IFATCA The Controller - September 2008

THE

CONTROLLER September 2008

Journal of Air Traffic Control

4 FOCUS ON PORTUGAL

Also in this issue:

INTER-

TION OF AIR TRAFF ERA IC C FED

LLERS’ ASSNS. TRO ON

NATIO NAL

4 ASECNA strike in Africa 4 Aviation Fuel price Crisis 4 Automated shift planning tools

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Contents

THE

September 2008 3rd quarter 2008 Volume 47 ISSN 0010-8073

CONTROLLER THE

CONTROLLER September 2008

Journal of Air Traffic Control

4 FOCUS ON PORTUGAL

Cover photo: Also in this issue:

INTER-

TION OF AIR TRAFF ERA IC C FED

LLERS’ ASSNS. TRO ON

NATIO NAL

4 ASECNA strike in Africa 4 Aviation Fuel price Crisis 4 Automated shift planning tools

Vasco de Gama tower in Lisbon (not an ATC control tower, but nice nevertheless and a Lisbon landmark) Photo credit: DP

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

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

In this issue:

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

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

Portugal Interview Paulo Encarnaco by Philippe Domogala ….……….

Lisboa ACC ..........………………………..................................

Lisbon Tower ................................................................……...

ELPAC - Testing for english proficiency: the portuguese experrience .............................................................................

Flying in the Azores .................…………….............................

The most western airport in Europe: Flores ….......................

Santa Maria Oceanic Centre …...............................................

Ponta Delgada Tower ….........................................................

Orbituary João Gonçalves …..................................................

Europe Poland: Staff shortages and overtime by Philippe Domogala ................

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

SESAR SEASAR: a performance based future by Helios .........………..................

ASECNA strike First multi national strike in Africa by Philippe Domogala .….....

Africa ATM Human capacity building: a challenge to air navigation safety and development in Africa by Albert Aidoo Taylor ..................................

IFATCA EB INPUT on the Fuel price crisis by the IFATCA executive Board .....

Serbia Serbia Vršac 2008 a day to remember by Philippe Domogala ..............

Yugoslavia A bit of history: Yugoslavia and its ATC ........................................

Rosters Automated Rosters by Douglas Churchill .........................................

Integra ATC Staff Planning Tool by Integra .................................................

Africa News News from Sierra Leone ........................................................

ATNS South Africa takes African ATC training to heights

by MD Matale ........................................................................

Asia Pacific News New things in the Western Pacific/South China Sea by Phil Parker ..........................................

Philip Marien Feature Fly me to the moon by Philip Marien .....

Foreward ... Continued from page 4 ......................................

Charlie’s Column ................................................................

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 20 21 22 24 26 27 27 29 30 30 31 32 34 35

CORPORATE AFFAIRS Kevin Salter (Germany/UK) WEB SITE AND EDITOR ASSISTANT Philip Marien (EGATS) REGIONAL EDITORS Moetapele D. Matale (Botswana) Vacant Phil Parker (Hong Kong) Patrik Peters (Europe) COPY EDITORS Paul Robinson, Helena Sjöström, Stephen Broadbent and Brent Cash PRINTING-LAYOUT LITHO ART GmbH & Co. Druckvorlagen KG Friesenheimer Straße 6a D 68169 MANNHEIM, Germany Tel: +49 3 22 59 10 email: info@lithoart-ma.de

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

VISIT THE IFATCA WEB SITES:

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

Foreword

Foreword from the Executive Board ^ by John Wagstaff

4 Photo 1: Polar Bear Photo credit: outdorrsman/dreamstime Photo 2: Californian Condor Photo credit: James Steidl/dreamstime Photo 3: Siberian Tiger Photo credit: Tom Curtis/dreamstime Photo 4: the …

Photo credit: DP

The Polar Bear

Is the air traffic controller about to join this list?

There is a worldwide shortage of controllers and the prognosis is that the situation will only get worse in the coming years primarily because of the looming peak in the number of controllers who are eligible for retirement and the paucity of new recruits joining the profession.

At Conference 2008 in Arusha this subject was widely debated and it was subsequently highlighted in the Conference Press Release: ‘This shortage of controllers which is evident in all regions represents a serious hazard to the flying public as we try to maintain a safe and efficient air traffic system handling an ever increasing number of flights’. In addition the controller shortage was high on the agenda at recent CANSO Conferences in Singapore and Madeira, and it has been raised as an urgent matter for ICAO to address.

In the many years of my ATC career I can recall that there was never a time when

Practically all Member Associations [are] reporting a significant lack of staff.

The California Condor

The Siberian Tiger

there was an excess of controllers and there was often a slight deficit, but with a little massaging of the roster and juggling of leave, any staff shortfall was usually covered without too much difficulty. Now circumstances have dramatically changed with practically all Member Associations reporting a significant lack of staff and too few new recruits to make up the numbers.

For the staff that there are, long working hours, excessive overtime, ad hoc rostering and minimum leave are now the norm for many.

So what, where, how, why and when did this situation develop?

Who is too blame for this condition? I am sure that every controller can come up with some of the answers – lack of recruitment, insufficient investment in equipment and facilities, increase in traffic, low salaries, intransigent management, etc., etc. These are the common complaints and aggravations heard from controllers around the world. However there are other important factors in this enigma, and unless these issues are understood and addressed, there is a real risk of the air traffic controller becoming an endangered species.

I can recall when I stepped into the control tower at London Airport for the first time many years ago, everyone was wearing a

The ...?

suit and one controller was resplendent with a bow tie. The only exception to this accepted dress code was a young recently rated controller who dared to wear a sports jacket and on one hot summer’s afternoon even took off his tie! (That young controller went on to become one of the senior managers in the hierarchy of the UK Civil Aviation Authority.) This is just a simple example to indicate that each generation manifests its way of life in a different and distinctly diverse manner to that of it’s forebears – hence the term ‘generation gap’ to describe the perplexing situation that every elder, be they a parent and personnel manager, is faced with.

Now the talk is of Generation X, Generation Y and even Generation Z, and with these generations it is not a generation gap, but a paradigm change of society that they are experiencing. The X people grew up in the zenith of the analogue world – think of Concorde and the Space Shuttle; the Ys were reared in a burgeoning computer age with everything getting smaller, faster and cheaper – think of the rapid development of the Walkman and mobile phones; and the Z’s only know a totally digital world with instant worldwide communication and voluminous information constantly accessible from the internet.

Continued on page 34

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Editoriall

Editorial Be careful of politicans Philippe Domogala, ^ by Editor This issue is a Portugal-Special. A focus on the country’s ATC and its controller association.(*) Portugal is known among controllers in Europe to have some of the best social working conditions so we’ll find out together if this is really the case. Portugal also has some islands in the Atlantic, and we visited one of those in the most western part of Europe and of course the most westerly located controlled airport in Europe. It is just half way between the USA and Portugal.

We also went to Santa Maria Oceanic Centre in the Azores. The last time I was there was exactly 15 years ago when this centre was about to close (to move to Lisbon six months later) But a few months later the politicians reversed that decision and within a year a brand new oceanic centre had to be built and now operates with a very advanced system. This proves than in ATC nothing can be taken for granted and we are very dependant on outside factors. This brings us to the current fuel price crisis. The EB has written a paper (on page24) explaining what could happen to us if the oil price continues to soar. I have been long enough in this business (it will be 40 years next year) to known that traffic has always be cyclic, we have had a lot of different crises over the years. To name just a few: the oil crisis in 1976, the Gulf war of 1990 and more recently the SARS epidemic and September 11.

The scientists and the specialists warn us of more crises ahead: for instance the avian flu virus mutating to humans, the forthcoming oil peak production, or a major nuclear accident somewhere again, to name just a few. Every time such a crisis arrives, it brings air traffic to a standstill for a few months but every time the traffic comes back and continues to grow. The desire and need of people to travel by air is immense and will not stop overnight. We need to calm down our politicians who, in those times of crisis, want to reduce and cancel everything. In the past this has been a huge mistake every time. But our poli-

ticians often look at the deadline of their own particular election term and not at the whole picture.

Talking about politicians, the current global warming issue is making some of them react in a strange way. In some states so called “green parties” are getting stronger (nothing wrong with that I would say) but have to compete for votes with traditional ones. It is not uncommon to see “new ideas” being pushed forward to get some attention from the voters. Ideas like forcing aircraft to fly at low altitudes to eliminate contrails, or heavy taxes, or even prohibiting flights of less than 500 km or to have aircraft towed electrically on the ground from the gate to the runway and back again once landed. These ideas (and others) are part of the current reactions to the effects of global warming we all feel.

Therefore we have decided to make the next edition of the controller an environment-special. This “green issue“ will be a first in IFATCA, and should your country have some “green” plans that will affect ATM, do let us know. The debate will be interesting.

Finally some disturbing news coming from AFRICA on pages 21 and 30. Arresting

Arresting and detaining controllers is still a popular game. and detaining controllers is still a popular game it seems. Regarding the ASECNA strike, if some ASECNA management is reading this, they should not forget that the people they sanction today ( the Controllers Associations elected executives ) will most probably be the same persons they will meet again in a few years , but with different hats this time, when renegotiating their service contracts.

History is always repeating itself it seems and people never learn. ^

Philippe (*)If you would like to have focus on your country and your member association in the magazine, you can contact us (ed@ifatca.org). We plan to do this once or twice a year in the future.

4 with sign of the most Western Europe community Photo credit: Carlos Terenas

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4 Portugal

Interview Paulo Encarnaco President APCTA (Portuguese Controllers Association)

^ Interview by Philippe Domogala, Editor

Philippe: How bad is the staff shortage?

Paulo: Across the whole country it is about 10%, but it is more acute in some units, such as Lisbon ACC, where overtime is becoming institutional to compensate for this. We have also recently agreed to delay our current retirement age from 55 to 57. This was in fact a proposal from our union, as part of a strategy to give something to management before they would ask for more and force us into a situation we might not like. We hope this two year extension will give us some time to find a permanent solution to our staff shortages.

Philippe: How are the relations with your employer?

Paulo: Good. Our association works closely with our union (we share the same building and same facilities) and we try to have common approach to our employer. That helps a lot.

Philippe: You mentioned earlier the uncertainty about the future. Can you expand on this?

Paulo: We view the future with some concerns.

Today in Portugal we deliver a good ATC service, not too expensive and we are rather efficient if one looks at the recent Eurocontrol benchmark studies. However we realise that we are a small country and that the decisions taken at European Union level are generally taken for political rather than practical reasons. That is why we are worried.

4 Paulo Encarnacao Photo credit: DP

We view the future with some concerns.

Philippe: we hear everywhere that the Portuguese controllers have the best social conditions in the world. Is that really true?

Paulo: Yes we have good working conditions in Portugal, but this is a result of 30 years of negotiation leaving behind larger wages increases and setting the goal on the overall working conditions. But we have one major problem today: staff shortages. Also we are not sure what the future will bring us, especially regarding the SES and the FAB issues.

Philippe: Do you have a plan or a strategy regarding your own FAB? Paulo: Our plan is to support a large FAB joining Santa Maria and Lisbon FIRs, which hopefully will enable us to remain master of our own destiny. But we have to be realistic and study all other possibilities. We are not opposing anything at present, but we insist on being involved in the discussions and the decisions regarding FABs. One of those plans is for a “super FAB” joining all Portuguese and Spanish FIRS, including Santa Maria Oceanic and Canarias. Our union has already made an agreement with our Spanish colleagues union (USCA) to exchange all information received or heard from both sides and to discuss those together. We will not remain passive on this issue.

Judge for yourself: 35 hours per week on a 3 days on 2 days off roster, 33 days holiday per year, voluntary overtime. Retirement recently moved from age 55 to 57, but with nearly 100% of last salary excluding overtime (this 100% is due to a special compensation fund run by the Association – the official state pension is between 60-70%).

Philippe: At the last minute you kindly offered to host the next IFATCA European Regional meeting in Lisbon next October. Is this a big task for you?

Paulo: Most of the preparations are completed.

