5th International Conference on Research in Air Transportation — ICRAT 2012. 22-25 May 2012, University of Berkley, California
On 25/01/2012, in Events, by steve
Following the success of its four previous editions in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 ICRAT has now been established as a mainstream biennial event in Air Transport Research, alternating with the USA/Europe ATM R&D Seminar. ICRAT is an excellent forum for young researchers within air transportation to share their work, expand their professional network, and gain new knowledge and inspiration. This fifth edition of ICRAT will include one day of tutorials, two days of technical presentations and a doctoral symposium where PhD students can expose their research problems to get advice from established scientists in the field. ICRAT 2012, in addition to world class keynote speakers, will have panels where senior researchers will provide constructive feedback to the paper presenters. Senior researchers are encouraged to attend ICRAT.
ICRAT 2012 is organized by the FAA and EUROCONTROL. Other co-sponsors include NASA and JPDO. It will be held at the Berkeley International House (I-House) of the University of California, Berkeley on May 22-25, 2012.
An Opportunity We Should not Miss!
On 20/01/2012, in The future is now, by steve
I was talking to an old time, well respected colleague the other day discussing his view that instead of forcing the industry to implement yet another expensive capability, full use should be made of what was already there… Once the benefits start to accrue, airspace users would be much more inclined to take the extra steps and accept the costs associated with the extra functionality (assuming of course that there was a business case for it). This discussion was in the context of basic PBN and the addition or not of things like Constant Radius Turns in en-route airspace.
Although I have always preferred a more all-out approach, his pragmatic views make perfect sense and is also something airline bean-counters are likely to accept more readily. Investing in speculative functionality when the existing stuff sits idle most of the time is difficult to justify. Of course focusing mainly on use-what-is-already-there-first will not speed up progress but will make the simpler things happen with a higher degree of probability. Aim for too much, and nothing happens. I hate to admit it, but he is right…
Having given credit where credit is due, my incorrigible drive for wanting the whole thing kept chewing my soul. There was something here that we could turn to our advantage. But what was it exactly?
Then I remembered… The thousands of A320NEOs and Boeing 737MAXs. Airlines have ordered these more fuel efficient versions of the old favorites to basically replace a large part of their fleets almost overnight. Now if only those new babies could come with all kinds of goodies fitted right from the start…
What are we talking about? From an air traffic management perspective, there are three items that I would have on my wish list: air/ground digital link and CPDLC, ADS-B in and out and a full set of PBN capabilities.
I can almost hear opponents shouting: with those new versions not due for another three years or so, what technology should the manufacturers use for ADS-B for instance? Stay with Mode S Extended Squitter or go for something else? But what? Would it not be better to wait until the technology debate settles? We have of course heard this in the past. Waiting is equivalent to doing nothing and missing the boat. We have also seen that in the past… and suffer the consequences in the present day.
No Sire, this time we should be smarter.
Click here to read the full article
A-CDM eLearning Modules from EUROCONTROL
On 14/11/2011, in CDM, by steve
The free eLearning modules introduce Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) and the challenges involved in introducing A-CDM in practice.
The first module, “Introduction to Airport CDM” is dedicated to anyone who would like to get an overview of what Airport CDM is, and is ideally suited for Managers with limited time. Detailed modules explaining the various elements of Airport CDM dedicated to managers implementing CDM at their airport is available for everyone here, after registration.
Also for the first time this eLearning course addresses all operational staff via specific modules dedicated to each airport partner. These include modules for airport operators, aerodrome controllers, aircraft operators ground staff, pilots and ground handlers. Registration is required but otherwise the modules are available for anyone.
Interviews of operational staff were carried out at their working positions. These interviews refer to the CDM milestone processes at their airport and with examples taken out of daily tasks, demonstrate how CDM changed their working practices and helped them to become more efficient.
The A-CDM eLearning course is aimed to become a useful tool for the challenging task of communicating CDM principles and the training of operational staff, related to their specific role in a CDM environment; helping them to develop a proper understanding so as to make the required cultural changes.
Technologists vs. Economists
On 21/10/2011, in Managers' corner, by steve
It is not a secret that some people considered Boeing’s decision to forego the New Small Aircraft and follow Airbus’ lead in re-engining their existing product a poor one and something that will delay the appearance of a really novel aircraft by a decade if not more. I must confess that I am one of those who would have loved to see the two airframers rush to bring the single-aisle of the future to market.
Commenting on the same subject in a recent issue of Aviation Week, Richard Aboulafia , VP for analysis at the Teal Group, while approving the Boeing decision, divided the world in two groups of people. There are the Technologists and the Economists.
For Technologists, “aviation is a technology driven business, with new equipment stimulating demand and therefore creating its own market”. Economists on the other hand “view technology as a means to an end: profit”. He also points out that most airlines and aircraft companies are run by Economists.
Reading this very interesting article, I stopped to do some soul searching. Which camp did I really belong to?
