IFATCA The Controller - 2nd Quarter 1984

ISSN 0010---8073

JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONA L FEDERA TION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' ASSOC IATIONS

In this issue, lfATCA '84

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IFATCA JOURNAL

OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

TH E CONTROLLER Bern, Switzerland,

Volum e 23 - No. 2

June 1984

Publisher: Internationa l Federation of Air Traffic Con trollers· Associations. P 0 . Box 196. CH- 1 21 5 Geneva 15 Airport. Sw itzerland Officers of IFATCA: HH . Henschler. President. Lex Hend riks. Vice- President (Techn ica l). E. Sermijn . Vic ePres ident (Professiona l). I. Finlay. Vice-President (Administration). B. Grezet. Treasurer. P. O'Do herty.

Exec utiv e Secretary Editor: A. Avgoustis 5 A th ens Str . Ayios Dhometio s Nicosia. Cyprus Telephone (021) 4 87 86 Management and Advertising Sales Office : The Contr oller. P.O . Box 196.

CH-1 2 1 5 Geneva 1 5 A irport. Switzer land H .U . Heim. Subscriptions and Public ity.

Tel. (022 ) 82 26 79 M. Henc hoz. Accoun tin g. Tel. (022) 92 56 82 B. Laydevan t . Sales Promotion. Tel. (022) 82 79 83 Production · Der Bund'. Verl ag und Druck ere i AG Effing ers trasse 1. CH-300 1 Bern.

Telephone (03 1) 25 66 55 Subscriptions and Advertising Payments to : IFATCA/ The Controller. Uni on de Banques Suisses P 0 . Box 237 CH-1 21 5 Geneva Airport. Switzerland Acc. No . 602 254 .MD L

Subs c ription Rate: SFrs. 8 .- per annum for memb ers of IFATCA: SFrs 20 .- per annum for non -membe rs (P & P wi ll be charged ext ra).

Contributors are expressing their personal points of view and opinion s. wh ic h may not necessarily coinc ide wi th those of the Int ern ationa l Federatio n of Air Traff ic Contro llers· Associa tion (IFATCA).

IFATCA do es not assum e respon sibili ty for sta tement s made and opinions expressed. it does on ly accept respo nsibi lity for pub lishi ng these co ntributi ons.

Contribut ions are welcome as are comme nt s and c riticism . No payment can be made for manu sc ripts submitt ed for pub lica ti on in 'The Co nt roller The Editor reserves th e right to make any editorial changes in manusc ripts. w hich he believes w ill improve the materi al w ith ou t alte ring th e intend ed meaning .

Written perm ission by the Edito r is necessary for reprinting any part of this J ourn al .

CONTENTS Advertisers

in this issue:

KLM Ferrant i. SEL. Philrps, Selenia Photos:

AA, Archives . Hiro Tade Cartoons :

Mart in Germans

President & Exec ut ive Board ' s Repor t IFATCA ' 84 ATC The Private Sec t or Optio n ( Part 11) Vis it t o th e CAR-Region Asas de Portu gal News br iefs

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President & Executive Board's Report to I FATCA '84

The time period since IFATCA '83 was not a good one for aviation. the sad loss of a disproportionately high number of human lives overshadows all other developments. While it is gratifying to note that no controller members of any Member Association were implicated in any of the tragedies, and while flying remains, statistically speaking, a safe way to travel, human error appears to play an overwhelming role in the cause of the incidents. All organizations involved in national and international aviation, our own included, must renew their efforts to overcome such shortcomings.

The Federation was in the forefront of demanding that international and national organizations and authorities urgently develop positive and comprehensive systems of making information and data available in sensitive areas of the world where military or defense requirements may be infringed. Our demand was communicated widely and will, we hope, help in achieving to overcome past problems.

In all, and this certainly is true also for our own profession, the well-worn and often-used phrase is still true: 'Better safe than sorry,' and while greater efficiency is certainly of importance the overriding concern is safety.

The Executive Board had increased IFATCA's cooperation and involvement with other international bodies. and is in the process of establishing a tangible program, in coordination with the International Air Transport Association. of bringing the issue of fuel conservation in aviation to the attention of the controller. an issue which has been sadly neglected by many national administrations.

IFATCA '83 passed policy and administrative decisions which the Executive Board carried out in the interim. The study on 'Provision of Air Traffic Control by lndependant Authorities¡ 1songoing, its results may well indicate the desirable future course of collective endeavors The existence of our long-standing concern on the ¡ Legal Liability of the Air Traffic Controller' has been recog-

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nized by other components of the international aviation community, and the Federation's Journal, as detailed elsewhere in the Report, has attained financial self-sufficiency; our thanks go to all who were instrumental in bringing about this positive development.

Sadly, over the past twelve months the world has experienced further polarization into various camps, a development which cannot be viewed with anything but disappointment by the international civil aviation community. Civil aviation, as we have stated before, knows no national borders, the shortest distance between any two points is still a direct line or the great circle route. Member Associations should work towards achieving closest possible cooperation with neighboring air traffic controllers' associations in order to overcome obstacles and impediments to the flow of data, information, and air traffic.

The Executive Board perceives, and accepts, that various Member Associations, by virtue of their differing developmental history and involvement in civil aviation in their countries and on behalf of their members. are at different stages of the process of achieving their maximum possible role in the national aviation environment, and in achieving the proper recognition for our Profession.

The Executive Board is studying means of establishing a program with a view to assisting Member Associations to attain greater efficiency. It must be repeated that under the present conditions the Federation is unable to take on the role of national associations. IFATCA will remain the source of information, of support and advice, and the international voice of the profession.

Administration General The Executive Board has continued the high profile of participating in Federation and Member Associations affairs. as in the previous year. Many meetings and functions have been at-

tended and our appreciation goes to the airlines who provided us with assistance either directly or by government request. The Board also wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to the Administrations of Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Executive Board Since the last Conference the Executive Board have held two Board meetings, one in May and the second in October. No meeting was planned for the spring of 1 984 as the conference will once again be held in March.

The handover to the new Vice-President Administration and the removal re-siting and reorganization of th~ Secretariat were successfully completed during the course of the year.

Regions and Regional Meetings The Board_has continued its policy of e~deavonng to attend regional meetings and_ t_hose of individual Me~ber Ass_oc1at1ons,if so invited. As a policy ~f this nature _isobviously time cons~ming. and requires a degree of planning with regard to airline timetables, etc., the Board would appreciate as much forewarning of dates and ven_uesand, where relevant, as much assistance as possible with travel arrangements. The _Board was represented at the following regional meetings: E~r?pe _West - Vice-Presidents Admin1_strat1onand Professional and Executive Secretary . Africa_ East - Vice-Presidents Adm1nistrat1on and Professional North &_Central America _ President and Vice-President Technical There _were no meetings in any other regions, although the Board is aware that cert~in of the Regional V1ce-~res1dentsdid attempt to arrange meetings,. and where unsuccessful have continued to carry on the good work on behalf of their members within the region.

Individually Board Members have visited Member Associations in Africa East, Africa West, Caribbean, Europe West and North and Central America.

Secretariat It is with pleasure that the Executive Board expresses its thanks and appreciation, on behalf of the Federation, to Patrick O' Doherty and the Secretariat staff. The Secretariat has overcome all difficulties and, for the first time, the Secretariat produced and published the Conference Report.

The Executive Board is confident that, with our program of equipment modernization, the Secretariat will be able to keep abreast of currently ex-

The world of ATC is changing and growing.

With the help of computer technology you can see more and do more now than you could even five years ago, both in simulation and in radar data processing and display.

Not surprisingly it is Ferranti that is changing the picture. We are foremost in applying computers and display systems to the ATC function. The work we are putting into the processing and display of ATC pictures is bringing simulators and operational systems closer together.

And we are doing some forward thinking and planning for the new ATC techniques that will soon be coming into view.

If you want to broaden your ATC horizons, contactFerranti Computer Systems Limited, Cwmbran System Sales, Ty Coch Way, Cwmbran, Gwent NP44 7XX Telephone: Cwmbran (06333)71111 Telex: 497636

FERRANTI

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pected workload increases. However, should drastic increases in the Secretariat workload become apparent. the Federation will need to upgrade the facilities.

Finances Indisputably. the year 1983 will have to be considered as a milestone in the Federation's history. as far as finances are concerned. The introduction of a new accounting system (called 'RUF') took place June 30th.

1983. with a view to easing the transition to a computerized accounting system. to comply with future Swiss laws regarding accounting schemes. this system allows the opening of as many accounts as required to conduct studies on specific expenses. However. it will have to be run for some years to get some basis for future studies before these will be published.

New bank accounts have been opened during this past year. to ease both contributions to these funds and their accounting. These new bank accounts. under some conditions. are bringing in more interest than in the past.

To avoid possible risks of travelling to Zurich with the books in the wintertime. to solve some language problems. and to save the costs of the trip to the yearly meeting with the Auditor. a new Auditor. in Geneva. was appointed at the end of June 1983. Cooperation with this new Auditor proved up to now to be very fruitful. and we are confident that it will be so in the future.

Finally. the separate accounting and bank account opened and set up for 'The Controller'. according to Split Resolution A28/83. together with actions taken considering this Resolution. helped to bring our Journal back to a more balanced financial situation.

Thanks are due to the Members of the ·controller Managing Group' of SC 111 who helped greatly in bringing about this positive development.

There are still other problems foreseen tied up with the restructuration of the Federation· s finances. the main one being the change of our financial year. which will be the subject of a study prepared by Standing Committee 111.

A foreseen reduction in our individual membership will have the effect that the budget for this year will have to be reviewed. taking into consideration a reduced income. This is the constant worry of the Executive Board. the solutions offered being either to increase the income (subscriptions) or to limit expenses. thereby jeopardizing the Federation's management.

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Member Associations Because of the high stability of the Federation's currency. the Swiss franc. in regard to other currencies. some Member Associations have been faced with the old problems. but it should be stressed that there has been only limited reactions to reminders. without direct contacts between Associations having problems and the Executive Board.

The generosity of some Controllers. and Associations. has proved over the past months that solidarity among the Controllers is a reality.

Corporate Members The number of supporting. both technically and financially. Corporate Members is now 38. through voluntary termination of affiliation for 3 companies. and acceptance of th~ee new members. The close cooperation with all Corporate Members is for both sides· benefit. and it should be reminded that Special Newsletters are issued each time equipment is needed somewhere. A growth in these Special Newsletters also means a growth of our Corporate Members· ranks. therefore it is essential that the information be circulated.

The Executive Board wishes to express its appreciation to the Corporate Members' Coordinator, Mr. H.W. Cole. for his work and efforts on behalf of IFATCA and to all Corporate Members for their continued support.

Standing Committees The following members of the Board have attended Committee Meetings associated with the following Standing Committees: SC I - Vice-President Technical SC 111- Treasurer and Vice-President Administration SC IV - Vice-President Professional SC Vil - Vice-President Pr9fessional The President met on two occasions with the Chairman of SC VI. Editor Members of the Executive Board met with our Editor to discuss items of concern to the Journal and the Board expressed its appreciation to Mr. A. Avgoustis for the continued high standard maintained in 'The Controller'.

Technical General In the technical field the last year has been very interesting. Old and well respected persons left. new and eager people took over. and important recognition was obtained from ICAO.

SC I has been able to complete most of the work program and pro~uced Working Papers as assigned to It la~t year. even though input from outside SC I has been somewhat discour~ging. Two work program items remain open. as either timely responses from RVPs were not received, or becau~e preparatory work by the Council took longer than anticipated.

As far as the membership list of SC I is concerned, the Executive Board wishes to acknowledge the work done

by Mr. John Saker. ex-Chairman of SC I as of this Conference. and Mr Arnold Fi~ld. ex-Secretary of SC I and Past President of the Federation.

ICAO Liaison to ICAO headquarters in Montrea! . was mai~t_ained through regular vIsIts by our L1a1sonOfficer Mr Art Cauty. Addditional visits by mem~ bers of the Executive Board (once President. VP Technical and VP Professio~al. fol_lowed recently by VP Technical twice), proved very effective.

Input in var_iousGroups and Panels of !CAO continued. either via correspon?ence or actual attendance at meetings. As such can be mentioned the Surface Movement Guidance and Con!rol Systems Study Group, the R~d1otel~phony Study Group, the Visual Fligh! Rules Operations Panel and the Helicopter Operations Panel among others. · At the European level a major success can be noted. that is the acceptance of IF~TCA as observer on a permanent basis to the EANPGs Airspace and Traffi~ Management Group and Flow-meetings. The Board wishes to thank IC_AOfor the confidence. Repre_sentatIves to European Meetings will report on IFATCAs involvement separately.

IFALPA Vice-President Technical attended on behalf of the Executive Board the IFALPA Annual Conference in Dublin last Apr_il. During this. important contacts with IFALPAs Principal Officers were reestablished.

Representa~ion_ in the ATS Study Group was maintained during the two meetings the Group had this last year.

Here to<;>,many items important to our Federation were discussed.

Other Organizations The Vice-President Technical made one visit to IATAs Assistant Director General-Technical last December. in order to discuss a joint program on Fuel Efficiency. and presented a speech to an !CAA Congress in Basle. last May.

This year IFATCA was again represented at Eurocontrol's Radar Applications Specialist Panel.

The workload has continued to increase in the technical area, and the Executive Board hereby expresses its appreciation to those individuals and Member Associations who make our input to various international organizations possible.

Professional On the professional field the last year was quite active. There was social unrest and/ or industrial action in different parts of the world. either directly related to the ATS services or as part of total action by the public services. The Executive Board and Regional Vice-Presidents intervened, when so requested. to reconciliate the parties involved. This, in at least one case, resulted in an agreement thus avoiding a planned ATC strike. In other cases dialogue was reopened and we hope that the problems will be solved in the not too distant future. It will remain a fact of life that unless the profession of air traffic controller has been fully recognized, controllers will endeavor to obtain the professional status which they rightfully deserve.

IFATCA, as an international aviation body, fully recognizes the unfortunate economic consequences of industrial action by air traffic controllers and that such actions should be avoided by all means. However, we are also convinced that the right means should be used, i.e. recognize the professional status of the air traffic controller and promote the orderly settlement of industrial disputes through conciliation procedures. It is therefore a cause for concern that some countries try to pass legislation to qualify industrial action by controllers as illegal or execute a mobilization program of civilian air traffic controllers.

It is also alarming to note that on the international scene the idea of contingency planning initially structured for cases of natural disasters, war circumstances, etc.. is now pushed forward to circumnavigate the consequences of industrial actions by ATS services. This tendency will have to be monitored very closely by our Member Associations and the Executive Board.

