ATC Showcases
ATC industry leaders showcase their company, products, services and solutions.
ATC industry leaders showcase their company, products, services and solutions.
By Chris Wade ATC Network.We are in an unprecedented time for the aviation industry which is bringing many challenges to all aspects of the industry. But for this edition of the ‘special bulletin’ I wanted to focus on how training is being effected in ATC. Not only in recruitment and training of new ab initio controllers but also how to maintain competencies for licensed controllers during a time of low traffic activity.
By Philippe Debels, Eurocontrol. Training air traffic controllers is a serious and demanding business, as is the validation of new airspace configurations or new concepts of operations. Both require meticulously well prepared,high-fidelity simulation capability, and benefit from the full range of recording and analysis tools. EUROCONTROL’s innovation centre in Brétigny, France, offers efficient solutions to support European aviation training.
By Peter Weeks, Think Research. IntroductionWhilst many think of simulation mainly as a means to train controllers, Human In The Loop (HITL) simulation in ATC plays multiple roles. In fact, each year hundreds of simulations are conducted across the world which are not for training purposes, but in order to develop and validate new systems, concepts, airspace and procedures.Deploying any new concept into an air traffic operation comes with considerable cost due to the necessary level of adaptation, integrity and assurance.
by David Perks, IFATCA. David Perks is an Area Supervisor for Airservices Australia at their Brisbane facility.He also Chairs IFATCA’s Legal and Professional Committee and is their nominee on the ICAO Separation and Airspace Safety Panel (SASP). The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for the aviation industry and air traffic control is no exception. Even the most optimistic outlook has air navigation service providers(ANSPs) operating with significantly reduced revenue for at least the medium term.
By Fabrice Drogoul and Philippe CabonThe COVID period has already had and is continuing to have a huge impact on air traffic controllers’ (ATCOs’) professional and private life, on the professional side with many of them working fewer hours owing to drastic flight reductions. At a personal level, COVID-19 is a major threat to ATCOs’ health and well-being. In this context, fatigue is not necessarily a problem, which springs to mind.
The world over, ANSPs and airports are currently operating at reduced staffing levels in response to far fewer flights in need of service. As such, controllers are either working less frequently or not at all through furlough schemes. Even those now on-shift in the ops room and tower environments are starting to lose the valuable skills that they need to safely manage high intensity traffic. These organisations’ understandable initial reaction has been to restrict focus to the ‘here’ and ‘now’ by putting the brakes on research and development activities to …