the proliferation of air navigation

8/6/2019 The Proliferation of Air Navigation

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The Proliferation of Air Navigation

By Wayne Farley, ATM Expert. ~ May 30, 2011

Introduction

In 1984, two important events occurred one personal and one global. My love

affair with ATC begun, and ICAO established the FANS Committee.

In the auditorium of my high school, I sat amongst a group of young men and

women who were about to make career choices, listening to a presentation by the

then headmasters brother. He was a career air traffic controller making a pitch to

those who dare.

Mr. Alexander, the presenter, spoke about the science behind the profession and the

organization that governs what the do the International Civil Aviation

Organization.

Fastforward to 1988, I joined the Civil Aviation Department, the first opportunity I

had to get in the door since leaving high school ten months earlier.

During the rigorous fourmonth ab initio training course, we learnt about ICAO and

its workings, including the FANS Committee.

Genesis

ICAO recognized that the proliferation of air navigation required a committee of its

own to deal with the massive developments to come, and accordingly, the FANS

Committee was formed in 1984.

FANS eventually evolved into CNS/ATM, and a global plan for its implementation

was drawn up. Within each ICAO region, plans were elaborated to provide states

with a stepbystep guide to global compliance. States in turn, created national plans

for CNS/ATM implementation.

In their wisdom, not only did they ICAO develop guidelines for physical

infrastructure, but also the institutional framework for the air navigation service

providers around the globe that have to implement these plans.

At the forefront of CNS/ATM, was the implementation of WGS84, the referencingsystem to support navigation.

Buzzwords

In 1994, as president of the Guyana Association of Air Traffic Controllers, I attended

my first IFATCA international conference in Ottawa. The buzzwords back then at

that conference were CPDLC and datalink. These were all a blur to me, as all I knew,

was that the technology was futuristic.


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When I became a supervisor in 1997, another buzzword being peddled around the

tower was REDDIG. I later became aware that it was the backbone for the ATM

component. REDDIG is the Spanish acronym for Regional Digital Network, and it is

the South American regions network that will interconnect all states within the

region. The network will also interconnect with all contiguous regional networks to

bring the global plan into fruition.

In the Caribbean, the regional digital network is called MEVA, another Spanish

acronym meaning Improvement to ATS Voice Link. In my opinion, the name is an

anomaly since the system was designed for both voice and data communication.

Implementation of the ATS Message Handling System (AMHS), the technology that is

replacing the AFTN, has begun and is being run on the digital networks. Future

applications (at least in the Caribbean) include ADSB, CPDLC and datalink.

Institutional Framework

In order to meet the challenges of implementation of the CNS/ATM plan, ICAO hasset the framework for states to liberate their respective ANSPs. This will give the

ANSPs the autonomy to operate on the principle of a business, designing

independent budgets to meet present and future needs, and charging the users

appropriately for the use of the services.

Document 9082, ICAOs Policies on Charges for Airports and Air Navigation Services

was born in 2000 and states in its forward:

In developing these Policies the Council has noted with concern that the problems

involved in providing and maintaining the airport and air navigation facilities and

services required by the Regional Air Navigation Plans are particularly serious for

the less advanced economies, principal among these being the limited financial

resources available for economic development in general, the higher priority

assigned to other sectors of the economy whose needs are considered more urgent,

underutilization of airports and air navigation services, the high cost of obtaining

equipment from other States and the difficulties in recruiting and retaining

sufficient numbers of qualified personnel. The Council will continue to take

appropriate action towards obtaining more assistance for the States concerned in

planning and financing air navigation services as well as with regard to the

provision of adequate human resources.

Document 9161, Manual of Air Navigation Services Economics states in its forward:

This guidance takes into account the wide range of different circumstances faced by

air navigation services management in the regions of the world. It is based on

international policies and principles on air navigation services costrecovery that

States have developed through ICAO and describes procedures and practices that

are in conformity with these policies and principles. The basis for these policies and

principles is set out in Article 15 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation,


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the charter of ICAO. Extensive policy guidance in this area was subsequently

developed by the ICAO Council and is contained in Doc 9082.

