CONTROLLER 4 IFATCA'S 2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE. Journal of Air Traffic Control. Also in this Issue 4 ATC Display Design 4 EGNOS Flight Event.

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1 July 2015 Journal of Air Traffic Control 4 IFATCA'S 2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE Also in this Issue 4 ATC Display Design 4 EGNOS Flight Event INTER- NATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC S ASSNS.

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3 Contents July 2015 Volume 54 Issue 2 ISSN Cover photo: Felix Gottwald - Aviation Photography In this issue EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA Patrik Peters President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Shallies Deputy President Duncan Auld Executive Vice-President Technical Eric Risdon Executive Vice-President Professional Foreword from the Executive Board IFATCA's Annual Conference ICAO - Reflecting on the Past & the Future ATC Display Design IFALPA Annual Conference IFATCA Statement on the Future of Global Europe: Be Ready for Change NM Vision for Eurpean ATM Asia/Pacific: The Blame Game Mobile Learning for Controllers EGNOS Flight Event Book Review: Skyfaring by Marc Vanhoenacker Flying VFR in Norway Charlie's Colmn Jeremy Thompson Executive Vice-President Finance Keziah Ogutu Executive Vice-President Africa and Middle East John Carr Executive Vice-President Americas Mike O'Neill Executive Vice-President Asia and Pacific Željko Oreški Executive Vice-President Europe Philippe Domogala Conference Executive PUBLISHER IFATCA, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Associations 360, St Jacques Suite 2002 Montreal, Quebec H2Y 1P5 CANADA Phone: Fax: office@ifatca.org EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Philip Marien Van Dijcklaan 31 B-3500 Hasselt, Belgium editor@ifatca.org DEPUTY EDITOR Philippe Domogala dp@the-controller.net CORPORATE AFFAIRS Vacant REGIONAL EDITORS Phil Parker, Asia Pacific Serge Tchanda, Africa & Middle East Ignacio Baca, Technical COPY EDITORS Paul Robinson, Jez Pigden, Brent Cash, David Guerin Alasdair Shaw & Helena Sjöström The editorial team has endeavored to include all owner information, or at least source information for the images used in this issue. If you believe that an image was used without permission, please contact the editor via 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. Further distribution of this publication is permitted and even encouraged, as long as it is not altered in any way or manner. No part or extracts of this publication may be reproduced, stored or used in any form or by any means, without the specific prior permission of the IFATCA Executive Board or Editor, except where indicated (e.g. a creative commons licence). VISIT IFATCA WEB SITES: and 3

4 4 Foreword "WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGER!" SOLIDARITY WITH NEPALESE COLLEAGUES ^ by Patrik Peters, IFATCA President & CEO We had not yet commenced our travel back home from the annual conference in Sofia, when the tragic news about the devastating earthquakes in Nepal reached us. We contacted our colleagues in Kathmandu to get some first hand information on the status of the fellow air traffic control staff and their families and to learn about the level of destruction. With the aftershocks still ongoing, we were told that our people were safe. In the following days, when the level of devastation and the number of victims became clear, we witnessed how the air traffic controllers did their utmost to keep the vital air traffic control structure fully operational. They spared no effort to facilitate urgently needed rescue and relief efforts coming and going from the overburdened airport. Thanks to their efforts, search and rescue flights as well as transport aircraft were handled in a safe and efficient manner in extremely difficult circumstances. Kathmandu airport, which many of you have flown in and out of, when we met in 2012 for annual conference, was kept open 24/7 to accommodate the vastly increased number of flights. This ensured that international assistance and relief flights could take place as expeditiously as possible. Our Nepalese sisters and brothers performed an outstanding task, placing the need to maintain the air traffic control service above the needs of their own families. Most controllers and their families were recommended to not return to their homes due to the ongoing threat of aftershocks. Several of them had their house destroyed in the quakes as thousands of others, controllers and their families were forced to spend the nights under tarps and in tents that barely sheltered them from the elements. Whilst the IFATCA Executive Board appealed to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to assist our colleagues, we also reached out to the regional ICAO office in an attempt to have urgently required material assistance provided. Unfortunately this has proven to be a very difficult logistical undertaking. At the same time several of our member associations approached the Executive Board offering financial support. We therefore decided to collect funds for those sisters and brothers having lost their family homes. Donations can be transferred to the following IFATCA account: IFATCA EUROPEAN SUPPORT FUND (P.Peters/Ph.Domogala) IBAN: NL95 ABNA BIC/SWIFT: ABNANL2A Bank details: ABN AMRO Markt JH BEEK-LB The Nettherlands Clearly state: DONATION NEPAL All funds will be handed over to our member association to assist the Nepalese colleagues in rebuilding their homes. Our Nepalese colleagues have testified to being true professionals and we are proud to count them as members of the global controller family! We know that this feeling is shared by people around the world: our Facebook post recognising the part our Nepalese colleagues played and continue to play reached well over people. Many friends and colleagues posted supportive comments. It has been by far the most prominent post on our IFATCA Facebook page Thank you all for the excellent work and your continued support! Professionally yours, pcx@ifatca.org 4

5 4 Conference IFATCA ANNUAL CONFERENCE APRIL 2015, SOFIA, BULGARIA ^ by Philip Marien, Editor Our Bulgarian Member Association BU- LATCA hosted the 54th Annual Conference of IFATCA. The Kempinski hotel in the Bulgarian capital Sofia was the venue for the conference. Delegates from some 65 countries attended, with some 400 delegates in total. The hotel featured an integrated conference centre, in which all meetings and ceremonies took place. Opening Plenary On the first day, IFATCA President and Chief Executive Patrik Peters and his Executive Board welcomed the delegates at the Opening Plenary in the auditorium of the conference centre. In a new-style opening address, Mr Peters highlighted the fact that the Member Associations made the Federation and that the Executive Board relied on their guidance and contributions to determine the direction the Federation took. The theme We re all in this together would feature prominently in the rest of the Conference proceedings. An emotional moment was when the PCX requested a moment of silence to remember the victims of aviation accidents that took place around the world in the past year. The moment served as a powerful reminder for those in attendance of how brittle the concept of safety is and how it should remain the ultimate consideration in everything we do as a Federation. A number of dignitaries then addressed the meeting: Mr Iveco Moskovski, Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications highlighted the significant increase in flights overflying Bulgaria. As a result, they plan to increase the number of controllers over the next years by 40 to 60%. He further spoke about the achievements of the DANUBE Functional Airspace Block, which further optimizes the route network, delivers real fuel savings, saves flight time and lowers the environmental impact. Mr Georgi Peev, Director-General of BU- LATSA, the country s Air Traffic Service Provider, himself a former controller, expressed his support for the Conference motto ATCOs the Heart of the ATM System. This feeling was echoed by Mr Assent Tabakov, the President of BULAT- CA, who also thanked the Member Associations for having chosen his association to host the 2015 Conference. Finally, Mr Mincho Tzvetkov, the Director- General of the Civil Aviation Administration addressed the meeting. He acknowledged the increasing importance of regional and global professional organizations in terms of protecting the interests of workers and as an engine for development of a specific domain. As part of the opening ceremony, the attendees were treated to one of Bulgaria s greatest treasures: singer Valya Balkanska performed her song Izlel e Delyu 4 Imtradex, represented by Susanne Lastein(L), was presented with the first IFATCA Technology Award by Ben Gorrie (M), TOC Chairman, and Alfred Vlasec (R), PLC Chairman. Photo: BULATCA 4 Valya Balkanska performing Izlel e Delyu Haidutin. Photo: BULATCA 5

