Maintainingstandards FinancingATMtraining - Eurocontrol · 2019-02-18 · 18 Online education...

ATM trainingMaintaining standards

through training

Financing ATM training

Skyway is a quarterly publication of the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROLVolume 7, Number 36, Spring 2005

ATM trainingMaintaining standards

through training


The EUROCONTROLInstitute of AirNavigation Services:Focus on cooperation,

flexibility and innovation

The EUROCONTROLInstitute of AirNavigation Services:Focus on cooperation,

flexibility and innovation

Skyway Magazine is aEUROCONTROL publication.Articles appearing in this magazinedo not necessarily reflectEUROCONTROL’s official policy.

PPuubblliisshheerr:: Víctor M. AguadoMMaannaaggiinngg EEddiittoorr:: Gerhard StadlerEEddiittoorr:: Lucia [email protected] EEddiittoorriiaall TTeeaamm:: Christos Petrou, Jean-Jacques Sauvage LLiinngguuiissttiicc AAddvviisseerrss:: Language Service (DGS/LSEC)LLaayyoouutt:: Frédérique FyonPPhhoottooggrraapphhyy aanndd pprree--pprreessssccoooorrddiinnaattiioonn:: Christian SampouxPPrriinnttiinngg:: EUROCONTROL Logistics andSupport Services, Bureau DGS/LOG

Articles, photographs and letters fromreaders are welcome. Whilst every carewill be taken of material submitted forpublication, the Managing Editorregrets that he is unable to acceptresponsibility for any loss or damage.

EEUURROOCCOONNTTRROOLL WWeebbssiittee::http://www.eurocontrol.int

3 Editorial

Independent Platform

4 Maintaining standards through training

Focus6 An institute in change

9 Meeting regulatory training requirements

10 Finding the balance between efficiency and quality

14 Working in partnerships to meet the challenge of limited capacity

18 Online education

Stakeholder Forum21 ROMATSA: poised for future challenge

24 ATM training in SENASA

Interview26 Financing ATM training

Datelines28 ATC Maastricht 2005: a resounding success!

30 Third EUROCONTROL innovative research workshop: 9-10 December 2004, France

Report32 A tribute to Mikko Talvitie

32 Introduction of automatic controller-pilot data link communications breaks new ground

33 Good luck to Jean-Marc Garot on his new appointment

34 Visits and agreements

© DFS

Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH

KarlsruheOperationsRoom

Skyway 36 - Spring 2005

Edito

rial

3

Dear Readers,

In this issue we turn the spotlight ontoa key sector of Air Traffic Management(ATM): training and knowledge transfer.

Air traffic has doubled over the last 15years, yet the number of ATM profession-als has increased only marginally. Newtechnology and new operational conceptshave made for increases in productivity

and performance, but recurrent training and the adaptability ofcontrollers remain pivotal in the process.

With growing amounts of traffic and constant technologicaladvances putting greater pressure on systems and those who runthem, the effective transfer of knowledge and in-depth acquisitionof new skills remain paramount.

As aviation is inherently international, it is also of the highestimportance that harmonised standards are developed and imple-mented across the continent. Freedom of movement and a greatercall for flexible manpower also dictate the need for common stan-dards and licensing.

Keeping pace with developments in aviation and systemsmakes for changing demands on training. The requirement forexpanded portfolios of courses grows in tandem, as does the needfor new partnerships and even greater cohesion.

New tools and tasks mean that new expertise is required - andnew expertise means more training. Know-how and professionalexperience have to be constantly realigned so as to enable ATMprofessionals to adapt as quickly as possible to the demands nowbeing made on them.

The pace of development is constantly accelerating. With thelaunch of the ATM Master Plan, the future ATM system is about tobe outlined. Training will have to underpin the new advances: with-out it, there can be no real progress.

It goes without saying that flexibility and innovation are as vitalto training as to any other area of Air Traffic Management.

It is clear that emerging issues - such as aviation’s impact onthe environment - and developments - such as the Single EuropeanSky - will lead to new training needs in the future. The wide dis-semination of best practices in ATM, the effective transfer of knowl-edge and the establishment of common requirements will underpinthe foundations and workings of a truly successful ATM system.

Víctor M. AguadoDirector General

Chers lecteurs,

Le présent numéro met à l’honneur un secteur essentiel de lagestion de la circulation aérienne (ATM) : la formation et le trans-fert de connaissances.

Si le trafic aérien a doublé au cours des 15 dernières années,le nombre des professionnels de l’ATM n’a connu, lui, qu’unelégère augmentation. Les nouvelles technologies et les nouveauxconcepts opérationnels ont permis de réaliser des gains en termes de productivité et de performance, néanmoins le recycla-ge et l’adaptabilité des contrôleurs demeurent au cœur du processus.

La croissance du trafic et les avancées technologiques cons-tantes mettent à rude épreuve les systèmes et ceux qui lesgèrent. C’est pourquoi le transfert efficace de connaissances etl’acquisition minutieuse de nouvelles compétences restentessentiels.

L’aviation revêtant par nature une dimension internationale, ilest également primordial que des normes harmonisées soientélaborées et appliquées à l’échelle du continent. La nécessité denormes et licences communes est aussi dictée par la liberté demouvement et par une demande accrue de main d’œuvre flexible.

Suivre de près les progrès de l'aéronautique et des systèmesimplique une évolution constante des besoins en formation. Lesdemandes de diversification des cours vont de pair avec cetteévolution, tout comme la nécessité de nouveaux partenariats etd’une cohésion toujours renforcée.

L’introduction de nouveaux outils et de nouvelles tâchesappelle de nouvelles compétences, dont l’acquisition passe parde nouvelles formations. Le savoir-faire et les acquis des profes-sionnels de l’ATM doivent faire l’objet d'une remise à niveau cons-tante afin de permettre une adaptation aussi rapide que possibleaux nouvelles exigences du moment.

Le rythme des développements ne cesse de s’accélérer. Le lancement du Plan-cadre de l’ATM va permettre d’esquisser lesystème ATM de demain. La formation devra impérativementsous-tendre les nouvelles avancées, sans quoi tout progrès seraimpossible.

Il va sans dire que la flexibilité et l’innovation revêtent autantd’importance pour le secteur de la formation que pour tout autredomaine de la gestion du trafic aérien.

Les nouveaux sujets à l’ordre du jour, comme les incidencesde l’aviation sur l’environnement, ou les développements encours, comme le Ciel unique européen, engendreront imman-quablement de nouveaux besoins en formation. La disséminationà grande échelle des meilleures pratiques dans le domaine ATM,le transfert efficace des connaissances et la définitiond’exigences communes étayeront la mise sur pied et le fonction-nement d’un système ATM véritablement efficace.

Víctor M. AguadoDirecteur général

A key element in thisprocess is the provision ofharmonised controller train-ing across the Community.

EUROCONTROL's Institute of AirNavigation Services (IANS) inLuxembourg already provides commoncourse material for Member States, andsees harmonised training as key toachieving Europe's broader objectives.The common licence is due to becomeEuropean law in mid-2005, and Stateswill have two years to transpose the leg-islation into national law.

The institute provides a variety of AirTraffic Management (ATM) training serv-ices aimed at assisting Member States toenhance safety and efficiency. This train-ing is focussed on meeting the needs ofboth air navigation service providers andregulators. Member States take respon-sibility for controller training in their owncountries, so the Institute tends to delivertraining for the trainers, and to dissemi-nate concepts and projects. It workshard to avoid any duplication with nation-al training activities.

An example of this is the common corecontent package which the Institute hasintroduced for ab initio training.Developed over the last five years, thistraining programme is approved byMember States and is being adopted by all training schools. The EURO-CONTROL Safety Regulatory

Requirement (ESARR) 5 covers trainingand competency skills, and MemberStates have to show their own regulatorthat they are in compliance with the coretraining programme. The common corecontent ensures all controllers attain therequired standards. This in turn shouldensure that a controller trained in oneState has the appropriate skills and com-petences to be employed throughoutEurope.

“It is neither efficient nor logical for the 34Member States to be developing similartraining packages in an uncoordinatedmanner”, says Lars Wedbäck, Director ofthe Institute. “We are trying to act as apoint of coordination at the Institute, bothfor traditional ATM training programmesand especially e-learning. The latter arequite expensive to develop.Consequently, we are aiming to producevarious modules that are of interest andrespond to the common needs of theMember States.”

“E-learning is rapidly becoming a keylearning tool and in a few years' time itwill be the major source of delivery,” pre-dicts Wedbäck. To this end the Institutehas set up a learning server which isavailable to Member States. It allows par-ticipants (mainly controllers) to log-onand select whatever course they choose.E-learning provides an effective vehiclefor meeting new EC requirements underESARR 5, regarding refresher training.

The EUROCONTROL Human ResourcesTeam has tasked the Institute with thedevelopment of a European master planfor e-learning. This will take the form of a

series of modules that will cover a varietyof ATM-related subjects, including ATCrefresher training. Based on theInstitute's own experience of trainingcontrollers for the Maastricht Upper AreaControl Centre, the ATC refresher trainingmodules are now being made availablefor all Member States to use. Wedbäcksays about 80% of air traffic controllers’refresher training needs are the samethroughout Europe, including for exam-ple, emergency procedures, medium-term conflict detection, separation mini-ma and meteorological issues.

E-learning also offers an efficient meansof delivering training. Thousands of peo-ple can participate through this mediumand avoid expensive travel costs. Inaddition, e-learning can be combinedwith traditional training methods toincrease flexibility and effectiveness. Forexample, students can complete part ofa training course online before attendingthe remainder of the course at theInstitute's premises in Luxembourg.

With only 15 staff instructors, e-learningenables the Institute to meet its trainingcommitments across a broad spectrumof courses in an efficient manner. TheInstitute also delivers on-site trainingcourses in an attempt to limit partici-pants’ costs. Out of a total of 191 ATMcourses delivered in 2004, 20 large-sizecourses were conducted at on-site loca-tions.

The strategy of sending one instructor toa region rather than sending many stu-dents to the Institute keeps customers’travel and accommodation costs down

Inde

pend

ent P

latf

orm

4

Maintaining standards through training

by Jenny Beechener,Editor of Jane’sAirport Review

Europe moved a step closer to harmonising its air traffic services in early February when theEuropean Parliament gave its support to a single Community licence for air traffic controllers.Allowing more flexible use of manpower paves the way for more cross-border air traffic controlzones within the EU, and brings the region closer to its goal of creating a Single European Sky.

and enables them to meet their trainingrequirement efficiently. Efficiency is highon Wedbäck's agenda. The Institutetrains close to 4,000 students a year; fourtimes as many as in 1998. During thisperiod the overall budget has decreasedby 25%. Wedbäck plans furthereconomies and has embarked on a planto further reduce administration and sup-port costs. “The Institute is in the middleof an important change. We have tobecome more efficient – in other wordswe must continue to work hard to delivermore with less.”

The message is familiar in an industrythat has experienced a doubling of airtraffic since 1990. New technology andoperational concepts play a part in rais-ing capacity, but development and main-tenance of training and controller skillsremain a fundamental element of theATC equation. It takes three years to traina controller, and as many as a quarter failto complete the training. Providing theappropriate continuation training cours-es within the right timeframe requirescareful planning and use of resources.

For many States, common training deliv-ery is the way forward and computer-based training modules make up a grow-ing part of this, especially for ab-initiotraining. The Nordic States of Sweden,Denmark and Norway have combinedresources to develop a common trainingcentre, taking advantage of advancedsimulation equipment. Similarly, the eightMember States of CEATS are looking atcommon training resources. More initia-tives of this kind are expected in thefuture.

One way to improve performance andmake the best use of limited ATM train-ing resources is through partnerships.In November 2004, the Instituteentered into an agreement with IATAthat gives members of EUROCON-TROL and IATA access to each others'courses at a reduced price. As aresult, Member States can attend acourse on aviation law given by an

IATA instructor, not previously availableat the Institute.

