journal of the civil air navigation services organisation ISSUE 10 QUARTER 3 2010 FIT FOR PURPOSE CANSO ANSP Fitness Check PLUS: Hank Krakowski and Micilia Albertus-Verboom on Latin American and Caribbean ANS, a focus on CANSO’s work at ICAO, developments in Jordan, and all the latest news and comment from the world of ATM. RAYMOND BENJAMIN: “Consolidation would provide the single greatest improvement in the value chain” SAFETY MANAGEMENT – the definitive guide to Safety Management Systems CDA Action in Europe
Transcript
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 1
journal of the civil air navigation services organisation ISSUE 10 QUARTER 3 2010
FIT FOR PURPOSECANSO ANSP Fitness Check
PLUS: Hank Krakowski and Micilia Albertus-Verboom on Latin American and Caribbean ANS, a focus on CANSO’s work at ICAO, developments in Jordan, and all the latest news and comment from the world of ATM.
RAYMOND BENJAMIN:“ Consolidation would provide the single greatest improvement in the value chain”
SAFETY MANAGEMENT – the definitive guide to Safety Management Systems
CDA Action in Europe
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 3
CONTENTS
civil air navigation services organisation
Airspace No. 10ISSN number 1877 2196Published by CANSO, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation
The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright, full details of which are available from the publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers. The views and opinions in this publication are expressed by the authors in their personal capacity and are their sole responsibility. Their publication does not imply that they represent the views or opinions of CANSO and must not be interpreted as such. The reproduction of advertisements in this publication does not in any way imply endorsement by CANSO of the products and services referred to herein.
5 EDITOR’S NOTE Ten issues of Airspace – and the scope of the industry grows wider and wider still.
8 THE CEO COLUMN Micilia Albertus-Verboom, CEO of Netherlands Antilles Air Traffic Control, looks ahead
to the CANSO Caribbean and Latin American Conference, and reflects on NAATC’s own transformation.
9 THE CANSO COLUMN Brendan Booth reflects on his time as CANSO Safety Manager, and the importance
of CANSO’s Safety programme.
10-11 LETTER FROM AMERICA Hank Krakowski looks at the development of ANS in the Latin American region.
ATM NEWS
6-7 THE LATEST INFORMATION ON CANSO’s new Americas office, FAB and NextGen developments, new ATM jobs
service launched and new Middle East Members for CANSO.
FEATURES
12-14 FIT FOR PURPOSE The ANSP Fitness Check developed by CANSO’s Quality Management and Business
Transformation Workgroups gives ANSPs a clear roadmap for their journey towards a vision for seamless ANS.
23-24 SAFETY EXCELLENCE – The CANSO Standard Safety Management Systems will play a key role in the future development of safe and
secure air navigation services. CANSO’s Safety Standing Committee has produced the definitive guide to implementing an ANSP Safety Management System.
AIRSPACE PEOPLE
16-18 RAYMOND BENJAMIN On the eve of its General Assembly, the Secretary General of ICAO talks to Airspace about
the challenges facing the Organisation and Air Traffic Management in the coming years.
26 HIS EXCELLENCY MAHMOUD AL MUSTAFA CARC Jordan’s Commissioner for Air Navigation Services discusses why his organisation
has become the latest CANSO Member, and his vision for Middle East ANS.
TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONS
20-21 CDA GATHERS MOMENTUM IN EUROPE As the aviation industry prepares to gather again in Geneva for its regular
environment summit, we look at the work of the European CDA Action Plan.
28 FOCUS ON... ICAO Liaison Decisions made at ICAO are crucial for the development of ANS, and CANSO is in the
thick of policy making in Montreal.
30 WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO
INSIDE CANSO
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 5
EDITOR’S NOTE
The business of editing a magazine such as Airspace is always challenging. As a quarterly
magazine, Airspace must reflect as much as of what is happening in the world of air traffic
management as possible during the shelf life of each issue. So a major part of my planning
is concerned with making sure the journal remains relevant during its publication period.
And looking at this edition – our 10th – I am struck by the sheer range we’ve encompassed
in this quarter. In September we have the Aviation Environment Summit in Geneva, and the
ICAO General Assembly in Montreal. In October, a Middle East Best Practice Seminar and
the ATCA event in Washington. And in November, the Global ATM Safety Conference and
the 2nd CANSO Caribbean and Latin America ANSP conference.
We’ve got something that addresses all these issues in this magazine, but it is ICAO that
has taken a particular focus this time. As ICAO meets to consider its future direction, we
are delighted to have secured an interview with Secretary General Raymond Benjamin,
and we also take a look at the work of CANSO’s ICAO Liaison office. Engaging ICAO was a
fundamental reason for creating CANSO in the first place, so it is vital that this sometimes
misunderstood organisation – and CANSO’s relations with it – are given a proper airing.
CANSO is also busy setting out its new path. The endorsement of the Waypoint 2013
strategy (see Airspace Q2) in Oslo and June was accompanied by the signing of an intention
for a CANSO Americas office, to promote the Organisation’s objectives in the region.
The November conference will be a fantastic opportunity to extend the Association’s
reach and exciting plans are in place.
So it looks like Airspace will have its hands full keeping pace with the industry as it moves
towards a bright future. But that will be a job for a new editor. After ten issues in charge, I’m
moving on to new challenges in the aviation industry. I’ve been privileged to have been able
to start a new magazine setting out CANSO’s vision for the future of air navigation services,
and reporting on the revolution that is occurring in ATM. I’m certain this magazine, CANSO,
and its Members, will continue to grow in influence as a strong, independent and vibrant
partner in the aviation system.
Thanks for reading.
Chris Goater
6 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
ATM NEWS CANSO news
CANSO ANNOUNCES PLAN FOR AMERICAS OFFICECANSO has announced it will establish an Americas Office, based in Mexico and supported by CANSO Members Aena (Spain), FAA (USA), NAATC (Netherlands Antilles), NAV Portugal and SENEAM (Mexico).
At a signing ceremony at CANSO’s 14th Annual General Meeting in Oslo, CEOs from the five supporting CANSO Members signed a letter of intent establishing the office, its mission, and resources. The office will be located in the SENEAM Headquarters in Mexico City and be primarily focused on transforming Air Traffic Management performance in the Caribbean and Latin America. Spanish Air Navigation Service Provider Aena has agreed to support the office by funding a full-time Latin American and Caribbean Liaison Officer.
CANSO Members celebrate the signing of letter of intent for Americas Office.
CANSO news
CANSO Launches ATM Jobs BoardCANSO has launched its new ATM Jobs Board, an online directory of ATM employment opportunities around the world. The Jobs Board is accessible fromwww.canso.org/atmjobs.
To celebrate the launch of the Jobs Board, CANSO is offering a trial package with reduced rates for all organisations wishing to advertise their vacancies to CANSO’s global network of ATM professionals. CANSO Members also benefit from additional reductions. For job seekers, the Jobs Board is free-of-charge and there is no need to register.
“CANSO’s new ATM Jobs Board is an exciting development for the industry, providing a centralised list of Air Traffic Management jobs from around the world” commented Marc-Peter Pijper, CANSO’s Director of Products and Serivices. “Now ANSPs, industry suppliers, and aviation organisations can take advantage of CANSO’s significant community to attract talent, while ATM professionals can search for their next career opportunity from one, easy-to-use site. I would like to thank the Human Resources experts from CANSO Members who worked with us on this project, and invite organisations to send us their ATM related vacancies.”
The CANSO ATM Jobs Board is open to all organisations wishing to advertise jobs related to Air Traffic Management.
On the new CANSO ATM jobs board users can search by type of role, or by region. More than 20 vacancies have been added since the board went live at the end of August.
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 7
MIDDLE EAST GIANTS JOIN CANSO
CANSO has increased its presence in the Middle East with the arrival of CARC Jordan, and Emirates and Etihad airlines, as members of the Association.
The Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission of Jordan (CARC) was established on 1st August 2007 to replace the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Its mission is the promotion and development of civil aviation safety, security and environmental regulatory compliance, while ensuring the economic soundness of a liberalised industry. It has joined as a Full Member of CANSO, and His Excellency Captain Suleiman Obeidat, Chief Commissioner and CEO of CARC, commented, “I would like to stress the commitment of CARC
Jordan towards supporting CANSO initiatives and work plans in order to achieve its goals and objectives.”
