-=< June 2023 >=-

STAFF SHORTAGES... AGAIN

Welcome to this new edition of the IFATCA Circular. As summer hits the northern hemisphere, we see airspace volumes and airports with restrictions and regulations.

Some are due to adverse weather, extraordinary events or equipment failure. Some are due to the months of annual leave when it is harder to replace operational ATCOs who become unavailable at short notice. However, a very large part of ATC regulations right now is due to staffing issues.

In times of financial hardship, some ANSPs stop or seriously decrease, ab-initio training. I am unaware of any such time where 5-7 years later, that same state/ANSP did not suffer from staff shortages.

During the pandemic, when traffic counts were extremely low in most parts of the world, the income for many ANSPs dwindled. This led to some ANSPs offering early retirement (to avoid paying salaries to controllers who did not have “enough” traffic). Now, when traffic has increased and will continue to do so, the remaining staff struggle with constant overtime and long shifts.

It is peculiar that ANSPs seem not to learn the lessons from previous years.

We support and feel for you who are working tough shifts and get called in for overtime. Stay strong and united.

Whether winter or summer in your part of the world, I wish all our members a safe season and hope you get to enjoy some fun and relaxing times with your loved ones.

Executive Board Update

The Executive Board was saddened to receive the resignation of the Executive Vice-President Finance, Mr. Mark Taylor, on the 31st of May.

Mark joined the IFATCA Executive Board in 2019 and has made enormous progress in streamlining the financial processes and in re-establishing a strong financial position of the Federation. He is well-liked, well-respected and will be sorely missed.

As volunteers all, we understand the constant juggling of work, home and IFATCA responsibilities, and we wish Mark and his family all the best for the future.

We want to take the opportunity to thank Mark and his home association GATCO, for all the work he has done on behalf of the Federation. The Executive Board greatly appreciates Mark’s dedication and efforts, in particular through the highly challenging times of the pandemic.

The IFATCA EB

IFATCA's INDUSTRY PARTNERS

IFATCAs Corporate Membership dates back to the foundation in 1961. More than 60 years later, we found it was time to modernize the concept to provide more value to the commercial providers who support us year after year.

Read more about the new concept in this article on our website.

WELCOME TO THESE INDUSTRY PARTNERS

L3HARRIS

L3Harris is a relatively new US company, operating since 2019. It is the merger of two well-known companies, Harris and L3 Technology. L3Harris specializes in avionics, electronic systems, and night vision equipment for defense and commercial sectors. They also specialize in surveillance solutions which have applications in ATM. It is the sixth-largest defense contractor in the United States.

L3Harris website

CARUSO & FREELAND

Caruso is a Swiss company specializing in sunglasses with UV filtering. Aimed mainly at pilots, their glasses are also particularly suited to tower air traffic controllers. But in fact they are suitable for everyone who needs their eyes protected.

Caruso & Freeland website

BAYMAC

Baymac is an international aviation management consultancy firm providing turn-key management solutions for companies and individuals within the aviation industry. They specialize in health insurance and pensions plans for expatriates and guaranteed pensions for Aviation staff living in countries with weak currencies and or high inflation rates.

Baymac website

SPEAK ENGLISH PROGRAMME

IFATCA SEP serves as a global platform connecting and engaging ATCs and pilots from around the world in a friendly and inspiring virtual environment!

Each session has a facilitator and 1-3 participants. The session runs for about an hour and the topics are wide and varied! In June, 20 SEP facilitators will provide 38 timeslots. That's approximately 114 participants from all over the world!

We are open to BOTH facilitators and participants.

Interested?

Check us out at https https://www.ifatca.org/sep www.ifatca.org/sep or email sep@ifatca.org for more information!

IFATCA @ ICAO

Safety Management Panel

The 6th ICAO Safety Management Panel Meeting (SMP/6) was held in Montréal, Canada, 8-12 May 2023 and was attended by 19 members, 40 advisers and 2 observers. Mr. Andrew Belshaw (GATCO - UK) represented IFATCA at the meeting. The meeting focussed on the latest update of the ICAO Safety Management Manual (SMM), Doc 9859. The group also reviewed previous SMP meeting recommendations, discussed the Safety Management Implementation (SMI) website update, reviewed the new ICAO Doc 10159 — Safety Intelligence Manual Miscellaneous, and much more. IFATCA representative on the panel is Andrew Belshaw (GATCO, UK)

Personnel Training and Licensing Panel

The second Working Group of the Whole meeting of the Personnel Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP/WG/WHL/2) took place in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, from 1st to 5th May 2023. Ms Ausra Straume (Latvia) represented IFATCA at the meeting. The group reviewed active job cards and their deliverables and updated the structure of the Panel and the composition of the various working groups.

They also reviewed the Work Programme Elements (WPEs) and tasks, as well as their timeline for expected completion, including Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) implementation and new technologies, analysis and outcomes of surveys conducted by the Panel, including drafting the study report, revisions to Annex 1 to clarify the role of CBTA as a route to licensing, and revisions to PANS-TRG to enable CBTA for instructor training.

The next meeting of the PTLP is planned for November 2023, in Montréal, Canada.