Some years ago, still as an assistant director infrastructure at IATA, I was called to hold afternoon-length sessions for ATC supervisors at EUROCONTROL’s school in Luxemburg with the aim of outlining to them what the airline industry wanted from air traffic management in the future. I usually started out shocking them by the statement: airlines were just a business and air traffic management must behave in a way that facilitates that business. By proxy, ATC was just a part of a complicated business environment.
I have also often argued for having a business case for just about everything… New channel spacing? Business case. Air/ground digital link services? Business case. Mode S Enhanced Surveillance? No, I did not want that even if there was a business case (there never has been, not a credible one anyway).
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…
EUROCONTROL cancels CDM group meeting
On 12/10/2011, in CDM, by steve
When the mail arrived announcing that EUROCONTROL was cancelling the upcoming CDM group meeting due to severe cuts in their budget, I was not really surprised. This was almost expected as part of what appears to be the killing off of EUROCONTROL. That the CDM group was one of the more successful activities was of course not enough to save the meeting.
Since the announcement, scores of posts appeared on various LinkedIn groups, most of them critical of the decision and regretting this short-sighted action. At least one commenter “reassured” us that this was the way the future will go, the stakeholders want to scale back EUROCONTROL and the ANSPs will take over the coordination of things.
In all the rightful indignation we should not forget a few additional interesting facts that all have a bearing on what is happening to EUROCONTROL to-day. Since I have been there from pretty early on, sharing the time as an ANSP rep and later as an IATA rep, I do have a peculiar perspective which I would like to share with you. Why are these facts important? Because by recognizing them we can hopefully design more effective remedies. So here goes:
1. EUROCONTROL was not perfect. BUT it had many excellent projects, truly forward looking initiatives most of which were consistently slowed down or killed by the stakeholders. I have been in many high level meetings where things got hammered for no other reason but that one or more big ANSPs were not ready to do “it”. Believe it or not, air/ground digital link work in the early phases would have been killed had we not organized a very strong protest… There are more examples.
2. There has been a wrestling match between EUROCONTROL and the EC for a long time. Things got a bit more balanced when the EC burned their fingers in the initial FAB and SES activity caused by the same reluctant stakeholders who were keeping EUROCONTROL from performing properly.
3. It is an open secret that there are certain ANSPs in Europe who have maintained for a long time that they could do a better job of ATM than EUROCONTROL does, being especially critical of the CFMU. The current financial squeeze is not the first initiative to kill EUROCONTROL (but is probably the most effective yet).
4. Giving EUROCONTROL the role of Network Manager is a smokescreen and an incredible affront to the industry. Since EUROCONTROL does not get any additional powers to make things happen (so it will be nothing like the Command Centre in the US), it will be a toothless tiger… Possibly in a few years time it will be established that EUROCONTROL is not being very effective as the Network Manager, so it can disappear completely. Clever… Click here to read the full article
Meanwhile at EUROCONTROL…
On 31/08/2011, in Viewpoint, by steve
If the jungle telegraph is to be believed, EUROCONTROL is discovering that they have slimmed down just a wee bit too fast and too much. So much so, that in certain areas of expertise there is a lack of people to do the job.
To cover such cases it appears that they are organizing internal conversion courses. You need a safety expert? Get a radar guy ready for something new, put him or her through a one (!) month conversion course and you have a newly minted safety expert.
Apparently the long standing ban on hiring new people will also need to be lifted to some degree and there will be new hires, preference being given to young people straight from university. Of course there is nothing wrong with that, except for one thing. When Boeing or Thales hires young folks, their lack of experience is compensated by the environment into which they arrive and the collective experience of those already working there. EUROONTROL has divested itself of most of its talent base and the new hires will arrive in a near vacuum.
Who will guide them to avoid reinventing the wheel?
SESAR Catch 22
On 29/08/2011, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
When SESAR was launched all kinds of claims were made for why it would succeed where every other project before it had failed. It was certainly bigger and more all-encompassing than its predecessors; there was more, far more, money involved than ever before; and it had the backing of the EU’s Single European Sky initiative. A baby born with such credentials need not worry about the future, right? Wrong!
The one thing SESAR has not yet found a solution for is the age old problem of chicken and egg… Airlines will not equip until there are benefits and it is not possible to provide, even early, benefits until aircraft are equipped. The myth that airlines will equip for improved ATM if there is a clear business case is indeed just that, a myth. First of all airlines will normally spurn any business case, however promising, that does not give them a 2-3 year return on investment and very few, if any, ATM projects can do that. But even if we disregard this, we have seen in the past how otherwise perfectly good business cases were still not enough to make the industry move en-masse. Not that the ground side is much better… As the sad track record of ATM projects in Europe demonstrates, airlines and ANSPs can happily share the honor of being the cause of missed deadlines and missed opportunities.
SESAR has not provided a solution to this yet and if they fail to do so, its jumbo size will mean a bang on a jumbo scale.
However, there is an important difference compared with the past. SESAR has recognized this problem, the SESAR JU is talking about it quite openly and they have a stated intention to find a solution.
Click here to read the full article
BLUE MED FAB Newsletter No. 3
On 15/08/2011, in FAB News, by steve
In case you were wondering what folks are doing inside a FAB, help is at hand in the form of the BLUE MED FAB Newsletter No. 3.
