Radar Contact: Recent Episodes
FoxATM
In this podcast episode, Global Airspace Radar Editor Katarzyna Żmudzinska meets Zheng Tao, Co-Founder and President of AirSpace Innovation to talk about new entrants.
As aviation evolves, the airspace is becoming home to an increasing number of new entrants, from drones and commercial space operations to high-altitude vehicles. While each presents its own operational challenges, are there common lessons that can help shape the future of ATM?
Drawing on experience across UTM, commercial space and other emerging operational environments, Zheng explores what these sectors have in common, and how they are reshaping the roles of ANSPs, regulators and air traffic controllers.
The conversation also examines international approaches to airspace integration and discusses what different regions can learn from each other.
Sebastian Schier-Morgenthal, Head of the Air Traffic Controller Assistance Department at the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance, part of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), joins Vincent Lambercy to discuss how artificial intelligence could support the future of air traffic control through Project LOKI.
Project LOKI explores how AI can work alongside human controllers by introducing the Digital Interactive Reliable Controller (DIRC), designed to act as a trusted digital teammate rather than replace the human controller. The discussion covers:
- How Project LOKI is redefining the relationship between human controllers and AI through collaborative task distribution
- The opportunities and limitations of AI in air traffic control, from routine operations to complex decision-making
- The path from research to real-world implementation, including certification, industry collaboration and the future of digital controller technology
Reinhard Grimm, Executive Vice President, ATM Civil, Frequentis joins our Editor-in-Chief Claudia Bacco to discuss a strategic overview of the current state of the ATM market, ANSP challenges, innovation for the future and technology.
Reinhard Grimm has over 20 years of experience in mission-critical communications, with a strong focus on public safety and air traffic management. Since joining the Frequentis Group in 2006, he has held various leadership roles in product and solution management. In July 2024, he was appointed Executive Vice President Air Traffic Management.
Prior to this, he served as Director Product Line Incident & Crisis Management, leading the development of solutions that support control rooms and crisis teams worldwide.
Reinhard is particularly passionate about modernising ATC infrastructure, and under his leadership, Frequentis continues to advance the integration of voice and automation technologies, unlocking the final silos in air traffic control and paving the way for next-generation safety and efficiency.
Rita Somogyi, Managing Director of Tern Systems' branch in Hungary and Chief Commercial Officier of Terns Systems globally sat down with Vincent Lambercy to discuss how technology providers and ANSPs get the best results when they work hand in hand. The discussion covers:
- Latest news about Tern's Polaris ATM system becoming operational with HungaroControl
- How Tern's proximity, and open and direct communication with partners yields great results
- Modularity as a way to fulfill the needs of multiple customers with the same software, putting it in perspective with the SESAR new software delivery model (SDM) and EASA Design and Production Organisation (DPO) regulation
- An outlook on Tern Systems' projects for the coming years
Rita's answer to our signature question is pretty interesting and opens possibilities so listen till the end...
Maartje van der Helm, General Manager Performance & Development at LVNL, the Dutch air navigation service provider (ANSP), speaks with Global Airspace Radar Editor Marita Lintener about the specific challenges of managing Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Dutch airspace.
The discussion covers operational challenges, stakeholder and community relations, civil-military integration, LVNL's technological transformation, and the current state of play in the implementation of Advanced Air Mobility and unmanned aviation. The conversation also includes advice for the next generation and explores how the aviation sector can attract new talent.
Christine Raab is a seasoned drone and defence strategist. She is Advisor to the Alliance for New Mobility Europe (AME), a leading European drone organisation and also an angel investor in the drone sector.
Her experience includes 10 years in EU drone regulation and before that 15 years in European security and defence policy-making including Executive Director for Drone Alliance Europe (DAE), Chairman of the European Security Round Table (ESRT), working in the European Parliament.
Christine joined our editor-in-chief, Claudia Bacco, to answer some tough questions about the state of the drone industry today. Topics you will learn about:
-
Dual use between Civil and Military along with lesson learned transferral
-
The importance of situational awareness and how we get there
-
Connecting communities: B2B and B2C
-
The state of EU regulation
Airspace World 2026 is in the books and the team takes a look back:
- Vincent looks at the general impression and some technical progress
- Kasia reports on space launches and training, mentioning this previous episode
- Marita discusses her conversations about resilience and civil-military integration, the future of SESAR, and C-suite executive presence at the event
- Claudia shares her thoughts on the Seamless Skies Awards, and challenges CANSO to create a space for start-ups in coming editions.