Similarly, IATA members have the oppor-tunity to attend courses given by IANSinstructors in Luxembourg. “The mainaim is to improve efficiency and qualitythrough partnerships,” says Wedbäck.“We set out common priorities and weavoid duplication of work.” The Institutehas also entered into a partnership withHelios Group, whereby the UK companyprovides specialist lecturers in return forusing the Institute's training programmesoutside Europe.

The Institute is also increasingly involvedwith EUROCONTROL's new MemberStates. Many central and easternEuropean States need a great deal oftraining assistance and the Institutereports high demand for courses fromthese new members. “Access to theInstitute’s ATM courses is one of the ben-efits of EUROCONTROL membership,”says Wedbäck. “They can take advan-tage of our ATM courses from day one.They recognise we can give them first-class training which subsequentlyenables them to improve their own train-ing by spreading the informationthroughout their own organisations. Thisstrategy is working very well.”

In 2004, the EUROCONTROL Pro-visional Council mandated the Instituteto develop a complete training pro-gramme for safety regulators, in accor-dance with the regulatory requirementsset out in ESARR 5, and following therecommendations of the StrategicSafety Action Plan. The Institute is cur-rently developing 10 coursesdesigned to meet the five-year target ofthe Action Plan. The EuropeanCommission expects to legislate onmany safety regulatory requirements in2006, and the Institute is on track todeliver the new training modules withinthis timeframe.

"This combination of safety regulationtraining courses is unique,” explainsWedbäck. “The initiative was driven bythe high-level action group for ATMsafety, and the Safety RegulationCommission. Europe needs to haveprofessional, skilled safety regulators inorder to implement ESARRs. This task isextremely important for future EuropeanATM. The fact that we have been giventhis task is a recognition of the Institute’sexpertise in this area”. Wedbäck states

that the ability to provide a vari-ety of relevant and timely postgraduate ATM training cours-es, is a core strength of theInstitute.

What is clear is that theInstitute has become more integratedinto European ATM (EATM) planningprocesses. By discussing trainingneeds and requirements at the earlystages of network design, the develop-ment of new tools and procedures goeshand in hand with operations. “Beforeimplementing new measures in Europe,we need to make sure that peopleunderstand how to apply them. Ourcourses are updated so that we arealways able to support the latest devel-opments.

Our aim in doing this is to ensure thatthe Institute remains at the forefront ofdeveloping and delivering ATM trainingwhich adds value to the customer.” �

Skyway 36 - Spring 2005 5

Inde

pend

ent P

latf

orm

Lars Wedbäck took over theDirectorship of the EUROCONTROLTraining Institute in 2002

The Institute has a multiple role inthat it delivers training to civil andmilitary service providers and Stateauthorities of Members States, aswell as providing training to EURO-CONTROL staff. Initially serving thesix founding EUROCONTROLMember States11, the Institute's rolehas changed substantially since itwas formed in the late 1960s, nowproviding education and awarenessin ATM to staff of the current 34Member States. Since its first coursein January 1970, the Institute hastrained more than 35,000 people andhas significantly expanded its portfo-lio of courses.

The development of the Institute'srole over the years has been prompt-ed by the changes in the air trafficmanagement environment charac-terised by increasing complexity. Thechallenge of the Institute today is tomeet the increasing demand for itscourses and products, and to pro-vide more training on more complexissues for more people with almostno increase in resources.

To meet these challenges, theInstitute continuously reviews itstraining techniques, concludes part-nerships with Member States andhas recently embarked on an ambi-tious e-learning programme.

The current ATM courseportfolioThe Institute provides a range of ATMtraining courses and programmes forEUROCONTROL Member States, airnavigation service providers, regula-tory authorities and the Agency itself.The target audiences for ATM train-ing are operational and technicalstaff as well as administrative andmanagement staff.

6

Focu

s

EUROCONTROL’s Institute of Air Navigation Services,

based in Luxembourg, was founded in 1969

and is today recognised as a centre for excellence

in training in Europe.

An institute in change

by Ian Middleton, Head of Training

Division,

Rik Dermont,Head of ATM Training,

and

Charly Sampson, Head of ATC Training

1- Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

It is therefore not surprising that therange and breadth of courses offeredby the ATM Training Unit is verydiverse. While most courses in theInstitute’s portfolio are aimed at specif-ic target audiences, a few are especial-ly designed to bring together peoplefrom different backgrounds. The cours-es can also be very different in nature:some are designed to provide aware-ness-training whilst others are devel-oped to provide skill-based training.The Institute attempts to complementthe efforts of the training centres inMember States and actively managesits training portfolio to protect theintegrity of this approach.

The current portfolio covers 10 differentdomains ranging from airspace designand management, and flow and infor-mation management, to airport, humanresources, safety and CNS trainingcourses.

Another important domain is the“General ATM Organisation Domain”. Inthis area, the course entitled “Towardsa Future European ATM System” ismost popular. This course offers anintroduction to the different aspects ofATM for newcomers, but it also pro-vides an overview of future ATM issuesto people specialising in a particularfield of ATM. For many people, it is aunique opportunity to look beyond their

own specialised field of work, to gainan understanding of other aspects ofATM, and to see how it all fits togetherand how ATM will evolve in the future.

To support Member States with theimplementation of the EUROCONTROLSafety Regulatory Requirements(ESARRs), there are also more spe-cialised courses among the Institute’sexisting training modules.

Improved support for EUROCONTROL activitiesSupporting EUROCONTROL activitiesis part of the Institute’s mission. Thisentails providing as a priority trainingsupport for the European ATMProgramme (EATM) domains and serv-ices, the Strategic Safety Action Plan(SSAP), ESARR 5 and FlowManagement with a view to harmonis-ing training standards across Europe.

Roughly 85% of the ATM training cours-es delivered by the Institute directlysupport EATM activities. The widerange of the Agency’s activities in thisdomain leads to a large variety ofcourses in the ATM course portfolio.

Publication of the SSAP in 2003placed new emphasis on safety issuesand the Institute has developed a pro-gramme of safety management andsafety regulation training in line withthe Action Plan. While a few coursesare already being delivered, many arecurrently being developed. They willbe gradually introduced into theInstitute’s training portfolio between2005 and 2009.

The EUROCONTROL SafetyRegulatory Requirement (ESARR) 5provides general safety requirementsfor ATM personnel who are responsi-ble for safety-related tasks. TheInstitute provides support to ESARR 5through on-the-job training instruction(OJTI) and competency assessmenttraining courses for air traffic con-trollers.

The majority of the specialised FlowManagement training is directly pro-vided by the Central FlowManagement Unit (CFMU). TheInstitute collaborates with the CFMU tomake this training as effective as pos-sible. It hosts the web-based trainingpackages on its Learning


Focu

s

�

Roughly 85% of the ATMtraining courses delivered bythe Institutedirectly support EATM activities

Management System and provides itscourse registration services for CFMUtraining.

To ensure continued support to EURO-CONTROL activities, the Institute con-stantly updates and modifies the con-tent of its courses. To achieve this, theInstitute works inclose cooperationwith its stakeholdersand revisits trainingrequirements on aregular basis. It isclear that the earlyidentification ofemerging trainingrequirements allowshigh-quality training tobe delivered in a time-ly manner.

The Institute believesthat the developmentof awareness andeducation in supportof the Agency activi-ties should be considered as anAgency deliverable and be part ofinitial planning. The Institute offerseducational expertise and tools, aproven training methodology andrelated quality standards duringdevelopment. To guarantee a suc-cessful outcome, regular involvementfrom Agency staff is needed. Theyassist in the translation of the trainingrequirements into specific trainingobjectives for well-defined targetaudiences. Recent examples of thisapproach are the courses that theInstitute has developed in the field ofAeronautical Information Manage-ment, the new courses developedtogether with the EATM AirportsProgramme and last but not least thecourses that are currently beingdeveloped in conjunction with theSafety Regulation Unit. In each ofthese domains, the Institute hascooperated with other parts of theAgency to develop and deliver high-quality training to meet emergingrequirements.

ATM training:the right people on theright course

Each year, theInstitute receives4000 requests forplaces on courses,but it can meet only75% of this demand.Current demandoutstrips supply inmost training do-

mains. It is particularly noticeable in thecases of safety and human resourcescourses. To offset this lack of capacity,the Institute has to ensure that stake-holders with genuine training needs aregiven priority.

As most of the Institute’s courses areaimed at specific audiences, the placeallocation process has recently beenreviewed. To this end, the Institute hasinvited Agency experts to be involved inthe course place allocation procedure.Additional enrolment information suchas job title and name have contributedto the selection of the right people toattend a given course. This allows theInstitute to focus on the learning needsof appropriate candidates. It has alsomade more extensive information aboutits courses available on its website.Potential students can now choose acourse, not only on the basis of its title,but based on its objectives and thecourse programmes available. It isexpected that this will enable potentialcourse participants to choose the

course that best meets their needs. Theresults of these changes have alreadyincreased overall student satisfaction.

Taking into account the lack of capacity,it is regrettable that there remain a rela-tively high number of cancellations.Most disappointing are last-minute can-cellations. These result in a loss of train-ing places which is clearly wasteful inthe context of the overall capacity short-age. This issue can only be addressedwith the full support of the Institute’scustomers.

Future ATM training developmentThe real challenge for the ATM trainingoffered by the Institute is to continue tosupport the wide range of EURO-CONTROL activities while at the sametime responding effectively to theemerging training needs. This can onlybe achieved through close cooperationwith the various stakeholders.

It is clear that issues such as the SingleEuropean Sky, the environment andsecurity will lead to new training needsin the near future. The Institute isalready busy assessing the respectivetraining requirements and how these willinfluence the existing ATM training port-folio.

Demand for the Institute’s coursesseems set to remain high. The Instituteintends to continue to maximise its out-put and improve the quality of its cours-es through cooperation, flexibility andinnovation. �

An institute in change (cont’d)

Focu

s

8

New Courses in 2005� Airport Airside Capacity

Efficiency Enhancement

� Aerodrome ResourceManagement

� Collaborative DecisionMaking

� Automated Support to ATS

� Aviation Law for Managers

� Airborne Collision AvoidanceSystem

� Detailed ESARR 2Implementation Training

The Luxembourg Centre trains controllers from around Europe

Harmonised training

The EUROCONTROL Institute of AirNavigation Service has a key role toplay in the development of harmonisedATM training standards across Europe.To this end, the Institute worksin close cooperation withexperts from air navigationservice providers and nationalregulators.

This consultation process hasled over the years to the pro-duction of training syllabuses,plans and materials. A syllabusdescribes the performanceexpected from the learner atthe end of the training.Syllabuses identify the knowl-edge, skills and attitudes required forthe provision of air traffic services in theECAC area11 and as such they specify a“common core” and thus are named“Common Core Content Training”.Training plans propose exemplarymethods to implement compliant train-ing from best practices. The trainingmaterials (e-learning, manuals, cases,etc.) are available to stakeholders inorder to minimise their effort in trainingdevelopment.

Common licensingSince November 2003, the EURO-CONTROL Safety and RegulatoryRequirements related to ATM servicespersonnel (ESARR5) have, inter alia,made a minimum initial level of trainingmandatory for air traffic controllers in theEUROCONTROL States and recom-mended for those in all ECAC Stateswhich are not yet members of EURO-CONTROL. In order to specify this min-imum training requirement, ESARR5referred to the ECAC guidelines forcommon core content training.

Hand in hand with this development, theEuropean Commission is currently pre-senting a directive on a Community airtraffic controller licence to the EuropeanParliament and to the European Councilwhich refers to the common core con-

tent as a minimum requiredlevel. A system of commonlicensing has been underdevelopment within theECAC States since 2000 andwill, for the first time, enablepersonnel to have the mobili-ty to work in all EU MemberStates.

