z NEWS FROM 40th ICAO ASSEMBLY
IFATCA PARTICIPATION IN GLOBAL MEETING TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF AVIATION z by Jean-François Lepage, IFATCA'S iaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission The 40th ICAO Assembly took place last 24 September to 4 October 2019. It was attended by more than 2400 delegates from around the world, representing 184 of the 193 Member States of ICAO and 55 international organizations, such as ACI, CANSO, IAOPA, IATA, IBAC, ICCAIA, IFALPA, IFATCA, and many more. Interesting to note is the fact that this year, the Assembly coincided with the 75th anniversary of ICAO. The Assembly is ICAO’s sovereign body; it meets at least once every three years and is convened by the ICAO Council. It is divided into five different commissions: administrative, economic, executive, legal and technical and its primary objective is to determine the direction, budget and work programme of the organization for the next triennium. It is also during the Assembly that Member States are elected to the Council.
Among the 640 working papers, the main topics covered were: environment-related issues and the CORSIA initiative (62 papers), security and cybersecurity (55 papers), facilitation (40 papers), ATM-related matters (36 papers), economic issues (31 papers), the “No Country Left Behind” (NCLB) initiative (28 papers), safety management (25 papers), flight operations (24 papers), Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) (23 papers) and the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme – Continuous Monitor-
ing Approach (USOAP CMA) (23 papers). Immediately before the Assembly, the Executive Board gathered for a three-day meeting, also in Montréal. The presence of the entire executive in the city that is home to ICAO was not a coincidence; it was an excellent opportunity for some of the EB members to meet with other international organizations such as IFALPA and ITF, while for others it was the perfect moment to work on logistic and
IFATCA was represented at the Assembly by a delegation consisting of Duncan Auld (President and CEO), Helena Sjöström (Deputy President), Ignacio Baca (EVP Technical), Peter Van Rooyen (EVP Professional), Jeffrey D. Richards (RPAS Panel Member for IFATCA), Thom Metzger (The Controller Magazine Editor) and Jean-François Lepage (IFATCA Liaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission). During its 40th iteration, the Assembly produced and reviewed more than 640 working papers and information papers. IFATCA co-signed five working papers with other industry organizations (ACI, CANSO, IATA, ICCAIA and IFALPA) on topics of mutual interest, such as commercial space operations integration, the need to address harmful interferences to GNSS signals, the need for standards and guidance to mitigate the risks related to unauthorized UAS operations, the future of frequency spectrum needs in aviation and UAS traffic management.
THE CONTROLLER
Photo by Thom Metzger (NATCA/IFATCA)
z Photo: IFATCA Assembly representatives (left to right) were Ignacio Baca (EVP Technical), Duncan Auld (President and CEO), Helena Sjöström (Deputy President), Jean-François Lepage (IFATCA Liaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission), and Peter Van Rooyen (EVP Professional). 5