6 4 Conference 4 President & CEO Patrik Peters addressing the delegates during the Opening Plenary. Photo: BULATCA included reports of the Deputy President and the EVP Finance, who also presented an overview of the Federation s finances. Also discussed was the budget for the upcoming fiscal year ( ). The Federation's financial situation is strong, with substantial reserves. A new reserve fund has been created for the purpose of assisting MAs to attend Regional Meetings. The work program for the Finance Committee for this coming year includes a review of our reserve funds, and to propose a recommendation to Directors on a suitable process for determining a medium/long term financial strategy for the Federation. The affiliation of three Member Associations was terminated, bringing the total number of members of the Federation to 128. Haidutin. The song was selected as one of 27 other music fragments to travel on a golden disc attached to the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which was launched in Thirty-five years after its launch, Voyager 1 left our solar system, officially becoming the first man-made craft to do so. The final part of the opening ceremony saw the very first IFATCA Technology Award presented to Imtradex for their AirTalk 3000 XD Flex headset. Marketing Manager & Sales Manager ATC Susanne Lastein, who accepted the award, emphasized that air traffic safety is very much dependent on interference-free communications between everyone involved. Misunderstandings between air traffic controllers and pilots can have serious consequences. It is therefore crucial that they understand each other clearly, which makes communication equipment a real safety factor, said Susanne Last. After this ceremonial part of the opening plenary, Patrik Peters declared the conference formally open. After the roll call, the Directors accepted the report of the previous annual conference (Gran Canaria, Spain). PCX & CEO Peters asked the different IFATCA Executive Board members present their view on the State of the Federation. A number of them highlighted the dynamism and good atmosphere within the Board and the enhanced motivation resulting from this. The chairmen of the three committees received their gavels and the Plenary was suspended to allow the three committees to debate their working papers and reports. Committee A The Committee was once again chaired by Mr Paul Robinson (New Zealand), who was assisted by Mr Julian Ogilvie (UK) as Committee Secretary and Vice-Chairman Mr Georgi Petkov from Bulgaria. Mr Jeremy (Bob) Thompson, EVP Finance ad-interim and Mr Scott Shallies, Deputy President, completed the head table. Dealing with administrative issues of the Federation, Committee A reviewed the past year by hearing the reports of different elected and appointed officials. These The Constitution and Administration Committee (CAC) reviewed the IFATCA Panel, the structure of the Technical and Professional Standing Committees, closed sessions at Conference and at Regional Meetings, and expanding the use of the Conference Attendance Fund. Following a paper from South Africa, provisions were included for restricting the attendance of observers at closed sessions. This year the CAC will consider the creation of a Communications Steering Committee, the evolution of the role of Conference Executive, examine the status of the Federation's subsidiary documentation, and look at liability issues when travelling in an area for which travel advisory cautions have been issued. New Zealand, EGATS, and South Africa were elected to the Constitution and Administration Committee. The Controller Steering Committee and the Executive Board have considered the Federation s communication strategies. Their plans will be integrated into the manual next year by CAC. The Web Manager set up a system on the web site to enable online collaboration for various committees, and a presence has been maintained on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr at minimal cost. 6 4 "We're all in this together", taken quite literally. Photo: BULATCA

7 4 Conference Mr Scott Shallies (Australia) was elected to serve another term as Deputy President, while Duncan Auld will serve another term as EVP Technical. Current EVPs Keziah Ogutu (Kenya), Mike O'Neill (Hong Kong) and Željko Oreški (Croatia) will serve another 2 years as EVP Africa/Middle East, EVP Asia/Pacific and EVP Europe respectively. Jeremy Thompson (New Zealand), who has been acting as EVP Finance since late last year, is confirmed as EVP Finance for one year. Philippe Domogala (EGATS) was re-appointed to the position of Conference Executive for a one-year term, and the Board and CAC will consider the evolution of this position during this year. Mr Jean-François Lepage was appointed as Liaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission succeeding Dr. Ruth Stilwell who was the Federation s representative for the last five years. Finally, Committee A also considered the venues for forthcoming conferences It confirmed the venue for the next annual conference: this will be organised by our North American colleagues of NATCA in Las Vegas from March 14th until 18th The conference will be held just before the annual Communicating for Safety (CFS) event. For 2017, Tunisia was elected to host the 56th Annual Conference in No less than 6 Member Associations - Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, and The Maldives expressed an interest in hosting the 2018 edition. Committee B - Technical The Committee was chaired by Mr Matthijs Jongeneel (Netherlands). Assisting him were Mr Alasdair Shaw (New Zealand) as Committee Secretary and Mrs Antoaneta Boneva (Bulgaria) as Vice-Chairman. Mr Duncan Auld, IFATCA s Executive Vice President Technical completed the head table. IFATCA representatives to the different ICAO Panels presented their reports, which gave an overview of the continuous and extensive amounts of work they do on behalf of the Federation. Although the panel structure is changing at ICAO level, our participation continues to be highly valued and appreciated. The Federation is involved in the establishment of new separation standards, in the creation of new phraseology to be used for SID's and STAR's and in creating standards for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. Committee B recognised the significant contribution that Dr. Ruth Stillwell has made in her role of Liaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission over the past five years. The Technical and Operations Committee (TOC) worked on no less than 13 work items this year. Several studies introduced new technologies, for example the studies on GNSS based approaches and GNSS based altitude. Besides describing these developments, they also highlighted advantages and limitations. The work on SIDs and STARs continues: this year, the TOC focused specifically on the ambiguous responsibility for provision of separation with terrain and obstacles, in case of weather avoidance. TOC was able to clarify the subject and to propose policy, which was adopted by the Member Associations. Triggered by a discussion at last year s IFATCA Annual Conference, responsibility for providing separation after completing a TCAS RA manoeuvre was also reviewed. New policy agreed that ATC should take responsibility and should issue instructions 4 Bill Holtzmann (NATCA USA) presenting a working paper in Committee B. Photo: BULATCA as required to achieve separation. The work-studies on Future Weather Distribution, Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment (FF-ICE) and Flight Planning Accuracy showed that accurate data is increasingly critical. The committee further discussed the TOC work programme for 2015/2016. This includes a wide variety of items: Digital Flight Strips, Flight plan quality and conformance checking, RNAV Visual Approaches, Free Route Airspace and Flexible Track Systems, Commercial Space Operations, Pronunciation of Words, Space Weather, Autonomous Passenger and Cargo Aircraft, Principles for Alerts and the Display of Information (with PLC), Review of Policy on Advanced Approach Procedures. In addition, the composition of the Technical and Operations Committee (TOC) was voted upon. Ben Gorrie (Australia) will continue as Chairman of TOC. Besides the technical representatives, Nigeria, Slove- 4 Probably the hardest working people at Conference: the committee Chairmen and Secretaries Left to Right: Paul Robinson & Jules Oglevie (Commitee A); Maria Serrano Mulet & Peter Van Rooyen (Committee C); Alasdair Shaw & Matthijs Jongeneel (Committee B) Photo: BULATCA 7