The hotel is booked, but we are still negotiating with a few sponsors. All the information is on a special web site (www.erm2008lisbon.eu). It will be a “back to the roots” event as we will concentrate more on the working sessions than on the social events. ^

The salary scale (net, free of all taxes) ranges from 3000 Euros/month for a young tower controller to 4500 Euros/month max for an fully qualified experienced radar controller. The cost of living in Portugal is slightly lower than the European average. For more information check www.sintca.pt. ^

CONTROLLER

Portugal: Best working conditions in Europe?

THE

4 Portugal

Lisboa ACC The ACC, located in a large new building opposite the airport, uses an ATC system developed within the company using standard BARCO screens with the typical tools found in recent “off the shelf� systems (e.g. STCA, OLDI exchanges, etc). A brand new Operations room was opened in Dec 2007.

The FIR is divided into 7 sectors, and there are controlled TMAs in Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Funchal. Lisbon APP is located in the same room as the ACC, and uses the same system.

The entire FIR, from the north of Spain to the Madeira Islands in the south is covered by radar, using long-range (280 NM) SSR radar heads, and receiving complementary radar information from both Seville (Spain) and Casablanca (Morocco) to cover the gaps above the Atlantic.

The Azores and the large North Atlantic Oceanic area in the west are part of the Santa Maria FIR, and are controlled from a separate control centre located in the small island of Santa Maria in the Azores (see page 12).

The controllers use 5 NM separation in the Lisbon vectoring area, 8 NM separation in the continental FIR, 10 NM for the Porto, Faro and Funchal vectoring areas, and even 20 NM separation over the Madeira Islands oceanic routes.

The ACC has about 500,000 movements a year, with a constant increase in traffic levels of about 5% per year.

There are currently approximately 70 ACC controllers and 30 APP controllers, but they are still about 10% short. The shortfall is covered through voluntary overtime.

4

osta, rros C Rui Ba Lisbon of head mmunity o P ACC c o credit: D ot h p ll A

There are no acute capacity constraints. Most traffic is on a north/south axis, and most traffic inbound to Lisbon airport also comes from the north.

Rui Barros Costa, the head of the Lisbon ACC, said that the current system (called LISATM), which was established in 2001, will continue for some time. It will be regularly upgraded, but there are no plans to replace it. The main problem is to find sufficient controllers to staff the predicted increase in the number of sectors. It is difficult to recruit the right people,

and it takes too long for them to qualify. Portuguese regulations state that candidates must have completed at least 3 years of university education before they can apply, and that is complicating the staffing issue. ^

The main problem is to find sufficient controllers to staff the predicted increase in the number of sectors.

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4 Portugal

Lisbon Tower Lisbon Airport control tower is located just above the old ACC building, beside the main taxiway and close to the main runway. This airport is located inside the city, with high-rise buildings and two hospitals right at the runway threshold!

There is even a motorway and gas station less than 200m from the runway. It is the 2nd busiest airport in Europe in terms of number of movements using single runway operations. This is principally due to the Eurocontrol HIRO technique (High Intensity Runway Operations), which attempts to reduce R/T,

4 control TWR outside / Inside Tower / Photo credit: DP

It is the 2nd busiest airport in Europe in terms of number of movements using single runway operations.

have pilots responding fast to clearances, and better faster taxi techniques. There are 25 controllers working there and peak traffic is very difficult. Although a surface movement radar is currently under test, multileration will be introduced shortly. But the future of Lisbon airport lays elsewhere – the Portuguese government has recently decided to build a 5 billion Euro new airport in Alcochete, some

25 km away on the other side of the Tages River. This new airport should start being built in 2010 and ready in 2017, by which time the current airport will be abandoned.

For those of you who are wondering why the Lisbon ICAO designator is LPPT, the PT stands for Portela which is the old name of the village where the airport was when Lisbon was a much smaller city than today. ^

4 Portugal

ELPAC Testing for english proficiency: the portuguese experience.

Portugal is one of the first states to have implemented the ICAO requirements for language proficiency. They have chosen the Eurocontrol ELPAC testing system to do so.

“We looked at many options, and found the Eurocontrol one suited our needs best“ says Carlos Terenas, one of the ELPAC markers. It takes about 2 to 3 hours per controller to do the two main parts of the test, although it can occasionally take up to 4 hours depending on the controller and the speed of the internet at that time as the first test is web-based and requires a fast connection. “We have made suitable arrangements with our employer for controllers to complete these tests” says Carlos.

Most controllers find it a bit stressful to take the exam, although on the whole most controllers are doing very well as the level of English of the average Portuguese controller is already well above average. Not a single controller that has sat the test has failed so far, and in fact 95% of the controllers tested passed level 5 (valid for 6 years. The other 5% achieved level 4(valid for 3 years). Although no-one has failed yet, a process is in place to provide refresher courses and help to redo the test if required. If only one test is failed, the refresher course will have to be done within 3 months as this is the maximum interval between the 2 tests. As the deadline for completion of this certification process has been postponed until 2010, (although we will be finished by mid 2009) a controller who “fails” can still work legally until that date, so no license loss or any other form of action can be taken against the controller.

articles in their magazine, and tried to answer every possible question to avoid any doubts in the mind of their controller members. They even arranged to have the explanation brochure mailed to each controller in the same envelope as their salary slip! ”Proper communication of what you plan to do is absolutely essential if you want to get controller acceptance of this testing process“ said Carlos. “We spent a significant amount of time and energy ensuring every controller was properly informed” he says. “We believe we on track to complete this process successfully.”

Although the test is currently only done in English, Portuguese is also mentioned in the Portugal AIP as a telecommunication language. Therefore the certification should also be done for Portuguese in the future. Today however, even if Portuguese is allowed, 99% of the R/T is done in English including with VFR traffic. The consideration is that in Portugal most VFR traffic is normally training flights for later IFR and/or airline training.

4 The ELPAC poster Photo credit: Nav Portugal

Both the ANSP (NAV Portugal) and APCTA are pleased with the ELPAC solution, and the controllers that have passed the tests have indicated that it was not as bad as expected.

We will look at different experiences in other countries and report in the next issues of The Controller. ^

4 Carlos and a controller to be tested (Guess the one who has to be tested!).

Photo credit: DP

The assessment is done in 2 separate parts, one part is web-based using a laptop PC connected to the internet, and the other part is done on a one-to-one basis (one controller – marker and one English language expert in a special quiet room. In addition to the laptop, a headset and a microphone are also used.

To ensure controller confidence in the process, the Association (APCTA) was involved from the beginning both in assisting to help select the test provider, and in helping to run the programme. APCTA spent a lot of time and effort informing controllers about the need for testing, building workshops, producing

“Proper communication of what you plan to do is absolutely essential if you want to get controller acceptance of this testing process” says Carlos Terenas.

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4 Portugal 4 Short final in Horta

Flying in the Azores Leaving Lisbon on an A320 for a 2.5 hour flight to Horta (LPHR) during a bright sunny day seemed easy. But Horta is one of the most difficult airports in Portugal – a definition which previously fitted Funchal in Madeira, but now with the new runway there it has become almost a “normal” airport. Horta is different; it has a 1590m runway located between two mountains. One of them, Mt Pico at 2350m (7700 ft) is the highest mountain in

“This airport is very tricky” says Captain Borges.

Portugal. The airport is very often covered by low cloud, the un-grooved runway is often wet, there is no ILS, and a big 1200 feet rock stands just on the other side of the runway. Under those conditions our Airbus A320, with 64 tons landing weight, has a calculated required landing distance of 1500m – not much to spare.

The winds also change all the time, and due to the mountains

and the terrain around the airport turbulence can be very heavy on approach, enough to disconnect the autopilot. “This airport is very tricky” says Captain Borges, an experienced pilot with SATA INTERNATIONAL, one of the two Azores airlines “and the A320 is not really suited for operating in those kind of conditions. They need to put an ILS in there, extend and groove the runway, and add a radar while they are at it” he adds. But that would mean a tremendous investment for the small community around here.

Horta Airport Our first attempt to land at Horta was based on a METAR and TAF claiming 10 km visibility, with few at 800 ft and broken at 1200 ft.

Our minima here is 880 ft (the A320 is a Cat 3 aircraft). The procedure is to descend on a LLZ(NDB)–DME APP to 5000 ft between the two mountains, then descend on a VOR radial over the sea and hope to see the runway abeam of us. When we arrive, the weather is totally overcast. We descend on the QDR to 880 ft and the co-pilot is desperately trying to see the airport and runway (see photo) but even though we occasionally spot a cliff or a bit of sea, we are still IMC. The captain decides to go around and divert to Ponta Delgada, some 150 NM away. The weather is better there, and we land half an hour later.

We wait for 1.5 hours and try again. By now the cloud base is “really” few at 900 ft, and this time we spot the runway abeam of us. We make a sharp right side-step and the captain selects minimum speed, full flap, and we gently touch down on the stripes as in the book.

4 Co pilot looking for runway.

As soon as the wheels touch the ground, it is full reverse-thrust and auto brakes. We stop with even a few hundred meters to spare, a smile on the face of the captain and admiration in the eyes of the co-pilot.

Horta Tower There are six controllers in Horta, but with less than 20 movements per day the workload is not high. The island has a history of whaling which has changed to whale-watching in recent years. This brings more and more tourists to the island as the locals exploit their heritage. During the 1930’s and 40’s, Horta harbor was the main refueling stop for sea planes such as the Pan American airline, and the harbor was a busy place. Another institution, Peter’s Café a well-known pub for all sailors, is still the place to go when you cross the Atlantic on a small sailboat.

Tourism might increase the number of movements in the airport, and the local controllers would welcome this, but they really have to extend that runway… ^

4 Horta Tower with Mt Pico on the background All photo credit: DP

4 Local controller reading an interesting magazine.

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4 Portugal 4 The airport from above

Flores airport (LPFL) is the most westerly-located airport in Europe ( 39N and 31 W). “On a good day you might see America” jokes a local controller, but the generally cloudy weather in the Azores means your chances are very small. But in fact you are already in America, as the two most westerly islands of the Azores (Corvo and Flores) are on the American tectonic plate while all the other islands are on the European and African plates.

The main advantage for Flores is that they do not suffer from the frequent earthquakes that regularly shake it’s European sisters. The nature in Flores is also completely different from the other islands, here it is more like visiting the set of the film “Jurassic Park”.

The airport is located in the middle of the small “capital” city of Santa Cruz, the only large flat area on the island. However with between one and four flights daily, the 2000 inhabitants of the city (half of the island population) are not overly disturbed. The airport has a 1430m long asphalt runway, and its main visitors are the local airline (SATA) which operates ATP and Dornier 228 linking regularly all the islands. The control tower is manned by three controllers in relay when required for the planned operations, but also on a 24 hour basis on stand by to handle diversions.

4 ATP landing

Talking to the controllers, two quite young and fresh out of the school ex ab-initios with a “more experienced” local chief to watch over them, their main problem seems to be the lack of traffic especially during the winter months when days with only one aircraft are common. With only 1500 movements per year, one cannot call the airport a busy one.

“The lack of traffic is not only boring, but can be de-motivating at times” says Joao Santos, one of the young controllers.

The runway is built on a north-south axis with step cliffs just prior to the threshold, and in the prevailing westerly winds rotors can form on final and heavy turbulence can be encountered.

This occasionally leads to some “out of the ordinary” approach profiles, but that is part of flying in the Azores. But on of the good side of living, there is the social and leisure life. Fishing, hunting (there are lots of rabbits in the area), diving and swimming in relatively all year long warm waters plus having your house only a short walking-distance from work are things some of us working elsewhere can only dream of. Also with merely 4000 inhabitants, everybody knows each other and that affects many aspects of living.

Take driving a car as an example: Driving in the island can be challenging as everybody seems to use the whole road, i.e. driving in the middle of it, even in the curves. When a car occasionally comes from the opposite direction, you use your left hand to pull sharply to the right to avoid it whilst simultaneously using your right hand to say hello to the driver of the other car

All photo credit:: DP

The most western airport in Europe: Flores

4 The 3 local controllers

The main advantage for Flores is that they do not suffer from frequent earthquakes. as it is almost surely someone you know.

