Global Airspace Radar – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Martin Rolfe, CEO of NATS National Air Traffic Services of the UK, and one of the longest serving CEOs of an ANSP in Europe talks with Global Airspace Radar editor Marita Lintener about his learnings during his career and the challenges for the sector.

They are unpacking the strategic topics of Air Traffic Management (ATM): Implementation of new technologies and integrated systems, the importance of space operations, introduction of Advanced Air Mobility and its business case, and his predictions for the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Air Navigation Services. Do not miss the conversation concluding on future skills, appeal of the aviation sector in competitive job markets and how the ATM profession will look in 2035.

In today’s episode, two guests from NASA Ames Research Center - Heather Arneson, Deputy Project Manager for Execution of the Air Traffic Management and Safety Project, and Jeff Homola, Aeronautics Researcher and Higher Airspace Traffic Management Concept Lead speak with Global Airspace Radar editor Katarzyna Żmudzińska about high-altitude traffic management.

Heather and Jeff explain that high-altitude operations are meant to take place at altitudes from 50,000 feet, well above traditional air traffic, and that there are numerous promising use cases currently being explored, such as imagery, emergency response and telecommunications.

The guests also explain why high-altitude traffic management is very different from traditional Air Traffic Control (ATC), and what is being done to develop safe and efficient coordination between high-altitude and conventional air traffic.

Malte Seifert, director of XPONENTIAL Europe met with our Editor-in-Chief, Claudia Bacco to look ahead at the upcoming event on the 24-26th March in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The event is only in its second year but has seen a great amount of growth from exhibitors and registered attendees compared to last year's event. There are also more live demonstrations planned for this year, a hackathon, startup pitching competition and additional conference tracks.

In addition to the XPONENTIAL Conference programme there are also Partner Conferences including the European Drone Forum, Cybersecurity Forum, Standards Forum, Bundeswehr German Drone Defence & Innovation Forum and the Autonomous Inland & Short Sea Shipping Conference. 

Bringing together these topics under one roof allows for different participants to network and learn from other industry verticals facing similar challenges.

For this episode we have as a guest Christian Schleifer, the General Director at EUROCAE. We discussed the following:

• Goals, activities and members of EUROCAE
• How are the activities funded
• How can members contribute & What kind of organisation can join
• Latest activities around UTM 
• ED standards outside of Europe
• Future of ATM and of standardization in the coming 5 and 50 years

In this episode we had a guest from Portugal. Marcos Coelho Costa is the Member of Corporate Strategy and External Affairs at NavPortugal, the Portuguese ANSP.  The topic of this episode is Cooperations between ANSPs: Portugal’s Perspective and we discussed the following:

• The level of cooperation in air traffic management has been constantly increasing in the last decades - what does this mean concretely for NavPortugal
• Thought on the actual results of cooperation strategies
• As NavPortugal controls a lot of oceanic airspace, they co-operate outside of Europe too. What are the partners and what are the challenges of working with ANSPs thousands of miles apart
• Considering the long lasting collaboration with some Portuguese speaking ANSPs, how have NavPortugal achieved to maintain it and strengthen it throughout the years
• Tip to someone new to the domain wanting to look for new partnerships
• ATC in 5 years & in 50 years

The guest of this episode is from the USA. We have talked with Jen Lemmon, the President of PWC Organisation (Professional Women Controllers) and the Operations Manager at the Houston Tower for FAA. We talked about how important it is to bring awareness about aviation career opportunities for young girls and women and also about the following aspects:

• What is the status of gender equality in ATM and why it is important
• What are the factors causing a better gender balance in our industry
• What can be done to get more girls to know that they can be air traffic controllers
• What are PWC’s main activities & the goals to achieve in the next 5 years
• How can listeners support PWC
• Evolution of ATM in the next 5 years & in the next 50 years? Will it be more balanced when it comes to the gender share of the industry?

The guest of this episode comes from the USA. Cyriel Kronenburg, is the Vice President International Development and Strategic Partnerships at uAvionix Corporation. We have discussed an interesting topic with the following aspects:

• What are TIS-B and FIS-B and how they relate to ADS-B
• The safety benefits of TIS-B-FIS-B and the role it can play in the integration of all airspace users
• Where are TIS-B and FIS-B used, geographically
• TIS-B and FIS-B were developed for general aviation, initially. How can they be used for unmanned vehicles and the integration of drones
• What is uAvionix doing on TIS-B and FIS-B market
• U-Space future: Will operators have to change drone related equipment depending on the country
• uAvionix and U-Space challenges
• Specifics of doing equipment for drones and for A/C 
• Integration of drones at airports
• ATM and UTM in 5 years and in 50 years in the US and abroad

In this episode we have two guests from skyguide  - Mario Winiger, the Just Culture Ambassador & Melanie Hulliger, the Line Safety Delegate. We have discussed the following aspects:

• What is Just Culture and why is it needed
• If the ATCO reports the error himself, is he freed of any charges or how does it work
• Responsibilities of the job of a Just Culture Ambassador as such and why does skyguide needs one
• Changing the law in regards to Just Culture & how was this process
• How is Just Culture implemented around the world in ATM and in Switzerland
• Just culture in 5 years from now and in 50 years from now
• ATM in 5 years from now and in 50 years from now

Following our conversation with Benoit Fonck from SESAR Joint Undertaking (Episode 009), the guest of this episode is Mariagrazia La Piscopia, the Chief Strategy and Program Manager at SESAR Deployment Manager. We discuss the following aspects in regards to the deployment of SESAR:

• What is SESAR deployment, why is it needed, how is it organized and who is involved
• How is SDM different from SJU
• What are the main benefits of SESAR deployment for ATM and European aviation / economy in general
• What has been good, what could be done differently, what are the challenges at SDM
• Operational stakeholders in SESAR deployment
• How can smaller ATM companies participate in the implementation of SESAR projects
• Importance of continuing the digitization and modernization of European ATM
• Key drivers for a smooth continuation of ATM modernization through SESAR
• ATM in the next 5 years and in the next 50 years 

The guest of this episode is Marek Bekier - Senior VP ACR. The topic of this episode is private ANSPs & new ANSPs and we touched the following aspects: 

• What distinguishes ACR, and other private ANSPs providers, from the legacy state-owned ANSPs, while looking at the organizational structure 
• Initial ATCO training takes years and costs a lot of money. How does ACR do the training: in-house or subcontracting 
• What is the service portfolio that ACR and other private ANSPs can offer the airport segment - today and tomorrow
• How do incumbent ANSPs normally react to competition in the market and how regulators react to a private ANSP
• Relationship with legacy ANSPs 
• Experience and particularities while working with smaller airports 
• How was the transition when taking over from the legacy ANSP
• ATM in 5 years from now and in 50 years from now