IFATCA Executive Board Newsletter

2023 January

Yeti Airlines Crash in Nepal

PRESS RELEASE – PDF

Montréal, Canada – The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations, IFATCA, expresses its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those affected by the crash of a Yeti Airlines ATR-72 in Pokhara, Nepal on January 15, 2023.

In particular, our thoughts and prayers go to our colleague who lost several close family members in this tragic accident. IFATCA will liaise with our colleagues in Nepal to offer them assistance. It is of utmost importance that those who have witnessed the accident first-hand are provided with the appropriate support to help them cope with such a traumatic event.

As the representative body for air traffic controller professionals worldwide, IFATCA asks that the media respect the privacy of the families and loved ones affected by this tragic event and refrain from speculating on the cause of the crash. Aviation accidents are typically caused by a complex interaction of multiple factors, and speculation on these factors does not contribute to improving safety.

Join Us at the 62nd IFATCA

Conference in Jamaica

The Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (JATCA) will be hosting the 62nd Annual International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Association Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica from 8-13 May 2023. The conference will be held at the Hilton Rose Resort and Spa. Conference Working Papers (WP) due 08 April 2023 to office@ifatca.org

For more 2023 conference details here.

FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FUND

This fund is established to assist MAs, including those suspended for failure to pay their subscriptions or other debt, in meeting their financial obligations to the Federation. It assists MAs when financial circumstances apply, either wholly or in part, to allow affiliation or alleviate the suspension or expulsion of the MA.

MAs desiring support from the fund to establish or maintain membership in IFATCA shall make their case for a given year in written form through the Executive Board (Office or respective EVP/AFM, EVP/AMA, EVP/ASP, EVP/EUR) to the Directors at Conference.

Interested in Hosting IFATCA World Conference in 2025?

Member Associations interested in hosting Conference 2025 should submit a Working Paper (WP) proposing your MA’s interest to the 2023 conference. The WP submission deadline is (30 days before conference) 08 April 2023.

The WP will be discussed and the selection process of the conference venue 2025 will take place, as normal, at Conference in Committee A and confirmed during the final Plenary at the conference in Jamaica, 08-12 May 2023.

The Selection of the conference venue 2024 will be done electronically in early 2023.

Any questions on the process please contact our Conference Coordinator, Jez Pigden at

jez.pigden@ifatca.org

Conference Organisation Requirements

FIC and CAC Meeting – Singapore 2022 December

For the first time in a long time, along with the IFATCA Deputy President and Executive Vice President Finance, the members of CAC and FIC met in person.

The meeting was held at the Singapore Aviation Academy. Discussions focused on both Working and Information Papers for the Annual Conference in Jamaica.

Topics centred around the workings of the Federation and potential improvements. Examples of this were review and updates to the IFATCA Administrative Manual, the maximum number of proxies at the Annual Conference, review of subscription charging mechanisms, and actions if funds appear to have been paid but not received. Additionally, standing items such as setting subscription rates and adherence to IFATCA policy were also part of the discussions.

The use of ZOOM enabled those members unable to attend to participate which proved to be a useful tool in ensuring that all members had the opportunity to add to the dialogue.

Both committees were thankful to both the CAAS and our Singaporean MA (ATCA-S) for their support and sponsorship of the meeting.

Further online coordination meetings will occur in the next few weeks to finalise the papers prior to submission for Directors’ consideration in Jamaica.

Message from EVP Finance

Dear friends and colleagues,

Usually by now you will have received an invoice with the amount for your subscription to membership of the Federation for the coming year.

However, this year and in the future you will receive that invoice on 01 June each year.

In discussions with the Executive Board, the Financial and Investments Committee, and our accountant/auditor, it was identified that by moving our invoice date to align with the financial year would improve both our recording and reporting, making the Federation finances cleaner and easier to understand for all. A central pledge of my time as Executive Vice President Finance has been to make the finances more transparent and with greater clarity; this move is part of that promise.

What does this mean for you as one of our Member Associations? There will be no invoice, and therefore, no payment required until an invoice is issued in June 2023. Effectively, you will get 6 months membership free of charge while we adjust our process to the new date.