ESARR 5 specifies require-ments for engineering andtechnical personnel under-taking operational safety-

related tasks which are to be imple-mented by April 2005. They include theneed for technical and engineering per-sonnel to be properly trained and quali-fied to perform the tasks to which theyare assigned. Here too, EURO-CONTROL has produced guidelineswhich describe syllabus and trainingplans for the initial phases of training.These guidelines will greatly facilitate acommon understanding and specifica-tion of the competence requirements.

From content to processThe training deliverables describe sev-eral phases of training for each catego-ry of personnel, ranging from basictraining on arrival, through develop-ment, all the way to continuation trainingfor the professional. The nature of theguidelines changes according to thetraining phase. For initial training (basicand rating for air traffic controllers,basic and qualification for engineeringand technical personnel), the trainingexperts have been able to accuratelyspecify the training objectives and their

contents. For the later phases of unittraining and system/equipment ratingtraining (engineering and technical per-sonnel), it is more suitable to describethe process than the multiple contents.These two guidelines are currentlyunder production for release in 2005.

From syllabus to implementationThe process behind the development ofEUROCONTROL training guidelinesdraws on input from experts in theMember States and takes account ofchanges affecting the industry. Theguidelines are based on a modularityprinciple and are structured to differen-tiate the overall performance from thedetailed content.

As a result, they are an efficient tool forspecifying the level of training and com-petence: their structure is fitted toensure traceability during upgradesand to enable mapping between imple-mented course and requirements. Theconsensus principle on which they arebased provides a reasonable insuranceof their relevance to the broaderEuropean area.

Since the implementation of common-core content training in November2003, no major difficulty has beenreported. However, a “consistencyreview” of the training modules led to animprovement of the document with theissue of version 2 of the guidelines in2005.

In today's regulated context of training,the training guidelines facilitate fruitfulcooperation between regulators andtraining providers, thereby contributingto the production of locally customisedinnovative training efficiently tailored forsafe air traffic service provision. �


Focu

s

Meeting regulatory training requirements

by Michel Pistre,Acting Head of TrainingDevelopment andHarmonisation

1- TheEuropean Civil AviationConferencecomprises 41 States

EfficiencyIn the last few years, the resourcesmade available to the EUROCONTROLInstitute have remained stable. TheInstitute employs approximately 80 peo-ple and the contribution from MemberStates has not increased above infla-

tion. Increasing the output while main-taining the same resources is a way ofachieving efficiency. Firstly, we use part-nerships to achieve this. Partnershipsenable Member States’ training estab-lishments with spare capacity to deliverthe Institute’s courses. This allowsdemand to be met with no decrease inthe level of quality of the courses.

To enhance efficiency, the Institute alsoruns conference-style courses where

the demand far exceeds capacity. Ituses its excellent in-house conferencingfacilities to raise the number of partici-pants from an average of 20 students to40 students per course. Our studentsatisfaction evaluation system hasshown that the increase in the numberof participants has had no adverseeffect on the quality of the product andthe satisfaction of the students.

In order to concentrate on the core busi-ness of training development and deliv-ery, we have reduced the number ofstaff in the administration and support-ing functions and reallocated posts tothe core business wherever possible.Staff leaving the Institute are not auto-matically replaced ‘like for like’. We takethis opportunity to establish what knowl-edge gaps exist and ensure that werecruit people with the skills and com-petencies required for the developmentand training of future courses. Only thendo we initiate the recruitment process.

These actions have enabled theInstitute to increase the number of stu-dents from roughly 1,500 in 1999 tomore than 3,000 in 2004 with noincrease in the staff budget.

In preparation for what could lie ahead,the EUROCONTROL Institute moved toa new building in 1999. This new facilitycontains classrooms equipped withstate-of-the-art teaching aids, modernsupport services and a modern, flexi-ble, fully equipped conference room.This has allowed the Institute to becomeheavily involved in the organisation ofATM conferences and workshops.

Focu

s

10

0

5

500

1000

1500

0

10

15

20

25

2000 2001 2002 2003

Workshops Participants

10001998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Finding the balance betweenefficiency and qualityAt the Institute, our purpose is to find the right balance between efficiency and quality.

That is why we have implemented a quality system to ensurethat efficiency goes hand in hand with quality.

Number of courseparticipants

Number ofworkshopsand participants

by BernardCassaignau,Head of theBusiness andAdministrationUnit

Since 2000 the number of participantsattending workshops organised by theInstitute has increased from 500 to morethan 1,500 in 2004. In 2004, the Institutewas involved in the organisation ofworkshops and conferences related tothe consultation processes for theSingle European Sky mandates.

As part of its strategy to meet trainingdemand, the Institute has invested inthe development of web-based dis-tance-learning known as e-learning.This method is well suited to the deliv-ery of standard training for large audi-ences. The largest efficiency gainthrough the use of e-learning isachieved by the customer. E-learningfor the customer means less travellingand less time away from the office.These obvious benefits must be offsetagainst the higher cost of the develop-ment of, and investment in, a platform todeliver the e-learning services and themaintenance cost of such services.Development of the e-learning servicesstarted in around 1998 and subse-quently became an operational systemin 2003. In 2003 more than 700 studentsstudied at least one e-learning module.

In 2004 the number of students furtherincreased to more than 900. At the endof 2004 more than 100 e-learning mod-ules were on-line. It is expected thatthese figures will continue to grow in thenext few years.

Quality policy In line with the policy of the Agency, theInstitute adopted the EuropeanFoundation for Quality Management(EFQM) model. The EFQM ExcellenceModel was introduced as the frame-work for organisational self-assess-


Background

In the late 1990s, the Institute identified a require-ment for an intelligent PC-based skills trainer thatcould help in the basic training of radar con-trollers. For many years a number of devices hadbeen available but none seemed to do more thanplace a radar simulator, or a part of a radar simu-lator, on a PC.

Skills training at the Institute was carried out in themain simulator with one instructor per student, afairly costly process. The use of unsupervisedexercises is much more efficient but there is aneed for some form of measurement and assess-ment. Without this, students may be left with a

false impression of theirprogress and risk develop-ing bad habits.

A Skills Trainer (also referredto as a Part-Task Trainer) wasrequired, which measuredand assessed student per-formance as well as providingfacilities for an instructor toreview the exercise whencompleted. This approachrequires one instructor pergroup of students comparedwith the traditional approachof one instructor per student.

The Institute was unable to find a suitable commer-cially available product so an in-house tool wasdeveloped. The tool started in a simple way andwas gradually expanded to become an integral partof the ab-initio course in 2002. The Skills Trainer hasnow been made freely available to our stakeholders.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

19971996 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 20041998

EFQMresults

Radar Skills Trainer – using technology to increase efficiency

Part-Task Training: Definition A method in which the operation to be learntis broken down into separate sections, eachof which is taught and practised separatelybefore bringing the parts together and prac-tising in appropriate combinations until thewhole operation has been mastered.

�

��

ment. EFQM helps us to deliver prod-ucts and improved services through theeffective use of leading-edge manage-ment practices. Since 1996, EFQM hastriggered changes at the Institute in itsjourney to quality.

EFQM has provided a frameworkwhich has guided the Institute througha large number of changes. We havetaken several measures to guaranteethat our efficiency policy is compatiblewith the expectations and needs of ourcustomers. To obtain information aboutcustomers’ needs and expectations,we make great efforts to consult stake-holders and to measure customer sat-isfaction.

Stakeholder consultationThe Institute has a clearly definedstakeholder consultation process. This

firstly consists of the regular meetingsof the Training Consultation Group(TCG), which is the Member States’consultative body for the Institute. Theaim of the TCG is to define the strategicdirection of the Institute. In addition, theInstitute conducts annual bilateral cus-tomer visits. These visits provide uswith very useful but more informal feed-back from our stakeholders.

The Institute has also established aninterface with EATM to ensure that it isable to provide its various programmes,domains and services with effectivetraining deliverables.

Finally, the Institute is currently estab-lishing Service Level Agreements(SLAs) with its partners and major cus-tomers (such as the Central EuropeanAir Traffic Services and MaastrichtUpper Area Control Centres). The aim

of these is to define in a transparentmanner the services to be providedand the resources required to achievethem. The SLAs also have the advan-tage of providing a framework whichenables us to use our resources tomeet the stakeholders’ requirements inan efficient and flexible manner.

These stakeholder consultationprocesses have been instrumental inthe continuous review of the Institute'srole and functions, leading to a portfo-lio of training products well aligned tostakeholder needs.

Measurement of customer satisfactionThe stakeholder consultationprocesses facilitate the developmentand alignment of the Institute’s prod-ucts with the needs of the stakehold-ers. The Institute continuously moni-tors the quality of delivery of theseproducts to the end-users. As part ofits policies, it measures the satisfac-tion of customers/students with eachtraining product. The first and bestdeveloped example is the processingof the course evaluation forms, filledin by students at the end of eachcourse.

The evaluation forms are automatical-ly processed and stored in theInstitute course evaluation database.This database contains the satisfac-tion results of over 8,000 studentsparticipating in more than 600 cours-es. It enables us to verify the satis-faction of students with the quality ofeach course including course con-tent, the competence of the instructorand the accuracy of the documenta-tion. It provides course supervisorswith data concerning the satisfactionlevels for existing courses and allowsthem to assess the quality of new andupdated courses. The system hasalso been used to measure the valid-ity of teaching courses for large audi-ences. On average, overall studentsatisfaction has increased significant-

Finding the balance between efficiency and quality (cont’d)Fo

cus

12

752001 2002 2003 2004

80

85

90

Overall student satisfaction

Course

StructureDocumentation

completeness Instructor

preparation

Instructor subject

knowledge Instructor

teaching style

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Course 1 Course 2

Measurementof customersatisfaction

ly since the introduction of the meas-urement system.

The Institute has introduced similarsystems for the measurement of satis-faction with the e-learning productsand organisation of workshops.These systems started deliveringresults in 2004.

Other initiativesThe Institute does not only measure‘satisfaction’. If students or customersare dissatisfied, they also have anopportunity to express themselves.Each product (such as training notes)contains a clear reference to the pro-cedures relating to complaints andthe associated anonymous form onthe Institute website. In 2004, nocomplaints were filed through thecomplaints procedure.

Last but not least, instructors are sub-ject to a formal annual competencyassessment procedure. The systemhas been in place for two years. Thiscompetency assessment procedure,together with the student evaluationat the end of each course, are impor-tant tools to guarantee that eachinstructor continues to meet thedemanding expectations of the stu-dents.

Achievements

Since 1996, the Institute has per-formed an annual self-assessmentagainst the EFQM Excellence Model.

The results of each of these self-assessments have been used asinputs for new quality and efficiencyimprovement projects. In 2001, theEUROCONTROL Institute for AirNavigation Services was recognisedfor excellence by EFQM. Since then,we have continued to improve ourpolicies, processes and results. Webelieve that on our journey to excel-lence we have found the right balancebetween efficiency and quality. �

The tool is being used by NATS at its ATC Collegein the UK. NATS is currently pursuing a trainingstrategy where trainees have the ability to honethe most basic of ATC skills on part-task trainers,before bringing those skills together during fullsimulation exercises. As a basic skills trainer forradar, the Institute tool is allowing trainees to real-ly own their training, practicing in their own timeand encouraging them to continuously improve.

PrinciplesThe skills trainer works on the basis of objectivemeasurement. For any given exercise, a combina-tion of pre-determined objectives and airspacedesign provides a scenario designed to teach specific skills. The skills that can be measured are:

� maintaining an aircraft in a given piece of air-space or on a specified route;

� maintaining separation between all aircraft;� ensuring that aircraft achieve their exit point at

a specified level;� ensuring that aircraft receive the most expedi-

tious routing;� ensuring that aircraft receive the minimum

number of commands from the controller.

In practice, the student completes the exerciseand receives a debriefing from the programme onthe objectives measured. The Instructor thenreviews the exercise using the replay functionand debriefs the student on techniques and otheritems that the tool currently does not assess.