8 4 Conference nia, Spain, UK, Netherlands and USA will serve as members of the committee and will prepare work-studies for next year s conference. Joined Committee B & C (Technical and Professional affairs) A full day, combined Committee B and C meeting was also held this year. The meeting was very well attended and was cochaired by the chairmen of Committees B & C, Matthijs Jongeneel and Peter van Rooyen. The agenda comprised of reports from global representatives, reports from the Regional Vice Presidents and a number of work-studies. Dr. Ruth Stilwell, our ICAO ANC Representative, demonstrated once again the value of the position of having our Federation represented at the ANC. Many of the subjects she encounters on an almost daily basis have been discussed in committee B and C during previous conferences. She stressed the need for a constructive approach of IFATCA at the ICAO level and she highlighted the great teamwork with the IFATCA Panel Representatives and the Executive Board. Dr. Ruth Stillwell is stepping down from the position, and the committee rewarded her outstanding work with a standing ovation. The report of our representative to 4 Committee C, Professional, in session. the IFALPA ATS Committee, Kimmo Koivula, demonstrated the excellent relationship between our Federation and IFALPA. Mr. Rip Torn, Chairman of the IFALPA ATS Committee, who was representing IFALPA in the Conference, also acknowledged this and stressed the importance of the close cooperation between IFATCA and IFALPA. Our representative on the Air Traffic Management Requirements and Performance Panel gave an excellent explanation on the highly technical concept of Trajectory Based Operations. Photo: BULATCA IFATCA Panel & Workshop IFATCA Panel: Performance Based Navigation On Thursday, a panel discussion was held, followed by an interactive workshop on Competency Based Training. The title of the panel discussion was Performance Tomorrow How PBN Is Shaping Our Profession. After a short introduction by IFATCA President, Mr Patrik Peters, in which he briefly outlined the topic, panel moderator Philippe Domogala introduced representatives from ICAO, IFALPA, NAT- CA (USA), SESAR JU and EUOCONROL. Each one was given a few minutes to introduce the subject and challenges of Performance Based Navigation after which they discussed the subject, prompted by questions from the audience. Mr Saul Da Silva - ICAO, Montreal - is an ATM Technical Officer at ICAO HQ in Montreal, Secretary of the Air Navigation Commission Air Traffic Management Requirements and Performance Panel (AT- MRPP) and Secretary of the Separation and Airspace Safety Panel (SASP). Mr Da Silva talked about the current situation on PBN, what are the implementation plans, regulatory oversight, training plans. Captain Rip Torn, IFALPA ATS Committee Chairman, IFALPA representative to the ICAO Data Link Working Group, Surveillance Panel, ATMRPP, USALPA ATS Group Chair, and USALPA Neaten Project Coordinator. As a Captain on B757/767 for Delta Airlines, he is based in Atlanta. Capt. Torn discussed PBN workload in the cockpit and perceived benefits of its use. Mr Jeff Woods, NATCA (USA) is currently a NATCA s Program Management Office (PMO) Representative. He has over 25 years of ATC experience including towers, en route, and approach facilities. Jeff has been involved in special projects and assignments. In addition, Jeff also serves as the NATCA member to the Air Traffic Procedures Advisory Committee. Mr Woods shared his experience how PBN has been implemented and works in practice in USA, using a video, which demonstrated the benefits of PBN over conventional techniques. Mr David Bowen, acting Chief ATM of the SESAR Joint Undertaking with overall responsibility for the technical and opera- 4 Philippe Domogala moderating the panel: left to right Mr Da Silva, Mr Torn, Mr Woods, Mr Bowen and Ms Pavličević. Photo: BM 8

