z Europe
IFATCA 2021 EUROPEAN REGIONAL MEETING
z by Philip Marien, IFATCA Communications Coordinator
From October 5th until October 7th, EGATS hosted IFATCA's European Regional Meeting. Representatives of 25 European professional air traffic controllers' associations gathered in the Crowne Plaza hotel in the centre of Maastricht (NL) to discuss the current and future challenges to the profession. The meeting was originally planned for October 2020, but like all other events, had to be postponed amongst the various lockdowns and travel restrictions. Even this meeting was not guaranteed to go ahead – fortunately, COVID measures had largely relaxed at the time of the meeting and, while still observing some basic precautions, the event could proceed in relatively normal circumstance. IFATCA’s Executive Vice President Frédéric Deleau (EGATS) chaired the meeting, supported by Maria Serrano (Spain). IFATCA's Deputy President, Helena Sjöström also participated in the meeting. Other attendees included IFALPA (the professional pilots association), ECA (European Cockpit Association), ATCEUC (Air Traffic Controllers European Coordination), ETF (European Transport
Federation), IFAIMA (Aeronautical Information), IFATSEA (Air Traffic Safety Electronics), IFISA (Flight Information Services), Airlines for Europe (A4E) and the Network Manager. Prior to the official two-day meeting, an optional workshop discussed how to adapt to continuous changes in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. The workshop was moderated by Marinella Leone, Ellen Beckers and Mariela Nikolova Konova from the nearby Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre. A visit to the centre was unfortunately not possible due to the COVID measures still in place. The regional meeting itself
5-7 October | M 18
THE CONTROLLER