After 3 successive positive annual financial results, IFATCA has sufficient funds to cope with the change. However, the risk is the report of this financial year may be a negative outcome; something I hope to keep under control to minimise the risk to IFATCA.

Should you have any questions please contact me at mark.taylor@ifatca.org.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

All the very best for the New Year!

Mark Taylor,

Executive Vice-President Finance

Meet the IFATCA World Communications Team

The IFATCA EB tasked Philip Marien, the IFATCA communications coordinator and Nicola Ni Riada IATCA Ireland and incoming coordinator, to assemble a world communications team to:

Increase the visibility of the federation particularly on social media.
Provide simple explanations around what IFATCA does/how it works.
Engage with our MAs by helping them to promote the profession in their country and region.
Promote and countdown to events (annual and regional meetings) as well as offering support to the host associations organising committees.

Each regional EVP nominated two ATCOs to be part of this team. They are:

Americas – Héctor El-Kadur Acosta Sánchez and Luis Miguel Santillán, Dominican Republic
Africa and Middle East – Maureen Isika, Kenya and Mirad Sid Ahmed, Algeria
Europe Olivia May, GATCO UK and Kristian Lavin, Estonia
Asia Pacific – Umi Muthiah Syahirah, Indonesia and Renz Bulseco, Philippines

By creating this diverse team, we hope to share the workload of promoting the Federation throughout the world! Additionally, this team will create bespoke regional communication teams with the EVPs. They will manage the regional social media accounts and highlight the work in the region by the EVP and other IFATCA reps. The plan is to reach out to each MA in the coming months to connect us all and network and explore how the IFATCA comms team can help you!

If your association already has a social media presence, please make sure to give us a follow! If you don’t have a social media presence but want one, reach out to us to see if we can help.

https://facebook.org/ifatca

https://twitter.com/ifatca

https://instagram.com/ifatca1961

https://flickr.com/ifatca

Regional Accounts

IFATCA ASIA PACIFIC (@ifatca_asp) • Instagram photos and videos

IFATCA Americas (@ifatca_americas) • Instagram photos and videos

IFATCA Europe (@ifatca_europe) • Instagram photos and videos

IFATCA AFM (@ifatca_afm) • Instagram photos and videos

Recent Activity in the Regions

Americas (AMA)

Trish Gilbert-EVP Americas, Eric Avila-ICAO METP, Adam Rhodes-Remote Towers, Jaymi Steinberg-TOC Chair & 2030+ TF, Michelle Trudeau-PLC, and Betsy Beaumont-TOC

(departing before the picture Bridget Singratanakul – ICAO ADOP and John Carr – Former EVP Americas)

IFATCA was Honored to Participate in NATCA’s Activism & Training Exposition (ATX) 2022

This first NATCA ATX was held in Las Vegas, Nevada December 12-16, 2022.

The event enabled NATCA members with all levels of experience to increase their knowledge by showcasing NATCA’s training courses along with briefings and education covering legislative, safety, technology/infrastructure, local administration, collaboration, labor relations, committees and international work.

IFATCA was honored to present to attendees twice a day Mon-Thur and a final morning session on Friday. In addition to presenting on IFATCA (see Presentation), we staffed an IFATCA booth where attendees could come by and discuss and ask questions about the Federation. Joining EVP Americas Trish Gilbert as a presenter were Michelle Trudeau – PLC member, Jaymi Steinberg – TOC Chair and former EVP Americas John Carr.

During the event, 6 individuals volunteered and will be joining the IFATCA Speak English Program as facilitators. Several more inquired about attending the annual conference in Jamaica as well.

Thank you to NATCA for allowing IFATCA to showcase the work we do, our connections with our MAs and the international aviation industry, and ways in which we assist air traffic controllers worldwide while promoting the best profession in the world!!

Americas 2023 Regional Meeting to be held in Nassau, Bahamas

The Bahamas Air Traffic Controllers’ Union (BATCU) is proud to host the next regional meeting.

Save the Date! October 25-27, 2023 to attend!

