ATCA Bulletin #5

Air Traffic Control Association

No. 5, 2016

www.atca.org

ATCA’s Fireside Chat NASA’s New Direction in Aeronautics

In This Issue: »» A Message from the YAP Committee Co-Chair »» ATCA Tours Airbus Experience Center »» Safety is a Hard Sell »» Aviation History Corner

No. 5, 2016 Published for

Let’s Talk About YAP

By Katie Kondub, YAP Committee Co-Chair

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viation is an exciting, evolving, and complex industry, which can be overwhelming for those new to the field. It’s critical to learn from industry veterans to navigate the industry’s landscape. Getting involved with the right group early on can go a long way. ATCA’s Young Aviation Professionals (YAP) committee provides a venue for early-career professionals to become engaged with the greater aviation community and expand their knowledge base, skill sets, and professional network.

YAP’s mission is to foster the next generation of aviation leaders by empowering young professionals with the knowledge, exposure, and relationships to tackle critical aviation challenges over the course of their careers. The committee will continue to increase the participation level of current members, engage with future members, and create opportunities for members to explore career opportunities within the industry.

ATCA’s YAP events aim to provide educational and networking experiences for members. Happy hours are planned throughout the year, enabling YAP members to network and share ideas. Look for an announcement of an upcoming happy hour in the next few weeks! We are also excited for the Annual YAP Rooftop Reception in

the early fall, which provides an opportunity for early career professionals to engage with industry veterans in a relaxed atmosphere.

In addition to networking opportunities, events are critical for the development of newer YAP members. Potential 2016 events include a tour of the Art of the Airport Tower exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, as well as a tour of a local air traffic control tower.

A series of brown bag lunch events, both virtual and in the greater Washington, D.C., area, will provide YAPs the opportunity to hear from aviation experts on a wide range of topics.

We are also planning YAP’s programming for the 61st ATCA Annual Conference. At last year’s ATCA Annual, we hosted ATCA Engage: Tower Talks, which encouraged early-career professionals to share their unique perspectives on some of the technical and strategic challenges facing the aviation industry. Similar events are in the works for this year’s conference.

The ATCA YAP committee is looking forward to an exciting year of engaging with the greater ATCA community. Get involved with YAP today to position yourself for tomorrow. We would like to hear from you–if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us at youngprofessionals@atca.org.

1101 King Street, Suite 300 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 703-299-2430 Fax: 703-299-2437 info@atca.org www.atca.org President & CEO: Peter F. Dumont Director, Communications: Abigail Glenn-Chase Writer/Editor: Kristen Knott

Formed in 1956 as a non-profit, professional membership association, ATCA represents the interests of all professionals in the air traffic control industry. Dedicated to the advancement of professionalism and technology of air traffic control, ATCA has grown to represent several thousand individuals and organizations managing and providing ATC services and equipment around the world.

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Upcoming Events Flight Global Safety Symposium London, UK Sept. 13-14, 2016

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Oct. 16-19, 2016

ATCA Bulletin | No. 5, 2016

© 2016 Air Traffic Control Association, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of ATCA.

61st ATCA Annual Conference & Exposition National Harbor, Md.

Drone World Expo San Jose, Calif.

Nov. 15-16, 2016

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors of the editorial articles contained in this publication are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of ATCA. Cover photo: Armando Solares of Solares Photography

TRAFFIC JAM AHEAD. PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

Transforming the air traffic management (ATM) system is essential for improving safety, efficiency and the environment around the globe.

Boeing is fully committed and uniquely qualified to help make ATM transformation a reality. It’s the right time and Boeing is the right partner.

ATCA’s Fireside Chat with NASA’s New Direction in Aeronautics

By Kristen Knott, ATCA Writer and Editor

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TCA’s Technical Symposium lifts the curtain to go behind the scenes at organizations like NASA, one of the event co-chairs. ATCA President and CEO Peter F. Dumont sat down with Robert Pearce, deputy associate administrator for strategy for the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), to talk about what’s on the horizon for one of the most revered US organizations. One thing was clear: bringing new technologies into the next era of aviation is a process.

NASA’s collaboration with industry and other government agencies such as the FAA is at the heart of that.

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ATCA Bulletin | No. 5, 2016

“Our vision is driven by keeping our industry as competitive as possible – in the last decade, it’s built on the vehicle side and air traffic management,” said Pearce. “We’re taking advantage of the tremendous growth outside of aviation.