Emirates and Etihad are the flag carriers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively, and have joined CANSO as Silver Associate Members. In 2009 they carried nearly 35 million passengers, and between them the serve well over 100 destinations worldwide.
Emirates President Tim Clark spoke of his hopes for a “fruitful relationship” between Emirates and CANSO, while Etihad CEO James Hogan commented that he was “extremely pleased” to be joining the Association.
CANSO Director General Graham Lake and Director Middle East Affairs Salem Jahdli meet with His Excellency Captain Suleiman Obeidat of CARC Jordan.
FAA AWARDS NEXTGEN CONTRACTS WORTH $4.4BNThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded three separate Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) contracts totaling up to $4.4 billion over 10 years. Under the contracts, the companies will perform work that will demonstrate NextGen procedures in real time on a large scale within the current air traffic system.
“NextGen is an economic opportunity that will challenge innovative companies to expand their workforce and help us modernise our National Airspace System,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Under NextGen, air travelers will be able to fly to their destinations safer and faster.”
Boeing, General Dynamics and ITT were awarded the contracts worth up to $4.4 billion. The three contracts, like one for $280 million awarded last month to CSSI, Inc., are part of System Engineering 2020 (SE2020). Two more contracts are expected under SE2020, which has a ceiling of $7 billion, making it the largest set of awards in FAA history. Boeing, General Dynamics and ITT will conduct large-scale demonstrations, including the use of aircraft as flying laboratories, to see how NextGen concepts, procedures and technologies can be integrated into the current system.
FABs GAIN MOMENTUMFAB Coordinator Appointed, UK-Ireland celebrate second year of operation, FAB EC agrees training programme, and Baltic FAB feasibility study launched
Following the adoption on 29 July 2010 of measures to improve the performance of the European air traffic management network, the European Commission has appointed Mr. Georg Jarzembowski as the functional airspace blocks coordinator. This decision is another key step towards the defragmentation of the European airspace and the creation of the Single European Sky. The role of the coordinator will be to facilitate at high political level the negotiations between the states engaged in the creation of Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs), in order to meet the deadline of 4 December 2012.
The FABs continue to gain momentum during 2010, with the UK-Ireland FAB celebrating two years of operations, and FAB EC announcing a new cooperation agreement on ATCO training.
Meanwhile PANSA and Oro Navigacija, the ANSPs of Poland and Lithuania, working with air navigation specialists Helios, have started a major study of the feasibility of a FAB in their joint airspace, including cooperation with their neighbours.
The Organisations also believe there are substantial further improvements to be gained from cooperation with the pair’s non-EU neighbours (the Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine), and through optimisation along the borders with three neighbouring FABs.
8 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
COMMENT
The CEO ColumnGiving Every Stakeholder A Part To Play
Micilia Albertus-Verboom Director General NAATCBy the time this magazine comes out we shall be in full swing preparing for the second CANSO Latin American and Caribbean ANSP Conference, which we are hosting here in Curaçao. I’m proud of the fact that NAATC can serve as an example for other ANSPs in the region, as both a CANSO Member and a fully separated and privatised ANSP. CANSO’s primary objective has always been to assist ANSPs to separate and achieve managerial independence, and this is a message that needs special attention in this part of the world.
Air Traffic Management has become essential for managing safety and efficiency of air traffic not only on a national level but also on a wider geographical scale, and this requires the harmonisation and implementation of an Air Traffic Management system to allow maximum use of the enhanced capabilities provided by technical advances in Communication, Navigation and Surveillance.
To accomplish this it has become necessary for all stakeholders, shareholders, regulators and Air Navigation Service Providers to join forces in order to meet current and future CNS and ATM requirements. Practice has demonstrated that with collaboration between neighbouring States and the participation of appropriate partners from aviation industry, great potential exists to accelerate the deployment of a sound CNS/ATM infrastructure and improve regional airspace safety and efficiency. The timeliness and integrity of quality management systems is also a significant enabling activity for the globalisation of ATM.
As we share our FIR boundary with six neighbouring flight information regions, which will be affected by every development taking place in the Curaçao FIR and vice versa, the knowledge and experience gained is useful to us, our neighbours, and surrounding States, and will assist in a regional harmonisation when all ICAO requirements have been successfully implemented.
It should be emphasised that every stakeholder in the civil aviation community has an individual role to play in contributing to a safe, secure and efficient air transport system. It is through effective partnership that we are able to strengthen our capability in enhancing our air transport system by integrating the best people, equipment, knowledge and expertise available around us.
This year’s conference will serve to strengthen the work of CANSO’s new Regional Office, and to review and exchange information on matters of interests to the civil aviation community. We’ll look at how to enhance coordination of civil aviation activities, discuss specific action items that are of common interest and importance to the region, and provide overall guidance, harmonisation and coordination of implementation of standards and procedures in the region. I hope to see many of you there.
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 9
COMMENT
The CANSO ColumnLooking back and thinking forward
Brendan Booth, CANSO Safety Manager It is now over a year since I was first involved with CANSO and I’m fast approaching the end of my year as the safety programme manager. With this in mind, I’d like to share my experiences of working with CANSO and touch on the fantastic work carried out by the members of the CANSO safety family.
My first experience with CANSO, back in 2009, was running a session for the safety Workgroup leads on what the next three years of the CANSO safety strategy should be like. Before walking into the room, my knowledge of CANSO was limited to a 10 minute brief with Richard Schofield and Gretchen Burrett, then Programme Manager and Chair of the Safety Standing Committee.
Fast forward to the SSC Annual Seminar in Krakow, November 2009. It was announced to the SSC members that Richard would be moving to a new role and that from the end of the conference I would be the programme manager for safety! Fortunately I was with a group of people who were committed to making aviation safer and to the success of CANSO, and in particular I was able to build a good working relationship with the then vice chair of the SSC, Stephen Angus, which turned out to be a real bonus as five months later he was my boss when he took over as Chair in March 2010.
Having successfully navigated my first meeting with the SSC members, it wasn’t long before I was out in the world representing CANSO. My first trip was to Dubai to take part in the second meeting of the Middle East safety working group. For a newly established CANSO region, the Middle East was pushing ahead with forming groups and detailing work plans and it has been a great pleasure to see it grow over the last 12 months.
As well as being involved with regional activities, a big part of my role was pulling together the safety aspects of Waypoint 2013. This has been a huge effort by the Workgroup leads and members, and resulted in a clear articulation of our ambition to the Executive Committee at their review in January and again at the AGM in June. It is through the efforts of the SSC members and the clarity of our thinking that we have been able to secure whole hearted support from our Executive Champion and the ExCom for our ongoing programme of work.
In terms of concrete achievements the SMS standard of excellence and the subsequent implementation guide are absolutely key successes for the SSC. Our mission to provide ANSPs with clear excellence standards is supported by key organisations like ICAO and the implementation guide is a world first in ATS provision. And the strengthening of relations with ICAO, and also with IATA and IFATCA, has been an important thing I pass on to Mark Denicuolo when he takes up the programme manager role in November. Much of this work was started before my tenure, but I hope I have continued to develop these relationships to the benefit of CANSO.
Since July I have been trying to juggle preparing for the SSC conference, continuing to ensure the SSC work gets done, beginning to pick up what will be my new role when I return to NATS full time and, most importantly, getting ready for my wedding in early September.
So thank you to NATS for giving me the opportunity to be part of the CANSO experience and to CANSO and the members for making it a fantastic year. Nowhere else can you get to meet such a broad spectrum of aviation professionals and be able to debate, discuss and make real progress in addressing the key safety issues that affect our industry. We have had some challenges, but we really are making progress towards our aims.
10 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
COMMENT
The Federal Aviation Administration has long been committed to best practices in air traffic management in the Americas, so we are enthusiastic about CANSO’s initiative to establish a CEO Committee for the Latin America and Caribbean Regions. We are pleased to be one of five air navigation service providers that signed a letter of intent at June’s Annual General Meeting supporting CANSO’s initiative in this fast-growing air traffic region.
