z A Tribute to the An-225 z 100 ways to say Air Traffic Controller z Women In Aviation Advisory Board z An interview with the SESAR Deployment Manager ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Journal of Air Traffic Control OCTOBER 2022 THE CONTROLLER 100 YEARS ATC
THANKS THE FOLLOWING PARTNERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT BRUSSELS 18-20 OCTOBER
THE CONTROLLER In this issue Foreword........................ ...................................... ..............................................................................4 Obituary Edgerton Green, former IFATCA Executive Secretary. ................................5 Federation News IFATCA 2030+ Task Force update...............................................................6 100 Years ATC History Book ..................................................................................7 Swiss Stamp ................................................................................10 100 Faces ................................................................................11 Language Speak English Programme........................................................................16 Why Aviation English?...............................................................................18 100 Ways To Say Air Traffic Controller......................................................19 100 Years ATC 100 Area Control Centres?........................................................................22 100 Air Traffic Control Towers. .................................................................23 Human Factors Staying In Control ................................................................................26 Recruitment Women In Aviation Advisory Board...........................................................28 Industry News World ATM Congress '22 - Interview with SESAR Deployment Manager..31 Humanitarian Drones ................................................................................34 Feature Family Business ................................................................................36 Antonov 225 - "Inspiration"........................................................................40 International Airspace...............................................................................42 Training A Century of ATC Training And The Next Decade. ....................................44 Charlie's Column...............................................................................................................................46 EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA Duncan Auld President and Chief Executive Officer Helena Sjöström Deputy President Mark Taylor Executive Vice-President Finance Peter Van Rooyen Executive Vice-President Professional Ignacio Baca Executive Vice-President Technical Fateh Bekhti Executive Vice-President Africa and Middle East Patricia Gilbert Executive Vice-President Americas Cheryl Yen-Chun Chen Executive Vice-President Asia and Pacific Frédéric Deleau Executive Vice-President Europe Jean-François Lepage ICAO ANC Representative* Philip Marien Communications Coordinator* Tatiana Iavorkaia Office Manager* * ex-officio members 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 THE IFATCA WEB SITES: www.ifatca.org and www.the-controller.net The editorial team endeavours 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 editor@ifatca.org 3 PUBLISHER IFATCA, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers‘ Associations 360, St Jacques · Suite 2002 Montreal, Quebec · H2Y 1P5 · CANADA Phone: +1514 866 7040 Fax: +1514 866 7612 Email: office@ifatca.org OCTOBER 2022 Volume 61 Issue 1 – ISSN 0010-8073 THE CONTROLLER EDITORIAL TEAM Philip Marien Nicola Ní Riada Email: editor@ifatca.org CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Umi Muthiah Syahirah, Philippe Domogala, Antonio Landi, Joel Holguín, Jaymi Steinberg z contents
z FOReWORD THE CONTROLLER 4 z by DUNCAN AULD, IFATCA President & CEO THE NEED TO EVOLVE The world is forever changing, maybe now more than ever. As we shift from one era to another, we reflect on our successes and challenges in the past, and plan for the future ahead of us. The pace of technological development at the moment is exponential, making planned timelines compress and increasing uncertainty in the long term. We must remain strong on our core principles of the profession, on system design and human interaction, and of the Federation. To maintain our place on the world stage the Federation must evolve, as any other organisation does, to stay relevant, efficient, and influential. Our 2030+ Task Force has been working tirelessly over the past year to build a roadmap of the Federation for the coming decade. This will be broken down depending on the topic into phases, projects, or action plans, to implement over the coming years. This should result in more tangible deliverables to the Member Associations and build engagement across the regions. To look back at the past 100 years of air traffic control, we have a dedicated team producing a book summarising the history of the profession based on extensive research, which will be available soon for distribution. What is notable is that for the 100 years of ATC, the Federation has existed for over half of that, and with our office in Montreal for a quarter of a century. Our place in Montreal is essential at cementing our position in the international aviation community, among the offices of the other international organisations and of course ICAO. We just passed the first week of the 41st General Assembly of ICAO, and our team has promoted the Federations objectives and policies, while also building the relationships and reputation that maintains the influence we need to make progress. Issues such as climate change have been debated at length, albeit overshadowed by the discussions regarding the complexities of international airspace as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What have been considered international norms and customary law are no longer as certain as they once were, leaving the general public, aviation, and air traffic controllers left to navigate the actions of the puppet masters. As an international collective body, we expect cooperation, diplomacy and negotiation as the basis for action and change. Shifting from policy to implementation, we are ramping up the training course programs as