TITAN Kicks-off its “Integration in the Air Transport System” and Holds Fourth Progress Meeting
On 31/01/2012, in TITAN, by steve
The EC 7th Framework Program project TITAN is slowly approaching the final leg of its exciting three year circuit looking at improving the aircraft turnaround process. The TITAN partners gathered in Madrid, Spain, on 14-15 December to review progress and to kick-off WP6. I will come back on the significance of this work-package in moment.
Participation, as we have grown used to in this project, was very good and SESAR also sent its WP6 (Airport) leader for good measure.
Participants noted that the general economic malaise was also impacting the air transport industry and it was increasingly difficult to get contributions in kind from airlines and even airports as they themselves were increasingly short of resources. Nevertheless the project partners were calling on their network of experts to compensate this unfortunate situation to the maximum extent possible.
Good news came in the form of the realization that based on the outcome of the gaming exercises run in the fall of last year, only minor changes to the TITAN Concept of Operations will be required. This is important as it confirms that the project has been on the right track from the start and is also the key to the longer term stability of the work.
Click here to read the full article
Are Airspace Users Really the Centre of ANSP Attention?
On 22/01/2012, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
More than a decade ago I was in the thick of a war raging between airspace users and air navigation service providers. At stake was the forced implementation of Mode S Enhanced Surveillance (ES), something some ANSPs considered to be vital while the airspace users in general considered to be an expensive folly. The business case developed by EUROCONTROL was at best dodgy and the promised benefits were seen as of questionable value.
At the time, Mode S elementary surveillance looked like a done deal. In the end, after having held back the Mode S ES for two years or so, three big ANSPs banded together and went ahead anyway… costing the industry millions without having realized measurable benefits to this day!
But now, Mode S Elementary Surveillance is rising from the ashes, more specifically the problems associated with the SES Implementing Rule (IR) on Aircraft Identification for Surveillance (Regulation (EU) No 1206/2011).
Two Members of the European Parliament have submitted questions for written answer (ref. E-000312/2012). You will find the text of the questions, as published, below in full.
I wonder what the answers will be. The questions paint a sad story indeed….
Click here to read the full article
Old habits that refuse to die
On 29/11/2011, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
Things like the Single European Sky (SES), SESAR, even the FABs were supposed to bring a fresh air to European ATM, dispensing once and for all with bad habits and procedures that kept making life for airspace users unnecessarily hard and expensive.
Among those old habits, the persistent mismatch between mandates to equip aircraft and adding the capability concerned to ANSPs was one of the most striking and expensive. What did this mean? The industry, sometimes all on its own but more often after “gentle persuasion” by the service providers “agreed” that a new piece of kit had to be bolted on the airplanes and a date was set by which time the new kit had to be operational. There was never a mandate for the ground to also equip, this happened in a haphazard way if it happened at all and often aircraft flew around for years with totally useless boxes on board that had cost a fortune to install with no benefit at all (just think of Mode S enhanced surveillance if you want an example).
One would think that under SES and its Implementing Rules (IR) this kind of mismatch is a thing of the past. Fat chance.
A few days ago two new SES IRs were published in the EU Official Journal.
Regulation No 1206/2011 prescribes that air navigation service providers must make use of the aircraft identification down-linked via Mode S by the second of January of the year 2020. This is a cool 17 years after the corresponding airborne retrofit date which was in 2003. Oooops….
Click here to read the full article
Commission Report Puts the Lie to Claims that ATM is in Great Shape
On 26/11/2011, in SESAR's Palace, by cleo
Regular readers of Roger-Wilco know that we have been sounding alarm bells over the European ATM situation and the even brighter future that some reports would make us believe is just around the corner. We did not make many friends with this kind of reporting… of course. It is much nicer to believe that all is well even when the plane is crashing. But we were not reporting unfounded facts. Our sources are better than most…
And now a press release from the European Commission finally brings to light just how bad the situation really is.
The “traffic light” assessments published today by the Commission – based on two progress reports – highlight serious cause for concern in relation to two major elements which go to the heart of the Single European Sky project: the performance scheme and the functional airspace blocks.
Only 5 out of 27 Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) get a “green light” and are on track to meet both targets (for cost and capacity/delays) for the period 2012–14. The Commission has issued recommendations asking Member States to revise these targets. If necessary the Commission could adopt a binding decision requesting the Member State(s) concerned to implement specific corrective measures, although a short time remains available for the targets to be met without recourse to this action.
Existing plans by Member States would fail to meet the EU-wide capacity target of 0.5 minute delay per flight in 2014. If this target were achieved, some €920 million would be saved over 2012–14 due to fewer and shorter delays.
In addition, national performance plans would miss the EU-wide target for ATM cost efficiency by 2.4% in 2014. This would have a a major impact, both on airspace users and on the credibility of the Single European Sky. To meet the target, additional measures are needed to achieve a €250 million saving over the entire three-year reference period (2012–14).
Well, this is not exactly the bright picture that States and ANSPs would want the industry to see. Keep in mind also that all this is happening after the failure of EATCHIP and ATM2000+. I hope you are not going to say now that SESAR will be different. SESAR may be but the rest of the environment is not….
But there is more.
The great Functional Airspace Block fiasco.
Click here to read the full article
EU to invest 32 billion Euros to improve European transport – SESAR is one of the beneficiaries!
On 20/10/2011, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
The European Commission has adopted a proposal to transform the existing patchwork of European roads, railways, airports and canals into a unified transport network (TEN-T). The new core network will remove bottlenecks, upgrade infrastructure and streamline cross border transport operations for passengers and businesses throughout the EU. It will improve connections between different modes of transport and contribute to the EU’s climate change objectives.
