IFATCA The Controller - 1st quarter 2000

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THECONTROLLERS JOURNAL

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Conference Reports I Air Management Systems I Maastricht 2000

I lFATCA Panel

1/ 2000 1st quarter 2000 volume 39 1S\N 00 I 0- 807 3


11 S MEMBERASSOCIATIONS OF IFATC AFRICA / MIDDLE EAST REGION - 35 Algeria Angola Benin Burkina Faso Cabo Verde Congo, DR of Cote d'Ivoire Djibouti Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea-Bissau Kenya Mali Mauritius Morocco Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Tchad Togo Tunis ia Uganda Yemen Zimbabwe

AMERICAS REGION - 28 Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Jamaica Mexico Netherlands Antilles Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Lucia Suriname Trinidad & Tobago United States of America Uruguay

ASIA PACIFIC REGION - 13 Australia Fiji Hong Kong Japan Macau Malaysia Mongolia Nepal New Zealand ROCATCA Taiwan Singapore Sri Lanka Thailand

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EIUJ IROPEA REGIO N - 39 Albania Austria Belgium Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Channel Islands Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia EGATS Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia, FYR of Malta The Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Russia Slovak Republic Slovenia Sweden Switze rland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom

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PUBLISHER IFATCA, International Federation of Ai r Traff ic Co ntro llers' Associations.

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA Samuel Lampkin Preside nt and Chief Exec utive Office r

Paul Robinson Deput y Preside nt

THECONTROLLERm.zig:i ~~

JOURNAL

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United King dom, March 2000 Vol um e 39 No 1

Jean Robert Dumfries Exec utive V ice President A meric as

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Albert Taylor

Foreword Andrew Beadle, Execut ive Vice President Technica l

Exe cuti ve V ice-President Afr ica/ Midd le East

Philip Parker

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Editorial New Editor - Chris Stock

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Letters to the Editor

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New Executive Board Members

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State of the Federation The President Addresses Conference

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Committee

A Report

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Committee

B Report

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Committee

C Report

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Human Factors Guideline for Air Management Systems Bert Rutenbery - Hum an Factor Specialist

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Maastricht ATC 2000 Reports from t he Forum & Exhibition

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IFATCA Panel Presentations on ATCO Selection and European ATC Licensing Project

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Airspace Design New Tools described by Daniel Casanova

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Charlie's Column

Exec utive Vice-President As ia/ Pacific

Marc Baumgartner Executive V ice- Presiden t Europe

Steph Simmonds Exec uti ve Vice-President Finance

Doug Churchill Execu tive Vic e-President Professional

Andrew Beadle Executive Vice-President Technic al

Terry Crowhurst Execu tive Board Secretary/ Confere nce Manager

EDITOR Chris Sto ck, 25 Springfield Lea, South Queensferry, West Lothian, Scotland , EH30 9XD, Uni ted Kin gdom . Tel & Fax +44 (0) 1313 191975 ema il: ed@ifatca.org

CMG CHAIRMAN AND ACCOUNTS Edge Green O .B.E. 4 Th e Rookery, Peasemore, RG20 7JY, United Kingdom. Tel. +44 (0 ) 1635 247890 Fax. +44 (0) 1635 247891 ema il: cmg@ifatca .org

ADVERTISING SALES OFFICE Phi lip Atlay,

Advertisers in this issue Crimp, Raytheon, Schmidt

25 King Street, Wimbo rne Minster,

Photographs T. Crow hu rst, P. Domag ala,

Dorset. BH21 1 EA, Uni ted Kingdom .

P Parker, B. Ri.ithy, A IRSYS ATM

Tel & Fax +44 (0) 1202 88 1554 ema il : adman@ifatca .org

Copy Editors Lucy Leveson, Harry Co le

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Patrick Schelling , Ch . Sur le Mo ulin, 1261 Le Vaud, Switzerland . Tel +4 1 (0) 22366 2684 Fax +41 (0 ) 22366 4305

Philippe Domagala , Mere lstraat 5, NL 6176 EZ Spaubeek, The Netherlands . Tel +3 1 (0)46 4433564 Fax +3 1 (0 )43 3661541

DESIGN & PRINTING A cumen Tel: +44 (0) 129 3 523000 Fax +44 (0) 1293 529000

CONTROLLER MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION RATES Issues are usua lly published at th e end of M arch, June, September and December . Subsc riptio n rat es for 2000 Volume 39, fo ur issue s are C HF 40 per ann um, pl us postage & pack ing . Order Form - page 22. A reduc ed rate is avai lable o n req uest for bona fid e A ir Traffic Con t ro llers Magazi nes are d ispatch ed usi ng priority airmai l wo rldwide UK deli v ery 2-5 days 6 CHF Europe de livery 2-5 days 9.5 CHF Rest of Wo rld de livery 5-7 d ays 12 CHF Payme nt can be m ade by cheque or bank t ransfer in Sw iss francs , or for ind ividual subscriptions by visa/ mastercard in po und s sterling . Further informat ion avai labl e from the Subscription Manager : Steph Simmonds, Five Ro bin s, Litt le Vigo, Yateley, Hamp sh ire, GU46 6ES, U.K. Tel: +44 1252 860736 • Fax : +4 4 1252 860737 • e-mail: subs cri be @ifatca.org • web site: www.ifatca.o rg

IssuesAppearEndof March, June, September . December Contributors Are Express rngTheir Persona l Pointsof View and Opm1ons. Wh1ChMay Not Necessarily Coincide With Those of The International Federationof Air TrafficControllers· Assoc,at1ons, IFATCA.IFATCADoes Not Assume Respons1b11it y Fo1StatementsMade and Opinions Expressed, it Accepts Responsibility For Publishing TheseContributions. ContributionsAre WelcomeasAre Comments and Cnt1mm No PaymentCan be Made For Manuscripts Submitted For Publ,cation In The Conlrolle1 The Editor Rese1VesThe R:ght to Make Any Editorial ChangesIn Manuscripts. Wh,ch he Believes Will Improve The Material Without Altering The Intended Meaning Written Perm1s s1onby The Editor 1s NecessaryFor Repnnt1ngAny Partof Th,s Journal Apo logy. The Controller staff apolog,se fo1 the late publtcat1onof th,s issue resulting from the late receipt of copy

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V ISIT THE I FATI CA WEB SIT F WWW

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Foreword Technological Wonders Andrew Beadle , Executive Vice-President Technical t is a constant theme - techno logy promises to cure all problems and create a utopian future. Unfortunately Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs), and consequently airspace users, have suffered because of a false belief by some ATS providers in technology's prom ises. Promises should not be believed too easily, and full consideration must be given to the resources (including time) required to develop, implement and maintain the technology. This is not to say that all technology is not wo rth the effort and cost - far from it - but instead to say th at it is important to be realistic and practical. It is important to stress how central the human element currently is, and will be for some time . Effectively trained staff can deliver significant performance using existing technologies. If there are insuff icient staff (either ATCOs or tec hnical support staff) then implementing new technology wi ll be difficult as usually a higher level of staffing is required during implementation and staff numbers rarely fall as dramatically as prom ised after implementat ion . If effective initial and ongoing training is not in place, then implementing new technology is likely to create more problems, as training requirements usually increase significantly with the introduction of more complex systems. On going (or refresher) trai ning needs also increase.

maintained as t hey should be. While new systems are developed, it is impo rtant to ensure that staff recruitment and training continues, available tech nolog ies are implemented as efficiently as possible and procedures and A ir Traff ic Management (ATM) design continu e to be opt imised. It is important that the concepts and techniques develope d by ATCOs over the years which permit safe and expeditious fl ight are not over looked in the new technologies and procedures development. ATCOs should be involved at all stages of ATM enhancements. We have reached a stage where many new tech nologies have been "demo nstrated" or "t rialed", however there is a very big gap between demonstrating a technology and actually imp lementi ng it effectively and reliably in an ATM system. New technology should not be allowed to drive changes to ATM systems just because it exists and works most of the time . Likewise there are competing technologies that can be used for the same or similar purpose. Internationally coordinated and

w ill have to inte ract more w ith the com put er (for the foreseeable future) and the computer wi ll affect the way that ATCOs solve problems. The same machine wi ll behave different ly wit h each software (code or data) change. This w ill increase training req uir ements, and create frustration when "familiar"functions change. Some of this cha nge wi ll hopefully be good, providing useful too ls and functions to assist the controller. These too ls may not always be implemented effect ive ly initiall y due to syste m design (software and hardware limit ations), inappropriate procedures , or learn ing how to best use the too l. A irspace capac iti es may actually fall during imp lementat ions and for a period of conso lid ation afte r implementations . Th ere are like ly to be more fa ilure s du e to system complexity (but usual ly less catastrophic due to fail-soft des ign) . Contro llers w ill need to remember certai n procedures to avoid syste m failure s (due to software faults that are waiting

agreed standards must be developed and which adhered to permit safe integration of

for correct ion) and someti m es the number of these wi ll be inappropriate ly high due to insufficient resources in software mainten ance . Hopefu lly the balance of the effect of change will be positive.

new tec hnology in ATM systems. Even whe n a techno logy can be shown to be

the new techno log ies? The most lik ely change

reliable and useful to ATM , the issue of how the

What can ATCO s offe r the airspace users w ith

controller interacts with the techno logy is of

is improved commun ication . This sho uld permit Collaborative Decis ion Maki ng, that wi ll enable

technol ogy's successes . Radar is a significant impro veme nt over procedural (non- radar) control . Technology is howev er only part of the

direct importance to the safety and productivity outcomes . A lthough new Human Machine

the user to choose the be st option for their ope ration. It wi ll be an opt ion, not freedom to

Interfaces (HM ls) for the contro ller are being

do what the user wa nts, to increase airspace

solution . Desp ite the fact radar has been available for many years, there are still quite a

developed, there is still considerable development required before the promised ease of use for the range of controller activities is achieved. In addition, some of the tools

capacity . Therefore it w ill be necessar y to pl ace increasing demands that aircraft be operated to tight er to lerances. If a direct route or user preferred fl ight profile is given in a clearance then the aircraft must make good that profile

Certainly there are clear examples of

number of sites t hat cou ld benefit from basic radar imp lementation s to increase airspace safety and capacity . Despite radar's proven usefu lness , othe r factors have pre vente d its imp leme ntation in sites whe re the need has

required for future concepts of ATM do not yet exist. For example, basic concepts such as "Coordination"are misunderstood by some

(including the fourth dim ensio n of time) for other airspace users to be offered their preferred profile (in busy areas) . In summary, it is unlike ly tha t a technological

been clearly recognised . It is also too early to say that radar is obsolete . Other examples of

system developers who consider that access to a common database of information on aircraft

successes are global navigat ion systems that permit easy and direc t navigation , however the presence of globa l navigation systems in cockpits does not remove restrict ions due to

movements is the same as Coord ination (whic h neglects the fundamental concept of

wonder alone is go ing to fix all problem s or

highlighting changes, etc). In addition, basic

ensure staff levels , tra in ing, equipment

tools meant to assist the control ler actually do

procedure s are maintained and improved whi le

other users' requ irem ents , airspace design, etc .

the opposite by generating excessive false

Some inte rpretation s of the "Free

alarms. ATCOs must be involved in the

new ATM technologie s are developed and imp lemented . Controllers must have a major

Flight"concept

deve lopment and assessment of the

say in ATM development s. As a qui ck ru le, it

effectiveness of HMI changes.

wo uld be safe r to assume half the benefits and

do not seem to recognise the

signifi cance of these restrictions . The time taken to design , bu ild , test, correct

What can ATCOs expect from new

even the most urgent one s. It is important to and

doub le the resources 1mpl1cat1ons (t ime and

and implement new ATC systems is often

technology? It is not all good, nor all bad.

money) from technology 's promises in order to

understated and so exist ing systems are not

There w ill be significantly more change. ATCOs

be close to the final outcome

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¡ , 1 CO NTROLLER


E itoria1 Editorial Chris Stock, Editor Good communications between the editor and his readers is essential to ensure that we are

uring a recent trip to the Shetland Isles

professional magazine that can stand in its own

(the most northerly part of the United

right with the commercial magazines with large

Kingdom), I took a walk to Sum burgh

editorial teams. The letter from Alexis

getting some things right , or even wrong and

Braithwaite (see Letters to the Editor) says it all -

therefore in need of rectification. So please

thank you, Alexis . As they say in sporting

contact me by any means that you wi sh

Head to get my head around being the new editor of "The Controller". In the light Shetland breeze (in excess of 30knots!) one of the things

parlance - it is a hard act to follow. The

(contact numbers are available at the front of

that struck me forcefully was the amount of

standards have been set so I will put my head

work that appeared to be involved. Also, had I

down and start working at maintaining the integrity and the reputation of "The Controller".

the magazine). This issue is the last one that TC wi ll have

had done the right thing in "volunteering" or more realistically, being persuaded to take on

anything to do w it h but I am thankful that he is helping out (in fact, do ing most of the workl) so

the job by the outgoing Editor, Terry Crowhurst. This concern has continued

I have thought about editorial policy and for the moment it falls into the too difficult tray until I have come to grips with the basics of the

I shall be solo on the next issue. In this issue, we have covered two ma1or events, the

through the shared preparation for this edition

job. However, I have given myself some

con fere nce in Marrakesh and the exhibi tion in

but I hope that I can see a light at the end of the

objectives to achieve which are: (1) to keep the

Maastricht. The re is an undoubtedl y Europe an

tunnel. This might sound as though I am

standard s set by TC; (2) maintain the

bias to t his issue fo r w hich I offer no excuse

making excuses before I start (which is possibly

controllers' perspective in that ATC remains

because that is where the action happened to

true!) but also it is a recognition and a tribute to

human centred not technology lead; (3)

be but future issues w ill focus on the other

the enormous amount of time and effort that TC has devoted to the magazin e over the past

encourage original articles from controllers but not to the exclusion of other parties' viewpoints

top ics occur. It will be my intention to highligh t

ten years. It would be remiss of me, and the Federation, not to recognise this tremendous contribution to the presentation of the public

and (4) plan certain issues to contain a single

forthcom ing articles in my editorials but it is

theme such as Privitisa t ion , Safety, and Hum an Fact ors . Most important of all, I look to the

early days yet so I am beginning with the best of intentions so watch t his space 1

face of IFATCA in what is now accepted, a very

readership for bot h ideas and participation.

regions as and when important events and

Th anks TC - for everything!

THECONTROLLER l 111 CONTROLLER

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Letters To The Editor I

The Editor, The Controller

Dear Editor

Dear Sir: Please permit me to express my appreciation of th e work done by the immediate past Editor of this magazine. IFATCA veterans would , of course, have a more balanced perspective. I have a particular bias. My entire IFATCA experience coincides with Terry Crowhurst as Editor. Accordingly, my view about the quality of work he produced is not comparat ive. I simply believe that he produced consistently top-quality work. I say this even tho ugh , at tim es, I felt that the Co ntro ller w as a bit too technica l and hence maybe less appealing to a majority of the target audience. Even at these times the overall qualit y of the magazine could not be challenged. There have been severa l issues t hat I have found to be "collectoris items". Having myself been the editor of publications for volu ntary organisations (albeit on a much smaller scale), I am all too aware of the difficulties that an editor such as Terry wo uld have had. All too often, one has to be editor, publisher, w riter, procurer of articles, and wh atever else it takes, all at the same time. Understanding this only emphasizes how much Terry must have had to do in order to produce such excellence consistently. As such, I read Terryis last editorial with some degree of frustrat ion . I have found that the nature of the person that volunteers in an organisat ion such as IFATCA is to "suffer" in silence. The natural inclination of such a person is to "just get the job done" . This is probably the way it shou ld be. However, what tends to happen is that one becomes aware of w hat it took to get the JOb do ne only w he n "memoirs" are wr itten. What th is means is t hat the person doing the job is normally taken a bit for granted and one is never really aware of all it takes for the organisation to funct ion . (I say t he latter on ly to make the point rather tha n to change anything.) Terry. please forgive me if I seem to be sharing this expression of app reciat ion of you w ith all IFATCA vo lunteers . Of course, I am naturally t aking yo u a bit for granted and assuming that you wo n't mind. I do wis h to say that often after readi ng an issue of the Controller, I have been left feel ing really grateful that there are peop le like yo u w ho vo lunteer the ir time and expertise for the benefit of others . I know you are not yet in retirement, but I am sure that you will read the fi rst issue of the Contro ller that is produced w itho ut yo ur efforts w ith a particular but different kind of pleasure . Enioy it .