With EUROCONTROL now having been officially appointed as the Network Manager, there is the inevitable interview with Joe Sultana, the boss of EUROCONTROL’s Directorate Network Management. Then an interview with Patrick Ky about SESAR is followed by news of the Malta Free Route real time simulation and the BLUE MED OLDI real time simulation. Perhaps it is surprising to have a free route and an OLDI RTS being reported on alongside each other… OLDI is old and should have been replaced by SYSCO long ago. But the newsletter, to its credit, discusses frankly how the legacy systems in the BLU MED FAB area are trying to co-operate for best effect and how they are looking forward to the time when SESAR will bring the long awaited changes.
You will also read about the events at the 5th meeting of the BLUE MED FAB Governing Body Meeting where Dr. Georg Jarzembowsky, the European Commission’s Coordinator for the FAB initiatives and the Single European Sky reassured the participants that the implementation of FABs is a key element of the Single European Sky legislation and of the European Union’s transportation policy.
Click the picture to download the newsletter.
When is a FAB not a FAB?
On 09/08/2011, in FAB News, by cleo
We have written quite a lot about the Functional Airspace Blocks (FAB), their dangers and their impact on SESAR.
Although these days most everything is claimed to be happening in the context of the various FABs, the picture is far from ideal. It is not unusual to hear in meetings or in discussions with various ANSP reps that this or that subject is very “sensitive” in their FAB and one should be careful mentioning it. Of course it would have been naïve to think that States who were less than exemplary in working together under the EUROCONTROL umbrella would suddenly turn into sheep and cooperate smoothly within the FAB concept. Parochial thinking and the protection of their own turf remain in place and it will take long and hard work to overcome the old reflexes.
But the FAB concept seems to be evolving in a way its inventors probably never intended. You will have noticed in the news the announcement of various co-operation agreements between Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) being created apparently in parallel with the FABs they are participating in. In spite of the nice words of these new alliances, they begged the question right from the start: why? If the FAB is such a great thing and they are already in it, why form an alliance on top of it.
Now we may have the answer…
Click here to read the full article
First SESAR Innovation Days
On 19/07/2011, in Events, by steve
Announcement and call for papers
The First SESAR Innovation Days will take place at the Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC) in Toulouse, France from 29th November to 1st December 2011.
This event, which replaces previous INO Workshops held at Brétigny, is the main forum for dissemination of WP-E results and for interaction with an enlarged ATM research community. SESAR Workpackage E, Long-term and Innovative Research, supports research activities that are not currently part of the ‘mainstream’ SESAR development work packages. This research is targeted beyond the current SESAR timeframe, nominally 2020, as well as for innovation that may have application in the nearer term.
The event will bring together researchers and industry, vital for the health of the air transportation community. It will also include a number of parallel events, including sessions of the WP-E research networks. Keynote presentations, a panel discussion and an accompanying exhibition further add to the interest of the workshop. Unlike any other scientific event in ATM research the focus is explicitly on long-term and innovative research.
In addition to presenting results of WP-E networks, projects and PhDs, the event also seeks contributions from the ATM research community through an open call which is available here. The submission deadline for papers is 16th September.
The web site of the event is here. Check back often as new information will be published here as it becomes available.
Questions? Email the organizers!
BluSky Services and Holland Aviation Consultancy & Engineering (HACE) team up to develop advanced e-training courses
On 13/06/2011, in Training world, by steve
The importance of training in aviation cannot be over emphasized. This has been amply demonstrated by recent events, including the Air France A330 crash and the A380 taxi incident, in both of which pilot training issues have been identified as important contributory factors.
But the need for quality training extends way beyond pilots and air traffic controllers. People working on all levels and in all aviation disciplines must be able to supplement their basic training and skills with new knowledge constantly being generated in this fast moving industry.
Training is an expensive affair. The courses themselves tend to have a steep price and having people travel to the course location incurs additional expenses. Temporary absence from the workplace must also be accounted for. With company budgets under stress everywhere, managers are often forced to axe all but essential training. Of course the line between essential and nice to have is not always easy to identify and missing out on important new knowledge happens before we know it.
However, modern technology is here to help. Enter the Advanced E-training Courses being offered in air traffic management by the HACE/BluSky Services partnership. These two companies bring together several years’ worth of expertise in air traffic management and e-learning to offer a wide range of courses at a very reasonable price.
Whether you are an individual wishing to expand your horizons or a company with a need to bring its personnel up to speed on certain subjects, e-learning provides a cost-effective and convenient way to acquire the knowledge you seek. In all cases, the total cost is a fraction of what an equivalent classroom course would require in terms of time and money.
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
European Commission Signs Memorandum of Cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
On 23/05/2011, in Shop floor talk, by steve
When I arrived in Paris in 1983 as a freshly hired ICAO Technical Officer RAC/SAR, the relationship between EUROCONTROL and ICAO was tense to say the least. ICAO, this all-important world-wide body, a specialized organization of the UN, was becoming ever more cumbersome and a thorn in the eye of some European states who back then believed that Europe’s aviation needs would be better served by something like EUROCONTROL. They were not aiming to replace the basic rule-making functions of ICAO but when it came to things like flow management, Europe was flexing its muscles… There was a group dealing with ATFM in Brussels and at ICAO in Paris for example and though the people attending both were usually the same, the things they said were often widely different.