The project office for this initiative will be located in Mexico City and offers new opportunities for service providers in the region to be represented in a global forum. It also demonstrates CANSO’s expanding presence on the world aviation scene. As
CANSO presses forward with its mission of transforming global air traffic management performance, its membership must be as regionally diverse as possible. Such diversity will add new perspectives, data and best practices that CANSO can use to better identify, assess and resolve issues of common concern.
The new Americas initiative will also play a pivotal role in CANSO’s ongoing work with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) headquarters in Montreal and regional offices in Mexico City and Lima, and will enable CANSO to have a greater voice in other forums as well.
The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) understands the challenges faced by the civil aviation community and recognises the importance of collaboration among service providers on matters of safety, efficiency, capacity and environmental awareness. More than 70 per cent of the international flights managed by the FAA operate to and from destinations in the Western Hemisphere.
The FAA has long been active in the region through its participation in ICAO’s Caribbean and South American Regional Planning and Implementation Group (GREPECAS). We are working with our partners toward harmonising standards for air traffic management services such as radio frequency spectrum allocations and new communications systems as well as the advancement of technological and procedural improvements in the region. We are committed to continuing to work cooperatively with our neighbours.
For example, in Mexico, the FAA is working with Servicios a la Navegación en el Espacio Aéreo Mexicano (SENEAM) on the deployment of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, one of the key Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) technologies. The FAA is also working with SENEAM to develop Area Navigation (RNAV) routes in the Gulf of Mexico; with Chile to implement ADS-B and Local Area Augmentation Systems (LAAS) at 12 Chilean airports; and with Panama and the Dominican Republic to install Traffic Flow Management Systems at their en route centers. Along with these efforts, the ATO is operationally connected to Canada, Mexico, Brazil and other strategic partners in the region as we endeavor to improve the overall system.
Brazil is an important partner as we move forward to develop and implement Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies and procedures in Latin America. The FAA is committed to continuing our cooperation with Brazil as it transitions to satellite and aircraft performance-based
Letter from AmericaHank Krakowski, Chief Operating Officer, FAA ATO
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 11
navigation technologies and procedures. As part of our continued support, the FAA is working with Brazil’s Departamento de Controle do Espaço Aéreo (DECEA) on a LAAS test prototype project, multiple data collection efforts in support of complex approach procedures and ionospheric investigations, Performance-Based Navigation, Air Traffic Flow Management integration, and GNSS regional outreach efforts.
While most of the time these outreach efforts require extensive multilateral and bilateral consultation, the FAA has also been ready to respond decisively during emergencies.
After Haiti was devastated by a deadly earthquake in January, the FAA moved quickly to support international rescue and recovery efforts by taking the lead in restoring badly needed air traffic control services. The earthquake in Haiti hit home on a personal level at the FAA, since our employees at Miami Center speak daily with their counterparts in Port-au-Prince.
The FAA sent a mobile tower and personnel to the Port-au-Prince airport to provide immediate assistance, and over the months continued to support Haitian air traffic controllers and technicians. We continue to participate as one of the States in a regional effort for developing the long-term reconstruction plan led by ICAO.
The response of the aviation community from the Americas and other regions to the tragic events in Haiti demonstrated once again the power of international cooperation. The region has a history of collaboration among air navigation service providers through bilateral, trilateral and multilateral partnerships. CANSO’s new Latin America and Caribbean Regional initiative is a welcome resource that will add significantly to efforts to enhance the safety and efficiency of the region’s skies.
CANSO’s second annual Caribbean & Latin America Conference later this year will furnish more information about the organisation’s plans in the region, as well as an update on the regional initiative. The FAA will be an active participant at the conference, which will take place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 in Willemstad, Curacao. Everyone interested in improving air traffic management performance in the Americas should plan on attending.
The FAA was proud to support the relief effort in Haiti in January. A mobile tower and personnel were sent to Port-au-Prince to provide immediate assistance.
12 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
FEATURE
When setting out on a long journey, it usually pays to have a map to make sure you know where you are going. But a map itself is useless if you don’t know what the starting and finishing points are on the journey.
In 2007 Air Navigation Service Providers agreed a ‘finishing point’ for their journey: a global ‘Seamless ANS’ system. This vision was agreed by members of CANSO and articulated in the Organisation’s ‘Global Vision for the Future of ANS’. Across ten policy areas (see sidebar) the Global Vision sets out a roadmap for the regulatory and institutional reforms required to reach Seamless ANS.
But how does an ANSP know where it stands today on the ‘road’? It is to answer precisely that question that the new ANSP Fitness Check, launched at the CANSO AGM in June, has been created.
What is the ANSP Fitness Check?The CANSO ANSP Fitness Check is a tool to help ANSPs to assess their performance improvement journey by identifying their present situation and then determining where they want to be in 3-5 years. “One difficult issue was the title, because we needed to avoid ‘quality speak’” explains Klaus Golinski who chaired the QMWG throughout the production of the Fitness Check. “The final title was invented in an Irish pub, a place not normally related to the air traffic control world! And it is important to stress this is a guidance tool, not a mandatory tool for the ANSPs. But even a self-assessment tool can be a strong ‘influencing tool’ if applied in a positive way.” To give the exercise a positive touch, the term ‘Fitness Check’ was coined.
In early 2009, following evaluation of several different options, including creating a bespoke model, the Quality Management Workgroup (QMWG)
Fit for purpose Fitness Check provides roadmap to seamless ANS
decided to base the Fitness Check on the new ISO 9004:2009 Quality Management Guidance Standard 1. The availability of self-assessment tools in ISO 9004, together with the fact that
many ANSPs had already implemented a QMS based on ISO 9001, was crucial to the decision. “Two small sentences in the 9004 text played a very important role in the decision process,” says Klaus
CANSO Global Vision and the Business Transformation Programme
The CANSO Global Vision on the Future of Air Navigation Services (ANS) supports the creation of a harmonised ATM service, much in line with ICAO’s Global ATM concept. But CANSO’s Global Vision adds new thinking on the institutional and operational changes that must be accommodated by all stakeholders. The Global Vision was completed in May 2007 with input from all CANSO members. The Vision identifies areas of change needed within the regulatory and operational domains and the issues CANSO must address to achieve a truly global ATM system.
The CANSO Global Vision assists the industry to confront critical issues and questions, while proposing solutions to support Members to achieve lasting improvements to global ATM performance.
The Global Vision’s central aim is a Seamless ANS system.
What are the elements of a Global Vision?
Under the direction of Gudrun Held a great deal of work towards the Global Vision has been taken on by CANSO’s Business Transformation Programme, for example by developing guidance material to assist ANSPs in separating regulation from service provision. The Quality Management Workgroup invited the Business Transformation Workgoup to review Part 1 of the Fitness Check, to reinforce the link with the Global Vision. You can see more on the Global Vision and the BT Workgroup in a video which can be viewed on the CANSO website: www.canso.org/BTvideo
SeamlessANS
• Managed Safely
• Appropriate Regulations
• Customer Focussed
• Civil-Military Cooperation
• People Focus
• Business-like Approach
• Optimised ATM Systems
• Environment
• Security
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 13
Golinski. “Sentences encouraging the users of the standard to customise the tools making them more suitable for own situation and needs gave the flexibility needed to tailor the standard.”
“That was exactly our aim when developing this new version of ISO 9004; to provide the management of organisations with a flexible tool fitting to their own situation and ambitions” adds Bob Alisic, former Task Group Leader responsible for development of the new ISO 9004:2009.
By October 2009 a first draft of the customised self-assessment tool was ready for review. The tool included two sections not normally found in assessments of this kind, but which are crucial to ANSPs: safety and environment. The tool was developed in coordination with all of the CANSO Workgroup Chairs, agreed by the Association’s Executive Committee, and then submitted to the June 2010 Annual General Meeting for approval as a CANSO Standard of Excellence (which was unanimously granted).
The fitness check is divided into two parts. Part 1 uses the CANSO Global
Vision as a reference point. It is a holistic approach as it takes all elements of CANSO’s Global Vision into account. This tool was developed to help ANSPs plan and prioritise their journey towards the Global Vision.
To complete Fitness Check (F-check) Part 1, ANSPs are asked:
• To mark their present position on the journey towards the Global Vision
• To circle where they want to be in e.g. 3-5 years
The resulting gap analysis helps the individual ANSP to prioritise their actions and direction and it helps CANSO to develop needs-driven guidance material, policies and also seminars or training.