Standing Committee IV managed to carry out the work program allocated by the previous Conference.

Two meetings were held which were both attended by the Vice-President Professional. It is worth mentioning here that special attention was given to the studies on the availability of training. It became clear from the working sessions that it would be very

The Federation will carry on and useful to extend the study to encompass not only a listing of the ATC remain viable if all its components. in training facilities available, but also to particular the Member Associations. determine where the needs for ATC are actively involved in giving direction training are. The study on the provi- for future IFATCA activities. and the sion of scholarships would be the link 1 984 Annual Conference provides between the two previous studies and the opportunity to do just that.

IFATCA could then play a very useful role by approaching governments, institutions. international aviation or- .---------------ganizations willing to sponsor a scholarship, thus upgrading ATC training in A New ATC System some parts of the world to the benefit for Cyprus of international air transport.

Standing Committee VII newly (Part II) structured at last Conference held one by Ch. Pericleous meeting, also attended by the VicePresident Professional. The legal field The Larnaca Airport ATC Tower is a difficult one and it is therefore An autonomous ATC system will be good to see that the work of our legal provided at Larnaca airport. committee resulted in a number of The basic equipment will consist of working papers presented at this Conone low profile ATC suite comprising a ference. single radar display processing system Full attention was also given to the and display unit. together with proICAO Legal Committee meeting, held in Montreal (April 12-27) which dis- cedural control facilities.

A completely autonomous radar cussed the legal liability of ATC agencies. A full report of the IFATCA data processing subsystem will be used. Its main function will include. observer to this meeting will be subplot processing. code call sign associmitted to this Conference. ation, map generations, data proOn 6th June, 1983, the Vicecessing for synthetic presentation and President Professional made a liaison direction finder (DF) processing and visit to the ILO headquarters and informal meetings were held in a very display.

Communication and other ancillary friendly and constructive atmosphere. equipment will be provided to enable Another visit was planned at the the use of this console as an indepentime of writing this report. dent ATC Tower Console.

Conclusion It is apparent that the recent depression has ended for at least some sectors of the aviation industry. Indeed, a senior official of the Boeing Company- an enterprise which can ill afford to be wrong in its forecasts, predicted a doubling of the number of airline passengers over the next twelve years. It is incumbent upon Member Associations, and through them on the Federation. to ensure that authorities responsible for the provision of air traffic control prepare their systems for the ensuing increase in the number of aircraft movements.

Staffing and equipment shortages still exist in areas of the world and the Executive Board envisions a comprehensive program to identify such shortfalls.

In all. the period since the 1983 Annual Conference. despite the loss of a Member Association, has been a positive one for IFATCA. The Executive Board has been able to establish or renew direct contact with a number of Member Associations and the program of personal visits to Member Associations will continue.

Conclusion The problems with the present air traffic control management system in the Nicosia FIR are fundamental.

Bearing in mind the exceptional circumstances prevailing in the Nicosia FIR and the relative volatility of the operations within the ATC infrastructure of the Eastern Mediterranean the provision of a new ATC system based on radar was the most appropriate decision.

The new ATC system is the result of the careful study and great efforts made by the responsible authorities in Cyprus. With the introduction of the new system in mid-1985 It Is safe to predict that air transportation in the region will benefit both from the safety and efficiency aspects.

The Cyprus A TC system may not be the most sophisticated but it is a practical system which can be introduced in a cost effective evolutionary manner.

Acknowledgements The author acknowledges the information provided by the Department of Civil Aviation and Cyprus Telecommunications Authority 5

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'8

23rd Annual Conference: Estoril - Portugal

26-30

Marc

1984

by Andreas Avgoust,s

With the Republic's President pr esen t at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Annual Conference of IFATCA and the unbeatable performance of Asas de Portugal (Portuguese Air Forc e) aerobatic team immediately af ter, there was nothing in the world that could stop the delegates and accompani ed persons from predicting a never-to-be-forgotten Conference.

The President of the Portuguese Rep ublic, Gen. Antonio Rama/ho Ean es honored , with his presence , the Exec utive Board Directors and deleg at es wh o travel led - some of them for days - to Estoril , a small tourist resort sit uat ed some 25 kilometers from

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Lisbon, for their once -a-year mass meeting, the Air Traffic Controllers, Annual Conference. The President's affectionate feelings to the profession and the importance his Government places on air traffic control are obviously reflected in his message of wel come to IFA TCA 's Conference par ticipants when he states: 'Jn greeting the participants of this Conference, I also want to express my recognition for the vital mission conferred upon the air traffic controllers, integrating their dedication with a permanent concern for technical development.

This constitutes an example of greater value of our societies, in which pro-

fessional specialization has only full significance when integrated in an effective spirit of social cooperation. , An innovation, addi tional to the President's presence at the Confe rence. came the 30 -minute aerobat ic display by the six-aircraft team of T-3 7C's that was performed outside the hotel Estoril Sol, over the Atl an tic Ocean . ( The full facts of Asas de Portugal, the A erobatic team of the Portuguese A ir Force can be found on page 26 of this issue.) An unp recedented event that adorned the Conference arrangements.

Opening Ceremony This very impressi ve. colorful and w ell attend ed formal beginning of the 23rd An nual Conference w as officially dec lared open by the President of the Portuguese Air Traffic Controllers ' As soc iation (APTCA). Mr. Jose Chaves in the morning of the 26th M arch . 1984 in the great hall of t he ¡ca sino Estoril .' in the presence of His Excelle ncy t he President of the Port ug uese Republi c.

Gen Antonio Eanes. His Exc ellenc y the Minister of Socia l Equipm ent. Mr .

R Correira. His Excell ency t he Chief of Staff Portuguese A ir Fo rce. Gen. J .M .B . de M iranda. the Director -General of Civil Aviation. M r. J oa o A .S .

Ribeiro. the M ayor of Casca is. Mr s.

Helena Roseta. t he Presid ent of A eroporto s e Navegac;:ao Ae rea ANA EP. Mr. H.R. Pereira. t he Presiden t of TA PAI R Portug al. Mr. G. Motta. the Executi ve Board many gu ests from t he national aviation co mmunit y and hundreds of delegates .

The follow ing extra ct s of speeche s delivered at the ope ning plena ry are given below Opening the 2 3r d Annu al Conference. the President of APTCA, Mr. J. Chaves said: Hosting in Portuga l the 2 3 rd IFATCA Conference the Portugu ese Air Traffic Controlle rs feel ove rw helmed

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by the high number of Associations participating. which represent all parts of the world.

The presence of His Excellency the President of the Republic at this Ceremony. which honors us very much . builds an incentive to keep us going on in the same direction in which we have. until now . done . This direction will show the relevant tasks which the air traff ic controller exec utes w ithin the economical area of air transportation . contributing to w ard s regularity . efficiency and safety The APCTA . since its founding in 1975 . has been w orking hard to reach reco gnition of the profes sion of the air tr affic controller in Portugal. which w as ga ined in that same year. by mean s of the publishing of the Rules and Regulations within the air traffic co ntrol profession .

In the technical area the APCTA has striven hard towards a goal . as an object ive. to improve the quality and efficiency of all air navigation systems throughout the country.

While thi s Conference is taking place w e. in Portugal. are substituting the o bsolete and deficient equipment used to pro vide air traffic services.

Neverthele ss. our preoccupations will not c ome to an end , because simply inst alling a sophisticated system

would serve no purpose without a careful technical preparation for the air traffic controller which are directly involved.

Besides this . we must keep in mind that the usage of the new technology is demanding a new structure within the air traffic control services.

In this aspe ct. it is fundamental to have full participation from the air traffic controller s .

The contribution of these individ uals in the development and improvement of the systems in which they operate needs. in addition. sharing experiences and know-how between their respective Associations .

Only this way will allow us. the air traffic controllers. to reciprocally divulge positive and neg ati ve aspects with respect to similar professional situations.

To conclude. it is our wish that this 23rd Annual Conference of IFATCA. also contributes towards the improvement of safety and efficiency of the Air Traffic Con,trol Systems worldwide.

The President of IFATCA, Mr. H.H. Henschler said: Two years ago . in Amsterdam. our Federation celebrated its twenty-first Annual Conference. At that time we said that IFATCA had come of age and

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/FA TCA President. H. H. Henschler addressing the Opening Plenary. had been accepted by the international aviation community as the voice of our Profession .

We can proudly restate this fact here. at the twenty-third Annual Conference in Estori l. If anything. the acceptance has grown considerably over the past two years.

However. with this position in the international aviation comm unit y comes the responsibility a respected member of any comm unity carr ies and whic h. in turn. leads to greater acceptance.

It has been many years since the last time that ou r representat ives joined int ernat iona l panels and forums and were asked what IFATCA stands for and whom it represents. The presence of His Exce llency. the President of Portugal at our Opening Ceremony is amp le proof of the understanding our host country has of the important contribution of our Profession to the safety of aviation. its efficiency. and the impact air traffic control has on the economic life of a country. Portugal has for many centuries been a count ry of pioneers. of explorers. and evidence of their activities can be found in all parts of the world.

The network of travel and of estab lishing bases on all continents served as an examp le for other nations to follow.

In many ways our Federat ion works along the lines drawn by the se Portuguese navigator s and pioneers From a sma ll base in Europe IFATCA has branched out to where it now covers the wor ld with Member Associations on all continents We have achieved an effect iveness in a relatively sho rt period of time which no one cou ld have predicted when the Feder ati on was founded .

There is no question that the Profession路 s standing could be improved in a number of countries. Howe ver. we must not forget that we are a Federation of Associations. that indi vidual controllers can be members of I FATCA only through membership in a controllers 路 association. where one exists. and that the effectiveness of I FATCA. to a great extent. depends on that of its Member Associations.

The effectiveness of a Member Assoc iation can be judged. to a large degree. by the percentage of possible members it is able to attract and w ho then become indi vidua l members of IFATCA. It is disappointing to see any drop in the membership of one of our associations. or no updated figures from others. but it is gratifying to see Member Associations such as Zambia increa sing its membership by a factor of more than five wi thin only two years or the United Kingdom more than doubling its membership in four years.

Air Traffic Controllers have formed an international family of which they are justifiably proud and which in turn helps them to achieve the aims of the Profession. the safest and most effic ient possible air traffic control system wor ld-wide. as part of an enterprise. modern aviation. which does not easily understand the existence of politica l boundaries which impede on the most efficient possible track to fly. the direct line .

The object of Corporate Members路 in IFATCA - particularly at Conference - is to talk face-to-face w ith the users.

Users can hear what the Corporate Members can do for them. But more

important - Corporate Members can hear from the users what the y want.

This year. a specia l effort has been made by Corporate Members and the Vice-President (Technical ) to present user-orientated papers. We have invited two speakers to address you on the subject of fuel conservation and you r role in it. Other papers deal with such matters as: Airfield Surface Detection Equipment. the Use of SSR for Taxiing and the Use of Weather Detection in ASR's.

Our Federation is in the business of assisting its Member Associations to achieve their recognized aims. such as those documented at the International Labour Office. but not to replace the national Member Associations or take over their functions.

Thu s we are proud of the effor ts and successes of our Portuguese Member Association. the A ssociac;:ao Portu guesa dos Controladores De Trafeg o Aereo which is. in the historical co ntext. a relatively young organization. Yet. it has been effective in representing its members . with the initial assistance of IFATCA and a number of Member As sociations. and successful in offering to host our twenty-third Annual Conferen ce.

Mr. President. may I thank . through you. the people of this beautiful country for their hospitalit y I am certain th at the delegates and observers to our twenty-third Conference will enjoy their stay in Portugal . some have already spent a holiday before coming to Estoril and many others will stay on after. We have learned with pleasure th at th e Portu guese air traffi c control

President Eanes (glasses) accompanied by his Min ister of Social Equipment (to his right) and President of APTCA to his left on their way to the Openin g Ceremony.

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To the foreign participants of this Conference . I since rely wish a good stay among us . I would like to encourage you in your efforts here so that this Conference might constitute a new stage towards progress of such an important wo rk.

Technical

The M iniste r of Social Mr. R. Correira.

Equipment

system wi ll be f ully modernized during the next year and we are hopeful that the Portuguese Associa t ion wi ll be a full participant in this process and that the caree rs of co ntrollers w ill be enhanced. that the Portuguese system w ill thus become fully efficient.

We are also co nfident that I FATCA ¡ 84 will go into our record s as a very successf ul affair and another mil estone in the Fede rat ion 's ongoing strugg le of ach ieving its aim of the safest. most efficie nt pos sible ai r traffic control system wor ldwide.

His Excellency, the Minister of Social Equipment, Mr. J.R. Correira, we lco ming Conferen ce partic ipants said Portug al. c hosen to organize IFATCA's 23rd Annual Confe renc e. is pleased to rece ive the air traffic co ntro llers from the w hol e wo rld .

This may have happened natur ally and I would say that our co untr y might have been c hosen for the realization of your Conference. due to the fact that. we have for ce nturie s had a strong t rad it ion of soc iabil ity and hum anity and exactly as you recently do. we have fo r ce ntu ries been deci sive ly contr ibuti ng to a closer relati ons hip among peop le Considering its geographic po sition and the atte ntion g iven by the Government to the co mmunications area. Portugal has been assuming an increas ing importance w ith in the scope of te leco mmunic at ion s as we ll as wi thin th e air transpor t sector. W e are maki ng important investm ents in the modern ization of the Portug uese airports and in the air nav igation safe ty sector .

Air transport is fundamental for us as we are a nation sp read all ove r the world .

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Exhibition

A total of 1 9 stands next to the meeting rooms in the Hotel Esto ril Sol w ere professiona lly erected for use by the Corporate Members to exhibit their hard wa re on ATC .

Through so me misfortune perhaps. the opening of the Techn ical Exhibition was not to the standa rd of formality that was expected. to the di ssatisfaction of the representatives of the Corporate M embe rs and perhaps of the Minister w ho opened the Exhibition. also.

Opening Plenary This marks the opening of the act ual Conference with the Directors going through the previous Conference Report. the report of the Executive Board on their activities and those of the Federation as a whole and the election of chairmen of the three working committees . A. B and C. The Board' s report is given on page 2 of this issue. Follo wing the roll call of Dir ectors and the reading by the President of the Board's report the Plenary went into the election of the chairmen of the three committees as follows: Edge Green . of the UK Guild .

Committee A; Art Cauty . of Canada ATCA. Committee B and Egbert Just of the Germ an ATCA. Committee C.