9 4 Conference The Technical and Operations Committee and the Professional and Legal Committee produced three combined work-studies this year. The subjects System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) and Screen Design Process are good examples how combining the two committees provides added value for the Federation. The study on Screen Design Process highlighted the various aspects of this process. It pointed out risks associated with immature introduction and looked at possible solutions to avoid unwanted effects. The Executive Board was tasked to collect best practices, which will become available for Member Associations. The combined TOC/PLC work-study on Crisis Management discussed an increasingly important topic for many ANSPs and Associations. It provided general guidelines on the different phases in handling crisis situations and stressed the importance of the availability of an up-to-date crisis management plan. Furthermore, this paper encouraged going beyond the local policy by communicating across borders and consulting experts. It also introduced a model to assist Member Associations when dealing with a crisis. The PLC work-study on the handling of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) was added to the agenda as this subject is evolving extremely quickly and is of interest to many colleagues. With the huge increase in the use of RPAS, Air Traffic Management needs to focus on how to seamlessly, efficiently and safely incorporate RPAS into the global civil air traffic management environment. IFATCA is working with other stakeholders at ICAO to develop the international standards and recommended practices (SARPs) that will form the basis for the regulatory framework. Finally, the committee also adopted an updated version of IFATCA s Statement On The Future Of Global Air Traffic Management. This statement can be found elsewhere in this issue. Committee C (Professional) Mr Peter Van Rooyen (South Africa) chaired the committee. He was assisted by Ms Maria Serrano Mulet (Spain) as Committee Secretary and Mr Raia Alayi (Bulgaria) as Vice-Chairman. Eric Risdon (Switzerland), IFATCA s Executive Vice President Professional completed the head table. Following a number of reports from representatives, who represented IFATCA in numerous meetings around the world, the Committee discussed the work-studies carried out by the Professional & Legal Committee (PLC). Amongst the information papers presented, one highlighted how Aviation System Safety relies on the constant flow of safety data provided. This can be done on a voluntary or mandatory basis, but it relies on the belief that such data would only be tional content of the SESAR programme. David leads a team of operational and systems experts who provide strategic guidance and review the work within SESAR. David has over 20 years of experience in ATM including a background in ATM standardisation, avionics and ground system developments. Mr Bowen talked about the role of PBN in the SESAR target concept. Ms Franca Pavličević is the Head of the Navigation and CNS Research Unit at EU- ROCONTROL. She is also the chairman of ICAO s PBN Study Group and was involved in the development of ICAO s PBN Concept as a member of CAO s RNPSORSG and ICAO s Separation and Airspace Safety Panel (SASP). She is a former air traffic controller; she has wide-ranging experience in terminal airspace design & planning. Ms Pavličević talked about the PBN overall challenges in the ATM part. The discussion focused on the lack of information and training in the PBN field in many places, and on the huge differences between what is expected with PBN and what the reality is. Emphasis was also on the mixed mode operations, which is not something that controllers like. While everyone agreed that, ideally, there should be a once-for-all switchover, the reality will be quite different. In all likelihood, it will not be transparent to the users (pilots or controllers). Mixed-operations will have to be accommodated for the foreseeable future, making a transparent implementation anything but easy. It was also clear that training for the users will be vital. The fact that the technology is far from trivial (the number of abbreviations for example is staggering) and actually has a wide variety of possible applications means that the training will need to be well considered. And whether staff will be made available for such essential training is another issue that will need to be carefully considered. Workshop - Competency Based Training It has been recognized by the international aviation community that there will be an anticipated shortage of skilled aviation professionals in the near future. In order to address this important issue, ICAO launched the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) initiative to ensure that enough qualified and competent aviation professionals are available to operate, manage and maintain the future international air transport system. Competency-based training places emphasis on achieving benchmarked standards of performance; more precisely, training that focuses on what a person will actually be required to do in the workplace after completing a program of training. Through role playing, Nicole Barrette, Technical Specialist at ICAO and Ashley Laureyssen, Training Strategies Manager at EUROCONTROL demonstrated the different approaches that could be taken towards a trainee. Throughout, they engaged and challenged the audience to explain the anticipated benefits of Competency Based Training in an ATC unit, compared to the more conventional approach. ^ 4 Competency Based Training lively illustrated by Nicole Barrette (L) and Ashley Laureyssen (R) Photo: BM 9

10 4 Conference 4 Dr. Ruth Stilwell receiving the Executive Board Award from IFATCA PCX & CEO Peters. Photo: BULATCA used for safety purposes. It is therefore vital to ensure it is adequately protected. The Multi Sector Planner concept was proposed as a means of workload management. The debate that followed showed that this subject could be controversial. Fatigue Risk Management was an interesting discussion: it highlighted the importance of the on-going FRMS Taskforce setup by ICAO. There is currently little overlap between IFATCA policy and ICAO Annex 19 but an on-going study should address this in the future. Just Culture has been at the forefront of IFATCA's professional and legal debates for years. A very interactive session on this subject with Dr. Anthony Smoker challenged the floor to new ideas. Other information papers of interest informed about the EURO- CONTROL/IFATCA Prosecutor Expert Training Course. New Policy was introduced to highlight the importance and the implementation of TRM in an ATCO's career, the operational role of the OJTI and the importance of not combining the provision of surveillance approach and aerodrome control cervices. A Policy changes was introduced on the design, developm`nt and implementation of a new ATM systems. And as in the other committees, there was a vote on the chairman and member associations for the committee that will prepare the work-studies for the next conference. The PLC will be chaired by Mr Alfred Vlasek (Austria) and his committee will consists of representatives from Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand, The Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, UK and the USA. Closing Plenary Session On Friday afternoon, IFATCA PCX Patrik vpeters reconvened the plenary assembly of the Federation. This assembly formalised the decisions taken in the different committees, by accepting the reports of the Committee Chairmen. Mr Geert Maesen (Belgium) and Mrs Ruth Stilwell (USA) were received the IFATCA Executive Board Award. Geert was praised for his tireless work on the Information Handbook (IHB) over the past decades, while Mrs Stilwell was recognised for representing IFATCA at ICAO ANC level for the past 5 years. Mr Dale Wright (USA), as Chairman Organising Committee 2016, then addressed the plenary meeting. He thanked the delegates for having confirmed the USA to host next year s annual conference in Las Vegas. In his closing remarks, IFATCA PCX and CEO Patrik Peters thanked the organising committee and BULATCA for an excellent conference a feeling that was shared by the delegates by a long applause and standing ovation.^ ed@the-controller.net v PLAN AHEAD FOR VEGAS 2016! If you re planning to attend the 2016 IFATCA Conference in Las Vegas, start thinking about your visa requirements NOW. To attend a Conference, US regulations state that you need to apply for a BUSINESS Visa not a Tourist one. If your country is not one of the ones that participate in the Visa Waiver program for the USA, then the process to get a visa can take 6 months. The website of the 2016 Organising Committee, has links to all the necessary information: go to the tab Plan your visit, then "Travelling to the US". This will re-direct you to the USA Government Visa website, where each country is listed. If you need a visa, the procedure to apply for one is also there. There is a 160 USD non-refundable application fee, a visit to a US embassy or consulate is mandatory in most cases. As indicated before, the time to process your application can take up to 6 months. Since the Conference takes place in March, there is no time to waste! It s also worth noting that this is not something IFATCA, or the Organising Committee, can influence or change. This has been made clear to us by the US immigration authorities that exemptions or special rules will not be made, so there is no point in contacting the OC or IFATCA office for exemptions. Philippe Domogala, IFATCA Conference Executive roxanabalint 10

