A simple, immediate solution to potentially dangerous shortage of air traffic control officers

BY Capt. G A Fernando MBA
gafplane@sltnet.lk
RCyAF/ SLAF, Air Ceylon, AirLanka, SIA, Sri Lankan Airlines.
And CAASL

In a recent interview conducted by Chamuditha Samarawickrama of Truth with Chamuditha fame with Thisara Amarananda, President of the Sri Lanka Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (SLATCA), it was revealed that the existing cadre of Air Traffic Control Officers was dangerously low due to migration of senior Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) seeking more lucrative jobs abroad.

There are only 80 ATCOs instead of the required 138. They currently work overtime to keep air traffic services going. If four more ATCOs leave, it will lead to cumulative fatigue which may eventually bring the services provided in Sri Lankan airspace to a halt.

As a possible consequence our airspace of over 60,000 square nautical miles will be carved out amongst adjoining or regional countries such as Indonesia, Australia, Maldives and India. Sri Lanka will lose valuable foreign exchange revenue amounting to an average of $35,000 per day, derived from payment by airlines for flying through Sri Lankan airspace. Sri Lanka in turn provides the carriers with flight monitoring and traffic Information, and search and rescue facilities.

An Air Traffic Controller’s job is unique, requiring a good standard of English and communication skills. While the job generally maintains a lower profile than most others in the eyes of the general public, the service is provided day in and day out 24/7. Maintaining the flow of aircraft in and out of airports and en route is essential to aviation safety. This is also why the work of Air Traffic Control is rated as one of the most stressful in the world (Montgomery, 2010).

ATCOs function at three levels. (1) Aerodrome Controllers who use their eyes and ears while in the control tower of an airport up to an altitude of about 4,000 feet; (2) Approach Controllers who monitor and control air traffic on radar from 4,000 feet to 15,000 feet; and (3) Area Controllers (from Ratmalana) who control traffic above 15,000ft on radar and Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) when beyond line of sight. (Radar works on line-of-sight only.) It is obvious that a competent ATCO cannot be produced overnight.

The aviation environment is generally assumed, by the general public in particular, to be safe. The importance and significance of an ATCO’s job will only come into focus in the event of a high-profile incident or accident. In the past, all control and separation of air traffic was maintained by the use of headings and altitudes provided to the aircraft, known as ‘tactical radar vectoring’. With the introduction of new/future air navigation systems, separation of the majority of aircraft arrivals and departures at airports are looked after automatically. As a result, old skills of Air Traffic Controllers are lost and new skills have to be learnt. Separation and sequencing of aircraft could be done en route, long before their arrival at the destination airport. Because all aircraft are still not equipped with future air navigation systems, and the air traffic control systems are in the process of being modernised, the Air Traffic Controller enforces a ‘mixed mode’, i.e. controlling the old and the new, adding further stress to the conduct of the job.

The job of an Air Traffic Controller requires extensive training, knowledge, experience and skill, enabling the individual to ensure a safe, expeditious and orderly flow of air traffic with economy, collectively known as ‘Air Traffic Management’ (ATM). According to Costa (1996), there are six main ‘Stressors’ that affect the Job of Air Traffic Controllers: (1) Demand; (2) Operating Procedures; (3) Working times; (4) Working tools; (5) Working environment; and (6) Work Organisation.

(1)  Demand: The number of aircraft under the purview of an Air Traffic Controller will constantly vary during a given duty period. The stress factor is directly proportional to this number. Accordingly, there will be highs and lows in the Air Traffic Controller’s workload during a given duty period. There could be unanticipated, nonessential traffic causing distractions, as well as unexpected events such as bad weather, medical and technical emergencies occurring in air traffic under their control.

(2)  Standard Operating Procedures: Another stress factor is the need to operate within Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) required by the relevant organisations (Airport and Aviation Ltd and Civil Aviation Authority Sri Lanka) while striving to perform under constant, real-time pressure, sometimes creating the need to even bend the rules to get the work done. Working on the edge of maintaining control while realising the terrible consequences of a genuine human error adds to the anxiety and stress.

