Home

PSO action - safe your sky

Save your sky! - For a safe and resilient air traffic control system

Air traffic control across Europe is in danger. Unprecedented cuts in resources are underway, affecting the social and working conditions of workers in air traffic management, the safety of passengers and the overall capacity of air traffic control in the near future.

Please find a joint press release of the Professional staff organisation. 

Please sign the petition, you can find the petition here: https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-your-sky-for-a-safe-and-resilient-air-traffic-control-system.html

Costas Christoforou

IFATSEA Director Europe

CANSO proposes on RP

Dear colleagues

please find CANSO response for europe on COVID recovery plan.

COVID 19 - letter of PSO's to EU on RP3 short term measures

Dear Colleagues,

We are ALL ONE in the Sky - Aviation partners agree joint principles for safe integration of drones

Members of Europe’s leading aviation associations have today published a joint paper setting out the principles to support the safe integration into European airspace of unmanned aircraft, or ‘drones’.

This is one of the most critical issues facing the aviation industry today. Drones will revolutionise many aspects of everyday life, from the way people travel, to agriculture, policing, mapping, deliveries, maintenance, asset management and construction. However, their proliferation also raises questions about how to handle their integration without compromising safety or security or disrupting current airspace operations.

The We are ALL ONE in the Sky initiative, which brings together representatives from the airline, airport, air navigation service, manufacturing, staff associations and beyond, has set out five key principles that  ‘U-Space Regulation’, currently under development by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Commission, should meet. They cover aspects such as the importance of information exchange between all airspace users, the need to ensure the safe integration of drones in the airspace – as opposed to purely segregating them from other users of the airspace - and the fundamental importance of ensuring that today’s exceptionally high safety standards are maintained.

The We are ALL ONE in the Sky initiative supports the creation of a proportionate, risk- and performance-based regulatory framework to enable the drone services industry to flourish, and – crucially – to provide for a safe, secure and efficient operation of manned and unmanned aviation.

Tanja Grobotek, CANSO’s Director Europe Affairs said: “This ambitious joint initiative shows that the aviation community is forward-looking regarding the integration of drones into European airspace. Drones promise many benefits, but their growth also presents many challenges to existing aviation infrastructure. On behalf of Europe’s air navigation service providers (ANSPs), CANSO joins the other We are ALL ONE in the Sky members to call for the right regulatory principles to ensure a safe future for this new aviation technology.”

Members of the We are ALL ONE in the Sky initiative:

• Airlines for Europe (A4E)
• Airports Council International Europe (ACI EUROPE)
• AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD)
• Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination (ATCEUC)
• Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO)
• Europe Air Sports
• European Business Aviation Association (EBAA)
• European Cockpit Association (ECA)
• European Helicopter Association (EHA)
• European Regions Airline Association (ERA)
• European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF)
• General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA)
• International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA)
• International Air Transport Association (IATA)
• International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA)
• International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA)
• International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Associations (IFATSEA)

COVID 19 - open letter to European Aviation institutions

HERMES

IFATSEA GA 2020 Postponed

50th IFATSEA Assembly in Prague, Czech Republic, POSTPONED

 Dear Colleagues,

 The 50th IFATSEA Assembly normally held in Prague, Czech Republic from 27th September to 2nd October 2020 has been postponed.

please find more info on ifatsea.org

 Yours Sincerely

 Cristina Félix, Executive Secretary

 Thorsten Wehe, President

ERM 2020 - CANCELLED

Dear colleagues,

FLY AI

European partners deliver first ‘FLY AI’ report on the current use and future potential of artificial intelligence in aviation

The European partners, among which IFATSEA, have published a report named "FLY AI".

This first edition of the ‘FLY AI’ report provides a timely review of the current use of artificial intelligence (AI) in aviation, and assesses its future potential to transform the sector. Produced by the European Aviation High Level Group on AI, a group set up after EUROCONTROL’s inaugural conference on AI in May 2019, the report pools the expertise of EUROCONTROL and a wide range of key representatives from all aviation sectors (airlines, airports, Air Navigation Service Providers, manufacturers, EU bodies, military and staff associations). It aims to advance understanding among aviation and air traffic management (ATM) actors of AI and its potential, to “demystify AI”, and to help accelerate its uptake in aviation. It concludes that there are a number of practical actions that could be taken to accelerate the development of AI in European aviation and ATM, which form the basis of a ‘FLY AI Action Plan’.

Download the report.

More info can be found here

Costas Christoforou  

ATM Master Plan 2020 update

The European ATM Master Plan is the agreed roadmap that connects ATM research and development activities with deployment scenarios to achieve the SES performance objectives.

More information about this plan can be found on site of the EC site.

More technical information on the different levels of the EATM Master plan can be found on next portal https://www.atmmasterplan.eu/.

Hereby the link to the complete executive view of the European ATM master plan edition 2020.

Please find the IFATSEA European director summary (pdf) and view (powerpoint) on the ATM Master plan 2020.

Best regards

 Costas Christoforou

ICB info digest

ICB release a biannual publication called The ATM Information Digest, that provides an up to date and comprehensive summary of activity in European ATM. The document is divided into the following chapters:

SJU Airspace Architecture Study

The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) has performed and published an European  " Airspace Architecture Study".

 Please find the full report @ https://www.sesarju.eu/node/3253.

Based on this report, the Commission's "Wise Person Group" have published a report on the future of the SES on 15 april 2019. 

SES - RP3

Just Culture toolbox and Social Dialogue

IFATSEA participated in the creation a Just Culture toolbox to support the implementation of the EU Regulation on Occurrence Reporting (Reg. 376/2014) in ATM.

The Toolbox aims to foster a healthy and open reporting culture in ATM, and thereby create a Just Culture. This work ended by the adoption of the JC Toolbox by the EU in a conference of the ‘Reinforcement of Social Dialogue in ATM’ project in October 2018.

The project was conducted by CANSO in cooperation with its European social partners European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and Air Traffic Controllers European Union Coordination (ATCEUC).

IFATSEA like to appreciate the work of Mr Danilo Pisciottu, CANSO Manager European Regulatory and Social Affairs, for the coordination of this project.

Please read Mr Pisciottu's blog "Why aviation needs effective social partners" of 30 October 2018, concerning this project.

SES - ATSEP

In the Basic Regulation,  Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of 4 July 2018, the need of ATSEP being competent for performing his duties are expressed by:

(17) It is important that personnel used by ATM/ANS providers, such as Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel (‘ATSEP’) are appropriately qualified and trained to perform their duties. ATM/ANS providers should also implement training and checking programmes, taking into account the different types of safety-related tasks performed by their personnel. The implementing acts adopted under this Regulation and concerning responsibilities of ATM/ANS providers should lay down further detailed harmonised rules for such personnel, including ATSEP to ensure the necessary level of safety.

The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373 of 1 March 2017 laying down common requirements for providers of air traffic management/air navigation services and other air traffic management network functions and their oversight, details the requirements of ATSEP training in ANNEX XIII, REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS CONCERNING PERSONNEL TRAINING AND COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT (Part-PERS).