Ah, I almost forgot, the name FLORES means flowers in Portuguese, because during summer the island vegetation is a burst of colors with all kinds of flowers that you only see in pots in shops in the rest of Europe. If you have the chance, go to Flores. If more of us do this, it may mean another aircraft movement some day ,and that will make our local colleagues happy! ^

4 The daily ATP and the control tower

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4 Portugal

Santa Maria Oceanic Centre A huge tarmac on a huge airport in the middle of the Atlantic, and today there is only a small single-engine private aircraft parked on it. Until 25 years ago, this airport use to receive nearly all the aircraft that crossed the Atlantic on the southern routes as nobody had the range in those days to make it in a single leg.

That included the Boeing 707 and DC8 era. Today aircraft

The oceanic system itself is very advanced. operate under ETOPS, and everybody over flies it except for the occasional small aircraft ferry flight landing here, like today. But Santa Maria airport is still the location of the oceanic centre controlling the whole airspace south of Gander and Shanwick, between New York and Lisbon FIRs. I was there 15 years ago writing an article on the last planned days of the center as politicians had decided to close it down and move to Lisbon. But those same politicians reversed their decision a few months later, and a new building plus controllers’ houses had to be built

in a hurry to replace the old 1945 temporary barracks they were living in.

The ACC is a very new building with a top-ofthe-range ATS system, now including a longrange SSR radar. This 260 NM radar is used to feed a single sector in the Centre, mainly to ease the climb and descent of the flights serving the Azores, and also to help oceanic traffic to obtain their optimum altitudes in a fast and efficient way under radar control.

The oceanic system itself is very advanced, built by ADACEL an Australian company with significant experience in oceanic ATC automation. The system is a copy of the one used in New Zealand, Iceland and the four US Oceanic Centers. It is paperless strip system using automated interfaces and graphical displays.

The controllers in Santa Maria are generally multi-rated, manning at intervals the Radar and Oceanic sectors, and even the TWR and APP sectors for the airport. Local traffic to Santa Maria airport is very low (less than 10 per day), so the TWR is only manned during planned operations. The various sectors (typically 3, but varying during the day as a function of the traffic load) are vertically split. That means that each controller works the whole airspace sectorised in various level

The FIR has no organized tracks or even fixed routes, traffic flies randomly according to pilot preferences. Surveillance is done on a situation display using flight plan tracks based on pilot position reports. Time predictions are used by the system to activate an automated conflict probe system. Those position reports can be received via voice HF, but also via ADS-C (C for contract, the contract being the position reporting). Currently the controllers do not see the difference on the track symbols because the same separation standards are used (60 NM lateral, 15 minutes longitudinal if crossing and 10 minutes same direction using Mach number technique (speed restrictions).

ADS-B (B for Broadcast) is currently being tested by Eurocontrol under the CRISTAL project (for more details look at www.eurocontrol.int under CASCADE projects). There

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bands. A typical sector length is therefore 2 hours (east –west axis) up to a maximum of 3.5 hours (north-south) at 450 kts. Coordination with adjacent oceanic centres is done via computer links almost eliminating the need for verbal communications. The system is able to use CPDLC, ADS-C and voice HF communications via radio operators located in the same ops room.

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4 Portugal are also plans to introduce Multilateration antennas in various islands to compensate for the gaps in radar coverage, especially behind mountains and at low altitudes. The main system feature is the replacement of paper strips by electronic ones. This allows everyone to be informed of the situation as well as having the data automatically updated. The system allows for conflict probing, but also sets up messages and prepares clearance delivery for either CPDLC or for the HF operators to read and transmit. Controllers prefer to work with the electronic strips than the situation display.

This is because Oceanic procedural control is strategic – you are constantly looking very far ahead in the future, unlike radar, where you react to the “now” situation to give immediate instructions. Also, besides all the new technology, nothing replaces the human analysis and for this strips are still the best. A radar, or graphic display, does not give you a clear picture of what the situation will look like in one or two hours from now whereas strips do. The beauty of this system is that it retained the old proven strip environment and introduced the automation of all the tedious calculations, updating and communicating data.

The principal problems today are mostly human related – the main safety concern in the North Atlantic is aircraft entering the area at the wrong level. This is becoming a real safety issue and is currently being discussed at ICAO (NATSPG). Another problem is caused

by some flights entering the area unknown to anyone, especially those originating from South America and Africa. An “unknown” is degrading the safety for everyone else in the system.

The last issue is with CPDLC. The Santa Maria system accommodates CPDLC, but there seems to be a lack of training among pilots on how the system works. Ambiguities regarding the message sets also exist. For instance the message “Cleared to climb to specific FL to be level by a certain point” is often understood by some pilots as “cleared to start climb at that point”. Current CPDLC and ADS-C usage is still rather low (around 30%) and this is utilised under the FANS-1 umbrella, not ATN.

4 4 Association representatives in Santa Maria

Working as a Controller inSanta Maria There are currently 48 controllers working in Santa Maria, with a staff shortage of around 20%. This means a lot of overtime and long working hours. The average oceanic over flights are about 300 per day, depending on the jet stream of course. But as the aircraft stays on frequency for an average of more than 2 hours, peaks can also become a problem. The highest peak registered was 150 aircraft at the same time in the FIR!

4 Area

Talking with the Portuguese association representatives in Santa Maria, one discovers a very young and motivated group of controllers all hoping to move soon to “better plac-

4 Electronic strips 4 Santa Maria apron and parking area

All photo credit: DP

The main safety concern in the North Atlantic is aircraft entering the area at the wrong level.

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4 Portugal es”. A controller says “While the work here is very interesting, it is a very small island with little to do, especially in the winter.” The island is indeed very small (17 x 9 km) with only 3 main roads and 5500 inhabitants. If during the summer there are many outdoors possibilities, the winter is more difficult. “Last year we finally got an indoor swimming pool on the island, so that is at least one more thing to do in the winter” says another controller.

4 Most of the controllers have good social contacts together / Photo credit: DP With this wish to transfer to other places being very real (in the last 2 years only one controller out of 20 decided to stay on the island while 19 applied for a transfer) the time that

young controllers have to spend on Santa Maria varies from 1 to 6 years. If this trend continues, it might cause a problem in retaining expertise and training. ^

Ponta Delgada Tower To pass the time the controllers had the idea to decorate their tower in a very unusual way Ponta Delgada is the main airport in the Azores, serving the “capital” and as a hub for SATA, the local airline, whose turboprop aircraft have connections to all the smaller islands. There are also direct flights from Ponta Delgada to the USA and Canada (Boston, Providence, Oakland, Toronto, and Montreal) as the distance between the USA and the Azores is about the same as

to the Portuguese mainland, and there are very important Portuguese settlements in the east coast of the USA.

Photo Credit: DP

Despite this, the number of movements in the airport does not exceed 50 per day with 10 controllers working there. To pass the time the controllers had the idea to decorate their tower in a very unusual way – they attached all kind of models of aircraft to the tower ceiling. With time many airlines serving the airport donated more models, and the general impression when visiting the tower is that it is indeed a very busy place…with a bit of imagination. ^

4 Ponta Delgada TWR inside with aircraft 14

4 Ponta Delgada TWR outside

hanging from the ceiling

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Advert EUR

After our visit to the Azores and Flores airport we very sadly learned of the untimely death of our colleague João Gonçalves, the chief controller in Flores, from a heart attack.

Joao was 52 years old and received us in a very warm and friendly way during our stay, driving us around the island ,and making us discover the charms of it. The association and ourselves are shocked by this news and join our sympathies to his family.

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4 Europe

Poland: Staff shortages and overtime Interview: Krzysztof Nowakowski, President POLATCA, Polish Air Traffic Controllers Association

^ by Philippe Domogala, Editor

4 Krzysztof Photo credit: DP

Our employer makes excessive use of overtime. We are very worried about fatigue.

Philippe: What is the staff situation at the moment in Poland?

Krzysztof: We are extremely short on staff.

Just to cover for extra hours to be performed we are currently 77 controllers short in the country. (37 in various airports APP, 20 in the towers and another 20 in the Warsaw ACC.) This does not include retirements, loss of licenses or extra sectors planned. Yesterday our manager told us that we need 40 extra controllers in the ACC in Warsaw alone in the next two years only to provide enough staff to install and implement our new ATS system. How we will cope with the future expected traffic growth on top of this, is really worrying us.

hrs a year now, but our union agreed we could accept until 250 hrs a year. If you know that your normal schedule is 128 hrs / month, you see that we can be asked to work up to two months worth extra every year. This has an effect on fatigue, morale and health of course. Young controllers do not see this, and as the overtime is very well paid, there is no shortage of volunteers. But the long term effects are worrying us.

Ph: Is the traffic growth that bad?

K: 20% per year is normal here. To give you an idea; in the first quarter of 2008 we controlled the same number of movements that in the whole year of 1997! And considering that those three months (January-Feb-March) are normally among the quietest of the year, you can see what we had to cope with those last 10 years. The current Eurocontrol forecast for Poland is at least 10% increase per year for the next 15 Years. But of course current fuel prices might alter this.

Ph: I have heard you have problems with the introduction of your new ATS system.

K: The main problem is that the contract we signed with INDRA to renew our ATS system has been found illegal (apparently against public laws on procurement) As a result all work is frozen pending the renegotiations of a new contract. The new introduction date is now set as spring 2010. We have seen the system almost ready in Krakow and Katowice APP, and the controllers there are very happy, as the system is far better compared to what they have now. But the complexity of the airspace and the traffic is also quite low there. For Warsaw ACC the system is far more complex, and the proposed system is not good enough.

There is still a lot of work to be done.

Ph: With such traffic growth and lack of staff how do you cope? Is safety affected?

K: Very fortunately for us so far, safety has not been affected. The number of incidents seems to be stable. We are however very worried about fatigue.

Our employer makes excessive use of overtime. We do about 150

Ph: What are the relations with your employer?

K: We have difficult relations, as our association is still not recognized as a professional entity and they are still afraid to discuss social aspects. Fo r instance they introduced competency checks completely on their own behind our backs without talking to us. But as a positive point, all controllers received recently a very interesting special training on how to cope with stress, paid by both our employer and the EU. This was extremely well received and we hope to convince our management to continue this to include CISM and TRM training. ^

4 Inside the WAW ACC: the current system Photo credit: KN

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SPOTLIGHT

Spotlight on Corporate Members al

r te

Ke vin

S

Kevin Salter ^ by Contributing Editor, Corporate Affairs

Welcome to Spotlight.

The focus in this issue is on one of our UK based partners first featured in early 2006 shortly after they became a corporate member. The company are expert in developing and applying technology solutions in safety-critical industries.

They have an in-depth understanding of aviation and navigation issues, and a wide range of finance, operations, technical and safety skills. The company is, of course,

About Helios Helios is an independent technical and management consultancy focusing on the air transport sector. The UK-based company helps its customers deliver technology, operational and business improvements.

Since its foundation in 1996, Helios specialised in ATM systems development and validation, but today the company’s skills and track record have expanded to include all air traffic operations, from pre-flight to airborne, en-route to approach and landing, as well as a growing portfolio of economic, regulatory, systems and safety work. Helios also delivers a wide range of aviation and communications training courses, as well as the SurTech conference. Perhaps the best way to introduce the work of this Queen’s Award winning business is to focus on just a small selection of recent projects, which bring to life the skills of the people and the applications of their work.

More interest in air navigation charging policy In 2007 Helios set up a “club” that allowed ANSPs to share information on how they allocated their costs between en-route and terminal services for charging purposes, and other issues relating to the implementation of the SES Charging Regulation. The product of the work was a report (for participants only) on the variety of practices, and comments on what “best practice” might be. Helios also provided help to participating ANSPs on the consequences of different options within the range of permitted practices, and their impact on airlines in the countries concerned.

The eight ANSPs in the club have now grown to ten, with LPS (Slovakia) and Croatia Control. LPS wanted Helios to review their new policies on cost allocation, and their impact on users. Croatia Control is at the early stages of implementing terminal charges, and wanted some help in determining how costs should be allocated.

