HUMAN RESOURCES ANALYSIS IN THE BLUE MED FAB ENVIRONMENT

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1 BLUE MED is co-funded by the EC DG TREN within the TEN-T Framework Issue 3 - June 2008 HUMAN RESOURCES ANALYSIS IN THE BLUE MED FAB ENVIRONMENT The competence, qualification, expertise and skills of staff are key factors for an effective transition towards the future BLUE MED FAB Virtual Centre operations and achieving the operational targets and potential benefits. Involvement and participation of staff are key to finding best solutions, to positive support, motivation and commitment to learn and to perform. All these qualities should be preserved and enhanced, to the extent possible, throughout the FAB definition and implementation processes. Consequently, it would be very important to know what are the social issues of immediate interest for staff as regards the future organisation and operation of a FAB Virtual Centre. This article aims to give this information and report on what is known in this regard. In a FAB Virtual Centre operational environment, operational staff will continue to perform the same tasks when managing and controlling air traffic, from within their current working environment and teams. Training will be harmonised, if not common, in compliance with the already existing ICAO, EUROCONTROL and common European regulatory requirements and principles, and with their further developments. The difference in a Virtual Centre environment is that here the operational scope will be wider

2 2 and require the application of common or harmonised principles and of means of interoperability in accordance with a commonly operated, integrated airspace and route network that a Virtual Centre will encompass. Of course this will require the evolution and adaptation of the current operational concepts and procedures by all partner ANSPs of the Virtual Centre so as to ensure seamless operations in the BLUE MED area. Air Traffic Controllers, other operational staff and ATM technical staff will hence need to be specifically trained and qualified in new ways of working within this virtual, highly interoperable as if one-centre organisation and functionality. Controllers and other staff too, will first need to be adequately trained and qualified in the interoperable technical and operational enablers that will support the operational requirement. This will in effect require the implementation of new or additional unit endorsements in the individual Air Traffic Controller Licence. This certainly is an issue of social interest for the future and one that requires a well orchestrated and sensible approach and solution and in close consultation and agreement with all the relevant social dialogue partners. The initial assessment of the impact a future FAB Virtual Centre shows, that the harmonisation of the operational requirements within the BLUE MED FAB will necessitate organisational adaptations to manage and ensure the overall consistency and application of the operational procedures within the entire FAB. This means from a staffing perspective that initially the future FAB organisation and operation may need additional staff compared to today. From the perspective of qualification this means, that a wider array of qualifications and competencies of staff will be required. It is important that the organisational adaptations and additional structures will not add to the fragmentation of the ATM system, but to the contrary, will lead to seamless operations. The BLUE MED Definition Phase will soon start to define the way forward, up to a detailed, best-option implementation scenario. One part of the work to be done should also be to identify and assess the likely impacts of social issues with the aim of identifying and finding suitable solutions. The social opportunities and benefits are of likewise importance and should be used to create support. Staff should be well informed and involved in a participative way in this work from as early on as possible. Adequate arrangements should be established to inform, consult and involve staff representatives in the best ways possible, as required and in respect of national legal requirements and existing agreements between social partners from the employer and the employee side. This will ensure that adequate, and acceptable solutions for social and other human issues in a FAB environment can be identified as early and competently as possible, and that they will be properly addressed and not be masked by technical or other aspects. by Hermann Rathje, EUROCONTROL

3 3 EARLY RESULTS TO DEVELOP THE LEGAL-INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE BLUE MED FAB! The concept of FABs was introduced by the SES initiative. According to Article 5.1 of the Airspace Regulation the EC Member States have the obligation to reconfigure the upper airspace into FABs. In addition to this obligation, the SES regulations contain a number of requirements that have to be fulfilled by a FAB. The objective of the BLUE MED analysis was to identify and assess the legal requirements of a FAB on the basis of the existing legislation and to compare the present national legal situation in the BLUE MED States in order to identify legal impediments at an early stage of the process. As guidance, the BLUE MED team used inter alia the EUROCONTROL Model State level FAB Agreement which contains a comprehensive inventory of FAB legal issues. It is important to note that though there are only a few legal requirements relating to FABs laid down in the SES regulations, it must be ensured that provision, regulation and supervision of air navigation services in a FAB complies with the same legal obligations under international (ICAO, EUROCONTROL), EC and national law as ANS in a purely national environment. The FAB intrinsic cross-border situation emphasised e.g. in the requirement for common designation of ATS providers requires that States involved agree on how to comply with these obligations in the FAB airspace (first of all in an agreement at State level). For that purpose, BLUE MED legal-institutional analysis conducted a comparison of national law (including implementation of international law at national level) relevant for the FAB. Furthermore, the institutional framework is an important component of the legal framework. The relationship between the existing bodies in the BLUE MED States (NSAs, ANSPs, MoTs, MoDs, military authorities) will have to be defined. In addition, a number of bodies may have to be created in a FAB, their powers defined. Legal-institutional team assessed the existing institutional framework related to ANS provision in the BLUE MED States. The identified similarities and disparities in the existing ANS legal environment of the BLUE MED States resulted in the conclusion that there are no legal impediments with respect to the establishment of a FAB in the region. However, a number of conclusions and recommendations were formulated for the upcoming BLUE MED Definition Phase. Those relate for example to the following areas: legal instruments that must be drafted in the definition phase, the requirement for stronger involvement of States, their NSAs and the military, cooperation between work packages, the need for a dedicated supervision work package. The findings provide the basis for legal experts to progress with the development of the appropriate legal and institutional framework for the BLUE MED FAB in the definition phase. The complexity of this work and subsequent implementation will certainly be a challenge, which is, however, a commonality of all FAB projects. by Judith Schmitz, EUROCONTROL

