0” S / 28° 5’ 0” E

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