I am writing this in response to the article "The Southern most Airport in the World: MARSH AIRPORT, ANTARCTICA (62(S.59(W)" written in "The Controller" dated 2/99 2nd quarter 1999 vo lume 38 ISSN 0010-8073. The Federal Aviation Administration Order 7110.65 series defines an airport as - "A n area on land or water that is used or intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of aircraft and includes its buildings and facilities, if any". By using this definition I contend that there are at least four airports further south than Marsh. Three of these airports are located on the Ross Ice Shelf. Antarctica; PegasusField (NPG-77(5 166(E). Ice Runway Complex (NIM-77(5166( E) and Williams Field (NGD-77(5 167( E). The fourth being the South Pole (NPX-90(5 00( E). The National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Polar Programs, has oversight responsibility for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). Your article went on further to state that MARSH is the southern most airport providing "proper Air Traffic Control". Well, I'm an Air Traffic Controller and have been since 1974. 15 other controllers and myself believe we wo rk at the southern most airports and that we do indeed provide "proper air traffic control" services JAW FAAO 7110.65 and !CAO standards far beyond those provided by MARSH. McMurdo ARTCC provides air traffic control and flight guard advisory for aircraft operating w ithin the Auckland FIRSouth of a line joining 60(5 163(E, 60(5 170(W. 65(5 160(W and 65(5 131(W. This airspaceis "classA" from FL245 to FL450. Additionally, McMurdo Center activates "classA" airspacefrom FL200to FL450from 65' 5 to 90' 5 and over the entire continent w here USAP aircraft operate to outlying sciencecamps. Inter agency coordination between McMurdo ARTCC. Melbourne ARTCC. Perth FSSand Auckland oceanic occurs regularly with commercial airliners transiting the airspaceand aircraft inbound to one of the three airports near McMurdo for landing. McMurdo Center also provides VFR flight following and search and rescuefor severaltwin otters and helicopters. The twin otters operate from the Italian science station (TerraNova Bay). the South Poleand McMurdo . Helicopters operate from the McMurdo heliport. There are four (4) helicopters provided by Petroleum Helicopters Inc (PHI), two (2) New ZealandAir Force helicopter and two (2) U.S. Coast Guard helicopters. McMurdo center also provides nonradar approach control services with in 100NM of the South Pole and withi n 100NM of McMurdo station. This airspace is classified as "class E" from the surface up to but not including FL200. We provide approach control, VFRflight fo llowing, Search and Rescueand enroute air t raffic control servicesto two controlled airports, 4 uncontrolled airports and 13 outlying camps. The operating control towe rs are at McMurdo Station, Antarctica located on the RossIce Shelf (77(5.166(E). Control tower servicesare available at the Ice Runway complex annually from late September through mid December and from mid December through Februaryat Wil liams Field. A

Tha nk you. A lexis Brathwai te Ch airman SC3 Trinidad and Tobago

6

large variety of aircraft from several different agencies operate from the Ice runway complex. This includes : H/ C-5, H/C-17 & H/C-141 aircraft of the U.S. Air Force, C-130 aircraft from the New Zealand Air Force, LC-130 aircraft from the New York Air National Guard , C-130 aircraft from the Italian Air Force and Twin Otters from Ken Borek Air Ltd. These aircraft provide logistical support between New Zealand and the Antarctic continent. Several science stations on the continent depend entirely on these support missions for their survival. The Italian base at Terra Nova Bay, located 175NM north (Grid South) of McMurdo, has an ice runway capable of supporting C-130 operations during VMC conditions only. The Russian base at Vostok, located 708NM Southwest (Gird Northeast) of McMurdo receives food, fuel, and personnel flown in by USAF aircraft operating from McMurdo. The New Zealand base at Scott Base and U.S. bases at the South Pole, McMurdo and up to 13 other camps located all over the continent also depend on these support missions for their survival. IFR enroute oceanic services are provided for all USAF aircraft from FL200 up to and including FL450 over the continent and enroute to New Zealand until the transfer of control point (TCP) to Auckland Oceanic Area Centre at 60 degrees south. Instrument app roaches are developed annually for South Pole, Pegasus, Williams Field and the Ice runw ay complex. Th ese approaches consist of th e following:

Ice Runway Complex (NIM) 2 Ice Runways capable of C-5 weight 6 TACAN approaches 2 Precision Approach Radar (PAR) approaches 1 Global Positioning System (GPS) approach 4 Standard Instrument Departures 1 Standard Terminal Arrival Route Pegasus Field (NPG) 1 Ice Runway capable of C-5 weight 1 TACAN approach 1 Standard Instrument Departure Williams Field (NGO) 2 Skiway's 6 TACAN approaches 4 Standard Instrument Departures 1 Standard Terminal Arrival Route 2 Precision Approach Radar (PAR) approaches 1 Mobile Microwave Landing System (MMLS) approach South Pole (NPX) 1 Skiway 2 TACAN approaches 1 Standard Arr ival Route 1 Standard Instrument Departure Additionally, Minimum IFR A ltitude Chart s for 4 airports and approximate ly 100 stereo routes are developed annua lly. Tota l comb ined operat ions (Tower, Approach co ntrol and Center) annuall y are app roximately 13 ,000 . If you would be interested in any further information feel free to contact me at either HYPERLINK mailto atcmikeymac@hotmailcom atcmikeymac@hotma1l.com or after Feb 28th at HYPERL/NK mailto .¡maclean@nationsnet maclean@nation s.net .

, If CONTROLL ER


New ExecutiveBoard Members Steph Simmonds

Doug Churchill

Executive Vice-President

Executive Vice-President Professiona l

Finance

teph was born in 1961, the youngest of a family of four, in a to w n

oug started at the National ATC school in Ottawa in 1974

on the South Coast of England. Her elder siblings we re all fanatic

and obta ined his licence as a tower controller in 1975 . He

yachtsmen, but somehow she became then , and still is a fanatic

has worked at five diffe rent units(t owers) in th e At lantic

horse w oman! She now own 2 horses, one of which is enjoying his early days of semi-retirement from competition and the other w ho is enjoying

region and became Unit Operations Specialist ( superviso r) in 1980. Doug obtained his inst ructor rating and OJT ratings in 1981,and spent

the delights of being a te enage delinqu ent in readin ess for her future competitive life . Steph joined the UK Civil Aviation Authority in 1979 and commenced her training as an Air Traffic Control Offic er. She successfully g rad uat ed, was posted to Prestw ick Airport on the West Coast of Scotland and had

the next severa l yea rs developing and instructing ab initi o and refresher cour ses for to we r controllers in th e At lant ic Region 's two ATS schoo ls (Gand er and Moncton). In 1985, he transferred to Halifax tower and has remained there eve r since . In 1998 , Doug became the ATC unit's representative on the Nav Canada

the dubious pleasure of having passed all her exams and yet was not

Tower/ Ter min al Advisory Group, now Air Traffic Advisory Group

legally old enough to hold am ATC licence; consequently she still had to

(representatives. from th e larger units across the country , together with

be monitored until reaching her 21 st birthda y That was some part y!

Nav Canada management meet to discuss ways to improve methods of

In 1983 she was posted to London Heathrow Airport whe re she successfull y validated in bot h Towe r and A ppro ach Radar and

operatio n and th erefo re service to the customer). The group also reviews with management, policy, standards, procedures etc., with a view to imp rovi ng the ATS system.

subsequ ently became an OJTI and Watch Training Manager. She remain ed there until 1994 w hen she join ed the UK Safety Regulation Group and

Doug attended his first IFATCA Conference in Nairobi '87 (not in any offic ial capac ity). He was selected as CATCA's first Liaison Officer to

spent thre e years regulating the UK ATC Training Colleges. Durin g th is

IFATCA in 1994 , and has attended all Conferences and Americas Regional

tim e w ith SRG, she also spent a considerable amount of time work ing on

Meeetings in that capacity since. His invo lvem ent at Confe rence has been

the initi al stages of the harmonisation of European ATC training w ithi n the

pr imarily w ith Comm ittee. "C" and in particular SC 4. He has also been a

Europe an A ir Traff ic Control Harmonisat ion Program me.

member of t he Americas Regional Sub-Group 1994.

In 1997, Steph returned to Heathrow and successfull y regained her Towe r validations Regretta bly, the A ppro ach Control function for

Doug is married to Lana Hirtl e and has two children, Matthew 15 and Emma 4.

Heathrow had been remove d to th e ACC at West Drayton and so she no longer has the ability to practis e radar co ntrol. However, she doe s carry out Tower supervisory duties Steph fi rst became actively involved with GATCO back in 1985 w hen she became what is known as a "Unit Rep" . From there, she gradual ly wo rked her way through the posts of Regional Secretary, Confe rence Manager , Dir ecto r Confe rences , and Director Finance. With in IFATCA she has been t he UK repre sentat ive on SC3, one of the (numerous) European Tech Reps looking at Airport issues and in late 1998 became the Subscript ion Manager for The Controlle r magazine. Somehow, she reports, she now seems to have found herse lf in the position of EVP Finance, a somewha t daunting task, but hopefu lly one in wh ich she wi ll succeed . Steph also feels that it is great honour and responsib ility to become the first fema le member of the Execut ive Board ; she sincere ly hopes that she w ill be able to do justice in this role and says that she w ill certainly serve the Federation to the best of her ability.

11If CONTROLLER

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Presidents Speech State of the Federation Samuel Lampkin, The President and Chief Executive Officer of IFATCA

39TH Annual Conference , Marrakech, Morocco, 6th - 10th March 2000 Th e following article is the text of the speech given by The President and Chief Executive Officer of IFATCA, Samuel Lampkin, to this year' s Conference. Following this article are the individual reports from each of the Conference Committees .

Introduction The past y ear was yet another one in w hich the Federation w ent out and championed the reason for its existence. Several Member Associations as well as med ia houses and other organ isations sought input from us albeit for diffe ring purpo ses. That , we prov ided, as we continue to look forward to f urther involve ment in the scheme of things in the new and evo lvi ng ATM and CNS arena.

Execut ive Board and should be as well for all the Member Association s of this Federation! Last year it was reported t hat increased privatisation in the industry was leading to employers granting less and less time off for IFATCA related work. This year we wil l lose a number of good representatives with experience and expert ise, and it is not an easy task to find volunteers to do the wo rk.

Administration General The year under revie w had its share of sad moments thro ugh some major air disasters in w hich sever al hund red lives were lost. Most of the ICAO Regions have crossed the millennium rollover with new Air Navigation Plans in whi ch new concep ts and imp lementation plans are detailed. IFATCA has been a partner in that process but unfortunately we have also witn essed a global increase of commercia lisation in t he Air Traffic Services of States whe rein a myria d of professional and industria l issues have arisen, trends w hich in many instances are diametrical ly opposed to our policies. We , th erefore, cannot st and idly by and allow those detractors to denigrate current safety levels and th ose for wh ich we still strugg le. That aside, I am pleased to see that during the past year our relationship with IATA and the joint partne rship th at exists between IFALPA and us g loball y have been maintained . However , there is a need for these relation ship s to be w ide ned and deepened Ou r relationship w ith in t he ILO has seen a rev ival on accoun t of t he new staff at the transport section . The perennia l failing of States and t heir ATC adm in istrat ions to resolve the issues pertaining to outd ate d , unreliable equ ip ment ; poorl y designed pro ced ures; deficiency in personnel, t raining, cert ification and qualit y assurance; poor and indecent wo rkin g co nd itio ns st ill continue to pl ague many ATC systems today. The question of prope r equ ipage, adequ ate infrastru cture , proper social bene fit s and a highl y trained motivated human reso urce to ensure SAFETY ought to be emb raced as a pr iority item on t he agenda of .ATM deve lopments in th is new century. Air traffic co ntro llers must be affo rded these cond itions so that t hey can perf orm opt imally. A ddit ionally, the lack of human resources for cond uct ing t he vol untary work of IFATCA is q uickly becoming a major area of concern for t he

8

The administration of the Federation has been relatively routine this year. The Office is now well established as first point of contact for our Membe r Associations, Corporate Members, othe r industry organisations, and the public. It has been able to face and cope w ith a number of challenges in the past year owing to the focussed and highly organised approach toward operational efficiency. There has been no change in our staff during t his period, and a review of t he role of the Office and its interaction wit h our membership is planned for the coming year. The Federation's publications were up-dated in a timely manner, including the largest ever amendment to the IFATCA Manual incorporating the change of structure from the Executive Secretary to the Office. The web site was established early in t he year, and has been efficient ly managed by our web master, Mr Rob Marshall. The creat ion of the web site, and the increasing level of computerisation among our Member Associations, is likely to lead to a change in the provision and distribution of data such as the IFATCA Manual and other pub lications in future. This could achieve signific ant savings for the Federation, and wi ll be discussed here in Marrakech. The Standing Committee Task Force completed its review of our research and development gro ups during the year, and has recommended the permanent adoption of the trial procedures for SC1, the amalgamation of Standing Committees 4 and 7, and changes in the election procedure for the Chairmen of these bodies. The Conference Task Force deliberated during the year regarding the management of our Annual Conference, and brings some proposals for change for the Directors to consider. Standing Committee 6 had an extensive work programme , and met once to carry out their tasks. Unfortu nately the Deputy President was not able to att end due to a conflict of dates wit h the Asia/Pacif ic Regional Meeting . Janet Hall has

advised that she w ill step down from the chair of SC6 after Conference, and we thank her for her wo rk in constitutional and admini strative polic y in recent years.

The Controller The past year has been one of consolidation for The Controller magazine . Following disco very of a failure to col lect money due to the magazine funds, the UK reorganised the Controller Management Group (CMG) and as a result have successfully managed to balance the book s by collecting most of the outstanding fees owed. The Controll er has continued to be prod uced in a timely manner although it becomes incre asing ly more difficult to fund it by adve rtising revenue. So many of the ATC related compa nies have amalgamated which has made t he source of potential advert isers much smaller. Consequentl y, the CMG has been forced to raise the subscripti on of th e magazine to allow for some of the shortfalls expecte d in advertising income. After 9 yeas in th e po st, the Editor has decided to hang up his keyboard and wi ll be handing over to Chris Stock (forme r EVPT) after th e 2000 Conference.

Finance Financially, the Fede ration continues t o rema in prudent in the expe nditur e of fund s, and t he small loss of 1997 / 98 was reco up ed in th e past fiscal year. A lthou g h a small profit of CHF 7,300.00 was realised, thi s was solely the result of income being some CHF 26,000 .00 over budget . Unfortun ately, expe nditu res we re almost CHF 20,000.00 over budget, in spite of the financial constraints imposed by the Execut ive Board. As noted previousl y, the Executive Board has trimmed as much from the ove rall budget as reasonably possible, without cutt ing the ove rall services and representat ion . Projection s for the current fiscal year indicate that income wil l tota l slight ly over the budgeted amount w ith expenditu res also running slightly over expectations . Standing Com mittee 3 has rev iewe d possib le sources of alternate income , and no real gains can be made in t his area, in t he short- te rm Member Associations must use th is Conference to take frank financial decisions to adequate ly fund the operat ional and administrative functions of the Federation , or to provide d irection to the Executive Board on the priorities being sought.

'' 11 CONTRO LLER


Presidents Speech Technical Software based systems are susceptible to datecontinui ty problems and the most infamous of these is Y2K. Wh ile there we re a number of minor problems, major catastrophes at the end of 1999 were prevented . The level of commitm ent and co-operation between st ates and organisations to achieve th is was remarkable . It is unfort unate that the same level of commitment, including financial, does not seem to be applied to addr essing other significant technica l difficulties threatening aviation safety that are experienced daily in some areas. ICAO has formed a new panel, th e A ir Traffic Management Concept Panel (ATMCP). This is part of the CNS/ ATM strategy. The ATM CP Working Group of the Who le met thre e times since the last IFATCA conference and ICAO is keen for early results from this Panel. Although it is not clear as to how early th e implementation of the Panel's work w ill occur, the Panel wi ll have a significant impact on how Air Traffic Control evolves. There appears to be increasing pressure on ATS providers to introduce reduc ed separat ion st andards and to impl ement new te chnolog ies to increase airspace capacity. It is impo rtant th at this does not occur prematurely or inapprop riately. There are many t echnical and professional issues that must be addressed, even if standards or tec hnologies are already in use as safety studi es and assumptions may need to be revised fo r the new app lication The second year of the SCl tr ial continu ed to be successful. In addit ion, SCs 1, 4 and 7 Chairs , EVPP and EVPT had another productive joint meeting . As several new techno logies and concepts are nearing operational impl ementat ion (or tr ials). it is essential that IFATCA's t echnica l and profes sional representatives (including SCs) co-o rdinate closely to ensure that all issues are addressed.

Professional The Jump into t he 21St centu ry may have led many to expect an excit ing. new wor ld, w here all the prob lems of the past wo uld be exchanged for new tec hnolog ies, improv ed work ing cond it ions and greater respect for t he professional skills of the control ler. However, it does not requ ire too much investigation to discover that far from goi ng forward, many contro llers are facing worsen ing cond itions. In many parts of the world, our MAs are work ing w ith unrel iable or inadequate equipment and yet are having to cope wit h unrestrained increases in air traff ic movements. ATC Management often appears unable to comprehend the comp lexities of the businesses they manage and seem to show little regard for the skills and professionalism of the ir control lers. As privat isation becomes the new 'buzz' word fo r success, we see that it is only by reducing direct operating costs that short -term profits are achieved . This ofte n means that recruitmen t and training is put on hold or is severely restr icted . Senior managers, often w it h littl e knowledge of the ATC task, pat t hemselves on t he back for a JObwe ll done yet fail to acknow ledge the damage they are doing to the ATS infrastructu re At the workp lace, contro llers find themselves

I I IF CONTROLLER

short staffed and w it hout the backup they need for relief and fatigue bre aks. Indeed, we have seen in some of the most civilised of countries t hat controllers' leave is cancelled at short notice and personnel are orde red back to work from sick leave w ith threats of dismissal if th ey do not agree to man essential controlling positions . In many cases, t here is no concern fo r the number of hours that a controller wo rks and no understanding of how tiredness and fatigue can affect the safety of ATS operations. There are many controllers who simply cannot manage on the meagre salaries they receive, and they are forced to undertake addition al jobs to make ends meet. A combination that leads to a disillus ioned and desperately t ired human being, responsib le for the safety of many in the air. Controllers w ho have been so concerned for the safety of their ATC service , because of inadequ acies with staffing and equipment, and have resorted to indu strial action in order to have their concerns noticed and acknow ledged, have now fo und themselves v ictimise d, despite their orig inal actions being ind ependent ly invest igated and considered to be just ified. This is not a situation that IFATCA is comfortable w it h and, despite the conce rns raised by airlin es and aircrew alike , we desire to see action by ICAO and Governments to have these serious situations addressed and rectified .

THE REGIONS Africa / Middle East Recognit ion of IFATCA and its role in aviation has increased tremendousl y as the Federation's view point is being solicited at many fora in Africa/Mi dd le East. Although t he indu str ial env ironmen t has been relative ly peaceful t his year, grave concerns still exist in many countries. IFATCA urges all CM s in the region to ado pt a 'w in-win' approach during d ialogue w ith ATC representati ves in order to maintai n the indu strial harmony. The Human Rights sit uation in some countries is very wo rrisome. It is our hope that amicable solut ions cou ld be found to th e disturb ing situat ions in Ugand a, Zimbabwe, and the Democ ratic Republ ic of Congo . It is sad to note th at du ring the year. one of our membe rs was killed whe n there was an attack on t he Guinea-B issau Airport by wa rrin g factions .