4 4 BLUE MED SAFETY ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES The challenge of Single European Sky (SES) initiative is to create an integrated and highly transparent safety chain across the global aviation system, cost effectively delivering a common and high level of safety across Europe, generating continuous safety improvements and leading enhancements of aviation safety. The design and implementation of increasingly more complex systems and higher levels of CNS/ATM system integration through the implementation of a FAB will create new safety and certification challenges. BLUE MED Feasibility Study has fully acknowledged these principles and Safety has the highest priority in the process looking at the evolution of the CNS/ATM system within the region. In this context, the BLUE MED Safety Assessment Challenge was two fold: the subject matter, as this was a first step to conduct a safety assessment of a FAB; and the fact that the safety assessment, even though restricted at that stage to an initial assessment, had to be done on the basis of a very high level concept of operations. The Safety Assessment, defined according to the relevant EUROCONTROL methodology, contributed to the BLUE MED Feasibility Study with the definition of three main documents: a Safety Consideration report; an Initial Safety Argument; and a Safety Plan. 1. The Safety Considerations phase The Safety Consideration is a process which allows to: describe a project; identify where it may have an impact on safety; decide whether the project needs a formal safety plan or not; and identify what to be done to censure that the project is safe. The Safety Considerations phase has provided also an initial assessment of the safety implications of the project, as the basis for developing a Safety Assessment Plan in which the detailed safety activities were specified. It addressed, inter alia: the regulatory context for the safety aspects of the project, what the project is seeking to achieve (e.g. to deliver efficiency and environmental benefits), the possible impact on safety (in general terms only, since a safety assessment would not have been started at this stage), the criteria for deciding what is safe in the context of the Project, and, in broad terms, the strategy for demonstrating safety. 2. The Initial Safety Argument Following the conclusions of the Safety Considerations report, an Initial Safety Argument was developed in compliance with the EUROCONTROL Safety Case Development Guidelines. The benefits of developing an Initial Safety Argument are numerous, among them the main benefits are linked to: providing more info for the structure of the Safety Case; allowing a first identification of hazards; supporting the identification of safety impact at interfaces; providing the necessary information to draw-up the Safety Plan; and last but most important allowing initial conclusions with regard to the safety of the BLUEMED FAB. 3. The Safety Plan The aim of this Safety Plan is to explain and plan the necessary activities to be carried out for incrementally building a Safety Case that will provide more detailed arguments that the overall Safety Objectives are met and consequently, that the BLUE MED FAB will be safely designed for future implementation in its intended environment. The Safety Plan has defined the safety management,

5 5 assessment and validation activities needed to ensure that the BLUE MED FAB activities and developments have been defined as intrinsically safe, complete, correct and robust, making sure mitigations are in place for internal failures. More specifically, from the Initial Safety Argument a Safety Plan could be derived that makes a high level listing of: required activities for the production of evidence; roles and responsibilities; and validation mechanisms. The Safety Plan will be regularly updated and will form the basis for all subsequent phases activities. The Safety Assessment Activities for BLUE MED Definition Phase Thanks to the work done so far all activities have been identified for the subsequent phases of the BLUE MED Project. The Safety Assessment Team will proceed to a series of iterations through the Safety Argument as per the Safety Plan. Iterations will be in phase with the various releases of the Concept of Operations. This will ensure that the safety assessment will provide ever more precise results as the project moves on. by Gilles Le Galo, EUROCONTROL

6 6 ECHO FROM... BLUE MED Steering Group Meeting, Venice (Italy) 9 April 2008 During the SG-04 meeting Mohamed Rejeb - BLUE MED Tunisian representative - expressed OACA full interest in this first phase declaring that BLUE MED project was seen as an opportunity to improve the whole ATM system and to develop the quality of services provided for air navigation in Tunisia. As a Project Manager at OACA (Tunisian Civil Aviation and Airport Authority), he reported the effort of Tunisia to try to reach the European Standards in terms of ATM, air navigation services quality and safety. Thanks to this partnership with BLUE MED, Tunisia tries to ensure a smooth over flights and safe air Traffic handover between Europe and Africa. As a result of the successful cooperation with BLUE MED Feasibility Study, OACA Project Manager expressed his optimism and the will of his country to participate in the next Phase. Why NANSC-Egypt looking for more positive and active role within BLUE MED by Mohey Ragheb, National Air Navigation Services Company - Egypt In the following we identified the main reasons for our participation in BLUE MED NANSC shares a common border with Greece and Cyprus, making of Egypt a real interface for the SES/SESAR concept and an important transitional key point for the European Sky and ACAC (Arabian Civil Aviation Commission) while 92% of over flying traffic is exchanged NW to SE. The objective of improving regional and local ATM Coordination towards seamless global services convinced NANSC to improve its Observer status, being now an Associated Member of the BLUE MED partnership. To the same objective, NANSC is member of the EMAC project looking forward to receiving all possible European support as a non-eu State. NANSC with its capability and unique geographical position with a prominent growth rate has a role in MED & AFI regions toward harmonization and homogenous area for ATM services. NANSC is expecting also via BLUE MED to expand activities, business and to provide Maximum Benefit for all airspace users with the required level of safety, level of performance as one of the largest and longest established aviation sector in the area.