ALL CLEAR? – The perils of communication breakdown In 2003 a study of hundreds of incident reports and a corresponding safety survey of pilots and controllers, highlighted Air Ground Communication as a major contributing factor. Four areas were identified: call-sign confusion, loss of commu-

nications, a blocked transmission and lack of radio discipline. One of the objectives of the resulting action plan published by EUROCONTROL was to raise awareness amongst pilots and air traffic controllers.

They chose Helios to work with them on developing an education and awareness package which was launched in 2007 at www.allclear.aero.

The package includes: • video reconstructions of real aviation events (together with transcripts and self-study notes) • a video ‘trailer’ to get people talking • top tips handouts for pilots and controllers • a 20-minute interactive learning module developed by EUROCONTROL IANS • a dedicated Trainer’s Zone with extra materials for ATCO and Pilot Instructors (including a PowerPoint presentation, lesson facilitation notes and the opportunity to order high resolution video clips for the classroom) Helios put together a multi-disciplinary team that included pilots, controllers, ATM experts, media and design specialists.

They worked on branding, video scripting and production, website development and campaign planning.

New GPS reporting site for private pilots Private pilots who experience problems with their Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational devices can now report the issue and share their experience with other pilots at a new website launched last June. The site at http://nano.aero is run by Helios and sponsored by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Pilots using the site can report a range of issues including loss of guidance; position errors; database errors; satellite outages; and human factors occurrences. As well as being able to post reports, pilots can also

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SPOTLIGHT add comments or provide additional information on existing reports. Pilots can post anonymously if they wish.

Many pilots now use GPS as a navigational aid. Because the GPS system offers such a high level of accuracy many people do not realise that the system can, and does, fail. As with other satellite-based systems there can be unexpected outages in the service, and system databases holding information such as airspace boundaries can be inaccurate. The new nano site will enable pilots to raise and share these issues.

As well as being an educational source for pilots on GPS issues the data and experiences collected will also allow issues to be investigated and passed on to equipment manufacturers.

Helios will be investigating some of the issues raised to see if the team can resolve them or prevent them happening again − for example, by getting database errors corrected. This way it is hoped to increase the safety of GPS on aircraft and provide a valuable service.

SMS for Piestany Airport, Slovakia Since November 2006 having a Safety Management System (SMS) has been a prerequisite for airports. Faced with ICAO requirements and Slovak legislation, Piestany airport (Slovakia) identified gaps in competence and a lack of resources to respond promptly. They chose Helios’ experienced safety management team, some of whom are based at Helios’ branch office

in Zilina (Slovakia), to design and improve their aerodrome SMS. The Helios team comprised experienced safety experts with an extensive background in safety. The project was broken down into two parts. The first focused on the design of the safety policy for Piestany Airport. This was followed by a safety audit aimed to evaluate existing SMS procedures and practices, and to propose possible improvements. The team worked closely with the airport management to ensure an efficient and comprehensive outcome.

Having done the safety audit, the team started the second part of the project.

Helios was tasked to organise Piestany Airport’s safety management processes and procedures in a more effective and transparent way.

This work included designing procedures for: • Hazard identification and risk management system • Safety reporting and investigation system • Safety assurance system • Safety promotion system All work was produced in accordance with the international (ICAO) and national (Slovak CAA) regulations. Based on the project outcome, Piestany Airport has made a considerable effort to implement functional SMS and this has been accepted by the Slovak CAA. Furthermore, Piestany Airport’s management has recognised that further improvements are possible though

continuous safety assurance and tailored safety indoctrination training.

SurTech 2009: The changing world of surveillance (3-4 February 2009, Royal Aeronautical Society, London UK)

Air traffic surveillance is moving at a fast pace. A decade ago primary and secondary radar were the only means of surveillance available. Today there is a range of surveillance techniques in operation supporting new applications that would have been unimaginable back then.

Airport surveillance has been revolutionised by the availability of airport multilateration, delivering clear operational benefits. Networks of static ground antennas are being used in wide area multilateration as well as for new multistatic and passive surveillance, bringing performance improvements at potentially lower through-life costs. Initial use of ADS-B is allowing aircraft to maintain spacing from each other in some controlled operational environments.

At the same time, the regulatory environment is changing and there is a push towards performance-based operations.

New European and US regulations are being developed for surveillance systems and new surveillance techniques face challenges in gaining operational approval. An increasing reliance on GNSS in surveillance systems has to be addressed, and new planning and analysis tools are required to support the system lifecycle.

Helios has worked with service providers, industry, R&D organisations, European agencies and airspace users to assess requirements, understand views, and develop innovative solutions to problems.

Projects vary from short-term market assessments, helping the customer identify the best strategy to drive their business forward, to longer-term assistance working closely with customers to help in validation and standardisation of new technologies.

Helios organised the first SurTech conference in 2002 and it was an immediate suc-

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SPOTLIGHT cess, attracting 70 delegates from ANSPs, industry, airlines and regulators. SurTech 2009 promises to be even bigger – with surveillance issues high on the agenda of air traffic management organisations, a great list of confirmed speakers already … and with the added benefit of a new partnership with the Royal Aeronautical Society.

SurTech 2009 is aimed at air traffic professionals concerned with new surveillance developments: engineers, managers and operational staff in ANSPs, airports and industry.

can provide surveillance for all aircraft that have a radar transponder, whether they are equipped for ADS-B or not.

WAM in Kathmandu combined with ADSB deployed across the country appears to have solid potential to provide improvements to the current surveillance picture in the terminal area while ADS-B equipage levels remain low, and yet it provides a system that can support the necessary validation of ADS-B outputs as more and more aircraft equip.

To find out more contact Paul Ravenhill, Technical Director on +44 1252 451 651, or visit www.askhelios.com.

This concludes `Spotlight´ for our September issue. I would like especially thank Laurette Royer from Helois for supporting Spotlight by providing her company’s contribution. ^

Finally, if any CM would like their company to be featured in `Spotlight´, and likewise to any reader, who would like further information on any topic that was covered, please do not hesitate to contact me using the following address:

Modernising surveillance in Nepal – ADS-B, WAM or both?

Helios has recently supported the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) in analysing how the current surveillance environment could be improved with the help of either ADS-B or WAM or both. Nepal currently has a single primary and secondary radar site at Kathmandu, which provides coverage in the local terminal area. However the radar is affected by obstructions and high mountainous terrain and therefore coverage does not extend far beyond the terminal area boundary.

However two factors needed to be examined: • ADS-B needs a system of verification to ensure that every aircraft’s ADS-B transmissions are accurate. An independent surveillance source was required as part of the transmission monitoring, which could be either a secondary radar or a WAM system.

• While ADS-B equipage rates are significant and growing in Europe and on many major routes internationally, regional equipage levels can often be very low.

WAM can complement ADS-B in that it

Contact Information

Training for the aviation community

For further information on agenda and speakers, contact nick.mcfarlane@askhelios.com.

Helios performed a detailed on-site inventory of the current ATM system and proposed a number of options for future surveillance provision, taking into account the desire of CAAN to provide improved surveillance for current air routes and to open up new international ones.

ADS-B appeared to offer benefits in lower equipment and maintenance costs compared to radar, and to be a solution to provide surveillance over a wide region in difficult terrain.

a wide range of CNS technology topics. For the full list visit www.askhelios. com/training.

Kevin Salter IFATCA Contributing Editor Corporate Affairs Flugsicherungsakademie Am DFS-Campus 4 D-63225 Langen Tel: + 49 (0)6103 707 5202 Fax: + 49 (0)6103 707 5177 E-Mail: kevin-john.salter@dfs.de In the last 12 months Helios has added many new and topical training courses to its programme which reflect the company’s extended base of consulting skills and expertise. These are available as public courses and can also be delivered separately for individual organisations, and tailored to suit their needs.

New course titles include: • The Single European Sky and SESAR Explained – www.askhelios.com/ ses-training • Air transport liberalisation – impacts and implications – www.askhelios.com/ atl-training • Introduction to Safety Management Systems (delivered jointly with the Irish Aviation Authority) – www.askhelios.com/ sms-training • Performance Based Navigation – www. askhelios.com/nav-training • Understanding Modern Spectrum Management (delivered jointly with Policy Tracker) – www.policytracker.com/ training In addition, Helios continues to offer short courses (typically 2-3 days in length) on

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4 SESAR

SESAR: a performance based future ^ by Helios In the definition phase of SESAR 200 man years and H60 million have been consumed to produce 6 milestone deliverables and over 10,000 pages of task deliverables. This is a substantial investment but in reality it is only the beginning.

SESAR is the European air traffic control infrastructure modernisation programme. It is responsible for developing the new generation air traffic management systems capable of ensuring the safety and fluidity of air transport worldwide over the next 30 years and beyond.

The project comprises three phases. First the definition phase (2004-2008) led by Eurocontrol, but executed by the SESAR Consortium made up of representatives from all air transport stakeholders.

The definition phase included 6 deliverables and was completed in May this year: • D1: Market – analyse air transport value and the role of ATM • D2: Specification – performance requirements • D3: Product – ATM target concept selection • D4: Deployment – deployment sequence analysis • D5: Action plan – build the ATM master plan • D6: Go ahead – define organisation and work programme for 2008-2013

What lies ahead The ATM Master Plan (www.atmmasterplan. eu) is the most important document for the future of the European ATM. It will introduce new communication, control and computing technologies between the ground and aircraft which will optimise the work of air traffic controllers and pilots. The future ATM system will be service-oriented, based on a performance partnership amongst stakeholders. Stakeholders have agreed to work together, to ensure that each flight is able to follow the preferred (or business) trajectory as closely as possible for the given demand and resources. Performance targets set by SESAR include the following: • Capacity x 3 • Unit cost reduced by half • Safety x 10 • Environmental impact -10% The ongoing development phase (20082013) is led by the SESAR Joint Undertaking (JU), which is a separate entity established by the Commission to manage this phase of the project. All future SESAR research work will be organised by the SESAR JU. It will focus on the development of equipment, systems and standards as well as on essential validation work.

The deployment phase (2014-2020) will consist in the large scale production and implementation of a new ATM infrastructure. The SESAR Consortium defined the transition in terms of three Implementing Packages (IP): • IP1 – Creating the Foundations – largely in line with existing plans, IP1 concentrates on unlocking latent capability particularly by improving information sharing to optimise network effects.

• IP2 – Accelerating ATM activities to implement the 2020 ATM Concept sees deployment

Now is the time to understand what the Single European Sky and SESAR are all about. Initiatives are underway that will affect ANSPs and ATCOs across the world. Helios is running a one-day training course on Tuesday 7th October featuring two experienced instructors who know both initiatives from the inside.

“Single European Sky & SESAR Explained” takes place at the RAF Club, London UK. IFATCA has negotiated a special 10% discount for readers of The Controller. When booking a place, simply enter “IFATCA” into the promotional code to obtain the discount.

For further information and booking visit www.askhelios.com/ses-training.

of System Wide Information Management (SWIM) and initial trajectory management concepts to increase efficiency.

• IP3 – Beyond 2020 – Achieving SESAR Goals – is the introduction of full trajectory management and new separation modes to achieve the long-term political goals of the Single European Sky. The huge task of taking this work forward, in the SESAR Development Phase, lies with the SESAR JU. The founding members are the European Commission and EUROCONTROL, who each have agreed to provide H700m funding over the lifespan of the JU. Membership negotiations are already under way with 15 companies and consortia representing the industry, who are also expected to contribute H700m to complete the anticipated H2.1Bn budget – much of which will be a contribution in kind rather than cash. The JU has already started to cause some ripples in the industry – preferring to create its own Work Programme rather than rely on the Definition Phase’s final deliverable D6.

Contrary to common perceptions, the remit of the SESAR JU does not include implementation – the Treaty Article under which it was created restricts its activities to development. This means that real commitment is needed from all stakeholders to support implementation of IP1 which provides the foundations for the subsequent two IPs, which deliver the SESAR Concept of Operations and the required performance improvements. SESAR is aiming high and its success will depend on the support of the whole aviation community. ^

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First multi national strike in Africa Controllers arrested and detained

^ by Philippe Domogala, Editor On 29 July 2008 12 African Controllers Associations from 17 Countries called on an industrial action by imposing a “ radio silence” for 48 hours. Their employer is ASECNA a multi-national agency (see box below for details).