we move out of the pandemic. Course development remains focused on key issues that are high on our priority list such as safety culture, English language proficiency, competency based training, critical incident stress management, and so on. Aside from operational issues we also support the transition to a more diverse profession, in line with the modern workforce. The promotion of women in aviation, among other under-represented groups, enables our profession to utilise the best available resources building capacity and capability for the coming years. As we happily exit the pandemic we look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming regional meetings. These meetings are important as they provide a closer relationship with many associations and operational controllers. The meetings will be progressively enhanced to provide more benefits and influence, building the capacity of the regions within the Federation. As for the annual conference, we finally look certain to hold Conference 2023 in Jamaica, an event we have all been waiting for. I know the team there is doing an outstanding effort to prepare to host you all, and I am sure you will experience an amazing time if you can make it. y pcx@ifatca.org
z FEDERATION NEWS 5 THE CONTROLLER IFATCA is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Edgerton "Edge" Green on July 17, 2022, at the age of 92. Edge's professional life was connected with aviation throughout. National service introduced him to radar in the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, after which he became a navigator with a major aerial survey company. He started his ATC career as a GCA controller, seconded to the United States Air Force before joining the civil side at Bournemouth. Subsequent postings took him to Heathrow and eventually London ATCC, where he worked as both sector and chief sector controller. In between these postings, he managed to get in 18 months in Accra, Ghana, where he assisted with training the first radar controllers. He was UK GATCO's IFATCA liaison officer for several years and eventually served as GATCO President for two years from 1985. He was a member of IFATCA's technical and professional committee (SC I) for several years, serving on the IFALPA ATS study group as the IFATCA representative. He also represented the Federation at ICAO on several occasions. In 1990, Edge joined the IFATCA Executive Board as the Federation's last Executive Secretary. In that role, he was instrumental in establishing the Federation's permanent office in Montreal, Canada, in 1997. In the years before, Edge and his wife Wendy were familiar faces at the Annual Conferences, managing the Conference Secretariat with unseen efficiency and flair. For their hard work, the Federations recognised the Greens at the Conference in Toulouse, 1998: Edge received the Scroll of Honour, while Wendy was made the Federation's first Honorary Member. Three years later, their expertise was needed one final time to assist during the 40th Annual Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. On behalf of the Executive Board and membership of the Federation, we extend our deepest condolences to Edge's family and loved ones. May he rest in peace. y OBITUARY It is our very great privilege to welcome you to the centenary issue of the Controller Magazine. You may have noticed it has been a while since the last issue of our magazine. Putting together a magazine with a small team of volunteers is challenging. For this issue, we have expanded the editorial and contributory teams significantly and would like to continue to do so! We would like to thank the MAs who engaged with us for the photos of faces and towers, and ways to say air traffic controller projects. We were blown away by the enthusiasm and pride you all showed in sharing your colleagues and facilities with us. This issue focuses on the idea of the human as the unchanging element of the air traffic management system and the most important element of IFATCA. It is also the message we will be bringing for the International Day of the Air Traffic Controller on October 20th. Here is to the next 100 years, with controllers and IFATCA being at the forefront. Philip Marien, EGATS Nicola Ní Riada, IATCA Ireland Our profession turns 100 years old this year. We take great pride in our long history of cooperation in the field of air navigation. But like most significant birthdays, this one also gives us a chance to consider our progress. Air Traffic Control became more necessary as the route network grew. The rise in air travel demand also makes it possible for us to keep looking for ways to assist organizations in running more effectively and safely. So, we change to keep up with technology. As we celebrate this milestone, I'm humbled to be part of this task force. I've learned a lot from this. Many thanks, Umi Muthiah Syahirah, IATCA Indonesia IFATCA Asia/Pacific 100 Years ATC Task Force FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM
z FEDERATION NEWS 6 THE CONTROLLER z by Julian Ogilvie, Helvetica Swiss Controllers Association and chair of the IFATCA 2030+ Task force IFATCA 2030+ TASK FORCE The profession of the air traffic controller is a young one, only 100 years old. Our Federation is even younger. Those who created IFATCA had a vision of being able to influence our industry and to make it safer and fairer. The same vision that we share today. Over the 100 years of air traffic control; technology, political constraints and social conditions have all changed immeasurably. The way IFATCA works has adapted over the years, although little in the last 20 years. The COVID pandemic brought the limitations of the way we have worked in the past to light. However, it has also given us now a unique opportunity to make it fit for the future. Almost a year ago, the Executive Board, sought volunteers to come together as a taskforce to address this challenge. At the same time, it was an opportunity to listen to Member Associations’ needs and challenges and see how to incorporate these concerns in a future IFATCA. Although we work uniquely online only, we meet virtually once a month and have managed to form a great work ethic and friendship. As you will have seen, we have created an extensive Member Association questionnaire, published in three languages. We were generally very pleased with the results, the number of participants and above