I recall several meetings in Brussels that I attended as an ICAO expert and the position we had to represent was far from being helpful to the cause of EUROCONTROL.
As the budget of ICAO diminished year after year and their processes slowed to a crawl, the significance of EUROCONTROL grew at the same rate. Significantly, EUROCONTROL had never had the same low opinion of ICAO as was the case in the reverse direction. Right from the start EUROCONTROL accepted that changing certain rules required action from ICAO and they also sought to work well with ICAO’s regional bodies like the EANPG (European Air Navigation Planning Group). True, some of the changes proposed by EUROCONTROL did not pass muster by the more formalistic ICAO process but in time a rather well functioning cooperation came into being.
Soon, the ICAO member States also realized that without money ICAO could not function so at first resourcing was brought back to the required level and thereafter they set out to reform the creaking old machinery to create the new, more business efficiency oriented ICAO we know to-day.
ICAO had to face another difficult “client”, namely the US, where the FAA has always been a bit of its own master. This was an interesting thing since some of the most fundamental ICAO documents (including DOC 4444) had been originally been based on material developed by the FAA’s predecessor. Anyway, I guess the Americans were not too keen in subjugating their aviation system to rules some of which were arrived at within ICAO as the result of agreements reflecting not what was the best but what could be agreed on the world-wide podium. American airports have only started to use the ICAO standard markings and signs a few years ago…
Click here to read the full article
Amsterdam’s SARA – an important step towards the future
On 16/05/2011, in The future is now, by steve
If you read the current SESAR documentation, you cannot fail to notice one of the more serious misunderstandings that still prevail in the project. In SESAR terminology, ATM progress goes from time-based operations to trajectory based operations (TBO) and then to performance based operations. This reveals the, oft bemoaned, confusion between TBO and performance based operations. Under PBO we will still be using the TBO paradigm… But never mind, that will be the subject of another article.
This time round I would like to introduce to you a new development, a true time-based operations gem that goes under the name SARA (Speed and Route Advisor) and which will be implemented in the Amsterdam FIR starting in 2012 with the functionality expanding stepwise in the following period.
So what is SARA and what does it do?
One of the big capacity guzzler in busy TMAs is the unpredictability and instability of the arriving stream of aircraft. The numerous conflicts require constant radar vectors and radio traffic, resulting in high workload for both pilots and controllers as well as often inefficient trajectories. Developing an effective arrival management system is a real challenge.
The objective of SARA is to give advice on speed and/or routing to (Upper) Area Controllers in order to achieve the planned arrival time(s) of the aircraft over fixes (and implicitly via the Inbound Planning (IBP) function over the runway threshold).
Click here to read the full article
HungaroControl has opened its Centre of Research, Development and Simulation
On 11/05/2011, in Simulator world, by steve
Central-Europe’s only simulation centre is operating under the aegis of HungaroControl from 10th of May in Budapest. The centre, equipped with state of the art technology, was opened by Mr. Pál Völner, Secretary of State responsible for infrastructure, Mr. Joe Sultana, COO of Directorate Network Management of EUROCONTROL (European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation), and Mr. Kornél Szepessy, CEO of HungaroControl (Hungarian Air Navigation Services) in the presence of the leaders of Air Navigation Services in the region. The aim of the Centre of Research, Development and Simulation (CRDS) is to aid the regional cooperation and the establishment of the Single European Sky.
To make European air navigation more effective and competitive, the airspace presently segmented along the borders will be organized into functional airspace blocks within the Single European Sky implementation program. The integration requires unprecedented cooperation from the Air Navigation Service Providers and controllers and it makes changes necessary to numerous procedures and processes, also the shortening of the air navigation routes. HungaroControl’s innovation centre opened today enables the testing of newly developed theoretically secure processes and air traffic controller procedures before their actual usage.
“Hungary does its very best to enhance the establishment of the Single European Sky, and for the successful operation of the Central-European functional air space block, the treaty of which we signed last Thursday together with the countries of the region” – said Mr. Pál Völner Secretary of State responsible for infrastructure on the opening ceremony. “The Hungarian Air Navigation Service Provider invests great efforts in the advancement of the whole Central-European air navigation and the regional cooperation. A great example of this is the CRDS, an innovation centre which is open for all service providers” – added the Secretary of State.
Click here to read the full article
Level Bust Toolkit
On 05/05/2011, in SKYbrary News, by steve
The new and updated Level Bust Toolkit includes training and awareness material, including videos and e-learning tools, designed to raise awareness of the level bust issue and to help everyone do their bit to reduce level busts.
Check out the toolkit at EUROCONTROL’s one stop safety knowledge base, SKYbrary.
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
Aircraft turnaround made visible from a TBO/SOA perspective
On 29/04/2011, in Buzzwords explained, by steve
Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) are two concepts rather new to air traffic management (ATM) and apparently they continue to cause some head scratching when it comes to agreeing what TBO really means or how to define services in the ATM context. In this article I will attempt to explain a few relevant aspects of those concepts and will also try to visualize the concepts using the aircraft turnaround as an example.