European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: “Transport is fundamental to an efficient EU economy, but vital connections are currently missing. Europe’s railways have to use 7 different gauge sizes and only 20 of our major airports and 35 of our major ports are directly connected to the rail network. Without good connections Europe will not grow or prosper.”
The new policy follows a two-year consultation process and establishes a core transport network to be established by 2030 to act as the backbone for transportation within the Single Market. The financing proposals published today (for the period 2014–2020) also tightly focus EU transport funding on this core transport network, filling in cross-border missing links, removing bottlenecks and making the network smarter.
The new core TEN-T network will be supported by a comprehensive network of routes, feeding into the core network at regional and national level. This will largely be financed by Member States, with some EU transport and regional funding possibilities, including with new innovative financing instruments. The aim is to ensure that progressively, and by 2050, the great majority of Europe’s citizens and businesses will be no more than 30 minutes’ travel time from this comprehensive network.
Taken as a whole, the new transport network will deliver:
• safer and less congested travel
• as well as smoother and quicker journeys.
The 31.7 billion euros allocated to transport under the Connecting Europe Facility of the MFF (Multi-Annual Financial Framework) will effectively act as “seed capital” to stimulate further investment by Member States to complete difficult cross-border connections and links which might not otherwise get built. Every 1 million euros spent at European level will generate 5 million from Member State governments and 20 million from the private sector.
Background:
The new policy sets out a much smaller and more tightly defined transport network for Europe. Its aim is to focus spending on a smaller number of projects where real EU added value can be realised. Member States will also face more rigorous requirements in terms of common specifications which will work cross-border, and legal obligations actually to complete the project.
Click here to read the full article
The advantages of not being American
On 17/10/2011, in Viewpoint, by cleo
Remember how we used to say to anyone willing to listen just how wonderful the FAA was and how happy they should be in the US for having just one big ATM organization to contend with?
This was of course before NextGen and the current reshuffle of the FAA to make it better suited to achieving the NextGen goals. We have now learned that David Grizzle, the COO of the Air Traffic Organization, is of the opinion that the FAA-wide changes will go a long way toward making them one FAA as opposed to independent and often feuding activities all housed at 800 Independence Avenue. I also read in Aviation Week with great surprise that two FAA guys will be used as “battering rams” to break down the cultural barriers inside the FAA… All this is of course set in the context of setting up a new Project Management Organization (PMO) within the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, to look after NextGen and improve the general management of that project.
Wow… we always thought the FAA was better.
Of course this highlights immediately how lucky we are in Europe.
Our world is composed of EC and EUROCONTROL member states, the two sets not being identical. EUROCONTROL has more members but that organization is being made irrelevant albeit its final name (Network Manager) is something even the FAA can be jealous of. Then we have the FABs, composed of ANSPs but no real European organization that would oversee the FABs of which there are far more than anyone would ever need… The ANSPs in the FABs are forming alliances but those alliances do not align with the FABs. Then there is the SESAR Joint Undertaking with ANSP and industry members trying to realize SESAR, something that has never envisaged having to contend with the fragmentation represented by the FABs and the ANSP alliances. On top of all that, we have the European Commission who is actually responsible for the FAB idea in the first place (big mistake) but they are also laboring on what is called the Single European Sky (SES), something that almost died in trying to bring that jigsaw puzzle into a coherent whole… and the jury is still out on what will come of this all, SES or not.
Suppose, somebody somewhere discovers that there is a problem in Europe similar to what the FAA has faced and to which their reply was establishing the PMO. What would we do?
Wrong question. We can never discover a problem like that…
The significance of services in TITAN
On 17/06/2011, in TITAN, by steve
As you may have heard, TITAN is an EU 7Th Framework project working on improving the predictability and efficiency of the aircraft turnaround. Its name says it all: turnaround integration in trajectory and network. Building on the baseline to be provided by Airport CDM (A-CDM), TITAN will make the details of the turnaround process more visible on a scale much wider than anything in the past. By providing context sensitive information to the various stakeholders enabling them to anticipate problems and take remedial action not only on a timely basis but also commensurate with the problem to be solved.
You can find more information on TITAN here. This article is about a very important characteristic of TITAN, namely its service oriented architecture (SOA). You can read more about SOA here, but to recap briefly, let me say that in this approach the business aspects and the IT aspects of a system are decoupled from each other, with the business aspects driving the IT aspects and not the other way round. This is a major step in the right direction already as in the past the blessings of modern IT were often negated by the limitations they placed on what the business side was able to achieve. The S in SOA stands for “service” and these are traditionally defined for the IT part of course but even more importantly, the business level also gets its set of services. Where do we get those business services from? Usually they are puzzled out from process models but this can result in an unmanageably complex result. By using domain models to deduce a “what do we actually do” model, things are much simplified and the result is actually usable.
But what does this all have to do with TITAN?
Click here to read the full article
When Titans speak
On 25/05/2011, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
Mid-March Aviation Week published a double interview in which Canso director general Graham Lake and Air Traffic Control Association president/CEO Peter F. Dumont spoke their minds about air traffic management developments on both sides of the Atlantic.
The interviews were refreshing and revealing. They both spoke about the prospects of SESAR and NextGen frankly and eschewing the usual bluster and we-have-won type of text so frustrating in the “formal” communications.
Mr. Lake tells us that it is not yet clear where the 4 billion euros implementation funding needed by SESAR will come from… With SESAR well into its 8-year life-span and 2.1 billion euros being burned through as you read this, such an uncertainty about the future is cause for concern to say the least.