all the quality of the comments received. The results have been summarised globally and also, importantly, by region. This analysis, along with our own suggestions, will form the basis of conclusions to the Executive Board and most importantly, the Member Associations. By the time of the 2022 regional meetings, you will have had the chance to read these documents, we strongly suggest that you do! There are interesting common themes that have been identified in the results, notably around the format and content of conferences, regional priorities and information dissemination. We talk often in our industry of identifying and mitigating single points of failure. The taskforce’s experience has so far shown us that the IFATCA A55 (contact list), is indeed such a single point of failure, although being arguably the most important document for the Federation. This is most definitely a subject that must be addressed. The next package of work for us will be to produce working papers for the annual conference in 2023. Although the formal procedure of modifying byelaws and policies will take some time and some changes will likely have to go through the standing committees of CAC and FIC, the wheel has started turning and the process is gathering pace! Please contact us if you have a suggestion, an idea or comment. We would love to hear from you. An advantage of being a young federation and profession, is that we can shape our future easily and above all, we have the enthusiasm and passion with which to do so. y ifatca2030TF@ifatca.org reflections on the centenary of AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL credit: fotogestoeber via Adobe Stock
z 100 YEARS ATC 7 THE CONTROLLER z by Philippe Domogala, Chairman 100 Years ATC Task FOrce In 2018, former IFATCA President and SESAR Coordinator Marc Baumgartner suggested celebrating 100 years of air traffic control. A small group of enthusiasts, including myself, began looking into the history of our profession, and we discovered that 1922 appeared to be a pivotal year for our profession. When we pitched the idea to somehow celebrate 100 years of air traffic control in 2022, many immediately embraced it as an excellent opportunity to promote the profession. We formed a small task force to come up with ideas. One of the first suggestions was to try and write a book on the history of ATC. As Philip Marien and I had collaborated for decades on The Controller magazine and had written a book on the history of the Eurocontrol Maastricht Centre, we were a logical choice to take on this challenging project. We began researching and collecting information, often helped by colleagues who volunteered information, photos and stories. It soon became apparent that it could not be an academic-style history book, mostly because we simply did not have the ‘scientific’ background, but also because ATC did not develop linearly. Air traffic control was not invented: necessity drove most developments that shaped it to what it is today, one hundred years later. Unfortunately, many of these developments and improvements followed from an accident or a crisis. Standards, rules and procedures were rarely pro actively developed. With only a few exceptions, they were driven by hindsight and by a need to make things safer. While this more or less confirms the idea that we are a reactive industry, it does not mean controllers themselves are averse to change, as is an often-heard criticism. In many cases, the controllers themselves came up with the necessary changes before these were eventually turned into standards or procedures. Rather than a dry, chronological account of ATC, we decided to try and write short stories and anecdotes that help illustrate the origins and development of ATC throughout the years and across the world. To help structure things, we looked at five major periods. 1922 - 1940 The Need for ATC While passenger flights tentatively began in, as early as, 1910, there was no real need for air traffic control. The sky was a big place, and every pilot could fly as he wanted to. That changed dramatically following World War I: Military aircraft were re-purposed and commercial aviation boomed across Europe. A lot of infrastructure, including railroads, had been destroyed and travel by air proved a significant time-saver, especially across stretches of water like the English Channel. Around Europe, having an airfield became a matter of prestige, many towns and cities and hundreds of fields were made into landing strips. Other countries and territories, like Canada, Australia and the Soviet Union were so expansive that ground-based transportation systems were expensive and cumbersome: aviation offered a viable alternative. Though early attempts to introduce basic rules of the air failed, a number of countries began organising traffic at and around their increasingly busy airports. The first mid-air collision between commercial aircraft in April 1922 on the London to Paris route convincingly demonstrated the need for tighter rules and regulations, and for better monitoring the existing air routes. The first tower-like structures began appearing at airports around Europe. Besides controlling what happened at the airfield, staff in these towers also followed flight progress and provided navigation assistance using direction finding. Airfields began coordinating flights between each other, and required pilots to obey take-off and landing authorisations. 100 YEARS ATC BOOK