BenefitsThe benefits of the Radar Skills Trainer are manifold.It has significantly reduced the time spent in the sim-ulator, reducing the one-to-one training require-ments. It also provides flexibility as it enables stu-dents to practice in their own time, and as a gener-

ic tool it has been made freely avail-able to ATC training schools inMember States.

The Radar Skills Trainer was intro-duced at the Institute to meet therequirement to provide practicaltraining in the early stages of theATC ab-initio training. For a typicalgroup of students, this reduces thenumber of required instructorsfrom 8 to 3.


Part-TaskTrainer at IANS

��

��

Despite continuousefforts, there remainsa gap between thenumber of requested

places on courses offered by theInstitute and the number of courseplaces actually available. As in somany other domains in aviation, theInstitute is facing a capacity gap. Theintroduction of additional courses is

limited by the number of instructorsavailable and size of the building (i.e.the number of available classrooms).

In addition to course delivery, theInstitute is heavily involved in the devel-opment of new training programmes.These training programmes supportthe implementation of the StrategicSafety Action Plan, the EURO-CONTROL Safety Regulatory TrainingProgramme and the CooperativeNetwork Design activities of theAgency. The development of new

Focu

s

14

Over the years, the EUROCONTROL Institute of AirNavigation Services has significantly increased its output thanks to a combination of new training methodsand efficiency gains.

by Rik Simoens,Business Manager

“

Working in partnershipsto meet the challenge oflimited capacity

”

We are very much looking forward to contributing, through our partnership withthe Institute to meeting the training needs of theEuropean ATM community.With our long and wideexperience of training forinternational clients, webelieve we are well suited for this task.

Per-Inge Hoffman, Director Swedish ATSAcademy

courses in these domains not onlyrequires significant resources but alsoposes a challenge to knowledge man-agement at the Institute. The questionarises whether the Institute can investin all ATM domains requiring significanttraining (management or aviation law toname just a few). Clearly the answer tothis question is ‘no’. The Institute can-not, alone, cover the complete spec-trum of ATM training requirements.

Working togetherThe Institute has a well documentedpolicy that clearly states that it will notcompete with Member States or serviceproviders in the Member States. Thispolicy is confirmed on a yearly basisduring the meetings of the TrainingConsultation Group, the MemberStates’ consultative body of theInstitute. This means that the Institutewill not normally include in its courseportfolio courses that are available onthe commercial market.

The no-competition principle hasenabled the Institute to concentrate onits core mission: supporting the EURO-CONTROL Agency activities with train-ing programmes.

The no-competition principle creates aclear demarcation between the Instituteand the service providers in MemberStates. However, this has not preventedthe development of partnershipsbetween the Institute and someMember States. These partnershipscan help the Institute and States toclose the capacity gap and use theavailable resources more efficiently.

Partnerships designed toincrease capacity furtherThe Institute started exploring part-nerships in a systematic way threeyears ago. This required a change inmentality. Traditionally, training mate-

rial was viewed as an asset ownedby EUROCONTROL that needed tobe protected from commercial use.Requests for EUROCONTROL train-ing material outside the context ofEUROCONTROL courses would havebeen viewed with suspicion.However, it has increasingly becomeclear that air navigation serviceproviders and States should have theopportunity to capitalise on theinvestments they have made in sup-porting the development of theInstitute's training material.Consequently, the Institute hasencouraged them to use this materialoutside its traditional scope.

OJTI partnerships

The On-The-Job-Training Instructorcourse is the ESARR 5 training stan-dard for the issue of an OJTI licenceendorsement. The course has beendeveloped by EUROCONTROL and isdelivered at the Institute.

From the outset, the Institute’s aim hasbeen to use the course to train thetrainers. Owing to other ATM trainingpriorities, the Institute, together withits stakeholders, decided to reduce itsdelivery capacity on this course. Tobridge this gap, the Institute hasworked together with its stakeholders


Focu

s

“

”

Airlines and air navigation service providers (ANSPs) are part-ners in the same industry. Safe and efficient air traffic manage-ment (ATM) is essential to the air transport industry. Cost effi-ciency is also critical.

Airlines reduced non-fuel unit costs by 2.5% in 2003 and a further3.0% in 2004. IATA is working closely with our European partnersto set and achieve the challenging ATM efficiency targets. Theseare needed to bring ANSPs in line with airline efforts to meet cus-tomer expectations of reduced costs and improved service stan-dards.

The cooperative training agreement signed in September 2004with the EUROCONTROL Institute for Air Navigation Servicesadds a new dimension to our relationship and makes good busi-ness sense.

EUROCONTROL and IATA will provide more and better trainingservices without increasing costs. Furthermore, collaboration intraining will promote our shared objective, to enhance ATM safe-ty and efficiency.

Giovanni Bisignani,Director General & CEO, IATA

�

Working in partnershipsto meet the challenge oflimited capacity

“ to develop a partnership arrange-ment to meet the OJTI trainingneeds. This is a perfect example ofpartnerships in action:

� The Institute reduced the deliveryof training courses which somestakeholders felt competed withtheir own offer.

� It signed cooperation agreementswith the training schools of thosestakeholders to provide them withthe OJTI training material andinform them about OJTI trainingneeds in other Member States.

By doing so, the Institute avoidedcompetition with Member States.Secondly it enabled the MemberStates to provide the services on themarket. Thirdly it provided a viablealternative to those Member Stateswho used the limited number of IANSOJTI training courses to meet theirtraining needs. More importantly, it cre-ated significant efficiencies at theInstitute, as resources previously allo-cated to the delivery of OJTI trainingcourses could be allocated to thedevelopment of new courses in supportof regulation.

The IATA partnershipIn late 2004, EUROCONTROL andIATA, the International Air TransportAssociation, signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding on the provision of train-ing. The Memorandum details howEUROCONTROL and IATA will endeav-our to establish joint training courses.This will be achieved by combining andexchanging training materials andinstructors. The first effects of thisagreement will become visible in 2005.The EUROCONTROL Institute of AirNavigation Services has included in itstraining portfolio a course on the legalaspects of aviation. To date, this areahad not been covered by the Institute.The inclusion of the course in the port-folio makes an additional course avail-able for stakeholders at a reducedcost. Additionally, IATA has added a

number of selected EUROCONTROLcourses to its own portfolio. Thesecourses will now benefit from expo-sure to a wider audience. Indeed, theparticipants will come from both serv-ice providers and airline operators.The mutual interactions shouldenhance the effectiveness of thecourses.

Last but not least, under the agree-ment, a significant part of the IATAcourse portfolio is to be made avail-able to EUROCONTROL stakeholdersat a reduced price.

Future partnershipsThe Institute continues to explore theuse of partnerships in order to optimiseuse of available capacity. This willinclude TRAINAIR membership, addi-tional partnerships for training deliveryand increased common development.

TRAINAIR is an ICAO Programme thatwas established with the goal of improv-ing the safety and efficiency of air trans-port through the establishment andmaintenance of high standards of train-ing for aviation personnel on a global

Working in partnerships (cont’d)

16

Cooperationin ATM training

Investment in the pro-

curement and operation

of appropriate infra-

structure and qualified human resources for

the training of ATM operational staff as well as

the development of training courses is expen-

sive. Therefore any cooperation in ATM train-

ing can help to reduce both effort and cost for

organisations involved in human resources

development. Economic benefits can be

achieved by sharing of resources, joint devel-

opment projects and standardisation of quali-

fications and training processes. The strategy

to harmonise and standardise training, as

implemented for the EATM project activities,

and the idea of shared resources for training

in Europe is fully supported by the DFS Air

Navigation Services Academy. Consequently,

DFS is pleased to join in partnership with the

EUROCONTROL Training Institute to help

meet the increasing demand for instructor

training as a first step.

As a second step, national training providers

should aim to contribute certain subjects to a

pan-European portfolio of training services. In

this context the DFS Academy is prepared to

provide advanced training for on-the-job

instructors, classroom instructors, members

of examination boards, assessors of opera-

tional competence and peer counsellors in

critical incident stress management.

Additionally the opportunity exists to dissemi-

nate information through open access cours-

es on issues such as emergency training and

the design of instrument flight procedures. As

we consider the appropriate qualification of

operational staff to be one of the key success

factors as regards safety in aviation, we are

committed to contributing to the development

of the industry through training.

by Gerhard Diener

Head of Management Services

DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH

”


Focu

s

basis. TRAINAIR has established a sys-tem which enables all programme mem-bers to acquire training packagesdeveloped by other members at a costthat does not exceed reproduction andpostage expenditure. The Institute hastaken the initial steps for becoming anofficial TRAINAIR member. This willresult in EUROCONTROL training pack-ages being made available to otherTRAINAIR members. By doing so,EUROCONTROL will contribute toimproving safety and efficiency world-wide. Access to training produced byother TRAINAIR members couldenhance the Institute’s efficiency indeveloping new courses.

The additional partnerships for trainingdelivery would follow the same princi-ple as the OJTI partnerships. TheInstitute will allow other training insti-tutes to provide training with trainingmaterial owned by EUROCONTROL.These partnerships will be governedby licence agreements which guaran-tee fair use of this training materialamongst the stakeholders. Theseagreements will benefit stakeholdersbecause they will raise training capac-ity levels.

Capacity and efficiency can be furtherincreased through common develop-ment of training. Through partner-ships, a single training product will beproduced by two or more partners.Each partner will develop at its ownexpense a contribution to the finalproduct. All partners will own the end-product and can use the product toserve their customers and stakehold-ers. The benefit of this approach liesin an optimum use of trainingresources and a reduction in duplica-tion of effort. However, this form ofcooperation remains challenging toimplement. It requires an excellentunderstanding of the expected qualityand quantity of the various contribu-tions and the rights of the partners to

maintain, modify and distribute thefinal product. The European MasterPlan on e-learning development is aprime candidate for this type of coop-eration.

ConclusionIn recent years the Institute has bothincreased and focussed its output bydeveloping and delivering trainingwhich meets the needs of its stake-holders. Further improvements willrequire all stakeholders to work close-ly together. Working together will notonly enable us to achieve our goalsbut fosters the creation of mutualunderstanding amongst trainingproviders. �

ENAC – Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile

As everybody knows, air traffic control is closely linked to coordination and opti-

misation. In the field of training, the EUROCONTROL Institute of Air Navigation

Services (IANS) plays a significant role in this respect, supporting as it does

exchange and partnership between the various European stakeholders.

IANS is not just a good institute or academy. It is also a good partner in fostering

progress in the field of training in engineering and working on new teaching meth-

ods such as e-learning. The main difficulty lies in sharing the best practices of the

various training providers, sometimes exchanging courses, sometimes working

together on a new project, but always trying to find the best way to ensure a win-

win strategy where the stakeholders enhance their know-how and find how best to

assess the imminent challenges for training in air traffic management and CNS.

IANS, like ENAC, is doing its best to ensure that work at a European level will result

not in poor standardisation but in the addition of a wealth of experience and best

practices among the States.

I know that there is still a long way to go, but I am also confident that the direction

we are taking together in the various European training groups is the right one!

Farid Zizi, Deputy Director of Training and Research, ENAC

“

”

Flavour of the month or a developing dynamic?It is over a decade since it was realisedthat the PC, with its multimedia capabil-ities, could become a very effectiveeducational tool. Although there weredifficulties to overcome, the technologywas promising.

The PC offers not only the possibility ofdisplaying an exciting ‘show’, but alsothe means to provide instant feedbackon performance and corrective infor-mation as appropriate.

Computer-based training (CBT) wasinitially distributed on CDs to targetedclient groups. At the same time, exper-iments with distance learning hadshown that successful education neednot be entirely classroom based. Acombination of tools, such as videos,workbooks, specially prepared coursenotes and even TV and radio broad-casts, would allow people to study intheir own time with only occasional vis-

its to a tutor. This constituted a revolu-tion in adult education.

E-learning is just one evolution of dis-tance learning which builds on many ofthe principles referred to previously. Itsnovelty is the platform which it uses fordistribution: the Internet.