Reason for the action was the delaying and now refusal of ASECNA to apply decisions agreed with controllers in 2006 regarding entry level necessary to enter the profession. (for details see IFATCA Press release 14 July still available on www.ifatca.org)) The Radio silence action started on 29 July at 1300 and officially ended on 30 July at 2000. The action was followed in various ways and with various consequences for the controllers: In CAMEROON, 4hours after the beginning of the action 5 controllers including the Secretary of the ASECNA Controllers Federation (FAPCAA) Jean Marie Tangning, and the President of the local Association were arrested and detained. The next day, 2 (including Jean Marie) were released with the promise that the 3 others would follow if the action was called off and ended.

In the meantime other controllers from other units were being requisitioned to work in the capital. The controllers decided to end the action early, but the 3 controllers (that include the Cameroon association President) were not released. Instead they were “ suspended “ and charged with “organization and participation in an illegal strike “ they are prohibited to enter ASECNA facilities and most probably will not receive their salaries for July.

In NIGER, the Federation (FAPCAA) President, Mounkaila Salou, as well as the President of the Niger Association were arrested and later released, they are both suspended with interdiction to enter ASECNA premises.

In MAURITANIA Action lasted only a few hours as controllers were “requisitioned” to work and the Mauritanian Association President suspended with interdiction to enter ASECNA premises as well.

In CHAD, 2 controllers were arrested after ASECNA lodged a complaint with a judge

for, among others, “endangering the lives of passengers”. (During the action an Airprox was filed between an Ethiopian Airlines and an unknown aircraft) All the other controllers there reacted by saying that if their 2 colleagues were not released by 10 am the next day they will all come to the court and asked to be jailed as well. The 2 were judged immediately and the ASECNA complaint was dismissed and the 2 set free. But ASECNA suspended them with interdiction to enter facilities..

In BURKINA FASSO, during the action, controllers were replaced by management staff with no valid licenses. The vice President of the Association was suspended with interdiction to enter facilities.

In GABON, the Association President was as well suspended with interdiction to enter facilities.

In MALI, during the action Management staff not holding valid licensees too over.

In COTE D’IVOIRE, during the action Management without valid licenses replaced controllers. The Air France aircraft from Paris landed under those conditions but did not return until the action was over. Kenya Airways cancelled its Douala/Abidjan flight. The president of the association was suspended with interdiction to enter facilities, and the head of Training in Abidjan, who participated to the action, was dismissed by the ASECNA local rep.

COMMORES, BENIN and TOGO controllers also participated to the action.

In TOGO Management called retired staff, military, engineers, etc to replace controllers before they were requisitioned to work.

In the CENTRAL AFICAN Republic, controllers did not participate to the action mainly because their association is not (yet) recognized by the Authorities.

In MADAGASCAR and SENEGAL, controllers had chosen from the beginning not to participate, to avoid local politicians “hijacking” their action, as they are in those 2 countries pushing to leave ASECNA.

STOP PRESS: Albert Taylor, Former IFATCA EVP Africa & Middle east and now Head of ATC In Ghana, has agreed to mediate between ASECNA and the Controllers Federation (FAPCAA) , but on the condition that the still detained controllers are released.

Information is that both the FAPCAA and ASECNA Director of Operations have agreed to the mediation, but at time of writing (03 Aug) is that the 3 controllers are still detained. ^

ASECNA stands for Agency for the safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar It was created as a multi national Agency for Africa in 1974. This is a kind of Eurocontrol for West Africa and Madagascar. In fact most of the French speaking countries in Africa. belong to ASECNA. They supervise 10 ACCs, 57 Control Towers, 25 International Airports and 76 Regional airports in an area covering 16 Million Sq Km, or or 1,5 time that of Europe (information from their web site: www.asecna.aero). ^ Photo credit: ASCENA

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4 Africa

ATM Human capacity building: a challenge to air navigation safety and development in Africa Albert Aidoo Taylor, Director of Air Traffic Services, ^ by Ghana Civil Aviation Authority Introduction Quite often, the ATM industry focuses on shiny buildings and state-of-the-art technology but neglects the people who need to operate the equipment. The Total Radar Coverage for Nigeria (TRACON) project is just one illustration: after spending 66 million Euros to buy some of the most modern radar equipment, the project is struggling to train the necessary staff. This is unfortunately not an exception but the sad reality in African Air Navigation provision.

Too often, training is a very low priority in such projects. The apparent lack of appreciation of the critical human role has caused delay in many otherwise successful projects.

Additionally, it usually also indicates a wider problem: a lack of attention to the welfare of the staff.

Human Resource Concepts and Philosophies Every major programme should have an underpinning philosophy to drive the micro initiatives required to bring it to fruition. I have considered business philosophies of three reputed international icons in this paper.

Andrew Carnegie’s people philosophy Andrew Carnegie is a legendary Management philosopher, theorist, consultant and practitioner. Andrew Carnegie philosophized, “Take away my people and leave me with my factory and grass will grow at the factory floor tomorrow; but take away my factory and leave me with my people and together we will build a new and better factory tomorrow”. From this philosophy, the human takes a higher priority over, machines, money, etc.

Richard Branson’s Business Philosophy and hierarchy of groups Richard Branson is a well known and accomplished entrepreneur both in aviation as in other fields. He philosophized that, “Every Business has three groups of people: the personnel

4 African controllers:

(team), clients and shareholders”. For him, it is all about the people in his team. This philosophy is in total agreement with that of Andrew Carnegie. Different organizations will have different priorities and hierarchies to accomplishing their business objectives. In certain organizations, the client or customer is considered to be always right. While this has its strengths, it does not focus on the personnel of the organization.

Sir Gabriel Igbinedion’s Successor Philosophy Sir Gabriel Igbinedion of Benin State in Nigeria and founder of OKADA Airlines stated that, “Success without a successor is a guaranteed failure of the future”. It also centres on people and lays the foundation for identifying talent, career development, personnel retention and succession planning.

The three aforementioned philosophies fit the ICAO CNS/ATM concept which emphasizes on human-centred automation rather than machine-centred automation.

Human Resource Planning Process Every human resource capacity building programme should consider these five key items.

• Human Resource Philosophy which defines the role, hierarchy and priority of the human in achieving the organisation’s objectives.

Photo credit: DP

Some basic Recommendations to build ATM Human Resource Capacity: Formulate an organizational Human Resource Philosophy and incorporate it in the policy direction. Develop a Human Resource Strategic and Implementation Plans. Build human capital as a key Asset of the organization and give it topmost priority in the organization. Develop a Human Resource Manual. Embraces the positive aspects of different cultures. Continuously invest in the development of personnel at all levels. Advertise medium and long employment prospects and vacancies.

Encourage people to develop the necessary qualifications to apply.

Establish attractive working conditions to retain staff. Establish appropriate structures and programmes to let people get acquainted with a function before they transition to assume higher responsibilities. Aim at attracting experience from in- and outside the industry in order to add value and expand the human resource capital base.

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4 Africa • Human Resource Policies which should translate the Human Resource concept/philosophy into intents and activities.

• Human Resource Strategic Action Plan to accomplish predetermined aims or objectives.

• Human resource implementation plan which contains processes, targets, deliverables and metrics aimed at achieving the objectives of the organization.

• Human Resource Manual which documents the above. Every organization should develop a Human Resource Manual, publish it, educate staff on it, endeavour to implement it and challenge personnel to test its effectiveness and efficiency.

Cultural practices and believes An effective Human Resource policy has to take cultural practices into consideration; otherwise it could have an adverse impact on safety. Take this example: during training, a female coach suggested to her trainee to go and take a glass of water. Unfortunately, this was during Ramadan. The trainee considered the suggestion blasphemous and he walked away from the position.

ATM Human Capacity Building Challenges in Africa / Recruitment level If an environment values gender balance, equity in regional representation and political undercurrents results in recruitment of unsuitable personnel, it has direct impact on safety and human capacity development.

Retention of key Operational and Technical personnel There is worldwide shortage of pilots and air traffic controllers. This needs to be addressed by providing comprehensive training/exposure, minimize job insecurity/threats, accelerated progression/career development programmes and motivation/incentive schemes.

Operational Managers An excellent professional does not necessarily become an effective manager. Programmes to develop adequate knowledge, skills and attitude are required before moving from operational duties to managerial ones.

Planning, Policy and Higher Decision Making level Particularly in Africa, many executives are frustrated by the political interference in the decision process. Others will not fully commit themselves for fear of being stigmatized or marked as troublemakers. Admittedly, some have shown gross incompetence whilst others lacked the capacity to manage complex systems. Executive positions involve risk taking. We should therefore create a leverage to accommodate errors

made by executives as a result of business decisions which are not safety critical. Those Air Navigation Services Providers in Africa which have made substantial progress are also the ones which have stability in leadership. The stability has helped to build human resource capacity as part of its Capital Assets.

Commercialization / Globalization

4 Albert Taylor / Photo credit: DP

Providers have enjoyed unfettered monopoly and in some cases, unlimited support of governments. This is changing however as globalization and commercialization increases. There is therefore a huge challenge to grow new strategic thinking leaders who will develop new teams and focus on building new ATM models which will accommodate ATM growth.

cases, safety, development and performance are higher in environments where the human resource is well trained, well paid, motivated and has job security and career opportunities.

Regional Dynamics / developing business model Each State providing air traffic management services over their own airspace may not be sustainable. Similar to the European common ATC License, it could rquire a common African ATC License. States would need to adopt regional standards and harmonize their ANS regulations, rather than national ones.

Geographical mobility of Air Traffic Controllers could aggravate the precarious shortage of key professionals in the industry.

The challenge is the need to launch a Total ATM Human Resource Capacity Building Project as part of overall human resource capital that is required to fuel the development of Africa. It takes an excellently developed human resource team to plan and execute an excellent development programme. It takes a well developed human resource team to plan and execute safety improvement programmes in organizations.

Conclusion As has happened with some major African airlines, supply and demand could increase the market value of air traffic controllers. In order to retain their Human Resource capacity, providers would need to adopt more prudent and pragmatic practices. Additionally, over-reliance on external consultants could, in the long-term, negatively affect the development of own human resource capacity.

And while we should spare no effort to develop the human resource capacity in the region, it should not encourage mediocrity; rather we must acknowledge and reward positive effort.

The challenge to Air Navigation Safety and Development in Africa One only needs to look at the level of the ATM human resource capacity in any particular country to assess the level of safety, development and operational efficiency of air navigation. In all

Planning, cutting-edge technology, comprehensive procedures, skilled managers and consultants are of little value unless the needs of the humans who must operate the equipment are adequately addressed.

The expectation that Air Traffic Control systems would be fully automated has made some administrations reluctant to recruit more people or fast track required training. Instead, they are finding means of rightsizing existing staff levels in anticipation of fully automated ATC functions.

This mindset does not exactly encourage people to consider a career in ATC as it implies the job may no longer be needed in only a few years. ^

The expectation that Air Traffic Control systems would be fully automated has made some administrations reluctant to recruit more people.

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4 IFATCA EB

IFATCA EB INPUT on the Fuel price crisis Can It Get Any Worse ...?

^ by the IFATCA executive Board Doomsday?

Some are calling it a Doomsday Scenario whilst others speak of the Perfect Storm, but no matter what name you give it, the interaction of the recent global business problems, the increasing oil prices and the growing environmental lobby are melding to create a bleak situation never previously experienced by the aviation industry.

Sure aviation history shows a cyclic ‘boom and bust’ situation for airlines, with the most recent examples being in 2002 (pre- and post- 9/11 for the western world) and 2003 (preand post SARS for Asia). The common thread in all previous downturns has been the ability

Photo credit: Christiensen/dreamstime .

There will be no rapid recovery or quick cure – the entire aviation industry must change.

of the major operators to adapt to the situation and emerge stronger and more competitive in the subsequent revival of the industry.

This time however things are different – we are told that the price of oil will not be going down and the introduction of environmental fees and regulations will not be forestalled.

There will be no rapid recovery or quick cure – the entire aviation industry must change to surmount the new challenges it faces if it is to remain the primary mode of transport throughout much of the world.