We’re trying to make sure the technology is laid out.”

Dumont dove right into the discussion by asking about X-planes, NASA’s flight demonstration vehicles and a part of its 10-year New Aviation Horizons plan, for which President Obama gave the agency a $150 million budget increase this year.

“We were able to present them with a solid

story – the bulk of that [budget increase] is to support continuing Horizons,” continued Pearce. “We set a technology going forward that can get us to a 50 percent improvement in efficiency and performance. It will take about three technologies. We’re tackling essentially removing the sonic boom as a barrier. We now have methodologies that reduce the super sonic to very low levels.”

“It’s very ambitious,” continued Pearce.

“It’s the equivalent of a city grid of power – doing that on an airplane is a really tall order, but we think it’s possible.”

Changing gears, Pearce said that

a cloud-based UTM network – on six FAA test sites in Daytona, Fla. “You can see this evolution [of UAS] occurring very rapidly – you can get many generations of UAS over a few years,” said Pearce. “It’s not just for the UAS market, but can serve as test bed as medium for experimentation.”

Pearce further emphasized that UTM is critical right now, noting that companies like SpaceX have no plans to slow down production. “It’s not about saying UTM is a solution, it’s about research and figuring out how that solution will be engineered. Once FAA has basic infrastruc-

ture – they’re coming along with en route operations – it’s about getting the software structure built out.”

System-wide safety is critical to the National Airspace System (NAS), continued Pearce, specifically referring to UAS and Trajectory-Based Operations (TBO).

Part of NASA’s role is changing its perspective. “We’re transitioning to a more proactive safety management with realtime mitigations and an understanding of the system itself. We need to mature technology to make sure it’s ready in the NAS – part of that transition path is through the Tech Center.”

ATCA Bulletin | No. 5, 2016

Photos courtesy of Armando Solares of Solares Photography

NASA’s relationship with the FAA is “as good as it’s ever been.” A big part of the successful inter-agency collaboration is the research transition team process they developed to help deliver technology to the FAA. “We have a common view with the FAA,” said Pearce, referring to UAS in ATM and research transition teams. “We’re building a UTM (Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management) research platform to build out that capability.”

NASA recently reached a milestone in building that capability when they simultaneously flew 24 drones – all on

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Airbus Experience Center Showcases One of the Leading Aircraft Manufacturers

By Kristen Knott, ATCA Writer and Editor

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id you know that Airbus supplies almost half of the world’s emergency evacuation helicopters? No? Well, it’s just one of the many things that visitors to the Airbus Experience Center will learn. When visiting the Airbus Experience Center in Washington, DC, it’s important to leave expectations at the door.

As the largest export consumer of aviation and airspace products in the world, Airbus Group – which includes Airbus, Airbus Defense & Space, and Airbus Helicopters – saw the need to create a visual display of their products and services to better articulate all they offer. The ATCA staff was recently treated to an exclusive tour of the recently opened center. The three-room “immersive experience” was two years in the making.

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ATCA Bulletin | No. 5, 2016

“We wanted one location where we could showcase our products,” said Guy Hicks, senior vice president of government relations for Airbus Group, Inc. “Washington, DC, is the epicenter of global aviation and aerospace.”

“It’s a different canvas,” he continued. “Many customers only know us in one facet and this is a good way to educate those customers in what we do and show the breadth of what Airbus really is.

Airbus is woven deeply in the fabric of the American aerospace industry.”

The tour begins with an oculus (see photo above) that depicts the 22,000 aircraft in the global airspace at any given time. Then visitors are then led through three rooms: the first is a briefing room that helps tell the Airbus story. The tour guide chooses between

22 stories to introduce Airbus’s capabilities and its more than 140,000 employees worldwide, 3,800 of whom are based in the US. Rooms two and three of the tour include video presentations and static displays of the manufacturer’s full range of products and services. The tour ends with a simulator, of which ATCA was the first outside group to enjoy.

“The center is a business tool,” said Hicks. “It’s been an adventure with technology. We’re very pleased with the experience we’ve created.”

The Airbus Experience Center is open for pre-arranged, industry-related tours and events. If your organization is interested in planning a tour, contact the ATCA office at 703-299-2430 for more information.

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Photos courtesy of Kristen Knott

Safety Is A Hard Sell.