This part is a joint development of BT Programme and QMWG. But it is owned by the QMWG. It will be reviewed on an annual basis and adapted to the Global Vision whenever required.
F-Check Part 2 is a detailed check for an ANSP’s internal use. The F-Check 2 is an excellent instrument to stimulate internal discussions and communication about possible gaps and improvements. This part also uses a holistic business-oriented approach to managing for sustained performance. In addition, it will provide hooks for more detailed guidelines, standards, assessments which may be developed by other CANSO programmes/groups e.g. for SM, environment management, HR, customer relations.
Levels of achievement
The gap analysis of the F-Check part 1 establishes five levels of achievement along the road towards the Global Vision. “Getting the right terminology was essential to the success of the F-Check” explains Golinski. “There was a danger of prescription and we were keen not to try and create the ‘ideal’ ANSP. It was also important to stress
The Fitness Check Market stall
“It was important to show Members a completed document so that people didn’t feel it would be in a state of flux” says Gudrun Held. “We were also proud of the work and the response from members, and we wanted to present that in an upbeat, innovative way. The team juggled ideas for weeks, from Red Cross tents to fitness centres; it had to be ‘infotaining’ – not boring – and tailored to the needs of CEOs; to be convincing and demonstrate expertise; show the overall result and still provide the opportunity to discuss individual results; and show proof that the tool works and deserves to be a CANSO Standard of Excellence.” The result was the Market Stall, with members of the QMWG dressed in fitness gear, and Klaus Golinski dressed in a Doctor’s coat. Information, including aggregated results from Members who had gone through part 1 of the check, was displayed on boards which encouraged discussion and exploration. There is some video showing the complete CANSO Marketplace at www.canso.org/oslo2010.
Former chair of the QMWG Klaus Golinski believes self assessment can be a strong influence if applied in a positive way.
14 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
FEATURE
that different levels may well be appropriate to different organisations. Level 5 may not always be the best for a particular ANSP – it may be unnecessarily expensive or complicated for them at this time.”
In the medium-term, refinement of the F-Check will include greater regional specialisation, to better reflect regional priorities and circumstances. The group may also look at how the fitness check could be applied to industry suppliers and stakeholders in the industry.
Positive reception The reception to the F-Check was very positive, with 30 ANSPs filling in part one, providing a range of interesting data (see box above). It was decided to launch the Fitness Check and present the results in as interactive a way as possible, and this led to the Fitness Check stand at the CANSO Waypoint 2013 Market Place at the AGM in June (see side bar page 13). “The feedback was gratifying. A typical comment was ‘You’re talking about business management, not quality.’ This showed
we had got the Fitness Check right, because quality management should always be about business improvement” says Golinski.
The Fitness Check has already proved an invaluable tool for the ANSP industry to have a sense of how far it needs to go to reach a seamless ANS. The road will have many twists and turns yet, but at least with the F-Check to rely on, CANSO Members will know what levels of fitness they aspire to and need to develop to undertake the journey.
Global Vision Radar Global Vision areas of changeFitness Check criteria
seamless airspace1.3b Relationship to other ANSPs
managed safely2b Alignment of key strategies4b Managing ANS safely
A key outcome of the fitness check was to map the state of the industry against CANSO’s Global Vision for the Future of ANS. The Global Vision Radar chart (above) indicates a consolidated view of the current ANSP delivery of the main Global Vision areas of change. Some notable points to consider include the strong progress made on Civil-Military cooperation, but considerable work is still required on managing people and strengthening safety culture.
Some conclusions from the fitness check
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 15
16 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
AIRSPACE PEOPLE
Raymond Benjamin
You have been in the job for a year now and will be participating in your first Assembly as Secretary General in September. What is it that has defined your mandate thus far as far as aviation stakeholders are concerned?
One of the areas I have focused on and where I intend to devote a lot of my energy to is making ICAO more relevant and responsive to States and to industry needs. This involves transforming the culture of the Organization to be in line with the realities of a rapidly changing regulatory and operational environment. So you will be pleased to note that I am determined to accelerate the process of creating closer ties with industry and tapping the valuable experience and expertise that you have to offer.
Given this approach, how do you see ICAO’s relationship with CANSO developing?
If I had to summarise ICAO’s mandate in a few words, I would say that ICAO must foster international consensus on issues relating to the safety, the security, the efficiency and the environmental sustainability of global air transport. This means bringing together States and industry, through their international organisations such as CANSO, to better
understand the needs and concerns of all parties in developing standards, procedures and guidance material. In recent years, this has extended to the implementation of solutions. You may find it strange for me not to mention Standards in the first place. That is because I want to speak in terms that are important to you and the international aviation community, which is why I stress the concept of solutions in whatever shape or form they may take. In this context, I see ICAO working more closely with CANSO as a way to gain a wider perspective on the evolution of air navigation systems and to establish the means by which they can communicate with each other. Also, we must work together on developing common means of measuring ATM performance, particularly with respect to environmental sustainability and the positive effect of our work in this area. Our shared priority has to be optimum harmonisation among the various air navigation systems and the provision of seamless services.
As CANSO’s membership continues to grow, how do you see the relationship with ICAO’s regional offices developing, particularly in CAR/SAM, MID and APAC? In what capacity would CANSO’s regional presence be most useful or helpful?
Regional offices work closely with the Regional Planning Groups on implementing ANS facilities and services, and with individual States on compliance with ICAO standards. CANSO could be very valuable at the regional level in areas like training and technical assistance to States, fostering harmonisation in the selection of regional air navigation solutions and resolving air navigation deficiencies. When CANSO addresses these issues, sometimes at its own events, it would be beneficial to reference the ICAO documentation and work on that basis to ensure harmonisation and clarity.
What do you see as the single best opportunity for ICAO and CANSO to cooperate over the next 12 months?
As ICAO moves forward with a performance-based approach for its Standards and Recommended Practices framework, it will be looking to industry groups like CANSO and other international organisations to agree on technical specifications and standards that will allow for systems to be designed, implemented and maintained in compliance with the stated level of air navigation system performance. And as I just mentioned, I feel strongly that we must develop and implement a common basis of measuring ATM performance as
Mr. Raymond Benjamin became Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization in August 2009. His extensive career in civil aviation includes 13 years as Executive Secretary of the European Civil Aviation Conference where he was responsible for the development of policy advice and strategic options to the President and to the 42 Member States of the Conference. Prior to joining ECAC, Mr. Benjamin was Chief of the Aviation Security Branch of the Air Transport Bureau of ICAO from 1989 to 1994. He also served as Air Transport Officer and Deputy Secretary of ECAC from 1982 to 1989 and held various positions in the Civil Aviation Administration of France from 1973 to 1982.
AIRSPACE QUARTER 2 2010 17
a fundamental precursor to implementing a performance-based approach and in this area. CANSO is ideally positioned to work with ICAO in this respect.
What are the three biggest threats to a safe, secure and sustainable aviation system at the moment, and how can ATM contribute most in addressing these threats, within the ICAO framework?
In terms of safety, the biggest threat lies in not having in place a robust safety management framework composed of an effective regulatory structure, oversight mechanisms, and a systems approach to safety management. Safety regulations in and of themselves do not provide safety if they are not enforced. Oversight needs to recognise that regulations must target the most essential behaviours without undermining efforts to improve the performance and safety of the system. Implementing Safety Management Systems (SMS) techniques has proven effective in improving safety performance. In short, we have the tools and techniques but they are not always applied where they are most needed.
Security is also very close to my heart. It is apparent that we face an ever growing threat from terrorist activities aimed at aircraft and aviation facilities. Just as safety pervades all aspects of aviation, we are learning that security threats have multiple points of entry for which we need to develop appropriate defences and mitigations. Acts of terrorism can be costly and extremely disruptive on airline and airport operations. Even when these acts don’t succeed, the result is powerful and affects public confidence in air travel. It is my intention to explore new ways and means of improving the overall performance of the security system, in addition to its critical and foremost role, which is the safety of the travelling public. The sustainability of the aviation system has to do with many factors including the environment, but it is also affected by the extraordinary cost pressures exerted on airlines, and the unrealistic expectation that technology will provide “magic bullet” solutions for all of our problems. In
our drive for technological progress, we must ensure that we do not burden the industry with unrecoverable costs or seek solutions that could result in a proliferation of technologies that if not managed, can ruin our hopes of interoperability and harmonisation. For example, costs in air transport are cumulative and eventually passed on to users. If the cost of air travel becomes prohibitive, business will suffer and the pool of funding will shrink. This will have a negative impact on all stakeholders, including States.