Americas For the Americas Region, it is anticipated that the need for functional equipment, adequate training, improved social conditions , and other aspects related to the provision of safe, orderly, and expeditious air traff ic control services cannot be neglected as in previous years since Latin America and the Caribbean belong to an area in which the projected fut ure growth in traff ic (6%) might surpass expectations. Regionally, several governments through their CMs (both Civil and M ilitary) in the South Amer ican sub-continent and to an extent in some Caribbean countries have embarked on systematic privatised/co mmercialised operations at many airpo11s and w ithin the air traffic control services so as to cope wit h the new developments.

Additionally, many CMs, are realising that time has come where there is need for a change in their visio n and objectives with regard to the provision of an air traff ic cont rol service. This trend of cou rse, is seen by many of our colleagues as a good opportunity for better air traffic controllers' work ing conditions in the region, though it is expected that new attitudes and cultu ral patterns wo uld inevitably ev olve because of t hose changes. Howe ver, of necessity, cognisance must also be taken of the lessons learnt in other regions, as contro llers of the Americas shou ld be mindful of the track record in many of the countries w here privat ised/commercialised operations exist. While in some countries of the region there exists advance and functional ATC systems and procedures, the situat ion in others is far from that w hich is desired. Improvements in working conditions for A ir Traffic Cont rollers still require concerted attention as industr ial activity and the resulting constant legal batt les sadly const it ute the norm fo r many of the air traffic control lers to achieve the ir demands. It is hoped that having advanced into the new millennium controlle rs and th eir employers alike would explore new ways towards achieving solutions. From a participatory standpoint. this year was not as busy for regional representation as there was reduction in the number of meetings because of preparations for the CAR/ SAM RAN . Representatives, however, part icipated in meetings of the ICAO NAM / CAR and SAM Y2K Cont ingency Groups, the E/ CAR Informal WG, the CNS/ ATM / IC/SG and the third CAR/ SAM / RAN.

Asia/Pacific It has been a busy year in the Asia/ Pacific area with !FATCA representation and participation in formal and informal working groups and ICAO meetings. This continues with major contributions by our representatives on such items , as RVSM and of course CNS/A TM . Countr ies in the Pacific are on the leading edge of th is technolog y with most of the world's practical exper ience in CNS/ ATM being with in the Asia / Pacific area. IFATCA, in turn, is also on the leading edge of technical and professional input on the subject. RVSM is due for implementa tio n on the North Pacific routes early this year with continuing work on implementat ion over the South China Sea area in about two years time . IFATCA is also invo lved heavily in input on th is subject. IFATCA fully intends to seek expansion of membersh ip w ithin the region . A number of Non-member Associations are either seeking membership or actively making inqu iries The main stumbl ing blocks to these countrie s jo ining are financial , w ith many of the countries being quite poor (indu strial) w ith senior management or Government seeing IFATCA as support ing trade unions (pol itical) w ith country-to-country relations w ith in the region also a prob lem . In this regard , there exists a need for IFATCA to reinforce t he fact that we are a professional organisation and that we are here to help

9


Presidents Speech Europe T his year has seen a number of dramat ic chang es in the operat ional envi ronmen t of the Europ ean Region. First of all t he civ il syst em had to cope w ith th e Kosovo w ar. Th is meant for many of t he Air Traffi c Cont rol Cent res a restructuri ng of their airspace ove rni ght. Some w ere confronted with an increase in t raff ic of upw ard s of 20% ov ern ight. During th e early days of t he wa r critical situations occurr ed in certai n areas but it has to be hig hlight ed th at t he professionalism of th e air t raffi c con tr oller s w as outs tanding and hen ce most of the aviation communit y w ere not impact ed by the effe ct s of t he wa r ow ing to the trem end ou s eff orts by tho se (air tra ff ic contro llers) inv olved. The introd uct ion of A RN Version 3 (a new route netw or k) meant for t he core area of Euro pe a reshu ffle of t he w ho le rout e networ k. W here , in the beginn ing t he de lays w ere "skyscraping" due to lim ited capacity it has now been stabilised aro und 26 % of all fligh ts and t he ov erall system has provided an average increase of an add ition al 6 % t raff ic capacity. Whereas IATA and A EA had recogni sed the tr emendo us effo rts made by co ntroll ers during the crisis stage, seve ral national airline s w rongl y accused them of m isperf orm ance. Gene rally speaking it can be said tha t IFATCA activities in the Euro pean Reg ion are in a state of constant increase. Apart fro m Eurocont rol, whi ch comprise s hig h leve l gro up s such as th e Provisional Council (PC). the ATM/ CN S Consultation Group (AC G). the Euro pean ATFM Group (EAG), t he Perfo rmance Review Comm ission (PRC) the Safety Regulation Comm ission (SRC) and t he Safety Group, t he work on the expert leve l further increased this year. IFATCA 's expertis e was requ este d in domains such as RVSM, 8.33k Hz chan nel spacing , Centra l Euro pean ATS Unit (CEATS), Airport Domain , A ir Navigat ion Team, European Airspace Task Force, the Human Resour ces Team and its sub-gro up s as wel l as fut ure app lication of ATM Tools (G NSS, A IRSAW) The Europea n Co mm ission invited IFATCA among other stakeho lde rs for an ATM sounding group on De lays. Thi s work was used by the Co mmi ssion to pro duce its Communication on ATM delays in Europe and t he initiat ive of a "Single European Sky." In Decem ber IFATCA toget her w ith t he Unions representing control ler s we re inv ited to a meet ing with the High Co mm issioner of Transport of the European Co mmission w here we exp lained to the High Comm issioner our posit ion on t heir new publication . The capac ity offe red by t he ATS system in Europe cannot co pe with the dema nd anymore . Th e co nt ro llers are do ing a t remendou s Job w it hin t he available means . The overa ll ATM system of Europ e - at least the core area - has co me to its leve l of abso lut e maximum performan ce The re is a need for new too ls, incr eased manpower , and more airspace. At the

10

same time we have seen the increasing pressure from customers. The Performance Review Commission has published its first report on the system performance and will in the future measure what the different ATS providers are doing. The latter might also bring a shift in the manner in which the business of ATS is managed. In the social domain IFATCA has had its fair share of involvement in assisting in the resolution of several social conflicts , the likes of Finland (32 days of strike); Czech Republic (attempted to force introduction of a new RDP/ FDP system which was not ready, still in Czech Republic, management tried to overcome social conflict by hiring eleven (11) controllers from the Former Yugoslav Republic of M acedonia) ; Slovenia (suspension of the Presidents of both the Association and Union as the y publicly made requests for the recruitm ent of more controllers) . Support of various kinds w as also given to other MAs . Further on the social side, IFATCA had sought more recognition from the European Commission . This met with criticism from the Federation of Unions (the European Transport Workers' Federation - ETF)that represents controllers and ATM staff, as they are the recognised social partners of the European Commission concerning social dialogue . After clearing talks betw een IFATCA and the ETF, agreement was reached w herein th ere w ill be a review of th e Dublin arrangement (involving the FST,ATCEUC and IFATCA) so as to find a way for w ard w hereby the interest of the controll er can be best defended in the various institution s.

International

Organisations

At th e out set of this report it was mentioned t hat we have maintained good relationships w ith the inte rnationa l organisations - IATA, ICAO, IFA LPA, and the ILO. The ILO through their Transport Specialist has been kept updated on indu strial activity and issues thereof, w hich pertain to our profession. It is expected that th e Transport Specialist w ould atte nd conference and, therefore, present an opportun ity for MA s to discuss their prob lems and concerns w ith the ILO directly. A very good relationship exists between IFA LPA and us on technical issues through involvement both organisations' technical committees by representatives from the other. Howeve r, though such relation ship exists at th e Executive Board, and wo rking committee level, (ATS Stud y Group and SC1 with respect to IFA LPA and IFATCA respectively) it is approaching that time w hen a wider relationship needs to be developed and nurtured at the Regional level. This I look forward to in the years ahead . Likewise, it is hoped that a deepen ing of our correlation can be realised on matters a professional and legal nature. W it h respect to the ICAO, IFATCA's input is constantly being sought at bot h the regional and Headq uarters level. We have just been

invited by ICAO Montreal to participate in the recently formed Proficienc y Requirem ent In Common English Stud y Group (PRICES) and we have already indicated our acceptance . Designation of a representative is yet to follow. This and other requirements to participate at the ICAO level is an issue that needs to be given serious consideration by all MAs, as we cannot afford to NOT be part of these new initiatives . Further details on our involvement with ICAO are contained in the several reports that would presented at the Committees during the week.

Conclusion So, w hat of the future of ATC? What benefits will this new Millennium bring? Undoubtedly there will be new challenges for controllers as greater efforts are made by the ATC pro viders to increase efficiencies and cut costs. There will be attempts to develop airborne equipment and procedures that will enable more traffic to be handled in the same airspace, with reduced inte raction by controller s. The delegation for airborne separation assurance to the flight deck still assumes that the controller can remain 'in control' , even though the process effectively reduces the controll er to a passive, observing, role . So much emphasis on the development of ideas and technolog y, w hen all th at controllers need is some enhancement of their existing equipment. staffing and procedur es to enabl e them to handle the forecast increase s in air traffic mov ements. What a sad stor y it is, that the proven skill s and professionalism of controller's is being overlook ed in favour of unproven procedure s and airborne system s. With the celebration s of the new Mill enn ium behind us, let us not ignore the fact that the nations of thi s world w ere able to find million s upon million s of dollars to search for and rectif y the Millennium 'bug' . And yet. for a fraction of the costs involved in Y2K, major improv ement s could immediately be made to existing air traffi c systems and controllers ' term s and conditions of emplo yment . Further, from an int ernal standpoint. it is difficult to discern that JUStwh en the Fed erati on is achieving th e exposur e and imag e so long desired, we are faced w ith a decline in ou r volume popul ation . It is time for all th e Member A ssociation s to get involved not onl y loc ally, but also regionally and int ernationally It is time for a realit y ch eck and attitud e adjustm ent - w e mu st abandon th e v iew that there are M , of variou s sizes and com e togeth er w ith the common appro ach to realise our mission To pro mot e and safeg uard the interests of th e air traffi c contr ol p ro fession. do not fe el that w e have to be remind ed t hat th e Federation is mad e up of M emb er Association s, each bein g cou nt ed as O NE. Finally, we are a d edi cated gro up of individu als and we must ado pt a new approac h if we are to ensure th at t he Federation surv ives the challeng ing yea rs ahead

, 11

CONTRO LLER


Committee A Report Chairman Committee A, Shazzard Mohammed passenger s from Argentina, Benin, Guatemala and Togo to purchase tickets for the trip, but boarding passes would be issued on Friday at plenary. I take this opportunit y to we lcome and congratulate those MAs on becoming famil y members of IFATCA.

f urther studies on wo rld wide average inflation figures, w hilst simult aneous ly tak ing into account its effect on those coun tri es th at expe rience currenc y devaluation. Du ring discussion on the SC3 wor king pape r, w hich considered possible means of earning additi onal sources of revenue fo r the

.A

.~

-=

he 1st Annual Conference of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA) in thi s, the 3rd millennium, w hich is also historically its 39th Annua l Conference, was convened in the colourful and mystical city of Marrakech in the north African country of Morocco, from the 6 10 March 2000 . Committee A is what I like to describe as the eng ine room of the airship called IFATCA. It deal s wit h all the administrative and financial aspects of the Federatio n from year to year, includi ng, th e perpetual process of updating and upgradin g operationa l policies by creating and amending existing regul ations and by-la ws.

NEW MEMBERS Prior to Committ ee A starting its engines at 14:10 on Monda y afternoon, four "new ' passengers ind icated that th ey would like to board the A irship for the 2000-01 journ ey and beyond. Approva l was immedi ately given to

REPORTS

Federat ion, the issue of up dated membe rship

The President and Chief Exec utive Officer, Samuel Lampkin, Deputy President Paul Robinson , and the 4 Regional EV Ps then presented their respective reports of the journe y over the last year. There we re some questions and comments regarding some officers' sojourns, but, in the end all th e reports were adopted . Additionally, SC3 Chairman Alexis Brathwa ite, SC6 Chairwoman Janet Hall, "The Controller' Editor Terry Crowhur st, "The Controller '

numbe rs reared its ugly head. In my opini on, it is really time that Member Assoc iations act in

Man agement Group Chairman Edge Greene, the Web-Master Rob Marshall and The Corprorate Members Co-o rdin ator Charles St uart all present ed their reports w hich were adopted.

an honest and fair manner and declare t he accurate numbers of the ir members to the Federation and be respons ible for t he associated financial ob ligations to IFATC A. Clearly, to implement any bus iness ide a w ill be a long and costly project but SC3 will con t inue to examine other viable opt ions . Th e follo w ing members, Trin idad and Tobago and the United States of A mer ica w ere elected to SC3 for the 2000 / 01 term. There are 5 items on SC3 Work Programme for t he com ing term . Th e EV PF in his report indicated tha t IFATCA is in sound fin ancial shape but exp lained that

STANDING (FINANCE)

COMMITTEE

3

SC3 presented five wo rkin g papers and all w ere accepted. Th e most imp ortant and controve rsial dealt w ith an increase to t he annual subscription rates and max imum subscription rate. Th e last increase was in 1992 and SC3 sought an incre ase of 10% to cover t he sub sequ ent period, w hich was met w ith majorit y approval. However, more imp orta ntly SC3 indic ated that it w ill present to next Conference a wo rking paper that w ill seek to automatic ally ad1ust subscript ion rates based on

due to currenc y fluctuat ion s ou r finances were affected negat ively. He sugg ested that SC3 should look at certai n measures to pre vent a reoccurrence or at least red uce t he impact of t his phen omenon The 1998 / 99 income and expenditure accoun ts and associated audito r's rep ort w ere accepted w ith th e excess fund s bein g allocate d to t he Reserve and Special Circum stances Fund . The 2000/ 01 Budge t w as present ed and aft er some pre liminary concern s w ere raised , wh ich wer e adequat ely add ressed by the EV PF, the Federat ion's Budge t for 2000/ 01 received unanimo us appro val.

>

1111 CONTROLLER

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CommitteeB Report Chairman Committee B, Chris Stock

n his opening remarks, the Chairman of Committee B, Chris Stock (UK), welcome d the delegates to the 39th Conference and then continued by introd ucing the to p table to the committee; Vice Chairman, Mr Moha med Lahmar (Morocco), Secretary, Josh Harrison (UK, and representing the Executive Board in the absence of the EVP Technical, Marc Baumgartner (EV P Europe). During this opening period , the Chairman asked the observers to identify themselves who included representativ es from ICAO, IATA, ATS Palestine, Ghana CAA, Danish ATS, and ATS Kenya. Before continuing with the agenda, the Chairman explained how he wis hed business to be conducted and emphasised the need for participation from delegates and observers to gain the maximum benefit from the discussions. In contrast to the conference in Santiago w here t he committee had to deal with a record number of working papers, t his year the number of working papers was down to five with on ly one with a polic y recommendation . Neve rtheless the quality of the papers were of the high standard that has come to be expected of SC1 . The policy paper discussed units of measurement within civil aviation and the need for global standardi sation to eradicate unsafe transition areas between metric and imper ial systems. The comm ittee adopted the recommen dation that "FEET', "FEET PER M INUTE", "K NOTS" , and "NAUT ICAL M ILES" be the univer sal unit s of measurement for vertica l d istance, vert ical speed , speed and long distance (gene rally regarded as in excess of 4000metres) . The adopt ion of this pol icy brings t he Federation into line w ith IFALPA so that both organizations can present a common front in the appropriate fora. The ot her w orking papers dealt with such subject s as "Common ATC HMI - Controller Participation" , "A pplication of CDTI t o A-SMGCS", "ASAS Responsibi lity" , "Y2K Events and Follow Up " and "Controlle r Intervention Capability" . Dur ing the discu ssion on the Common ATC HM I paper , Bert Ruitenberg , IFATCA Hum an Factors Specialist, gave a presentat ion on the soon to be pub lished ICAO manual, "Hum an Factors guide lines for air traffic management systems". Th is document Is predicated on three essential

I

12

concepts: human centred automation; situational awareness; and managing error. The committee felt that this was an important document and should be reviewed in detail by a worki ng group. The paper dealing with the transfer of responsibility for airborne separation assurance raised a high level of interest. During these discussions, some interesting points w ere made such as the concern that the reduction of separation minima using ASAS would impact on control ler workload when reverting to ground based separation using standard minima. In the USA the current experience w ith free flight indicates an increase in controller work load and it was suggested that this wo uld repeat itself with ASAS applications. These items were referred to next year's SC1 work programme. The small number of working papers allowed more tim e to consider the reports of th e IFATCA representat ives to ICAO panels and working groups, to other international organizations such as IFALPA, and to the regional worki ng groups. These reports tend to take second place to t he wo rking papers w hich are predominantly concerned with policy. This is unfortunate because most of these reports are dealing with current and futu re developments in ATM /CNS cover ing many of the leading edge issues w hich wi ll impact on all controllers' environment and wo rking practices in the years to come. The scope of these reports gives a strong indication of

breadth and depth of the IFATCA input at a global and regional leve l. These reports are highly recommended reading and reflect we ll on their auth ors and t he Federation . The backbone of t he comm itt ee's agenda is the amount of wo rk achie ve d thro ugh SC1, and more specifically, t he Chairman SC1, Dave Grace (UK) . Not only is SC1 responsible for t he production of wo rking papers fo r conference but also, the Chairman together w ith EVPT is responsible for liaison w ith the IFATC A represent atives . Thi s year new arrangements for the elect ion of Chairman were introd uced . As a result, Dave Grace was elected unopposed as Chairman for a period of two years. Th is can only be of benefit to both IFATCA and Dave gua rantee ing securit y of te nure w hich w ill give consis tency in the man ner that SC1 conducts its busines s. As always, t he debate w ithin the comm ittee was informa l, frank, and friend ly w it h exce llent particip ation from the de legates who represente d over 50 MA s. Alt hough he had been delayed en rout e to confe rence in Sing apore arriving a day late, Andrew Beadle (EVPT) made up for lost time w it h some valuable inpu t. Th e ob servers , in particul ar ICAO and Eurocontrol , made constructive and informed cont ribu tions which ensured a high standard of di scussion . Traditio nally th is has been t he mann er of business in Committee B and yet again pro ved to be a successful formu la wi th the minor, but important to me, bonu s of making the Chairma n's task relatively effort less and stress fr ee! In any committee rep ort , it would be rem iss not to mention the admini strat ion of the comm ittee because its succ essful outcome is normall y judged by the eff iciency of the secretari al team and the quality of t he minutes. For achiev ing thi s, Dave Grace, Josh Harri son, Bart Th yssen and Robert van Deman (Neth er lands) deserve th anks for the ir hard wo rk in prep aring and d raft ing th e minutes . Th eir effort took pressur e off the hard pressed and short staffe d secretariat . Finally but not least, the Moroccan Assoc iat ion are to be thanked for providing the exce llent com mitt ee facilities including projecto rs and also, for supplying th e V ice Chairmen for each day of the comm ittee proceeding s.