Committee A Administration First bu siness of the Committee was the ap pointment of Committee Sec ret ary Mr . Rand all of Canada and

APTCA Preside nt Mr . J Chaves

Mr . Soar of New Zealand who was later replaced by Mr. L. Curry of UK. A total of 61 recommendation s originated from the deliberations of this Committee which were tabled before Final Plenary for approval.

There were two applications for Professional Membership . from El Salvador and from the Turkish Cypriots. The El Salvado r application was postponed as there was no representa ti ve from that country to reply to querie s and the Turkish Cypriots ' app lication was rej ected on th e opposit ion of the Cyprus ATCA and the secret vot e wh ich followed .

A revolutionary change has been effected in the Regions of the Federation.

Following the recommendations of an ad hoe committee appointed at the Conference . the Region s of Europe West. Europe Central and Mediterranean / Middle East were reorgan ized as follows: Europe West to include the following co untries : Belgium. Denmark. Finland . France.

Germany (FRG). Iceland . Ireland . Luxembourg . the Netherlands . Norway . Portugal.

Spain. Sweden. Switzerland . United Kingdom . Channel Island s. Green land . Eurocontrol. Germany (DDR) .

Europe Central to includ e the following countries: Au str ia . Alb ania.

Hung ary.

Italy .

Malt a.

Greece.

Cyprus. Israel. Bulg aria. Rum ania.

Po land . Czecho slovakia . USSR and Yugo slavia .

Another Region. that of AfricaNorth was established to include all North African countries.

Thi s innovation brought a new Regio nal Vice-President from Tuni sia .

Mr . J . Mon oo m .

The budget. as alway s a very controver sial subject. take s a great proportion of the time of this Committee .

The elect ions of thr ee Board members. the President. the Vi ce- President Professional and the Treas urer took place. The holders of office of the previou s t erm of two years. namely H. Harri Hensc hler of Canada. Erik Sermjin of Belgium and Bernard Grezet were reelected.

IFATCA ' 85 . that is the 24th Annual Conference was confirmed to be held in Athens on 22-26 March .

1985 .

The 1 986 Conference was provisionally decided to be held for the fir st time in a Latin American country. in Costa Rica. It mu st be noted here th at the Costa Rica Assoc iat ion play s a very act ive part in the affa irs of the Federation. parti c ularly in Reg ional act iviti es. The President of Costa Rica is a supp orter of his cou ntr y¡ s co ntrollers and atte nded the Regio nal meetings. w hich were held in Costa Rica

twice. It is most certain that IFATCA '86 will have the full support of the Costa Rican Government .

Committee Technical

B-

Mr . J. Virtanen of Finland was elected as Vice-Chairman and Miss L. Austin of the United Kingdom was appointed as Secretary. Together with Chairman Art Cauty the Committee deliberated through until noon Thursday fini shing their wo rk program almost a whole day early.

Though the Recommendations ( 1 1 altogether) which were finalized at this Committee have not reached a high number. a great number of interesting technical papers were discussed.

Most Working Papers reaching this Committee are the year's work of SC I. whose chairman. John Saker of UK Guild has officia lly retired from the Committee after more than twenty years active participation. In recognition of his efforts and hard work put into IFATCA John was granted the Federation· s Scroll.

SC I is generally invo lved in stud ies and working groups of ICAO and IFALPA concerned with aviation safety and technical aspects of the profession of the controller.

Some important Working Papers which were presented before the Committee generated intere sting discussions. Such Papers we re: · Procedures for the Development. Adoption and Promulg ation of Region al Techn ical Policy.' 'The Review of the Alphanumeric Call Signs System.· · RTF Frequency Jamming.· · Review of Current Policy on Air Traffi c Flow Management.'

'SS R Mode S Inc ludin g T-CAS.' 'He licopter Operat ions.· review of current policy on · Late ral Separation Standards.· · Lon-

gitudinal Separation.· etc. On the 'Review of the Alphanumeric Call Signs Systems.· a paper presented by Eurocontrol. Germany . stated that confusion was increased despite the reduction of similar call signs. w hile South Africa indicated that there might be problems when used by international flights . The IFALPA observer suggested that IFATCA should not dismiss alphanumeric call signs. The following was recommended as IFATCA policy: · From a study of evidence available on the results of simulation and operational experience with the IFALPA and other alphanumeric type call signs systems it is evident that none of the systems is suitable operationally for universal application as a total replacement for the " Trip Number " type call sign system.

'Also much of the RT call sign confusion wou ld be eliminated by the strict adherence to correct RT procedures by both pilots and controllers.

'The limited national use of certain alphanumeric call sign systems may reduce some current RTF ca ll sign ambiguity problems but. if authorized for use by international flights . ICAO Annex 10 must be specific as to the construction of these ca ll signs and such construction must permit their operational use in both full and abbreviated forms.· On the SSR Mode S. IFALPA supported the need for developing ground as we ll as airborne collision Alert Systems (CAS) and w ill oppose any systems being used to reduce separat ion or to supercede Air Traffic Control. The following statements were accepted to constitute I FATCA' s basic policy on airborne co llision avoidance and Mode S developments: The use of automatic airborne collision avoidan ce systems shou ld allow

for safe operation w ithin different types of airspace . with differe nt ATC procedures and with different aircraft equipment capabilities. without detriment to the ATC service or to aircraft not fully equipped The inevitable changes in ATC procedures. techniques and phraseologies. as the result of airborne collision avoidance and traffic alert systems. shou ld be compatible. not only w ith a cont ro ller's responsibilitie s for providing positi ve separation. but also with a controller· s ability to discharge them.

Mode S shou ld automaticall y provide an indi cation to the ground ser vice. at least. when an aircraft is the subject of a col lision avoidance ad vis ory.

IFATCA encourages any development which automatically pro vides the ground service indications of con flict or potential conflict w hich have been provided to a pilot.

Collision avoidance transmis sion s shou ld not exclude. by virtue of their priorit y. transmissions directl y concerned w ith establishing and maintaining tactical separation.

Whene ver a maneuver contrar y t o an ATC c learance is made as the result of a collision avoidance advisory. the pilot sha ll inform ATC as soon as possib le.

It was agreed that the subje ct SICAS the Developmen t of Compatible ATC procedures be placed on the SC I Work Progr am.

Committee C Professional To assist Chairm an Egbert Ju st.

Mi ss M Qui nn of UK Guild acted as Secr et ary and by rotation va rious Region al Vice -Presidents acted as Vice -Presidents. St andin g Commit -

11

tees IV and VII, Human and Environmental Facto rs and Lega l Matters respectively are gen erally the responsible bodies for the wo rk of this Committ ee.

Both Committ ees had presented som e very im porta nt w ork on the professio nal as w ell as the lega l field, particula rly on the latter wi th the revived mem bership of the Lega l Stand ing Committee.

The IFATCA Handbook (IHB )w ill be going through reorgani zat ion as a result of the new and revised question naire Some additions to the St and ing Committee IV Library have been announced and a renewed cal l for members to make use of t he librar y was mad e On the medical point of view, the sub-committee responsib le fo r medical studies presented papers on 'Working Conditions from the Medica l Viewpoint,' 'Medical Resea rch on Ocular Diseases.· etc.

Standing Committe e VI I presented stud ies on legal matte rs tha t are of concern to t he air t raffic con troller such as · Lega l Developments in Aviation .· · Lega l Liability of the Controller,' etc .

The Regional Councillors

Final Plenary The Final Plenar y took place as schedu led at 1 6 00 on Friday, 30 t h March, 1984 in the same hall tha t the Opening Plenary was held. Al l Recommendations brought befo re t his plenary by the chai rmen of th e th ree working committees we re adop ted Final Plenary was co nc luded w it h several speeches. inc luding an inv itation by the Greek Director J ohn Mansola s for the 1985 Con feren ce in Greece, and rep resentatives of Int ernat ional and other organizat io ns Th e final and c losing remark s of APTCA President. Jose Chaves dese rve t o be recorded He said The 23rd Annual Conference of I FATCA, w hic h has come to an end, o nce aga in has brought together t he air traff ic controlle rs from all over th e worl d.

'This encoun t er has st rengthen ed the t ies which should link pro fessionals of t he same act ivity, by the soc ial relati ons hip t hat was possi ble to establish and by the exchange of know ledge and expe riences invo lved · Finishing his speech. J ose said · Ladies and Gent lemen . th ank you and enjoy you r journey home We are loo king fo rwa rd to see you al l in Athens next yea r tor IFATCA '85 ·

The Exe cutive Board in Committee A.

The Org a 11izing Com mitte e The app reciation of all participants to the efforts of the Organizing Committee for making the 23rd Annua l Conference a memorable one can on ly

12

Dani el Oudi n add ressing the Techni cal Panel on beh alf of !CAO

be expressed in making spec ial m ent ion of ind ividua ls as a concluding ad d it ion t o the Con ference Report.

These are: J ose Chaves. J ose Varel a. Fernan do J orge . Luis Louren c;:o . Liliana Cosme.

Ul rich Carrasco.

M ike Pritcha rd . Abe l Silva.

Special Assistance Ana Mari a Sou sa. V.W. Carvalho.

C. Felizardo . F. Ric a. G. Co rrei a. M aria Joa Costa . Rosa lia Salgue iro. Cristina Pinto . Conce ic;:aoAle xa ndre . J . Fo rt e Cost a. F. Carretero . F. Lag range.

Z . Blaufuks . H. Paz. Zit a Leit ao. Isabel Boavida .

Ladies Program

Committee A Chair

Noemia Chaves.

M aria J oao Varela. Ma ria Fernand a Jorg e. Crac;:a Carrasco . Grac;:a Lour enc;:o. Elisa bete W. Carvalho . Mari a A nton ieta Rica.

M aria J oao Carretero . C Cost a.

/

Je nna ne Monoom

Committee C Chair

The New Regional VP for the A FI-North A s rep or ted in the IFA TCA '84 Con ference report J ennane was elected as the regional vice-president for the new !FA TCA North Africa Region.

J ennane. born in 7944. started his A TC career when he was only 20 as a cade t con troller to become 'procedural controller ' in 7966 and quali fied as a radar controller following a successful course in Radar Control at the Eurocontrol Institute of Air Navi gation in 79 73.

His activities with the Tunisia A ssociation date ba ck to the early day s of the association culminating in his election as his association 路s presi dent His first international appearance was at the !FACTA 79 76 Conferen ce held in Lyon , later to be come his as sociation 路s liaison with IFAT CA and the chairman of the Organi zing Com mittee of /FA TCA 路s Executive Board M eeting .

Jennane is not unf amil iar with !FA TCA 路s affairs. He surely be c ome s an asset to the Fede ration .

13

Air Traffic Control: The Private Sector Option (Part 11)

by Robert W Poole Jr.

A Privatized ATC System

The idea that Air Traffic Control can and should be turne d over to private enterprise is not new. After al l. the first three air t raff ic control centers in the co untry w ere created and oper ated by a nonprofit firm. ARINC. Initially the company provided only air-to -grou nd radio comm unication but in 1935 it set up the first air traffic control center in Newa rk. with costs shared among partic ipatin g airlines in proportion to airport use. A second and third cen ter followed in 1936. at Chicago and Cleveland. respect ively. Eac h center contro lled tr affic wi thin a 50-mile radi us of the airpo rt .

14

But those were Depression years.

So when in mid-1936 the Bureau of Air Commerce asserted federal responsibility to establish 'a uniform central ized system of airway traffic cont rol ,' 16 ARINC and its airline owners were pleased to have the government (i.e., the taxpayers) take over the burden. ARINC continued to develop airline communications services. Today it operates the world's largest private line intercity communications' network, serving more than 135 airline users . Its message-switching system interconnects 52 airline reservation computer systems. ARINC provides all airline-to-aircraft communi-

cations services and contracts with the FAA to provide ATC communications for all international flights out of New York, Miami , San Juan, San Francisco, and Honolulu .

Overseas.

ATC Is sometimes provided by private sector organizations . In Switzerland the provider is Radio Suisse. a private nonprofit corporation. Although its start-up costs were underwritten by the Swiss government. its operations are funded entirely by user fees. A similar nonprofit corporation was set up in .

Mexico after World War II. with assistance from ARINC . Called RAMSA (Radio Aeronautica de Mexico, S.A.), it followed the ARINC model, with Mexican airlines as its stockholders.

Although the airlines were later nationalized. RAMSA continued as an independent entity, supported by user fees . In 1978 . it too, was nationalized. but continues to operate as an ATC services corporation, charging fees for its services. ARINC also helped set up a similar company in Cuba called RACSA . The company, and its airline owners. were nationalized by the Castro government.

A subsidiary of British Airways , International Aeradio, provides ATC

ASDE at Budapest Control Tower

......

services in Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean and in large portions of the Persian Gulf. These. too. are paid for by user charges. In nearby Saudi Arabia a different form of privatization exists. There the government contracts out the service to a private firm for five years at a time. In 1980. the contract was awarded to Bendix Field Engineering Corporation; the previous contractor was Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.

There is even a small amount of private air traffic control in the US. Since 1968. Barton ATC has been building and operating control towers at airports whose overall traffic volume does not qualify for an FAA tower. The local airport operator contracts with the company for the services. which must be provided by FAA licensees and in conformity with FAA procedures. But whereas the minimum FAA tower costs just under a million dollars to install and $275,000 a year to operate. a Barton tower typically costs just $1 20.000 a year including amortization of construction costs ( 1979 figures). Not bound by civil service regulations or union work rules. Barton requires the controllers to handle clerical tasks during light traffic periods. Barton radios cost onethird as much as FAA installed radios.

And Barton uses modular. prefabricated building components to keep down construction costs. 17

Strike In the aftermath of the 1 9 81 controllers· strike. resulting in the closure of 66 smaller towers. new firms have entered the tower business. A group of FAA controllers. who had not joined the strike. set up Air Traffic Control Services. Inc .. and won a contract to reopen the tower at Owensboro-Davis County Airport in Kentucky. Most aggressive of the newcomers is Midwest ATC Services of Olathe. Kansas. which has won a number of tower contracts. The price for operating the Farmington. New Mexico. tower is $99.000 a year. The cost of the FAA operation had been $ 2 8 7. OOO.18 Also in the business significantly is Pan American World Services. Inc .. a subsidiary of the international airline. which has operated military control towers overseas under contract.

The idea of privatizing the entire ATC system was first suggested in 1968 by aviation consultant Glen A. Gilbert. who in 1936 was the Bureau of Air Commerce's first controller. To free ATC from the problems of bureaucracy and politics. he proposed setting up a Comsat-like corporation. funded half by user fees and half by taxes. 19 But while the idea has merit.

with tax funding would come congressional oversight. and with that. political constraints.