He also makes the point that the new ATM system will still need people to operate it. He then goes on to say that some 70 % of the typical ANSPs costs are staff related, expressing surprise that parts of the ATM network face disruptions as a result of labor disputes and demands for unsustainable labor agreements. As an industry, we cannot allow this to continue he states. There is a strong message here and one is almost tempted to compare the number of pilots and other airline stuff who lost their jobs because of the economic crisis with the number of ATC staff who had been handed the pink slip for the same reason…
Click here to read the full article
Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) – The best thing since sliced bread!
On 09/05/2011, in FAB News, by cleo
It is definitive now, FABs are the greatest invention since sliced bread! I mean, what other construct would give European Air Navigation Service Providers the chance to boast about doing things now that they should have done decades ago but failed to because of parochial thinking? It is hard to understand why they were so opposed to the FAB idea when it was first put out by the European Commission… But no problem, FAB has become the new buzz word and the opiate of people with short memories.
Not so long ago, the folks at FAB Europe Central proudly announced that aircraft in their FAB will now fly shorter routes at night as a result of the new and wonderful co-operation between the states concerned. What they forgot to mention was the minor fact that what they did was nothing more than formalizing something air traffic controllers have been doing for decades: giving directs at night. This was not a FAB achievement, just common sense finally prevailing.
But there is more.
Air Traffic Management magazine has just published news of the UK-Ireland Functional Airspace Block Plan for 2011-2014 and the annual report of achievements for 2010, having been released. This FAB is the oldest in Europe in operation since 2008 and by all accounts it is “highly successful”. Well, let’s see…
One of the key elements of the 2011-2014 FAB Plan is ODNET: Optimize Domestic, North Atlantic and European Traffic Flows. Hmm… If I recall correctly, this was also one of the aims of EATCHIP and ATM2000+ though admittedly, not on a UK/Ireland scale. EATCHIP and ATM2000+ were trying to achieve this on a European scale.
Click here to read the full article
Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) – the EC’s biggest blunder?
On 30/04/2011, in FAB News, by pbn
That the EC meant well when they originally came up with the idea of Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) is not in question. That they did not anticipate the monster they were creating can be put down to the engaging naivety of someone venturing into the jungle of European air traffic management for the first time. That IATA was blind enough to support the FAB concept shows how desperate they were for a solution, any solution, to the continued ills of ATM.
As we head towards a summer promising to be vary bad in terms of delays and in the midst of the general euphoria about FABs and ANSP alliances, it should be interesting to look into the history of the FAB idea and its present reality. If for no other reason then to learn why it will not bring the improvements the industry craves.
Those amongst you with the longest memory will recall EATCHIP and ATM2000+ the two European flagship air traffic management projects which dragged on for years and in spite of Ministers of Transport signatures on the ATM2000+ documents, they delivered very little. We suffered through meeting after meeting, all kinds of new groups were created but in the end, when it came to implementation the deadlines always seemed to slip to a date comfortably in the future. Comfortably for the service providers and frustratingly for the airspace users. Europe was treading water and the industry did not drawn but this was in spite of ATM2000+ rather than because of it.
The European Commission was taking an increasing interest in the problems of air traffic management and seeing that it was not possible to create a truly European project, they decided to take a pragmatic approach when they finally intervened. Enter the Functional Airspace Block or FAB. If you cannot get the whole of Europe to work on a harmonized system, have at least a few groups of ANSPs work together… A nice idea which unfortunately ignored the fundamental problems and realities of European ATM.
The FAB concept was met with a conspicuous lack of enthusiasm. Working together, giving up even a small bit of their independence was anathema to the ANSPs and any idea coming from the EC was suspect to begin with. The first round of the Single European Sky regulations was struggling to take off at about the same time and was kept firmly on the ground for the very same reason…
Then SESAR came along. This was a truly European undertaking working to define a truly European air traffic management system. SESAR’s definition phase was hard going but on that particular battle field it was no longer possible to go against the pan-European solution, so instead the proposed new paradigms and solutions were attacked with the usual gusto.
Click here to read the full article
Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – EC White Paper
On 27/04/2011, in Bookshelf, by steve
For many years now aviation lived under the shadow of demands that envisaged solving environmental and congestion problems by capping aviation growth. Misguided and economically damaging as this idea was, it was getting traction in various fora in Europe, sending shivers across the industry.
With the publication of the EC White Paper entitled “Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area”, for the first time a high level EC document refutes the capping idea, stating bluntly: “Curbing mobility is not an option”. Although a white paper is not law, it does send a powerful message about the thinking of the Commission.
The paper does provide the inevitable support to EU star projects like Galileo and SESAR but other than that, it does not go into detail on how some of the essential funding will be provided especially in terms of SESAR. This is crucial as SESAR’s success is viewed more and more as dependent on seed money coming from public sources.
While far from perfect and obviously missing a few important elements (like water-tight assurances that the regulatory burden on operators will not be allowed to unduly increase), the paper does bring a fresh and refreshing framework that is suitable for guiding the development of future policies. This fact is reflected by the generally positive reception of the paper in the wider aviation community.
Get your copy here.
European ATM failing… again?
On 25/04/2011, in FAB News, by cleo
It is almost boring these days how every possible forum, from LinkedIn to Air Traffic Management Magazine, is full of awe-struck articles about the Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) and ANSP alliances. Subtly or not so subtly they all seem to suggest that this is now what ATM needs and this is how problems will be solved.