z 100 YEARS ATC 8 THE CONTROLLER As aircraft rapidly evolved and could fly further, en-route stations were installed to provide navigation assistance, provide weather and traffic updates. These would eventually evolve into en-route centres. 1940-1960 The Second War Dividend During the second World War, the UK’s Royal Air Force built 420 airfields worldwide. Other air forces had constructed hundreds more. By the end of the war, many of these airfields had long concrete runways, taxiways, aprons, and control towers. They had approach and runway lighting, and approach aids. Whilst some were decommissioned or remained in military service, many were transferred to civil ownership and operation. The war also accelerated the development of many technologies. VHF radio was widely available for air ground communications and a new generation of area navigation aids were introduced, including LORAN and VHF omni-directional radio range beacons (VOR). Final approach aids were developed to help pilots break cloud on final approach. And of course, there was radar. In the immediate aftermath of the war, US and UK military staff introduced their procedures and control methods to many airfields around Europe and the rest of the world. It was not long before they began training local staff, who gradually took over as military operations wound down. Similarly, to the situation at the end of the first World War, there was a massive surplus of aircraft and aircrew. Recognising that aviation was no longer a regional industry, a new international organisation, ICAO, began harmonising standards and procedures worldwide. 1960-1980 The Jet Age & Social Conflict The introduction of faster turboprop and jet aircraft in the 1950s brought new challenges. These aircraft were not only faster, but flew higher, above 20,000ft which up to that time had been nearly exclusively used by military jets. Air traffic control expanded above 20,000 ft. En-route ATC began replacing the "see and avoid" principle that was the main form of separation. The computers were introduced for both flight plan and radar data processing. Increasingly, radar was used to separate en-route traffic, especially in busy airspace and around airports. In a number of countries, controllers became increasingly unhappy about their working conditions. This led to a number of social conflicts and a dramatic collision over France, were the government had replaced the striking civil controllers with miliary personnel. Three years later, a collision overhead Zagreb again brought the profession in the spotlight. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) was tasked to study the job of air traffic controllers. 1980 -2000 Capacity Limits As air travel became ever more mainstream, an increasing number of countries encountered capacity constraints. The USA had taken the lead in deregulating the industry, leading to a surge in airline start-ups including the so-called low-cost carriers. It put further strain on the already stretched air traffic control system and brought controller shortages, poor working conditions, safety concerns and capacity problems to light. Publication of an ILO report in 1979, on the particularities of the job of a controller, did not go unnoticed, but failed to immediately improve the situation for most controllers. Social unrest in many countries continued as a result, until it came to an abrupt and dramatic climax in the USA, when President Reagan fired over 11,000 controllers. While it was a brutal wakeup call for industrial relations, working conditions gradually improved for many controllers in the years following the PATCO debacle. Capacity and delays became a recurring issue, leading to the implementation of flow control in the USA, Europe and a number of other places. While the responsibility to provide of Air Traffic Control remains with the States, a number of them chose to privatise the service provision. This came with an increased focus on efficiency, financial targets and lowering costs. Many politicians and airline operators were proponents of a full liberalisation of air traffic services, with contracts awarded to the lowest bidder. 2000 - Present Crisis to Crisis Over the past two decades, periods of rapidly increasing demand alternated periods of dramatic drops in traffic: the attacks of 9/11, the financial crisis in 2008, an Icelandic volcano and of course COVID demonstrated that the aviation industry operates on extremely tight margins. Knee-jerk reactions like stopping recruitment and training made that periods of high demand created immediate capacity crunches. Under pressure from the airline operators, policy makers have turned to try and invest in technology rather than changes to how ATC is financed. Delay The plans for the publication of the book had to be realigned several times, mainly due to the pandemic but also because the task was substantially more challenging than foreseen. Similarly to most, if not all, major projects in air traffic control, the book has suffered some unfortunate delays. Publication is currently foreseen somewhere in 2023, if there are no more delays of course. The book aims to celebrate the achievements of controllers, assistants, support staff, engineers, scientists, all of those in manufacturing industries that have created the tools we have used as well as other organisations and service providers. It is a shared history, every much an achievement of all of us. For details on availability, cost and how to get your copy, keep an eye on IFATCA’s social media and/or internet pages. y
z 100 YEARS ATC 9 z Mock-ups of the "100 Years Air Traffic Control" book, to be published in 2023 THE CONTROLLER
z 100 YEARS ATC 100 YEARS ATC STAMP z by Marc Baumgartner, IFATCA SESAR COORDINATOR Every stamp tells a story that is not only of interest to a philatelist (stampcollector). Swiss Post issues a colourful palette of these miniature works of art in March, May, September and November each year. These stamps mark historical milestones, major sporting events, rare animal species, or famous comic strip characters. Each of these somehow connects to Switzerland, in line with the Swiss Post Philately's mission. Each stamp is available with or without a postmark, as an individual stamp, on a sheet of stamps or in many other formats. In preparation for the 100 years' celebration of air traffic control in 2022 and of the Swiss Air Navigation Service Provider, the CEO of Skyguide supported the suggestion of IFATCA's 100 Years of ATC task force to try to get a stamp created to mark this event. This process, from bidding for a stamp to publication, takes over a year and is tightly regulated. Swiss Posts invites three graphic designers to create proposals. The graphic designers visited the tower, approach and en-route centre of Geneva and got a crash course in what air traffic control does. Based on the proposals, the stamp commission of the Swiss Post elects the best submission and commissions the graphic designer to create a range of products around the stamp. These are then available to buy in post offices throughout Switzerland and via their online shop. The following text is from the Swiss Post website and explains why they created a stamp on the occasion of the 100 years of Air Traffic Control in Switzerland: Our world is now hard to imagine without