A variation of Gilbert· s proposal. nevertheless. was endorsed by the controllers· union in 1969. The idea was for the controllers to resign en masse, set up a public service corporation. and contract with the government to operate the ATC system. 20 The Special Air Safety Advisory Group report. in 1975, recommended that a study be conducted 'to determine whether the air traffic system would be operated more efficiently with advanced technology as an independent public company.' 21 And two years later The Futures Group. a Glastonbury.

Connecticut. 'think tank'. suggested a 'Comsat-like quasi-government authority' to operate the ATC system instead of the FAA. 22 So there has been no shortage of proposals for some from of ATC privatization. Recognition of the high costs of bureaucratic operation of the ATC is widespread. It is also clear that there is no lack of models of various forms of private sector participation in ATC: The challenge is to design a privatized system that solves as many of the present system's problems as possible without creating new ones.

There are three basic issues which must be resolved in any privatization model. They are: 1. Who pays what?: Two issues concern costs. The first is the overall allocation of costs among classes of users; the second is the specific structure of user charges.

The cost allocation issue is a perennial political football. In 1973, the Department of Transportation analyzed total airport and airway costs. allocated them to each class of users and compared these figures with the revenues collected from each class. 23 The results showed that the airlines were covering 95 percent of their allocated costs while general aviation covered less than 20 percent of its allocated costs. The federal executive branch has attempted on a number of occasions to obtain legislation to increase user charges to cover 100 percent of costs. only to be defeated by political pressure from general aviation interests. As a result. in 1978 the taxpayers were still paying 54 percent of the FAA's budget. 24 However. new aviation taxes and user fees were enacted in the 1982 tax legislation. which should lead to full cost recovery in 1 983 - although even then general aviation will not be paying its full share of costs. Moreover, as long as the system is operated under political constraints. there is no guarantee that

it will not revert to the historical pattern of taxpayer subsidy.

General aviation interests defend their position by arguing that there is some sort of 'public benefit' involved in the existence of a national airways system - or what an economist would call a positive externality. But that is true of any economically beneficial activity. We all benefit from having a telephone system - but should the taxpayers in general be taxed to pay for part of its cost. rather than users paying directly in proportion to their use? Should taxes cover part of the cost of grocery stores? The economically rational way for the public to pay for the benefits they receive from, say. the ability of the president of Jones Manufacturing to visit far-flung plants via Learjet is in the price of the company's products. If Jones Manufacturing can succeed in charging prices high enough to cover the cost of the Learjet's operation - including the true user charges for airway and airport use - then the marketplace will have vindicated Jones· judgment that use of the Learjet is worthwhile. Instead. that decision is being made today on the basis of incorrect information; so some decisions lead to a waste of resources.

The ATC system should be paid for entirely by user fees, with no revenue coming from taxes. Not only does this make economic sense.it also insulates the ATC system from the political control that must accompany the use of tax money.

Objection The second payment issue concerns the types of user charges. While the exact details can be left to the marketplace. it is important to note that today's so-called aviation user taxes are a poor substitute for true user fees. To be sure. some of them vary in a crude proportion to use of the airways: fuel taxes. domestic passenger ticket taxes. and cargo waybill taxes. Aircraft registration fees and weight taxes. however. are paid once a year. regardless of use.

But economists raise a more fundamental objection to the fuel and ticket taxes (which are the principal sources of revenue among these taxes). While they are roughly proportional to usage. they are not proportional to true cost of the service Guiding a Learjet carrying two or three people between Newark and o· Hare costs just as much in the way of air controller manpower and equipment as guiding a huge DC-10 airliner. Yet the Learjet pays a tiny fraction of what the DC-10 must pay Moreover. the Learjet's presence in the system dis 15

Britain is busily installing a new-generation Air Traffic Control system. To serve integrated civil and military needs up to the tun1 of the century.

The radar stations are from Signaal, a Philips co111pany,and they incorporate MTD Ivioving Target Detect ors able. in all weathers , to distinguish individual aircraft, even when flying in fonnation.

Our advanced ATC syste111s are operational in n1any countries, e.g.Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Paraguay,Portugal, the Netherlands etc.

â&#x20AC;˘ r:" I

But there is n1ore to flying than Air Traffic Control. From checkin to arrival, Philips aviation systen1s play their vital roles around the world 's air routes.

Speeding up boarding procedures e.g.,our Dynavision 500 X-ray baggage inspection uses digital i111agingtechnology to reveal 111oreand faster. (1) In flight, aircrews steer

by Philips VOR/DMEsysten1s,while air-to-ground conversations are recorded on Philips voice logging systen1s. (2)

Meanwhile, vital inforn1ation is rushing through AERO PP data switching and handling netw orks. (3) Du1ing descents , Philips ILS Instru1nent Landing Syste1ns(4) produce precise paths for pilots , who make straight er and smooth er touch-d own s on airfields with Philip s Preci sion Approach Path Indicator s. (5) Now includ ed in th e ICAO specifications, PAPI is expected to becon1e th e world standard visual, approach slope indication syste1n. Fin ally th e safety of all tra ffic

on th e airfield is enh anced by our ASDE Airp ort Su rface Det ection Equipn1 ent.

A s one flight ends, another begins. An d continua lly, Philips elec tr onic c01n n1un ications and security systen1s safeguard th e process.

We would be pleased to send you n1ore details .Just contact the Philip s organization in your country or Phili ps,VOA -0217/TC3.

Ein dhoven. th e Netherlands.

Philips . The sure sign of expertise world -w ide.

PHILIPS

plac es another aircraft from that particular spac e-and-time segm ent of the airway, the reby imp osing costs on DC10s, 72 7s, and all other potenti al users of t hat segm ent .

Access to a contr o lled airw ay or a takeoff or landin g slot at a bu sy t ime is a valuable service. Unl ess users fac e the true cost of t his service, t hey w ill tend to dema nd mo re of it t han is available or ca n be provi ded. A privatized ATC system m ust be left fre e t o establish prices for its servic es on th e basis of supp ly and demand. This means direct payments for specif ic services over specific route segments, at spec ific loca t ions, and at speci fi c times of day. It does not mean ind irect fees like fuel taxes.

2 . Type of organ iza tional st ru ctu re : Present practice prov ides several models of private ATC op erati o n .

There are not-for- prof it co rpor ati o ns operating essenti ally in perpet uity as monopolies, suc h as Radi o Suisse and RAM SA. And t here are fo r-pr ofi t compan ies ope rating und er relati vely short -te rm co ntracts w ith eith er a nationa l governm ent (as in Saudi Arabia) or a local airpor t ind ustry.

There is no examp le of a for- profit firm being allowed a permane nt mon op oly, presumab ly beca use of the dange r of monopoly pricing That problem can be avoided w ith eit her a not-fo r-prof it structure or a for -prof it str uct ure o pen to periodic competition.

Three alternat ives see m t o exist for a count ry as large as th e Uni ted State s. The federal govern m ent co uld retain ownership of the ATC syste m but co ntract out its ope rat ion, fo llow ing the Saudi Arab ia mode l. Or a natio nwide Com sat-like corpo rati o n co uld be created, perhaps on t he m odel of AR INC, w ith airline s and othe r airspace users (inc lud ing gene ral aviatio n interests suc h as t he A irc raft Owner s and Pilot s Associa t ion) as sto c kholder s. Or. c onside ring t he size of the Unit ed State s and the bene f ic ial effects of co mpet it ion and decent ralization, regiona l not -fo r-profit corpo rat ions co uld be created with conti guous, nonoverlapping t erritori es While compet ing ATC companie s are co nceivable, th is arrangement is unlikely to be acc epted by airspace users for reaso ns of safety It was d ual, overlapping ATC system s (civilian and mi lita ry). blamed for a series of mi lita ry-civ il m idair co llision s in the 1950s , th at led to the c reati o n of the FAA and a unified ATC system in 195 8 .

3. Type of ow ner sh ip . Wh o sho uld t he owne r(s) of the ATC system be?

For t hose services that are to be prov ided by prof itma king entities, conventio nal sto ckho lder owne rship 18

would be w ise. Economist s have found that stockhold ers are highl y sen siti ve to the performan ce of a firm, providing for strong feedback to its manager s . Even in the case of aircrah manufacturers , stockholder s respond sharpl y to any news indicating that a particular firm' s practice s may have been the cause of a crash .25 If th e c hoice is a not -for-profit firm , the ARINC model of user organiz at io ns as st oc khold ers has mu c h to reco mm end it . There wo uld be conf lict s am ong th e intere st s of variou s airspace users, especia lly betwee n general aviation and airline s, and to a

lesser extent between bu siness-jet op erator s and airline s. If all the se user group s were stockh o lders it w ould at least provide a framework for working out fee structures and operating procedure s th at would be respon sive to the broad needs of all , if not wholly sati sfactor y to any.

Another ow nership option ought not be overlook ed: employee ownership. One of th e new contr act control to w er firms is emplo yee ow ned . Given the lon g histo ry of controller dissati sfaction w ith the FAA. it is likely that many co nt ro llers have go od ideas on how to operat e and manage , say, enroute co ntrol cent ers. To the extent

....

The Control Tower at Budapest Airport

that the organizational structure permits. employee ownership would be worth pursuing.

Designing the System It is clear that there are three essential criteria for a privatized ATC system. First. it must be 100 percent user charge funded. to insulate the system from political control and to provide proper economic incentives for user-provider interactions. The user fees ought to be set in the marketplace. by supply and demand. rather than by government fiat.

Secondly. to maximize safety. there must be a single. unified A TC system throughout the country. regardless of how many entities (single or decentralized) are involved as providers. A unified 'system· includes common procedures. terminology. and technical standards. but not necessarily identical equipment or capital labor combinations. The example of private control tower operators reminds us that. when alternate ways of meeting a common technical requirement are allowed. some will develop more costeffective solutions than others.

Finally. there should be some form of competition and diversity in the system structure. A structure leading to monopoly pricing would be unfair to users and wasteful of resources. A structure based on a single workforce would probably end up unionized with a single union. This would raise the possibility of a nationwide strike. which would be legal if the employer were a private firm. Moreover. costsaving innovations are more likely to be developed in a competitive atmosphere rather than in a monopoly.

These seemingly contradictory design requirements can all be met. The key is a two-level ATC organization.

The top level would be an ATC System Corporation with overall system design and coordination responsibility.

The System Corporation would contract out the operation of the individual en-route and approach/departure control centers to ATC Operating Companies. The Operating Companies would be profit-making firms. perhaps including the existing US control tower contractors and such aerospace firms as Bendix and Lockheed with ATC experience. The ATC System Corporation would be a notfor-profit firm analogous to ARINC. with user organizations as stockholders.

The enabling legislation setting up the System Corporation would transfer to it. from the FAA. ownership of the existing facilities and equipment of the ATC system. Contracts for operating the various centers initially would

Privatization of the air traffic control be let for differing time periods. so that they would not all come up for rebid- system in this two-level manner would ding simultaneously. In addition. no solve the problems plaguing today's Operating Company would be allowed ATC system by radically changing the to have more than three center con- incentives of all the participants. tracts in effect at any given time. In Prospects this way. a diversity of operators would What are the political prospects for be achieved and the threat of a nationwide strike minimized. Initial privatizing air traffic control? It faces center contracts should pass title of two primary sources of institutional resistance: the FAA bureaucracy and ownership of much of the equipment the general aviation community. FAA to the contractor. and contracts should run for a long enough period. management will resist any reduction perhaps six to ten years. to make in its jurisdiction; it already opposes privatization proposals. General aviongoing investment in new equipment ation organizations have a long history a rational expense for the contracting of opposing aviation user charges. firms.

The not-for-profit System Corpor- Since privatization involves a shift ation would define and collect the user from taxation to user fees - and charges for all en-route ATC services. consequently cost increases for genThis would simplify matters for the eral aviation -opposition from general user. who would have only one billing aviation organizations can be expectorganization to deal with no matter ed. On the other hand. the recent boost in aviation tax and user charges how many centers served a particular flight. Operations data required for means that the impact of changing to computation of billings would be col- a private system would not be so lected as ATC services actually are great. as far as users are concerned. rendered and would be stored in com- This might well reduce the strength of puter files as a by-product of routine general aviation's resistance to the system operations. idea.

What is surprising is the extent of The System Corporation would be responsible for long-term ATC re- possible support for ATC privatization. search and development. systems Many airline managers are greatly planning and design. and certain as- disturbed about backdoor re-regupects of hardware and software pro- lation of the industry by the FAA in the curement. It would serve as the overall guise of landing/takeoff slot restrictions and flow-control procedures.

ATC system manager. coordinating the activities of the various Operating The airlines with most to lose from inadequate slots are the new entrants to Companies.

This two-level structure provides the industry - carriers such as Jet complete independence from political America. Muse Air. and New York Air. control. thanks to market determined These entrepreneurial airlines have prices and the absence of tax funding. captured the public's imagination It provides competition among sup- and could become powerful advopliers to maximize cost-effective inno- cates of a privatized system that would vations. Yet it maintains the safety ad- prevent bureaucratic sabotage of the vantage of a single. nationwide ATC competition encouraged by deregulasystem. The not-for-profit. user owned tion. But even the ·establishment' Air has been top-level structure provides safe- Transport Association guards against monopoly pricing. And sounding the alarm about the prosthe decentralized structure provides pect of the FAA making flow control safeguards against nationwide strikes. permanent. Airline inter~sts_th~s may while permitting unionization of indi- be mobilized for ATC pnvatIzatIon. Because it would restore the convidual center workforces if the employees so desire. Yet the need for trollers· right to strike. privatization by each Operating Company to remain has already been endorsed competitive would serve to restrain organized labor. In an interview on union demands for unreasonable re- Cable News Network on August 1 9.

1981. AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkmuneration.

The proposed system provides in- land said. 'There's no reason why it centives for long-term planning. for (ATC) could not be a service maintainusing state-of-the-art technology. tor ed collectively by these private. profitbeing cost-effective. and for being re- making companies (the airlines) and sponsive to user needs. With a carried out in that way.' Similarly. in diversity of Operating Companies. September. International Association some of them possibly employee of Machinists· president William Winowned. individual controllers would pisinger told Pat Buchanan on a have a choice of work environments Washington. DC. television program and probably a much higher level of (Channel g·s 'Aher Hours·) that air traffic control should be turned over to morale than currently exists.