Unanswered is of course the question: why could the very same ANSPs not work together in this wonderful new way while they had the chance under the leadership of EUROCONTROL? EATCHIP and ATM2000+ were about the same aims as these new fangled arrangements except that those programs were European while FABs and ANSP alliances are creating the kind of European fragmentation we have not seen since the 70s.
But there is more. At ATC Global in Amsterdam a short while ago, Davind McMillen, EUROCONTROL’s Director General was of the opinion that, all things considered, this looked like a bad summer for delay in Europe.
Excuse me???
In an article extolling the virtues of ANSP alliances, one of the benefits quoted was the examination of the potential for synergies and closer cooperation. Yes, you heard right!
So, after 15 years of EATCHIP and ATM2000+ and 3 years of relatively low traffic caused by the economic crisis we discover that ANSPs have wasted most of the time trying to figure out things and they have still not come to the all important conclusions… Castrating EUROCONTROL in the form of making it the “network manager”, ANSPs are now busy forming alliances and examining the potential for synergies. Oh yes, and they are also creating fragmentation on a level never seen before in the form of the FABs just to make sure things do not get away from them on the European level.
Click here to read the full article
BLUE MED FAB Newsletter Number 2 now available
On 21/03/2011, in FAB News, by steve
BLUE MED is the Functional Airspace Block (FAB) being put together by the States in the Mediterranean Sea area and their naturally sunny disposition is amply reflected in their newsletters, of which the second is now available.
FABs are exciting because the idea pre-dates SESAR and when we created the SESAR Concept of Operations it was designed to work in a true single European sky and not in what is essentially a larger scale fragmentation of that European sky. The participants in the various FABs are doing a lot to harmonize their operations but harmonization between the FABs themselves is another cookie… It is on that scale that things were always derailed in the past so it remains to be seen how they will be handled this time round.
Another aspect to think about is that SESAR uses a trajectory based paradigm while FABs continue to be based on the legacy, airspace based paradigm. A lot of work will have to be done (and little or none of it is visible so far) to move the FAB concept away from airspace orientation and towards the trajectory based concept that is the only viable future.
It would be good to hear from FAB experts how they are approaching the above issues.
In the meantime, read the second BLUE MED Newsletter here.
DSNA CEO says SESAR CONOPS was built on FABs from day one…
On 12/03/2011, in FAB News, by steve
No Sir, it was NOT!!!!
If ATC Global Insight is to be believed, Mr. Maurice Georges, CEO of French DSNA, said in Amsterdam that “The SESAR operational concept has been built on FABs from day one.”
Well, I do not know which SESAR operational concept they use in France but the concept we wrote and which bears the text, inter alia, “…it is considered that the level of detail reached in the work and the degree of assessment performed are sufficient to give guidance on what should be contained in the SESAR Master Plan.” does not talk about FABs. This is of course WP2.2.2, Deliverable D3, the famous CONOPs, the only real concept of operations that reflects the discussions in the definition phase. That is “from day one” to use Mr. Georges’ words.
This document mentions Functional Airspace Blocks only once towards the end in the context of provision of meteorological information and the abbreviation of FAB is not shown at all!!!
That one lonely mention of the functional airspace block is obviously an editorial oversight because we were very careful not to mix a legacy concept like the FAB into a future oriented concept like SESAR.
Why was that?
To understand this, we must go back a little in history. For many years and through many programs like EATCHIP and ATM2000+, Europe tried to update its ATM system along continent-wide lines to harmonize things in an effort to make an end to the delay crisis. While some progress was made, States’ reluctance to relinquish even a little of their ATM castle mentality basically prevented any big breakthrough. When finally the European Commission got fed up with the obfuscation, the idea of Functional Airspace Blocks and the Single European Sky were invented in the hope that under the stewardship of the EC things would go faster. Fat channce…
In all the hoopla currently surrounding FAB implementation it is easy to forget that the FABs were not embraced with enthusiasm at first and the reluctant brides, the ANSPs had to be dragged to the altar kicking and screaming… causing considerable delay in FAB implementation.
Click here to read the full article
Successful Second Workshop Held by TITAN
On 03/03/2011, in TITAN, by steve
The 7th Framework program TITAN, dealing with optimizing the aircraft turnaround process held its second workshop on 22 February, in Madrid, Spain.
The interest in the subject was amply demonstrated by how well this event was attended at a time when it is not easy to get travel authorization in most organizations. Handling agents, airports, universities, research institutions as well as members of the TITAN team were all well represented and everybody actively contributed to the brainstorming.
The two main themes of the workshop were focusing on the definition and contents of warnings and the information flows and actors concerned.
The program uses a process based, service oriented approach in defining what TITAN will do in order to make actors aware of the progress of the turnaround at a granularity exceeding the currently planned detail and warnings play a crucial role in shaping this common situational awareness. The term “warning” is in fact a generic expression and it covers output generated for information only as well as actual alarms which in turn may be categorized as green (heads-up only, no action), yellow (action to be taken) to red (urgent action to be taken, nominal operation no longer possible). Obviously, getting the trigger events and the warning responses right is crucial for effective operation.
Click here to read the full article
CRDS Rising from the Ashes
On 09/02/2011, in Just to let you know..., by steve
Few of our readers will still remember the original goal of EUROCONTROL… It was to have been THE European air traffic control organization. Nice dream it was and we all know what happened. More recently there was CEATS, the Central European Air Traffic Services Program which was a bit like a Phoenix, the original EUROCONTROL idea rising from the ashes to integrate ATS in Central Europe. After years of effort and a lot of money, this idea also died.