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12 4 Europe REFLECTING ON PAST ^ by Dr Ruth Stilwell, former IFATCA Representative to ICAO NATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC S ASSNS.@ INTER- Over the past 5 years, IFATCA has used its position as Permanent Observer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission to evolve the Federation s contribution to the ICAO process. With the creation of the IFATCA Liaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission, we have grown into an integral part of the development of ICAO standards. This progress did not come from the position or the title, it was the result of a extraordinary team effort. It took the support of the IFATCA Executive Board to make our ICAO participation an organizational priority and the commitment from our Member Associations to fund the position and ensure that we are a daily presence at ICAO. While the final approvals come inside the ANC Chamber, much of the work to reach a positive consensus occurs through the daily interaction with the ICAO Secretariat, other members of the Commission, and the industry representatives. An organization cannot build credibility by showing up at the final stages of an amendment process and expect to constructively shape the outcome. It starts much earlier than that. Our ICAO representatives and EVP-Technical, supported by the work of both our Technical and Operational Committee and our Professional and Legal Committee, help to develop a deep understanding of the issues. Their work helps develop solutions and advocate for the concerns of the air traffic controllers long before a proposal is drafted. This sets the stage for our success. The work is not done when a proposal reaches the Air Navigation Commission. The ICAO representatives continue to work with our team to make sure the issues brought forward in the Panel and Expert Group meetings are well known to the Liaison Officer to the ICAO ANC. It is a continual exchange of information as the proposals wind their way through the 12 ICAO process. While the IFATCA ANC liaison officer is a solo post, it serves as part of a large internal team in the Federation. Our responses in the ICAO consultation process reflect the input of that team it is not the view of a single officer or representative, it is the collective view of the profession expressed through our technical and professional teams. The TOC and PLC work programmes play an important role in building our influence. It is through the deliberations and adoption of policies at conference that we achieve a global voice. It is our ability to build a global position within the air traffic controller community on matters critical to our profession that gives us the credibility necessary to build our reputation and our influence. Over the last 5 years, the Federation has reshaped its internal processes to take advantage of the opportunities we are presented. We have increased the number of ICAO expert groups on which we serve. We have expanded the input from our committees in the ICAO process. We have restructured how we identify issues for our work programmes to consider ICAO priorities. Finally, we have introduced new communications tools to facilitate the work of our committees and engage our ICAO representatives. These changes have put us in a strong position as we move forward, but like ATC modernization, it is a never-ending road. We cannot be satisfied with where we are, we must continue to move forward, building our expertise and capacity to shape the future of our profession. Our new Liaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission, Mr. Jean-Francois Lepage, is well positioned to take the Federation to the next level. ^ ruth.stilwell@gmail.com 4 Ruth and Jean-François at ICAO HQ in Montréal Photo: Mervyn Fernando

13 4 Europe LOOKING TOWARD FUTURE ^ by Jean-François Lepage, IFATCA Representative to ICAO Immediately following the Annual Conference in Sofia, IFATCA s handover for the position of IFATCA Liaison Officer to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission began. We have been working hard to make the transition transparent for everyone in IFATCA and we are on track for a smooth transition. The current ANC session is coming to an end, and we will continue our work through the Fall session, ending in November The 200th session will be full of challenges to overcome, as it will include an unprecedented number of amendments reaching the final stage of the ICAO process. At this point, the outgoing and incoming ANC liaison officers will work side by side in the ANC Chamber. This will ensure a continuous voice for the Federation as we work the numerous upcoming issues important to the Federation. The topics before us are numerous and intricate, and the realities with which we will have to work are just as varied and complex: as a Federation, we have to keep in mind that our role is to present a global view. It could be the rapid growth of traffic in Asia, the lack of resources of certain countries in Africa, the issues encountered with space vehicles and balloons launches in North America and Oceania, the integration challenges in Europe. These are just a few examples that show how important the work we are all doing for this Federation is for its members, and how important it is to make sure our interests are best represented at ICAO. In short, there will be a lot of topics of great interest for the Federation, and a lot of issues where the ANC liaison officer will have to defend our interests. There is only one way to achieve this, since no one can accomplish such a task alone: the key words are indubitably communication and synergy. Communication, because it is essential to use all the resources we have and share what we know; the volunteers of the Federation are incredibly talented and everything has to be put in place to take advantage of all this expertise and knowledge. It is paramount to continue the excellent work of Dr. Stilwell in developing mechanisms to take advantage of all this richness to better represent us at ICAO. Synergy, which is the interaction of two or more elements to achieve an outcome greater than the sum of its parts, allows us to accomplish a lot more than every one of us separately: this is another of the many strengths of IFATCA. Nowadays, technology, among other things, has made our world more complex than ever. Systems, procedures and networks tend to become heavily interrelated and one can easily get confused while trying to navigate through these webs. Again, IFATCA has two excellent committees, Professional (PLC) and Technical (TOC), within its structure that can ease this constraint. Communication between the PLC, TOC and the ANC liaison officer will be the key to continued success in making our voice heard at ICAO. Finally, I would like to express once again my gratitude to the Executive Board for the vote of confidence and for the support in the transition. Additionally, I must acknowledge the excellent work of Dr. Stilwell training me for my new role. Her deep knowledge, patience and support will ensure that we remain strongly represented and well regarded at ICAO. ^ jeanfrancoislepage@gmail.com 13

14 4 Technology ATC DISPLAY DESIGN NEED FOR GUIDING PRINCIPLES & STANDARDS ^ by Ignacio Baca, IFATCA Technical & Operational Committee (TOC) It is a fact that modern Air Traffic Control relies on automation. Computers are behind every modern (and even not so modern) ATC system. To interact with these machines, we rely on screens. A visitor to an ACC or a Tower is often baffled by the number of screens that are a part of the Controller Working Position (CWP), or at least by the amount of information presented on them. Besides a screen that shows radar or surveillance data, there are usually a number of screens with additional information such as meteorological data, flight plan information, health of the systems, etc. An extreme example is that of the Bodø Oceanic ACC (Norway), where the working positions are literally overloaded with screens that are linked to different systems. While the number of screens and their placement on a working position is a subject in itself, the way the information is presented on a given screen needs to be considered: it needs to be optimised to suit the needs of the operator so he or she can use the information in the most efficient way. IFATCA s Technical and Operations Committee (TOC) looked at this and presented a working paper at the Federation s Annual Conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, last April. When developing new systems, developers tend to rely on standards, which normally incorporate best practices or lessons learned by experience in the past. Surprisingly however, there are no official standards for the design of ATC systems. Some efforts have been made, for example in a project called Eurocontrol Core Requirements for ATM Working Positions (CoRe). Finalized in 2002, it tried to identify and mitigate problems within the CWP Development Process. The FAA also produced a report in 2003 to assist in the design, development and evaluation of FAA systems. Despite such efforts, nothing in the domain of ATM compares to, for example, the situation in aircraft cockpits where there is a high level of standardization. Generally, we can distinguish four areas in design requirements: 44 Simplicity: simple systems are generally easier to use and maintain and require less training. 44 Consistency: it is desirable that the same layout and style is used as much as possible. As an example of the importance of this factor, the time that a person needs to mentally process the information in a screen may double when the position of the elements is varied. 44 Safety: as safety is paramount in ATC, the system must be verified, validated and certified for both normal operations but also in degraded and emergency modes. 44 Usability: meaning that the system must be easy to use and learn and efficient to apply for performing a certain task. A user-centred approach is desirable to improve the usability of the system. This is why controllers should be involved in the design of ATC systems from the beginning: an article about the subject was published in The Controller issue of April 2014 (Put a controller in your team). Controllers also need to be involved in validation and in further developments and upgrades to help keep the system user-friendly and not feature overloaded. But what about consistency? Different cultures, communities and even individuals can have different perceptions of the same problem. As such, the display of information and the differences between ATM systems clearly show a lack of consistency. Let s consider alerts, for example. An alert is a way to focus the attention of the controller to a particular piece of the information being displayed. Well-designed alerts clearly contribute to safety but false warnings and nuisance alerts, if these occur too frequently, can result in the controller ignoring a genuine warning or simply overlooking it. Our systems tend to have an increasing number of warnings: conflict alerts, area proximity warnings, level busts, It should be easy to quickly determine the actual nature of the warning and using colours to differentiate seems like a logical thing to do. In the absence of any standards however, every control system has its own set of warnings with its own colour schemes and its own set of parameters. If colours are used to draw attention to an issue or to distinguish different problems, it can in fact cause issues as well. In the January 2015 issue of The Controller there 14 4 Screen overload at Bodø Oceanic ACC. Photo: Terje Dahlseng Eide