19

the privat e secto r . So pr ivat izat io n would allow fi red con tr o llers t o ret urn to wo rk, wi t hout a ret reat by eithe r t he Administrat ion or th e co ntro llers .

Privati zat ion of governmen t services is also qui te co nsistent w it h t he Reagan Admin ist rat ion's ob j ecti ve of reducing the sca le and scope of t he fed eral governme nt . Thus, c on servatives would have goo d ca use to support the move Liber als, t oo , should find m uch t o app laud in privatization Not on ly w o uld the rig ht to strike of air traffic control lers be restored, but 100 percent user charg e financing would end t he prese nt subsidy of general aviat ion's we ll-t o-do private pilots and corpo rate jet -sett ers by the majority of less aff lue nt passengers and taxpayers .

Init ial med ia reac t io n to the idea has been positiv e . Stat ed the New York Times: ' Indeed , an expe rim ent with more privat e con tro llers co uld be broadly usef ul. If t hey ca n do t he j ob as we ll, it is ha rd t o see w hy the Government sho uld be in th e bu sine ss at all.' (edito rial, Octo ber 23 , 198 1) And Lindley Clark of t he Wall Street Journal obse rved, 'There is no good reason w hy the gove rnmen t co uld not t urn over t he bu lk of t he tra ffi c c ontro l system to private ente rpr ise ' (Decemb er 29, 198 1) In short, the privat izatio n of air t raffic contro l may we ll be an idea w hose time has co me . The on ly int erest groups likely to oppose it are genera l aviation and the FAA bureauc racy itself. But as a proposa l w hic h · un it es the sup port of lab or, conserva ti ves, and liberal s: imp roves transpo rta t io n effi c iency: reduces de lays and fu el waste: improves air safety: and sim ultaneously c uts the fed eral budget, it wou ld seem to be both a very popu lar and a very ration al reform.

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Glen A . Gilbert. , Histor ica l Deve lop m ent of th e A ir Traffi c Co ntrol Syst em.' IEEE Transactions on Communic a tions , Vo l .

COM -21. No. 5. May 19 73 Wil liam Langew iesche. 'Th e Towe r Trad e.' Flyin g, Decemb er 19 7 9.

Brenton R. Sch lend er. , Some Smal l Air po rts Hiri ng Firms t o Provide A ir Traffi c Contr ollers,, Wall Street J ournal , M arc h 24 , 198 2 Glen A Gilbe rt, The United States A ir Traffic Services Corp orations (W ashington , DC Glen A Gilbe rt & Associate s, 1975), 2 vols. · PATCO Seek s M ass Resign ations Ruling,' A via tion Week & Space Techn ology, Novemb er 10 , 1 969 .

Note 9 , supr a .

US Feder al Aviation Admini st ration . The Futur es Group . A via tion Future s to the Year 2000 , 1977 .

US Departmen t of Tran spo rtation , Airport and A irwa y Cost A lloca tion Study , Determ ina tion , Alloca tion , and Recovery of System Costs , September 1973 US Department of Transportation . Financing the A irpor t and A irway System Cost A lloca tion and Recovery , FAA-AV P78 - l 4 , Nove mb er 1978 .

And rew Chalk . 'The Role of Brand Nam es in th e Provision of Safety A n Empirica l Test on t he US Passenge r A irc raft M arket ,· Wash ingto n Universi ty Depa rt m ent of Econo m ics (unpub lished paper present ed at W estern Ec onom ic Association . Jul y 1 982 )

Report on Visit to CAR-Region

by Lex Hendriks (Vice-President Techni cal)

Promotions While it is formally arranged that aher a number of years in a certain grade one should receive a promotion to the next grade. controllers encounter great difficulties with this. First of all no formal record is kept by the authorities so controllers themselves have to indicate that they are elegible for promotion. but after having done this it often takes three to four years to actually be promoted. For this reason most of th e con tr o ller s and supervisor s are working below their rightful grade and rank .

Curac;ao Curac;;ao is the biggest of the six islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles . The islands are divided in two groups , the Windward island group , consisting of the three so-called ·s· islands.

St. Maarten.

Saba and St . Eustasius. and the three Leeward islands or so-called ·ABC' group. just 30 nmi off the coast of Venezuela.

Aruba. Bonaire and Curac;;ao.

The Netherlands Antilles were granted autonomy in 1954 with a fully elected 22-member Parliament (Staten). and a national government. but with an appointed governor.

Each island has its own island council (Eilandsraad).

Area Control for the Windward Islands is delegated to Puerto Rico while for the Leeward Islands Curac;;ao holds this responsibility . Curac;;aoACC controllers are civil servants of the national government. Approach and tower con trol is done locally by controller s being civil servants of their respective island councils .

After arrival on Sunday. January 8. an informal meeting was held with ATCANA 's president Donald Meul ens. treasurer Carl Flanders and RVP CAR Charles Lester. Area s of concern were discussed. such as a not yet operational radar. lack of VHF coverage in the northwe stern part of the FIR (no HF available) . difficulties in getting the financial side of a promotion and obtaining special leave for IFATCA and/ or association purposes. and finally, the long-present threat of a civil servants' strike .

Radar Full radar service (ma x. range 80 nmi) was provided by Curac;;ao ACC until December 1978 . when the service was withdrawn because of mechanical misfunctions in the system . Howe ver, in November 1 983. after long insistance by contrn llers. a project was initiated to rebuild the radar system. Great difficulties were encountered trying to get replacement parts. delaying the whole project. At the moment the system itself is again functioning. Evalua tion and fine-tuning sti ll has to be done and for this.

Some yea rs ago an ambitious modernization program was set up for aviation. This was based on a promise for an aid program by the Europea n Economic Community (EEC). At the moment man y discussions are going on at government/ EEC-level as to what exactly the se promises contained ...

Special Leave

Lex Hendriks controllers are being asked to· glance· at the radar display and to make their comments known to the department.

As for now controllers. w hile being extremely glad that the syst em is at least working again. are sti ll skeptical whether it will ever have the same high qu ality as before and for how long .

Deleg ates to Conference are normally granted the necessary specia l leave but for other functions . like Regional Me et ings . the Association finds it very difficult to obtain this .

Talks about this subject have now reached the point where the Minister has been approached directly.

On Monday. a meeting wa s held w ith Ors. S.J. Francisco . Deput y Director of the Department for Avia ti o n .

Mr. M. van der Blom . Chief ACC Curac;;ao. and Mr. Robert Seyken s. ACC supervisor. The latter two gen t lemen

Radio Equipment For th e biggest part of the FIR good ACC-VHF facilities are avai lab le from the island Curac;;ao. The extreme northwest part. however.

1s completely out of VHF range . wh ile HF equipment was remo ved some years ago . As a result. this part of the FIR no lon ge r has CTA stat us.

Finances All problems mentioned here are a dire ct result of lack of fin ancia l reso urces . Main income for most of the islands comes from touri sm. w hile Curac;;ao also has th e biggest oil-refin ery in this part of the wor ld . It is here that a great portion of the Latin American crude is refined to usable oil products. Howe ver . at the moment both the demand for oil products is decreas ing and tourism is show ing some fall-back. Minor financial aid is com ing from the Netherlands .

Control Tower on the island of Tobag o 21

have been attending I FATCA Confe rences in previous years. From ATCANA, president Donald Meulens and Charles Lester (also RVP) were present. After the formal introduction almost all the topics were raised that had been discussed with the Associatio n t he day before . Mr. Francisco proved to be very well informed and he out lined the developments from his poi nt of view . He assured us that the Government, and the Department in part ic ular are trying very hard to come up wit h solu t ions for all of the problems. taking w ell into consideration the argum ents of ATCANA. Finally. th e involvement of AT CANA, th e impo rta nce of a w el l-pr esented IFATCA and IFATCA' s wi lling ness to provide any informatio n o r assistance as required w ere str essed and receiv ed appreci ati on from th e deputy di rect or .

A lso on Mond ay an exten sive visit was made t o t he Area Control Center On Tuesday. the M iniste r of Transpo rt and Co mmuni cat ions (Ve rkeer & Vervoe r) Mr. Ch .L.R . Ellis wa s kind enough to m ake himsel f available for an hour t o t he IFATCA del egation.

Present was also the Dire ctor of the Dep artm ent for Aviation .

Mr .

C E Catha lina The M iniste r explai ned th e spec ific financial problems t hat are fac ing the Govern ment of t he Net herlan ds Atil les. mak ing it diffic ult to exped it e improve ments in ATC. IFATCA's Vice- President Techn ica l offered to approach the EEC in order to present the Anti lles' case and to ask fo r financial support Mr . Ellis was extreme ly glad with th is offer and promised to make avai lab le t o IFATCA all relevant backgro un d mate rial.

Finally the M inister dec lared he attached great va lue to t he wo rk bei ng done by IFATCA and st ressed th at he wo uld do anyth ing withi n his powe r to see that active part ic ipat ion by ATCANA would be made possib le.

Afterwards the fo llowi ng st atemen t was prepared 'Dinsdag ontv ing de Mi niste r van Ve rkeer en Ve rvoe r. Mr . Ch. L.R Ellis vertege nwoo rdigers van de luchtve rkeers leiders. Aa nleid ing hier t oe was het bezoek dat de Vice - President van de lnternat iona le Federat ie va n lucht verkee rsleide r sve renigingen (I FATCA). de Nede rlander A .W . F. Hendr iks. momentee l af legt aan Cura c;:ao en later Trinidad en Tobago. op doo rreis naar ee n Reg ionale Ve rgader ing van IFATCA, we lke vo lgende week in Costa Rica zal wa rden gehouden .

De ontmoet ing . waaraan verder dee ln ame n de Di rekteur van het Dep artement voo r Luchtvaart Mr .

C. E. Catha lin a.

Dona ld M eu lens .

22

On e of the two ACC sector s at Curar;ao ACC

voorzitter van de verkeersleider sver eniging der Ned erland se Antillen en Cha rles Lester . IFATCA's Regional Vic e-Preside nt Caribbe an. verliep in een biJzonder goede en ontspannen sfe er.

De Mini ster gaf uitleg van de bijzonde re fin ancie le problemen waarm ee de overheid van de Antillen kamp t, we lke het moeilijk maken de no di ge verbet eringe n aan het luc htverkee rsleiding ssystee m snel u1t t e voe ren . Toezegg inge n voo r hulp van bepaa lde zijd e is to t dusver niet geeffect ueerd .

De heer Hendrik s prees de Antilliaanse rege ring voo r de mat e waa nn deze zich deso ndanks 1nzet om de luc ht verkeersbeveilig ing t oc h zo op-

timaal mogelijk te laten verlopen. Hij zegde verder toe dat I FAT CA op haar beurt de Antilli aanse zaak zal bepleiten bij de Nederl andse overheid . de EEG en de Verenigde Naties.

Minister Ellis was hiero ver zeer verheugd en zedge toe zoveel mogelijk informatie-materi aal aan I FATCA beschikba ar te zull en stellen.

Tenslott e verklaarde de Minister . hierin gesteund door Mr. Cathalin a. gro at belang t e hec hten aan het w erk dat IFATCA. waa rbij meer dan 60 Ianden over de gehele w ereld zijn aangesloten . uitv oert en al het mogelijk e te zull en doe n om een ac ti eve dee lname van de Nederl and se Antillen in IFATCA zeker te stellen . In dit kader zullen zond ag dan oak twee verte ge n-

Piarco ACC at Trinidad's Piarco International A irport

Mr . Monge (third from left) President of the Republic of Costa Rica

woordigers van de Antilliaanse luchtverkeersleiders afreizen naar Costa Rica om de eerder genoemde Regionale Vergadering van IFATCA bij te kunnen wonen. ·

Special General MeetingATCANA In addition to the already mentioned meetings, a Special General Meeting of ATCANAwas held , with as main agenda item 'IFATCA.' The vicepresident technical was asked to explain to the Federation , how it operates, and what the benefits are for controllers worldwide. After this a very lively discussion took place covering all aspects of IFATCA. All in all the Executive Board of IFATCA believes it was a very productive and worthwhile visit, and we thank the Air Traffic Controllers ' Asssociation Netherlands Antilles for its hospitality. Personally, I just hope to see my friends from Curac;:aosoon.

Wednesday On Wednesday . the Vice-Pre sident Techni cal travelled to the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago . on a ticket provided by ALM -Netherland s Antilles Airlines· General Manager , Mr . M c Namara Upon arriv al in Port of Spain . he w as met by the President of the Trinid ad and Tobago Air Traffi c Controllers · Association (TIAT CA ).

Mr . Samual Lamp kin and other members/ dire ctor s of the Associ ation Sam Lampkin presented a very exten sive progr am for th e next few days, all very we ll planned .

Left to right Donald Meulens, President A TCANA, Lex Hendriks !FA TCA 's Vice-President Technical, Netherlands Antilles Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr .

Ch. L. R. Ellis, Mr. C. E. Cathalina , Director Department o f Civil Aviation and Charles Lester, RVP CAR

Trinidad and Tobago The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago covers an area of 51 28 km 2 of land. Discovered by Columbus in 1498, it became a Spanish colony in 1 5 3 2 . After having been used as a bastion for the British , the Dutch and the French in their war again st the Spanish. Trinidad became part of the then British Empire in 1797. Tob ago followed in 1802 . At the moment it is an independent part of the Commonwealth. Main sources of income are agri c ulture (sugarcane) . mining, oil and increasing tourism . It holds the world ' s largest reserve in tar .

After having met formally w ith the TIATCA Board of Director s on the morning of Thursday , January 1 2th. a courte sy call was made on the Trinidad and Tob ago Airline Pilots A ssoci ation (memb er of IFALPA). Main area of di sc ussion was a possible cooper ation betw een the tw o assoc iation s w hen approaching aviation authoritie s in futu re. TALPA President Capt ai n Roge r Grell and his fellow direct o rs w ere very interested in the idea During th e meeting arrangement s w ere made for further meeting s bet w een TIATCA and TALPA. In recent corre sponden ce bet w een TALPA 's IFALPA Director Capt ain Pet er Peraira and IFATCA' s Vi cePresident Tec hni ca l. aga in me nti on was m ade th at TALPA is of the op inio n th at a maJor st ep has been m ade fo r both assoc iation s.

Follow ing t his meetin g , a visit was made to th e Civil Aviati on Trai ning

Center . Although no training was in progress at the time , Senior Inst ruc t or Mr. George Livingstone explained t he set-up of the training progr ams . Tra ining for both Area Control and Tow er / Approa ch Control may be und ertak en at the Center . Stud ents fro m m any States in the Caribbean attend ed t his Center . often gett ing thi s t rainin g free of-charge from th e Gove rnm ent of Trinidad and Tob ago. A s such, the center has con t ributed to a large extent to the safety in c ivil aviat ion in th is part of th e wo rld.