These and other similar documents have basically beaten the path that states can

proceed along if they are to successfully develop the air navigation services in

accordance with regional plans.

In his address to Worldwide CNS/ATM Systems Implementation Conference in 1998

in Rio de Janeiro, Director of ICAOs Air Navigation Bureau, Jack Howell, said Make

no mistake CNS/ATM systems are already a good business investment, so the

challenge of financing CNS/ATM lies in organization and administration. For

example, while CNS/ATM is costbeneficial for the industry overall, it is highly cost

beneficial for users, but frequently not costbeneficial for providers. Thus,

arrangements have to be made for provider costs to be recovered from users

through user charges. Users have already agreed to this as long as the charges are

equitable, transparent and related to costs. The entire speech is appended.

Funding

ICAO having set the stage for recouping investments for CNS/ATM developments,

ANSPs can now proceed in accordance of basic economic principles and seek

funding for these longterm investments that will practically pay for themselves

over the life of the infrastructure.

Keeping Up

The group charged with the implementation of CNS/ATM in the Caribbean and

South American region is GREPECAS. I had the honor of representing Guyana at

GREPECAS 11 in Manaus, Brazil back in 2002. One of the duties of the group is to set

in motion the recommendations made by the ICAO Council on CNS/ATM activities.

The work of the various subgroups are also reviewed here. To be specific, matters

surrounding RVSM implementation and the establishment of RNAV routes in the

CAR/SAM region were high on the agenda.

What does all of this mean?

The route to the future of air navigation has tremendously long lead times. Planning

for the implementation of CNS/ATM infrastructure and applications has been

methodical and getting on board the train is no flybynight operation. Im a fervent

advocate for both safety and efficiency in air navigation, and as far as I can see,

CNS/ATM promises both.

I recognize the limitation of implementation by some states due to financial

constraints. But as far as practicable, the biggest beneficiaries of the entire plan

the users must share in the cost for such developments. Only then, can the

relationship between ANSPs and users be said to be symbiotic while air navigation

proliferates.


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Appendix

Address by the Director of the Air Navigation Bureau of the

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

Mr. Jack Howell

at the Official Opening of theWorldwide CNS/ATM Systems Implementation Conference

(Rio de Janeiro, 11 May 1998)

Ladies and Gentleman, let me begin by reminding you that over the next 12 years,

we, as a world community, will spend over one trillion dollars on aircraft and air

traffic control infrastructure. Even now, aviation provides about 30 million jobs,

enough to keep the entire population of many States employed. And by the turn of

the millennium, those people will help transport over two billion passengers every

year.

With that statement, I hope I have startled you into realizing that aviation is an

enormous industry.

This industry has, in fact, grown quite rapidly over the past 50 years. The phrase

"skyrockets" comes to mind.

Now for some sobering news. The supporting air navigation infrastructure of our

aviation system is reaching its limits and is becoming increasingly strained in terms

of safety, regularity and efficiency. And we at ICAO, like so many of you here today

have been taking action on several fronts to address this crisis. I know crisis is a

strong word, but I am afraid it is the appropriate word.

It is this air navigation system that is the topic of our conference this week.

Let me remind you that the ICAO Contracting States recognized the need for this

major conference at the 31st Session of the ICAO Assembly in 1995. And I would

take this opportunity to extend my own gratitude to that already expressed by Dr.

Kotaite, and especially on behalf of all of us at ICAO, and all of you, I am sure, to the

Government of Brazil, for hosting the event here in this beautiful city, a place which

has become an important focal point at this historic juncture.

I will also take this opportunity to mention one of aviation=s distinguished pioneers,

who happens to be a Brazilian. Alberto SantosDumont was fascinated by the idea of

the conquest of the air from his earliest childhood, and his great achievements areamong those that laid our foundations. As his first hot air balloon, appropriately

named the ABrazil@, ascended over the skies of Paris in 1898, I wonder if the young

Mr. SantosDumont could have dreamed that we would be here in his home country

one hundred years later, laying the framework and preparing for aviation in the

next millennium.