Scattered in Prague and Budapest were remnants of the CEATS elements that had been set up as the first step in realizing the ill-fated project. Prague had the CEATS Strategy and Development Unit, Budapest the CEATS Research, Development and Simulation Centre or CRDS. This latter was renamed in 2009 to EAVU (EUROCONTROL Airspace Validation Unit) no doubt in an effort to reflect the fact that the CRDS was a viable proposition even after the disappearance of CEATS as such. EAVU or not, the fate of the Budapest simulation centre was sealed when EUROCONTROL decided to close it once and for all.
But HungaroControl, the Hungarian ANSP had other ideas.
Click here to read the full article
New clouds on the Mode-S/ADS-B horizon in Europe
On 18/01/2011, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
Most of those who took part in the epic battle over the introduction of Mode S Enhanced Surveillance (EHS) have either retired, moved to other activities or flew west to greener pastures but I guess there is still a hard core who will remember how the airspace users lost that one to the three big States in Europe and EUROCONTROL who was caught between a rock and a hard place… I was one of those doing the shouting, telling anyone who would listen that Mode S Enhanced Surveillance would cost the airlines an arm and a leg and would generate next to zero benefits. The majority of the airlines and some ANSPs agreed… This was back at the beginning of the previous decade and in the end, the three promoters of Mode S EHS, fed up with the indecision of the others and the opposition of the airlines, banded together and set up the Three State Program, in effect deciding that they would put in Mode S EHS regardless of the opposition. They did have the grace to announce clear time-frames (2003) to have everything on the ground ready and the benefits accruing for the airspace users. We are now in 2011 and very little of that grand promise has been realized, certainly if we look at things from the benefit point of view. If anyone out there has news about Mode S Enhanced Surveillance quantifiable benefits being available to anyone, please let us know…
But the story continues except that the stakes are even higher. This time the matter is on the level of the European Commission and its Single European Sky Implementing Rules (SES IR). Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the Commission wanting the jump start SES via implementing rules. On the contrary, this is a good thing. Except that the old specter of Mode S implementation is beckoning again in the Surveillance Performance and Interoperability IR.
Click here to read the full article
Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB) – New category on Roger-Wilco
On 03/01/2011, in FAB News, by steve
FABs may be the highest political priority for the European Commission and they certainly are the source of high flying political statements, but I still do not like them. Why? Well, the idea when it first came up was a good one. At the time, functional fragmentation of air traffic management in Europe was costing airspace users billions and in spite of all the projects being considered, there was little hope for structural reform.
In order to break the logjam, and fully aware that there was no hope for getting the whole of Europe to co-operate and create a single sky, the EC very pragmatically proposed that groups of States get together and create functional airspace blocks (FAB) along the lines of their ATM “interests”, optimizing and aligning procedures and services inside their FAB… This way, the argument went, at least there would be a single sky of sorts inside the FAB and later on the FABs themselves could be harmonized for a truly single European sky.
Pragmatic and logical as the idea may have been, it was not received by the ANSPs with open arms.
Click here to read the full article
Incentives for Early Airborne CPDLC Equipage
On 13/12/2010, in Shop floor talk, by steve
The LINK 2000+ programme has been working on the definition of incentives schemes for early airborne equipage since 2005. Various creative schemes were explored with stakeholders, such as reduced route charges for those that equip early. However, it proved impossible to get stakeholders to commit to such schemes even though the principles of the route charge system were modified to accommodate them.
Following an economic analysis by the industry consultation body for the Single European Sky, several short-term projects were recommended for funding to accelerate early ATM benefits and to provide the launch pad for SESAR.
Click here to read the full article
The TITAN project – one year down the road
On 06/12/2010, in TITAN, by steve
I have always wondered whether passengers notice the organized chaos that characterizes aircraft at the gate, getting ready for its next trip. Whether it is a 737 operated by a low-cost carrier getting turned around in as little as 20 minutes or a 747 heading to the other side of the world and readied for departure in less than 90 minutes, the picture is much the same: a lot of machines, a lot of people, a lot of activities which magically all terminate all of a sudden as if on command and the aircraft is ready to go!
This is the turnaround process, one of the most critical phases of a flight. Yes, strange as it may sound, an aircraft on the ground being serviced for its next flight faces many organizational and technical hurdles, the handling of which introduces a degree of unpredictability seldom if ever encountered in actual flight.
Mess up the turnaround process and an immediate delay ensues which can throw the whole schedule of that particular airframe out of whack for the rest of the day. The nightmare of all airlines.
Of course what we see around the aircraft is only part of the show. Inside the terminal scores or hundreds of passengers will be streaming towards their gate and some will stop to shop, some to eat, others just to gape… in any case, their on time arrival at the gate is anything but certain. Another potential source of departure delay…
Click here to read the full article
Shorter night routes in FABEC – is this an achievement?
On 03/12/2010, in FAB News, by cleo
Working in air traffic management on occasion one gets the impression that a lot of people have very short memories. Take for instance the proud announcement from FABEC (Functional Airspace Block Europe Central) to the effect that as part of the harmonization of European airspace, shorter night routes are being offered on 115 cross-border connections. FABEC as you may know is one of the elements in the new style European airspace fragmentation called FAB. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, the Netherlands and Switzerland are working together to bring improvements in their “joint” airspace.
The announcement includes the usual claims about the airlines being able to save 800 thousand nautical miles per year translating to 4800 tonnes of fuel saved and 16000 tonnes less CO2 emissions. Nice… but what is wrong with this picture?