After lun c h. a visit was made to the Director of Civil Aviat io n . Mr . Gerald Seignoret . Al so present we re Mr. George Thornh ill, Dep uty Di rector.

Mr . Ewa rt Bo isselle, Ass istant Direc tor and Mr . Errol As hby, Flig ht O perat io ns/ Lice nsing Offi ce r. From the assoc iati on , apart fr om Mr . Sam Lam pkin . President. also M r. Les lie Payne . Sec retary. Mr . M alcol m de Peiza, Treasurer and M r. Trevor Dow ric h, Direct or. prof essiona l ma t te rs. we re present M r. Seignoret spoke at great length about the prob lems t hat the Govern me nt of the Rep ublic is facing ; having ta ken the pos it ion t hat it wil l not be enga ge d in nego t iat ions w ith foreign com mercial compan ies it relies to a large extent on ot her governments.

For th is reason e .g . Transport Canada wi ll look after major imp rovements in t he ATC system He promised that w ithin six months . the Republi c will have a completely renewed system . and invited IFATCA to co m e and check then. No doubt TIAT CA vvill keep t he Executive Board informed .

23

Still. one can only be surprised by the ever present willingness of Trinidad controllers to facilitate airlines in using optimum routes.

Grenada One recalls the invasion of Grenada

by US troops last year. This was accompan ied by a wide range of tactical mission s by US aircraft unknown to Trinidad ACC. After having complained strong ly about this dangerous situat ion (see previous issues of the Circular). measures we re taken so that TIATC A now describes the situa tion as· although not fully under co ntrol . at least co ntroll able. · US military aircraft still go tactical from e.g . FL 330 but at least keep a listening watch for calls by Trini dad ACC .

Carlos Olmos . RVP for North Central Amer ica

and

The next day. Frid ay. was spen t entirely at the Piarco Int ernatio nal Airport to visit th e Piarco Tow er and ACC facilities. and to me et w ith members of TIATCA. Problems that were discussed included: Radio Coverage Tr inidad ACC is responsible for an extremely vast FIR / UIR . rangi ng fr o m Venezue la in the south to San J uan in the north. from M aiquet ia FIR in the west to Santa Maria FIR in t he east.

The UIR starts at FL 200. w hile the under lying TMA ' s are co ntrolled by approach units o n the indi vidu al islands. like Barbados an d Martinique.

Th e western part of the FIR / UIR is cont ro lled ai rspace. V HF rad io cove rage is prov ided via remot e out lets on some of the islands. However. only one V HF-frequency is availab le for th is entire airspace. Du e to very frequent fai lur e of one o r al l t he o utl et s of t en no radio commun icatio n is poss ible.

HF radio cove rage for the easte rn part of the FIR is sti ll provided by IA L. Traffic c learances / adv iso ries by Trinidad cont ro llers are co mmuni cat ed to aircraft by an IAL rad io ope rato r Navaids On ly a limited amount of navai ds are ava ilab le in thi s area . and t hese are sometimes unreliable Many ai rline s are now using RNA V routes . eve n though the se are not offici ally pub lished proc edure s This nonadhe ranc e t o (pub lished) VO R/ NDB rout e stru ctur es pre sents additional diffi c ultie s t o th e (proc edural) Trinidad ACC .

24

Procedures Some time was spent on discussing the most optimum division level between ACC and APP: whether it should be a full FL or half FL. e.g . FL 200 or FL 195 .

Tobago On Saturday a visit was made to the island of Tobago . Only 20 minutes by

HS 748 from Port of Spain 's Piarco airport. this island is wel l known for its beautiful beaches and friendly atmosphere . Briti sh West Indie s Airlines Air Bridge service flies almost continuously between the two islands , making it one of the busiest air-corridors in this part of the wo rld. Air traffic control is done by controllers work ing in the loca l tower , being stationed there for one or two months at a time from Trinidad . Communications with Trinidad are maintained through radio lin ks.

The airport itself has a relatively short runway . a very sma ll ap ron and no ta xiways. Still it handles far more traffic than man y big airports ...

To conc lude I must say that from the Executive Board' s point of view, this visit to Trinidad and Tobago was very worthwhi le, and I must thank our friends on the islands for making me feel so welcome and allowing me to 'taste ' (sometimes literall y) Caribbean hospita Iity .

On Sunday. January 1 5, KL- 7 71 was again boarded for the flight to Costa Rica in order to attend the 6th Regional Meeting NCA/ SAM / CAR. A word of appreciation for services provided by KLM is appropriate.

Sixth Regional Meeting NCA/SAM/CAR A Sixth Regional Meeting. intended for the NCA . SAM and CAR Regions. was held in the city of San Jose . Costa Rica. Due to all sort s of difficulties. however . only one MA from SAM was repre sented (Venezuela) and one MA from CAR (Nether lands Antille s).

Still . some 25 delegates from the following co untri es attended:

meeting was formal _ly opened by Sr. Hern an Azofe1fa V1quez. the ViceMinister of Tran sport of Costa Rica .

The first work ing session started on Thur sday . J anuar y 1 9th. Carlo s Olmo s was elected as chairman, whi le Jonny Arrieta Alvarado was elected as secretary.

Canada Costa Rica Honduras Nicarag ua

After the above mentioned elec tions , the agenda was adopted . followed by the appro val of the report of the Fifth Regional Meeting , held last year in Mexico City. While discussing this report, many questions were again raised about possible scho larships elsewhere and about the que stionnaire that is prepared by SC IV . Canada specifica lly was asked if they cou ld accommodate foreign student s for ATC training. CATCA President Jack Butt promi sed to look into this matter and to report ba c k t o the Regions as soo n as possible Next agenda item was the reports

by RVP's .

Since Charle s Lester (RVP CAR) was not present . no rep o rt co uld be

El Salvador CENAMERUAC

MA ·s Imm NCA

}

Observers from NCA

Net herlands Antille s

MA from CAR

Venezuela MA from SAM Th e Exec uti ve Board was represe nted by President Harry Hensch ler and Vice -President Techn ica l Lex Hendr iks Th e formal Opening Ceremony was held on W edne sday night. January 1 8. 1 9 84. After speec hes by our host assoc iat ion SITECNA. Harri Henschler and Carlos Olmo s (RVP NCA). the

Proceedings of Meeting

given on this Region, VP Technical Lex Hendriks however was able to report on Trinidad and Tobago since he had just arrived for this MA (see separate report).

RVP SAM, although not present at the meeting, had submitted an extensive written report on activities in his Region, such as an improving situation in Brazil, where a new Board has been elected by the new Association, now based in Rio; controllers in Peru have been threatened with replacment by military controllers; in Ecuador, the military administration doesn't allow controllers to form an association; initial contact has been established with Columbia and Bolivia.

Mario Salazar thanked Mr. Carlos Luque from Peru for all his assistance.

RVP NCA Carlos Olmos reported from his Region: Although Nicaragua's dues have been paid by the Edmonton Branch of CATCA, criticism on I FATCA seems to prevent active participation by this MA; CATCA will be able to resume negotiations with the administration in November of this year. It will be very interesting since this is an election year in Canada; the situation in the USA has seen little change; President Henschler has kept regular contact with USATCO and has recently been in contact with the new Secretary of Transportation. Carlos Olmos further reported that the situation in Mexico is far from ideal. The association is on the edge of collapse and will only be able to survive when the administration comes up with financial support.

Under the agenda item Membership Difficulties, Venezuela_ repo~ed major financial problems in paying subscription dues. Carlos Olmos suggested that Venezuela present their case to the Directors at Conference.

Vice-President Technical Lex Hendriks made the point that the present Executive Board attaches great importance to the involvement of the Latin American Regions in IFATCA and that any problems the associations face in maintaining their membership should be discussed with the Board and ultimately at Conference.

The Netherlands Antilles and Costa Rica reported having no major problems at the moment.

At this stage the advantage of being a member of IFATCA was questioned. CATCA's President Jack Butt emphasized that regardless of whether you notice any tangible results, it is important that controllers worldwide remain united. Too often. controllers and their associations like to see fast results; this is, however, not always possible, most of the positive developments require time. As such,

the slow but definite progress IFATCA is making getting recognition by ICAO was mentioned. In the long run this will be beneficial for all controllers.

Spanish Bulletin. Discussing the language problems in this part of the world, it was suggested that a Regional Bulletin should be produced with the participation of all the associations. It should contain information of interest to all the associations for the better understanding of their activities and problems, Costa Rica and Venezuela were charged with the task of distribution for the Spanish speaking countries. Canada, aher having been supplied with one English translation, would look after distribution for the English speaking countries in NCA and CAR Regions.

Meeting with the President of Costa Rica In the evening a visit was made to the President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Sr. Luis Alberto Monge. Attending the meeting were Harri Henschler, Lex Hendriks, Carlos Olmos, Hugo Esquivel, President of SITECNA, Sr. Jonny Arrieta and Sr. 'Sonny' Acuna (both SITECNA). In a very informal and cordial atmosphere, the work of IFATCA was discussed, the importance of active participation by controllers from all parts of the world including Costa Rica and possible support from the Costa Rican Government in hosting the 1 986 Conference in their country.

The President was very impressed with the high professionalism of Costa Rican controllers and promised that SITECNA could expect full support from his Government if the IFATCA directors decided to hold the 1 986 Conference in San Jose. Finally IFATCA's President Henschler asked for a speedy solution for the financial settlement that still had to be finalized on controllers' salaries in Costa Rica.

Sr. Monge promised that he personally would see to this.

Second Day On the second day the meeting went back a few minutes to Membership Difficulties. since Honduras had in the meantime arrived. They explained the extreme difficulties they have trying to get foreign currency required to pay the IFATCA dues. The IFATCA Board pointed out that these problems should be presented to Conference. Honduras promised to submit a working paper.

Technical Problems in the Regions.

Since not many associations from outside the NCA Region were present, the discussions focused around this

Region. The main reason for all problems proves to be the lack of a good ATC training, outdated and poorly maintained equipment and also the reluctance to let controllers participate in discussing possible changes to be made. Vice-President Technical Lex Hendriks offered to write to the administrations involved offering assistance and advice by the Federation.

For this, the MA's would supply him with the addresses to write to.

Recruitment and Training. This matter is of great concern to the Central American associations. It was decided to approach the administrations via the RVP' s to encourage them to look into this matter and to offer IFATCA's help.

Venue for the VI Ith Regional Meeting. A long discussion took place on the advantages of having a joint meeting NCA/SAM/CAR. It was decided that SAM and NCA would again have a joint meeting for which Nicaragua offered Managua as venue.

The Netherlands Antilles offered Curac;ao as venue for the CAR Regional Meeting. Both Curac;ao and Venezuela offered to be the alternative venue for the SAM/ NCA Meeting.

Any Other Business. Costa Rica formally announced that it would offer San Jose as the venue for IFATCA's 1 986 Conference and asked for support from the Regions.

The associations of CENAMER and El Salvador mentioned their intention to apply for I FATCA membership at the 1 984 Conference. The Netherlands Antilles informed the meeting that a civil servants labor action was about to start but stated that no action from the Federation was required.

At the close of the meeting VicePresident Technical Lex Hendriks impressed on the representatives to present proper working papers for the next Regional Meeting. so that both the Executive Board and the other MA's may be better prepared for discussions.

IFATCA's President Harri Henschler addressed the participants and asked for continuous active participation of Member Associations in the work of the Federation.

Both Board Members expressed their satisfaction in having been able to witness another successfui Regional Meeting and again confirmed to the representatives the great value the Board attaches to development in these Regions.

The Meeting's Chairman thanked his Secretary Sr. Jonny Arrieta for his assistance and all delegates for their participation in the meeting After this he officially closed the Sixth Regional Meeting.

25

Asas de Portugal 2 1 -

Among the many surprises that colleagues from Portugal had in store for the hundreds of delegates who participated at the 2 3rd Annual Conference of IFATCA, in Estoril, Portugal late in March were the aerobatic displays executed magnificently by the Portuguese Air Force Aerobatic team known as the 'Asas de Portugal'.

A full program of aerobatics from the six T-3 7C team varied from loops to barrel drops to the most spectacular maneuvers, the crossovers.

The aerobatic team of the Portuguese Air Force Asas de Portugal (Wings of Portugal) is based at Sintra Air Force Base and flies 6 Cessna T-37Cs. The team has been operating since 1977 and displayed in several European countries (France, United Kingdom, West Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy).

The Portuguese Air Force (PAF) doesn't have a long tradition of aerobatic teams. There was a demonstration team in the mid-1950s flying F-84G Drag6es and in the late 1 950s another flying F-86F S. Jorges. In the mid-1960s there was an aerobatic team made up of T-3 7 instructor pilots Diabos Vermelhos (Red Devils) ...

None of these teams survived for more than a couple of years.

In 1976 the PAF was invited to participate in one of the most important aeronautical events in Europe, the International Air Tattoo 1977, the Chief of Staff having then nominated the 102 Squadron as the official representative of the Portuguese Air Force. This was the beginning of the aerobatic team Asas de Portugal.

The primary mission of the 102 Squadron is the undergraduate pilot training, for which purpose the squadron is equipped with 25 Cessna T-37Cs that have been operating since 1963.

Nowadays. the squadron has 1 8 IPs and graduates an average of 25 pilots a year.

The aerobatic team starts its activity every year by mid-October when the squadron leader selects among his instructor pilots the five to join him in· the flying team. There are also other IPs working for the team, one as Public Relations and another as Logistics Officer.

26

CROSSOVERS AND 3 + 3 REJOIN

CUP AND 3 + 3 CROSSOVERS

3 -

STEEP - TURN 4 -

DOUBLE «V« BAF!REL ROLL

6 -

STEEP TURN (DOUBLE «V..)

II 7 -

LINE - ABREAST LOOP/ /BARRELL ROLL

8 -

10 -

11 -

13 -

KITE LOOP

CROSSOVERS

NORMAL LOOP

..y., LOOP REJOIN

n

. ,,,, -~~ ~ 14 -

MIRROR AND FINAL PASS

The team members start practising aerobatic formation flights during periods of the day that don· t interfere with the instruction activity and by March or April a full sequence display is read y to be practised. The team is ready for public appearance by May. The team is supported by the regular maintenan ce personnel while on base. for th e demonstrations there is a ground crew of 10 technicians under the command of a maintenance officer tra velling w ith the aerobatic team.

