Future Aviation Challenge Team

In an effort to harmonize NextGen and SESAR and to avoid proliferation of different regional Air Traffic Management (ATM) programs, ICAO initiated the Aviation System Block Upgrades (ASBU) initiative. The ASBU is designed to be a pragmatic framework that develops a set of ATM upgrades, takes advantage of current equipage, establishes a transition plan and enables global interoperability. IATA fully supports this initiative.

The Future Aviation Challenge Team (FACT) was established to support the ASBU. The FACT provides organizational support and guidance to the development of the Block Upgrades. It is led by the ICAO Secretary General and composed of senior leaders from the industry including IATA DG, CANSO DG, Airports Council International DG, European Commission Director of Air Transport, Federal Aviation Administration Deputy Administrator and the SSEAR Joint Undertaking Executive Director.
Work on the FACT/ASBU must be engineered to support and expedite the implementation of NextGen, SESAR and Asian Skies.

A recent meeting in March resulted in the following:

• There is a continuing commitment to make the ASBU a success.
• More focus needs to be placed on policy decisions and ensuring commitment from States.
• Overall progress is ok but firm dates need to be agreed for implementation of ATM technology. 
• US/Europe working groups, under an agreed MOU, have been established to address non-harmonization of technology and different implementation dates.  ICAO will defer to these groups for resolution of current issues relating to Data Communication. 
• Main priority work area for IATA is Performance Based Navigation (PBN).  Progress on development of training and education material for industry is good.
• More work is required to determine the policies relating to the implementation of the ASBU’s. 
• More work required to understand, agree and set policy for airline equipage. 
• A progress report on ASBU will be issued before ICAO Air Navigation Conference 12 in November 2012.

Flexible Use of Airspace

Recognizing that the growing civil air traffic and mission-oriented military air traffic would benefit greatly from a more flexible use of airspace, the Global Air Traffic Management Forum on Civil/Military Coordination, in 2009, recommended joint development of advice and guidance on the best practices on civil/military coordination.

In accordance with the ICAO Assembly 37 resolution, ICAO launched a global campaign on Civil/Military Cooperation in ATM, also lead by IATA, for the period 2011 – 2013 in all ICAO Regions.

As a result of the discussions, the participants agreed, among other recommendations, that civil/military cooperation principles and practices be elevated to the highest political level in the States in the Asia/Pacific regions and that review of controlled and special user or airspace be undertaken by States to ensure its establishment is appropriate in terms of optimal civil/military operations.

2012 World Radio communication Conference

The radio spectrum frequencies airlines use to support their communications, navigation and surveillance services are globally allocated at UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) World Radio communication Conferences (WRCs).

Since aviation’s spectrum supports radars, collision avoidance systems, and aviation’s satellite systems as well as many other systems necessary for safe operations, it must be free from harmful interference and harmonized worldwide. Our allocations are thus more protected than those used for broadcasting, broadband or other non-safety of life uses.

The 2012 WRC addressed key areas – one being IATA’s position to ensure that aeronautical safety spectrum would be allocated for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) flight through ATC controlled airspace and that we would have appropriate access to spectrum for current and new aeronautical satellite services.  These objectives were achieved.  More information