Despite all its potential, e-learning hasnot developed as rapidly as predicted.The obstacles to its development areorganisational issues, rather than flawsin the medium itself. As usual with newtechnologies, awareness has devel-oped slowly. But we have clear indica-tions that it is gaining momentum fromthe student and management side.

From CBT to e-learningmodules

EUROCONTROL’s computer basedtraining commitment began around tenyears ago when a small CBT pro-gramme was developed for CD deliveryat the request of the Central FlowManagement Unit. The programmetaught aircraft operators and pilots thestandard format of various messagesused by the system. Development gath-ered pace with another CBT aimed atthe Maastricht operational display sys-tem. Air traffic controllers had to com-plete this programme before theyattended simulator sessions on the newsystem. Around the same time a range

of modules, funded by EATM, weredeveloped to cover the new ‘ATCCommon Core Content’. Distributed onCDs, these covered topics such as anintroduction to ATM, meteorology, thetheory of flight, radar theory, and infor-mation processing and cognition.

The shift to online learning beganapproximately four years ago. Some ofthe earlier packages were converted forweb-based delivery. Additionally, therange of topics was widened to includea number of modules directed at air traf-fic controllers’ refresher training such asemergency situations, ACAS andphraseology. Simultaneous-ly, theCFMU funded the development of aconsiderable number of modules toexplain its systems to users acrossEurope.

Recently, a new OJTI (On-the-JobTraining Instructor) course has beendeveloped which combines onlinelearning and classroom tuition.Students study a number of modulesonline before attending a week’s class-room based study in Luxembourg. Ittakes students from around 15 to 25hours to complete the online moduleswhich also involve workbook taskswhich take them away from their com-puters in order to research how OJT iscarried out in their own countries. Thistype of course is called ‘blended’ learn-ing. Students are also able to email

Focu

s

18

In addition to the classicalclassroom training currently

used at the Institute, web-basedtraining and especially the

combination of both – which iscalled “blended learning” –

offer new perspectives. Our experience shows that these

various training delivery methods are complementary.

by StevenMarshall,E-LearningSpecialist

Online education

each other and their instructor to talkabout their course.

5000 students have so far registered tostudy an ever-increasing range of e-learning modules.

The pros and cons What can online education offer to ourstudents and to EUROCONTROL as anOrganisation?

The underlying tenet of computer-based learning is that by providing thelearner with interactive tasks to solve,he or she will be required to thinkdeeply and actively about the subjectbeing studied. This results in a morethorough understanding of the subjectmatter. This process is called ‘deeplearning’.

Online learning also allows students adegree of flexibility of when and how tostudy. They can control the pace atwhich they work, and what and when torevise.

We can actually run a ‘virtual classroom’over the internet, where students all seethe same interface, but communicatewith the tutor and each other by micro-phone or by typing in text. This softwareis often used by the CFMU.

From the development point of view,when a bug is found, it can be resolvedin one place, on the server, and all thestudents will benefit immediately. This ishandled by our learning managementsystem, which also allows us to keeptrack of who is registered for a particu-lar course, and how much of it the vari-ous users have studied. The systemenables us to monitor and analyse bothour performance and that of the student.

Online learning provides a cost-effi-cient and flexible solution for training –


Focu

s

reducing as it does the total time spentaway from work and costs.

In the future online learning shouldallow us to increase our instructor‘bandwidth’ and reduce the demandfor classroom-based courses.Reducing the amount of time spent inthe classroom by transferring part of orthe entire course to the internet willenable our instructors to run somecourses more often without a corre-sponding increase in classroom hours.The OJTI course mentioned previously,for example, has reduced classroomstudy from two weeks to one. Ofcourse, the instructor cannot redistrib-ute all of this time to another course.Some time must be set aside to answeremails from students or perhaps tohold online classes, or chase up reluc-tant students. If written work isassigned, then the instructor will haveto spend time correcting it.

Last but not least, online learning offersenormous potential in facilitating har-monised training throughout the entireEuropean continent. Whilst there willalways be a local slant to many aspectsof training, there is also a huge amountof common ground. If we can provideadequate online solutions to much ofthis common ground, and also provideslots into which localised solutions canbe incorporated, we will have an awfullot to thank the concept of online lean-ing for. We should be aware, however,that the task is huge.

The production processOne of the main constraints of onlinelearning is that the production of topquality learning modules is a complexprocess. It requires two to three peopleto play a range of roles, such as sub-ject matter expert, scriptwriter, educa-tionalist, designer, developer and agraphic artist. The software also callsfor an ‘owner’ to monitor its use, advise

on updates and re-start the develop-ment process when needed.

The first step is to decide if a subject issuitable for internet delivery. Softwaredevelopment is not cheap and it mustbe worthwhile. The main factors domi-nating this equation are student num-bers, their geographical spread and thestability or volatility of the course con-tent.

Once a project is started, thescriptwriter, subject matter expert anddeveloper select the most appropriatetype of course to transfer knowledge,i.e. is it designed for self-study, as ablended learning component, or in aclassroom with some instructor supervi-sion? Then, they design and implementthe script and deliver the software.

Validation and maintenanceWhen designing the course, developersshould comply with an appropriate syl-labus, such as the Common CoreContent, so that other people or officialbodies may validate it if they feel itmeets stipulated requirements.

If the course is to have a long life, itmust be frequently reassessed.Periodically, surgery will be required ona major or minor basis. Maintenancecan take up far more resources thanmany expect, and failure to plan for itfrom the outset might lead to a courselosing its value.

Repositories and standardsIdeally, any module could be seamless-ly integrated into different courses. Inreality, this is rarely possible since eachcourse has its own specific focus. Butmany components may be the same,whether images, chunks of text or inter-activity, or other resources that can beeasily ‘tweaked’.

�

This is the theory behind repositories,which are online resource librariesdedicated to specific themes andbuilt around ‘taxonomies’ – systemsof classification. Registered userscan download resources from andupload those they wish to share tothese sites. We would like to developEUROCONTROL’s own repository tohelp developers throughout theMember States save time and money.

Underpinning all of this is the issue ofstandards. Some of these are widelyknown and understood, such as thefile format. Producing images usingthe .jpg format ensures that they willbe universally viewable. We chooseour software development tools pre-cisely because they guarantee com-pliance with these standards. Withregard to our learning managementsystem, it adheres to the industrialstandard ‘IMS SCORM’, so that wecan move our contents to any plat-form based on that standard.

To make the most of our resources,our original e-learning template wasdesigned to be compatible with themost popular browser, InternetExplorer. However, for a number oforganisations, this was not the pre-ferred choice. Our response hasbeen to try to accommodate thisdiversity of demand by ensuring thatour next template will be ‘browserindependent’, so that our courses willbe accessible to a greater variety ofplatforms.

An e-learning master plan There are e-learning developmentscurrently underway among most ofthe European stakeholders. If we areto avoid duplication we need to shareideas and resources.

This is why EUROCONTROL propos-es to coordinate the online educationATM efforts in an e-learning masterplan as part of the Sense pro-gramme. �

Focu

s

20

The majority of the mod-ules are generic, allow-ing Member States to usethem in order to meettheir ATC refresher train-ing requirements. A num-ber of countries are in theprocess of taking up thisoption which allows themto create their own onlinecourses from the mod-ules available. It alsoallows them to manage

their own students within the EUROCONTROL Learning management System(LMS). The LMS allows grouping of students with courses and gives the localinstructor the ability to monitor the student progress through the various modules.

Maastricht UAC estimates savings through the use of e-learning for refreshertraining, instead of the traditional classroom based approach, to be in the orderof e150,000 to 200,000 per annum.

ATC Refresher TrainingA range of ATC refresher training e-learning modules has been developed incooperation with Maastricht UAC. The purpose is to provide refresher training toMaastricht controllers to assist them in meeting ESARR 5 requirements.

Modules have been produced covering a number of topics. These include:

ACAS

Aerodynamics andperformance

ARTAS

Aircraft recognition

Aircraft performance

CPDLC

DOC 7030

ESARR 5

Level bust

Mach number –speed control

PRNAV

Phraseologies

SSR Mode S

Unusual/emergencysituations

Providing the essential theoretical knowledge relatingto TCAS equipment

Reviewing performance of aircraft in the departure,cruise and approach phases

A review of the basic concepts of ARTAS

Test knowledge of aircraft recognition

A comprehensive set of data covering the perform-ance and configuration of most aircraft types

Providing an introduction to and overview of this topic

Covering relevant parts of the document that are of daily interest

A controller's guide to this document

To increase awareness of the level bust problem

Application of Mach number restrictions to aircraft in the cruise

Precision navigation in the terminal environment

Check phraseologies against those that should beused

Providing an introduction to and overview of this topic

The effect of various emergencies and their repercussions for ATC


Stak

ehol

derF

orum

The use of e-learning: the CFMU exampleThe Institute has provided resourcesand knowledge to assist the CFMU insetting up its e-learning environment.

In the early 90s the Institute developedcomputer based training modules cov-ering the CFMU and the IFPS. Thesemodules were delivered by disketteand proved to be a useful method ofdisseminating training to the variousairlines and flow units concerned.

In 2002 the Institute and the CFMUagain collaborated in the developmentof e-learning based CFMU trainingmodules which were delivered via theInstitute’s Learning ManagementSystem (LMS).

Research and activities have also beencarried out at the Institute on the use of“virtual classrooms”. These areInternet-based classrooms with realstudents taking part in presentationsgiven by an online instructor. The soft-ware allows two way voice communica-tion and the use of various online toolssuch as a whiteboard and applicationsharing. The CFMU quickly adoptedthis technology and now uses the “vir-tual classroom” to provide training topeople in many locations worldwide.For 2005, the CFMU has alreadyscheduled close to 300 one day train-ing sessions to be delivered via the vir-tual classroom.

Throughout this period of cooperationwith the CFMU, the policy was totransfer the knowledge to make theCFMU self-sufficient in e-learning.This was achieved and the CFMU nowmanages its own e-learning coursesthrough the EUROCONTROL LMS,provides “virtual classrooms” throughthe EUROCONTROL CENTRA systemand develops its own e-learning train-ing material. �

Poised for futurechallenges

ROMATSA:

In the course of the last ten years, theEuropean air traffic management sys-tem (ATM) has been under continu-ous pressure to combat congestionand reduce delays. Numerous oper-ational and technical changes weremade to adapt ATM systems to meetthe emerging requirements and toprovide enough capacity to handlethe expected growth of air transport,while increasing safety, security andenvironmental protection.

With the adoption of the SingleEuropean Sky initiative, EuropeanStates have firmly committed them-selves to finding solutions to air-space structure and related prob-lems in order to achieve maximumsynergies among all the players ofthe ATM network.

It is against this backdropthat the Romanian avia-tion community hasengaged in implementingimportant changes in itsown ATM system. TheRomanian Air TrafficServices Administration(ROMATSA) has inter aliarecently completed aproject for the modernisa-tion of the country’s ATMsystem, thus bringing theprovision of air navigationservices into line withinternational standards and meeting thechallenges generated by the require-ments of the aeronautical industry.

The programme was formulated in 1991,launched in 1993 and became opera-

In December 2004, the new Romanian ATM system completed one year of safeand efficient operations. Today ROMATSAis taking another step towards the provision of excellent services and greater cost-effectiveness.

by Bogdan Donciu,ROMATSA Director General,and

Vakis Korfiatis,EUROCONTROL LCIP Contact Personand EIS Programme Manager for Romania

�

subsystems were developed in cooper-ation with THALES, NICE, TOPEX,CISCO, VAISALA etc. and integratedby ROMATSA’s specialists.

Five major steps were implemented: � 1995: Arad Air Traffic Services (ATS)

Unit became operational; � 1997: Constanta ATS Unit became

operational;� 2001: the new ACC building in

Bucharest was constructed andequipment installed;

� 19 November 2003: the most signifi-cant milestone was achieved, whenthe new ATM system entered intooperational use;

� 19 January 2005: an updated ver-sion of software was implementedand the programme was completed.