Why the aircraft turnaround? Because we see that in spite of the original SESAR Concept of Operations having made clear that the trajectories of flights performed by the same aircraft are in fact always connected via the given airframe, some experts are now laboring to show that this is so and are trying to bring in new constructs to account for this “connection”. The trajectory does go through important metamorphoses during the turnaround and so using that phase of the operation gives us the opportunity to examine TBO and SOA in all their glory.
But first a few basics.
The concept of services.
“Service” is a word that can mean different things depending upon the context in which it is being used. In general, the context is based upon a consumer/supplier relationship. Further, a hierarchy of services can exist with, for example, a high-level service being made up of a number of lower level sub-categories of services. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that the nature, scope and detailed characteristics associated with each service are clear and unambiguous each time it is used, including defining who is supplying what to whom.
Services may be defined from a business perspective or an IT perspective.
Click here to read the full article
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
Can I do CDM alone?
On 01/04/2011, in CDM, by steve
At a recent informal meeting somebody posed an important, and very relevant, question: Is it possible to do collaborative decision making (CDM) alone? The question may sound like a contradiction in terms at first but it is not. And the answer is both yes and no.
First of all, we must remember the First and Second Rules of CDM: “Never make decisions in isolation” and “Always share your decisions”.
Making a decision alone or in isolation are two very different things of course. Not making decisions in isolation does not imply that you must make the decision while interacting with others in real time. In actual fact at a small airport or for a small aircraft operator the CDM environment may be nothing more complicated than having easy access to standard procedures being applied at his own or at remote locations, preparing a list of acceptable options to be selected from in given situations and so on. Armed with such “support” the person making the decision may be alone but still not working in isolation.
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New ACAS II Bulleting from EUROCONTROL
On 25/03/2011, in SKYbrary News, by steve
The 12th issue of EUROCONTROL’s ACAS II Bulletin is now available for download from the SKYbrary here.
This issue focuses on pilot training, featuring a number of events based on real-life incidents, and also presents a summary of the findings of recent research into how pilots react to RAs.
Remember EATCHIP?
On 14/02/2011, in FAB News, by steve
And ATM2000+? You will be forgiven if you do not. After all, we live in the age of SESAR and the FAB… There is a whole new generation of experts laboring on the “things” these new acronyms signify and without a doubt they believe in what they are doing. As they should indeed. But may be, just may be, it is a worthwhile exercise to remind them (and ourselves) what EATCHIP was all about.
The acronym stands for European ATC Harmonization and Implementation Program. It was an ambitious initiative to improve air traffic management in Europe. As tangible results kept slipping ever farther into the future, EATCHIP II and then III were born, all characterized by endless meetings, promises and a lack of action on the part of most of the stakeholders. Clearly, something was very wrong though this was not said in so many words… But in time ATM2000+ was launched which was a new take on the old subject of ATM improvements. The agreements to make ATM2000+ reality were signed on the highest level. More working groups, more meetings while obfuscation and dodging of the issues continued. I remember well how some EUROCONTROL experts were pulling their hair out when for the nth time something that was the perfectly logical next step was once again blocked by one or the other of the stakeholders. Sometimes it was a ground service provider, some times the airlines, but the end result was the same: delay in the program and delays at the airports.
My favorite story of the time concerns the ECIP, the European Convergence and Implementation Plan (the forerunner of the ESSIP) which contained the implementation objectives and the deadlines for implementation. One would think that the date against an ECIP objective was to be taken seriously and a State failing to achieve the objective would come under enormous peer pressure… No way! I sat through many a frustrating meeting which did little else than change the dates of the ECIP objectives… always to a later date! It was enough for one or the other of the big States to announce that they would not meet the originally stipulated date and it was changed immediately. The result? The program was always on time and nobody ever missed a deadline. Cute and very impressive in political statements. This did not help aircraft stranded on the ground but looked very nice in reports and ministerial presentations.
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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.
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Surviving SESAR and the economic crisis
On 07/02/2011, in Managers' corner, by steve
BluSky Services (BSS) has been a recognized supplier to EUROCONTROL since the beginning. As one of the so-called Framework companies, we were able to respond to the Requests for Proposals and we were also lucky to win quite a few. We attributed our success to two factors: on the one hand, our professional pedigree was right there alongside the best and brightest and with our airspace user network we were in fact better placed to respond to some critical task than anybody else in the market; at the same time, our prices were always extremely competitive. We have managed to keep the overhead very low and passed on the savings to our customers. If I say that on occasion the Boeing Company was one of our subcontractors, you will get an idea of the high esteem BluSky Services has always enjoyed.
Then, almost from one day to the next, the world collapsed. The first to feel the blow were those companies who made most of their living from EUROCONTROL projects. These all but disappeared when SESAR kicked into high gear and work was allocated to the inner circle of SESAR members of various kinds. A few subcontractors remained but most of the others found themselves out in the cold. Other companies who earned their living from placing experts with EUROCONTROL faced the prospect of a near-death experience when their biggest client decided to fire most of the outside contract personnel.