Aviation must grow in a way that provides improved safety performance, defends against security threats, and exercises environmental responsibility while keeping costs under control. Achieving these overarching requirements calls for a cooperative approach among all stakeholders to provide balanced responses.
What is your general impression of ATM and its role in the air transport value chain? What possible changes, if any, need to occur, and how can CANSO best facilitate this in what it may not be doing right now?
I would point to the evolving and now pervasive effect of ATM on the air transport value chain. The traditional role of ATM was to provide for the safety and regularity of air transport. It has certainly evolved to being critical to the security, the efficiency and the environmental sustainability of the global air transport system. And so, to maximise the benefits of the air transport value chain, ATM, on a global, regional, and local scale must evolve towards the ICAO Global ATM Operational Concept, which recognises both the evolving needs of the air transport industry and the most effective use of emerging technologies. If you allow me to be a bit controversial, I will say that I believe that consolidation amongst the ANSPs would provide the single greatest improvement in the value chain by providing the most expedient route to achieving the benefits envisioned in the Operational Concept while controlling costs, improving the provision of seamless services, and lowering barriers to improvements in interoperability.
The Global Air Navigation Plan will be updated over the next few years and can be expected to be very different from what it is today. I expect the Global Plan to take into account the emerging large scale ATM implementation programmes such as NextGen, SESAR, CARAT and others to ensure their interoperability and compatibility with the global system, and to also address the need to bring the benefits of these and other programmes to the global community. This certainly requires that a partnership approach be taken among all the stakeholder groups. Here, CANSO is in a good position to facilitate this transition by providing assistance among its members on the identification and adoption of best practices, facilitating harmonisation in terms of technical solutions and providing technical assistance to ICAO panels and study groups. CANSO is ideally suited to take a principle role in developing programmes amongst its members that are designed to facilitate the adoption of interoperable solutions.
What are some of the lessons learned from the recent volcanic ash crisis in Europe, and how might this incident provide ICAO with an opportunity to assert its role in global standards-setting and guidance to States? What is your analysis of other potential crises that might occur and ICAO’s role in mitigating them?
Although the Eyjafjallajokull incident provoked extreme hardship on the air transport community and passengers alike, it proved that the extensive work on volcanic ash, done by ICAO over the last two decades through the International Airways Volcano Watch, had been very successful in providing information to operators to avoid volcanic ash in the atmosphere and in ensuring that no aircraft suffered a catastrophic failure during the crisis. We can say with certainty that this was the case. So we are proud of that. Due to the exceptional meteorological circumstances, the north-westerly wind regime that persisted for days and the consequential enormous operational
AIRSPACE PEOPLEimpact, ICAO was provided with a unique opportunity to engage the whole community, together with experts in the fields of vulcanology and meteorology. The recently established International Volcanic Ash Task Force, with more than a hundred attendees at its first meeting, is now actively engaged in the development of ATM contingency plans in the event of future crises and also of supporting guidance material. This ability to engage the support of experts from such diverse fields has always been an ICAO strength but the real work is only accomplished by the attendees and our so called “voluntary workforce”. We will continue to explore ways to foster cooperation using lessons learned so that when the future, inevitable “next volcano” strikes, we will be better prepared. In fact, work has already started in other areas such as the introduction of warnings for tropical cyclones and more recently for tsunamis that may affect certain aerodromes.
In the fast-moving digital age we live in, with technology adoption progressing at an ever faster pace, do ICAO’s standards-setting processes need to be reviewed for possible changes? How can these ICAO responsibilities keep pace and remain relevant for industry over time? Would States be willing to accept such changes?
True, the process for adopting a new standard or amending an existing one may seem slow and cumbersome, yet we must remember that it is the culmination of a process for achieving consensus among our Contracting States who ultimately have implement the standards. Enough time must be given to assess all of the implications and requirements involved. Still, we are accelerating the process for the adoption of standards and we are also transitioning from technical requirements to performance-based standards. You are aware, because you have been invited, of the Standards Roundtable which is an innovative approach to involving a wide sector of the aviation community in planning the changes to standards that will be needed to reflect the evolving ATM system. The roundtable is made up of the industry standards making organisations, representatives from the NextGen, SESAR, CARAT, other programmes and ICAO. The work of the roundtable will find its fulfillment in the revised Global Plan which will serve as a common umbrella and as a guiding document for all of
our work. It is our hope that technical standards can in turn be more easily developed and adopted in their relevant communities by industry groups and international organisations. We are also taking many other groundbreaking and forward-looking actions in the fields of safety, security and sustainability with a focus on assistance, training and implementation. Finally, the 12th Air Navigation Conference, scheduled for the last quarter of 2012, will give us an opportunity to showcase the progress we are making and the direction of future initiatives. It will also highlight the revised Global Plan and provide a venue for all of us to come together and set the agenda for the next ten years in air navigation development.
Could difference-filing by States become less tolerated in future, particularly for those standards related to safety and security? Is it possible that some States will not be able to meet the ICAO language proficiency requirements by the applicability date of 5 March 2011, and if so, how will this be dealt with? What more can be done, perhaps in cooperation with industry trade associations, to aid compliance?
The requirement for States to file and notify differences is contained in the Chicago Convention. As you know, States agree to abide by the standards unless they notify ICAO of a difference. There are obvious difficulties that we are all familiar with. For instance, we know that the ability of States to give notice of a difference is an essential part of the consensus building that is fundamental to ICAO’s mandate. However, ICAO does not have independent regulatory authority and without the ability to give notice of differences, changes to the standards could cause difficulties to States and industry. Nevertheless, the notification of differences allows for awareness of the non-compliance and does provide incentive to comply with the standards. We expect this awareness to become more transparent to the international aviation community with the introduction of the Electronic Filing of Differences tool which will be rolled out by January 2011. This will allow States to immediately view newly-minted standards, to compare them against their own regulations and to quickly file differences. Most importantly, everyone will have immediate access to up-to-date and relevant differences, truly meeting the original intent of the Convention.
Turning to language proficiency requirements, the applicability date remains 5 March 2008. But in order to provide States and service providers with more time to comply, the 36th Assembly of ICAO in 2006 urged States to not restrict their operations from entering airspace of other States where air traffic controllers do not meet the language proficiency requirements. Non-compliant States, however, were to make their plans to implement the language proficiency requirements available through the ICAO public website. In addition, the relief from the requirements was to be provided for no more than three years, effectively giving States an additional three years, March 2011, provided that their implementation plans were acceptable to other States.
I do not envision any extension of the deadline and I will continue to encourage States that will not meet the deadline to keep their implementation plans up-to-date on the ICAO website. It would then be up to other countries to base their continued operations in non-compliant States on the status of those States’ implementation plans.
We have also prepared a substantial amount of guidance material to assist States and operators in implementing the language proficiency requirements, including, most importantly, criteria to assist in the selection or development of language tests. We are taking this one step further and working with the International Language Testing Association, the International Civil Aviation English Association, IFATCA and IFALPA to develop a system for ICAO endorsement of language tests and testing organisations. We have placed a high priority on these activities as testing in this area is safety critical, has high career stakes for those being tested and, at the same time, is an unregulated industry worldwide. An ICAO endorsement system for language testing would provide the type of information that Civil Aviation Authorities and service providers need to make an informed decision when selecting a language proficiency exam or organisation. We would encourage CANSO to assist their member ANSPs to meet the 5 March 2011 compliance date and to fully participate in our effort to establish a system to endorse language testing services.
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jointly signed by EUROCONTROL, IATA and CANSO in August 2008, called for the widespread introduction of CDA as one of the specific targets of the plan. Subsequently, in October 2008, EUROCONTROL and ACI Europe signed an MOU to work on a range of collaborative initiatives to improve efficiency at airports. This too included implementing CDA. As a result of these initiatives, collaborating stakeholders developed the ‘European Joint Industry CDA Action Plan’, officially launched in Spring 2009. The plan set out the specific actions to be undertaken to achieve the rapid deployment of CDA.