the services provided by a company such as Skyguide. And the history of air traffic control goes back almost as far as the art of flying itself. In Switzerland, it began a little over 100 years ago. The first attempts to transmit ground-toaircraft radiotelegraph messages in this country started as early as 1919. In 1921, the first concession was awarded to British company Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd. The founding of the subsidiary Marconi Radio AG on 23 February 1922 marked the birth of Swiss air traffic control. After various name and responsibility changes, Skyguide was founded in 2001. With 1,500 employees at 14 locations, the company provides air navigation services for civil and military flights throughout Europe's busiest airspace. Over these past 100 years, aviation has made incredible progress – as has air traffic control, which, along with radio, radar, instrument landing and other systems, now makes flying possible at any time of the day and in almost allweather conditions. The 210-centime dedicated stamp shows a snapshot of aircraft positions, as they would appear on Skyguide monitors, overlaying the motif of a modern passenger aircraft. y sesar.coord@ifatca.org 10 THE CONTROLLER z scan or click for the Swiss Post website
z 100 YEARS ATC 11 THE CONTROLLER This centenary issue of The Controller magazine presented a unique opportunity to take a snapshot of air traffic controllers at this very moment in time. The 100 faces project’s aim is to celebrate the diversity of controllers around the globe. You can find the result on the following pages. There is no common trait, no one right face or one typical profile for a controller. We come from a variety of backgrounds, different sections of society and academic backgrounds. However, we share a common passion for our job and for ensuring the safety of the aircraft entrusted to us. This passion and common goals make us more similar than our appearances would suggest. And yet while it is extremely encouraging to see such diversity, there is still a long way to go. Inmost places, our profession is trailing in gender equality – even if these pictures may suggest differently. Hopefully, long before our profession celebrates its next big milestone – in 50 or 100 years – we will done away with the perception that air traffic controllers are mostly male. Thanks to the individuals, like Gaute Bruvik from Kodiak Photography, and Member Associations that have contributed to this project. y 100 FACES OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
z THEME 12 THE CONTROLLER
z THEME 13 THE CONTROLLER
z THEME 14 THE CONTROLLER
z THEME 15 THE CONTROLLER
z THEME 16 THE CONTROLLER z LANGUAGE Communication is arguably the most important aspect of our job as air traffic controller. Using radio telephony, we only have speech to use and the verbal side must be accurate and completely unambiguous. While using standard phraseology help to achieve this in most cases, there are times when we must resort to plain English. When that happens, using clear and accurate English is vital. For native-speaking countries, like the UK, Ireland, and many more, this is less of an issue. However, many controllers and pilots around the world are expected to use a language that is not their first, or even their second! In many instances, it is not widely spoken by anyone in their lives outside the control room, cockpit or VCR. BUT they still have an obligation to maintain their aviation English to a high standard, in line with ICAO licencing requirements. Step in the IFATCA Speak English Programme, which started in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the opportunity to maintain the required fluency in spoken English. The programme aims to connect controllers and pilots that want to practice their English with facilitators from around the world. The initiative started for controllers in IFATCA’s Asia/Pacific region but quickly grew in popularity. It was not very long before it opened up to controllers in every region and then pilots through a collaboration with IFALPA. A secretariat of seven ATCOs from the UK, Taiwan, Mongolia, Iran, Algeria and New Zealand manages the There are currently over 40 SEP facilitators from 18 different countries across all four IFATCA regions. They are all controller and pilot volunteers and give as much time as they wish. This can be a couple of times per month or every day – there is no minimum or maximum number. The participants come from even more countries and are matched with facilitators using a shared calendar. Participants can do a maximum of three sessions a month, each session being one facilitator with two or three partakers. Each session is set up for an hour, but given how much we all like to talk, they can often go on for much longer until someone notices the time and remembers that they have to pick the kids up from school or get ready to head out to a shift! The focus is very much on general English conversation with an aviation slant, rather than on technical language and phraseology – the programme is not language classes or preparation for official exams. Subject can be shift patterns, training or how to become a controller or pilot in different countries, but also about food, geography, pasttimes and whatever else takes our fancy (as in all areas of life money, politics and religion are best left aside!). Good sessions can feel more like a social meeting than anything else; they not only allow the participants to practice speaking, but also offer a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world and chat to like-minded individuals from very different backgrounds and locations. Anyone interested in meeting different people and learning about other countries is highly encouraged to join the programme; the more facilitators we can get involved the further the programme can spread around the world and, if nothing else, just maybe you’ll have a local contact working in the tower or control centre of your next exotic holiday or the pilot who flies you there, who can give you all sorts of helpful advice and insider tips on the best restaurants to go to! For further information or to volunteer contact sep@ifatca.org For information on becoming a participant, speak to your Member Association. And if you are not already a member of your country’s association: well, what are you waiting for? z by Olivia May, Vice president Communications, UK Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers SPEAK ENGLISH PROGRAMME