Here’s Why

By Ashley Nunes

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t is called the airline industry’s number top priority, an absolute necessity that cannot be compromised. It is hyped as being at the heart of the air travel enterprise, a consideration so crucial that it outweighs all others. It is by one account, “the cornerstone of the contract between airlines and their customers.” Safety is a word synonymous with air travel.

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, it refers to a situation where, “the possibility of harm to persons or of property damage is reduced to, and maintained at or below, an acceptable level through a continuing process of hazard identification and safety risk management.” For most passengers, safety means arriving at their destination in one piece.

Countless programs have been implemented to do just that. Audits aid in identifying potential safety risks, training helps executives better understand how their decisions affect the lives of passengers, and financial incentives encourage frontline workers to perform their jobs more carefully. Safety is treated as a team sport, and

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ATCA Bulletin | No. 5, 2016

rightly so.

But safety can also be expensive. For example, recently announced efforts to strengthen safety management processes in the United States are expected to cost local carriers some $224 million. That figure jumps to over $300 million when it comes to keeping sleepy pilots out of the cockpit. Safety advocates see these costs as investments that help avoid future catastrophe. The reality, however, is more complicated.

Limited capital means airlines must wisely choose where to spend their money. When it comes to safety, the investment of choice has historically been technology. After all, picking a more reliable engine means fewer chances of that engine failing in flight. And choosing the right automation means fewer opportunities for human error.

From electronic checklists to collision-avoidance systems to radar displays, the millions spent on safety-related technology mean accidents today are few and far between.

It also means that justifying the need to further

invest in safety is difficult. Why spend more when probability is on your side. The odds of being killed in a plane crash are one in 11 million. The odds of being killed on the road are one in 5,000.

Put another way, the riskiest part of air travel today is the journey to and from the airport. This explains why some safety programs, such as placing stricter limits on working hours, face opposition from airlines.

The rarity of accidents almost guarantees that the benefits of these programs will never be realized.

Safety is also not what airlines sell.

What is being sold is a promise to get passengers from one city to another. While safety plays a role in delivering that promise, so do factors like punctuality (arriving late is bad), predictability (not knowing when one will arrive is worse), and cost-effectiveness

(charging exorbitantly more than your competitors is a surefire way of losing business).

And it doesn’t stop there.

Surveys show that airline choice is also influenced by factors such as customer service quality, hassle-free connectivity, cabin seat comfort, wireless access, and the flexibility of frequent flier programs. Airlines have to deliver more than just safety because passengers demand more. Not meeting this demand risks losing out to competitors.

And since deregulation, there are plenty of them around.

Investing in safety is important. But opposing such investment shouldn’t imply that safety doesn’t matter. It does, but it is not an easy matter.

This article originally appeared on www.aviationweek.com.

On May 6, 1996: FAA renamed its Technical Center the William J. Hughes Technical Center. The new name honored Ambassador Hughes, a former member of Congress (D-NJ) and a long-time supporter of the facility.

– FAA Historical Chronology ATCA Bulletin | No. 5, 2016

ChameleonsEye; MNBB Studio/Shutterstock.com

A Moment in Aviation History

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Officers and Board of Directors Chairman, Neil Planzer Chairman-Elect, Charles Keegan President & CEO, Peter F. Dumont Treasurer, Rachel Jackson East Area Director, Susan Chodakewitz Pacific Area, Asia, Australia Director, Peter Fiegehen South Central Area Director, William Cotton Northeast Area Director, Mike Ball Southeast Area Director, Jack McAuley North Central Area Director, Bill Ellis West Area Director and Secretary, Chip Meserole Canada, Caribbean, Central and South America, Mexico Area Director, Rudy Kellar Europe, Africa, Middle East Area Director, Jonathan Astill Director at Large, Rick Day Director at Large, Vinny Capezzuto Director at Large, Michael Headley

Staff Marion Brophy, Communications Specialist Ken Carlisle, Director, Meetings and Expositions Theresa Clair, Associate Director, Meetings and Expositions Abigail Glenn-Chase, Director, Communications Ashley Haskins, Office Manager Kristen Knott, Writer and Editor Christine Oster, Chief Financial Officer Paul Planzer, Manager, ATC Programs Rugger Smith, International Development Liaison Sandra Strickland, Events and Exhibits Coordinator Ashley Swearingen, Press and Marketing Manager Tim Wagner, Membership Manager