However, the biggest challenge was tofamiliarise the staff with the newly estab-lished procedures and working environ-ment under safe conditions. Almost 600employees, air traffic controllers, airinformation controllers, technical andmilitary staff received the appropriatetraining. The training of the staff

involved in the safety and quality man-agement of organisational structureswas also taken seriously. It was provid-ed internally, at accredited training cen-tres, and at the EUROCONTROLInstitute of Air Navigation Services.

As regards the business environment,safety regulation and safety manage-ment are separated at organisationallevel. The separation between the reg-ulatory (Romanian Civil AviationAuthority, RCAA) and the serviceprovider (Romanian Air Traffic ServicesAdministration, ROMATSA) becameeffective in Romania in 1991. Theauthorisation and supervision of air traf-fic services within Bucharest FIR is theresponsibility of the RCAA while air traf-fic services are provided by ROMATSA. ROMATSA operates one ACC inBucharest, at three locations:Bucharest, Arad and Constanta, and aco-located Aerodrome and ApproachControl facility at Bucharest. Besidesthese operational units, ROMATSAoperates Aerodrome and ApproachControl Services at Romania’s 17 civilairports.

tional in November 2003. It was com-pleted in January 2005.

The main objectives of the programmewere to:

� modernise the systems and facilitiesof the three Air Traffic Control Centres(ACCs) at Bucharest, Constanta andArad;

� achieve full double radar coveragewithin their airspace with the installa-tion of five new MonopulseSecondary Surveillance Radars(MSSRs) and their integration withmilitary radars;

� improve the coverage of the DopplerVHF Omnidirectional Range (DVOR)and Distance Measuring Equipment(DME);

� install automated Flight Data andRadar Processing systems;

� upgrade the communication sys-tems;

� ensure the transition of the ATM sys-tem to a single centre at three loca-tions instead of the previous five;

� install five Meteorological DopplerRadars; and

� integrate Air Traffic Control Towers.

Based on these objectives, various sub-systems were implemented, such as:

� Data and voice telecommunicationnetwork;

� Aeronautical Fixed Telecommuni-cation Network/Common ICAO DataInterchange Network (AFTN/CIDIN)message switch;

� Radio communications by-pass system;

� VHF air-ground communicationsites/stations;

� Satellite communications;� Voice recording and replay system; � Information display system; � Communications gateway;� Air traffic control training facility

(SIMULATOR); and � Meteorological Integrated Systems.

Alenia Marconi System (AMS) providedthe majority of the equipment. Other

Stak

ehol

derF

orum

22

The new operations room in Bucharest

The flexible use of airspace concept(FUA) has been fully implemented inRomania. A joint civil-military AirspaceManagement Council is responsible forthe establishment of policy and air-space management at national level.Also, Romania has implemented theICAO airspace classification of Class CAirspace above FL 195.

In 2004, the average growth in traffic of14.56% within Bucharest FIR signifi-cantly exceeded the highest European-wide growth of 4.8%. This trafficincrease did not however generate anyATFM delays. It is expected that thetotal number of flights will againincrease by 12% in 2005. The capacityplan covers future increases in trafficdemand forecast by the high-growthscenario.

As an air navigation service provider,ROMATSA maintains a competitiveenvironment, designed for safe andhigh-quality services, with benefits forthe users representing a top priority.ROMATSA is an autonomous, self-financing, State-owned organisation.


Stak

ehol

der F

orum

The Administrative Council (AC), whichsupervises ROMATSA, consists of rep-resentatives of the Ministry of Transport,Ministry of Defence and Ministry ofPublic Finance. The AC is also respon-sible for strategic decisions regardingthe development of Romanian air navi-gation services. Management deci-sions within the framework ofROMATSA’s responsibilities remain withthe Board of Directors under the chair-manship of the Director General ofROMATSA.

Safety is the main concern forROMATSA’s management and work-force. ROMATSA currently maintainsand is continuously improving an effi-cient safety management system in linewith ESARR 3.

ROMATSA is also developing andimplementing a quality managementsystem for all fields of activity, whichhas already provided fruitful results. AnISO 9001: 2000 certification process isin place, and should be successfullycompleted by 2006. This includes certi-fication of ACC and tower air trafficservices, aeronautical information andmeteorological services. Importantprogress was made when the ATS unitsof Bacau, Iasi and Suceava and the AISof “Henri Coanda” Airport were certifiedin 2004 by Bureau Veritas QualityInternational.

Within the framework of the SingleEuropean Sky initiative, European air-space is to be redesigned intoFunctional Airspace Blocks (FABs) tomeet the requirements arising from thegrowth in traffic, and will no longer beconfined by national borders. Moreover,the Single Sky initiative and the ATM2000+ Strategy promote regional coor-dination with neighbouring States byidentifying mutually dependent actions.As a follow-up to a workshop on ATMcooperation in south-eastern Europe,held on 17 and 18 October 2002 inBucharest, the Directors General ofCivil Aviation of Bulgaria, Moldova,Romania and Turkey signed in

Strasbourg on 8 July 2003 aMemorandum of Understanding for theEstablishment of ATM Cooperation andCoordination in South-Eastern Europe(ACE). The main objective is to optimisecollective capacity in order to increasethe safety, performance and cost effi-ciency of air navigation services in thearea whilst paying due attention to thenational security requirements and theprotection of the environment. Two fruit-ful meetings of the ACE SteeringCommittee have already been held, inSofia in May 2004 and Bucharest inOctober 2004, and follow-up actionsare being taken.

In this respect, ROMATSA and ATSABulgaria have signed at DirectorGeneral level a common agreementrelating to the initiative for the creationof the pre-requisites for the establish-ment of a Functional Airspace Block.

As for cooperation with EURO-CONTROL, ROMATSA is actively par-ticipating in various teams and fora. AtROMATSA’s request the StakeholderImplementation Service Business Unit(SIS), through the EUROCONTROLImplementation Support (EIS) function,has been providing assistance since2000, helping to achieve these positiveresults. EUROCONTROL has inter aliaperformed a system assessment, whichconcluded that the system as a whole,including human factors, buildings,equipment, airspace management andprocedures, is “suitable for its purposeand EATM compliant”. EUROCONTROLis currently supporting ROMATSA indeveloping a new Strategic BusinessPlan, improving its accounting system(ROMANAS project) and enhancing thequality of the engineering and mainte-nance support for the equipment(ROMQoSIP project). �

Since 1995 SENASA hasbeen collaborating with Aena,the Spanish air navigationand airports authority in thefield of training of air trafficcontrollers among other pro-fessionals. This collaborationwas further reinforced in 2002with the opening of a new6120 m2 building dedicatedexclusively to ATC simulation.

The building houses the following equip-ment: three 360º visual aerodrome simu-lators convertible into six 180° simula-tors; three en route /approach simulatorswith six SCUs, each one convertible into36 operational control positions, andfour computer-based training rooms with24 student positions in each, which caninteract simultaneously as PCs (includ-ing an LMS for e-learning training) or aspre-simulators. All the facilities work withthe operating system employed byAena, with the SACTA system(Automated Air Traffic Control System)also using the same equipment. Theyare therefore a faithful reflection of its

ATC rooms. Setting up facilities of thisworking capacity posed a great chal-lenge for all the professionals of Aenaand SENASA and called upon theirwealth of technical and teaching skills.

As a result of this effort it is now possiblefor us to reproduce any aerodrome sce-nario or part of airspace in the world andto provide students, whether ab initio oroperational, with an exact replica of thereal operational conditions, the environ-ment, the workloads or any conflict situ-ations. The same goes for the centre’sother main activity, ATC simulations.Here it is possible to generate macro-scenarios by connecting up aerodromescenarios and en route/approach simu-lators, as was done with the reproduc-tion of the future airport of MadridBarajas and its approach airspace. TheSACTA system can be put through itspaces in diverse operational scenariosand with high traffic loads, as in the caseof the simulations carried out for NATSwith the airspace of Scotland.

As far as the teaching side goes, newtraining methodologies have beendeveloped. Centring on the human ele-ment, these then take into considerationall the factors that impinge on the con-

trollers’ work: specifically, the structuringof their knowledge, the decision-takingsystem for the tasks they carry out, thetechnologies they handle and the envi-ronment they work in.

All the training syllabuses are designedaccording to the following principles:

� The teaching contents are drawn upin accordance with the controller’scognitive system, which has under-gone substantial changes in recentyears due to the ongoing automa-tion process. Today’s systems sup-ply a great deal of information,

Stak

ehol

der F

orum

24

SENASA, Sociedad para lasEnseñanzas AéronauticasCiviles S.A, is the Spanishbody responsible for thetraining of aeronauticalprofessionals as well asproviding technical backupon operational inspectionand safety matters to theSpanish DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(Dirección General deAviación Civil de España).

ATM training in SENASA

by Pilar ArranzNotario, Director of Training,SENASA

SENASA’s new ATC simulations building

Towersimulator,

newMadridBarajasAirport

scenario

which then needs to be processedand prioritised. Hands-on training inan environment as close as possi-ble to real operational conditions isessential for mastering all this inputproperly.

� In all the projects based on the newinformation technologies, weendeavour to bring home to bothinstructors and students the impor-tance of harnessing all the possibil-ities these offer. Special stress islaid on such aspects as teamworkand decision-making processes.

� The syllabuses aim to tap intoadults’ learning processes. Theytherefore have a high experimentalcontent, whereby new knowledge isacquired by problem-solving andan immediate practical application.

The thorough work carried out jointlyby Aena and SENASA has involved thecollaboration of many professionalsfrom both organisations (instructors,teachers, technicians, computer devel-opers, engineers, suppliers, adminstaff, documentalists and their respec-tive executive teams). The upshot is aschool capable of taking on with a fairdegree of optimism the challengesposed to aeronautical training by thevarious European harmonisation pro-grammes and also of keeping up withthe break-neck changes in operatingsystems and equipment.

This whole process has been greatlyfacilitated by the work carried out by theInstitute of Air Navigation Services in theframework of the successive conver-gence and implementation programmesof EUROCONTROL. The training cours-es organised at the Institute haveenabled thousands of professionalsfrom Member States to be trained up ina very high number of ATM domains. Noless significant and perhaps even morestrategic is its advice-giving work, mate-rialised in the drawing-up of trainingmethodologies and, above all, thedesign and development of standards.

In coming years, the two great pro-grammes for harmonising European air navigation systems, the EURO-CONTROL ATM 2000+ strategy and theEU Single European Sky initiative, are

going to have a significanteffect on the curricula ofthe various ATM trainingcentres in Europe andespecially on the trainingof air traffic controllers.These training and instruc-tion syllabuses now haveto be fleshed out with thenew contents derivingfrom safety legislation. Webelieve that a key role inthis whole process isbound to be played by theEUROCONTROL TrainingInstitute.

The common core content is a goodprecedent for this work. Along theselines the Institute could draw up, inliaison with Member States, frame-work curricula (which might alsoserve as standards) in strategicareas. Examples might be refresheroperational training curricula thattake in all the basic safety proce-dures and concepts or training cur-ricula for instructors, supervisorsand safety experts according toESARR requirements. The Institutehas all the necessary experts, expe-rience and knowledge for backing

up schools in developing both theirtheoretical and practical safety syl-labuses. It also has the suitable forafor debating the terms of these proj-ects involving Member States. Thesefora could also serve as meetingpoints for States to swap notes,share their concerns and carry outjoint projects.

These are times of thoroughgoingchange and we at SENASA work in theconviction that sound training andinstruction can make a decisive contri-bution to the harmonisation of differenttechnical and operational systems,while also helping to guarantee thenecessary levels of safety in the provi-sion of air navigation services in a con-stantly evolving environment such asthat of air transport. �


Stak

ehol

derF

orum

En-routesimulator

How is the EUROCONTROLInstitute of Air NavigationServices financed?