(3) Working Times: The working times could be any time of day or night and the Air Traffic Controller is expected to work at 100 percent efficiency (and nothing less) irrespective of the circadian (body clock) lows. Usually the job involves shift duties which sometimes lead to extended duty time to cover for an absent colleague. This adds to the stress. (Job and Home)

(4) Working Tools: The equipment an Air Traffic Controller has to work with, such as microphones, headsets, telephones, badly designed control panel layouts and radar display screens that may be old and outdated, is another source of stress. On the other hand, there is the need to become competent with futuristic technology for Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS), including (CPDLC). The controllers need to regularly attend training courses and certification, to update themselves, thereby causing stress.

(5) Work Environment: Noise, light, temperature, ventilation, sitting posture, cafeteria and rest facilities, coupled with lack of seclusion from the distractions of the outside world, create stress for the Air Traffic Controller.

(6) The Work Organisation: Relationships with colleagues, salary, sometimes responsibility without authority. With the advent of Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS), there is a change of roles and responsibilities of the Air Traffic Controllers, and is bound to be stressful.

In Sri Lanka all ATCOs are University Mathematics graduates who had applied for the job as advertised in the Government Gazette. They had little or no knowledge of what the work involved. Therefore, they have to be orientated and trained ‘from scratch’. Unlike in the past in Sri Lanka, and the practice in other parts of the world, no qualified pilots were recruited to the job. The last pilot in the system retired in 2017.

Now, SriLankan Airlines has yet again advertised for Cadet Pilots and Junior First Officers. It is estimated that there are almost 200 eligible applicants. Unfortunately, many are called but only a few are selected. The selection process is not fool-proof, but considered to be the best under the circumstances.

Flight training is expensive. The requirement for eligibility is knowledge to sit and pass the Air Transport Pilots’ Licence (ATPL) theory examination and have enough flying experience and skill to be awarded a Commercial Pilots’ Licence and Instrument Rating (CPL/IR) with a twin-engine qualification endorsed on the licence. This will cost the student pilot in excess of Rs. 10 million, and take more than two years to accomplish. One has to be at least 17 years old to start basic flying training. Some go to the USA for training and exposure. Some foreign universities offer a pilot’s licence with a degree.

Unquestionably, parents undergo untold hardship to put their children through flight school. Some even get into debt and mortgage their only property. That’s the stark reality. It may not be wrong to say that most candidates are from middle class families where parents make many such sacrifices to be able to fund their children’s training for a so-called glamorous job which pays high salaries.

Airlines today have a good safety record, and although not acknowledged by the west, since 1947 Air Ceylon, Air Lanka and SriLankan Airlines have not lost a single passenger due to an air accident. All lives lost resulted from acts of terrorism. The ATCOs too, should be given due credit for the unseen and unsung role they have played and continue to play to maintain safe skies over Sri Lanka.

Due to a bottleneck in the pilot training process, SriLankan Airlines cannot recruit large numbers at once. Usually, recruitment occurs once approximately every 18 months. Those who are unsuccessful in joining the national carrier the first time have to spend three to five years applying over and over again before they find a slot in their chosen career, or become over-age. Meanwhile some become instructors in the many flying schools, or secure airline jobs abroad, while the rest (read: majority) simply give up their ambitions of becoming a pilot. There are many variables in the selection process, with an element of luck playing a large part.

Make no mistake, most young people who aren’t selected as cadets or Junior First Officers are bright, talented, enthusiastic and eager to work in the aviation industry. It is their passion that keeps them going. Unfortunately, they are not utilised in other aviation fields like Air Traffic Control. This valuable resource of qualified but inexperienced pilots, trained at great expense to their parents and the country (the latter in terms of foreign exchange for fuel, spares and equipment), isn’t recognised by either the Civil Aviation Authority Sri Lanka (CAASL) or Airport and Aviation Services Ltd (AASL).

Rather than recruiting personnel ‘off the street’ as it were, these young lads and lasses could enhance the ATCO cadre as Aerodrome Controllers. They have basic aviation sense and airmanship (common sense) and will need minimum training. That’s how it was in the Sixties and seventies. While it is likely that many will later move on to their chosen profession as airline pilots, there will be a few who will opt to stay as ATCOs, thereby enriching the competency levels of the aviation industry. It is a case of resource management. This is how it happens in most parts of the world.

Could this be the solution to the potentially dangerous problem in Sri Lanka?