, if

CONTROL LER


Committee C Report Chairman Committee C, Neil Vidler hh, Morocco, Casablanca, Marrakech evocative images came to mind for IFATCA's 39th conference and we were not disappointed. The fascinating red city of Marrakech lived up to expectation and the Moroccan approach provided a conference that was different and memorable. The proceedings of Committee C also proved to be memorable w ith a late sitti ng one night and being the last committee to fi nish its wo rk. Thr ee and a half very full days produced only 15 resolut ions this year but this paucity of number underlines the signific ance of their import and the discu ssions behind th em again prov ided insight into the knowledge and competence of IFATCA's hum an factors and legal affairs watc hdogs and the importance to the profession of these matters. Proceedi ngs commenced as alway s w ith reports from all our representatives in various forums dealing with HF. Extra emphasis was placed this year on the new work being done by the European A ir Traffic Managem ent Project. Th is body is deve loping th e earlier work of EATCHIP and harmonising ATS in ECAC. IFATCA has representatives in thr ee key areas of Manpower , Licensing and Human Factors and in each case IFATCA' s contribution (by Hannes Zeigler, Luc Staudt and Patrick Cristi respect ively) has been we ll received . IFATCA's 'roving HF ambassador' Bert Ruitenberg delivered his usual report and despite a relatively quiet year, Bert contin ues to make signifi cant contr ibution for the federation. Other reports came from our liaison officers in Geneva, Montreal and the European Union and to IFA LPA's HUPER Committee . Despite a small return on the IHB question naire (again I) delegates reaff irmed the validity of the document and its current fo rmat. Delegates we re exhorted (again 1) to complete and return the questionnaires. The second w or king day saw Committee C get its teeth into the really meaty top ics on the 'Professional' matters of th e agenda. Even the vegetar ians joined in. A lmost all of Tuesday was spent considering the professional and legal aspects of work ing wit h unserviceable or degraded perform ance equipmen t. With continuing automation , policy in this area was urgent ly required. Delegates agreed the fo llow ing "1 ATC equipmen t provided should includ e backup secondary equipme nt on hot standby for use if primary equipment becomes deg raded . 2. Controllers should be given initial and recurren t tra ining in the degraded mode operations of their equ ipment. 3. ATS management must ensure that ATS equipm ent is regularly maintained by properly trained and qualifi ed technical staff to ensure its availability and reliability. 4. ATS management must design adequate fault reporting procedures and publish requ ired rectification times 5. Air traffic contro llers should not use equipme nt that is known to be unserviceable, unreliable or inaccurate for the provision of services to air traffic." The Committee then turned its attention to the somewhat controversial subject of ATC Separation Monitoring Tools. As w ith the prev ious item, this to pic was also addressed joint ly with the SC7 thoughts and was intr oduced via papers from both SC4 and SC7. The UK delegates were generally in favour of such a device and, w hilst believing that there would be an initial wariness, thought that in the longer term there wou ld be acceptance of such a tool they saw as valuable for the integ rity of the ATC system. However , the USA delegates opined that contro llers should be in no doubt that the data generated by any system wou ld be used by

11 11 CONTROLLER

management for whatever purpose they saw fit. The proposed f ive items fo r policy prov oked considerable discussion and an overnig ht break was called for to allow delegates to re-charge th eir batteri es and for the chairman SC4 to re-wo rd the paper's proposals. The fol low ing we re finall y agreed: "1. IFATCA considers that the ASM T device is something that should be used for th e analysis of the circumstances of any perceived loss of separati on rather than as a punitive too l that can be used dir ectly by management for disciplin ary action. 2. Th e introduc t ion of ASM T should be preceded by the introduction of STCA. 3. The criteria used to set up the separation parameters of an ASMT device must be carefull y planned and monitor ed . To be effective , suff icient consideration must be give n to false or nuisance alerts . 4. If STCA is not part of the syst em, or is inoperab le, then the legal liability of the ATCO needs to be clearly defin ed and established. 5. If ASMT is to be used, it must be part of a Safety Management Programme ." With increasing commercialisation/ privatisation of ATC services around the wor ld (and not always benefiting the contro llers), it was thought that all potent ially affe cted ATCO s should be aware of the pros and cons of such development. Accordingly, this year 's conference decided to establish a data base for ref erence by cont rolle rs and their representative bodies to perhaps ease their transition into this new arena. Consideration of this matter was assisted greatly by Canada's account of the ir experience w ith a service t hat appears more int erested in a satisfactory bottom line and where hum an factors and emplo yee relations seemingly are given scant regard. Discussion on these three very important top ics was give n fr ee rein and occupied a considerable amount of tim e with t he result that Comm ittee C fell behind schedu le by mid-Wedn esday. Then, a late lunch that day saw de legates sitting until after 6.30pm to ensure that the busin ess at hand was dealt with. No doubt this placed a strain on friendship but delegates retained their sense of humou r and continued to apply themselves in committee whilst their colleagues furthered thei r discussions poolside . _Such devot ion to duty allowed Thursday to be given over to Legal Matters in ATC and election of the Standing Comm ittees. This day saw IFATCA's policy on the legal liability of controllers upd ated and a late paper propos ing a policy upd ate on equal opportunity was accepted as infor mation material (because late papers cannot propo se policy) . More work on this issue will ensue th is coming year. Consider able discussion then fol lowed on the legal aspects of the use of inadequate or unserviceable equipment. It was fina lly agreed that the following wo uld be inserted in the Manual : "1 A contro ller shall not be required or compelle d to use equipment that is known to be unserviceable, inaccurate or subject to irregu lar functioning. 2. To protect the contro ller against liability, it is essential that the failure or irregular operation of equipment used in the provision of air traffic services be repo rted to the appropriate management authority as soon as possible ." It was also agreed that a data bank relating to legal proceed ings involving ATCOs be maintained and that the information be made available on request to the IFATCA office in Montreal. The Com mittee was advised that the Executive Board had appointed Ms . Sophie Billaud as the new Liaison Officer to the International Organisation in Geneva replacing Mr . Werner Bopp retiri ng after

many years of valuable input. Werner was thank ed for his contribution . The Board also appointed Mr. Luc Staudt as the Liaison Off icer to the European Union. Followi ng Commi tte e A resolutions, this com ing year wi ll be the final year for individua l contribution by SC4 and SC7 and Geneva 2001 will see the amalgamation of these two committees. Both the current chairmen support this move and believe it will lead to financial and professional efficiencies and benefits. (In fact, IFATCA previously operated with just one SC covering professional and legal matters until 1973 .) Following a close election, Australia, Canada, EGATS, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom w ere confirmed as the SC4 members for 2000/01. They have taken on a huge work programme of some 15 items to see them out. SC7 is diminished in size for its farewell year with just four MAs (Israel, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and the United States) in lieu of a possible five volunteering. This means the y will be equall y busy with their six major work items. As always, chairmen Geoff Fairless (Australia) and Paul Templeman (UK) made major contribu tion to the running of the committee. The conference 2000 organising committee provided Committee C with one of the best committee venues ever seen at confe rence and all the facilities at the Marrakech Palaisde Congress were excellent and ensured that committee proceedings flowed smooth ly. Aiding this and coordinating everything was Mr. Le Bachir Beratch , vice-chairman from the Moroccan Association who did a great job for us. As always, the committee was greatly supported by the conference secretariat. Again , the committee's major contribution came from its Secretary. This year we again saw a new occupant - Jonathan Smith from the United Kingdom . Jonathan did an outst anding job producing accurate and comprehensive minutes and made the reviewing committee 's job that much easier. Jonathan, you will be we lcome back next yearl Conference 2000 ended on a slightly sad note for Committee C as we witnessed the resignation of EVP Professional Mart yn Cooper after an all-too-short time in the position . Martyn came to the job at short notice but made a major impact in his very short time One must wonder what he could have achieved if he had continued , having achieved an even firmer grip on all that that the jo b entails. Committee C thanks Martyn for his application, enthusiasm, professionalism and vo luminou s reports . We wish his successor, Canada's Doug Churchill, well. Thank you Morocco , one of our newer Member association. And so to Geneva, Switzerland , one of the founder MAs, for 2001, the fortieth anniversary of IFATCA

13


Human Factors Human Factors Guidelines For Air Management Systems A new Manual for ICAO Bert Ruitenberg, IFATCA Human FactorsSpecialist From the middle of May 1999 until the

rather an iterative process w ith a high degree of

the Manual and listened to their input and

middle of January 2000 it was my

interactio n betwee n t he manufacturer(s) and

feedback. I was invited to atte nd a meeting of

the buyer(s). I also argued that material

the Eurocontrol team involved in CPDLC trials

included for one of the audiences wo uld

(another audience group), which increased my

generally be of interest to the other audience

understanding of the needs of such groups . A

Montreal, Canada, as a short-te rm

too (albeit to a somewhat lesser degree). For

further benefit of those v isits was obtaining

consultant to the Flight Safety and

those reasons it was decided that the Manual

useful material for inclu sion in th e Manual.

Human Factors Programme . My main

wou ld consist of one volume only, and that it

Th e tit le that was fina lly agreed for the

task was to produce a new Manual, of

would include a "road map" to direct each

Manual is: "Human

audience to the chapters that are considered to

Air Traffic Management

be of particular interest for them.

Doc. 9758). The Manual comp rises nin e

privilege to work for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (!CAO) in

wh ich the working title was "Hum an Factors Guidel ines for the Development,

It was my personal ambition to also include an informative aspect in the new Manual. I was

Equipment for Air Traffic Services

partic ularly intent on providing background

Providers". This article describes how

information on selected theoret ical Human

Chapter

Factors concepts , as well as on includin g

Incorporating

It also provides an overv iew of the structure and contents of the Manual.

F

rom the beginning ICAO identified two

examples of existing applications of advanced

for

Systems" (ICAO

chapters, whic h wi ll be exp lored in detail in the

Acqu isition and Implementation of CNS

th e production of this Manual evo lved .

Factors Guidelines

following paragraphs.

1 Human

Factors

knowledge

CNS techno logy. with focus on applications for Auto matic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) and

In recent years a sign ificant body of knowledge

Contro ller Pilot Data Link Communication

has made a compelling case in sup port of the

(CPD LC) - both on the ground and on the

incorporation of Hum an Factors knowledge in

distinct target audiences for t he Manual.

flightdeck. To this end I sought and indeed

ATM system-design from the early stages. This

One aud ience compr ises t he var ious

obta ined the co-operat ion of aircraft

body of know ledge is captured in a number of

groups and panels invo lve d in the development

manufacturers and ATS providers. who

highly regarded publications . Excerpts from

and implementation of CNS/ ATM systems for

provided valuable information on their existing

t hree such publications are presented in this

Air Traffic Services. The ot her audience

systems, for w hich I'm highly gratefu l.

chapter. The conclusion is that "the overall safety

comprises Air Traffic Serv ices providers who

Throughout the production process of the

and eff iciency of the aviation system depends on

ultimately w ill acqu ire CNS-re lated eq uipm ent.

Manual there was consultation with the ICAO

human operators as the ultimate integrators of

It was therefore envisaged that t he Manual

ATM Section (who represent one of the

the numerous system-elements. This

would consist of two volumes , i.e . one fo r each

intended audiences). Frequent contact was

dependence is unlikely to decrease, and may

of the audiences .

maintained w ith the English editors at ICAO in

even increase in unanticipated ways, as

orde r to provide them with a manuscript

additiona l advanced tech nology is implemented .

two such vo lumes wo uld have a considerable

formatted optimally to suit their requirements,

To a greater extent than ever befor e,

over lap in contents . This over lap wou ld be a

w hich in turn expedites the publishing process.

understanding and accounting for the role of

result of the fact that t he development,

Visits we re made to the Eurocontrol

humans, includ ing their positive and negative

acqu isition and implem entat ion of advanced

Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, during w hich

contr ibut ions, wi ll be important to maintaining

ATM technology is not a linear process . but is

I briefed experts in related fields on progress of

and improving safety whi le improv ing efficiency".

Early in the proJect however I realised that

' CNS/ ATM is the acron ym for Commun ication, Navigation , Surveillance/ Air Traffic Management , w hich is the ICAO model for a satellite -based air navigation system for the first decades of t he 21st century . ' Global Navig ation Satellit e System

14

,, CONTROLL ER


Human Factors Chapter

2

Chapter

and States it is unavo idable that init ial

S - Research

procedures for the applica t ion of new

Three essential concepts

In addition to the empirical lessons from the early

In order to provide a common platform for

implementation of CNS/ATM systems (mainly in

discussions on the development, acquisition and

the Pacific region) there have been several

implementation of ATM systems, this chapter

scientific studies on the effects of using CPDLC

introduces three concepts essential to such

that supplement these lessons. These studies are

discussions. These are the concepts of Human Centred Automation, Situational Awareness and Error Management. Each concept is discussed in detail, with special emphasis on their relevance for Air Traffic Management .

either research-oriented, or conducted in response to analysis of reports received through

3

Data link infrastructure

and

developed regionall y, nationall y or even locally. This chapter presents genera l guidel ines on procedure development, and specific guidance concerning standard operating proce dur es for CPDLC, ADS, Pre-departure Clearance (PDC ) and GNSS-based instrument approache s.

confidential safety reporting systems in the aviation industry . This chapter focuses on research on the communication speed, the party line effect and the potential vulnerability to

Chapter

technolog y w ill sometimes have to be

Chapter 8 New flightdeck

technology

human error of CPDLC. The recommenda t ions

This chapter int rod uces the concep t of Airborne

from these studies complement the guidelines

Situational Awa reness and presents new

contained in Chapter 4 'The Human-Machine

designs for flightdeck techno logy that may

applications

Interf ace" and Chapter 7 "Standard Operating

eventuall y have an impact on A ir Traffic Services

This chapter discusses aspects of the data link

Proced ures" of the Manual.

and ATC procedures. Implementa t ion of this technolog y may still be years away, and some of

infrastructure that are relevant to the design

6 - Preparing for change

it may not be implemented at all. Yet designe rs

and implementation of ATM systems, but that

Chapter

are outside the influ ence of the designers,

The develo pm ent , acquisition and

futu re incorporat ion of relevant aspects of new

buyers or operators of the systems.

implementation of CNS/ ATM systems for ATS

flightdeck tech nolo gy in the ir system s.

Furthermore the chapter include s an overview

are complex processe s wit h many facets. St ates

of ATM systems should consider allow ing for

of data link applications most relevant for ATS,

and organisations that tra nsition to new

as well as a description of Human-Machine

technology and new procedures need to

Interface (HMI) designs for CPDLC on the

prepare for th is change several years ahead of

flightdeck of th e Boeing 747-400 series, th e

the envisaged t ransit ion day. In th is prep aration

The final chapter provides postal and electronic

Boeing 777 and the Ai rbus 340 .

all aspect s related to the transition must be

add resses of agencies and organisations where

Chapter 4 The Human-Machine

Interface

Chapter

9

Sources for additional

information

con sider ed . This chapter addres ses the w riting

more information on topics discussed in the

of system spec ifications , deve lop ing a Hum an

Manual may be obtai ned.

Factors plan , the ope rating philo soph y,

It is ICAO's intent ion to publish the Manual in

changing team roles , early protot ypin g,

t he English language first, possibly as early as

planning and timing of training, th e tra ining

Apri l 2000, after w hich the other ICAO

conten t, and regul atory aspects.

languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and

displays, menus, the use of colour, data ent ry,

Chapter

or at the beginning of next year. And since it's a

electro nic fli ght progress str ips, user guidance,

Standard

(HMI) The HMI chapter discus ses issues for the

Spanish) w ill fo llow toward the end of this year

de sign and use of input devices, visual

v isual alertin g and auditory alerts. Specific recommendations for the design of the HMI

7 Operating

Procedures

Manua l (as opposed to a Digest or a Circular ) there w ill be periodic updat es of the contents

The int roduction of CNS/ ATM techno logy

In conclusion , it is my belief that w ith the

generate s the requirement to develop and

product ion and publication of th is Manua l w ith

for CPDLC are also included . The appendices

impl ement new standard ope rating procedures

Hu man Factors Guidel ines for ATM Systems,

to thi s chapter contain examp les of exist ing

w hich refle ct th e needs and const raints of t he

t he ICAO Flight Safety and Human Factors

HMl-d esigns for CNS/ ATM tec hnology.

operational context in wh ich th e techn ology is

Programme has made yet another significant

Ma te rial is inclu ded from Aust ralia,

go ing to be dep loyed . ICAO has dev eloped

contr ibutio n to enabling States and

Eurocontrol, Japan and New Zealand . An

Stand ards and Recomme nd ed Practices

Organisat ion s to tran sition to the ICAO

exam ple of a checklist w ith Hum an Facto rs

(SAR.Ps) related to CNS/A TM, but due to the a-

CNS/ ATM environment. It was a great honou r

consideration s for the ATC HMI is also

synchrono us and incrementa l introduct ion of

and indeed a pleasure for me to have bee n

included as an attachment to th is chapter.

th e various (sub) systems in diffe rent Regions

involved in this process .