Many measures that will be taken are long term issues – the design of more fuel efficient engines; the construction of new generations of cost-effective aircraft and the development of alternative fuels. However airlines are desperate for immediate changes to reduce costs, save fuel and lower fees in an attempt to stop them hemorrhaging money.

Airline responses Whereas two years ago the fuel price made up to 5 – 20% operating costs of an airline depending on the business model chosen, in 2008 these costs have increased up to 50%.

As the forecasted price for the barrel will not lower but, on the contrary, will remain at the current level or even go higher, the aviation industry on a global level will have a structural problem. In the first six months of this year IATA reports that 24 airlines have stopped flying and many more are in dire financial trouble. In the United States, the largest airline market in the world, during the week of 31 March 2008 three airlines (Aloha, ATA and Skybus) ceased passenger operations.

From April to July 2008 five Unites States airlines announced reduction of aircraft and services resulting the loss of least 26,000 jobs. Services to lower density locations are being curtailed or eliminated. In the same time period, Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy. Since the beginning of this year there have been numerous discussions concerning airline mergers in the United States.

The only two carriers that have announced plans to complete a merger are Delta and Northwest. United has researched the possibility of merging with both Continental and US Airways. Similar measures in other parts of the world will have an immediate impact on the income for the Air Navigation Service Providers, with a corresponding influence on the operation of current ATM systems as well as the planning and development of future projects be they small, big or international like NEXTGEN and SESAR.

IFATCA responses IFATCA in the past has responded to the effect of the so-called peak oil and it‘s effect on our industry. By September this year we will see that many airlines will reduce significantly their operations with grounding of air-

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Member Associations and workers in ATM will face demands by their employer to assist in overcoming the financial problems we will face. After the down-turn of 2002 after 9/11, IFATCA detailed some recommendations how to be associated in this discussion on cost reduction measures and we will activate the recommendations on financial and economical information and put them on the website. They have not lost their value. The major change to the situation in 2002 is that this time the primary elements of this crisis will remain a permanent element of our activity.

Some of the recommendations that IFATCA proposed in 1992 with regard to addressing the issues of economical problems of airlines and their immediate impact on ANSP at that time are equally relevant today: • resectorisation of airspace to adapt to changing traffic patterns and controller workloads; • use of direct routings whenever possible; • ground delays in preference to airborne holding; • pro-actively review rostering system and working hours.

Results Although the situation today is critical for the airline operators, the resilience and flexibility of the industry will ensure its survival, and by adapting to the new conditions there will be further opportunities in the future for development and sustainable growth, but not at the rate that was being forecast only a few months ago. The resultant significant change in projected traffic levels will impact on the finances of ANSPs with consequent pressure on the development of new individual ATM projects and the major international undertakings SESAR and NEXTGEN. Even in these difficult times it is important that ANSPs do not take short-sighted cost-cutting measures, such as curtailing recruitment and training of new controllers or deferring the acquisition of new equipment. Member Associations should engage with their management to promote a long term view of steady and continuous development to enable ATC to effectively utilize the new systems (e.g. ADS and CPDLC) and new procedures (e.g. RNP and RNAV) in order to handle the future traffic more efficiently.

Every controller has an important role to play.

tional needs, in reality we all have the same goals and we all stand united in times of crisis.

Therefore IFATCA will work together with them address some of the short term issues the coming months. As a first step, IFATCA will actively support the IATA initiative of ‘Save One Minute’ fuel economy measure and further co-operation is planned. The aviation industry is a big team and ATC is just one of the players, but every controller has an important role to play. ^

It is true that our partners in CANSO, IATA, and IFALPA may sometimes have differing views to those of IFATCA on a common problem and we have varying opera-

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Photo credit: batman2000 / dreamstime

craft, laying off of staff, an increase in the price for tickets and further reductions to the routes and seat capacity offered. The Executive Board therefore foresees that many of our Member Associations will be faced with measures, as experienced in the recent past, where the Air Navigation Service Providers will have to deal with reduced income from their activities and thus have to put in place cost cutting measures. All the work which has to do with the economical activities, such as getting the financial aspects of the commercialization of Air Navigation Service Providers, which are ongoing to various extents in many countries, will experience (again) a distortion due to this revenue problem.

4 Serbia

Serbia Vršac 2008 a day to remember ^ by Philippe Domogala, Editor

All photo credits: DP

ly. Someone else also wanted to organize a get-together of all controllers who are Serbia’s neighbors, and to organize a basket ball competition. The Association then decided to combine the two and, on relatively short notice, organize a professional-social event, named VRAC TOUCH and GO 2008.

4 Control TWR Vršac (Mexico? An Aztec Temple? No it is Vršac TWR in Serbia.)

Recently the Serbian Controllers’ Association was looking into ways to revive the old cockpit familiarization flights (that we all lost after 9/11).

Their national airline, JAT Airways is still considering their request after many months, but in the meantime someone had the idea to ask JAT Flight Training Academy, located in Vršac (pronounced VERSHATS), or LYVR, some 85 km northeast of Belgrade. The Academy responded positive-

Around 60 controllers came, We all assembled in the morning in front of VRAC Control Tower, a rather strange 1970’s attempt to replicate an Aztec pyramid (see photo) visible from tens of km away, like the real thing. The weather was perfect. Sunshine, unlimited visibility and no wind. Fam flights were arranged for everyone, using some of JAT academy and Pelikan Airways aircraft (3 C172s and a Cirrus SR20).

I was fortunate to be able to fly and make some touch and go’s in the Cirrus SR20 from the left seat, to discover the joys of a side stick, 2 Garmin 1000s flat screens replacing the instruments, and single throttle engine management. All very (perhaps too) easy to operate, but it is difficult to stabilize the speed on final if you are not used to it. But if you make a mistake, you can always pull the emergency parachute and the aircraft will then land smoothly. (But perhaps not where you intended to!)

This was followed by an interesting presentation on the future of ATM in the region made by Goran Mutavdzic, a supervisor at Belgrade ACC. We learned that Serbia had a 17% increase of traffic last year and that the future European plan will be different with contract 4D trajectories, collaborative

decision making, guaranteed arrival times etc. All this aimed at increasing capacity and reducing ATC delays. But Goran also showed a recent survey, showing that in Europe, 55% of the delays are due to airline, 10% weather, 15% airport design related and only 11 % due to en-route ATC. We all hope that the airlines are doing the same efforts to reduce their delays… However we all know that the future will be different and that we will have to adapt. Then a basketball tournament was organized in the city’s brand new and huge Millennium Stadium. Basketball is a very popular game in the Balkans, and the public cheers as much, if not more as during football (soccer) matches. Anyway, Serbia’s team won the first place and Bosnia won the Second. The day ended with a traditional dinner / party where all controllers exchanged their experiences with one another and making contacts and relations again in an area that was not so long time ago disrupted by a full scale war among many of the Balkan states that were once all part of Yugoslavia. (See box next page) ^

4 Hands on the Cirrus SR20

4 Basket ball team 1

4 Ready to board 4 Jat pilot 26

academy sign

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A bit of history: Yugoslavia and its ATC

of a ministry building in Belgrade today Photo credit: DP

Before 1991, Yugoslavia was one state with two FIRs and two control centers: Zagreb and Belgrade, all manned by controllers from everywhere in the country. Yugoslavia as a state ended in 1991. The war in the region of former Yugoslavia started with the independence declaration of Slovenia and Croatia (1991) and then Bosnia and Herzegovina’s independence declaration in 1992. Serbian politicians did not accept those independence declarations despite their recognition by the United Nations. From that time the whole airspace was closed to civil operations. All war activities in Croatia and Bosnia stopped 21 November 1995 (Dayton peace agreement). But in 1999 a war starts in Kosovo. Later that year NATO intervened in Kosovo, and this was followed by the USA and NATO bombing Serbian military and political infrastructure inside Serbia (remains still visible today in Belgrade). Kosovo is still today managed by NATO (KFOR) and its airspace is a no-fly zone.

The FYR of Macedonia gained its independence peacefully from Yugoslavia in 1991 and controls its airspace from Skopje. Croatia re-

opened its airspace using Zagreb ACC, and Serbia and Montenegro from Belgrade ACC. In 1996, Bosnia and Herzegovina regained the control of their airspace. At the time of writing, there is today a complete dissolution of former Yugoslavia into six independent states: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and FYR of Macedonia, with the status of the 7th, Kosovo, still unclear. (Kosovo declared unilaterally its independence from Serbia, but this is not fully internationally recognized) Slovenia, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia and Serbia have each a control centre with controllers from their respective countries providing airport and en-route ATC. Bosnia and Herzegovina has delegated the control of its airspace to neighboring countries Serbia and Croatia, except airports and TMAs. (see the map) By the end of year 2009 it is expected that their local national controllers will take over control of Bosnian airspace. All the other states have their local national controllers operating the airports and some TMAs, except for Kosovo, who’s civilian airport Prishtina was controlled

4 Map of Bosnian airspace Photo credit: Bosnia MA

by Icelandic controllers under contract until 2007.Today local controllers has been trained and have replaced the Icelandic ones, but there are rumors that, following a strike, some of them have been fired. The exact situation is unknown. The airspace above Kosovo is still a no-fly zone for civil aircraft. ^

4 Rosters

Automated Rosters ^ by Douglas Churchill, IFATCA EVP Professional The issue of adequate staffing (or lack of) in air traffic control units everywhere continues to be a hot topic in the ATC world. The importance of adequate staffing both for the operational well-being of the system and for the health and welfare of those operating within it cannot be over-emphasized. It has been a familiar subject of working papers, reports and articles from IFATCA for many years, particularly the last few.

Staff Shortages Despite a wealth of information elaborating on the virtues of adequate staffing, there seems to be little to show in the way of staffing “improvements” as determined from in-

formation gathered from our member associations. This is somewhat surprising in light of the acknowledged shortage of controllers in just about every corner of the globe.

The various factors that make up staffing and scheduling criteria in any discipline are many and varied, particularly in twenty-four / seven/365-day operations like ours. Of these factors system capacity, seasonal fluctuations, number of positions, hours of operation, sick leave, and vacation leave etc. figure prominently, however numbers of aircraft and their schedules have been the primary “yard sticks” used for allocation of staff at air traffic control units.

Cutting Slack Service providers are more than ever determined to ‘optimize’ rosters and schedules by cutting out any slack and overlap they can. From their perspective, an expensive resource, such as a controller, needs to be as efficient as possible. To do this, many turn to computers and software to help them optimize the staffing process. The question is whether a piece of software can correctly prioritize the multitude of elements that need to be taken

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4 Rosters 4 Balance between efficiency

Logic looked great on the surface and had been touted as one step forward in solving the productivity puzzle as it was a computer-based program designed specifically to maximize staffing at any particular unit by assigning appropriate numbers of controllers for duty (based on traffic) at any given time of day or night.

offer more palatable options to erratic daily routines that we feel will eventually take a toll on the body. When Shift Logic was introduced, many individuals and Associations alike expressed misgivings about its capabilities and effectiveness and offered to work with management to develop mutuallybeneficial solutions. Ideally we should work closely with our providers to ensure appropriate education in the field of Human Factors, which includes schedules and the real effects they can have on our health. Surely our “interface” with work cycles is as important as our interface with technology.

Administrative Tool?

On the way out?

It does work well in assigning people to jobs and for establishing reference databases for such things as attendance, sick-leave usage, traffic counts etc. but it has a darker side – many controllers who have been subjected to its faults and foibles labeled it as anti-social because it takes little into consideration except pure numbers. Schedules produced

by Shift Logic and similar type programs have proven to be un-sympathetic to social considerations when choosing work cycles.

After a considerable length of time in which to evaluate Shift Logic, we may now be able to say that our reservations about the system and its capabilities were perhaps warranted with the recent decisions of at least two major Service Providers to replace Shift Logic with a newer generation of scheduling application. It remains to be seen whether Shift Logic has “outgrown” its usefulness, no longer meets current needs or that the program was never the right tool – it is anyone’s guess, but at least in some locations the days of Shift Logic are numbered.

and socially acceptable schedules is needed.