In other words, almost overnight the bright green pastures of European ATM contracting became a nightmarish nuclear landscape. How does a smallish company survive something like this?
I do not know about the others but I would like to share with you BluSky Services’ approach to survival. We are still here and may be hearing about our solution will inspire others to do something similar. If not now, next time disaster strikes.
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Do you really understand – Trajectory based operations (TBO)?
On 04/02/2011, in Buzzwords explained, by steve
There is a misconception in some air traffic management circles that trajectory based operations is simply business as usual except that the current, notoriously imprecise ground generated trajectories are replaced by more accurate, 4 D trajectories and that is all there is to it. Some will add that parts of this 4D trajectory might be sourced from the FMS or an airspace user ground system… While there is truth in all this, TBO is much more. Much much more and significantly, if the other aspects of TBO are not considered, the potential for benefits inherent in TBO is reduced significantly.
So, what is trajectory based operations?
First and foremost we must look at the basis of the existing operation. Air traffic management has grown historically along an airspace based paradigm. Airspace as such was a given so it stood to reason that early ATM experts set out to define airspace volumes which they thought would best fit the traffic they expected and established air traffic control units to fit the task foreseen in those volumes. When aircraft arrived, they were obliged to fly within the confines of the defined airspace and if their needs differed from that envisaged, the aircraft trajectory was bent to fit the picture. Of course this is a bit of an oversimplification but to this day, ATM is being done on this basis.
The end-to-end trajectory played almost no role in this game. To illustrate the point, juts consider that until recently the Central Flow Management Unit calculated expected sector loads on the basis of a trajectory the vertical dimension of which was famously inaccurate while ground ATC systems generated their own trajectories for their own airspace and these often did not tie up with the trajectory dreamed up by the neighboring unit. All this time however scores of experts everywhere worked furiously on airspace design and organization… Only a blind person could fail to see that this legacy, airspace based paradigm had to go if the volume and efficiency demands of increasing traffic were to be met.
Things were not helped at all by the fact that controllers were handing flights as if they were born just outside their sector boundary and went into the big blue yonder when they exited their sector. In other words, they only ever looked at a small part of the trajectory with little regard to what was or was not happening further downstream. Conflict free handover was the almost the only aim.
Because of the way airspace was used in the past, popular ATM wisdom came up with the notion that airspace was a scarce resource and it had to be organized better to save the day. This notion was a dangerous one because for a long time it did divert attention and effort from looking at the real problem. Trajectories…
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Goodies for the fight against runway incursions
On 24/01/2011, in Life around runways, by steve
Although we hear the word runway excursion more often these days than runway incursion, these latter remain a problem and constant efforts are required to maintain the awareness of the dangers involved in stumbling on an active runway without clearance.
Training of pilots, air traffic controllers and vehicle drivers is essential of course. Additionally, posters in the crew room as well as folders and flyers on desks a great help for any runway incursion prevention campaign.
A while ago we created designs for bumper stickers you can put on airport vehicles, making the dangers of runway incursion visible in yet another powerful way.
We would like to share these designs with you. Feel free to use them at your airport. You can also read more about runway incursions here.
Even the bull stops at a red stop bar...
No question...
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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.
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Trajectory based operations (TBO) – Still not properly understood in SESAR? Take 2.
On 18/01/2011, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
You may recall that a while ago I had written an article with the same title, expressing concern that this all important element in the SESAR Concept of Operations was apparently still not properly understood by some of the “experts” working on the subject.
Recently another paper dealing with trajectory management crossed my desk and on reading it I started to wonder: have these people not read the CONOPS at all? Mind you, the paper comes from a major SESAR partner who should know better… But apparently they do not.
The paper is entitled “Use of the SESAR RBT in ATM Systems”. RBT in case you did not know stands for Reference Business Trajectory and this is the trajectory that “the airspace user agrees to fly and the ANSP agrees to facilitate” to quote the relevant part of the SESAR Concept of Operations (CONOPS).
The purpose of the paper, by its own admission, is to prompt discussion of the trajectory issues within the SESAR program and in particular to ensure that they are addressed by Work Package B. In other words, the paper is arguing that alongside the RBT, the various other types of trajectories that exist in local systems must also be recognized and treated in SESAR. Since the CONOPS already contains references to all those “other” kinds of trajectories, one cannot but wonder: what do the authors of the paper have in mind? Why would SESAR ignore the CONOPS references to those other trajectories? Or have the authors not read the CONOPS and are now thinking that they have discovered a gap in that document?
I will not even attempt to figure out this aspect. There are many other elements in the paper that should make anyone familiar with trajectory based operations want to cry.
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European Aviation Safety Seminar (EASS) – March 1-3, 2011, Istanbul
On 14/01/2011, in Events, by steve
The Flight Safety Foundation European Aviation Safety Seminar (EASS), is held annually at various locations in Europe, and focuses on aviation safety challenges of interest to Europe.