On behalf of the Stakeholders, EUROCONTROL is coordinating an implementation programme which has a target of introducing CDA at a minimum of 100 European airports by the end of 2013. Support from EUROCONTROL is provided by a dedicated team of controllers and pilots (the CDA Implementation Team or CIT), who provide initial advice, follow up contact to monitor progress, and support as required The aim is to promote and facilitate the widespread usage of CDA:
• To as many airports as possible
• For as many flights as possible
• For the longest extent possible for each flight and optimising existing modes of operation where possible.
At the initial part of the implementation process, organisations are asked to give a commitment to investigate the feasibility of CDA at their airport(s). The next stage is to commit to implement CDA if it is found to be a feasible option. Finally, for those who have passed the
first two steps, or those who believe that they are already doing CDA, the logical conclusion is to formalise the process.
• At present, 25 States have committed to investigate CDA implementation at 83 airports
• 33 airports offer CDA at some point in the day
• 13 airports are currently carrying out flight trials
• 14 visits are currently foreseen in
the coming months, with more to be scheduled before the end of the year.
Importantly, the level of commitment in certain countries is such that it is possible that, once established at one or two airports, CDA implementation will quickly expand throughout a State.
Harmonisation is a key aspect of the implementation programme. However, techniques and possibilities will vary according to the local situation. Compliance is judged to have been
TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONS
Since carbon reduction became a key objective of European policy makers and the public, there has been increasing pressure on industries which contribute to carbon emissions to follow their commitments to reduce CO2 with concrete action. Fortunately, the aviation industry can call on an unprecedented track record in reducing fuel burn, and is continually striving to reduce emissions, noise and improve efficiency. Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) is a key technique, developed over the past decade, which reduces fuel burn and will help aviation reach its ambitious targets for carbon neutral growth by 2020.
CDA is an approach flying technique which reduces fuel burn, aircraft noise and emissions by means of a continuous descent. At many airports, aircraft descend in a series of ‘steps’ which involves using engine thrust to maintain level flight for some periods. In a CDA, an aircraft intercepts the glidepath at an optimal position and descends with minimum thrust, avoiding level flight to the extent permitted by the safe operation of the aircraft.
Although CDA has been used at several airports for many years, in many different parts of the world, it is a complicated technique that involves a careful interaction between pilots and air traffic control, as well as appropriate equipment on board the aircraft. It is only in recent years that this has become widespread enough to make a significant roll-out of CDA a practical proposition throughout Europe.
Recognising that CDA’s time had come, the European Flight Efficiency Plan,
CDA Gathers Momentum in EuropeContinuous Descent Approaches Action Plan takes effect
Karsten Tilenda believes the CDA Action Plan is a great example of European aviation cooperation.
AIRSPACE QUARTER 3 2010 21
Interactive MapEUROCONTROL will shortly launch an online interactive map where it will be possible to access a range of CDA-related information. This will be available with varying degrees of access for the general public and stakeholders and will show CDA implementation status throughout Europe.
CDA implementation cannot be achieved by one operational stakeholder in isolation: it requires the collaboration of Airlines, Airport Operators and Air Navigation Service Providers. The motto of CDA implementation is simple – “We’re all in this together. There are no pilots, no controllers, no airports: we’re just all CDA professionals.”
achieved if the CDA is in accordance with the harmonised framework as laid out in the EUROCONTROL CDA Implementation Guidance manual.
The CIT approach is to lay the foundations of good practice to pave the way to more advanced performance in the future. It is recognised that implementing effective CDA takes time, and therefore the current objective is to carry out CDA from whatever flight level at whatever time (such as during quieter traffic periods), rather than trying to force CDA to the detriment of other considerations, particularly capacity. This is the key to establishing a CDA culture, which is paramount. Once the
culture is established the technique will develop at its own pace, as opposed to creating a situation which invites failure by raising unreasonable expectations.
CANSO Involvement
As part of its commitment to the CDA Action Plan, CANSO’s European Members have been busy monitoring and facilitating the roll-out of CDA at airports across the EU. Karsten Tilenda, CANSO’s European Director of Operations, has been liaising with Members to create a regular monitoring process, to ensure that any problems can be shared
amongst CANSO’s network of ATM professionals. This process began in July 2010 with a questionnaire on CDA roll-out, which was met with an enthusiastic response.
“The development of the CDA action plan and CANSO’s involvement is a great advert for European aviation cooperation” explains Karsten Tilenda. “Not only are we seeing ANSPs cooperating together, but this is being replicated across the airport and airline sectors as well. The effectiveness of such cooperation is born out by the fact that by mid 2010 we are only 17 airports short of our 2013 target for CDA acitivity.”
FEATURE
With CANSO’s new ‘Waypoint 2013’ mission set to “transform global ATM performance” the organisation is preparing to help ANSPs improve every aspect of their service provision, with the ultimate aim of creating a single seamless airspace system. The first and foremost objective of an ANSP is of course to ensure the safe navigation of aircraft, and so it is appropriate that the CANSO Safety Standing Committee has been among the first of the Organisation’s global policy groups to deliver concrete guidance to help members.
“I have to admit I would not have thought in 2007 that by summer 2010 we would have not only an SMS Standard of Excellence, but an SMS Excellence Implementation Guide” says Brendan Booth, CANSO’s Safety Manager, who oversees all safety activity for the Association. “The reason is down to the SMS working group. They have worked tirelessly to deliver world class SMS guidance for the CANSO membership.”
The SMS working group is drawn from across the CANSO family and from around the globe. From North America, Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific, members and individuals have given an immense amount of time and effort to the project.
With the full group having developed the SMS Standard of Excellence (see Airspace Q3, 2009) a sub-group was established to develop the SMS Standard
of Excellence Implementation Guide. The guide is based on the SMS Standard of Excellence and is consistent with ICAO recommendations. Crucially, it takes the recommendations of ICAO and CANSO, and provides practical guidance on how to implement an SMS. This is a vital step forward for ANSPs who have long been willing to raise standards but have not had the step-by-step guide available to help them do it.
The core team of authors and technical writers, who came from Airservices Australia, FAA, NATS, NAV CANADA and the IAA, worked for a year to prepare and guidance materials and examples.
Rationale for developing the SMS Standard of Excellence and Implementation Guide
Why did CANSO set about developing a standard of excellence? Since 2005 it has been a strategic aim of the CANSO SSC to provide safety management best practice. The need for this was borne out by the Global Aviation Safety Roadmap. This was a collaboration between the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airbus, Boeing, Airports Council International (ACI), the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) and CANSO, to establish a single level of aviation safety worldwide. A key elements of the Roadmap called on the industry to have consistent use of SMS.
The natural evolution of providing best practice was to develop the standard of excellence. This was encapsulated as part of the Imagine 2010 programme, for which the Safety Standing Committee was set two goals. Firstly to develop the SMS Standard and secondly, the Implementation Guide.
Building for success
A key strength of the CANSO SMS standard and guidance is that it is built on solid foundations.
Safety ExcellenceThe CANSO standard
Previous CANSO material, the Eurocontrol maturity metric, ICAO requirements and guidance, FAA material and the expert knowledge of the Workgroup members were all used as the basis of the group’s output.
The various iterations, of which there were many, were all subject to review from across the CANSO safety network, with the SSC Chairman, Programme Manager, and safety professionals from CANSO Members providing input and challenge along the way.
Principle of the Standard and the GuideIt is a key principle of the guidance that it does not seek to override existing regulations, but rather to be consistent and complimentary to ICAO and other materials. It is designed to provide a
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Previous CANSO material was used as a starting point for the work
The Safety Management Systems Workgroup has a truly global membership.
Safety Achievement
Safety Policy
Safety Culture
Safety Assurance
Safety Promotion
Looking to the future – Member supporting member as CANSO leads the way
As part of moving to the transformational future of ‘Waypoint 2013’, CANSO is using various means to transfer knowledge from standards to implementation. The SMS guide is a first step, which is being followed up with practical action. An example of this comes in November this year at the annual CANSO safety conference in Singapore. Part of the programme is a two day workshop on SMS implementation for members of the CANSO Safety Standing Committee. This will include practical advice and support from the authors and key safety experts from across the CANSO family. This is expected to be the beginning of a year-long campaign to provide mentoring support to at least six CANSO Members who are working to implement SMS.