15 4 Technology is an article (pages 14 and 15) about the new Pegasus System implemented in Poland. The author writes: One of the main issues is how colours are used ( ) it appears for example very easy to miss situations close to sector boundaries due to the so-called white-label syndrome. The white label syndrome is also known in other systems. In Spain, the labels are green for traffic in the sector and white for traffic outside the sector. Sometimes controllers overlook the white traffic close to their sectors because their attention is focused in looking for conflicts affecting the green planes. While colours provide an additional source of information to the controller, there s also a risk that information is too easily discarded, i.e. without actually interpreting it. In fact, the system decides that certain information is worth looking at more than other It s also easy to overdo: an extensive use of colours can also lead to overload for controllers. An example is the following list of colours used in Belgium: 44 White: aircraft currently on the frequency 44 Yellow: aircraft coordinated to enter the sector 44 Brown: aircraft transferred to the next sector 44 Green aircraft entering the sector but not yet on the frequency 44 Blue: aircraft is selected 44 Red: conflicting aircraft 44 Grey: information label, aircraft won t necessarily be entering the sector Not only the high number of colours make difficult to keep track of the traffic, but grey labels are often overlooked due to all the other colours creating a problem similar to the white-label syndrome mentioned above. The three systems just mentioned, Spanish, Polish and Belgian, use a dark background, in line with the traditional radar scopes. But the lack of standards is evident even here. A number of systems, such as the VAFORIT system introduced in Karlsruhe in 2010 (see The Controller July 4 The Pegasus system in Poland: susceptible to the white-label syndrome. 2011) used a white background. This was later changed to light grey. The training sessions for VAFORIT showed that the colour scheme was not welcomed by the controllers. Every change in the design resulted in more problems because changing one colour impacted the entire colour palette. After the system was brought online, the colour scheme was implicated as a contributory factor to several incidents. Eventually, DFS asked the Institute for Labour Sciences of Darmstadt University for assistance. This was a unique opportunity to have a scientific analysis of the issue. They suggested a particular range of colours, which was accepted by the controllers and finally implemented. Another issue is the readability of the information presented. It is tempting to think that the type of font used in a system is only relevant from an aesthetic point of view but it can easily lead to confusion. IFATCA has policy on the use of alphanumeric callsigns: this advises against the use of the letters B, I, O, S and Z in callsigns because of the potential confusion with the numbers 8, 1, 0, 5 and 2. While this applies no matter what font is used, a badly chosen font can easily create more confusion than a well-designed one. The experience of our German colleagues and their VAFORIT system is a perfect example of how a scientific study can improve Photo: PANSA a system. It could be tempting to think that science is universal and that it could therefore help to develop some universal standard to be followed by every ATC system. Unfortunately, this is not completely true. Colours are useful as an example again. How to define a standard for colours when they may have different meanings depending of culture? Being educated in a western culture, I would probably choose red as the colour to be used for a warning. In my culture, red is associated to danger and prohibition. A Chinese controller on the other hand could think otherwise: for him, red is associated with celebrations and as a symbol of good luck. To conclude, there is no universal set of rules to decide what information must be included in an automated ATC system and how this information should be presented. Definition of a standard is not an easy task because of factors like cultural differences and the transition from existing legacy systems. Nevertheless, at least some standardization is desirable. For this reason, TOC recommended that the Federation develops guiding principles for alerts and for the display of operational information. ^ ignacio.ifatca@gmail.com 15

16 4 Europe IFALPA ANNUAL CONFERENCE MADRID HOST TO 70TH EDITION ^ by Philippe Domogala, Deputy Editor The 70th annual conference of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) was held in Madrid on April Nearly 500 pilots attended and debated a wide range of subjects. Contracts One of these was the new pilot employment contracts being devised by many airlines, more particularly those operating as so-called low-cost operators. One such practice is the Pay-to-Fly contract, whereby mostly young pilots looking for a job and requiring to build/keep experience have to pay between 20 and 50,000 USD in exchange for the privilege of working as a pilot for an airline. Another deplorable one is the so-called zero hours contract. Here pilots are only paid when they fly. In other words, they have no fixed income and are not paid during months where traffic is low. The last one is referred to as self-employment where companies (Ryanair was mentioned) only employ pilots that have their own company. This avoids the airline having to pay pension contributions, social and medical benefits,etc. Needless to say that job security in all these schemes is non-existent. While the main reason is of course costcutting, they also undermine collective bargaining for working conditions etc. These tendencies are extremely worrisome and we have to be careful that controllers will not be the next victims of this form of modern slavery. Germanwings There were of course long discussions on the aftermath of the Germanwings crash. As other professional organisations, IFAL- PA strongly condemned the witchhunt by the world s media, the release of details of the Cockpit Voice Recorder to the press within 36 hours of it being recovered, and especially the rash measures taken by authorities and some airlines without awaiting the outcome of the full investigation. The European Cockpit Association (ECA, the European Branch of IFALPA) made a resolution opposing the requirement to replace a pilot leaving the cockpit, saying it actually increases risks. They also opposed publishing medical records of pilots, which would only result in pilots avoiding medical treatment. They also reacted strongly against regular psychological assessments by the employer, which they argued would also be counterproductive as people would lie to protect their job. A better overall solution would be a Peer Intervention Program, similar to CISM, combined with a good loss of license insurance covering mental illness. Most strongly condemned was the unprecedented statement of a state prosecutor, which identified a crew member as the only culprit. Without awaiting all the elements of the investigation, it is clearly a grave and unprecedented violation of ICAO Annex 13. Safety Seminar Their safety seminar this year dealt with emergency responses and media communications after incident or accident, including how to handle social media. This has becomes one of their priorities, similar to what IFATCA is currently embarking upon. Changes In Training IFALPA allows presentations from outsiders to be made during their plenary. Traditionally, this privilege is for Airbus and/ or Boeing, but they included Embraer this year as well. Essentially, all 3 manufacturers promoted the new features of their latest-generation aircraft. One excellent presentation came from Captain Harry Nelson, an Airbus senior test pilot. He talked about the drastic changes needed in training, following a number of recent accidents where automation or rather how humans interact with this automation, played a major role. According to Captain Nelson, less books and classrooms lectures were needed, but self training using laptops and tablets were the way forward. Training must be fun again, he said, with an emphasis on hands-on experience, rather than on written material. Elections Deputy President, Martin Chalk from the UK, was elected to become the new IFAL- PA President. Martin is the former President of the European Cockpit Association and he is keen to continue the very good cooperation with IFATCA. Their next Conference will be in New Orleans, USA, from April 15 unitl 18, For once, it doesn t clash with our own IFATCA Conference! ^ dp@the-controller.net 16 4 Capt. Martin Chalk, newly elected IFALPA President Photo: IFALPA