7 7 ECHO FROM... BLUE MED Presentation to IATA-AEA Brussels, 4 March 2008 The BLUE MED Team of ENAV (Italy), DCAC (Cyprus), HCAA (Greece), OACA (Tunisia) and NANSC (Egypt) presented the approach undertaken in the Feasibility Study - fully performance oriented to reduce current fragmentation - and BLUE MED expectations to implement an iterative process basing on specific Key Performance Areas. The main issues raised by IATA-AEA are as follows: The need for a clear definition of the interoperability with the neighbouring FABs to ensure seamless aircraft operation. BLUE MED is fully aligned to this requirement, as reported in the results of the Operational Analysis and recommends that the creation of an ad hoc forum be considered by the EC. The need for an extensive airline consultation, in order to jointly define FAB principles in the Definition Phase. The BLUE MED Team will define the Governance for the upcoming BLUE MED Definition Phase; an Advisory Group will be established in which IATA and AEA are expected to play a major role. Involvement of local airlines is recommended to improve the level of airspace users participation. FAB initiatives shall ensure the achievement of targets set by the SESAR Definition Phase. IATA-AEA acknowledge and support BLUE MED approach. BLUE MED welcomes Albania and Jordan Civil Aviation Authorities!!! The Civil Aviation Authority of Jordan requested to participate as observer during the EMAC (Europe Middle-East Air Traffic Management Coordination) Steering Committee held in Nicosia last February. Albania s DAM-DGCA recently applied for participation with observer status in the BLUE MED initiative, too. Both requests were accepted positively by all members of the BLUE MED Steering Group, confirming the project governance to pursue the establishment of Functional Airspace Blocks over the Mediterranean.

8 8 ECHO FROM... BLUE MED First Social Forum, Bruges (Belgium) 22 April 2008 On 22 April 2008, the first BLUE MED Social Forum was held in Bruges (Belgium) to present key findings and remaining challenges of the Feasibility Study to the main European Social Parties and define their involvement in the following phase of the Project. The Forum saw the participation of prominent representatives from ETF, ATCEUC, CANSO as well as Egypt s and Tunisian Trade Unions. It was the opportunity to present preliminary results and launch the bases for proactive joint approach and shared objectives of the Definition Phase. In order to succeed in increasing performance with positive social consequences, a series of recommendations were retained, among which: BLUE MED will establish a permanent social forum to be held twice/year with Governing Body members; BLUE MED will completely endorse ETF/CANSO guidelines on consultation arrangements; employees organisations shall be involved in periodic BLUE MED working groups meetings; employees organisations shall be involved by each concerned State in FAB internal implementation process.

9 9 UPCOMING EVENTS BLUE MED CAA Conference Athens, 4 July 2008 The Civil Authorities of the EU Service Providers (ENAV, HCAA, MATS, DCGA), of the two Associated Partners (OACA, Tunisia and NANSC, Egypt) and of Albania and Jordan (under the status of Observers) will officially sign a Joint Statement to acknowledge the work performed under the Feasibility Study Phase and to affirm their continued support to undertake the Definition Phase of the Project. The European Commission and EUROCONTROL will attend the Conference, too. BLUE MED STAKEHOLDER FORUM MOVING CLOSER TO FUNCTIONAL AIRSPACE BLOCKS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION Malta, Thursday 26 June 2008 Thursday 26 June 2008 is the day for which the BLUE MED Partners have invited all external stakeholders to listen to the Feasibility Study key findings and future plans for the subsequent Phases (Definition and Implementation). You can download the detailed programme at: Mark 26 June 2008 in your calendars for this occasion and forward this invitation to people you think might be interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you in Malta! This Newsletter is an important means to improve communication with all interested parties on the results and progress made during the Feasibility Study Phase. It is a joint effort of the BLUE MED Partners to share activities, events, documents and topical information on the project. The Communication Team gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Hermann Rathje, Gilles Le Galo and Judith Schmitz (EUROCONTROL), Mohey Rajheb (NANSC) for their articles on this Newsletter. The next issue will introduce main results achieved by the Feasibility Study with respect to end results, interoperability and CBA. The Way Forward the Definition Phase will be presented to the BLUE MED Community in this fourth and latest issue of the Newsletter. For any enquiries, please contact info@bluemed.it and learn more by visiting BLUE MED website at Photographs are courtesy of ENAV SpA