More details to follow.

Asia Pacific (ASP)

Civil Air Australia National Executive Meeting

The RVP Pacific, Greg Okeroa was invited to attend the Civil Air Australia National Executive (NE) meeting held in Melbourne, Australia. Greg presented a summary of the recent Asia Pacific Regional meeting themed ‘Resilience amongst Adversity’ and the recent work of IFATCA. He had the opportunity to thank Civil Air Australia for participating on many IFATCA groups and for their continued support of IFATCA. He also personally thanked Tom McRoberts (Civil Air President) for his presentation at the APRM on Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM).

During the meeting, participants discussed issues Australia is facing such as staffing, rosters, trainee wellbeing and a shortage of OJTI’s. Many of the same challenges we are all facing.

A couple of important messages from the APRM and from the NE meeting that need to be highlighted:

While ICAO set parameters on work and break hours, the message is they are not targets but rather max limits and to reduce fatigue lower limits should be the preference. Adequate staffing is the key to remedy fatigue.
If an organisation has instituted all the safety management requirements but does not have a positive safety culture it is likely to underperform.
We should aim for the separation minimum set by ICAO to optimize the service provided and to assist the industry recovery with cost savings.

Civil Air Australia President Tom McRoberts and the Civil Air talented office staff

We worked as a TEAM

On January 1^st at 0150 UTC (9:50 AM local time), the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) lost all of its radar and radio communication, hotlines to all remotely located Towers and adjacent FIRs (Flight Information Region), and the local landline. The ATMC is a centralized air traffic control system that houses the sole area control center in the country (Manila ACC) and six radar approach control units (Manila, Clark, Mactan, Davao, Kalibo, and Bacolod).

All flights were flying blind as air traffic controllers couldn’t establish communications with them. This is the worst nightmare of every air traffic controller, yet there were no reported incidents despite these circumstances. Some of the approach and en-route controllers rushed to Manila Tower, and from there, gave instructions to all aircraft within the Manila TMA and guided them until landing. Others coordinated through their mobile phones and advised the local Towers about the situation. Aircraft outside the Manila TMA were diverted to the nearest airport in the Philippines or diverted to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Japan.

Eight hours after the radar and radio communications outage; the power unit was restored, the system was rebooted, and flights resumed normal operations.

Through the IFATCA Asia Pacific Region communications network, some controllers were able to communicate with their colleagues in Taiwan and Japan. This avenue helped them in coordinating diversions and rerouting of flights.

True enough, this highlights the importance of teamwork and camaraderie, which is part of the air traffic controller’s job.

One sky, One voice!

EVP ASP visits Japan Federation of Air Traffic Controllers (JFATC)

On December 23^rd, the EVP ASP Cheryl Chen met with the committee members of JFATC to exchange plans and ideas for work to be promoted in Asia Pacific region.

Ms Cheryl first introduced different roles in IFATCA Executive Board, the current running IFATCA committees and Task Forces, and thanked JFATC’s members for their support and participation in the IFATCA Speak English Program.

She encouraged JFATC to consider taking part in different roles in IFATCA and even plan to host IFATCA conferences, meetings, and events in the future.

JFATC explained the structure and function of JFATC, and the work they have done for their members. JFATC wishes that a stronger connection can be made between IFATCA and their members, and can play the role to bridge the relations between JFATC and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau.

Europe (EUR)

Albania

During the Summer of 2021 several Albanian ATCOs were arrested and questioned after they elevated concerns of fatigue and stress in the work environment.

Below is correspondence to IFATCA from Lola, one of the ATCOs involved.

HAPPY NEW YEAR IFATCA Friends!

Allow me this opportunity to send you a big thank you for he great support provided in our Albanian case. The support received by Marc and Fred was extraordinary! While Marc’s knowledge gave our lawyers the needed support, Fred was there for me from the first hours and still continues to help and support in all possible ways. He manages so well my feelings and fears. I would have never expected such a friendly and warm support. From the bottom of my heart ❤️, thank you IFATCA Europe, Marc and Fred, and all of you! Grateful forever to IFATCA 🙏

Yours,

Lola

Ukraine Financial Support

Dear families and dear friends,

It is with a very heavy heart that we have to send you this message.