In order to be able to wo rk fo r ICAO I needed time off from my regular wo rk as A ir Traffic Contro ller (ATCO ) at Schiphol A irp ort , A msterdam , The Neth erlands . Since The Neth erlands is short of ATCOs, manageme nt were relucta nt to grant me the required time off In an unprecedented action my direct ATC colleagues from Schiphol TWR / A PP vo lunteered to all work one or two days overtime on my behalf , which our company's managem ent accepted . I'm highly gratef ul to my colleagues for their display of professional solidarity that enabled me to produ ce the Manual for I AO as described

fl I[

CONTROLLER

15


EGATSForum EGATS Millenium Forum Resume Philippe Domogala, Contributing Editor

A

t the start of the morning session,

the bulk of the R&D programmes. If we did all

unfortunately failed to address the working

the forum was opened by Mr

this, then capacity increase wou ld come

conditions (as Jean Marc Garot suggested in

Vanden broucke, Director of the

naturally. He also said that we should stop

his presentation it would be interesting to

Maastricht UAC. He advocated a pan

promising too much to the airlines, stop

make a survey on the relations between

European Approach to resolve the current

hammering on controllers' heads and embark

productivity and salaries of controllers!)

delays and praised the good performance of

on a campaign of mutual trust.

the Maast rich t UAC with average 3200

Dieter PADE of IAOPA defended the

aircraft per day ( peaking at 3600) and an

bicycle position (sorry, I meant General

average delay of less that 2 minutes.

Aviation of course!). He advocated the use of

Then Philippe Domagala of EGATS,

ADS-Band basically said that we ATC, should

intro duced the t heme, arguing that delays

not forget General Aviation and business jets

wer e not all to be blamed on ATC and that

and V FRwas a way to avoid delays.

airline scheduling, hub and spoke

The afternoon then started with the

operations, and smaller aircraft were largely

controversial presentation of Stefaan

to blame for the current rise in delays. He

Denuwelaere of SABENA, trying to defend

said that ATC could not cope w ith peak

the airline view. He defended the hub and

demand in an economical way, and

spoke concept as the best way for airlines to

Mr Dirk Duytschaever, Director of the CFMU, explained very clearly what was in fact a delay, and demonstrated that an actual departure delay is a function of many factors. It is difficult to identify who is actually responsible, but this may be possible in a few years wit h enhanced facilities. Many special problems have an effect on capac ity and wil l continue to do so until they are all resolved. ATC is only one of those factors. He stated that good management of the

remin ded his audience that last year's

make money in a competitive market.

system capacit y was as important as an

improvem ent in capacity was due to air

According to him, minimum connecting

increase of capacity in itself . He advocated a

traff ic control lers increased productiv ity and

times (as low as 25 minutes) were essential in

common approach involving all partners to

flexibility, and not because of techno logy.

the future, and that hub and spoke worked

resolve the delay issue.

Brian Hilburn of the NLR, explained Free

well. The only draw back is that aircraft tend

Finally Marc Baumgartner , Vice President

Routing as a possible way to reduce delays in

to arrive all together and want to depart all at

Europe of IFATCA just reminded the

Europe. He t ried to convince the audience

the same time afterwards. He advocated that

audienc e of t he realities of the ATC situation

that Free Routing would bring more capacity,

ATC centres should be subjected to a bonus-

in Europe from a controller point of v iew. He

but that it wi ll mean new too ls, re-tra ining

malus system, in which under-performing

reminded us of the constraints ARN v3 and

and possibl y more controllers. Using some

ATC centres would be asked to pay for the

the Kosovo war put on controllers last year,

medical measurement, he expla ined (if I

delays they have caused. The numerous

and their effects on the delays . He

understood him correct ly), that the mor e a

questions he received after his presentation

demonstrated the effect of overfilling a glass

control ler opened his eyes, the more t raffic

we re hopefully an eye opener for him.

he could handle. (i e. pupi l dilatation

Val Eggers, former Manager of the

measurement ve rsus number of aircraft

ATM2000+ programme and Director of

handled grap hics.)

ECAC gave a thorough briefing on MATSE6,

Jean Marc Garot, Director of the Eurocontrol

how the ministers functioned and what were

Experimental centre, made a bril liant

their conclusions. We learned that EATCHIP

demonstration of the failures of the current

was officially pronounced dead but that it

ATS systems procurement exper iences and

was not yet completed. We learned about the

and the spillin g that occurs w hen a very few more aircraft are over the top . The difficulties of recruiting and replacing contro llers going on retirement were such, in many areas, that increasing the globa l number was close to an impossible task in the short term. He reminded us to beware of taking safety for granted . Contro llers shortages wi ll be

explained why, in his op inion, so many

wis hes of the ministers to start a transparent

Research and Development programmes

non-punitive incident reporting system, as

failed to deliver the promised benefits. He

there were concerns about the safety of ATC.

advocated that R&D should instead be

They also looked at a controversial working

resolve this situation and to maintain safety,

develop ing too ls t hat wil l make the job of

paper on t he possibilities to put constraints

was, according to him, to limit capacity.

control lers more "normal" He reminded us

on growth . The MATSE ministers praised

ATFM delays wil l result despite the very high

th at human factors were more than just the

controllers for doing a good job , recognised

professional pride controllers have in doing

man machin e interface and should in fact be

there were not enough of them, but

their 1obs

16

difficult to resolve and are likely to put further strain on the system . The only way to

, i CONTROLLER


Masstricht Exhibition ATC Exhibition Masstricht 2000 Daniel Casanova, Regional Editor

o report for IFATCA there were three of us present at the

• The MaxSim modular system, which Adace l claims to

event on February the 23rd and 24th in Maastricht. Philipp e

provide cost effective solutions in ATC simulation and

Domogal a from EGATS, Patrick Schilling from Switze rland

communication systems.

and Daniel Casanova from France; all three with French as ou rmo t her

• The AIR2000 which is a record and replay system fr om

tongu e 1 We decide to share our report and for me to pr esent the exhibition.

Advanced Integrated Recorders . • ARTISYS developed software for ATM, airport data syst ems

ATC Maastricht brings together the leading suppl iers of air traff ic

and space projects.

control equipment, products and services w ith the key profe ssionals from the air traffic control ind ustry. Over the last ten years, this event

• The new Barco screen which is in use by many major

has become the most important in Europ e and one of the most

companies for simulators.

imp orta nt in th e wor ld . A large number of managers visit the exh ibition and , of course,

• Clement Clarke Communications presented a high quality miniature headset .

many air traffic controllers. Followi ng a visit to the exhibition, yo u know w hat is th e current situat ion in air the traffic cont ro l industry . Th is year the re were more than one hundred exhi bitors . The largest

• FAAC Incorporated demonstrated their airport g round vehicle-driving

stand s we re Raytheon Company, A irsys ATM, Lock heed M artin and A lenia Marconi . There were also leading aviation auth ority and admini strati on stands wh ich includ ed EUROCONTROL, European

simulator .

Real Time Simulation from NLR, demonstrated

new ATC

simulators.

Commission or DFS (German CAA) . We also not ed the t he most we lcome presence of th e IFA LPA stand ! Many stands concen trated on CNS/ ATM (Co mmunic ations,

• Park Air Electronics introduced new generat ion equ ipm ent on 8 .33 kHz channel spaci ng.

Navigat ion, Surveillance/ Air Traffic Management) . It seems that aircraft manufacturers, airline managers and th e ATC industr y see in CNS/ ATM the solution t o improve safety and t raff ic fl ow in less developed countries and less popu lated areas of the wor ld . Of course

• Raytheon demonst rat ed the Firstplus ATC product line, which covers all type of simulators • AIRSYS ATM presen ted Tower Systems and new CBT fo r

each exhibitor has their own solution : A irsys ATM (a leader on the subject), A ir Traffic Management (an English services provider), ENAC (training course on the subj ect), FANS Information Services Ltd

training . • Redifon exhibited their latest ATC radio back -up system .

(tra ining and CD-ROMs), lntertec Ai rport Div ision (systems), Lockheed Martin (technologies), Raytheo n Company (an other leader), Real-Time Consultants and many others .

• Roke Ma nor Research showed the height monitoring equipme nt for ECAC RVSM .

Exhibitors expect much from pri vat isation and it is a strong subject for discussion . Increasing pressure s on the publi c pu rse are forcing governments to look to the pri vate sector. The situation is compou nd ed by t he need to invest in systems and technology compatible w ith the International Civil Aviation Organ isation concept

• SEEE demonstrated their SCANTOWER, t hei r control tower simulator . • Stonefield System s pie demons tr ated A IMS (Airp ort Information Manageme nt Syst em).

of CNS/ ATM . Generally, investment is more important w ith governme nt (but in national industries) t han w it h the private sector w hich invest at the limit s to maintain benefit. Here is a brief resumme of some of t he exhibitor s and th eir produ ct s demonstrated at the Exhibition:

11 11 CONTROLLER

Of cour·se all stand s were interest ing but, th is short selectio n indicates that th e exhibi t ion covers all aspects of ATC. Each year the Maastricht exhibit ion continues to maintain a high qual ity window on t he air traffic controlle rs world.

17


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Delay 2000+ Delay 2000+, An Appropriate Title by Philippe Domagala, Contributing Editor Th e fo ll owing presentation

was delivered

during the EGATS forum at Maastricht

elay 2000+ , an interesting title

Some more facts:

don 't you t hink? It of course

The airlines: the first ones affected by

refe rs t o the Europ ean

and Spoke' system. Twenty years ago you could fly from Brussels to Tokyo direct.

those delays tend to push all the

Today you need t o fly to Paris or Frankfurt

ATM20 00+ pro gramm e and strateg y. Does

responsibilities and blame on air traffic

first. With the return, there are four flights

th is mean t hat t he controller communit y

control. This may be very convenient, but

instead of two previously, and because of

sees the results of t his import ant

is it really the case?

connecting times , all flights tend to be

pro gramm e as being merely somethi ng that produ ces delays7

I seem to read everyw here that the major

concentrated in the same hour blocks i.e.

airlines of Europe are changing their fleets

the ones just before the transfer, thus

and are ordering very large numbers of

overloading ATC and airports. No one

small jets in the 70-120 seats range to

likes the Hub system except airline

popu lar press, in aviation magazines, and

replace th eir large capacity jets) such as

management. Passengers prefer to fly

th e Associati on of European A irlines press

A310's, DC10's, MD11's.

non-stop, not via a mega-airport where

Well, befo re making such a pro vocative stat ement, let's examine th e fact s. In the

releases, ATC in Europe is made responsib le for t he delays.

Increased frequenc y to the same

the y have to walk on e or two Km between

destin ation is the current airline strategy.

gates to re-queue and board a second

But is it really so 7

How ever, for those of us in ATC, the

aircraft. Pilots and controllers are under

Traff ic has increased steadily ove r th e last

w orkload is the same if w e handle a 747

constant pressure to 'ex pedite" the

30 years and , it is tru e, depart ure delays

w ith 400 passengers or a BA 146 w ith 70.

inbound flights to make connection time s.

due to ATC have also incr eased , reaching

How ever, it takes six BA 146 flights to do

This commercial pressure to make the

a peak at the end of the 1970 's and th e

w hat a single 747 does.

connection is often not good for safety.

beg inning of the 80' s t o such a point

Tw enty years ago you travelled to Palma

But when delays occur in this system, is

wh ere act ion on a large scale w as need ed.

on a Tristar or a 747. Last summer th e

it really the fault of ATC? So possibl y, the

Responsible peop le got toget her and

st ands w ere full of Boeing 737s and one

airlines them selves are largely responsible

dev ised a magic soluti on: Cent ralised

German airline, Eurowings, is even going

for tho se delays.

Flow M anagement .

t here w ith BA 146s.

Results: at f irst de lays decrease d, but as traff ic conti nued to gro w and th e structural

Palma is hit by delays but is it t he fault of

Next on my list: The Politicians . To solve the European air transport

air traffic controI7 The airlines concerned

delays w e need to act at the political level

causes of t he delays remained, the delays

reply th at thi s str ategy is w hat th e

and preferabl y tog eth er. But w hat do we

incr eased again, t o t he point w here, in

t ravelling public want and that as they are

see, our Transport Ministers meet onc e in

1999 , t hey w ere back at t he same level of

t he custom ers, ATC should provide the

a w hile with big medi a coverage (the so

t he 1970 's. (But w it h doub le th e t raffic.)

capacity to satisfy their demands. But is it

called MA TSE Meetings}, and issue a

really so7

vague press release promising

Peop le met again and devised an ambit ious prog ramme , called ATM 2000+ .

In Europe the so called :"Charter

impro ve ment for the coming years and

Business" accounts for approximately 50%

th en, after th at, it is back to bu siness as

info rmation agrees t hat it is a good concept,

of a/ c movements. Tour operator s, for

usual. (A nd MATSE 6 was no exception

but fears exist t hat it w ill fo llow the vertical

economi c reasons, such as hotels, buses,

Unfortun ately, ther e is no genuine

f iling syst em . That is, it w ill end up as ju st

etc. w ant to concentrate their change over

European transp ort polic y.

anoth er boo k on t he shelf , w here it w ill

dates t o fixed days in th e week. For

Everyone w ho has read th e prog ramme

1).

Which politician w ill have th e gut s t o

t hen nicely f it besides it s predec essors,

example, Satu rday is Palmaday for th e

impl ement a European polic y (t hat is for

t he ACG, FEATS, ECAC STRAT EGY for

Germans and hundr eds of flight s are

t he good of th e w hole) against th e w ill of

expected t o arrive and depart t hat day

his or her ow n civil servants w ho are

w it h t he majority in the morning . M ore

misusing th e Sovereignt y issue to delay

t he 90's, EATM S, and so onl Some years back, on my ve ry fir st management course , I was to ld t hat whe n

delays of course, but should ATC be

and even kill t hose poli cies. Finally, fo r

confronted w ith a maJor prob lem that you

blamed for t his7

th ose politi cians w ho claim th eir liberalism

do not int end to solve , t he best course of action is to create a Wor king Gro up I

Wit h t he deregulation coming from t he

and Europeanism, w hy are t hey allow ing

USA w e also inherited th e so-called 'Hub

all th eir national infr astru ct ure to publicl y ~ P23

20

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FOR SALE IFATCA has for sale a number of Breitling watches. The watches are part of a limited edition of only 22, made by Breitling (see photographs) . Each watch is available at a cost of only CHF 5,000 plus postage packing and transit insurance. The watches will be sold on a 'first come first served basis'. Purchaserswill be responsible for the postage , packaging, transit insurance plus any import duties levied. All inquiries should be addressed to the : IFATCA OFFICE MANAGER 1255 University Street , Suite 408 , Montreal, Quebec H3B 3B6 CANADA Tel: +1514866

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7612


Delay 2000+ favour the interest of their national airline

Airbus 340 business or first class seats and

and / or national airport, to the detriment

comfort, while the vast majority of their

reasonable price, you should accept that

of a European solution?

passengers will only see the economy seats

delay will occur.

Maastricht UAC is a good example of

of a B737. They park 200 people in a

attraction (like Palma on a Saturday) at a

No, I am not suggesting t hat ATC should

internationa l co-operation, with cross

confined space prior to boarding with no

do nothing and refuse changes. We need

border sectors and integrated military co-

escape and often no information . When a

to increase capacity by all means and we

ordination, which increases its capacity

flight is delayed or cancelled, generally

are doing so already. But we are getting to

yearly. But its concept is still not allowed to

only one poor inexperienced employee is

a point where we wi ll never be able to

be expanded and there are rumours that

sent to explain and distribute vouchers for

catch up with what you have in store for

the Maastricht area of jurisdiction might

drinks. Passengers have again to queue for

us. For instance restructuring of milita ry

even be reduced in the future.

the vouchers and to queue again to obtain

airspace has been mentioned everywhere

Sovereignty and nationalism are still alive

the drink. Once on board it is small seat

as having a great potential to increase

and kicking today in Europe.

pitch ,overcrowding, no smoking, and now

capacity. We have started already, but w e

they get a further ATC delay ... and the

should also stop blaming the milita ry for

delays will continue in the future? In my

airlines are wonder ing why passengers are

everything because a not so w ell known

opinion YES, definitely and I will briefly

unhappy? ls it because of the ATC delay, or

fact is that in 1998 and 99, the most

explain to you another reason why.

is it because of the whole experience,

penalising delays occurred du ring week-

combined with the last minute delay?

ends, at a time w hen the milita ry w ere not

Those are the facts. So do I think that

Take DISNEYLAND. Disneyland has 20 attractions, five of

No-one likes delays and it is true that

operational and w here their airspace was

them called "main attractions" that

ATC is responsible fo r a great part of that

everyone wants to see.The entry price is

departure delay. Why? Because there is

25 US$. The average delay or queue time

simply not enough capacity and we do not

and t he AEA in particular: if you get stuck

for getting into one of the main attractions

want to erode safety margins (that is the

toda y on the road - is it the fault of the

is 45 minutes to one hour. The Disney

separation minima between aircraft).

traff ic lights or because there are too

Management could easily eliminate the

To reduce ATC induced delay we need

released to civilian use. Finally, I wo uld like to answer to IATA

many cars on the road that w ant to go to

delays by doubling or tripling the number

to increase capacity, w hich means more

the same place at the same t ime 7 Starting

of main attractions. But this will mean

infrastructure, more staff, unpopular

a campaign against traff ic lights wi ll not

extra staff and bigger investment. The

political decisions and, more costs. The

impro ve the situation. What we need to

entry price would rise to 40 $ and

ATM2000+ strategy, especially its Volume

do is to w ork together to develop a public

probably far fewer visitors wou ld come at

2, provides some good guidelines on

transportation system that wi ll look at all

that price. So, there is no need to build a

how to proceed to increase capacity in

aspects of tra nspo rt and we should accept

second set of main attract ions. Therefore ,

Europe. But even if we achieve all that is

that we wi ll need to do innovat ive th ings

the management decides to keep one

in the strategy book ove rnight, I do not

and it is going to cost money. Blaming

attraction, a low entry price and keep the

think it w ill resolve the delay problem.

each other (as AEA does constantly,

delays To help with this, what did they

Simply because there wil l always be a

and as I do here as we ll) w ill not bri ng

do? Th ey decided to inform visitors of the

peak demand for main attractions at any

us anyw here.

length of the delay continuously. They

given times .

provide entertainment when queuing.