The EASS is co-presented by the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and EUROCONTROL. EASS 2011 will be held in Istanbul, 1-3 March 2011.
SKYbrary, EUROCONTROL’s single point reference for aviation safety knowledge, offers the unique opportunity for you to check out an advance preview of papers, starting with the inventor of the GPWS – Don Bateman’s “Some Thoughts on Reducing the Risk of Aircraft Loss of Control”. You can find the preview here.
You can find more information about the seminar, including registration and hotel reservation, here.
Encouraging news from the SWIM front
On 07/01/2011, in SWIM, by steve
System Wide Information Management (SWIM) is one of the mainstays of both SESAR and NextGen. It has been known for some time now that a lot of the shortcomings in air traffic management (ATM) are directly or indirectly related to poor management and limited or non-existent sharing of the sea of information actually available at the various partners. SWIM will enable and encourage information sharing resulting in vastly improved ATM decisions based on a common picture of the ATM environment. You can read more about the SWIM concept here.
In the United States, Boeing and IBM have just finished a small project to demonstrate that it is in fact possible to provide timely and consistent information across organizational boundaries that can help improve decisions that become necessary when unforeseen events occur. They have in fact shown that SWIM type information sharing is feasible and useful.
In crisis situations the sharing of up to the minute flight data (including surveillance data), information on restrictions, weather and facility availability is particularly important if decisions are to be timely and effective.
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ATC Global 2011 – Amsterdam RAI, 8-10 March 2011
On 15/12/2010, in Events, by steve
Although ATC Global claims to eclipse all other industry events, this yearly jamboree of the ATC “industry” is not judged equally useful by those involved. Through clever marketing and a bit of luck, ATC Global has grown into an event which many feel must be attended (or rather, they feel you cannot afford not to attend) but when asked afterwards how far their benefit expectations have been met, often only silent shrugs are offered. I also know of companies who no longer go there as they do not see any benefit for themselves.
One of the criticisms often heard is that the presentations tend to be along the official lines and as such they provide precious little additional insight into the “real” picture of projects like SESAR or life at EUROCONTROL.
On the other hand, since in spite of its shortcomings, ATC Global draws a lot of visitors, it is a nice opportunity to network and chat up old friends.
If nothing else, you will be right outside Amsterdam and that is certainly a place worth visiting.
You can find all relevant information about ATC Global here.
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.
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A-CDM project launched in Vienna – about time too!
On 23/11/2010, in CDM, by steve
If you read my rants and raves (here and here) about how collaborative decision making (CDM) was not really working in Vienna, you will be surprised to hear that there is in fact a CDM team there, imaginatively called CDM@VIE and they had a kick-off event with 60 or so participants on 6 September this year. None too soon I would say.
At the kick-off event handling, stand and gate coordination, airline and terminal management, slot coordination and General Aviation were all represented. Controllers from Austro Control were there and representatives of Austrian Airlines, Fly Niki and Fraport also turned up.
EUROCONTROL presented the basics of CDM and the Vienna team introduced their project. Thereafter, 20 experts attended a two day train-the-trainer course. This is strange of course… How many people are dealing with CDM in Vienna if they need 20 trainers?
Anyway, based on recent experience, they will have their tasks cut out for them. If they succeed, with a bit of luck, we will no longer have to go through security twice within 10 minutes and mad rushes between gates will also be a thing of the past.
EASA and SESAR to cooperate closely in future
On 21/11/2010, in SESAR's Palace, by steve
On 10 November 2010, the Executive Directors of the SESAR Joint Undertaking and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Patrick Ky and Patrick Goudou, signed cooperation and working arrangements to secure EASA’s support regarding the implementation of the SESAR work programme. EASA’s expertise is sought in different domains, including impact analysis of new concepts on the rulemaking, oversight and certification activities of EASA; advice on methodologies for the acceptable elaboration of safety deliverables (safety cases, safety assessments…); review of these safety deliverables and issue of opinions; or the assessment of ‘certifiability’ of future systems/services derived from SESAR concepts. Additionally, the Agency will provide input in different work packages and will participate in updating the ATM Master Plan as well as the regulatory and standardisation roadmaps. “EASA’s cooperation is good news for SESAR and especially for our members developing the new ATM procedures and technologies. The Agency’s involvement will ensure compliance with highest safety standards which will in return facilitate the certification process”, said Patrick Ky after signing the working arrangement. The participation of Eurocontrol’s safety experts is foreseen to support EASA in this activity. To that end, the agreements have been sent to the Director-General of Eurocontrol, David McMillan, for acceptance.
FF-ICE – Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment
On 05/11/2010, in SWIM, by steve
A great document from unexpected quarters
Before anyone misunderstands, I would like to stress that receiving a great document from the Air Traffic Management and Performance Panel (ATMRPP) is not what is unexpected. It is more the scope of the document that was surprising, given its relatively humble beginnings. That the document is also visionary and uses the correct terminology throughout is just icing on the cake.
So what is this doc that has moved this arch-critic of the more common, poorly structured, inconsistent products using poor terminology to such words of praise?