While our IFATCA help started nearly immediately after the beginning of the invasion when families had to leave Ukraine, we knew our assistance would only be for a limited time.

We kept helping as many families as possible and we did so much longer than originally expected thanks to the donation received from many IFATCA Member Associations and individuals.

The situation has unfortunately not changed and the suffering of many still continues.

However, due to the foreseen financial circumstances, the continuation of the fund was discussed during our IFATCA European meeting in Brussels in October 2022. A decision was made to concentrate the funds we still had, and the donations we will receive in the coming months, to help our two Member Associations in Poland and Romania who are still hosting dozens of families of Ukrainian controllers.

Therefore, and unfortunately, as of January 2023, we will no longer support individual requests as the donations do not anymore permit us to do both.

The IFATCA emergency financial support has therefore stopped so we cannot answer requests nor send money any longer.

Please rest assured that our hearts and thoughts are still with you! Courage!

IFATCA EVP Europe

IFATCA Executive Board – Deputy President, EVPT, EVP/AFM and EVP/ASP Nominations 2023

ELIGIBILITY and ELECTION

The Officers of the Federation shall be current or retired professional members of a Member Association. The Executive Vice-President Africa and Middle East, the Executive Vice- President Asia and Pacific shall be a member of a Member Association from the respective Region. (Arusha 08.A.18)

Candidates for an elective office may be nominated only by Member Associations. A candidate’s nomination need not necessarily be from their Member Association but in any event must have received the approval of their Member Association. (Toronto 17.A.5)

The officers will be elected, for a two-year term, by a majority vote of the Directors at the Annual Conference in Jamaica 202. Newly elected Officers will take office at the conclusion of the Conference.

NOMINATION FORM

IFATCA Deputy President

The Deputy President shall be responsible for:

the supervision of work programmes of all administrative committees of the Federation, including also the administrative management, the supervision of the secretariat, filing system, the maintenance and publication of all necessary records, manuals, bulletins, newsletters and Journal of the Federation;
closely monitoring all other activities of the Federation;
the preparation of public relations material and media relations as directed by the President and Chief Executive Officer.

Executive Vice President Technical

The Executive Vice-President in charge of technical matters and shall be responsible for the supervision of work programmes of all technical committees of the Federation.

Executive Vice-President Africa and Middle East

The Executive Vice-President Africa and Middle East shall be responsible for:

liaison with Member Associations within the Africa and Middle East Region;
ex-officio member of any committee of the Federation which may be assigned to the Africa and Middle East Region;
fostering contacts with non-member associations in the Africa and Middle East Region, and encouraging the affiliation of such associations;
overseeing the activities of their region. (Toronto 17.A.5)

Executive Vice-President Asia and Pacific

The Executive Vice-President Asia and Pacific shall be responsible for:

liaison with Member Associations within the Asia and Pacific Region;
ex-officio member of any committee of the Federation which may be assigned to the Asia and Pacific Region;
fostering contacts with non-member associations in the Asia and Pacific Region, and encouraging the affiliation of such associations;
overseeing the activities of their region. (Toronto 17.A.5)

Standing Committee Chair – Finance and Professional/Legal Nominations 2023

ELIGIBILITY AND ELECTION

The Chair of each Standing Committee shall be elected at Conference. The nomination and election procedures for the Officers of the Federation shall apply for the position of Standing Committee Chair with any necessary modifications, and the election of each Chair shall be conducted in the relevant Conference Committee (FIC – Committee A and PLC – Committee C) and ratified by Conference with the acceptance of that Committee’s report to the closing Plenary.