The IFATCA website has a new section with articles as traditionally appeared in The Controller. Rather than producing a 'magazine' layout every few months, this allows us to publish longer and more topical articles faster and with more interactive elements. Constructive feedback and, of course, articles are always welcome via editor@ifatca.org

IFATCA's Professional & Legal Committee

Read the Article

IFATCA's Technical & Operations Committee

Read the Article

Regional News & Activities

Regional Meetings 2023

AFM -> Algiers, Algeria - 20-22 November 2023 - more details

AMA -> Nassau, Bahamas - 25-27 October 2023 - more details

ASP -> Bali, Indonesia - 18-20 October 2023

EUR -> Riga, Latvia - 16-18 October 2023 - more details

Americas (AMA)

Regional Communications Committee

Some of the essential work to strengthen IFATCA is increasing and improving communications. Last December, IFATCA formed the World Communications Committee (WCC), and now the Americas region has created a Regional Communications Committee (RCC). After canvassing the region for interested participants, the following have agreed to be on the committee, lending their time and talents to our fantastic region.

El-Kadur Acosta

Dominican Republic

ADCA

Antonio Rodriguez

Trinidad and Tobago

TTATCA

Brittney Armbrust

United States of America

NATCA

Joey Ryan

Trinidad and Tobago

TTATCA

Nikosi Bruce

Guyana

GAATCO

Gaston Trotta

Buenos Aires, Argentina

ATEPSA

We hope to increase our interaction with our regional Member Associations by sharing their stories while highlighting our amazing profession – Air Traffic Control. By involving more members in the communications process, associations can improve engagement, build stronger relationships, and create more effective communication strategies. Follow the Americas region on Instagram.

Annual Conference Wrap-up

Many members association’s delegations at last month’s annual conference were first-time attendees. It was wonderful to finally meet again in-person to accomplish the important work of the Federation. We welcomed Grenada and Peru to IFATCA and the Americas region. See the video message from Renato Vigil, General Secretary from Sindicato Unificado de Controladores de Transito Aéreo (SUCTA) Peru.

While welcoming new member associations, current members associations with new leadership reaffirmed and renewed their commitment and appreciation to the IFATCA family and the importance of working together. See the video message from Neville Corlette, President of the Guyana Association of Air Traffic Control Officers (GAATCO).

Again, we sincerely thank the Jamaica Association JATCA for hosting an amazing conference. The time, money, and effort they put into the event was very much appreciated. We look forward to the region gathering again for the regional meeting in Nassau, Bahamas 25-27 October.

Africa & Middle East (AFM)

IFATSEA African Regional Conference

The 13^th International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Association (IFATSEA) African Regional Conference took place in Livingstone, Zambia, from June 13th to June 16th, 2023. They chose "Sustainable Civil Aviation Transformation through Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel" as the meeting's central theme. The event brought together professionals from various organizations and associations within the aviation industry. Ms Melva Chuubi, IFATCA's Regional Vice President of Southern Africa, presented on safety culture.

Ms Chuubi emphasized the significance of safety culture in the context of the conference's theme. She advocated a sustainable civil aviation transformation through the empowerment and proficiency of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel (ATSEP). Her presentation further stressed the crucial role of safety culture in ensuring the highest standards of safety in the aviation industry. Safety culture encompasses the values, attitudes, and behaviours that collectively influence the safety practices within an organization. By fostering a strong safety culture, aviation professionals can mitigate risks, prevent accidents, and create an environment where safety is a shared responsibility.

Ms Chuubi also stressed the need for a collective effort among all stakeholders, including air traffic controllers, ATSEP, pilots, engineers, and regulatory bodies. She highlighted the significance of continuous training, effective communication, and a proactive approach to safety management. Finally, she emphasized the importance of incorporating technological advancements and innovation to enhance safety systems and improve overall efficiency in air traffic management.

Asia/Pacific (ASP)

CISM Webinar Series

IFATCA Asia Pacific Region is hosting a CISM Webinar Series over June and July, and the first Webinar kicked off on the 14th of June at 0600 UTC. Around 200 people registered for the event, which shows a high interest in this topic by our members.

This first CISM Webinar focused on the theory of stress, our biological reaction to stress, the connection between personality and stress, the sources of stress, how a good level of stress helps you to be productive, and how we can, as an air traffic controller, cope with stress.

The event's lecturer, Mr Marc Baumgartner, who has been an ATC for over 25 years and has completed training on these topics, uses many vivid life and work experiences to explain the scientific reasoning behind stress.

The presentation's content was comprehensive and set the scene for the second Webinar, which will discuss managing stress for ATCs.

Some key takeaways of the day: As an ATC, we should keep our reaction to stress between "Pseudo-unconsciousness" and "Acute Consciousness". That means we should be in a state where we are comfortable enough to deal with the stress coming from our daily operations. Even when faced with unexpected events which move our mental status into alerting mode, we can bounce back to a balanced state.

And we should limit our daily intake of coffee. (This may be harder to do!)

Europe (EUR)

EVP EUR had an eventful month with various professional engagements. He attended the IFATSEA European Regional Meeting in Bucharest and participated in a panel discussion on Remote Towers, reiterating IFATCA's stance and requirements.

The Safer Skies Consultative Committee high-level meeting (SSCC) in Rotterdam (NL), looked back on the MH17 incident in which a Malaysian B777 from Amsterdam was shot down on the border between Russia and Ukraine in 2014. Paying respects to the 298 victims, EVP EUR recalled he was one of the controllers to handle the flight on that fateful day, and also conveyed the EUROCONTROL agency's condolences on the frequency a few days later when the remains of the victims to the Netherlands were flown back to the Netherlands.

Preparations for the European Regional Meeting are in full swing and the Organising Committee in Lativa is looking forward to hosting their European colleagues in October 2023.

Taking the opportunity of the EUROCONTROL Provisional Council meeting in Brussels, EVP EUR and the Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, Andreas Boschen, discussed IFATCA's future involvement and the possible synergies for both organisations.