My fascination with aircraft started at about age 5 and I first heard about air traffic control when I was 16. Gabi Nemeth who made music besides being an air traffic controller was on a TV talk show and he made a gallant effort to explain what ATC was all about… He must have done… Continue reading Conversion course – Does anyone understand the airlines?
Tag: IATA
User Requirements for Air Traffic Services – IATA booklet
Publisher: IATA IATA has put together a very useful booklet offering a better understanding of international airlines’ requirements and capabilities for communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management. Gunther Matschnigg, IATA Senior Vice President, Safety, Operations and Infrastructure, has this to say in his introduction to the booklet: “There are times when airlines are taken… Continue reading User Requirements for Air Traffic Services – IATA booklet
Call sign similarity rules
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary One key element in reducing the number of call sign Confusion events is an agreed set of Call Sign Similarity Rules i.e. agreed definitions of what constitutes ‘a similarity’. These Rules have been identified by analysis of safety reports concerning call sign confusion and published by the… Continue reading Call sign similarity rules
Is it nice to work for an airline?
When I started my life in aviation, air traffic control was part of the corporate structure of the local airline, Malev. A bit like having the police department integrated into the taxi company and with no less interesting situations that arose when the owner airline was not given the priority they desired. So, yes I… Continue reading Is it nice to work for an airline?
2009 Aviation Safety Performance Data published by IATA
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary 2009’s accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft is the second lowest in aviation history. The 2009 global accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jet aircraft) was 0.71. That is equal to one accident for every 1.4 million flights. This is a significant… Continue reading 2009 Aviation Safety Performance Data published by IATA
8.33 kHz Channel spacing – what is this?
The radio spectrum, a scarce resort One of the most basic activities in a cockpit is tuning the radio to the assigned frequency of whoever we want to talk to. Contacting ground control, the tower or one’s own company is done by turning a few knobs until the right numbers show in the radio control… Continue reading 8.33 kHz Channel spacing – what is this?
Copenflop fall-out – what next?
The Copenhagen environment conference was supposed to bring solutions to the problems nearer. The conference was a complete flop, certainly in respect of aviation. Of course, trusting anything this serious to politicians is a bad idea to begin with, but this is the world we live in. We must trust them to get it right… Continue reading Copenflop fall-out – what next?
Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) – History and current practice
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE The concept of Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) was originally defined in the United States by a group of airlines, led by US Air, in response to what the airlines perceived as inadequate co-operation between airports, the FAA and the airlines themselves. They formed the so called CDM Group, members of which visited several… Continue reading Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) – History and current practice
Interesting people, unusual flight plans…
Guenter Martis – The humanist among us Guenter is Director of European Affairs at CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) What were you dreaming of becoming when you were a kid? I wanted to become an inventor, like Marconi. I wanted to invent things with which I could contribute to the well being of mankind.… Continue reading Interesting people, unusual flight plans…
Who is in charge here?
Those of us who have served the airline industry know full well that what may appear as a monolithic industry (all airlines fly aircraft after all, do they not?), is in fact a multitude of differing business models, interests, attitudes, readiness to invest in new things, inertia, vision and what have you. Even within the… Continue reading Who is in charge here?