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Published Thursday December 17th, 2009 in the Daily Gleaner
A3
By MICHAEL STAPLES
staples.michael@dailygleaner.com
The Fredericton International Airport now has air traffic controllers.
The change from flight advisory service went into effect today.
Steve Hunt, general manager of the Atlantic Flight Information Region for NAV Canada, said the change was made following a review.
It was determined there was a need to shift from a flight advisory service to an air traffic control service because of the growing number of landings at the airport, he said.
In 2008, there were 73,000 movements at the facility. That's expected to jump to more than 100,000 this year.
"Because of the increase in traffic, a control service is more appropriate to the level of traffic and mix of traffic that's currently at Fredericton," Hunt said in an interview. "The opportunity in a controlled service environment is to issue instructions to aircraft in order to ensure the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of the operation."
Under the old system, instructions couldn't be issued to aircraft, just advice. The responsibility for maintaining separation of aircraft was left to pilots.
"The big difference in a control service is the controller will be providing the separation of aircraft in the control room," Hunt said.
Hunt said NAV Canada is phasing in its control service hours and will begin with eight-hour operations. That will be expanded, however, as people are transitioned and trained.
Everything will depend on traffic patterns and levels, he said.
David Innes, CEO of the Fredericton International Airport Authority, said he's pleased with the change.
"Certainly with the amount of traffic and activity that's on our airfield now, it is appropriate to have an enhanced control system. It helps us define the system," he said.
Air traffic control is well understood around the world as the preferred operating system at an airport, Innes said.
"It's a higher level of control; there's no doubt about that."
Innes said he expects traffic levels at the airport to continue to increase.
As of Wednesday, NAV Canada had 11 flight service specialists at the Fredericton International Airport.
They have all been given the option of transitioning to air traffic controllers.
"All of them have expressed interest in becoming air traffic controllers and we're putting a training plan in place to support their transition to become air traffic controller," Hunt said.
With that training comes a substantial pay increase.
An air traffic controller can earn between $57,000 and $123,000 per year. A flight service specialist can earn between $42,000 and $86,000 per year. |