Are we, ATC, to provide full capacity

What about advances in technolog y, Free Flight and the like? Do not dream about

They offer alternative attractions . They

to absorb all the peaks and eliminate

technolog y resolvi ng delays. That w ill not

generally treat their visitors w ith respect

all delays?

happen. Your best bet to reduc e the delays

and good manners.

To eliminate the delays during peak

is to invest in t he hum an elements.

Now take AIR TRAFFIC EUROPELAND:

demand, we need, in addition to the

20 major attractions and 5 main attractions.

measures covered in t he ATM2000+

ATC systems are still human centred. That

They are called London, Paris, Frankfurt,

strategy, to bui ld up a comp lex system that

is where contro llers separate and exped ite

Brussels and Amsterdam. And what do the

w ill be under-utilised most of the rest of

t he traff ic. The ATM2000+ strategy plans

airlines do? They provide two check-in

the day It is going to cost a lot, and who

to keep the system human centred unt il at

staff to check-in 200 passengers with

wi ll pay? A ren't we in the same di lemma

least 2015 . Technolog y on its own w ill not

luggage (the first queuing and delay). They

as Disney w ith its entry price? Possibly, if

resolve delays . Consider the USA w ith all

advertise in magazines their B747 and

you want, as an airline to visit the main

its advanced techno logy, its enormous

11IE CONTROLLER

The system wo rks today because the

23


Delay 2000+ multi-billion dollars budgets, its single

why should you expect to do so without

the CFMU can only regulate flight plans,

powerful author ity, a single Air Force, it

delay7 Is ATC really there to provide safety

not real aircraft)

still could not do it. Today it is also

or to eliminate delays?

encountering major delays . So why do yo u think Europe can do it w ith our 38 States, some of which are still at war with one

But of course I am waiting to be proved wrong. Leading on from the important issues

False departure times and multiple flight plans create a false demand at times, resulting in sectors being regulated, producing delays whe re in fact actual traffic is well below sector capacity .

another, some of them smaller than

raised in this presentation and taking

Disneyland, with our 30 or so different air

account of the conclusions contained the

forces all needing their own training areas?

first report of the EUROCONTROL

centres only based on delay figures,

Performance Review Commission (PRC),

knowing the civi l servant mentality of

the following points are put forward for

some managers, it will have counter

Maybe then you start to understand my earlier reference to creating working groups . In conclusion : DELAY 2000+ was after all a proper title,

consideration by the PRC: Comparing ATC centres among

By publishing a false list of "performing "

productive results. The good ones wil l be content in doing nothing, while the "bad"

because I do not think we will be able to

themselves, as if they were equal entities

ones will devise procedures to force their

eliminate delays in the foreseeable future.

is compromising the results already.

prob lems onto their neighbours, in order

I am not advocat ing a "do nothing"option

In the PRC list Shannon (an Oceanic

either. Far from it , constant improvement

upper airspace centre) is compared with

and better performance is a must. In the

Frankfurt (a TMA lower airspace centre

to disappear from the list . The problem is just shifted geographica lly. Some centres are also known to wait

last 10 years, it is first and foremost the air

or with Nieuw Millingen (a military centre)

until the last minute to issue a restriction to

traffic control lers increased productivity

Totally different constraints. Comparing

protect their sectors, waiting for its

and flexibility which has provided the

London and Maastricht which are each

neighbours to do so first. so that they wi ll

capacity needed to absorb the

handling over a million flights a year, with

be automatical ly protected by them and

trem endous rise of traffic during that

some Romanian centres with a coup le of

will appear as "good" on the list.

period. You had delays, yes, but if it were

thousand civil movements per year is

not for the controllers, and the flo w

nonsense . All in the same list.

managers, we would have been in a

With the Standard routing scheme,

When an airline systematica lly decides to file 2 or 3 plans per actual flight. to test the system, and see what delay it receives on

deadlock by now. But eliminating de lays,

allowing airlines the flexibility of routing, a

each plan, the demand on one sector can

in the current air traffic situat ion, w ith

performant centre (like Maastricht) wi ll

suddenly raise we ll above capacity. The

more and more smaller aircraft, more

attract re-routings and because of its

Centre concerned ask for a restriction, but

hubs, more movements, is beyon d the

vol ume of traffic, w ill automatically

when the time arrives, far less aircraft pass

capacity of ATC. At least not at a cost that

generate delays. (It is interesting to note

though the sector. But doz ens of innocent

will make air transport financially

that in order to sell the SRS,the airlines

aircraft received a slot and possibly a delay

said that they realised that delays in some

because of t hat airline malpractice .

acceptable for most people. As I said earlier, I do not belie ve that

ACC will increase, but as they were

With the current number of restr iction s

anyone is really prepared to finance an

looking for an overall European delay

reaching 200 per day in the summer, flow

ove rsized ATC service to cope w ith peak

reduction, they w ill abstain for looking into

managers in the CFMU cannot monitor all

dema nd. So we should stop dreaming,

individ ual Centre delay figures This is

sectors in real time to detect changes in

and stop focuss ing too much on de lays as

even in the preamble of the official

demand due to these false plans in system .

a sort of performa nce indicator for ATC.

EUROCONTROL SRSdocument!)

The message of my presentation cou ld be : If you want to take your car to Paris, London or Brussels at 8 o'clock in the morning you expect to be delaye d on the

A far more restrictive Centre, because of its imp racticability and possibly expensive route charges, will be avoided, and therefore produce very little delays. To avo id delays today many airlines file

road . If you go to Disney land on a

false departure time s and multiple flight

weeke nd and want to visit the main

This create massive delays on some sectors at certain periods . (our Luxemburg sector here in Maastricht is a good example) . Attempts by the CFMU to pena lise those we ll known cheating airlines have so far failed . For all these reasons, taking minute s

plans for a single flight. Each plan

of delays to measure a Control Centre

attract ion you expect to queue before

producing minute s of delays that are

performance is total nonsen se, and ,

entering . But if you wa nt to fly to London

attr ibuted to a centre, whi le in fact the real

I personally belie ve, wi ll be counter

or Paris on a Friday afternoon at 4 o'clock ,

flight goes on time. (Everyone forgets that

product ive in the long run .

24

I il CONTROLLER


lFATCAPanel ATCO Selection Luc Staudt THE IFATCA PANEL The following two items formed part of the presentations made during the IFATCA Panel at Conference, the theme of which was Selection Training and Licensing of Air Traffic Controllers

ho thinks he/she is unique? Or is our job unique7 Do we need special abilities for our job? Or can anybody learn this job7 WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR? Given the time frame for this presentation I wi ll only consider some basic aspects in this field. I wi ll point to some problems and look at major activities . I wil l give you some examples and come to some conc lusions. Th e problem in ATCO selection appears to be the same throughout the European continent and most probabl y throughout the wo rld . National ad-, ministrations in charge of the selection of ATCOs have faced high failure rates -up to an average of 50 % in some years - and, what is even wo rse, highly variable failure rates, in some States between 10 and 70 % from recruitment to fi rst unit validation. Recruiters believed their selection wa s good but training had to be impro ved. Trainers claimed that the poor qualit y of some candidate s didn't allow better success rates. Considering the high cost of failure , most of the Civil Aviation Authorities decided to tack le this problem by analysing their present selection and training methods. Some examples w ill be presented to yo u a bit later. Ask ing ourselves w ho we are looking for, we should t ake a step back and analyse the job in order to define the main tasks that an ATCO performs. A considerable amount of research has been done in this fi eld . Towards selection I believe the fo llowing list of majo r ATC activities can bring us very close to th e desired abiliti es, aptitudes and skills required for an ATCO job .

INFORMATION GATHERING. It is obvious a contro ller is pro vide d with all kinds of inform ation , from flight plan data to radar dat a, w hich he or she has to give the proper interpretation and value. 2. DECISION-MAKING. Keeping the prime object ive in mind the ATCO w ill have to identif y and vecto r aircraft to both dynamic and static points . Spatial orientation, alertness and att ention to det ail are essential in th is proces s. Decisions are often taken under pressure, as reaction ti mes are short . 3 . COMMUNICATION. Instruc tions and sometimes vital informati on from pilots are still mostly commun icated on radio frequ encies. Ther e is also a great deal of telephone comm unicati on wit h other controllers, so clear d iction and good und erstanding is consequently very important. 4 . HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE. Data of variou s sources has to be integ rated and interpreted by the receiver. The existence and further development of advanced air traffic management tools is no secret . 5 . TEAM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. The interaction w ith ot her team members is considered more and more important. A lso ot her personality attri but es such as high mot ivation, to lerance to stress and emotiona l stability is considered essential. 1.

Are these characteristics unique for ATCOs7 These elements paint a pictur e of the ATCO as a person capable of making the correct decisions wit hin his/her do main, who has the ability to collect the informat ion that is req uir ed, who is mot ivated for his/ her work, and who is able to upho ld good social relations. This certainly seems like a person who could do the ATCO job . These key behavio urs however wo uld be good in any kind of work, and the analysis doe s not indicate t hat the dem and for these behavio urs wou ld be ext reme for ATCOs, i.e. that ATCOs wo uld need to exhibit these behav iours to a greate r exte nt than , say a process controller in ind ustry. Moreove r, the behaviours do not point to any traits or abilit ies that could be used for selectio n . To make good decisions and to collect the right kind of information for these dec isions is, presumably, learned behaviour s - in so far as they relate to behaviours in the ATC enviro nment. Let us now consider some examples of selection procedures in diff erent States. In Sweden t here has been the MRU experience , the FAA revised their recruitmen t early 90's and also in the UK recent exper ience has led to some new accents in the selection procedures

Ti ll CONTROLLER

MRU In transl ation, the Swed ish acronym MR U stands for Marketing, Recruitment, Selection and Training. The project is aimed at improving the selection and training of ATCO candidates in Swede n . Th e Swedish CAA has had t he same problems as correspond ing agencies in other countries: hig h failur e rates that are highly variable. The latter featu re makes planning diff icult , if not impossible. The goals of the MRU projec t w ere to restrict th e failur e rate to less than 10 % and an outcome that should not vary by mor e th an 10 %. Thi s goal shou ld be reached in the year 2002. Th e first step was to look into th e selection procedures used. This seemed reasonable in v iew of the fact that these procedures had remained unch anged since th ey were first adopted more than 30 years ago. The selectio n process was originally deve loped fo r the selection of pilots and had never been validated for the selection of ATCO candidates. As a first step, th e MRU proj ect therefore tried to get some idea of its validity by assessing the relations between the results from the tests and interviews on the one hand and training outcome on the other. Training outcome, in this case, refers to w hether the candidate received his or her ATCO licence. The results w ere not encourag ing. On the contrary , the y w ere probably as close to a zero corre lation as one is likely to come in an empirical assessment. In short , there was no eviden ce t hat the selection procedure had any validity. The first step in the developmen t of a new selection procedure was a job analysis to search for candidate selection variables. Th e results indicated that alt houg h the ATCO job is uniqu e, it might not require unique abilities, it may only require th at normal peop le are trai ned well to do the JOb. Howe ver, the MRU project people didn't want to give up too easily and contin ued the ir research, wh ich led to a new prov isional MRU selection process . Thre e kinds of variables were included :

2.

3.

School grades: app licants' ability to perform scholastic work, which is an important aspect in regard to the training to beco me an ATCO . The situational interview: to measure attitudes to education, social att itud es and ability to construct three dimens ional representation and to use these to solve prob lems. Psychometric tests: for spatial ability, general reasoning and attention to detail. These tests were chosen because they had the highest correlation wi th training outcome of all tests in the orig inal selection process.

A discrim inant analysis showed that 89.78 % correct classifications of ATCOs and appl icants could be made with t he total battery. However, onl y four variables contr ibuted significantl y to the discrimination : Grade in mathematics , General reasoning, ATCO questions and Social attitudes in the situational interv iew. Using on ly these four variables, 88 .5 % correct classifications could be made . This is a very small loss compar ed to what incurr ed w hen using all variab les, so the decision was to use a battery w ith these four variables. This is known as the MRU provisional select ion batte ry. W hat has been achieved? So far, well over 200 applicants have been accepted into ATCO train ing on the basis of the ir test result s on the MRU prov isional selection battery . Disrega rding the first course, which was used to determine the parameters of the selection equation , a success rate of 85 % was achieved. For basic train ing at the academy, the mean success rate is 90 %. These results are encouraging. However , these results are not only to be ascribed to new selection procedures . At the same time, a number of changes had been made in the training and education, both at the academy and OJT Perhaps the most impo rtant of these changes has been a change of attitudes of the instructo rs, accord ing Prof . Brehmer of the Swed ish National Defence College and Battre Beslut . The attitude is that tra ining should not be a matter of find ing those who are not suited to the ATCO job . Instead , the attitude is that the students are good enough , and that it is up to the instr uctor to see that their potential Is realised by using appropriate training

25


lFATCAPanel

Some of the lFATCAPanel Speakers meth od s. These changes in instructor attitudes are prob ably as impo rtant , or perhaps even more import ant , than t he new select ion met hods , conclud es Prof. Brehm er.

FAA The United States FAA has de veloped a new compute rised Ai r Traff ic Control Specialist (or ATCOs) selecti o n t est that can be admin istered to applicant s in t heir home communit y. This one-da y test repla ces the Off ice of Personnel M anagem ent test and a 9-week A cadem y scree n t hat had been used throughout most of th e 80s and early 90s. In fact the Academy Screen w as d iscont inued in 1992 due , in part, to issues relat ed to it s cost to the governm ent and fai rness t o t he students (e.g . people left thei r jobs and homes for 9 w eeks wi th no assurance that they wo uld pass th e screen and be hired by the FAA) The Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT) Project was initiated in Octo ber 1996 to addre ss the FAA's need for a new select ion instrument. Since the Acade my now emph asises t raining, rat her t han screening, it is important to have a selection test that identifies cand idates w ith the abilit ies necessary to be a successful cont roller. The AT-SAT battery was designed to act as th e "filt er' into Academy training and is based on a job analysis. After unde rgoing pilot testing w ith military personnel, twelve tests we re selected to remain in the beta version of the batt ery, w hich was t hen used during the concurrent validation approach. The selection test is ad ministered to peopl e who are already employed in t he job . A total of 1200 en route ATCOs. superviso rs and staff partici pated in the AT-SAT concurrent validation study. The beta vers ion of the AT-SAT battery contained tests such as: The angles test, which measures t he subject's ability to recog nize ang les; The Dial Read ing Test is designed to test the subject s ability to qu ickly ide nt ify and accurately read cer1:ain dia ls on an instrument panel The Analogies test measures the subject's ability to apply the correct rules to solve a given problem as we ll as their efficiency in using th e available 1nformat1on to solve that prob lem.

26

Applied math: this test contains 30 multiplechoice questions, A ir Traffic Scenarios Test: this is a low fidelity simulation of an ATC radar screen that is updated every seven seconds. The goal is to maintain separation and contro l of a varying numbe r of simulated aircraft w ithin a designated airspace as efficiently as possible. Experiences Questionnaire: this is a personality test measuring such things as decisiveness, concentration and flexibility. The AT-SAT fin al report was delivered to the FAA in February 1999. The final version of the selection process contains 8 tests and takes appro ximately 6.5 hours to complete. The concurrent validation of the AT-SAT process has recent ly concluded, yet implementation has been postponed due to insufficient hiring needs. The situation should change as a large number of ATCOs are expected to retire in the next few years.

National Air Traffic Services UK (NATS) In t he past few years NATS has seen a significant d rop in the return rate forms fol lowing National Advertisements campaigns. The rate of requests fo r an informat ion pack remains high but the ret urn rate of the applicants forms has dropped from a steady 50 % to around 30 % - a loss of betwe en 500 and 1000 candidates per advert isement. Added to this , NATS has also seen a slight reduction in the quality of the applicants, t he success rate at testing had dropped by just over 10 %. The question t hat faces us is: why has this occurred? It is likely th at t here is no one simple answer. The prob able causes are: Lack of aw areness of the role of an ATCO and poor publicit y in t he recent press about ATC The academic standards requ ired focuses on a highly mot ivated group w ho are attr acted to many other pro fessions, especially in 'new technology' companies, computer system s and finance instituti ons. Recruit ment is attacking t he problem of awareness at several levels, firstly w ith the

potential applicants of the future and secondly with those who provide career advice, both in schools, col lege and externally. NATS has released a CD-ROM, called Airspace the art and science of Air Traffic Control". The programme which has been sent to every secondary school. college, university and career service in the UK describes in detail the function of NATS, and the role of ATCO , engineer and support staff. Following the release of the CD-ROM the second phase of the project wi ll be to transfer a significant part of the CD to the Internet and link s in the NATS web site . To inform career advisers better on the opportunities in NATS, a series of regional presentations is planned at NATS airports and centres. Groups of career advisors wi ll be invited to attend the presentations and have a tour of the ATC facility. It is hoped by these two strategies that the long term careers awareness in ATC wil l be raised and therefore g ive an incr ease in the numbers and quality of applicants. This brings us to a conclusion. Various kinds of human attr ibut es of potential relevance to air traffic control capability have been considered for inclusion in selection procedures. One kind refers to measurab le and relatively stable differences between individuals in human capabilities that have been deduced to be relevant from stud ies of tasks, skills and performance General intelligence, claims David Hopkin - a commended HF speciali st - seems the most important of these, for intelligence we ll above average is necessary not only to be a contro ller but to learn to become one . Recent analysis of databases has shown that there is a significant positive correlation between the motivational test or interview and success. This is a track that merits further attention as we ll. Taken as a who le, it seems reasonable to conclude that satisfaction can be obtained with a fairly simple selection process The reason for this is found in the results of the JObanalysis, which suggests that most of the components of ATCO performance is based on learning and experience, rather than special abi lities . Hopkin's second alternative , that ATCOs are unique because of their train ing rather than because of their innate abilities, is the more correct one . This imp lies that we ought to invest maximum effort s into training . Al low me to continue and conclude w ith Mr. Hopkin 's word s that one cause for concern is the effect on recruitment of ill-informed critici sm or pub lic denigration of air traffic control and control lers. If any poten tial recruit s are discouraged by their perception of th e publ ic image of air traffic cont rol. this is part icul arly important because the image is false . Air traffic control is a very satisfying job and many enjoy it so much they wi sh no other jo b . Ther e is th erefor e a gulf betwe en t he public image of air t raff ic cont rol as a prof ession and t he contro llers¡ perc epti on of it ..their prid e in it, and th eir identific atio n w it h it' National and Internationa l Adm inistratio ns should make the promo tio n of our prof ession a pri or ity It is t ime we got the attent ion we deserve .