z LANGUAGE 17 THE CONTROLLER SPEAK ENGLISH PROGRAMME PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIALS "Communication is a complicated process even in our day-to-day life, and the potential of being confused, misunderstood, or misinterpreted is really high, especially when it comes to aviation communication where safety is on the line, notably when departing from standardized phraseology to plain English to contend with abnormal situations. English is the de facto language in the aviation industry. According to safety reports and statistics, poor communication between controllers and pilots was the primary cause or at the very least, a contributing factor in many fatal accidents throughout aviation history. Grounded on that, the ICAO introduced the concept of Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRS) in 2008 in order to improve and promote English language proficiency of all controllers across the globe so that aviation stakeholders would be able to prevent or mitigate the accidents that might stem from miscommunication to the lowest level. IFATCA, as a prominent organisation in enhancing aviation safety, adhered to this common endeavor by launching an ambitious initiative “ SPEAK ENGLISH PROGRAM”(SEP). As a non-native speaker participant in this program, let me say I am firmly convinced that the vast majority of nonnative controllers are aware enough of the fact that English language proficiency and aviation safety go hand in hand, and this is the reason why they are struggling on a daily basis to improve themselves. It is self-explanatory that they are not expected to be talented writers or readers while delivering their duties. However, it is recommended to be good, sensitive listeners and speakers by mastering various aeronautical communicative functions and recognizing different English accent variations. Those two targets cannot in any way be achieved by memorizing vocabulary or rehearsing standardized phraseology. The best option is to participate in casual conversations and interact as much as possible to build self-confidence and hone overall communication skills. Based on that, SPEAK ENGLISH PROGRAM is an opportunity that should not be passed up." Toudji Boubakar ATCO Tamenrasset Tower (DAAT) Algeria "I enjoy this program because I feel like I'm opening the door to a new world each time by talking with friendly facilitators and fellow participants from all over the world. Discussions are not limited to aviation but widely spread over various areas such as culture, history, society, and so on. I am sure participating in SEP is the best course of action to improve our English proficiency, and also to broaden our views." Tomoyuki "Bono" Akebono ANA B767 Captain Japan
z LANGUAGE 18 The term Lingua Franca gets its name from Emperor Charlemagne, who ruled the Carolingian Empire and the Frankish people from 800 A.D. to 814 A.D. and who is probably best remembered as the man who commissioned the impressive and opulent cathedral in Aachen, Germany. Charlemagne was a visionary who was drawn to the idea of there being one single language to unite in peace the peoples within his realm. In as much, a Lingua Franca is the term that is generally used to refer to a situation in which speakers of different languages communicate with each other using a language that may not necessarily be their first language. Think of a speaker of German interacting in English with a French speaker in the absence of another common language. With that example, I’ve already pretty much let the cat out of the bag: in today’s globalised world, English has assumed a prominent role as the Lingua Franca of science, commerce, technology – and aviation. One might easily be tempted to assume that the English language emerged as a global Lingua Franca in the wake of Britain’s political ambitions and the expansion of the British Empire starting in the late 16th century. In other words, wherever the British went, they took their language with them. However, at a second glance that seems overly simplistic – because while the British Empire rapidly went into decline and eventually vanished soon after the end of World War II, the English language has continued to spread across the globe, with the number of non-native speakers outstripping that of native speakers by an estimated ratio of three to one. Several factors favoured the spread of the English language, and its role in the context of aviation is a good example of this. First, there is the fact that English is, in many ways, an easy language to learn. Its grammar is simple compared to that of many other languages. And second, there is the fact that at the end of World War II there were only two countries left whose aviation industry was still more or less intact: Britain and the United States, two of the three nations that would be instrumental in establishing the International Civil AviationOrganisation in 1948. In as much, if other nations wanted to keep up with innovations, trends and developments in the engineering and aviation domains, they really had no other choice but to maintain and improve their English language skills to be able to participate in scientific discourse on the international stage – and to be able to properly understand the manuals to operate and maintain the new, modern fleets aircraft that were beginning to emerge. Today, English is firmly established as the Lingua Franca of aviation and aeronautical radiotelephony communication, and that includes its use on the radiotelephony frequency in air traffic controller to pilot interaction. However, while a good basic command of English is necessary to be able tocreateandunderstand meaning, the focus of aeronautical radiotelephony communication is not primarily on linguistic form and the use of grammatically correct sentences. What is at stake is the ability of air traffic controller and pilots to achieve mutual intelligibility and understanding on the radiotelephony frequency in a context where they only have their voice and their language to rely on to make themselves understood. y agiu@zhaw.ch z by William Agius, Deputy Head, Centre for Aviation, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences WHY AVIATION ENGLISH? THE CONTROLLER