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So I will start this conference by immediately focusing on a very tangible and

concrete systems concept that has been agreed to and endorsed by the world

community and which is meant to meet the needs of this already huge and rapidly

expanding industry.

In fact, this system that I will be describing is already bringing benefits and savings

to the aviation industry, as well as to other industries, as they transport our goods

and our citizens from city to city, State to State and continent to continent.

The technology has been developed and is widely available. The legal framework is

almost in place. And the institutional set up is moving from concept to reality. The

key remaining hurdle is financing, which consequently lies at the heart of this

Conference.

Make no mistake CNS/ATM systems are already a good business investment, so the

challenge of financing CNS/ATM lies in organization and administration. For

example, while CNS/ATM is costbeneficial for the industry overall, it is highly cost

beneficial for users, but frequently not costbeneficial for providers. Thus,arrangements have to be made for provider costs to be recovered from users

through user charges. Users have already agreed to this as long as the charges are

equitable, transparent and related to costs.

So, the financing challenge is by no means insurmountable, although there is no

doubt it remains a hurdle in a number of countries, a hurdle that must be overcome

if we are to have a truly seamless global air traffic management system. That is why

we welcome a distinguished group of participants from the financial community to

this Conference. We are confident that, when the facts are placed before them, they

will be convinced that any investment in CNS/ATM will not only be secure, but it

will also be good for business.

In 1983, the ICAO Council gave the task of studying, identifying and assessing new

concepts and technologies in the field of air navigation, including satellite

technology, to a special committee. That committee, the Future Air Navigation

Systems, or FANS Committee, drew aviation specialists from all over the world. They

sat down together in a global forum and developed the blueprint of the system that

would meet the needs of the aviation community well into the next millennium.

The FANS concept, which came to be known as CNS/ATM systems, involves a

complex and interrelated set of technologies, largely dependent on satellites, in

order to overcome certain limitations of the existing systems.

The primary limitation of the present groundbased system is its restriction to line

ofsight usage. That is, electronic, groundbased navigation aids can only be used

over a limited portion of the earth=s surface not blocked by the horizon or high

terrain. These systems, first introduced in the 1940s, require thousands of air traffic

control units, groundbased relay stations and an extensive network of navigation

radio beacons strung around the globe on the various land masses.


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At the same time, the system is unable to grow to meet increased traffic demands

around airports, and it is difficult to implement these groundbased systems over

large parts of the earth because of inhospitable siting conditions.

By adopting an approach whereby satellites would be used for communications,

navigation and surveillance, the FANS Committee determined that we can

substantially increase our signal coverage over large parts of the earth with fewer

facilities, as the footprint, or area of coverage of a single satellite, is enormous. In

fact we will be able to do with just 3 or 4 satellites, in some cases, what presently

requires thousands of groundbased facilities.

Secondly, we communicate primarily using voice. Unfortunately, these analogue

transmissions suffer from a number of shortcomings. They do not permit high rates

of transmission of data, and they take up a great deal of valuable and diminishing

frequency spectrum.

Add to all of this a lack of automation, and we find ourselves unable to handle and

transfer information and unable to improve and speed up the decisionmakingprocess of people in the air and on the ground.

So essentially, our aim is to exploit spacebased technologies, digital technologies

and advances in automation, so that the users of the airspace would derive

significant benefits.

Now let me examine briefly the individual elements of CNS/ATM which are aimed at

overcoming these limitations. First, communications. People and systems on the

ground must communicate with aircraft during all phases of flight. Good

communications with timely and dependable availability are the cornerstone of the

safe and efficient operation of civil aviation.

In CNS/ATM systems, communications will therefore increasingly be carried out

through a medium known as digital data link. This will allow a high data transfer

rate, increased reliability and integrity, improved frequency spectrum utilization

and very importantly, an improved interface with automated systems.

The next element of the future system is navigation. Navigation refers to our ability

to locate our position on Earth and then to determine the course to steer to arrive at

the next desired point.

Improvements in navigation in CNS/ATM systems include the progressive use of

global navigation satellite systems which virtually bathe the Earth in accuratenavigation signals, providing worldwide navigation coverage.