The EUROCONTROL Institute of AirNavigation Services is financedthrough the common EUROCONTROLbudget. This means that it is financedby the Member States via their contri-butions. This goes for the Institute assuch. It is however important to mentionthat the ATC training provided to theMaastricht Upper Area Control Centreis financed through a separate budget,with contributions for this budget com-ing from the four States involved inMaastricht.

Why is the Institutefinanced in this way?

The Member States agreed to intro-duce this financing system when theInstitute was established. The rationaleback then was to guarantee equal andfair access to unique and essentialtraining for all Member States. Asthings currently stand, any MemberState can request course places at theInstitute and thereby take advantage ofthe training which is provided or coor-dinated by the different experts at theInstitute. Over the past few years, how-ever, this common financing has beenquestioned.

Why has the financingquestion been raised?

I believe that there are a number of rea-sons. Firstly it must be said that theissue was first raised by the Instituteitself after certain States had madesome comments on it at a couple ofmeetings of the Training ConsultationGroup. Back then, the issue wasbrought up in connection with a discus-sion about competition. It was not veryclear whether the Institute was actuallycompeting with ATC schools and acad-emies in the same Member States whocontributed financially to the Institute.Consequently, Member States felt theywere supporting an institution whichcompeted with their own training estab-

lishments. Such a situation was ofcourse not sustainable and it wasagreed that any such competitionshould cease. This concern was heardand action was taken, so that theInstitute today does not compete withtraining institutions in the MemberStates.

Secondly the question has been raisedagain recently because training today isfree of charge. Member States just payfor travel expenses, accommodationand an allowance, while the service pro-vided by the Institute is free. But not allMember States take advantage of this.In particular some of the bigger Stateshave created their own training environ-ments. For obvious reasons they cannotjust give away free course places toexternal customers.

Is competition still an issuethen?

Competition in its traditional sense is notan issue any more. The Institute hastaken measures to avoid competing withMember States. At recent TCG meet-ings, all participating Member Stateshave confirmed that they do not find theInstitute's activities to be in competitionwith their own service provision. TheInstitute's portfolio is continuously evalu-ated in order to maintain this situation.Furthermore, States recognise that theInstitute provides unique training withina pan-European approach, which is not


26

Nils la CourDragheim, Deputy Director Human Resources atNaviair, is also the Chairman of theEUROCONTROL Institute’s TrainingConsultation Group

Representing traininginterests from Member

States, the TrainingConsultation Group is

responsible for advisingthe EUROCONTROL DirectorGeneral and the InstituteDirector on the vision and

strategy of the TrainingInstitute and the work nec-essary to achieve agreedlong-term targets. Skyway

interviewed Dragheimrecently posing a series ofquestions relating to thefinancing of the Institute,

its relations with othertraining centres and its

added-value in contribut-ing to the sharing of

knowledge and experiencein ATM training among all

European States.

Inte

rvie

w

matched by any other body. A base linefor the course content, training methodsand training material, thereby attractingcourse participants from all MemberStates which adds even more value tothe courses.

I find it extremely valuable that col-leagues get to meet one another andexchange ideas, thoughts and solutionsfrom time to time. The networks whichare established in this context shouldnot be underestimated.

Yet the financing questioncontinues to surface fromtime to time?

Yes, it is a hot issue and there are prosand cons to it. You can argue that it isnecessary to see a link between a serv-ice provided and a price to be paid. It isa good argument, but it has to be offsetwith the consequences of for examplecharging. Some Member States haveexpressed the view that they would liketo see a charging mechanism, but notnecessarily full cost recovery, with someelements still being financed through acommon budget.

What are the argumentsagainst charging?

I think it is more than a habit that manyinternational organisations jointly sharecosts in different projects. It is anacknowledgement that we are operatingin a cross-national environment and thatall of us, as well as our customers, ben-efit from commonly driven developmentinitiatives to improve safety, efficiencyand effectiveness for aviation as awhole. I think that’s what drives themajority of the TCG Member States intheir opposition to charging. You have torealise that a number of European Statesand providers need the support of theAgency in order to develop further theirorganisation and provide the sophisti-

cated technical tools required to accom-modate the capacity needs of tomorrow.Other States need to enhance their ATMskills and knowledge by taking advan-tage of the training programmes provid-ed at the Institute.

In the TCG meetings you hear theremark that smaller States have cofi-nanced a number of projects aimed atdealing with the problems in the coretraffic area, despite the fact that theseproject deliverables are of no immediatebenefit to them. Also they mention thatthey have agreed to finance the pastpension obligations despite being mem-bers for just a short time. They probablydo this because they believe that theEUROCONTROL Organisation is builton the cornerstones of cooperation,understanding and solidarity.

Without any doubt some of these Stateshave an urgent need for the ATM trainingcourses offered by the Institute. Indeed,one of the main benefits presented toStates during their initial membershipdiscussions with EUROCONTROL wasthat they would be eligible for freeadvanced ATM training at the Institute.Personally I do not think it is too much toask the 34 Member States to take aholistic view and continue to finance the15 ATM instructors in Luxembourg fromthe general budget. To me it is clearly inthe interests of enhancing the generallevels of ATM knowledge and aware-ness in Europe.

Charging would presumably put somestakeholders in a very difficult situation.Indeed, some military stakeholders andState authorities would not be able toafford the charges from their own budg-ets. It could mean that these stakehold-ers could no longer participate in thetraining programmes. There are exam-ples of Member States where the serviceproviders make a financial contributiontowards the travelling arrangements ofmilitary and civil-aviation participants in

the Institute's courses. To me this clearlysignals the budgetary constraints facingthese organisations.

It may also be worth looking into the costof operating the charging mechanism.Charging would have to encompass theassociated administrative costs of run-ning the system. This would either resultin even higher prices or reduce the con-tribution margin significantly.

What is the majority view?From the TCG-meetings it is my clearperception that the majority of MemberStates support the present financing ofthe Institute through the common budg-et. Only a few representatives fromStates with their own well-establishednational training and development insti-tutions bring up the issue from time totime.

Finally, as the TCGChairman, how do you seethe future of the Institute?

I believe that the Institute is clearly onthe right track. The non-competitionpolicy takes the issue off the agenda.There has been an exemplary efficien-cy initiative resulting in lower costs,higher quality and better utilisation ofresources. The Institute has focusedespecially on safety training and safetyregulation training over recent yearsand has established partnerships withIATA as well as with some of theMember States' training institutions. Tothis must be added the fact that theInstitute today is a very open-mindedand transparent organisation with anextrovert attitude, where senior man-agement officials make regular cus-tomer visits to the Member States. Thedialogue during these consultationshelps the Institute to adjust its coursecontent and maintain its speed and rateof climb as the centre of excellence inboth ATM training and training develop-


Inte

rvie

w

ATC Maastricht 2005 proved onceagain that it is the premier event of theindustry, attracting over 4,000 atten-dees from around the world. The num-ber of people attending the event roseby 7% compared to the previous year.Whilst the majority of visitors still comefrom Europe, the number of non-European visitors continued to growrapidly, moving the event from its tradi-tional European roots to the No. 1 posi-tion in the global industry calendar.

The biggest increases in the number ofvisitors from outside Europe came fromthe Americas, Australasia and thePacific region. The quality of visitors wasalso exceptional: 14% of visitors belongto senior management, 6% to generalmanagement while 20% are involved inengineering and 10% cite air traffic con-troller/officer as their job function.

This year's event also featured thelargest number of ATC/ATM suppliersanywhere in the world – over 160exhibitors from 25 countries – a 10%increase on 2004.

EUROCONTROL once again took partin this leading ATC event. Its stand fea-tured a wide array of programmes:

� ATM Master Plan, EMOSIA (TheEuropean Model for Strategic ATMInvestment Analysis)

� Departure Manager (DMAN) demon-stration

� EAD services and functionalities � EUROCONTROL’s trans-national sta-

tistics & forecasting service � SSAP & Level Bust Toolkit demonstra-

tion � New CFMU HMI & CIR � ECHOES – EUROCONTROL Conso-

lidated HMI for Operations, evalua-tions & Simulations

� AIT – Aircraft Identification Tag � ATC Refresher Trainer Package � New Part Task Radar Skills trainer

ATC Maastricht Conference The 2005 ATC Maastricht Conferenceenhanced ATC Maastricht as the world'spremier ATM event by attracting dele-gates and speakers from around theworld while continuing to highlight thepolitical and industrial events in Europe,such as the Single European Sky. Thesubject of the Conference was develop-ing trans-national ATM services, a topicwhich is both global and currentlyextremely relevant to all air navigationservice providers.

The Conference brought record num-bers of key decision-makers together

from the USA and the new Commissionrepresentatives in Europe. It also fea-tured a new focus on the military elementof ATM with speakers from NATO, theGerman Air Force and the aerospaceresearch arm of the US Federal AviationAdministration.

From the EUROCONTROL side, theDirector General Víctor M. Aguado, deliv-ered a keynote address at theConference entitled “Taking ATM’s goodperformance even further"; the topicaddressed by Bo Redeborn, Director ofATM Strategies, was "Current and futurechallenges of European ATM: capacity,safety, cost-efficiency” and AlexHendriks, Head of the Airspace, FlowManagement and Navigation BusinessDivision, discussed “Functional airspaceblocks and how they will work".

ATC Maastricht AwardsThe Individual Contribution to ATMAward was awarded to Alex Hendriks,EUROCONTROL’s Head of Airspace,Flow Management and NavigationBusiness Division.

Alex began his career as an air trafficcontroller in the 1970s, rising up theranks to become Head of ATC proce-dures for the Dutch service provider in1986, and Executive Vice-PresidentTechnical of IFATCA. He joined EURO-

A resounding success!ATC Maastricht 2005

Date

lines

28

On 1-3 February 2005,EUROCONTROL took part in the ATC MaastrichtConference and Exhibition. Over the last 14 years theevent has attracted theworld’s leading suppliersof ATC and ATM equipment and servicesalongside the key specifiers and buyers inthe market.

CONTROL in 1991 and has become a leadingfigure in Europe’s evolving airspace design.

Among his many achievements, Alex wasinstrumental in setting up an integratedprocess for European airspace and ATS routenetwork planning and implementation. Heplayed a vital role in ensuring the acceptanceby European States of the flexible use of air-space concept, and has managed its imple-mentation in various phases.

Alex took the lead in introducing basic RNAVin Europe, creating the business and safetycase upon which the JAA accepted GPS foren route navigation and thus paving the wayfor Europe to become the first full continentalRNAV airspace in the world.

He was one of the driving forces behind theEuropean RVSM initiative and served asChairman of the RVSM Steering Group. Hetook the initiative to create a multi-agencyforum with the FAA and Nav Canada to devel-op new global ATC procedures. The forumnow provides direct input to ICAO. Not leastamong his achievements, Alex is an airlinepilot, flying B-737s since 1998.

Next year's event will be held on 14-16February 2006 and is expected to continueto bring together even more people fromaround the world to share experience,expertise and knowledge, and to do busi-ness. EUROCONTROL will continue to sup-port the event. �


Bo Rederborn,Director ATMStrategies,EUROCONTROL

Alex Hendriks,Head ofAirspace, Flow Mana-gement andNavigation,EUROCONTROLreceives Jane’sAward forIndividualContribution to ATM

Victor M.Aguado,DirectorGeneral of EUROCONTROL,speaking to the press

Advanced ATM concepts, emergingtechnologies applied to ATM, appliedresearch studies, EUROCONTROLcoordinated actions (CARE) and itsInnovative Research Strategy were alltopics on the agenda.

An exhibition ran in parallel to the work-shop, where 15 external partners pre-sented their innovative research activi-ties, focusing on emerging human-

machine interfaces mixing animationand sound, and airport applications.The event generated fruitful discus-sions and exchanges of ideas amongall attendees.

The ultimate goals of the event, namelyto promote the exchange of ideasbetween multi-disciplinary experts andEUROCONTROL’s innovative activitiesin ATM, were fully achieved. It is hopedthat this workshop will become a keyevent for European ATM innovationresearch in the near future.