17 4 IFATCA Statement FUTURE OF GLOBAL AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT This is version 2.0 of the IFATCA Statement on the Future of Global Air Traffic Management. It was formally adopted at the IFATCA Annual Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria in April For more information, contact our EVP Technical via 8 INTRODUCTION Air traffic control at its core is a safety service. Many future systems focus on increasing system capacity and efficiency. It is not that capacity concerns have overshadowed safety as priority, instead it is an acknowledgement that a system operated in excess of available capacity creates unsafe conditions. To remedy an overcapacity condition one can either restrict access or increase capacity. IFATCA recognizes that restricting growth in global aviation is not a realistic approach. In order to maintain the necessary standard of safety in air traffic control moving forward, we must be willing to take advantage of innovation in technology and procedures that will build the needed system capacity. 8 PERFORMANCE BASED ATM 4 AIR NAVIGATION SERVICE INFRASTRUCTURE Air navigation infrastructures develop on an evolutionary path that requires cooperation between ground based providers and airborne users. Moving forward with advanced technologies to build system capacity requires coordinated investment from governments, air navigation service providers and system users. In other modes of transport, the infrastructure can be developed independently from the network users. For example, adding a new lane to a highway increases system capacity without the need for new investment in vehicle technology. With the exception of new runways, this is not the case for aviation. INTER- NATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC S ASSNS. Moving toward a performance based model for Air Traffic Management requires more than placing performance targets on outputs. It requires a fundamental rethinking of the air traffic infrastructure and standards development process. Each element of the system should be developed using a performance-based process. By shifting to a true performance based model, we change the concept of standards making in a way that encourages technological advancement and allows system users to take advantage of the benefits new systems offer. This concept embraces the ideas embodied in Required Navigation Performance, Required Surveillance Performance, and Required Communication Performance. 4 REQUIRED SURVEILLANCE PERFORMANCE Required Surveillance Performance is a concept within the ICAO community. Transition to a true RSP environment requires the establishment of clear standards for precision, update rates and latency of any surveillance system. Ideally, this will lead to the concept of simplified surveillance separation standards that replaces the current process of developing new separation standards to accommodate new technologies. Rather than evaluate new surveillance systems and develop separation standards necessary to utilize a new technology, a performance based approach requires the sensor technology to meet the specifications to allow the existing separation standards to be applied 1. This provides developers and manufacturers with a clear design target. In addition, moving away from sensor based standards can reduce sector complexity in a mixed mode operation allowing for increased capacity. It is not necessary for air traffic controllers to know the source of a surveillance target, only that the displayed target meets the necessary requirements for accuracy and reliability. This approach allows both users and ANSPs to take advantage of developing technologies more rapivdly, and can expand the amount of airspace where surveillance based separation standards can be applied. As we move away from radar dependent surveillance in the long term, we introduce new flexibility for airspace design, capacity and efficiency. 1 Separation standards are not solely based on the surveillance system, they also require standards for communication and navigation availability and precision. illustrations: csp_harlekino

18 4 IFATCA Statement 4 REQUIRED NAVIGATION PERFORMANCE The development process for Required Navigation Performance can provide an effective model for the continued development of RCP and RSP. RNP has illustrated that continual improvements in the on board precision coupled with effective airspace design can provide substantial and measurable benefits. The application of a rigorous safety case is a fundamental part of the process. Moving away from a technology based standard to a performance based one has improved the process and allows for operators to conduct independent evaluations on the business case to support the on board investment. Operational benefits from increased airspace capacity are demonstrated. This approach formed the basis for PBN (Performance Based Navigation). 4 REQUIRED COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE Existing standards are dependent upon direct air to ground voice communications. While this is currently the preferred means of communication when possible, opportunities for development of less infrastructure dependent communications technologies are foreseeable. A focus on the performance requirements of alternative systems that includes the human factors elements may allow for development of alternative systems with equal or greater levels of reliability than existing air to ground voice concepts. 4 SERVICE PRIORITY Existing ATC service priority models that place heavy emphasis on the concept of first come, first served, do not take advantage of the reduced demand on ATC resources that result from advances NATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC S ASSNS. in onboard capabilities. Tactical sector resources include air traffic controller staffing, available frequency time and coordination requirements. The level and type of communication, navigation, and surveillance equipment on board an aircraft affects the tactical sector resources needed to provide air traffic control services. For example, an RNAV equipped aircraft uses fewer sector resources when flying an RNAV STAR than a lesser- equipped aircraft that must be vectored to the final approach. INTER- The evolution of air navigation and airspace design over the last decade has placed increasing emphasis on airborne equipment. From GNSS routes to PBN, efficient airspace design and utilization requires that sufficient percentages of aircraft be appropriately equipped to utilize the advanced routes. Performance Based ATM requires both air navigation service providers and system users invest in systems that allow for maximization of airspace capacity and efficiency. In order to develop a business case for the investment, operational benefits must be quantifiable. A service priority model based on first come, first served, without consideration of the relative sector resources needed to provide the service may discourage or delay modernization efforts. New service priority models are a critical element of performance based ATM. In the same manner that system users seek to obtain operational benefits from on board investment, air navigation service providers should be able to derive benefits from investment in the ground based technologies. Under the current service priority model, lesser equipped aircraft are afforded the same priority as better equipped aircraft regardless of the additional resources they may consume. Delaying aircraft to accommodate minimally equipped users, particularly through holding, consumes considerable sector resources for which the ANSP is not compensated. If the ANSP is able to establish a service priority model that considers aircraft equipment requirements to maximize sector capacity and efficiency, it will be more able to offset the investment costs of advanced technologies. A truly performance based model for ATM would permit ANSPs to consider airborne equipment as a dynamic tool for managing sector capacity and efficiency. Aircraft equipment requirements could be in place during periods of peak demand and lifted when the capacity enhancing tools are no longer required. This strategic approach will require enhanced attention to both airspace planning and flight planning. In addition to the capacity enhancement, the strategic approach can also be seen as a means to ensure equitable access to airports and airspace when compared to the equipment mandate approach.