“The SMS Standard of Excellence and Implementation Guide should be celebrated as not only an example of the work done by CANSO Members to support both themselves and fellow members, but also as a shining example of the global leadership that CANSO continues to show” adds Booth, “I have no doubt that with continued leadership and commitment, the safety performance of air navigation services across the world will continue to rise.”
continual improvement path, with pointers as to what to work on first.
The diagram below shows how the CANSO materials are related to ICAO procedures and how they support members to meet the regulatory requirements.
CANSO Standard for Excellence StructureThe Standard of Excellence is structured in five key areas:
The SMS Implementation Guidance is set out in a similar way, with guidance and examples for each of the key areas.
Procedures for Air Navigation Services, Document 4444, ATM 501 Chapter 2: ATS
Safety Management
International Civil Aviation Safety Organisation
Safety Management Manual Document 9859
Domestic regulator requirements
ANSP SMS
Implementation GuideCANSO Standard of Excellence in SMS
CANSO
Requirement
Guidance on ANSP best practice
Guidance on how other ANSPs have successfully implemented their SMS
Requirement
Guidance & information at aviation industry level
FEATURE
24 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
“It’s helpful to imagine managing safety as a wheel, where the different layers of a complete safety management system surround the hub of the wheel, which is always an organisation’s safety policy”, explains Brendan Booth. “The outer rim, or the tyre, surrounds the wheel and holds everything together. This is an organisation’s safety culture.”
Policy: the hub of the wheel is your policy, what do you stand for as an organisation with regards to safety?
Safety Achievement: the doing of safety in your business.
Safety Assurance: how you know what the performance of your operation is.
Safety Promotion: the sharing of best practice and lessons learnt.
Safety Culture: the engagement and commitment of your people is key.
The Safety Management wheel
CANSO guidance and ICAO procedures together help ANSPs meet regulatory requirements
AIRSPACE PEOPLE
Can you tell us why your organisation has chosen to join CANSO at this time?
CARC Jordan is a member in many organisations such as ICAO, ACAC, and ECAC, and we now we are in the process of separating the ANSP from the regulator. Therefore we are investigating better methods to enable us to implement the best practices in the best manner, in order to keep up with evolutions in the aviation world. In addition, as an ANSP we are fully convinced that CANSO will enable data sharing with colleagues across a wide range of areas to enhance our organisation’s performance and effectiveness; it will represent us at major aviation forums, it will give us full access to the worldwide ATM community, and assist us in developing common approaches with colleagues to complex changes in the aircraft operating environment. Thus our membership of CANSO enables us to contribute to continued growth of the organisation’s activities, particularly in the Middle East.
What are CARC Jordan’s immediate ANS priorities and what is its strategy for tackling them?
Our most pressing concern is the completion of the regulatory framework of the sector, by establishing Air Navigation Services Corporate. We also
have the aim of increasing Jordan’s competitive position in air navigation services, by development of air navigation services infrastructure, and insuring flexible and efficient use of Jordanian Airspace.
What key objectives do you have for CARC Jordan in the next three years?
We have six key objectives for the short to medium term. Firstly we aim to declare Jordan as an open sky area at the end of 2012. Second, we seek to enhance the civil aviation safety and security standards. Third, we must strengthen the economic regulations of the air transport sector. Fourth, we want to provide access to civil aviation sector related information, by establishing a data bank. Fifth, we wish to participate in environmental protection. And finally, we will enhance and update the level of specialised knowledge of CARC’s Personnel.
How can CANSO assist you to reach these objectives?
We would like CANSO to provide our ANSP with the required legal, technical, and training support through providing the processes and tools needed to achieve our objectives, and in addition help us to cope with changes in regulatory and other related and important fields.
CANSO’s REDSEA Vision calls for the development of a seamless efficient airspace. What long-term changes do you think are necessary to achieve this Vision, and how will aviation in the Middle East be different if it is realised?
We believe that CANSO’S REDSEA vision for the development of a seamless efficient airspace in the Middle East can be achieved by the adoption of CANSO’s seven pillar plan. In particular, this will mean cooperative progress on airspace management & design; the Flexible Use of Airspace; Civil-Military coordination; Performance-Based Navigation (PBN); harmonisation, especially across FIRs; and the consideration of creating a Functional Airspace Block.
A number of essential long-term changes will be necessary to achieve this vision in the Middle East. We are likely to see a restructuring of the region’s airspace, a move towards compatibility of CNS/ATM systems, and harmonisation between FIR’s. We will need much more Civil-Military coordination, a commitment to open skies and the flexible use of airspace, and a comprehensive roll-out of technologies or operational techniques such as PBN, RNAV, and CFMU.
Finally, we could see the forming of a Middle East Functional Airspace Block fully integrated with FABs in Europe.
Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC) Jordan is CANSO’s newest Full Member and will be a key player in the Association’s Middle East Region.
His Excellency Mahmoud Al Mustafa,
Commissioner, Air Navigation Services, CARC Jordan
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INSIDE CANSO
Focus on… CANSO at ICAO
A quick review of ICAO activities relating to CANSO’s four priority areas illustrates the need to further support the engagement process.
Safety
When CANSO participated in the High-Level Safety Conference (HLSC) in March 2010, it presented a working
paper on the SMS Standard and a joint paper with IFATCA on “Just Culture”, which sought to ensure this concept remained a key topic of debate and discussion, and that a dialogue with judicial authorities be established. The Conference recommended ICAO establish a multi-disciplinary taskforce to consider (among other things) the interactions between safety and judicial authorities and the sharing and protection of safety information. Also, a more collaborative approach to runway safety was agreed and a Safety Performance Indicators Study Group was established. As these issues form a key part of CANSO’s Safety work programme, it is crucial that the ANSPs’ interests be represented.
As CANSO’s engagement of ICAO enters its fourth year, the Organisation is increasingly being looked to for its views and expertise on various issues related to ATM. Although this brings CANSO a significant opportunity to influence the transformation of global ATM, it also brings a number of challenges which the Association and its Members must address.
“There is no doubt that the first phase of the engagement has been a success” explains Eugene Hoeven, CANSO’s Director ICAO Affairs. “As an officially recognised Observer at ICAO, CANSO is providing Members with an industry voice at ICAO meetings and, given that ICAO’s Air Navigation work program is a significant one, opportunities to contribute and influence are many. And, truth to be told, ICAO is looking for guidance. If played correctly, the opportunity exists for ANSPs – collectively, through CANSO – to exert a lot more influence.”
However, this will require a change in approach and a commitment of resources from CANSO Member ANSPs. CANSO’s engagement in the ICAO work programs has been for the most part tactical and reactive to the ICAO agenda, not strategic and proactive. Hoeven believes that in order to support what CANSO is advocating at the institutional policy level, the engagement process must be strengthened at the technical/operations level, particularly on issues dealing with ATM concepts, strategy and plans – guided by the CANSO Global Vision and supported more actively by the CANSO work programs, creating linkages with the ICAO panels and groups where possible.
The challenge is that the perception and knowledge of what ICAO does and how it works and, more importantly, the impact it has on ATM, differs significantly among ANSPs. “Depending on the ANSP, some are heavily involved in ICAO activity in support of their State commitment to ICAO, both at the global and regional level, while others are not,” Hoeven explains. “Further, at the senior level, many question what can be accomplished in ICAO meetings, the general perception being that the ICAO process is slow and cumbersome, and needs to be changed. At the working level, however, and particularly in regions outside Europe,
there is a general acceptance that implementation of ATM improvements can only be achieved through the ICAO process, despite its short-comings.”
These differences in perception of ICAO and in member expectations of ICAO engagement have a lot to do with the differing institutional arrangements prevalent in States and in the regions. In Europe, the European Commission, Eurocontrol and EASA are rather more important than ICAO. Other regions have no such institutional arrangements for the oversight of civil aviation, and States and their ANSPs look to ICAO for guidance and coordination of their implementation activities. However, despite these regional differences, even the European institutions increasingly do adopt the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in their rule-making, and both the EC and Eurocontrol are heavy contributors to the ICAO work programs.