z LANGAGUE 4 In Sami (native to Norway, Finland and Sweden) the word for air traffic controller is Girdiguođoheaddji which literally translates into the herder of planes. 4 Mayan scholar Vivian Philip proposed the following: Injun chakunel uuk jolomal aq'ech nima'q kiaqiq kawa k'en lelojah jupupih pa le keruh aqanoq koq ajchikaj, which translates as: I am the one worker with experience belonging to big air flight watch control for the ongoing action up above in z by NICOLA Nì RIADA, IRISH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' ASSOCIATION 100 WAYS TO SAY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER Our role with the aviation industry is most commonly known as ‘air traffic controller’, in English, because English is aviation’s official language. In 1951, ICAO Annex 10 (Vol I, 5.2.1.1.2) to the International Chicago Convention recommended that English be universally used for international aeronautical radiotelephony communications. Up to then, aviation mostly used codes or local language to communicate. International agreements, including rules and regulation, were written in French. But as aircraft began covering larger distances, a common spoken language became crucial for the industry. Aviation English was created to be a language for a very specific purpose, so no matter where it is spoken in the world, it’s understanding remains the same. It is interesting to note that some terms still in use today, like PANPAN and MAYDAY find their origins in French, which had been the working language for telecommunications and aviation until World War II, at least in most of Europe. Aviation English and its universal application across the industry is widely considered as an important safety benefit and one of the reasons why aviation accidents are so rare. While generally everyone working in the industry know the term air traffic controller, this is not the case for the general public. Each language will have its own translation of the term. The Irish word for Air Traffic controller is rialtóir aerthráchta. Irish is one of the oldest written and historical languages in the world, over 2,500 years old. Given that ATC is a mere 100 years old, the terminology for air traffic controller, among other aviation terms, required a new construct in Irish. How does that work? Irelandhas full-time terminologists, whose job it is to create hundreds of new Irish words and phrases each month. Requests are made online for Irish versions of English language words, and 23-member voluntary committee meets once a month debates what terms become official. Around 3,000 new Irish words are created each year. These terms can be accessed on Tearma.ie, a project funded by Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language in Ireland. This process is the same in other counties, with other languages. Icelandic for example, has the Language Planning Department who integrate new and foreign concepts into the millennia-old Icelandic language. The unique roles we play in our society is reflected in our languages evolution to name our roles. The 100 Years of Air Traffic Control project is about celebrating what controllers have in common as well as recognising the difference that make us unique. And our native languages are part of who we are. As part of the project, we thought it would be interesting to collect as many translations of Air Traffic Controller as we could find. On the following page spread, you'll find how to say Air Traffic Controller in one hundred different languages. The ATC100 Task Force would like to thank all IFATCA Member Associations who contributed and engaged with this project! y THE CONTROLLER 19
22 THE CONTROLLER z 100 Years ATC 100 AREA CONTROL CENTRES? Some aviation professions are very visible for the travelling public. Security officers, check-in staff, pilots and flight attendants are probably the most recognizable for passengers, as they are at the forefront of the industry. There is a second layer that most people know about, but rarely get in contact with like mechanics, cleaners, luggage handlers, marshallers and the likes. Air traffic controllers working in a tower are probably also in this category. Once they get past calling the apron marshaller a controller, most people associate the job with the people working in the most identifiable building at the airport: the tower. This even extends to journalists: when there is an accident, how often do they mention that the aircraft lost contact with the ‘tower’, when it was clearly nowhere near an airport? Further down the familiarity ladder are probably approach and flow controllers. The former are known from movies, as the people who, when an aircraft is in trouble, ‘talk themdown to a safe landing’. And flow control is known, of course, from the pesky cabin announcements explaining why the aircraft has still not left the gate. But that is probably as far as the knowledge of the general public goes. Few, if any, realise the vast network of Area Control Centres and the controllers that work in them. Area controllers spend a good portion of their non-professional life explaining that ‘no, we do not have batons to guide aircraft to the gates’, ‘no, we do not sit in the tower’, and, for a good portion of them, ‘no, we are actually nowhere near an airport’. Despite the explanations, it leaves most people bewildered as to why there would be people talking to aircraft that are just flying straight ahead. That bewilderment only increases when having to explain that two aircraft at the same height need more than 9 kilometres between them… While air traffic control celebrates its centenary this year, not all functions were introduced at the same time. Initial focus was on the airport tower, even if they provided some en-route navigation and information services. Approach control came next, with controllers using direction finding to guide aircraft towards the airport in low visibility conditions. The last one to develop into a dedicated function was area control, at least to prevent collisions. The service developed from goniometry stations that provided navigational assistance to overflying aircraft, replacing visual reference points and beacons. Over time, these stations began passing traffic information on other aircraft and eventually, began providing separation between aircraft passing through their area of responsibility. When discussing different projects for this celebratory edition of The Controller, we considered doing a “100 Area Control Centres” feature, similar to the 100 Towers page-spread. We quickly realised however that this was not going to be as iconic or captivating: other than some antenna’s and maybe a logo, the outside of most area control centres looks about as interesting as the average office building or shopping mall. And even though most of the editorial team that put this issue together actually works in an ACC, we all realised that it would probably be pretty boring to look at rows and rows of people staring at screens. y z by Antonio LANDI, Air TRAFFIC CONTROLLER, Maastricht UAC