Click here to read the full article
Air/ground digital link and CPDLC – Airworhtiness and compliance
On 19/11/2010, in Shop floor talk, by steve
Stakeholders have expressed some uncertainty about how to comply with EC 29/2009, the Data Link Services Implementing Rule.
In partnership with the European Commission and EASA the EUROCONTROL LINK Programme has been working to address those concerns. A stakeholder workshop was held in March 2010 to address the issues and a brochure is now available on the LINK website explaining how Certificates issued by EASA will be accepted as an EC Declaration of Conformity or an EC Declaration of Verification. It also lists and answers frequently asked questions.
You can find the brochure here.
SESAR and SWIM – things are slowly becoming reality
On 03/11/2010, in SESAR's Palace, SWIM, by steve
Good news at long last
Not so long ago, I was asked to make a presentation about System Wide Information Management (SWIM) to the participants of a project we are involved in. While most of the audience noted what I said and asked a few relevant questions, there was also a small minority who expressed the opinion that SWIM as I described it will never happen. This reminded me of arguments I have had years earlier with someone who went so far as even wanting to banish the name “SWIM” for reasons I could never really understand (you can read more about how this name was born here).
It also struck me as strange that if you ask the average person involved in or near SESAR about what is going on in the project in the context of information management generally and SWIM in particular, you are likely to get a list of work packages and companies involved in working on them but little else.
I at Roger-Wilco have written a lot about SWIM but most of the time I was trying to describe the why with an indication of possible “how” options but that was also not the information we crave so much: what is going on with SWIM?
Into this void came finally information from recently published papers (e.g. from the Stakeholder Consultation Group SCG) that describes not only the why and how of SESAR but also the status as it is now with important details about the work that is ongoing.
Having been involved with SWIM right from the day it was born (hell I can claim part of the fatherhood for this baby), I am now especially pleased to see that the terminology being used to describe the SWIM concept and its practicalities is exactly as we have always intended it to be. This is important because over the years there were several attempts to water down the concept, to change its focus or main principles and there was a very real danger that it would end up like so many good initiatives before it, dead before it had a chance to prove itself. But apparently this danger is now past and those involved in the work to-day are developing SWIM along the correct lines.
I will not bore you with a repeated description of what SWIM is. You can read more about that here. Instead, I will focus on the ongoing activities and their significance.
As you will see, there is plenty to talk about.
Click here to read the full article
AIXM 5.1 arrives in operational service
On 25/10/2010, in SWIM, by steve
You can be excused if the abbreviation AIXM does not ring any bells… I mean, to fly or control aircraft, you do not need to know what AIXM is… just enjoy its benefits.
Of course if you are a regular reader of Roger-Wilco, you will have seen our articles on System Wide Information Management and in them, several references to the exchange models that are essential for standardizing the way information is shuttled back and force between producers and consumers of information. AIXM is the exchange model for aeronautical information and as such, it revolutionizes one of the oldest but still most important areas of air traffic management.
That the traditional Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) is able to make the transition to Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) is due in no small part to the development and implementation of this particular information exchange model. AIXM 5.1 is significant because it is the version that has matured to the point where it can cater even for the most exotic requirements the world of AIS… oops, sorry, AIM can throw at it.
It is now on the threshold of being in operational service with the Estonian Air Navigation Services (EANS), following their site acceptance of an eAIP solution using COMSOFT’s aeronautical data base and Synclude’s AIP production system.
This is the first system in the world running an eAIP production tool based on AIXM 5.1. It also meets the ADQ regulations specified in EC 73/2010 and it features an EAD System Interface (ESI) supporting automatic upload of AIXM data and eAIS packages to the European AIS Database (EAD).
EANS will take the system into full operational service at the end of the year by which time all approvals from the Estonian CAA are expected to have been received. Full operational service will set the scene for the introduction of Electronic Input Forms (eIF) which enable data originators to digitally encode information for publication by the NOTAM Office.
Clearly, EANS is taking the transition from AIS to AIM seriously and they are setting an example for others to follow. It is important to note also that COMSOFT is offering an AIM product line that supports this kind of transition in a seamless and secure manner.
Air Traffic Management déjà vu
On 19/10/2010, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
Reading Henning’s article and with my up-close-and-intimate involvement in the SESAR definition phase (and the 20 or so years leading up to it) I could not escape a terrible feeling of déjà vu. This was only strengthened when I read the news about ANSP CEOs rumbling that the performance targets of the EU’s Single Sky Package were unrealistic and airlines rumbling that the costs arising from the proposed ADS-B implementing rule were placing an inordinate share on them compared to the burden to be borne by the ANSPs.
These are signs of a toxic mix well known from the past and they bode ill for ATM developments in Europe.
But there is more.
One of the airline associations is very vocal about the need to get financing support for the airlines as they consider the price of SESAR prohibitively expensive. This is all very well, but apparently little is being done to actually find and organize such financing.
IATA, the one organization that in the past successfully influenced ATM development directions by being present everywhere down to the working level, has now basically drawn back and seems to believe that things in the ATM world can be influenced equally successfully by simply issuing policies. This is a fallacy that will cost the airlines dearly. Policies are fine but in practice they are often ignored or interpreted in ways favorable to interests other than those of the airlines. By the time this is discovered, all kinds of binding agreements and decisions will have been made and airline protests will be met, in most cases, with a shrug. You missed the boat folks…
Click here to read the full article
Ramp inspections at European Union airports – SAFA
On 27/07/2010, in SKYbrary News, by steve
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary.
The European Community Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) program began in 1996 as a voluntary ECAC program. Its legal basis was subsequently established by Directive 2004/36/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 – the so-called “SAFA Directive”. Under this legislation, international safety standards have been enforced within the European Community by means of ramp inspections of third-country aircraft landing at airports located in the EU Member States.