Two systems are already in place: the Global Positioning System, or GPS, of the

United States, and the Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System, or GLONASS, of

the Russian Federation and to give you an idea of the cooperation that already exists

in our civil aviation community and to demonstrate our fervent desire to implement

CNS/ATM systems, I am pleased to tell you that in October 1994, the ICAO Council


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accepted an offer by the United States to make GPS available to the international

civil aviation community on a worldwide basis, free from direct user charges.

Shortly thereafter, the Russian Federation, graciously made a similar offer, which

the ICAO Council accepted and we now have these two navigation systems available

for our use.

The third element of CNS/ATM is surveillance. Surveillance refers to the methods

used for keeping track of aircraft.

With the introduction of the advanced communications systems that I have

described earlier, and with the accurate navigation systems that I have just spoken

about, a new method of automated surveillance has evolved which will support

further improvements in operating economies and efficiencies through reduced

separation between aircraft.

This surveillance system requires aircraft to automatically transmit their positions,

and other useful information contained in the computers onboard the aircraft, to

air traffic control units.

Now, I will explain the other side of the CNS/ATM equation, which is Air Traffic

Management.

Air Traffic Management is the system in place that directs all of these aircraft

through the skies and keeps them separated from each other. Using these

technologies that I have just spoken about, together with newer procedures, we will

be able to operate our air traffic system in a more efficient manner. Our ultimate

goal is a seamless, global air traffic management system. And certainly we are

determined to improve safety at the same time.

By being better able to accommodate an aircraft=s preferred flight profile, and also

by reducing separation criteria, we will help aircraft operators achieve reduced

operating costs and minimize delays, while simultaneously freeing up additional

airspace and increasing capacity. This is where savings in the billions of dollars by

some estimates are to be had.

And allow me to speak here for a moment about the environmental benefits. We

must take into account the impact that the introduction of CNS/ATM systems has on

the environment. We are certain that significant reductions in atmospheric

emissions will result directly from the improved operational efficiency arising from

the introduction of CNS/ATM systems, which should add even more incentive for us

to introduce CNS/ATM.

So, the solution ladies and gentlemen is CNS/ATM. And lest all this sounds too good

to be true, let me be the first to acknowledge that CNS/ATM is not a perfect system,.

Such things as availability, accuracy and integrity of systems in this safety conscious

industry must be fully resolved. We may address several of these through

augmentation systems that are already being put in place. There is also the issue of


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jamming of satellite signals which is gaining widespread attention. And the

provision of backup systems must be resolved.

So we are fully justified in continuing the process that was begun in 1983 with the

establishment of the FANS Committee, and by addressing the institutional and

financial matters in parallel with the continued evolution of the technology, so that

the various elements reach maturity simultaneously, rather than sequentially. In

this way, we will achieve even greater benefits at an earlier stage.

In order to progress toward implementation of CNS/ATM systems, three things are

needed. First, is the technology, and that is here and available. Second is a plan of

action, which is also available. The Global Air Navigation Plan for CNS/ATM Systems

has been developed by ICAO as a living document@ comprising technical,

operational, economic, financial, legal and institutional elements, and offering

practical guidance and advice to regional planning groups and States on

implementation and funding strategies.

This plan has been completed in time for this conference and you all should have acopy. If not, please visit our ICAO booth.

And the third and final need, is a financial commitment, and meeting that need is

why we are here today.

So I now challenge you to do your part.

The future wellbeing of the air transport industry will depend on governmental

decisions, many of which will emanate from this conference. We at ICAO have done

our utmost to ensure an outstanding conference this week, with the goal of

informing you. By being better informed policy and decisionmakers, you will be

prepared to make the bold financial decisions that will foster the growth of the air

transport industry so that it can continue to play its vital role in the economic

growth of our nations.

It is our firm belief that CNS/ATM is an immensely saleable product. While

technological and organizational complexity make our task a little harder, this

Conference is designed to demonstrate, in clear and transparent terms, the merits of

our financial arguments.

It is my sincere hope that this conference will serve as a catalyst for broadened

participation in all work aimed at implementation of CNS/ATM systems for the next

millennium.

the proliferation of air navigation

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