Election to the Chair shall be for a period of two years ending at the relevant Conference. The election of the Chair shall occur before the election of the Member Associations to the associated Standing Committee. (Marrakech 00.A.31, Toronto 17.A.5)

NOMINATION FORM

Chair Finance Committee (FIC)

FIC Terms of Reference

Review and study the accounting books of the Federation upon written application one week in advance to the EVPF or EB. EVPF will provide FIC with summary statement of transactions on a quarterly basis, or shorter intervals if requested by FIC.
Investigate and report on any matter of concern and/or discrepancies, which may appear in the books or be brought to their attention. (Virtual Conference 22.A7)
Qualify, amplify and prepare recommendations on any or all of the Auditors’ comments for consideration by the EB or annual conference. EVPF shall facilitate at least one joint forum between FIC and the auditors each year. This will take place with sufficient time for FIC input before finalisation of the audit report. (Virtual conference 22.A7)
Present proposals regarding income disbursements to resolve problematic situations or financial difficulties, which may arise.
Review and prepare recommendations and comments, as may be deemed suitable or if so requested, on the following:
Affiliation fees, the annual subscription rates and the maximum subscription rate;
MA categorisations based on the classifications applied in the annual World Bank World Development Reports;
Conference contribution and Conference deficit guarantee;
Inflation Factor derived from the International Monetary Fund’s International Financial Statistics, Inflation for Industrial Countries.

(Christchurch 93.A.5; Taipei 97.A.9; Marrakech 00.A.31; Punta Cana 10.A.8;)

Recommend auditors for all accounts of the Federation.
Assure, in the event of the dissolution of the Federation, the proper transfer and disposal of all assets and/or property, which may remain following satisfaction of all the Federation’s debts and liabilities in accordance with the Constitution.
Assist the EVPF in the preparation of financial statements and/or proposed budgets, when requested. (Munich 1968) To prepare reports and undertake other responsibilities which may be requested of them from time to time by the Directors of the Federation and/or the EB. (Tunis 96.A.38)

Chair Professional/Legal Committee (PLC)

PLC Terms of Reference

To study matters related to the human and environmental factors in the air traffic controller’s profession.
To study and determine appropriate standards for the selection, recruitment and training of air traffic controllers.
To study matters concerning the legal liability of air traffic controllers, and provide Member Associations and the Executive Board with advice on legal issues when so requested.
To study legal matters concerning the safety of aviation and, in particular, causes of incidents and the standardisation of investigation procedures.
To encourage and advise the Executive Board and Member Associations in sponsoring the passage of legislation and regulations which will increase and protect the safety of air navigation and uphold and enhance the professional status of the air traffic controller.
To maintain effective liaison with the professional and legal committees of international pilot associations and other international organisations and aviation groups.
To undertake regular reviews of IFATCA professional and legal policy, and present this in writing to the Directors of the Member Associations for consideration at each IFATCA Conference.
To conduct studies and prepare reports, working papers, proposals or recommendations, as considered appropriate, to Conference either directly or as directed by Conference or the Executive Board.
To distribute information of particular interest to the Executive Board and Member Associations, and to propose any appropriate action.
To prepare reports and undertake other responsibilities which may be requested of them from time to time by the Directors of the Federation and/or the Executive Board.

(Amsterdam 82.C.20; Tunis 96.A.38; Marrakech 00.A.31)

The Chair of each Standing Committee shall be responsible for: (Toronto 17.A.5)

chairing, and the organisation of, all meetings of the Committee;
ensuring that a record is taken of the discussion at each Committee meeting, and that these are forwarded to the IFATCA Office;
providing a written report on their activities to each Executive Board meeting. A nil report is preferable to no report at all thus ensuring at least that contact is maintained;
managing the financial affairs of the Committee within the allocated budget;
coordinating the activities of the Committee members and ensuring all reports and working papers from the Committee are checked for conformance with the requirements of the IFATCA Administrative Manual and received by the Office by the specified submission date; (Gran Canaria 14.A.13)
reporting to each Annual Conference on the year’s activities;
the presentation of the Committee’s reports and working papers to Annual
Conference;
nominating individual members of the Committee whose attendance at Conference is deemed necessary for the presentation of the Committee’s work; and
balancing the number and composition of attendees in such a way that priority is given to elected Member Associations, while the maximum number of funded attendees for that meeting is not exceeded. (Sofia 15.A.8)