Read the full report here.
You can read more about the past, present and future of the SAFA program here.
European ATM – Is there anything really new under the Sun?
On 24/06/2010, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
Back in March, Daniel Calleja, Director of the European Commission’s Air Transport Directorate, informed his audience at the ATC Global conference in Amsterdam, that “…despite six years’ effort, Europe has yet to achieve its objective of creating a Single European Sky (SES).” Six years indeed… make that thirteen Mr. Calleja.
Thankfully I do not attend that many meetings these days but those I do tend to be teeming with fresh new faces, enthusiastic young experts who sometimes stay long hours to discuss things that we too had discussed at length when we qualified as a fresh new face. I have no doubt about their sincerity or expertise. My concern is about the perception that what they are dealing with is new…
So what is this new ATM system they are trying to create? “A concept predicated on layered planning, based around a strategically derived daily plan and collaborative decision making between the parties involved, evolving towards managing resources rather than demand. Airspace is regarded as a continuum for airspace planning purposes to optimize the available resources… Airspace divisions are based on ATM needs rather then on national boundaries… Free flight airspace is part of the concept… major change of the roles on the ground and in the air… greater use of computer support…” Why am I quoting from the SESAR concept you will ask???
Well, the sad truth is the above quotation is NOT from SESAR or the Single European Sky (SES) but from Edition 1.0 of the European ATM Operational Concept Document, dated 1 March 1997! The foreword of the document lists those involved in its preparation and the list shows an uncanny similarity to the current membership of the SESAR Joint Undertaking. The EC’s DG7 was also there and as I remember, they were pushing really hard for innovative solutions.
Click here to read the full article
Volcano kicks European ATM cooperation into high gear
On 03/06/2010, in Viewpoint, by cleo
In the past, programs to improve European air traffic management went under the name EATCHIP (1 to many) and the results were meager at best. More recently we got the Single European Sky (SES 1 and now 2) and of course SESAR. Introduction of SES was a major problem even for the European Commission powerhouse and of course SESAR is still too new to be properly judged.
But no matter, we now have Eyjafjallajokull, apparently the best driver yet for European air traffic management co-operation and hopefully an effective one also. When Iceland’s wayward volcano came to life spewing volcanic ash into the atmosphere which was promptly carried by winds towards Europe, the reaction was almost predictable. Under the banner “safety first” air traffic over the continent was grounded, commencing the longest and most widespread ban on flying since WWII. That no one had prepared contingency plans for such an eventuality is perhaps excusable but the disorganized, fragmented and less than scientific response to the disaster once it struck was not. It was a shame…
Click here to read the full article
TITAN stakeholder workshop – 17 March 2010
On 31/05/2010, in TITAN, by steve
TITAN is an EC 7th Framework project and the acronym stands for “Turnaround Integration in Trajectory and Network”. As its name suggests, TITAN is looking at ways of optimizing the turnaround process while integrating it in trajectory based, net-centric operations.
The Workshop held in Brussels on 17 March 2010 had two objectives: on the one hand it presented the project to the community and on the other it collected stakeholders’ needs and requirements in the context of the turnaround process. All the actors (airspace users, airports, ANSPs and handling companies) who would be affected by the new TITAN concept had been invited to attend the workshop and the turn-out was very good. It was therefore possible to capture their daily concerns, needs and proposals in a representative manner.
The format chosen for the workshop was that of focused brainstorming with selected facilitators making sure that the time and scope objectives were observed. As it turned out, the format was very successful and participants contributed actively in the general sessions as well as in the group sessions.
The introductory session
Work started with an introduction of the project followed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking giving an overview of their main activities in the context of turnaround and the input they expected from TITAN to fill the gaps identified in the relevant parts of the SESAR work packages.
Next, an analysis of the current situation was presented, highlighting the potential bottlenecks. An initial turnaround model was also sketched to seed and start the discussions.
Click here to read the full article
Seat pitch – a matter for the European Parliament?
On 10/05/2010, in Viewpoint, by cleo
My travel plans were only slightly affected by Iceland’s wayward volcano but I understand some members of the European Parliament and the European Commission were less fortunate. This is good. Hopefully they now have a better appreciation of the value and performance of an industry they are so keen to regulate but which otherwise they tend to take for granted. Kiwi growers from New Zealand to flower tillers in Africa all got a good appreciation of just how important and indispensable aviation really is.
This reminder came just about in time. If the rumors are anything to go by, the new parliament and commission is about to go into one of their regulatory overdrive periods and what better target for something like this than aviation? For some reason aviation is the first that comes to their minds when there is a need to pay for something (see Galileo) or where, in their view, passengers must be protected by big brother (and increasingly big sister).
We all know what EU regulatory zeal can lead to… just think of past attempts to standardize the curvature of bananas and the proposed ban on some French cheeses because of their too high concentration of bacteria (never mind that it is the bacteria that make the cheese in the first place).
Click here to read the full article
EUROCONTROL reorganizing – is this good for you?
On 02/05/2010, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
Visiting EUROCONTROL these days is a bit like entering a five star hotel during off-season in a bad year. Empty offices at every turn and talk in the corridors that tends to focus more on individual futures than on trajectory based operations and other exotic ideas.
Yes, EUROCONTROL is reorganizing (again…) but they are also cutting loose most contract personnel, and even the permanent staff is being reduced. One might say this is a sign of the times – cost cutting being the name of the game everywhere. Like in all organizations, there was a lot of deadwood at EUROCONTROL, but it was and is a unique European institution concentrating ATM skills like no other place on the continent. When an icon like that decides to change itself in fundamental ways, there must be something serious in the air.