The highlight of the Workshop wasthe creation of the first EURO-CONTROL Joint Research Labbetween the French Ecole Pratiquedes Hautes Etudes and theExperimental Centre. Representingthe two partners at the ceremony tosign the agreement were Ms Courtel,President of the French EcolePratique des Hautes EtudesSorbonne, and Pierre Andribet, theCentre’s Core Business Manager.

This new Joint Research Lab is a firstattempt to create a network ofEuropean universities dedicated tobackbone thinking for ATM. It will bespecialising in the modeling of theATM system in which human cogni-tion will be analysed from a complexsystem modeling approach. This is inline with ACARE SRA 2, which hasidentified modeling as an importantprerequisite for future improvementsin ATM.

This Lab is located at the ExperimentalCentre and has taken the name of theLaboratory for Complex SystemModeling and Cognition (CSMC). Aspart of the agreement, five seniorresearch scientists and professors fromEPHE are partially seconded to the lab-oratory to conduct research and tosupervise PhD students’ work, and EECstaff will gradually increase their teach-ing activities at EPHE.

This joint research lab will enable thesharing of expertise, knowledge andexperimentation resources from bothsides. Currently limited to two initialpartners, this joint research lab willwork towards getting other Europeanpartners onboard.

The 4th EUROCONTROL InnovativeResearch Workshop will take place on6-8 December 2005. For the first time, itwill not focus on EUROCONTROLInnovative research only, but it will givethe floor to external partners to presenttheir innovative research projects.

Also, as for the 3rd workshop, an exhibi-tion area will be open for any externalpartner to present their activities.

Further information will be provided indue course. �

For more information, please contact:

� Marc BrochardEEC Innovative Research Area deputymanager

[email protected]� Martina Jurgens

EEC Innovative Research Area [email protected]

EEC Innovative Research Areahttp://www.eurocontrol.int/eec/public/standard_page/INO.html

Third EUROCONTROL innovative research workshop

9-10 December 2004, France

30

Date

lines

The EUROCONTROL Innovative Research Workshop tookplace on 9-10 December 2004 at the Organisation’sExperimental Centre in Bretigny-sur-Orge, France. Morethan 150 people, representing various sectors of airtransport from more than 20 different European countries,attended the two-day workshop.


Third EUROCONTROL innovative research workshop

Repo

rt

32

Farewell toJean-Marc Garot

To do this, Jean-Marc brought aboutchanges in the organisational structureof the Centre, with the introduction of amatrix system, drastically cutting downthe number of hierarchical levels. Heencouraged staff at all levels to take onadditional responsibilities and activelypromoted mobility, not only within theCentre but also at Agency level andthrough secondments to other researchestablishments.

Jean-Marc also felt early on the impor-tance of consulting stakeholdersthrough ECCG meetings and regularsatisfaction surveys (1997). The EECwas the leading Agency Directorate toformulate a Business Plan together witha Staff Plan and Training Plan. Theimplementation of quarterly budget

checkpoints ensured the optimum useof the budget allocated to the EEC.

Under Jean-Marc’s impetus, the Centrehas been at the leading edge of inno-vative human resources projects, oftenlaunching pilot phases for the rest ofthe Agency: part-time working, tele-working, revised performance apprais-al process, open promotion process, tomention but a few.

Internal communication was encour-aged and facilitated through the imple-mentation of a number of newsgroupsand weekly information corners. Therenovation of the building in 2000 alsoclearly contributed to improving theexchange of information within theCentre through the numerous meeting

rooms and informal meeting spacesthat were created. But the new buildingis also evidence that the EEC wishes tofacilitate research through the organi-sation of workshops at its premises.

Between 1998 and 2004 the Centre’soverall EFQM score doubled, attestingto the commitment of the EEC to busi-ness excellence.

Throughout his mandate, Jean-Marchas worked constantly for greatercooperation and efficiency in EuropeanATM research and to this end he hasplayed a leading role in the AdvisoryCouncil for Aeronautics Research inEurope (ACARE).

Thanks to Jean-Marc, the EEC workprogramme structure is now alignedwith a future ATM Master Plan. TheCentre is also endowed with a renewedmission: to play a leading role inresearch relevant to the safe, efficient,and environmentally-sustainable man-agement and operation of the Euro-pean ATM system.

Jean-Marc leaves his position on 1 April as Director of the EURO-CONTROL Experimental Centre for theFrench General Inspectorate for CivilAviation and Meteorology. �

Jean-Marc Garot became Director of the EUROCONTROLExperimental Centre (EEC) on 1 May 1995. In his 10-yearmandate, he has succeeded in turning the EEC from a simulation facility into a truly European ATM research centre widely recognised.


Introduction of automatic controller-pilot data link communicationsbreaks new groundAutomatic data link communications between the cockpitand the ground have recently been implemented atEUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre.This groundbreaking development comes just 20 monthsafter the operational introduction of controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) on all sectors.

It was with equal shock and sadness that EURO-CONTROL learned of the death in a road accidenton 17 March 2005 of Mikko Talvitie, until recentlythe President of the Provisional Council.

As one of the key figures in Finnish aviation, MikkoTalvitie was the first head of their Civil AviationAdministration and it was under him that close linkswith EUROCONTROL were forged.

Finland joined EATCHIP in 1996 and afterwardssigned a cooperation agreement with the CFMU;finally becoming a member of the Organisation on1 January 2001. All these developments wereoverseen by Mikko Talvitie, who became the third President of the Provisional Council at its 12th ses-sion in November 2001.

Mikko Talvitie will long be remembered in EURO-CONTROL for his fairness and kindness as well ashis deep insight and far-reaching grasp of techni-cal matters. A deep thinker and constructive ana-lyst, he expressed himself with an economy ofwords but with great clarity and foresight. He hada well-deserved reputation for even-handednessand integrity. As a Chairman, he was known for hisimpartial judgement and broad-mindedness.

A man of wide culture and understanding, he knewinstinctively how to put people at ease. Determinedto bring people together, he formed close bondswith the representatives on the Provisional Counciland other European bodies, doing a great dealpersonally to make sure, that with open dialogueand trust, the best decisions could be reached.

EUROCONTROL lost an exceptional colleagueand friend.

Víctor M. Aguado

Following a recent upgrade, the airtraffic control (ATC) system now hasthe capability to uplink fully automati-cally (i.e. without the need for anyhuman intervention) a secondaryradar (SSR) code change to anyCPDLC–equipped aircraft thatrequires it. The air traffic controllermonitors and verifies the informationautomatically uplinked by the systemto the aircraft in the normal way.Importantly, the air traffic controlleralso has over-ride of the functionality,and can stop the automatic uplink ifrequired.

The new data link service is availableto all aircraft that are currently con-ducting data link operations with theMaastricht Centre. This automaticmessaging system will save valuablevoice communication time for air traf-fic controllers and allow them to con-centrate more on their core tasks."Mentally, this is a big step for con-trollers, but one they are keen to take"

says Paul Conroy, who co-ordinatesdata link implementation at theCentre. "They have happily adaptedto this new way of working, delegat-

ing some of their workload to the system."

On average, 1000 aircraft exchangedata link messages on a monthlybasis with the Maastricht Centre. Thenumber of participating airlines hasbeen steadily increasing since June2003, and new partners are regularlyjoining the programme.

Controller-pilot data link implementa-tion in Europe is being co-ordinatedby EUROCONTROL's LINK 2000+Programme. Support for the introduc-tion of automatic CPDLC will be pro-vided by the new CASCADEProgramme, that coordinates theimplementation of a first set of ADS-Bapplications and more CPDLC servic-es building on the infrastructuresdeployed by the Mode S and LINK2000+ Programmes.

"This is a good illustration of how ourprogrammes build on each others’achievements", says George Paulson,Director of ATM Programmes, "and weare pleased to see that Maastricht con-tinues to play a leading role in theimplementation of new technologies." �

A tribute toMikko Talvitie

34

Repo

rt

On 21 December,the Director General welcomed Mr Jacques Barrot,Vice-President of the EuropeanCommission with responsibilityfor transport.

On 19 January, the Director Generalwelcomed Mr Janez Bozic,

the Slovenian Minister for Transport.

On 31 January, the Director General welcomed a delegation headed by Mr Vasil Pilo, recently appointed Director General of DGCA Albania.

The delegation was briefed on the main activities of the Agency, focussing on areasof work within the Stakeholder Implementation Service including the Local

Convergence and Implementation Programme and ASATC.

On 28 January, the Director General welcomedMr Sturla Bö varsson, the Icelandic Minister forTransport, Tourism and Telecommunications. A general overview of EUROCONTROL, the accessionof the European Community to EUROCONTROL andthe Single European Sky, the accession procedureand air navigation route charges all formed part of the discussions. Mr Bö varsson also visitedthe Central Flow Management Unit.

visits &agreementsMeeting our stakeholders

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EPICthe EUROCONTROL Publicationand Information CentreExternal and Public Relations

EUROCONTROL Website:www.eurocontrol.int

“Bringing EUROCONTROLcloser to you”

Do you want to know which EUROCONTROLpublications are available?

Would you like to receive copies of anyEUROCONTROL publications?

Are you looking for information on the Organisation or its activities?

All this and moreis available at EPIC!

Where to find us:office 50.673, Brussels HeadquartersTel. : + 32 2 729 47 15Fax : + 32 2 729 91 98E-mail: [email protected]

. . . . . . . . . .


On 23 February,Jean-Robert Bauchet, Director CFMU, welcomed Mr John Anderson, Deputy Prime Minister andMinister for RegionalServices of Australia. The Minister visited theCFMU operations room.

On 25 February, Ms Krassimira Martinova, the BulgarianDeputy Minister for Transport and Communications, and Mr Alexandros Galiatatos, the Romanian Secretary of Statefor the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism, signed a Joint Statement in Sofia expressing their political commitment to the creation of a Functional Airspace Block. The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, Nicolay Vassilev, and Mr Víctor M. Aguado, Director General of EUROCONTROL,witnessed the event.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Summer 2005 issue of Skyway will focus on:

Airports

©© EEuurrooppeeaann OOrrggaanniissaattiioonn ffoorr tthhee SSaaffeettyy ooff AAiirr NNaavviiggaattiioonn ((EEUURROOCCOONNTTRROOLL))AApprriill 22000033

This document is published by EUROCONTROL in the interests of exchange of information.It may be copied in whole or in part, providing that the copyright notice and disclaimer are included.The information contained in this document may not be modifiedwithout prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.

EUROCONTROL makes no warranty,either implied or express, for the information contained in this document,neither does it assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,completeness or usefulness of this information.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn,,contact EUROCONTROL External and Public Relations,General Secretariat Directorate96, rue de la Fusée, B-1130 Brussels, BelgiumTTeelleepphhoonnee:: +32 2 729 90 11FFaaxx:: +32 2 729 91 98

©© EEuurrooppeeaann OOrrggaanniissaattiioonn ffoorr tthhee SSaaffeettyy ooff AAiirr NNaavviiggaattiioonn ((EEUURROOCCOONNTTRROOLL))MMaarrcchh 22000055

This document is published by EUROCONTROL in the interests of exchange of information.It may be copied in whole or in part, providing that the copyright notice and disclaimer are included.The information contained in this document may not be modifiedwithout prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.

EUROCONTROL makes no warranty,either implied or express, for the information contained in this document,neither does it assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,completeness or usefulness of this information.

FFoorr mmoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn,,contact EUROCONTROL External and Public Relations,General Secretariat Directorate96, rue de la Fusée, B-1130 Brussels, BelgiumTTeelleepphhoonnee:: +32 2 729 34 20FFaaxx:: +32 2 729 91 98ee--mmaaiill:: [email protected]

Maintainingstandards FinancingATMtraining - Eurocontrol · 2019-02-18 · 18 Online education...

Documents

Transcript of Maintainingstandards FinancingATMtraining - Eurocontrol · 2019-02-18 · 18 Online education...