Photo credit: SL

4 Often (always?) more flexible than a computer …

Photo credit: Didier Kobi / Dreamstime

An expensive resource, such as a controller, needs to be as efficient as possible.

Cold Calculations

into account when designing a schedule. Perhaps it’s good to look at earlier attempts to see whether there are any lessons we can learn.

Shift Logic In 2003 an article appeared in The Controller that looked at staffing with these issues in mind along with the ‘health perspective’, and brought into question the advantages of a particular staffing “tool” known as Shift Logic. Shift

Of course we all acknowledge that shift-work is the “way of the world” in air traffic control but this in itself does not mean that we should expect our working shifts and working cycles to have a negative effect on our health and well-being. But this is precisely the contention with regard to Shift Logic – it was designed for the cold, calculated process of simply “filling chairs” with a certain number of bodies at specific times of day.

More humane considerations such as fatigue or our body’s circadian rhythms are not part of the equation. To be fair, it is not an easy task to staff ATC units to everyone’s satisfaction and convenience when the primary concern must be that ANS providers ensure enough controllers are present and on duty each and every shift, on each and every day of the year, to efficiently handle the traffic volume safely and expeditiously.

Human Factors Overlooked IFATCA has encouraged Member Associations to be involved with scheduling programs when given the opportunity and to

Companies designing these tools often simply copy the experiences from other fields and try to apply them to the world of Air Traffic Control. Where the link between safety and efficiency is not so strong or where additional staff is readily available, the shortcomings of these programs are less obvious.

When it comes to very safety critical functions such as that of air traffic controllers, one has to be very cautious not to compromise a degree of flexibility by trying to over-optimize a roster. Loosing flexibility will often mean loosing a degree of redundancy and the ability to cope with unforeseen situations. While in other areas, this may lead to a reduced service (or in the worst case, no service at all), in ours it quite often if not always has a severe safety implication.

As front line operators, we can only hope that as new scheduling applications are chosen and implemented, they will better serve the needs of both management and staff alike. ^

churcdr@navcanada.ca

4 Doug Churchill Photo credit: DP

Designed for the cold, calculated process of simply “filling chairs”.

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4 Integra

ATC Staff Planning Tool ^ by Integra, Denmark A new innovative staff planning tool for ATC seems able to cope with the challenges and complexity of producing staff schedules while, at the same time, improving job satisfaction for air traffic controllers.

After 10 years’ of research and test of new techniques, Copenhagen Air Traffic Controllers have completed development of a webbased computer tool that supports ANSPs in all types of staff planning, meeting requirements like ESARR5, national work rules, and local agreements on working practices.

“Our objectives have been to combine advanced functionality with a simple layout especially designed for ATC environments”, says Martin Christian Koch, ACC controller.

More than 300 controllers and FDAs in Denmark have already taken the step into the next generation of staff planning using parts of the EuroPlanner System. “Nowadays my colleagues are expecting tools like Internet access, automatic E-mail and mobile phone text messages to be a natural part of a modern company”, he points out. “Staff satisfaction is really one of the keywords today”.

Basically, the tool provides Internet services enabling controllers to enter their manual preferences and leave requests.

The roster system module considers ATC staffing require4 Transfer shifts ments, meetings, to your PDA refresher courses, part timers, ratings, and it creates a complete schedule for 100 controllers accommodating all constraints within a couple of minutes.

Rosters are subsequently published on the Internet, sent by email, and are also instantly

accessible from a PDA, including statistical information, e.g. working hours and operational licence validation.

Supervisors can use the EuroPlanner System to make last minute changes and to create alternatives in case of illness. Automatic mobile text messages are used to call in standby shifts to cover absence.

The latest module, BreakPlanner, combines available staff with sector configuration and traffic flow. What normally took many hours and much paper is now possible to solve in seconds. The allocation of all controllers onto sector positions in a medium scale OPS-room now takes less than a minute. If unpredicted weather conditions like CB-activity force you to open an extra sector, the consequences will be visible instantly.

It is the first time that an ATC staff planning tool has been developed by air traffic controllers.

“Fairness plays an important role in any HRsystem related to ATC”, says Finn Quist, APP controller. “Our insight and experience in an ATC-environment enable us to focus on staff benefits like fair distribution of shifts and breaks, that Internet duty swap is available, and that the system displays a warning if our licence validation is close to minimum”.

Another complex task is allocation of OJT coaches to trainees. The EuroPlanner system provides a special feature for this by displaying the schedules for relevant coaches including their current ESARR5 training validation.

Simply clicking the system creates a matching trainee roster followed by an automatic email to the trainee, his coach and, if you prefer, to the supervisor and the academy administration.

Lack of staff is a continuous problem for many ANSPs, and overview and efficient planning is thus crucial. The system’s ability to perform fast simulations and precise what-if sessions

4 Check your ESARR5 validation on Internet

4 Match trainee shifts to coach schedules

provide excellent support if you wish to forecast on a medium term basis.

At present, the EuroPlanner modules provide daily service to controllers at Naviair, Denmark, at Eurocontrol Maastricht UAC, the Netherlands, and at LPS SR, Slovakia.

“Our ambition is to make everyday work as efficient as possible by letting computers perform the support functions in a user-friendly and rapid way and let our colleagues focus more on Air Traffic Control” ...

The EuroPlanner tool is distributed by Integra and ATS Data Design, Copenhagen, Denmark. For more information about the system please send an email to Ole-Michael Silau at oms@integra.dk. ^

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4 Africa News

Photo credit: Pontus Edenberg/ dreamstime

News from Sierra Leone One of the pilots of an airline flying regularly to Sierra Leone recently told me of the situation of the controllers there.

They are not considered as controllers, but merely “aviation staff“. The upper airspace of Sierra Leone is controlled from …, the so called Roberts FIR, and the lower airspace ATC is left to the airport au-

thority (which is not a real ANSP), who treat their staff with curious hierarchy. In fact the persons in charge of cutting the grass around the runway has higher wages than the controllers. Most of them make less than 300 USD a month.

He was told of an incident last Christmas, where an aircraft landed on Christmas day and the aviation minister (who apparently knows little about ATC) was upset that an air-

craft was given permission to land on a public holiday. He questioned the authority of the local controller to authorize aircraft to land, without him being informed first and wanted to discipline the controller. When the airport manager told the minister that the controller had acted correctly and had the authority to clear aircraft to land on Christmas day, (or any other day in fact) the minister suspended from duty both the controller and the airport manager. ^

ATNS-South Africa takes African ATC training to heights

^ by MD Matale, Regional editor The South African ATNS’s Aviation Training Academy (ATA), asked us to advertise a bit their services. The academy was formed in 1995 to provide air traffic control training, aviation related training as well as a complete spectrum of technical training courses required for air traffic control engineering support and airports. Since

its inception the academy has continued to expand its client base and is now proudly training delegates from Africa and several international countries.

The academy provides a full range of aviation related training in the areas of l. Air Traffic Services, 2. Technical Support, 3. Management Development Programs, 4. lATA / ICAO Training Program and 5. English Language Testing.

The college employs part – task equipment radar simulators technical laboratories as well as 2D and 3D Aerodrome simulators to conduct the training activity. These facilities include lecture rooms as well as double classrooms breakaway/committee rooms and student lounges.

To contact them go to: www.atns.co.za ^

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4 Asia Pacific News

New things in the Western Pacific/South China Sea ^ by Phil Parker, Regional Editor The new Flight Level Allocation Scheme In 2002, with the implementation of RVSM, the ICAO Asia/Pacific States implemented a modified single alternate Flight Level Orientation Scheme (FLOS), with a Flight Level Allocation Scheme (FLAS) to complement the FLOS. This, however, has resulted in a need to continuously transition the levels of flights entering and leaving the WPAC/SCS area within certain IFRs. As of 0807022100 UTC, implementation of the following changes took place.

• Single alternate FLOS in compliance with the Table “RVSM-FEET” of Appendix 3 of ICAO Annex 2.

• Special high capacity arrangements for six unidirectional parallel routes (L642, M771, N892, L625, N884 & M767) that involve managed use of odd and even flight levels in the same direction of flight.

• New FLAS agreed between affected ACCs to facilitate ATC ‘no pre-departure coordination’ operations.

Basically FIRs adjacent to the Hong Kong FIR have pushed for these changes to de-conflict and reduce workload in their airspace for their own perfectly valid reasons. The result of this however, has been to push many of these conflictions and additional workload into the Hong Kong FIR. On one route alone, IDOSI-KAPLI, there are now 23 conflict points with all but 4 conflict points being in one sector. Because of the airspace structure within the Hong Kong FIR and through- area crossing tracks, we now have the potential, if the controller is not extremely alert, to have 2 aircraft cruising opposite way at the same level.

Although a safety case was done and recommendations made, the consequences of not following these recommendations with regard to the operational use of certain levels, combined with the added complexity of being the transition area for metric RVSM Flight Levels, has had the effect of greatly increasing enroute controllers’ workload with little

room to maneuver. The lack of Safety Nets resulting from this could be hazardous.

Weather deviation and Alternate Airports.

This is the time of year dreaded by controllers in this part of Asia. It’s summer and the time of the year when we can have up to 5 months of thunderstorms and typhoons. Certainly in Hong Kong, we can have periods with the whole FIR covered with Cb’s for days at a time, increasing workload on all concerned including terminal and en-route controllers pilots and airline operations personnel.

Leaving aside this high workload in handling weather deviations on a daily basis, we have another problem in Asia, which I’m not sure occurs anywhere else in the world. The rapid growth in air traffic in this area has meant that most airports are operating at capacity with no room for additional flights. As a result, there is quite often refusal of legally nominated alternate airports to take aircraft when notified that they are diverting there.

For example, I know that for Hong Kong, a major British airline usually nominates one of the following airports as an alternate, depending on weather and other operational factors. They are Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Guangzhou (China), Shenzhen (China), Manila (Philippines) or Macao airport.

Over the years, every one of those airports has refused to accept diverting aircraft with the statement that they are full. What they

actually mean is that they have no more parking bays left. We have had to recommend to pilots diverting to these alternates that they declare Mayday, just to get into airports they nominated as their alternate only hours before. During a recent typhoon, one airline had 3 aircraft declare Mayday.

This is ridiculous. It’s increasing workload on the part of the pilots and ATC coordination as well as the extra R/T workload.

When a pilot decides he wishes to divert, it’s more often than not with minimum fuel to get there. The fact that there are no parking bays should not be any consideration at all. The only consideration should be, “is there a runway to land on?”

Aircraft can park on taxiways if needed. When I worked at Kai Tak, which was a very small airport with limited parking bays, taxiways and only 1 runway, we ALWAYS took aircraft using us as an alternate.

This refusal of airports to accept aircraft which have nominated them as an alternate unless the pilot declares an emergency, needs to be looked at by ICAO and IATA. ^

[Those airports] have no more parking bays left.

We have had to recommend to pilots diverting to these alternates that they declare Mayday.

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4 Philip Marien Feature

Fly me to the moon ^ by Philip Marien With a couple of thousand years in development, navigating our planet has little secrets anymore for most people. Thanks to GPS, it is now possible to determine to within a few centimeters where you are in the world. But have you ever wondered how it‘s done in space, and more specifically, how the Apollo spacecraft found its way to the moon nearly 40 years ago? Read on ...

Optical Navigation Originally, the Apollo project planned to use optical navigation, using stars and landmarks (on Earth or Moon) to fix its position. This method was relatively well known and had the advantage that it was self contained: at the height of the Cold War and Space Race, it was believed the Soviets might attempt to jam space communications or confuse radio navigation to embarrass the American space program. The original Apollo specifications required entirely self-contained navigation, with no assistance from the ground, not even voice communications. By obtaining regular positions, speed and direction could be calculated.

This method differs very little from what had been done on ships for centuries, with the added bonus that clouds would not get in the way of making accurate observations.

decreased and a lot of experience with unmanned spacecraft meant that radio navigation became the preferred method. By having the spacecraft essentially echo back a radio signal from the ground, distance and direction could be determined quite precisely. Using radio signals, three parameters could be deduced with great accuracy: Doppler shift for instantaneous velocity, out-and-back delay for precision ranging (much like radar), and Doppler measurements exploiting Earth‘s rotation for precision direction. The optical navigation was to be used as a backup system.