Since it s formation in 197 7 the Demonstration Team has had approximately 1 00 displays. 20 of w hich were international air meetings.

In 1 981 all the act ivity of the Asas de Portugal was cance lled due to economic reasons. For the 1 982 season the activity was restarted with certain limitation s in the flying hours .

The aircra ft of the Asas de Portuga l is the Cessna T-3 7C . very similar to the Cessna T-37B used by the USAF . the only remarkable difference is the capability of insta llin g tip tanks on the ·c model. wh ich boosts the endurance w hen travelling abroad.

The engines are two Continental J-69-T-25 s giving 1.025 pounds of thrust at sea level with 1 00 % rpm (2 1,730). The gross weigh t is 6.673 pounds . which makes it an under powered aircraft making the task of flying aerobat ic formation more difficu lt. The ma x. speed of the T-37C is 382 knot s and the serv ice ceiling 25 OOO feet . Dur ing the displa y t he airspeed varies between 1 00 and 300 knots and the altitude on top of t he loop is approximate ly 2500 feet above ground level.

The only modification introdu c ed in the basic aircraft for the aerobati c team was the smoke system ; one of the fuel ce lls of the right wing was isolated and used to ca rry approximately 1 80 lbs of gasoil. Wh en smoke is needed the gaso il is inj ected into the exhaust of th e engines. Onl y 10 of the 25 T-37 s have smo ke syste ms. All the airc raft are painted w ith the t eam co lou rs - white base w ith green and red stripe s. th e co lour s of the nati onal flag The mission of the ae robat ic team accord ing to its st at ute is to promote the public image of t he PAF eff iciency contributing to the expansion of the Air Force. rousing inte rest among young people and act ing as the PAF rep resen t at ive in internatio nal meet -

ings

L

The pilots who make up the team are.· M aj. Pessoa. Capt. L Silva. Capt Teixeira. Capt. Gromicho . Capt Melo .

Capt. S Pereira. Capt Angel o and Lt. San tana

27

______x..--------~--¡

.,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,.,,,, ,,.a.A. ~~~~ ~

Airbus A320 - A Reality

The wo rld 's first advanced 'w ide' single-aisle 1 50-seat jetl iner, Ai rbus lndu strie' s A320, is now a rea lity, the conso rtiu m and its partn ers now be ing comm itt ed to the deve lop ment and produ ction of the aircraf t. Thi s was anno un ced on Friday, 2nd M arch by Mr . Bernard Lath iere, President and Chief Executi ve Officer of Airbus lndu strie, In the course of a press c o nference he ld in Paris 'We had set t hree prerequi sites for the def init ive go ahead of the progra m ,, said Mr. Lathi ere. 'The first and se-

---

-

------

A320 Production sharing I

, ,

CASA

5 Be lli 1bus

- -

28

-

---------

__

A320 Fact Sheet Wing span overall Length overa ll Height overa ll Fuselage diameter Cabin width Maximum takeoff weig ht Maximum landing we ight Ma ximum zero fu el we ight Maximum fu el capac ity Operating weigh t empty Maximum structural payload Seating, all economy 32 in pitch Seat ing two class Super first class layout

J B1UlshAe1ospate

..

cond, that is the indu stria l and marketing ones, were fu lfilled last Decemb er w hen the partners and Airbu s lndu strie agreed at a presidents' meetin g on a wo rksharing procedu re, that a suff1c1ent comme rcia l base had been established and that sale_sprospects were good.'

Airbu s lndustrie s partner co mp anies are France's Aerospatiale, Briti sh Aerospace, CASA of Spain and West Germany s MBB w hich participates in the consor tium throu gh Deut sche Airbus.

Aerosp::a1 lare

2 Oeulsch e Airbu::a/ M BO <l

... .. ~iiiiiiiiiiiiii

,, ,,.,,,,,

::M320

111 ft 3 in /33.9 1 m 12 3 ft 3 in /37.57 m 38 ft 7 in / 11 .76 m 155 .5 in/3.95 m 14 6 in /3.72 m 66,000 kg/ 145,500 lb 6 1,000kg/ 134,500 Ib 5 7, OOOkg / 1 2 5, 700 lb 15 ,906 lit ers 4,202 us g 37 , 100 kg/81,800 lb 19 ,900 kg/43,900 lb

164 150 4 ab reast, 28.5 in / 72 .39 c m seat w idt h Ec onomy layout 6 ab reast, 20.6 in / 52.32 cm seat width Passenger and baggage payload 14,880 kg/ 32 ,800 lb Addi t ional cargo payload 5,020 kg / 11 , 100 lb Hold ca pac ity forward 14. 1 6 m 3 / 500 tt 3 Hold capacity aft 25 .52 m 3 / 90 1 ft 3 Hold ca pac ity total 39 68 m 3 / 1,401 ft 3 Co ntainer capac ity 7 LD3 base cont ainer s Range ( 1 64 passenger s) 1, 750 NM / 3, 240 km First deliveries Spring 1 988

Amateur

Radio Amateur radio station operations at the IFATCA conferences have become a regular contribution to activitie s during the past few years. Through the efforts of Ernie Bracy (W1 BFA) from the United States stations have been licensed for operation in various countries . Last year it was at Split in Yugosla via (4NOATC-W1 BFA / YU2) .

This year at Estoril it was CT1 REP/ W1 BFA. Ernie negotiated with Redo dos Emissores Portugueses and they not only obtained the pe rmit for operations but loaned the equipment as well. Contacts were maintained with some 30 countries during the conference. The antenna was a mini-beam type installed on a superstructure on top of the hotel by Ernie and Luiz Miguel de Sousa (CT4UE) a local radi o operator.

E. L. Bracy, on the air at IFATCA '84 , Estoril

Obituary

IFATCA for over six years, a fact that we did not know would happen when The death was announced late in ¡ we first met at the IFATCA Athen's April, 1984 of Tom Harrison, former Conference in 1971. As near as I can Executive Secretary of /FA TCA. remember I was very impressed when The following is a brief of Tom 's the then Master of the Guild came to association with /FA TCA, by comment on the way I had chaired J.-O. Manin, President of /FA TCA Committee A. We met a second time when Tom served as Executive Secre- at a meeting of APCA in Paris and then at the Guild meeting in Bournemouth tary in October 197 2, where the Executive Board of IFATCA decided on the apT. H. Harrison served the Civil Avipointment of Mr. T.H . Harrison to the ation Authority of the United Kingdom post of Executive Secretary of the in a number of capacities: at the Federation with effect from 1 st Deheadquarters in London, at the airfield of Bovingdon and the London ATCC. cember 1972, in replacement of Mr. In the early sixties, T.H. Harrison Geoffrey Monk . moved to the Scottish ATCC where he Six years of cooperation , of hard acted as supervisor, assistant super- work, and above all . of friendship. For me, Tom was the image of a typical intendent and acting centre superintendent. About 1 969 he moved to Elizabethan and maybe he did not like Prestwick as airport Chief Officer. He hearing me saying that I would retired in 1972 . T. H. Harrison also consider him as the last bastion of the served in the RAF 1942-1945.

British Empire .

A member of the British Guild of Air Tom was a hard working. very Traffic Control Officers. T. H. Harrison dedicated and, above all. meticulous was Master 1970-1972.

After man. He was so used to take notes of retirement he was chairman of the every detail that, when he was flying CAA retired association and later he for instance. he could tell you the became area secretary of the Scottish exact time the passengers had been Landowners Association.

He was called for boarding, the start-up time , acting as such when he suddenly died the take-off time and the name of the on Saturday, the 28th of April 1984 . pilot-in-command. All tho se who have closely worked with Tom will remem aged 72 .

T . H. Harrison was the Executive ber how much he could feel upset Secretary of IFATCA 1972-1978 . when , occasionally. he had forgotten Tom Harrison and I have been fel- some detail . Tom 's dedi cation never low Exec utive Board Members of failed and I do remember long phone

calls, even at night , for things tha t had to be done immediately.

Thanks to Tom's abilities , it ha s been possible at the time to give IFATCA a new impetu s, to develop the activities of the Federation to a level that had been hardly imagine d a few years before. Dur ing the t ime I was president, I was sometimes called a slave driver by the fellow members of the Executi ve Board but Tom never complained even when , sometimes , the two of us had to carry on working after the sessions we re c losed . Tom was one of tho se men who , when the y have accepted a task. do identify themselves completely with it.

But Tom was also a good companion. He enjoyed good company. family life . good food and good wine . There was a sma ll restaurant in Paris where the BeauJolais was so good that the owner , a long t ime after . rememb ered the even ing we had spent t here. Man y in IFATCA will also rem ember Tom , after hard work ing session s, sitting at the piano and playing some soft melodie s in his in imitable way.

Tom Harrison . a man of many facets and talents . a man that will for long not be forgotten .

J. -0. Manin (President of IFAT CA 1972 - 1978 )

29

PATCO and the Courts Court Decides Controller In Favor of Airlines

Trust Fund Case

On January 3. 1984. the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the 4.3 million dollars Controller Benefit Fund was an asset of the estate of PATCO and that it should be distributed among the creditors of the now bankrupt union.

PATCO had filed a Chapter 11 petition in the Bankruptcy Court on November 25.

1981. Subsequently. on July 6. 1982. the union requested that the court convert the Chapter 11 status to a Chapter 7 liquidation. The Airline Transport Association (ATA) claimed that the Fund constituted the major portion of the union's estate while PATCO's executive vice-president and trustee of the Benefit Fund. Domenic V Torchia. maintained that the money was the personal property of each controller who had contributed to it.

The Fund had been created in 197 7 for the purpose of 'financial support of members whose participation in a nationally sanctioned job action has resulted in suspension and/ or dismissal.· A subsequent resolution. at the 1978 PATCO Convention charged the union's finance committee with ·overview responsibility of the Fund': it also designated PATCO' s Executive Vice-President as ·responsible and accountable for the proper receipts and disbursement of all monies of the Fund ... · At the time ATA filed its complaint. the Fund was held in separate accounts established by PATCO at the National Savings & Trust Bank. Since then. the accounts have been the responsibility of the court appointed Trustee in Bankruptcy for the liquidation of the PATCO estate In upholding the Bankruptcy Court. the Circuit Court of Appeals. noting that the Fund was created by a collection of monies through a ·dues checkoff system· said: ·union dues are the union's property: they are subject to disbursement and expenditure by the (union) in pursuit of the lawful object or obiects for which they were designated to be expended.· but they nonetheless belong. upon payment. to the union. not severally to the individual dues payers . While the record in this case demonstrates that PATCO's members instructed the Union to use a portion of the Union's dues receipts to maintain a fund for payments to controllers suspended or dismissed for participation in a Union-approved Job action. it does not support a finding that part of the amount the FAA deducted from the controllers· pay and transmitted to PATCO constituted something other than dues·.

The Court continued: 'Because the circumstances presented here indicate securely that PATCO contributed dues. not payments of some other genre. to the Fund. PATCO. not its former members.

30

qualifies as the Fund's donor. When an express trust fails because it has become impossible to accomplish its purpose. the trust assets are generally held in a resulting trust for the donor ... Appellants suggest that PATCO. it was the donor. manifested a contrary intent at the outset. an intent that Union members. not PATCO. receive the assets upon the Fund's termination.

Had PATCO. when it established the Fund. manifested such an intent. the case would fall outside the general rule's governance ...

The court concluded: 'Appellants acknowledge that PATCO's Controller Benefit Fund cannot serve the purpose for which it was established. Therefore. even if the Fund was held in a trust lawful in design. the trust fails because its objective has become impossible. The dues· payments used to maintain the Fund. upon their receipt by PATCO. became the Union·s property. The Union was therefore donor of the alleged trust. Because PATCO manifested no contrary intent when the Fund was inaugurated. the monies now in the Fund revert to PATCO. The Bankruptcy court's order declaring the Fund vested in the Trustee in Bankruptcy as property of PATCO's estate is accordingly affirmed.· On January 13. 1984. Torchia announced that he will ask the Circuit Court for a reconsideration ·en bane·. meaning that all of the judges assigned to the court will now consider the decision. As to whether or not the controllers will appeal to the Supreme Court. Torchia _hassaid that they will wait until the recons1derat1on is decided. a process which could take many months.

Memphis Attorney Wins Judgement against FAA Memphis attorney. Dan_M. Norwood. representing over 1 70 dismissed air traffic controllers. was recently successful in obtaining a summary judgement award from the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee for the release of certain FAA documents refused him under the Freedom of Information Act. Norwood had sought to have the Federal Aviation Administration (FOIA) release agency records concerning settlements made and settlements offered to various persons who were terminated from their positions as air traffic controllers with the FAA because of the August. 1981. air traffic controllers strike. Specifically. the controllers· attorney asked for: 1 . Copies of each and every individual settlement agreement. signed by the Appellant and the FAA. or similar document which sets forth in full each of the specific terms of the settlement in each case: 2. Copies of each original letter

proposing removal sent to each named Appellant who was later offered a settlement 3. Copies of each original letter setting forth the final decision of removal sent to each Appellant who was later offered a settlement 4. Copies of any and all documents in the case of each Appellant whose case was settled which set forth the specific extenuating circumstances or reasons for entering into each settlement made and/ or which make recommendation that settlement be offered. whether ultimately accepted or not. including each and every document which refers to or recounts a decision to offer a settlement made after a review of the individual's entire disciplinary file; 5. Copies of each and every case summary which was prepared in reference to each case in which a settlement was offered and/ or entered; 6. Copies of any and all other letters or other documents pertaining to each offer of settlement; 7. Copies of each and every letter. document. memo or similar item which addresses the Agency's and the Government's position. policy. and/or plans for settlements with individual air traffic controllers and with former air traffic controllers as a group. _ The FAA contended that the information sought by Norwood was protected under the Freedom of Information Act for the ~rivacy_of individuals and because of the sensItIve nature· of the material requested. The agency claimed that disclosure of the settlement agreements would embarrass the reinstated controllers. harm their reputations. and adversely affect their future employment opportunItIes. District Court Judge Odell Horton dis?greed w1th_the FAA's contention saying.

The Court finds the FAA has failed to establish that release of these settlement aweements would violate substantial privacy interest of the reinstated air traffic controllers. Even if the FAA had established that the re_leaseof the letters of proposed removal. final letters of removal and the settlement agreements would violate substantial privacy interests of the controllers who settled. the Court would still have to weight_ that privacy interest against the public interest disclosure ... The strike of over 11 OOO air traffic controllers had a direct. pervasive impact on the American public: It was a m_atterof grave public concern and_the subject of direct Presidential interve_ntIon. Certainly. there is strong public interest in ascertaining whether the agency au_thonzed to deal with the nation s _avIatIon safety handled matters surrounding the strike in a fair and consistent manner ... · Except for the · handwritten notes· of the agency· s attorneys. Judge Horton then ordered the FAA to comply with attorney Norwood's request.