When I was sent a copy of “Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment – A Concept”, produced by the ATMRPP, my interest was picked immediately. A few years ago when this document was in its infancy, I had the honor of being able to advise EUROCONTROL on how to interpret the advanced flight planning vision we wrote into the SESAR Concept of Operations. I recalled clearly how different experts had different views on the subject and it looked like achieving consensus would be all but impossible. So, if for nothing else, I was curious to see what the result was in the end.
Why did I say that the document, in spite of its lofty title, had humble beginnings? Well, the work that culminated in this beauty had set out originally to create a new ICAO flight plan to replace the current, hopelessly outdated product. In the end, a two step approach was agreed with a new, updated flight plan coming in the near future (read more about that here) to take care of the immediate needs. After this first step, the second aims to implement what they called the FF-ICE, covering the time frame up to 2025. FF-ICE stands for Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment and the document is in fact the description of the FF-ICE concept.
Setting out to remedy the pretty bad scene around the existing flight plan and its contents, the experts could not fail to realize that a solution that addressed only the flight plan as such would not bring about the much needed improvement. Only a wholesale revamping of the information management environment of which flight plans and their content are a part would ensure that the well-known problems disappear and the whole thing become future proof.
The ATMPRPP created a concept that aligns well with System Wide Information Management (SWIM) as being planned in Europe and the US and it also covers the new ideas on how flight planning should work as described in the SESAR Concept of Operations.
Click here to read the full article
CANSO joins ACI-Europe and EUROCONTROL to accelerate A-CDM roll-out
On 13/10/2010, in CDM, by steve
The threat of climate change, the global economic crisis and the resulting changes in the structure of the European aviation market have led to a renewed focus on efficiency and performance for Europe’s airports. In October 2008, ACI EUROPE and EUROCONTROL signed a collaboration to increase operational efficiencies at European airports.
This collaboration revolves around the implementation of an innovative operating practice called Airport Collaborative Decision-Making (A-CDM) which allows airports into the Air Traffic Management network and vice versa. This gives users access to a range of operational data allowing them to make their operations more efficient.
Successful implementation of A-CDM leads to significant reduction in CO2 emissions, which in turn helps airlines save fuel.
At the 5th Annual ACI EUROPE Airport Exchange, CANSO – the global trade body for Air Traffic Management – joined this partnership, giving the initiative even more momentum.
Over the last 2 years, the A-CDM program has made great progress with more than 30 airports so far engaged in implementing it.
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European Parliament vote endorses new rules for investigation and prevention of aviation accidents
On 05/10/2010, in Safety is no accident, by steve
Like so many things in united but still fragmented Europe, the investigation of aviation accidents has long been an area where differing State legislations rules the day and often prevented vital information from being shared to improve future safety or, conversely, the abuse of information by judiciary authorities to allocate blame rather than to learn from threatened to shut down the all important confidential reporting systems. It was high time that something got done and the European Commission has long been busy formulating new legislation that would eliminate the shortcomings. Although the new legislation voted upon by the European Parliament still leaves some issues unresolved, it is an important step in the right direction and a good basis for finally moving aviation accident investigation from the state to the European level.
It is understandable therefore that the European Commission welcomed the vote on 21 September supporting a new regulation on investigation and prevention of accidents in civil aviation which paves the way to a first reading agreement between Parliament and Council. The new legislation will strengthen the independence and effectiveness of air accident investigations in the EU, promote cooperation between the accident investigation authorities, and ensure better follow-up of safety recommendations. In addition, the new regulation significantly reinforces the rights of victims of air accidents and their relatives.
Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: “While aviation is one of the safest modes of transport in the EU, accidents may happen despite the aviation regulators and the industry’s best efforts, leaving passenger victims and their relatives in distress. We have to be prepared. Efficient and independent investigations of civil aircraft accidents are crucial for aviation safety. New rules will allow us to improve investigations, but most importantly, better prevent accidents from happening. They will also establish uniform rules for assisting victims of air accidents and their relatives. The Parliament came to an agreement in less than a year after the Commission’s proposal was presented. The Commission is now looking forward to a swift adoption of this new legislation by the Council”.
Building on more than a decade of experience
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Paul the octopus
On 29/09/2010, in Buzzwords explained, by daniel
What is the connection between an octopus and flight plan adherence?
Daily across Europe, regulations are put in place to protect ATC from receiving more traffic than the controller can handle safely. However, it regularly happens that more aircraft than planned enter these protected sectors, exceeding their capacities by more than 10%, which is regarded as an ATFCM “over-delivery”.
The Flight Plan & ATFCM Adherence campaign is an initiative of DMEAN and the CFMU. A Task Force gathers representatives from the pilots, dispatchers and controllers communities, their representative bodies and associations as well as airlines and ANSPs. Together they are working on the preparation of the Flight Level Adherence Days to be held on 29-30 September 2010.
So, what is the fuss?
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Use of selected altitude by ATC
On 23/09/2010, in SKYbrary News, by steve
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary.
The ability of a controller to see the selected altitude set by the flight crew gives him the ability to intervene when, for whatever reason, the selected altitude does not match the clearance. This greatly reduces the chance of a level bust.
Read the full article here.
