Jargon is everywhere in the ATM world. As you'll see in this week's below news items, we have plenty of abbreviations and acronyms. SMATSA has started to operate using CPDLC. A great step forward. Nice acronyms. And everybody in ATM understands it. Right? Really? Everybody? Think again. This kind of language might be okay to use in certain scenarios. But we can't assume that everyone, from engineers to ATCOs, uses the same terms and has the same grasp on operational abbreviations.
I'm lucky enough to have had contact with operations, administrative teams and managers over the years. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that you need to adjust the level of jargon and technicality you use to suit your partner. Nothing makes someone switch off from a conversation faster than too much or too little technicality. Whether you are addressing someone on LinkedIn for the first time or meeting in person, always be attentive to this.
It becomes even harder when entering larger meetings with mixed audiences. But ATM is a people business. So it is important to keep your counterparts engaged. When you are presenting your solution to a mixed panel of operational, technical. and procurement people, don't focus on only one of them. If your background is, for example, in operations, it is natural that you'll focus on the operations people on the other side of the table. But it is important not to speak in a way that excludes others. Try replacing acronyms with full words, explain some background, and be prepared to provide some learnings where necessary. Keep your audience interested, while impressing those who know the background of your conversation, with your knowledge and inclusivity.
With that said, Magdalena Jaworska, the CEO of PANSA is the guest of our latest podcast. As always, if you have questions, wishes, requests, or simply want more information, don't hesitate to get in touch!
Vincent
ANSP news
- Appointment of new CEO of Slovenia Control- On 2 April 2024, the Supervisory Board of Slovenia Control appointed Mr Srečko Janša as the new Chief Executive Officer of Slovenia Control with a term of office beginning on 5 April 2024.
- LGS to receive EUR 25 million loan from Nordic Investment Bank – Latvijas Gaisa Satiksme- LGS will receive a loan of EUR 25 million from Nordic Investment Bank for the purpose of upgrading and expanding its air traffic control system. The funds will be used to construct a new air traffic control tower and state-of-the-art air navigation system. The air traffic control tower at Riga Airport, built in 1973 and still in use today, no longer suits the needs of the rapidly developing airport. The new technologies, which will be implemented in the course of modernisation, will also allow for introduction of a Remote Control Tower, thus allowing remote control of aircraft take-off and landing at other airports in Latvia.
- CPDLC – Controller Pilot Data Link Communications – SMATSA- Starting February 22nd 2024, SMATSA joined family of European ANSP’s using CPDLC – Controller Pilot Data Link Communications, as an additional mean of communication between ATCOS and the crews. CPDLC is used in Beograd ATCC AoR from FL205-FL660. CPDLC means the exchange of predifined messages between pilots and the controllers. This has no impact on fact that voice communication is primary mean of communication.
- New TopSky – ATC Controller’s tools – SMATSA- Since December 2023 SMATSA llc has started using the improved TopSky-ATC version which includes controller tools that were developed jointly by SMATSA and Thales ATM system experts. Other TopSky-ATC users are yet to implement the tools that were developed as a part of this project.
- ENAIRE has already implemented 86% of the investments of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan - ENAIRE, Spain's air navigation service provider, is contributing to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) by investing 107 million euros, subsidised with NextGenerationEU Funds, to contribute to the development of the Single European Sky.
- FAA Opens Application Process for Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative- The FAA has opened the application process for the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative. The Enhanced AT-CTI will help the FAA accelerate air traffic controller hiring and training.
- ENAIRE integrates the intelligence of the ground-air communications system to enhance operational efficiency - ENAIRE completes the deployment of VHF stations with a new unified processing system that centralises the provision of ground-air communications through virtualisation. This modernisation in ground-air communications showcases the company's global leadership in aeronautical technologies, in keeping with its Strategic Plan, the 2025 Flight Plan.
- Not Too Close And Not Too Far – The Work To Position London Gatwick’s New RET Just Right - NATS Blog- The NATS ATC team has been working closely with London Gatwick to deliver a big milestone in the airport’s infrastructure upgrades, with the activation of the new Echo Romeo Rapid Exit Taxiway (RET). This project followed extensive feedback from airlines and careful analysis of the existing RETs for arriving aircraft on Runway 26L—the airport’s main runway. Construction started in 2023 and it officially opened for operations last month.
Airport news
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces $148.3 million from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Fund Airport Projects in 28 States, Guam- The FAA is awarding $148.3 million for 73 airport-related infrastructure projects in 28 states and Guam. These projects are funded exclusively under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG) program, which provides about $15 billion in total funding with $3 billion available annually for 5 years.
Market news
- Ljubljana Airport Deploys Assaia Turnaround Solution to Increase Efficiency- Ljubljana Airport has become the latest airport to deploy Assaia's turnaround technology to optimize the airport's turnaround performance. Early results are showing the substantial difference in average ground delays for flights where alerts were acknowledged versus those flights where alerts were not acknowledged. The reduction in average ground delays is almost six minutes in the time period from January to February this year.
Context information
- EUROCONTROL PRC report on 2023 European ANS performance ready for consultation- The draft 2023 Performance Review Report (PRR) concludes that, despite the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing war in Ukraine coupled with notable reductions in domestic traffic in some States prevented traffic levels in the EUROCONTROL area from reaching the levels observed in 2019.
- Florian Guillermet starts new role as EASA Executive Director from start of April- Florian Guillermet will take up his role as Executive Director of EASA following his selection by the EASA Management Board on December 13, 2023. Guillermet moves to EASA directly from France’s DSNA, where he had served as Director Air Navigation Services since June 2021.
UAV and UTM
- USSPs' Safety Support Assessment - Global UTM Association- Led by Benoit Curdy, Head of Strategy and Innovation Section at the Federal Office of Civil Aviation Switzerland, the GUTMA Safety Task Force has unveiled a significant milestone: the USSPs’ Safety Support Assessment document. This initiative aims to standardize the process by which USSPs engage with authorities regarding the scope of their safety assessments. This document represents a collaborative effort within the industry to ensure consistency and clarity in safety protocols across various jurisdictions.
- Speedbird Aero performs UTM tracking tests in Brazil with FAB and DECEA - Unmanned airspace- Speedbird Aero has participated in tests with the goal of becoming a future unmanned traffic management service provider in Brazil, as designated by the Força Aérea Brasileira. The company reported that it performed tracking tests on aircraft to avoid conflicts in the airspace and secure flight safety.
- CORUS five exploratory research selected to deliver fifth version of U-space ConOps - Unmanned airspace- The SESAR Joint Undertaking has announced the results of its most recent Exploratory Research call. Among the awarded projects is CORUS five, which will deliver the fifth version of the European U-space Concept of Operations.
- RefMap partners share results of first experiments to support ATM/UTM integration - Unmanned airspace- RefMap’s UK partner, the University of Salford has completed the first of a series of experiments aimed at understanding the human response to drone noise. The ultimate goal is to develop a model to predict drone noise annoyance and aid the trajectory optimisation of drones to reduce the impact on communities.