Both methods were tested on Apollo 8, which was the first manned craft to another celestial body (i.e. the moon). Optical-navigation accuracy started out good, deteriorated as the spacecraft got farther from Earth, and then improved again as it got closer to the Moon.

By the time the crew was setting up for lunar orbit insertion, optical and radio navigation data agreed so closely that it was not clear which one was better. The radio data used to enter lunar orbit only because the flight plan said so and following it was simpler than changing it. Results from the return leg of the flight were similar.

In the end, complete on-board optical navigation was no longer thought a high priority. Radio navigation, with the computing done on the ground and the results sent up by voice, was the normal method. Optical navigation was re-

tained as an emergency backup, for aborts only, with some simplifications (notably, sighting on Earth‘s horizon rather than on landmarks).

Early Computers Apart from knowing where you are and how fast you‘re going, navigation also means ending up in the place you want to be. This was the task of the Primary Guidance, Navigation and Control System (PGNCS). Central in this system was a – for the time – miniature computer. In the 60‘s, Computers easily needed a complete room and used megawatts of electricity. For the Apollo project, scientists at MIT designed a small, yet relatively powerful computer. One such computer was installed in the Command Module (CM) which brought 3 astronauts to an orbit around the moon. A second one was on board the Lunar Module (LM) in which two of the three landed on the moon. The CM‘s computer would handle the trans-lunar and trans-earth navigation and the LM‘s would provide for autonomous landing, ascent, and rendezvous guidance to the CM. The Apollo flight computer was the first to use integrated circuits (ICs), be it very simple ones: the second version, which was used on the manned flights, had about 5600 identical dual 3-input NOR gates. It had 32K of fixed memory and 4K of erasable memory.

This memory didn‘t come on chips as is the norm today: it consisted of copper wires ar-

Radio Navigation As the 60s continued, the fears of ‚enemy‘ interference

4 Trying out the various navigation systems, the Crew of Apollo 8 made this picture on December 24, 1968 in orbit around the moon.

Photo credit: Apollo 8 crewmember Bill Anders, NASA

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4 Philip Marien Feature ranged in a matrix. The fixed memory held the actual program and was hard-wired: this means that to change the program, the wiring had to be re-arranged. The erasable memory looked almost the same, but by sending current through the wires, the polarity of little magnets could be changed to represent zeros or ones. This memory was actually closer to a present day disk drive than to modern memory chips.

4 DSKY: numeric keypad and display the astronauts used to interact with the computer Photo credit: Wikipedia

DSKY Interaction with the computer was through the so-called DSKY (display and keyboard).

The display part was a numeric display, which could show three 5-digit numbers in octal or decimal. These were typically used to display vectors such as space craft attitude or a required velocity change. On the calculator-style keyboard, commands were entered numerically, as verbs (what to do) and nouns (type of data). Some of the more frequently used verbs and nouns were stuck up on the control panel beside the keyboard.

routine and shed its low-priority tasks, creating some spare capacity. As a result, the critical inertial guidance tasks continued to operate reliably. On advice from ground control, the errors were ignored and the crew continued the landing sequence successfully.

One of the systems feeding the Guidance Computer was the Inertial Measurement Unit.

The system, variants of which are also used in guided missiles and commercial airliners, consisted of 3 gyroscopes and 3 accelerometers which detect the current rate of acceleration, as well as changes in rotational attributes, including pitch, roll and yaw. The computer then calculates the current position from a given reference point. If you know your initial position, it is possible to calculate subsequent navigational parameters, although not perfectly: Apollo‘s system had an error of about 1 milliradian per hour. That translates in an error of 1 meter per 1000 m travelled – significant given that the moon is some 300,000 km away! Every so often, the system had to be recalibrated with an accurate position, derived from the optical or radio navigation.

The lunar module had a third means of navigation, the Abort Guidance System. This could only be used to take off from the moon and find the Command Module to dock with.

It couldn‘t have been used to land on the moon. It was only used on two occasions: the practice mission Apollo 10 because of the wrong switch setting. The next use of the AGS was during Apollo 11 mission when the LM crew performed a sequence of rendezvous maneuvers that resulted in gimbal-lock (which happens when two of the three axis in th e Inertial Measurement Unit align, the movement on one axis can no longer be determined) so the AGS was switched on for attitude control.

Radar

Sextant

Contrary to the Command Module, the Lunar Module had two radars connected to the system: one ground radar, measuring the distance to the surface of the moon during descent. The rendezvous radar was used after leaving the moon, to dock with the Command Module again. During the Apollo 11 lunar descent, the computer on the LM threw several overflow alarms. These errors were caused by spurious data from the rendezvous radar, which had been left on during the descent.

The procedure called for the radar to be left on in case of an aborted landing and this hadn‘t been a problem in the simulator, as there was no connection to a live radar. Fortunately, the computer executed a fail-safe

Both modules had a sextant, which could measure angles between stars, and Earth or Moon landmarks and planetary horizon. The unit included a scanning telescope for star sightings, and could be used to determine position and orientation in space. In contrast, the LM had an Alignment Optical Telescope, and could only determine the craft‘s orientation. On both, these instruments were linked to the guidance system, which could calculate the crafts‘ position/orientation after the astronauts pointed known points (e.g. stars).

Inertia

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Legacy

ers and later commercial airliners. It even formed the basis of an experimental fly-by-wire system, when it was installed into an F-8 Crusader and further developed versions on newer fighter models and eventually the Space Shuttle. ^

The Guidance Computer led the way to integrating computers on the flight deck of fight-

webmaster@the-controller.net

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Foreword ... Continued from page 4 The roots of this change can be easily seen in the waning years of the generation of the baby boomers. They have worked hard all their life; they have toiled hard and long in a successful career and are looking forward to an enjoyable retirement. Now they value quality of life more than dedication

Air Traffic Service Providers must acknowledge this challenge and change the recruitment process. to work; now they prefer time with their family at home rather than overtime at work; now they will opt for another vacation and decline the extra shift or two.

For the younger Generation X controllers who are already in our midst, they see their mature colleagues handling the increasing traffic and facing the rising pressures of the job – do they want to be in that position in 20 years time? These are the very people who will be taking the profession forward to the next level of automation and they will be handling the forecast doubling of traffic by the year 2020. For sure they will be wanting different working conditions and a better life style.

For the Generation Y who are the recruits of tomorrow, what

does a career in ATC have to offer? Will they be attracted by years of study and training, followed by constant checks and more tests even when fully qualified? Will they be content with frequent night shifts and a disjointed personal life without weekends? Will a career high of Team Supervisor or Watch Manager after a lifetime as an operational controller really satisfy the ambitions of these young dynamic achievers?

Who knows what the future holds for Generation Z? Dependant on which supposition you believe, they may experience the age of alternative fuelled travel, the era of galactic tours or possibly the development of an automated personal air transport system.

Whatever the mass transport of the future turns out to be, there will still be need for a means of control, management, regulation or supervision, however without a core of forward thinking controllers who are able to conceive and drive the essential safety role that ATC will still have in such a society, it will be all too easy for the controller to join the other ‘ex-professionals’ of air transport – the wireless operator, the navigator and the flight engineer. All replaced by machines and automation.

So how do we get the X, Y and Z’s interested in ATC? How will we address the mindset of the independent thinking and autonomous school leaver or graduate who will be expecting a career in a number of dynamic free-thinking software development companies with rapid progression to management followed by retirement at mid-life with time to develop another career? How will we convince this person that ATC is a rewarding and satisfying profession and the future will be exciting and challenging?

It is obvious that at the moment we are all failing – ATC, like many skilled professional trades, suffers from a visibility problem, i.e. we do not promote ourselves in a positive sense and we do not make young people aware of our occupation. Then there is the image issue – ATC is rarely mentioned by the media and when it does it is usually in a negative sense: faulty ATC equipment or industrial action by controllers that causes delays to travellers, or a controller is alleged to be culpable in an incident. Headlines such as these will do little to convince the potential recruit that ATC is a rewarding and responsible profession.

Where to start?

How do we bridge the disconnect between the new generations and one of the most demanding and stimulating professions available to them? From the top down or from the bottom up? It should be both.

From the top, the Air Traffic Service Providers must acknowledge this challenge and change the recruitment process. Many are already facing a critical situation, but still choose to ignore it. Fundamental changes must be made to the recruitment method and training programme together with the career structure and salary scale. IFATCA continues to emphasise this looming crisis and is fully supported by other international organisations, including IATA, IFALPA, CANSO and the Flight Safety Foundation.

From the bottom, every controller should promote the profession and make the youth aware of the skills that you develop in the job and the rewards and satisfaction that a career in ATC can give. The questions to ask yourself are ‘Would we want our child to be a controller?’ and if not, ‘Why not?’. If you can answer positively, there is hope for the future, but if you answer them negatively, we all have work to do to ensure that the controller will be joining the Polar Bear, the California Condor and the Siberian Tiger on the endangered species list. ^

4 The generation Y Photo credit: Marcio Eugenio/ dreamstime

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Charlie‘s Column

Charlies’s Corner Blind Controllers A recent job advertisement for a post as air traffic controller for the small airport of St Mary’s in the Scilly islands (off the coast of Cornwall) raised some unusual responses.

The advert said that the application form could be asked in large characters, or even in Braille. When asked if a vision-impaired or even blind person could indeed apply to become an air traffic controller, the airport management replied that; no, the applicant would not be selected, but as a matter of principle, mainly to avoid a process on discrimination, this was a standard mention for all jobs in the Airport.

The British Institute for the Blind approved and congratulated the airport for this ”good practice”.

This “politically correct“ issue reminds me of a good joke we used to do in our centre many, many years ago when management brought some visitors. One of the controllers would wear dark sunglasses and a white stick and was helped by another controller to his chair in front of an (unused) radar scope near the visitors. The “blind” controller would then sit and look down while we selected any frequency on the loudspeaker above him. When the first aircraft called in on that frequency,

the “blind” controller would then place his hands flat on the radar and feel all of it around, he would then point a finger on the scope and shout loudly with a large smile on his face: Ahh KLM 1234, Radar contact!

That always worked well until a visitor from our headquarters did not see the humor in it and we were forced to stop the joke.

In these days of being politically correct at all times, we cannot afford to do this anymore but, thanks to St Mary’s airport and the “politically correct“ the Blind Controllers are back …

Russian rainmakers Last June In Russia, it was so dry that on request of the State authorities, the Air Force was asked to send a dozen aircraft to spray the inside of clouds with a mixture of liquid nitrogen, silver oxide and cement in order to force precipitations. But this time one of the planes dropped a 25 kg cement bag instead of the cement powder. The bag fell on a house, and landed on the living room. No injuries but a big hole in the roof. Fortunately it did not rain

Missing wheel On Friday the 13th June (a bad omen already!) in France, an ATR42 from Paris

Low cost Airlines Everything to make yourself stand out from the crowd of established airlines. (from a large billboard in Australia, for the new low cost airline Air Asia.)

landed without problems in Lyons, but with one wheel missing. No one knows where and how the wheel got lost, and the airline fear it fell somewhere in the countryside.

As one of the newspapers said with humor: if someone finds the wheel, please do not put it for sale on e-bay but contact the airline directly. (Previous aircraft parts have been on sale on e-bay in France recently, including Concorde parts!)

Overhead on the Frequency: 1- Turbulence Reports (American) Pilot: any turbulence reported ahead?

Controller: Ah... Negative.

Pilot: We have some light chops here, can you ask an aircraft ahead of us how the ride is there?

Old British accented voice coming up on the frequency: Why don’t you switch on the “fasten seat belts“ sign and relax old boy?

••••••••••• 2- Requesting Descent Pilot: BAW 123, Requesting further descent!

Controller: –.

Pilot after a few seconds: BAW 123 is requesting descent.

Controller: stand by, I will call you back.

Pilot: Requesting descent now please.

Controller: BAW 123 either you maintain this altitude for two more minutes or you may expect a TCAS climb shortly.

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

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

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

LORADS III a new era of Air Traffic Management.

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