Air Traffic Management

One current challenge in European ATC training is the streamlining of training to become an air traffic controller. In fact in my previous post I wrote that this training [Common Core Content] should be the same anywhere it is provided.

Having discussed this issue with a number of people involved [amongst whom many still believe that this should be the case] I have come to change my mind.

The paths taken may be different, the end result should be the same.  With this I mean that it is the performance which is to be achieved at a specific step towards becoming an ATCO is more important.

The standard across Europe should be that of the performance objectives at the end of each phase of training, i.e. Basic, Rating and Unit training.  At the end of each phase, students should be checked against these objectives and if judged apt, then they would be allowed to progress to the next phase.

The training provided to achieve the performance could then be custom made against the students’ needs.

Some students are faster than others in acquiring certain skills.  Others, like for example a person with meteorological background or an apron controller, bring with them already a lot of knowledge which does not need to be retrained.Â

The current struggle in determining the common core content training objectives as a standard is because it is hard to determine one type of training for different kind of people with different backgrounds.

The objective is to guarantee that all qualified personnel have the same common core skill and knowledge set which would then enable mobility and would be a guarantee that ATC service delivered in different part of Europe is up to the same standard.

To achieve this objective, it is easier to determine the performance that these people need to reach at different steps in their development towards becoming controllers than to try to limit training ot one pre defined path.

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In recent discussions I have had with training providers, I seem to notice that there is a general tendency to relate more and more initial training [composed of Basic and Rating] for ATCOs to the operational requirements of the units at which the future ATCOs are expected to then work.

If this tendency is true, then European training providers are drifting away from the principles of a common core of ATC training for students.

As a reminder the principle is that at the end of the rating component, the successful student ATCO will be issued with a student license.  This student license does not have any unit related connotation, meaning, it does not say that this student license was issued to work in country A in regional towers with low traffic and this other was issued to work in country B in a complex area environment.

Based on this principle, the European Directive was issued and which gives the right to a holder of a student license to start unit training anywhere in Europe.  This would not be possible if the initial training received is embedded in the particular unit requirements.

Subsequently, in my opinion, ANSPs refusing holders of a student license issued by a training provider other than that which normally provides it with Initial ATC training service, to start unit training on the premise that the initial training received was not adequate would be breaching European law.

If the trend I mentioned above continues, then we will just have to wait for a litigation case which will set a precedent on this issue…

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