“The reality is that, when it comes to global harmonisation, there is no other game in town than ICAO” says Hoeven. “And, this is why CANSO is at ICAO: if we are to realise our Global Vision of seamless air navigation services, then we must engage an organisation that can set global performance-based standards.
While it may be true that ICAO has not always been responsive enough to the changes taking place in industry, positive steps are currently being taken, and CANSO has to be ready contribute in a constructive manner. Above all, it needs to be able to articulate exactly what ANSPs require of the regulatory community – CANSO should be ready to help define the requirements that are in need of standardisation (the ‘what’), and the means by which those regulatory requirements will be met through the development of industry best practice (the ‘how’).
Eugene Hoeven: “When it comes to harmonisation there is no other game in town.”
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Environment
CANSO has been successful in achieving a better understanding of the role of ATM in the environment
debate, and of the institutional and regulatory changes needed for improved ATM efficiency and performance. During the CAEP/8 meeting held in February 2010 there was support for the direction CANSO felt the CAEP Operations (ATM) work programme should take, and recognition of the need to measure and report CNS/ATM efficiency improvements. CANSO therefore has an opportunity to contribute to guidance on operational opportunities to reduce fuel burn and emissions related to proposed operational procedures changes, airspace redesigns, and other similar operational aspects.
At the political level, the High-level Meeting on the Environment, held in October 2009, recognised the work the aviation industry had been doing and called on States to adopt a global sectoral approach and support ICAO as the appropriate UN body for setting and administering aviation-specific standards and targets. CANSO has contributed to this industry effort, coordinated by ATAG, to identify potential for reductions in aviation CO2 emissions and how these could translate as aspirational goals for industry. The CANSO goals for airspace efficiency can be viewed at www.canso.org/environmentgoals. CANSO’s work with its industry partners (ACI, ICCAIA and IATA) will continue in preparation for the 37th ICAO Assembly that will consider a draft Resolution on international aviation and climate change.
Business Transformation A number of activities at ICAO relate to CANSO’s
Business Transformation programme: the transition of AIS to AIM; and the Next Generation Aviation Professional (NGAP) initiative. The ICAO AIS-AIM Study Group has so far delivered a Roadmap, and CANSO has contributed significantly to the work through the support of the AIMWG. Further work is required relating to the legal and institutional changes necessary to transition to AIM and the future SWIM. The work of the AIS-AIMSG is expected to be completed by 2013 and will conclude in an AIS Divisional meeting for endorsement of the net-centric concept and associated SARPs.
Looking to the future, as part of its awareness campaign, the AIMWG will need to focus more attention on clarifying the legal and institutional changes necessary to transition AIS to AIM, and work with ICAO as the new SARPs are introduced. This might include a joint awareness and communications campaign directed at States and industry decision-makers, as well as regional workshops. The NGAP initiative is meant to address what is seen as a significant challenge in the decade to come. CANSO has worked with IFATCA to produce a brochure on staff recruitment and retention in the future ATM environment, and as a follow-up activity, will coordinate with IFATCA and IFATSEA on the modernisation of Annex 1 (Personnel Licensing) to better reflect current and future competency-based requirements of the ATM professions.
Operations
The operations area is where a significant amount of work should be done as a great deal
of attention by ICAO and IATA is focused on the implementation of ATM improvements. CANSO has so far supported the ICAO/IATA Global PBN Task Force and volunteered to lead the Promotion Team activity; contributed to
the UAS Study Group that was established to develop a UAS regulatory concept, ensuring that UAS are incorporated into non-segregated airspace without impacting safety; participated in the development of new guidance material for States on Civil-Military cooperation; and participated in the multi-disciplinary International Volcanic Ash Task Force (IVATF) that is to review guidance on volcanic ash contingency plans and consider improvements to ash dispersion models and the development of ash concentration thresholds.
CANSO has also been approached for assistance on procedures harmonisation. Confusion currently exists as to the intent of ATC clearances when aircraft are cleared to levels above those specified on SIDs or below those specified on STARs, and ICAO has recommended that airlines and ANSPs work closely to resolve any such confusion. Since any new proposal for revised procedures and phraseologies will need to be supported by a safety case, the ANSPs are being looked to conduct simulations and achieve global harmonisation in SID/STAR procedures and phraseologies.
ICAO is also looking to CANSO for assistance during the implementation phase of the new model flight plan that is applicable on 15 November 2012. An uncoordinated approach to implementation and difference filing by States would be detrimental to operators and ANSPs alike.
CANSO was further invited to participate in the Standards Roundtable hosted by ICAO on 14-15 June 2010. This activity is important in the context of global harmonisation and ATM system interoperability, especially in view of the various ATM modernisation programs taking shape, such as NextGen and SESAR, but also CARRATS and others. CANSO can play a key role in helping to identify those systems and operational requirements that are in need of global standardisation.
30 QUARTER 3 2010 AIRSPACE
INSIDE CANSO
CANSO – The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation – is the global voice of the companies that provide air traffic control, and represents the interests of Air Navigation Services Providers worldwide. CANSO members are responsible for supporting over 85% of world air traffic, and through our Workgroups, members share information and develop new policies, with the ultimate aim of improving air navigation services on the ground and in the air. CANSO also represents its members’ views in major regulatory and industry forums, including at ICAO, where we have official Observer status.
JOINING CANSOThe membership of CANSO is drawn from a wide range of ANSPs and companies involved with the delivery of air traffic services. Membership offers them the chance to network formally and informally, exchange best practice, and
Aena – SpainAEROTHAI – ThailandAirports Authority of IndiaAirservices AustraliaAirways New ZealandANS of the Czech Republic ATNS – South AfricaBULATSA – BulgariaAustro Control – AustriaAvinor – NorwayAZANS – Azerbaijan Belgocontrol – BelgiumCAA – UgandaCAAS – SingaporeCARC – JordanDFS – GermanyDHMI – TurkeyDSNA – FranceEANS – EstoniaENAV SpA – ItalyFAA – USAFinavia – FinlandGACA – Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaGCAA – United Arab EmiratesHellenic Civil Aviation Authority HungaroControlIrish Aviation AuthorityISAVIA – Iceland
Full Members Associate MembersGold MembersBoeingEra CorporationFREQUENTIS AGGroupEAD Europe S.L.ITT CorporationLockheed MartinMetron AviationRaytheonSELEX Sistemi Integrati S.p.A.Sensis CorporationTelephonics Corporation ESDThales
Silver MembersAdacel Inc.AirbusARINCATC Global (UBM Information Ltd)ATCA – JapanAviation Advocacy SarlAvitech AGBarco Orthogon GmbH Booz Allen HamiltonComsoft GmbHEADS Defence & SecurityEIZO Technologies GmbHEmiratesEntry Point North
EtihadFokker Services B.V.Globecomm Systems Inc.GM Merc A/SHarris CorporationHeliosHITT TrafficIDS – Ingegneria Dei Sistemi S.p.A.Indra SistemasIntegra A/SIntelcan Technosystems Inc.JeppesenL-3 Communications ESSCO Lochard EMSMicro Nav LtdThe MITRE Corporation – CAASDM.L.S. International CollegeNaverus, Inc.Northrop Grumman – Park Air SystemsPA Consulting Group A/SQinetiQQuintiqSaab ABSELEX Systems Integration Inc. SITASwedavia ABTerma A/SUbitech Systems Inc.U.S. DoD Policy Board on Federal AviationWIDE
contribute to CANSO Workgroups, delivering the standards and policies that will drive the future development of Air Navigation Services.
Full (ANSP) Membership is open to all ANSPs, regardless of whether or not they are autonomous of their government. Associate members can apply for either Gold or Silver status, which brings differing levels of access to CANSO Workgroups and event and advertising discounts. All members get a free listing in the CANSO Yearbook, and have access to the Global ATM Net, an extranet that is the hub of CANSO’s activities, and home to an extensive member database.
For further information on joining CANSO, please contact Marc-Peter Pijper on +31 (0)23 568 5380 or email [email protected]
Light area illustrates airspace controlled by CANSO members