19 4 IFATCA Statement 4 AIRSPACE DESIGN AND ACCESS Advanced airspace design and procedures are evolving to maximize airspace availability and efficiency. PBN Approaches reduce track distance and can allow aircraft to navigate around terrain in low visibility. Continuous Descent Operations allow operators to maximize fuel economy, RNP standards allow for reduced separation in procedural airspace, increasing capacity and new in-trail climb and descent procedures in en route airspace will allow equipped aircraft to access preferred flight levels. These advanced procedures also have the ability to reduce demand on sector resources. Airspace design that takes advantage of modern aircraft navigation capabilities has the possibility to de-conflict traffic flows, reduce the need for vectoring, and reduce frequency congestion. Advanced airspace design will play an increasingly important role in managing traffic in high-density areas. However, this type of airspace design is only of value if the aircraft operating in the airspace are able to use it. Airspace analysis and planning is a critical component in developing an airborne equipment based service priority model. Airspace service volumes should be evaluated to determine if and when benefits can be derived from advanced procedures. This evaluation of airspace service volumes should be an ongoing process and can aid in the evolution to a dynamic concept of airspace management and access. By granting access to the most efficient procedures and airspace to aircraft equipped to use them, the business model for airborne investment can be made without artificial manipulation. The demand on controllers to manage a new service priority model is mitigated. Finally, while this model can provide an incentive for operators to equip aircraft, for those that want to defer or delay the on board investment, the option of moving flights away from peak periods to unconstrained periods could improve overall system efficiency and safety. INTER- NATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC S ASSNS. 4 TRAFFIC FLOW MANAGEMENT The regionalisation of traffic flow management is necessary to meet the traffic growth and environmental demands on aviation in the future. Safe, orderly and expeditious air traffic flows necessitate coordination beyond state boundaries. Avoidance of extreme weather events as well as conflict zones that create hazards to aviation cannot be effectively managed without regional collaboration. Traffic flow management must take advantage of technologies for information sharing, planning and response. 4 AIRSPACE INTEGRATION AND USE( CIVIL-MILITARY,ETC.) Global goals of interoperability and airspace capacity are hindered without effective airspace integration. Achieving a balance for airspace access between users, including civil, military, manned, unmanned and transitional (i.e. commercial space operators) presents significant challenges for future systems. The demand for airspace use is increasing in both quantity and diversity of operations. Technological advances in aircraft coupled with expanded civil uses will place demands on the system that are not supported by current policies. Unmanned aircraft both autonomous and remotely piloted are in development. In addition, the growth in commercial space operations and the development of space tourism will place increasing demands on airspace, particularly in the launch and return phases of flight. Integrating diverse operations into common airspace will present new challenges that will require innovative thinking to move forward. In some cases, particularly in the case of autonomous unmanned aircraft or a ballistic launch phase for a commercial space vehicle, where the aircraft or spacecraft may not have a means to execute an air traffic control clearance, integration may not be possible. In order to accommodate these types of operations, clear standards for separation or protected airspace are necessary to ensure the safety of other aircraft. 8 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Innovation is a hallmark of aviation. The first commercial flight occurred within a decade from when the Wright Brothers first took to the air. It was less than half a century between the first powered flight and the supersonic jet. Our industry has embraced and advanced new technologies that have not only made air travel faster, but also safer and more efficient. The constant adaptation and integration of new technologies into air traffic control is the mark of the profession. This integration and acceptance is not without caution or scepticism. The approach where technologies are rigorously evaluated prior to integration into

20 4 IFATCA Statement the air traffic control system has ensured high levels of safety. Air traffic controllers are a critical part of this process. Certain new technologies will require a rethinking of long standing operational concepts and standards to facilitate their accommodation. Just as radar allowed for the development of new separation standards, certain new tools may require the same level of work in developing fundamental concepts and new safety analysis. Tools like synthetic vision, remote towers and remotely piloted aircraft blur the lines between standards based on visual acquisition of traffic and surveillance based traffic identification. These hybrid systems, where the human is tasked with visual evaluation of electronically derived information do not fit within the existing separation paradigm. New separation standards, recognizing that these systems are neither traditional surveillance nor visual systems, need to be developed and validated to support the safe integration of these types of systems. 8 SAFETY Safety remains the most important performance indicator in ATM. As traffic figures rise, the accident rate has to be reduced to prevent the number of accidents from increasing. The approach towards safety has developed over the years, introducing technical, human and organisational factors. The linear safety approach has been successful in demonstrating causes, whenever an incident or accident occurs. However, the very low rate of aircraft accidents makes it an ineffective safety indicator. It is important to examine safety risks even in the absence of aircraft accidents or incidents. This requires a new approach towards safety. A proactive approach seeks to understand all the contributing factors in the system and identify systemic safety risks. This systems safety approach is based on a principle to maximize the success rate of the overall system. In this approach, the human factor is seen as the resilient element in a vulnerable system and as a safety net when the system fails. Under this concept, steps are taken to ensure that the systems are adequately robust and safety risks are mitigated and the human operator is given the necessary tools to perform the safety task. INTER- NATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC S ASSNS. In order to collect and analyse safety information, adequate protection of safety information and its sources is critical. Systems that penalize people or organizations for reporting safety data limit the data that will be made available. The ability to report safety problems, including those of human error, without fear of reprisal, it the foundation of any safety system. 8 HUMAN FACTORS The need for human factors analysis in the development of new technologies is well established. Human Machine Interface is a critical part of the design process and successful deployment of major new systems have included considerable attention to the human factors analysis. However, new systems are increasingly network centred, rather than single systems that can be analysed as stand alone product introducing broader human factors considerations that go well beyond HMI. As technologies are deployed to maximize system capacity, the limits of human performance must be considered. While system reliability requirements are very high, external factors that could cause disruption cannot be entirely eliminated. It is essential to ensure that the ability of human operators to maintain system safety in the event of technology failure is not exceeded. The concept of a systems approach to safety should be expanded to include human factors. The human operator should be viewed in totality, recognizing as new systems allow for increased system capacity, workload related fatigue issues will need to be considered in addition to those related to schedules and duty time. Workload related fatigue can be a symptom of sustained periods either high or very low workload. In order to fully realize peak capacity, operational complexity must be minimized. Reducing or eliminating mixed mode operations in high-density airspace allows for higher sector capacity. Formulas that determine maximum sector capacity must consider both volume and complexity, aircraft performance and capability is an important component of sector complexity. 8 IFATCA'S ROLE IFATCA is in the unique position to provide operational expertise in the development of future ATM. The organization has a leadership role to play in the design, development, and analysis of emerging concepts for air traffic control. IFATCA technical and professional expertise is a critical component of the decision chain. The global reach of the Federation provides the opportunity to advance these concepts. IFATCA provides ambitious ideas to meet the challenges of the global future of aviation through comprehensive research, studies, and participation in the global aviation community. ^