Since the December 1 5th ruling. the FAA has told Horton that they will need two months to comply with his order because they have not been able to locate all of their files.

m

Newsbriefs FAA Priorities for 1984: Helms's Successor and ATC Normalization One of the priorities for the FAA this year will be the search for a new administrator. In late December, J. Lynn Helms announced that he would leave the agency's top position on January 31 . Helms claimed that he decided 'early last summer to leave government service· no later than February 1984; however, his resignation came amid investigations by at least two other government agencies and a senator into possible irregularities in his personal business activities. FAA Deputy Administrator Michael J. Fenello was scheduled to serve as acting administrator starting February 1 . Another priority for the FAA in 1 984 is normalization of the ATC system, which is anticipated this summer. By then the last FAA ATC supervisor is expected to return to normal management duties and the ATC system is scheduled to have recovered fully from the August 1 981 controllers' strike. The agency then plans to focus its· efforts on rulemaking projects and the ongoing ATC modernization program of the National Airspace System Plan.

One of the major rulemaking issues to be resolved soon is the FAA proposal to impose ATC restrictions in the Los Angeles area in_order t? cope with a projec~ed increase ~n_air traffic associated with the 1984 Olympic Games. Airline and general aviation representatives have asked for major modification of the agency's proposal.

Cyprus Airways Receives First A310 and Reveals Orders for A320s Cyprus Airways has confirmed that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus lndustrie for the purchase of four A31 Os ~i~h ~ptions on a further four.

The MOU was signed by the airlines chairman, Mr. Stavros Galatariotis. in Limassol. Cy~rus o~ 1 7th January 1 984.

Deliveries of the Cyprus Airways A320s, which Airbus lndustrie at the request of the airline had previously listed as having been ordered by an unannounced company, will start in 1989.

The confirmation of the A320 order. as well as of Cyprus Airways· decision to increase its A31 0 order from two airraft to three, was given by the airline· s assistant general ~anager, Mr. Dimitri Pantazis, during a ceremony in Toulouse. southwest France. o_nFriday. 9t~ March to mark the delivery of the Cypriot national carrier s first A31 0.

Mr. Pantazis said the decision to purchase the A320 nd thus eventually operate a fleet of A31 Os and A320s ~ould provide Cyprus Airways with ·maximum flexibility to meet our requirements for years to come. The comfort and eliability of these aircraft will complement trad1t1onal ~ypriot hospitality and enhance our competitive position·.

The Cyprus Airways· A310. which was handed over to Mr. Pantazis by Airbus lndustrie's general manager and executive vice president. Mr. Roger Beteille. seats 235 passengers with 32 in business class and is powered by General Electric CF6-80A engines. Cyprus Airways Is the

second airline to receive an A310-200 with the higher optional take-off weight of 142 tonnes/ 313,050 lb (the first was Sabena last week) which gives the aircraft a range of 3,700 NM/6,860 km.

The aircraft was ferried to Larnaca on 10th March starting operations on routes to London, Manchester, Birmingham and Zurich. The airline's second A310 was delivered later in the month and the third in 1985. They are replacing Cyprus Airways· 707 fleet.

Cyprus Airways is the fifth carrier to have ordered the A320. following Air France. Air Inter, British Caledonian Airways and lnex-Adria Airways. Together these airlines have firmly ordered 51 A320s and taken options on a further 45.

Pilot Group Assails FAA's "Premeditated' Trust-fund Raid The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants general aviation pilots to spend more than 3 7% of their federal avgas taxes- more than four cents per gallon - to fund the agency's administrative costs. Labelling FAA's FY 85 budget proposal ·outrageous.· Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) charged the administration with making a 'premeditated and illegal' raid on the surplus-ridden Aviation Trust Fund.

In all, FAA wants to strip the Trust Fund of $1. 7 billion to pay for salaries, pencils. paper clips and other administrative costs. Commented AOPA president John L. Baker. whose organization represents more than 265.000 taxpaying pilots, 'Not only is this an outrageous act against the integrity of the Trust Fund, it also is illegal because it's $500 million more than the law permits.' Congress authorized no more than $1 . 2 billion for the agency· s operations and maintenance which. in and of itself. is ·unconscionable.' according to Baker.

82% of FAA's $5.6 billion budget request would flow from the Trust Fund. That represents nearly $ 4. 6 billion for FY 85. 'The tragedy of those figures.· said the AOPA president. 'is that. once again. the administration failed to recognize the true public benefit of aviation. To infer that the public gains from only 18% of general aviation activity ignores the reality of its diverse and widespread public contributions.· Baker added aviation is not and never has been an activity only for the selected few. but represents efficient. economical transportation benefiting all Americans. and should be recognized as such.

Although FAA's request for $987 million to fund its Airport Improvement Program (AIP) is $187 million more than the authorized FY 84 level. it still represents only 21 % of proposed Trust Fund expenditures. In other words. only 2.5 cents of general aviation's 12-cent-per-gallon tax on avgas would go for airport improvement. This. according to AOPA, undermines the original intent of the Trust Fund. . Additionally. what congress ·authorizes· isn·t necessarily what Congress ·appropriates.' Last year. for example. $993 million was authorized for airport improvements. with only$ 7 45 million actually appropriated. according to W. Lawrence Graves. AOPA vice-president for Federal Legislative Affairs.

'The bottom line.' Baker said. 'is that FAA wants to spend nearly as much avgas tax dollars managing itself as they want to spend improving airports and enhancing the national airspace system. This should not be tolerated in any fashion by the aviation community.· AOPA vowed to 'fight aggressively' FAA's attempts to gut the Trust Fund for a purpose for which it is not intended 31

Seaplane Pilots Gather at Annual Fly-in and Safety Seminar Seaplane pilots meet at Speculator. New York. on Lake Pleasant. for the tenth annual FAA/ SPA Seaplane Pilots' Safety Seminar June 1 5-1 7.

The weekend fly-in and seminar at Camp-of-the-Woods was sponsored by the FAA Albany General Aviation District Office and the Seaplane Pilots· Association. Other sponsors included the Ninety Nines. Inc .. and float and seaplane manufacturers.

Edward Stimpson. president of the General Aviation Manufacturers· Association. and Walter J. Boyne. director of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, were the featured speakers Saturday night.

Seaplane films were on the informal schedule for Friday, and flying contests were held on Saturday. J.J. Frey, vicepresident of the Edo Corporation Float Division, held seminars on float repair. and Daryl Middlebrook, president of Penn Yan Aero. spoke on engine care. Several safety seminars were scheduled throughout the weekend.

Biennial flight reviews were given in pilot's own seaplanes. and a course on introduction to float flying was available.

SPA president David Quam, executive director Mary F. Silitch, and other members of the SPA Board discussed regulatory developments and association activities at the membership meeting Saturday.

SPA. which is administered by Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. sponsors safety meetings in different parts of the country each year to enhance seaplane safety.

AOPA Hosts Second Primary Aircraft Meeting · General aviation needs low-cost aircraft to fill a void in the "low end" of the marketplace ... if the major aircraft manufacturers won't recognize the need for innovation in materials, construction. and FAA certification. someone else will have to.'

Those were the comments of John L. Baker. president of the 265.000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), at the opening of the second industry-wide meeting on the 'primary· aircraft.

Hosted by AOPA at the association's new headquarters in Frederick. Maryland. major participants were AOPA and the Experimental Aircrah Association (EAA) with strong involvement by FAA and prospective manufacturers of primary aircraft. The first meeting was held at EAA's Wisconsin headquarters late last year.

The development of the primary aircraft concept is an outgrowth of an earlier AOPA proposal to FAA for a 'basic' airplane envisioned as one which would be easier and less expensive to purchase and operate. ·we need an aircraft which is affordable to a large cross-section of people to make personal aviation inviting and practical for new enthusiasts and for those who simply can't afford what have become unnecessarily expensive aircraft.· said Baker. · If we let these roots go, general aviation will atrophy from the bottom up and die.'

Following two days of intensive discussions. the working group agreed to certain initial standards for a primary aircraft that include seating up to four places and a power limit of 200 hp. No decision was forthcoming regarding the number of power plants a primary aircraft could have or on whether to rule out inclusion of such ·complex· systems as controllable-pitch propellers. retractable landing gear. and pressurization although it would seem unlikely such items would be part of a primary aircraft package.

32

Specifically. the group agreed a primary aircraft should be designed to incorporate economical materials and construction techniques. citing that complex, labor-intensive designs have become too expensive for average personal ownership. Suggestion was made that such an aircraft might be available completely assembled or as a kit.

Further. it should be simple enough for more owner-performed maintenance than currently possible under existing FAA regulations and that aircraft certification be easier and less expensive. This would require modifications to existing standards and certification procedures. The group noted that certification cost-savings could result from a combination of simpler aircraft design. less manufacturer and FAA time spent during the certification process and less direct FAA involvement with manufacturers.

While attendees felt that such an aircraft would not be intended for carrying cargo or passengers for compensation or hire. they agreed that allowable uses should include flight instruction. rental and such other uses as fish spotting and crop dusting. for instance.

M. Craig Beard, director of FAA' s Office of Airworthiness. exemplified the agency's support of the primary aircraft industry efforts saying. ·we (FAA) welcome your efforts. We will rely heavily on your judgement and do not want to limit or constrain your thinking.' Beard indicated FAA could accommodate the concept through some rule changes and advisory circulars.

'Our labor-intensive general aviation industry still is building traditional general aviation airplanes with .. stonehammer" construction techniques so it costs from $40000 up for a 1939 design.' said AOPA's president Baker.

The next industry meeting on the primary aircraft. the third in the series, will take place this summer.

American Airlines Orders 67 MD-80s American Airlines recently announced the purchase of 6 7 McDonnell Douglas M D-80 jetliners with options for an additional 100.

The transaction is the largest single order in the history of commercial aviation.

Engines for the MD-80s will be made by the Pratt and Whitney division of United Technologies.

American president Robert Crandall said the order will enable American to repl_aceolder. less efficient equipment with the quiet. economical MD-80. American already operates 20 of the McDonnell Douglas twin-jets and will receive 13 more ordered last year.

Jim Worsham. president of the Douglas Aircraft Company division of McDonnell Douglas. said this order will provide a cost effective way for American airlines to serve its short-to-medium routes with an advanced. efficient twin-jet fleet.

Deliveries of the 67 aircraft will begin in 1985 and continue through 1987. Options are scheduled to be exercised 24 months prior to delivery in groups of 1O aircraft each. If all the options are exercised. the last of the 167 MD-80s will be delivered in 1991.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

McDonnell Douglas chairman Sanford N. McDonnell said the American purchase 'will provide us with the order base to expand our production rates to meet an expected worldwide increase in demand for the M D-80 over the next several years.· Americ~n·s MD-80s will carry 142 passengers in a spacious first class and economy configuration. The fiveabreast seating in the economy section features seats as wide as those used in current wide cabin, twin aisle aircraft and wider than those in competing six-abreast designs.

Corporate Members of I FATCA AEG-Telefunken, Ulm, FRG Allcorn Data Ltd., Nepean. Canada Amecon Division. Litton Systems Inc .. College Park, USA ANSA Advisory Group Air Navigation. Westerngrund. FRG Cardion Electronics. Woodbury. USA CAE Electronics Ltd., Saint-Laurent, Canada Cecsa Systemas Electronicos SA. Madrid, Spain Cossor Electronics Ltd .. Harlow, UK Dictaphone Corporation, Rye, USA Eaton Corporation. Al L Division, Farmingdale, USA Ericsson Radio SystemsAB, Stockholm. Sweden Ferranti Limited. Bracknell, UK Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V .. Hengelo. Netherlands I KO Software Service. Stuttgart. FRG Jeppesen & Co. GmbH. Frankfurt. FRG Litton Communications Switching Systems. Freiburg i. Br .. FRG Lockheed Aircraft Service Company. Ontario. USA Marconi Radar Systems Ltd., Chelmsford. UK Mitre Corporation, McLean. USA Philips Telecommunicatie lndustrie B.V .. Hilversum. Netherlands Plessey Electronic Systems Ltd .. Addlestone. UK Racal Decca Systems Ltd., New Malden, UK Racal Recorders Ltd., Southampton. UK Raytheon Canada Ltd., Waterloo. Canada Rediffusion Simulation Inc., Arlington, USA Schmid Telecommunication, Zurich. Switzerland Selenia lndustrie Elettroniche. Rome. Italy SEL-Standard Elektrik Lorenz. Stuttgart. FRG Societe d' Etude et d' Entreprises electriques. lssy-les-Moulineaux. France Sofreavia. Paris, France Software Sciences Ltd .. Farnborough. UK Sperry Univac. St. Paul. USA Thomson-CSF, Meudon, France Ulmer Aeronautique, Clichy, France Westinghouse Electric Corp., Baltimore, USA

The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations would like to invite all corporations, organizations, and institutions interested in and concerned with the maintenance and promotion of safety in air traffic to join their organization as Corporate Members.

Corporate Members support the aims of the Federation by supplying the Federation with technical information and by means of an annual subscription. The Federation's international journal 'The Controller' is offered as a platform for the discussion of technical and procedural developments in the field of air traffic control. ~---------------------------------

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Air Traffic Control SELENIA

ATCR-44 L-Band en-route radar installation at Madrid airport

Adaptive radars.

A must for modern systems.

Internal view of ATCR -44 equipment room .

The range of adaptive radars includes the ATCR-22 L-band long range radar and the ATCR-33 S-band and ATCR-44 L-band terminal area radars.

These radars have the capability of probing the environment, and adapt themselves so as to achieve the maximum possible performance.

The radars are equipped with the most advanced Primary Video Extractors, which perform sophisticated pattern analysis to obtain center of gravity of targets, and avoid unwanted target splitting .

This class of radars is in full production and has been supplied to numerous countries including Sweden, the Soviet Union, Nigeria, Mexico , Peru , Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain and Italy

Selenia is experience in air traffic control.

INDUSTRIE ELETTRONI CHE ASSOC IATE S.pA

CIVIL RADAR AND SYSTEMS DIVISION Via Tiburtina Km 12,400, 00131ROME, ITALY Te lex 613690 SELROM I, Phone 06-43601

Selerna / DRSC Rela21orn Esterne - Pubbhclla '83