1

Ii CONTROLLER


lFATCAPanel European Air Traffic Controller Licensing Project Terry Crowhurst The following is an extract of the presentation given to the IFATCA 2000 IFATCA Panel in Marrakech Terry Crowhurst and Robin Baker of the UK Project Team · contract for the United Kingdom CAA Safety RegulationGroup to undertake a project to develop a harmonisedair traffic controller licence for the members of the EuropeanCivil Aviation Conference (ECAC)was signed in January1996. The first deliverable was a Licensing Questionnaire and Consultative Document which was finalised and distributed by EUROCONTROL to all ECAC Member States during 1996. Much valuable information to evaluate licensing requirements was gleaned from the questionnaire and a total of 22 out of the then 33 ECAC States made a return (Now 38 States). This was considered to be a good result and indicati ve of the interest shown in the topic. In addition to a UK team who were assigned to the project, it was considered that the formation of a European Licensing Work Group(LWG) was an effective way of achieving an informed input to the development work. Some States had already been involved in the preparatory wo rk so th ese participants were invited to re-join the Group. All were able to accept the invitat ion except for Switzerland, wh ich asked to be kept informed by correspondence. Additionally, Ireland, Portugal and IFATCA volunteered and were invited to jo in as new membe rs of the Group. The constitution of the Group is shown in figure 1.

The IFATCA representative is Luc Staudt and he has made a most valuable contribution to the work of the Group . The Licensing Work Group reports directl y to specialists invited to the six monthly EUROCONTROL Human Resource Team meetings and it is they that approve the project developments and deliverables. Additionally, Pat O'Doherty (ex IFATCA Executive Secretary), from the Institute of Air Navigation Services (IANS) in Luxembourg, attends all our work group meetings as a training advisor and vital link with the TF-CCC. A EUROCONTROL project leader, Gerry Clinton, also attends the LWG meetings with other interested EUROCONTROL staff as required . Latterly, the group was Joined by Tony Lieu, of the recent ly formed European Safety Regulation Unit and he is assisting in developing the safety regulatory requirements to be endorsed by the Safety Regulation Commission . A series of region al briefings has taken place in the ECAC States to ensure that as many as possible are aware of the licensing project development. These briefings have also been used as an opportunity to add ress individual State licensing requirements and allow them to be considered w ithin the overall scheme. Particular emphasis has been placed on ensuring that Providers and all member s of State licensing authorities invo lved in ATC licensing

by John Dancer,

procedures are kept informed - including those that are employed in the safety regulation of the licensing process. Add itionall y, w e have actively encouraged European operational controllers to attend the briefings. The project completion date is Septembe r 2000 and the wo rk is progressing on t ime . To date, six draft versions of a European licensing manual have been developed and the fin al edition has been distr ibute d by EUROCONTROL as the proposed ed ition for appro v~ and issue. As part of our of our projec t Robin Baker and myself, from the UK Proj ect Team, visited the US, Canada, New Zealand and A ustra lia to ensure, w here possible we w ere able to reflec t the needs of changing technolog y perta ining to licensing requ irements. From the outset w e have tried to incorporate existing ICAO information w herever it is still relevant but we have not been constrained by this issue. The concept of licensing fo llows this simple flo w chart (figu re 2) w hich although easily recognisab le in many countries is quite revo lutionary for many others. At t he same time as we are wo rking on the licensing manual, another European work group is develo ping specific medical req uireme nts for the air traffic controller. This WG is required to comp lete its report by Septem ber this year and the likely outcome is

FIGURE I

FIGURE 2

i#•);( •)Q=hi~t4H•M3~@i~tl ,

ISSUE OF INITIAL LICENCE

I

LICENSING WOR K GROUP

Successful completion of approved training and associated examinations or assessments

I Original Members volunteered to continue: I Denmark France

Germany

Medicalassement Issue of a medical certificate Issue of a Student Licence by the State to commence operational training under supervision

The Netherlands

• Switze rland opted to be a correspond ing member

Completion of an approvedtraining scheme which includes a specified minimumperiod of OJT

• Ireland volunteered to be a member Rating Examination

• Portugal and IFATCA jo ined group Issue of licence including valid rating and endorsement page

• TF-CCC Representat ive • EUROCONTROL Representative(s) UK CAA Safety Regulation Group

0

"

EURCCONTRCL

Ti IE CONTROLLER

UK CAASafetyRegulation Group

0

"

EUACCONTACL

27


lFATCA Panel European Ratings

ICAO RATINGS Aerodrome Control

Approa ch Control

Appro ach Radar Cont rol App roach Precision Radar Control

Area Control

Area Radar Control

0 UK CAA Safety RegulationGroup

,...,

~-------------------------------

EUACCONTRCL

FIGURE3 th at w e w ill have t hese specific medical requ iremen t s for controllers for introduction th e same t ime as t he new European ATC licence. At the beginning of a contro llers'

at

caree r it is ob vi ously essential that an abinitio con tr o ller shou ld meet all the medical standa rds . Therefo re, it is strongl y reco m me nded tha t t he medical examination of a recr u it should f eat u re quite earl y in the sele cti on fo r tr ainin g process . Turning now to the Europe an licence developme nts it is pe rh aps usef ul t o remind ourselves of th e current ICAO rat ings . (Figure 3) . A s yo u w ill see in th e next d iag ram , t he most sig nificant differen ce in th e Euro pean scheme is the remov al of any refere nce to equipmen t , such as radar, fr om the t itl es of t he rating s. Thi s w e be lieve giv es great er scope to accommodate the developm ent of f ut ure air tr affi c related equipment as an end orse ment to a rating wi th out having to rev ise th e rat ings as new techno logy deve lop s Followin g co mp letion of a comprehensiv e task analys is, t he Licensing Wo rk Group de veloped two ratin g s for each of th e t h ree air t raffi c

control disciplines (Aerodrome, Approach and Area) thus making a total of six ratings qualified as required by endorsements. The new ratings are shown in figure 4. These ratings w ill have rating endorseme nts which wil l indicate the specific types of services the holder of the licen ce may provide, including any type of surveillance equipment to be used. Additiona lly, all ratings w ill be qualified by the ATC unit and, where appropr iate, the ope rationa l posit ions or sectors on wh ich the contro ller is competent to provide the service . These six ratings and their endorsements have been designed to enable States to chose those w hich are applicab le to their own airspace and aerodrome ope rations. It is not necessary to use them all but they should all be recognisab le to other States involved in the scheme. States w ith specific requirements such as Oceanic airspace wi ll need to develop endorsements to suit the ir ow n needs and these w ill not necessarily be recognisable by other States. The ratings have also been designed to recognise different skill levels similar to those awarded to pilots.

FIGURE4

EUROPEAN ATC LICENCING PROPOS ED EUROPEAN RATINGS Aerodrome Co ntrol Visual

Aerodrome Control Instrument

Approach Control Procedural

App roach Control Surveillance

Area Cont rol Procedural

Area Conrol Surveillance

UK CAA Safety Regulation Group

~ -- -- - --------------------------

28

The first rating is the Aerodrome Control Visual rating w hich may be granted to controllers w ho are competent to provide an air traffic control service at an aerodrome whe re : there are no published instrument approach or departure procedures; there is no established approach control unit, an approac h control serv ice is not provided remotely. The second is the Aerodrome Control Instrument rating which may be granted to controllers who are competent to provide an air traffic control service at aerodromes where: there are published instrument approach and/or departure procedures; there is an associated approac h control unit; or where an approach control serv ice is provided from an Area Control Centre. Associated endorsements to the Aerodrome Control Inst rument rating are:

Ground Movement Control and Air Control, or Tower Control if combined. Th ese ratings have further conditional endorsements w hich are:

Ground Movement Surveillance w hich wi ll entitle the holder to use authoris ed Surface Movement Control and Guidance Systems in the provision of an aerodrome control service on the manoeuvring area and Aerodrome Radar which will entitle the holder to use authori sed aerodrome surveill ance radar eq uipm ent in the provision of an aerodrome contro l service in the vic inity of t he aerodrome. (Current ly, as spec ified in ICAO PANS/RAC Doc. 4444) The relationship of the rating and its endo rseme nt s is best demonstrated in the diagram figure 5. An Approach Control Procedural rating may be granted to a controller who is competent to provide an approac h control serv ice to arriving, depart ing or transiting aircraft without the use of surve illance eq uipm ent and wi ll not normally have any endorsements attached to it. However an approach contro l serv ice may be provided from an approach control unit or an area control centre. An Approach Control Surveillance rating may be granted to a controller who is competent to provide an air traffic control serv ice to arriving, departing or trans it ing aircr aft with the use of authorised surveillance equ ipment and this rating can have associated endorsements as fo llows : A Radar endorsement which entitles the holder to provide an air t raff ic control serv ice with the use of authorised primary and/or secondary rada r.

0,..., EURCCONTRCL

An Automatic Dependent Surveillance endorsement w hi ch entitle s the holder to pro v ide an air t raffic contro l serv ice t o aircraft w it h t he use of aut ho rised

11 1. CONTROLLER


lFATCAPanel Aerodrome Control InstrumentRating and Endorsements Aerodrome Control Instrument rating

Ground Movement

Tower (WhenAir/Ground combined)

Ground Movement Surveillance ---

--

Air

Aerodrome Radar

--

0 ....,

UK CAA SafetyRegulationGroup ~-----------------

EURCCONTRCL

FIGURE 5

A DS eq uipm ent. These two endorsements have further conditional endorsements as follo ws: A Precision Approach Radar endorsement which ent itles the hold er to provide an air t raffic control service wit h the use of author ised precision approach radar to aircraft on the final approach to a runway. A Surveillance Radar Approach endo rsement which entit les the holder to provide an air traffic control service wit h the use of authorised surveillance equ ipment to aircraft on the final approach to a runway. A Terminal Control endorsement which entitles the holder to prov ide an air traffic control service to aircraft operating in specified te rmin al control areas.

Updating ATIS - VOLMET? CRIMP has the solution to remove the heavy workload : Fully Automated ATIS•VOLMET Eliminates all recording tasks

FIGURE6

ApproachControlSurveillanceRating and Endorsements

Precision Approach Radar

Comm ercial Off The Shelf product

Automatic Dependent Surveillance

Surveillance Radar Approach

UK CAA Safety Regulation Group '---------------------

THF CONTROLLER

Long experience and many ope rationa l systems worldwid e ensu re the fu nctionality required by the use rs

Aerodrome Control Surveillance Rating

Radar

Consistent speed and qua lity secure clea r broad casts to pilot s

Terminal Cont rol

0

CRIMP A/S Bja rkesvej 2 DK-3450 A ller0d Denmark te l.: +4 5 48 100 500 fax: +45 48 100 550 e-ma il: voice@cr imp.dk

Selected fo r airports worl dwide includi ng Oslo-Garde rmoen, Kuala Lumpu r Interna tional , Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok

""

EUACCONTRCL

29


lFATCAPanel The relationship of the endorsements to the rating are shown in fig ure 6. An Area Control Procedural rating entit les the holder to prov ide an air traff ic control service in cont rol areas wit hout the use of surveillance eq uip ment. There are no European endo rsements for this rating alth ough some will have a State specific Oceanic endorsement. An Area Control Surveillance rating wil l entitle th e holde r to provide the air traff ic contro l service in contro l areas with the use of surveillance equipment . Associated endorsements are: A Radar endors ement w hich wi !I entitle th e holder to prov ide an air traff ic control service in control areas, with the use of author ised pr imary and/or second ary radar. An Automatic Dependant Surveillance endorsement whic h wi ll entitle the ho lder to prov ide an air traffic contro l service wit h t he use of authorised ADS info rmation. A Terminal Control endorsement wh ich will entitle th e ho lder to pro v ide an air tr affic control servi ce to aircraft operating in specified terminal contr ol areas. Note : The Terminal Contro l endorsemen t w ill be the same for both the Approach Surve illance and Area Surveillance control ratings and w ill require the same training module. Term inal Control wi ll start at a point, agreed by individual States, where the en-route controller hands over responsibility to t he termin al area controller. The terminal con tr ol ends, at a point agreed by indiv idu al States, where the terminal area contro ller hands over to the nom inate d Aerodrome or Approach controller. Th is endorsement w ill on ly be used by States t hat have the specif ic need.

Example of State Required Extra Endorsements Approach Control Surveillance Rating

Automatic Dependent Surveillance

y

+

~

I Special Tasks

Precision Approach Radar

Surveillance Radar Approach

Terminal Control

c, ..,¡

UK CAASafety Regulation Group '----

-

-

--------------------------

~ - ----------

The relationship of the endorsements to the rating are shown in figure 7. The flex ibilit y of the European scheme can be shown in the above diagram (fig 8) where an example of specific State "bolt-on" endorsements is shown in blue. These addition al endorsements wo uld only be recognisable in the State that developed them and wo uld not be transferable to anoth er State.

On the Job Training Instructor The Licensing Work Group considered the role played by On the Job Training Instructors in the proposed harmonised European ATC licence and considered th at it was appropriate to specially recognise the qualification as one th at wh en successfully attained remains as a qual ification on the licence. This decision was

- - - ---------

based on a recognition of th e roles of the OJTI w hich include: a. being respon sibl e for the safety of the ATC service being provided by Student and Trainee Air Traffic Controllers und er supervision during on the job training . b. determining the progress of Student and Trainee Air Traffic Controllers and balancing the training needs w ith the overr iding req uirem ent to maintain a safe and expedit ious air traffic control service c. recomm end ing Student and Trainee Air Traffic Controllers as being competent to be issued with a valid rating in the ATC service for wh ich they have been trained .

FIGURE7 d . superv ising and being responsible for

Area Control Surveillance Rating and Endorsements 1

the safety of the ATC servic e being provided by contro llers whose ATC licenses have been provisionally suspended by the ATC unit or suspended by the

Area Control Surveillan ce Rating

L_.

licensing A uthority .

------------------'

It was considered that the responsibiliti es of an On th e Job Training Instructo r in the harmoni sed ATC licensing proce dur es have suffici ent safety imp lications to requ ire OJTls to be properly trained and regu lated. Therefore . it has been decided that the mo st effective way

Automatic Dependent Surveillance

Rada r L __

_

Terminal Contro l

of recognising and regu lating OJTls is to issue th em w ith an endorse ment on the ir ATC licence w hich w ill remain for the life of the licence. Th is

UK CAASafetyRegulation Group ----~

30

~-------------------------

0

"

EURCCONTRCL

special qualification , the Licence Endorsement , can be seen under neath the rating qualificat ions on an exam ple of the European Licence in figure9 .

1f

i5 C

m "' --' ""

EURCCONTRCL

- -----------

..,,

11 CONTROLL ER


AGENDA

lFATCAPanel

2000 Summary

formed Safety Regulation Commission.

JUNE

Together with the members of the LWG,

As part of the project, we have

Vienna

5 UK specialist staff are, or have been,

developed an outline implementation

working on different aspects of the task.

plan which will short ly be made available

The increasing profile of the project is

to State authorities. At the moment we

encouraging and demonstrates a keen

can only speculate that the final

interest by ECAC States. To date

regulatory control of the scheme will

representatives from most of the 38

pass to the European Aviation Safety

13 - 15 IFATCA Executive Board Meeti ng , T BN Contact - IFATCA Office Manage r,

States that will be affected by the project

Authority (EASA), if it is established.

Maura Estrada

have attended project presentations . All

However, it is our firm belief that

ECAC States w ill be required to

individual States will retain individual

Phone+ 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 514866761 2 Email: office@ifatca.org

implement the scheme by December

management control over their own

16 - 18 IFATCA Executive Boar_d Meet ing, Contact - IFATCA Offi ce Manager, M aura Estrada Phone+ 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 51486676 12 Email: office@ifat ca.org

OCTOBER

19 - 21

Americas Regional meeting

Barbados

2003 and to finalise the project a

licensing scheme for the foreseeable

workshop is being held in Luxembourg

future and that there is no intention to

to explain the detail of the scheme to the

develop a centralised European licensing

European States and assist them with

database. It is more likely that any future

their implementation plans.

role of EASA would be limited to an

NOVEMBE R

audit of individual State licensing

3 - 5 European Regional M eeti ng Istanbul Contact : Email: ev peur@ifatca.org

To conclude, there have been some questions as to how a European licensing

procedures, similar to the way that ICAO

scheme may be regulated. With the

is currently carrying out safety

changes brought about by the

assessment audits around the world.

development of the Safety Regulation

Hopefully, the rest of the w orld may

Commission it has been decided that the

agree that we have designed a scheme

responsibility for implementation of the

that is robust enough for world- w ide

scheme will transfer to the recently

acceptance if required . FlGURE 9

Cont act: Email: evpama@ifatca.org

25 - 26 Afr ica M iddle East Regional meetin g Ad dis Ababa Contact : Email: evpafm@ifatca.org

S - 8 Civil Air Convention Canberra, A ustra lia Cont act - CON 2000 Committee Email: civilair@civilair.asn.au Web site: www. civilair.an.au

21 - 2 4 Asia Pacific Regional Meeti ng Hong Kong Contact: Email: evpasp@ifatca.org

2 0 01 1 2 - 14 IFATCA Execut ive Board Meeti ng,

E~

Ratings This holderisentitledtoexercisethe Lastand first nameof holder functionsof the following raling(s) at EUR0MAN Euro the air trafficeserviceunit(s) for which Dateandplageof birth currentendorsement (s) is/are held as 01-01-19 80 EUR0VIL LE detailed below. Nationality Rating Dateof First Issue EUROPA AOV 01-08-200 0 Signature holder ADI 01-08-2 001 ~ APP 01-08-2003 Signatureof issuing offeranddate APS 01·08-2003 10-1-2 0 0 5 ~ ACP Seal or stampof issuing authority ACS 01-11-2005 LicenceEndorsement 0JT lnslru ctor 15-10 -2004 LicenceNumb er

0

327046G CL

EUR0C0NTR OL

State of Issue EUR0 C0NTROL

AirTraffice ControllerLicence

axonm:e ,ilh r.10aoo ECAC ~I

Qssied i1

Sec tor/ Position Easl/2 Eas l/2 Was V4

ADV Aerodrome Contro l Instrumen t AD I Approach Control Proce<lura l APP Approach Contro l Surveillance APS Ara aContro l Proce<lrua l ACP Area Con trol Surv~ llance ACS Endorsement Abbre ~alions Air Contro l AIR Autom al~ Dependent Survei l~nceAD S Ground Movement Control GMC Ground Moveme nt Survei llance GMS Prac isionApproach Radai PRA Radar RAD Surve illanc eRadaiApproach SRA Terminal Control TCL6 Tower Contrt, TW R OnlheJobTrruning OJT Aerodrom e Contro l Visual

·2· Val iduntil UnnOC AO Rati"9i EndO<Sement'sl lnd~IO<I ACS/RAD /!ln 9-121'111\ ACS/RAD 9-12006 ACS/RAD 3·10·2005

.3.