Of course EUROCONTROL has to adapt to the new environment as dictated by the Single European Sky and SESAR. One can only hope that this adaptation will result in something better and more efficient. But I have my doubts.
I remember some years ago people used to joke that if EUROCONTROL does not get its act together, the superb headquarters building in Haren will be turned into a great conference hotel which hotel room starved Brussels would no doubt have welcomed with open arms. But jokes apart, most of the real or perceived “failures” of EUROCONTROL back then were not due to incompetence on the part of their experts. Far from it! These experts came with truly forward looking ideas and proposals and some of those are now part of the more advanced features of SESAR to-day! So why were those ideas not implemented back then, years and decades ago? Mainly because European States blocked most of them cold. Why? Because those advanced ideas would have required the kind of continent wide cooperation SES and SESAR are now proposing and that was anathema to most ANSPs keen on protecting their own turf. That things have not changed much until quite recently is shown clearly in the extreme difficulties the European Commission has had in pushing the Single European Sky towards acceptance.
Click here to read the full article
CANAC2 operational – is there a future for CANAC2?
On 12/02/2010, in Viewpoint, by pbn
February 10 was a day many in Belgium will remember for a long time. Most of the populace for the longest ever traffic jams, 950 kilometers in total, caused by early morning snow bringing chaos to the motorways. For a select few, February 10 will mark CANAC2’s going into live operations. CANAC is Belgium’s cutting edge air traffic control system and its most recent incarnation, representing a 60 million euro investment, puts a host of new, even more advanced functions at Belgian controllers’ fingertips. Surely a cause to celebrate…
But this is not what a number of protesters thought, picketing Belgocontrol’s entrance with slogans that read: “No SABENA bis, no time to celebrate”. What is going on?
Click here to read the full article
SESAR and multimedia
On 22/01/2010, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
The personal level visual communications facilities brought to us by modern technology have changed how we as individuals express ourselves and to an even higher degree how big companies talk to us. Traditional ads now sometimes resemble animated feature films and the on-screen safety briefing on some aircraft make us wonder whether we were watching a Pixar release and candidate for the aviation golden globe…
It is not surprising then that SESAR, the big European air traffic management research program, also makes full use of what multimedia has to offer…
Go to their multimedia gallery and you are greeted with video interviews (the latest just added is with Florian Guillermet, the Chief Program Officer), cute screensavers and even a number of wallpapers! These latter have also been added to recently so check them out if you fancy having the SESAR logo (and that of the EC and EUROCONTROL) lurk in the corner of your screen. To their credit, the logos are small and discreet.
I have heard people question the reasoning behind this multimedia drive. Personally I find it a new, refreshing way of keeping everyone aware of this important project, an approach to communications that is right where it should be these days.
SESAR will have plenty to communicate and they might as well do it in an enjoyable way.
Air accident investigation – is Europe moving?
On 14/11/2009, in Viewpoint, by cleo
If you purchase a WiFi router or other WiFi piece of gear, you expect it to work anywhere in the world. After all, that is what standards are all about. Except for some channels not being available in the US for example, your expectation is correct. If you inspect the specs on the box however, you will find an interesting note, at least if you buy your gear in Europe. The authorized output power is different in France from that in other countries of the Union! Why is this relevant?
Well, in daily practice you will not notice much of this discrepancy but in our little EU there are other examples of this parochial approach to handling things, to the greater glory of our politicians and their efforts to gain popularity even at the expense of public good. European Union public good to be sure.
When we step on board an aircraft, we expect to step out in one piece and becoming a statistic is far from our minds. This is the correct attitude, after all flying is still the safest method of transport and the odds of not getting hurt are all on our side.
Click here to read the full article
Single Sky Committee unanimously supports Aeronautical Data and Information Quality (ADQ) Implementing Rule
On 04/11/2009, in SWIM, by steve
The drive is on to transform Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) into Aeronautical Information Management (AIM). This is needed to set the scene for the introduction of System Wide Information Management (SWIM), the ultimate goal of the activity.
The change from AIS to AIM is primarily the morphing of the traditional, package based aeronautical information system into a data-based one, where users are provided with data to feed their particular applications in the way they need it rather than being fed with pre-cooked packages that do not really satisfy anyone while also being extremely difficult to change when new requirements turn up.
Click here to read the full article
EGNOS open service available
On 13/10/2009, in Perspectives, by cleo
Quote from an airspace user position paper dated 1 July 2003:
“Finally, the airspace users would like to recall that they have resisted the development
of the European Geostationary Overlay System (EGNOS), which has been mainly
developed for political reasons and for which all attempts to build a credible aviation
business case have failed. As a consequence, public funds have to be provided to fund
the entire EGNOS system (development costs as well operational costs). Reference is
made to the AEA, IATA, ERA, IAOPA, IACA joint position paper on the European
Commission’s Communication (COM(2003)123final) on the Integration of EGNOS
into Galileo.”
Read the complete paper here (source: Internet).
Quote from an ESA press release dated 1 October 2009:
“During a press conference today, Mr Antonio Tajani, European Commission Vice-President for Transport Policy, announced the official start of operations for EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service. The EGNOS ‘Open Service’ is now available. This allows users to determine their position to within two metres, compared with about 20 metres for GPS alone. The Open Service is provided free of charge.”
Read the complete press release here.
The cartoon dates from Christmas 2003, artist unknown.