z 100 YEARS ATC 100 TOWERS If they are not thinking of a marshaller, the first thing most people associate with air traffic control is the airport tower. Given that it is so iconic and widely associated with our profession, it was an obvious choice to include in our centenary celebrations. We asked IFATCA Member Associations to send in their favourites and they did. So from the older to the brand new, the towering to the tidy, each tower in the project was nominated by their MA, and is loved by ATCOs. However, by far the most impressive submission we got was the hand-painted tower of Singapore’s Changi Airport, by Dang Chun Kin, from our local association ATCA-S - see below. Tallest Tower According to the Guinness World Records, the tallest airport control tower is still Tower West at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. It is 133.8 m (438 ft 11.71 in) tall and was completed in April 2013. It appears that the tower at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International airport in Saudi Arabia is taller at 136m /446ft, but this measurement has yet to be validated by the people at Guinness. But even that is not quite the end of the story: the Vancouver Harbour Air Control Tower, which serves Vancouver Harbour Water Airport (CYHC), sits on top of a 142 m (466 ft) tall skyscraper, the Granville Square in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Built in 1973, it remains the highest air traffic control tower in the world, where it controls an airport with one of the world's highest levels of seaplane activity. z Tower West at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia z The Vancouver Harbour Air Control Tower, on top of the Granville Square skyscraper credit: © Mohd Hafiez Mohd Razali | Dreamstime.com THE CONTROLLER 23
z HUMAN FACTORS 26 THE CONTROLLER Twenty-five years ago, I got my first job as a human factors specialist involved in research and development for air traffic management. As a young psychologist and ergonomist, I was involved in safety, system design, and airspace projects. During a series of simulations, I first came into contact with a clan of professionals to whom I have somehow devoted most of my career: air traffic controllers. In the quarter century since, working in air navigation service providers, a consultancy, academia, and now an intergovernmental organisation, I have spent thousands of hours with controllers and practically every profession that affects the work of controllers, in live operations, real-time simulations, shadowing operations, classrooms, conferences, and workshops. I even found myself – a non-controller – as the editor of HindSight magazine, read mostly by air traffic controllers. Watching people walk into a typical unit, I could probably tell you which ones are the controllers. I have come to understand what it means to be an air traffic controller, and the critical role that air traffic controllers play in society. I believe in the role, and would like to see it strengthened and improved. So for this centennial issue of The Controller, I offer five suggestions that have emerged from my experience of working with you. There is the counter-intuitive lesson from these five suggestions: Staying in control involves temporarily not feeling in control. It involves becoming open to new experiences, becoming an apprentice in unfamiliar areas, accepting uncomfortable feelings about change, facing your blindspots and weaknesses, and being interdependent. z by Dr Steven Shorrock, EUROCONTROL STAYING IN CONTROL FIVE SUGGESTIONS FROM A LONG-DISTANCE PSYCHOLOGIST on the centenary of AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL 1. Practice openness to experience Perhaps you know someone who is curious, creative, imaginative, and able to see things differently from different perspectives. They are probably attentive to feelings, enjoy variety, and able to tolerate ambiguity. In psychology, this is known as ‘openness to experience’, and is one of the so-called ‘big five’ personality traits. People high on openness are most likely to adapt and thrive in the face of change. If this personality trait doesn’t seem to describe you, the good news is that personality can be changed, under three conditions. First, you have to want and intend to change your behaviour. Second, you have to believe that you can make the behavioural changes required. Third, you have to persist with the behavioural changes until they become habitual. The key word is ‘behaviour’. Research suggests that openness to experience can be enhanced by cultural activities, reading different books, learning an instrument, taking up a new hobby, developing a more active lifestyle, and paying more attention to the natural and built environment. 2. Diversify your learning In specialised professions such as air traffic control, it can be tempting to focus only on what you are already very good at (controlling!). This brings a feeling of competency and satisfaction. The problem arises when the context of work changes and you need a different and more diverse skill set. As Richard Champion de Crespigny, Captain of QF32, remarked in HindSight magazine issue 29, “We must commit to a lifetime of learning. You must never stop learning.” In a rapidly changing world, this means learning and developing knowledge and skills about areas such as change management, safety, wellbeing, or human factors, which can be transferred to different situations and environments, even beyond air traffic management. Dr Steven Shorrock is a psychologist and human factors specialist and works in the EUROCONTROL Network Manager Safety Unit. He is Editor-inChief of HindSight magazine (bit.ly/ HindSightMagazine) and blogs at humanisticsystems.com.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU1OTI1MQ==