UK CAA Safety Regulation Group

CONTROLLER

Mau ra Estr ada Phone + 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 5148667612 Email: offi ce@ifatca.org

MA RCH 1 7 - 1 8 IFATCA Execut ive Board Meeting, Geneva Contact - IFATCA Office Manager, Ma ura Estrada Phone+ 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 514 8667612

+ 1 9 -23 IFATCA A nnual Conference

orsements Validun rn StateEnd Sect0< / Rat ing/ (Example only ) ils Position Endor;emen

Geneva

Superivsor

SUP

Examiner

EXM

24 IFATCA Executiv e Board Meeting , Geneva

Meo1ca l ExpiryDale

Contact - !FATCA Office Manager ,

10-1-2006

Ma ura Estrada Phone + 1 514 866 7040

0 f I ii

M ontreal Contact - IFATCA Offi ce Ma nager,

Email: office@ifatca.o rg

.,. UnnOCAO lnd~torl EB UR EBUR EBUR

~

DECO DE Rating Abbraviat ions

"

Fax + 1 514 866 7612 Email: office @ifatca.org

EURCCONTRCL

31


Airspace Design Creation and management of flight paths and airspace Daniel Casanova, European Regional Editor

n the field of automatic IFR app roach path processing, ENAC (Ecole Nationale de !'Aviation Civi le), the French Civil Aviation Academy has acqui red a knowledge which has been recognised for over ten years through the sale of operating licences for TITAN software. To day ENAC intro duce the second generation of GeoTITAN. GeoTITAN is a tool for creating and manag ing fli ght paths and airspace in a referenced geographical environment. The geograp hical environment is derived from scanned maps and dig ital terrain model files (DTM) supp lied by th e users. A geographical information system (GIS) manages the databases in a geograph ical environment. It manages simultaneous ly the scanned images (maps) which constit ut e the background, vecto rial objects w hich are superimposed over these images (airways, protection areas, paths, airspace limits, and so on ... ) and data (aeronaut ical, DTM). Today it's intere sting to add noise abatement limits to assist in t he choice of a good approach path.

• Th e approach path design module w hich create fix , holding pattern, reversal turn and approach traj ector ies. For the protect ion area design and minimum safety altitude computation there are automated functions. • The departurepath designmodulewhich creates standardinstrument departure with automated functions for the protectionareadesignand minimumsafetyaltitude computation.

ADVANTAGES For a PANS-OPSprofessionalGeoTITANprovides: • Precision of the information generated • Permanent link w ith existing data in order to maintain the global coherence of th e system and data safety

Speed of execution Operational flexibilit y Design follow-up: archiving and upda t ing. For an air traffic controller GeoTITAN pro v ide s training in flight path selection. In the first instance GeoTITAN is easy to use and it gives an excellent overview of selected flight paths . For example, a student controller can learn to und erstand the import ance of safety altitudes and airspace limitations using the package. The student can build a trajectory and observe the geographic and noise imp act probl ems created. Thi s sort of software help s the planning for airspace managem ent and gives an easier approach to solving the problems to air traffic controllers.

GeoTITAN

THE CONTEXT Designing IFR flight pat hs require: Compliance w ith specific regu lations, GeoTITAN integrates the recommended practi ses of ICAO document 81680PS / 611; Use of available data, GeoTITAN, uses a GIS, to manage this. The data come from various sour ces (aeronautical, geographical, altitude, height, etc.) Know-how, for ten years TITAN software has been recognised by the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) and European and Afri can organisat ions.

THE TOOLS GeoT ITAN build s flight paths in a geo-reference aeronaut ical environme nt, and assigns them wi th protection areas in order t o determine the ir safe altitudes. GeoT ITAN comprises four mod ules The data management modu le wh ich manages al I the data nece ssary fo r t he app lications (nav igation aids, landing aids, aerodromes, airspace ent it ies, aero nautical lights, maritime lights, artificial obstacles and air-to-g round frequencies) . The co-ord inates are referenced in WGS 84 system The Geo TITAN data utilit y program runs in a W indows environment and uses st a nd ard menus, commands and selection methods. The en-ro ut e path des ign modu le w hic h provides t he mean s of de fining en-route IFR fli ght paths, repre senting them in a referenced geog rap hical env ironment and dete rm ines t he minimum flight alt itudes to be associated with them , wh ilst applying the ICAO recommendations for t he purpose of defin ing protected airspace .

32

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r 1ll CONTROLL ER


Charlie's Column WAYS TO CELEBRATE THE MILLENNIUM (Part 1) General Aviation in the USA can be f un. In Florida it is even better : Now a Piper Cadet tri es to mate wit h a Cessna 152 in t he airl You may have seen the nice photo (see opposite) of the pair ably named CES-PER by the Press. The Piper in fact hit the Cessna w hen both aircraft were 150 feet from the ground . The land ing gear of t he Piper came through the w indscreen of the 152 and both aircraft became inter locked. Surprisingl y (but fortunately fo r the occupants) both aircraft continued to fly like this unt il they landed. Th e Piper's damage was so minimal that the aircraft flew again the next day. The Cessna needed extensive repairs. Yes, even in aeroplanes it is nicer to be on to p.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE THE MILLENNIUM (Part 2) A TransArab ian Cargo B707 captain was wel l insp ired w hen he decided not to follow th e adv ice of th e Tower contro ller in Mwanza, Tanzania. The aircraft was trying to land at night in that small airfield near Lake Victoria to pick up a cargo of fish. The runway is qu ite small there and after two unsuccessfu l attempts to land, the captain tried an approach over the lake. Th e controller saw t his and said "You are too low, pu ll up!" To which t he captain repli ed, "Don 't worry, I know what I am doing." As th e photo opp osite shows, th is turned out to be t he unders tatement of the year .. Interestingl y, they made a near perfect water landi ng, were picked up by a local fi shing boat a few hours later (the batteries w ere still giving power so the crew turned the lights on to help the rescue .) The next morning t he aircraft was still afloat and was to wed to the shore. It is likely to rema in there for qui te some time .. If I we re a fish, I wou ld laugh ..

SPEED CONTROL IN THE MILITARY

lFATCA- 40th anniversarystory It has been decided to present an historical perspecti ve of IFATCA in book form for the Federation's 40th Anniversar y in 2001 . Information is now being collected for this task. Contributions of an historical nature, photograp hs, interesting/humourous anecdotes, recollection s/ reflections , supplementary papers etc. are inv ited. If you can contribute in any way, please contact or send relevant material (not photographs in the initial instance) and info rmation to: Bernhard Ruethy Burenstrasse23 CH-3312 Fraubrunnen Sw itzerland Phone +41 31 7678235 Fax:+41 31 767 8235 email: 100245.1460@compuserve.corn

Neil Vidler 1 Highbridge Road Killara. N. S. W. 2071

RICHARD BRANSON MANAGEMENT

PHILOSOPHY:

W ith all this talk about privatisation of air traffic control, and all the supposed benefit s, every one talks about Stakeholders and our customers, the airlines, the maxim is that you have to keep them happy under a privat ised enterprise . One of the biggest successes in privat isation and free enterprise is Richard Branson , the CEO of t he Virgin Group (that include the airlines Virgin At lantic and Virg in Express). His philosoph y is however interesting: He said; "I am convinced that companies shou ld put staff first, customers second and shareholders third . Ult imate ly, that what is in the best interest of the customers and the shareholders ." Pity Richard Branson is not interested in buying ATC. .. I

Australia

OVERHEARD Phone 61 2 9499 7635 email:rlvidler@bigpond.corn.au

Any contribution , no matter how large or small, will be appreciated .

TI-If:CONTROLLER

I recent ly learned that the A 1O (you know that large anti tank ugly aircraft wit h the two engines in the back) carries a 30-mm gun. When they fire the gun the aircraft decelerates at 4 Knots per second. So t hey have to fir e very short bursts or the aircraft wi ll fall out off the sky .. It is far more eff icient than some speed brakes in other aircraft. So next time you want to slow down an A10 on fina l, you know what to ask for ... 1

ON THE FREQUENCY:

Controller: Comair 3215 descend to 3000 feet pilot 's discretion .. Pilot: Roger, descending discretely to 3000 feet ... Civil controller: Hawk 20, is this the same aircraft that declared emergency two hour s ago7 Military pilot: Negat ive Sir, it is the same pilot

33


Committee A Report (continued fron1p 11) STANDING COMMITTEE 6 (CONSTITUTION ADMINSTRATIVE POLICY)

AND

SC6 present ed Working Papers on all items of their 1999/00 Work Programme and all recommendations were accepted. Fortunately, there w ere really no seriously contentious issues in these Working Papers. The Const itut ion and By-Law s were amended to afford the Exec utive Board th e option of appointing a member to fill a casual vacancy. The Confe rence Task Force and Standing Committee Task Force presented th eir respect ive Working Papers and the recommendations were all accept ed after varying degrees of discussions and changes to the recomme ndations. Hope f ully, much more Execu tive Board control wil l be imposed on the organisati on and management of future Conferences, and so eliminate, or at th e least, reduce some of the repetitive problems occurring at successive A nnua l Conferences. This will be achieved by the EB's appoin t ment of a Conference Manager / EB Secretary. The Editor is no longe r appointed to the EB but may attend EB meetings upon request or at t he CM G's instigation. SC6 membe rs for t he next term 2000 / 01 are the United States of Am erica, Net herlands and Barbados. Th eir four item Work Programme has been establ ished for the coming year. It is important to note is th at in the future the election of SC 3 and 6 will be diff erent . Directors wi ll elect the Chairmen separately, from the memb ers to serve on the Committees .

THE CONTROLLER

MAGAZINE

Since last Conference "The Controller' has shown a small profit and appear s to be w ell on t he w ay to be the financial success it has the potentia l to be, once managed properly . Clearly, Edge and the other mem bers of th e CM G are doing the necessary work to put the magazine in its rightful place in t he read ing w orld of the aviation commun ity. What wi ll really help is for Member A ssociations to increase the ir orde rs of the magazines fo r t heir membe rship. The profit s show n by th e magazine dur ing the last year has been allocate d in th e fo llow ing manner: CHF 25,760.67 to the "The Controller" reserve f und and t he remaind er be used to increase t he "The Contro ller" equipment f und to CHF 20,000.00. The proposed budget for 2000/01 has been agreed to and the UK Guild continues to be respo nsible for the CMG. Terry Crowh urst stepped do w n from the Editor 's posit ion and he has been replaced by Chris Stoc k. I extend thanks to TC for all the hard wo rk, effort and exce llence he has brought to the magazine and wish Chris all the best in his new po sit ion .

TH E IFATCA OFFBCE The IFATCA Off ice report w as pr esent ed by the Executi ve Board w ith the Off ice Manag er, Ms . Maur a Estrada, present to respond to any questions . The Offi ce is def initel y living up to its expect ation . It is pro viding the necessary serv ices t hat was orig inally envisaged and th ere appears to be a level of satisfact ion on the part of the Execut ive Board w ith respect to the perfor mance of t he curr ent staff. Howev er, the Executive Board has established an Off ice Task For ce to hop ef ully revi ew its operation w ith the intention to furthe r maximize its use and capabilit ies. This should be reported on by next Confe rence.

ME MB ERS ASS OCDATDON PROBILEMS (Cl O SEIO SIESSDON) Once again, I am flabb ergaste d at t he atroc ities th at certain Civil Aviat ion Administra tions w ill imp ose on their captive employees. This is apparent ly done to ensur e that an almost dictato rial level of control and domination is exercised over their employees , w hose on ly crim e is to fight for the dignity of adequate terms and cond it ions of employ ment.

34

Millions of dollars the world over were found and spent on the Y2K computer bug. Hype or not. Yet all sorts of difficulties are identified to find the funds and motivation to upgrade ATS facilities and remunerate the workers in the system adequately. If this is not a paradox then I don't know what is. Again this year the financial obligations of some Member Associations towards the Federation are not being honoured. We have to come to terms with the fact that for as long as we see the Federation as the voice of air traffic controllers globally, then we must understand that there is a cost to that and it is our responsibility to fund that cost. In this era of privatization and quasi-privatization, the need for a common vo ice for air traffic controllers can, and must be IFATCA. I urge you to be more responsible and honour your obligations to yourself and your profession.

ANNUAL

CONFERENCES

Congratulations are in order to the Switzerland ATCA as they were confirmed as host of IFATCA 2001. As Chairman, I personally extend my sincere appreciation for a most comprehensive and extremely detailed Conference Working Paper. It can probably be described as the best Conference Working Paper on the subject, presented in a long time. When this Conference began we did not have an offer from any Member Association to host IFATCA 2002. Mexico, who were offering to host the Annual Conference in 2003 came forward (in more ways than one) and were elected as the host for IFATCA 2002. South Africa indicated that they were interested in hosting the Annual Conference in 2003. Of note is that both Switzerland and Mexico have hosted Conferences before and I suspect that as a direct result we can expect that our next two Annual Conferences w ill be tremendous successes.

ELECTION OF EXECUTIVE BOARD Al l the vacant positions on the Executive Board were filled by those persons, so nominated, prior to the start of Conference. The EVPF nominee from Santo Domingo declined, leaving the other candidate to contest the position unopposed. Needless to say, this made life very easy for me in Committee A , as all the positions were filled unopposed . The following Officers wi ll serve in the Federat ion for the next two years:

PCX

Samuel Lampkin

EVP Finance

Stephanie Simmonds United Kingdom

EVP Professional

Doug Churchill

Canada

EVP Americas

Jean R. Dumfries

Aruba

EVP Europe

Marc Baumgartner

Switzerland

Trinidad & Tobago

CONCLUSION This year the Engine room of the Federation, Committee A, concluded its Agenda and business at 11: 10 on Thursday morning, allowing some free time for delegate.sto enJoy the sights and sounds of the beautiful Marrakech. Adm ittedly, while there were some problems during the Conference, th e facilities were indeed excellent and I extend, on behalf of Committee A, sincere thanks to the Organizing Committee for their effort in th is aspect To my fellow Conference Officers, Janet, John, Tahri, and Said, in addition to the Secreatriat's staff and all Member Associations representatives I extend my heartfelt thanks for your support and co-operation. I would also like to extend sincere appreciat ion and grat itude to the IFATCA Executive Board and my own home Associat ion, TIATCA , for the opportunity to again serve the Federation in this capacity . On a personal basis, I extend my thanks to the various A irlin es and Companies that assisted me during the past year but must make spec ial mention of Amerije t Inc. Av ianca A irlin es, Canadien Airlines and Caledonia Airways . Withou t their generous support it w ou ld have been very expensive and quite diffi cult to comp lete my w orkload .

'11 CONTROLLER


Corporate Members of lFATCA AEROTECH TELUB

JEPPESEN & Co . GmbH

Vaxjo, Sweden

Neu lsenburg, Germany

AIR TRAFFIC AND NAVIGATIONAL SERVICES Co. Ltd.

LITTON DENRO

Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa

Gaithersburg , MD , USA

AIRSYS ATM LTD.

MILLER FREEMAN EXHIBIT IONS

Chessington, UK

London, UK

ALENIA MARCONI SYSTEMS

NAVIA AVIATION AS

Rome, Italy

Oslo, Norw ay

AMBIDJI GROUP PTY LTD

NICE SYSTEMS Ltd

Melbourne, Au stralia

Tel Aviv, Israel

ARINC INCORPORATED Annapoli s, MA, USA

BAE SYSTEMS UK LTD Bristol, UK

BREITLING SA Grenchen, Switzerl and

NORTHROP GRUMMAN Baltimore, M D , USA

RAYTHEON Co . Ma rlboro ugh , MA, USA

RAYTHEON SYSTEM S Ltd. Burgess Hill, UK

SCHM ID TELECOMMUNICATION BRITISH AIRWAYS Zurich, Switzerland London Heathro w Airp ort, UK

SERCO-IAL CELSIUSTECH SYSTEMS

Bath , UK

Jarfalla, Sw eden

SOCIETE D'ETUDES ET D'ENTREPR ISES CRIMP A/S A llerod, Denmark

DIVERSIFIED INT'L SCIENCES CORP.

ELECTRIQUES

Malakof , France

SWEDAVIAAB

Lanham, M D, USA

Norr kopin g , Sweden

FLIGHT REFUELLING Ltd

TERMA ELEKTRO NIK AS

W imborne , UK

Birkerod , Denmark

FREQUENTIS

V ITROCISE_!_S.p.A .

Vienna, Austria

Rome , Italy

INDRA

WA V IONIX SOFTWARE LT D

Madrid, Spain

Geneva, Switz erland


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