What was your highlight from the show?
Marie-Christine Cloutier is Vice President Strategy and Air Traffic Services at CAE. On this episode, sponsored by CAE, we discuss:
- The need for Air Traffic Services professionals in the coming years, as reported in CAE’s 2025 Aviation Talent Forecast
- CAE’s end-to-end training services ‒ from delivery to courseware modernization and consultancy
- How CAE integrates new technologies like immersive 3D visualization and eye-tracking into air traffic services training
- How CAE’s pilot training expertise drives synergies with air traffic services training ‒ mutually enhancing both disciplines
Airspace World is coming soon and the Global Airspace Radar editorial team looks ahead to their key areas of interest for this year:
- AI across the industry - will it or won't it?
- Integrated airspace management - drones, eVTOLs, HAPS, space and of course airplanes!
- SESAR in the future and other regulatory aspects
- New ways of training to bring more ATCOs onboard
And naturally, the Seamless Skies Awards!
Martin Rolfe, CEO of NATS National Air Traffic Services of the UK, and one of the longest serving CEOs of an ANSP in Europe talks with Global Airspace Radar editor Marita Lintener about his learnings during his career and the challenges for the sector.
They are unpacking the strategic topics of Air Traffic Management (ATM): Implementation of new technologies and integrated systems, the importance of space operations, introduction of Advanced Air Mobility and its business case, and his predictions for the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Air Navigation Services. Do not miss the conversation concluding on future skills, appeal of the aviation sector in competitive job markets and how the ATM profession will look in 2035.
In today’s episode, two guests from NASA Ames Research Center - Heather Arneson, Deputy Project Manager for Execution of the Air Traffic Management and Safety Project, and Jeff Homola, Aeronautics Researcher and Higher Airspace Traffic Management Concept Lead speak with Global Airspace Radar editor Katarzyna Żmudzińska about high-altitude traffic management.
Heather and Jeff explain that high-altitude operations are meant to take place at altitudes from 50,000 feet, well above traditional air traffic, and that there are numerous promising use cases currently being explored, such as imagery, emergency response and telecommunications.
The guests also explain why high-altitude traffic management is very different from traditional Air Traffic Control (ATC), and what is being done to develop safe and efficient coordination between high-altitude and conventional air traffic.
Nicki Harricharan - Operations Programme Manager, CANSO talks with Global Airspace Radar, Editor-in-Chief Claudia Bacco about the importance of operations and safety being an integrated effort within our industry.
This topic spans beyond traditional air navigation service provider (ANSP) activities related to air traffic management and unmanned traffic management integration. Today the presence of drones is increasing along with the introduction of advanced air mobility, high altitude operations and space traffic. The conversation considers the implications of this shift in traffic and concepts to ensure safety remains the top priority as this evolution occurs.
There's also a look toward the upcoming Airspace World, 26 - 28 May in Lisbon.
Thomas Neubauer, CEO of Dimetor discusses with Vincent Lambercy about the latest progresses in drone detection technology. This episode covers various technologies that can be used but also Dimetor speciality: extracting intelligence from telecom data.
When drones are controlled using 5G networks, simple RF-scanners can't detect them anymore. Identifying drone-related traffic in the flow of 5G data is possible using artificial intelligence and seeing the network as a sensor.
An interesting second use case is detecting GNSS jamming and spoofing, which is also a growing concern for aviation.
Philip Butterworth-Hayes, Publisher of Unmanned Airspace and Urban Air Mobility News, turns the tables and interviews Claudia Bacco, Editor-in-Chief, Global Airspace Radar about the recent xponential Europe conference and exhibition.
The discussion looks at what's different about the topics covered during this event, the event itself - hot or not, and a bit of a side step in cybersecurity. It isn't the same conversation about why it's taking so long for drones to scale in Europe!
Sergio Diaz Martinez, Business Development and Strategic Projects, Technology Park of Fuerteventura and Juanjo Sola, Chief Regulatory Office, Murzilli Consulting bring our Editor-in-Chief, Claudia Bacco up to speed on their answers to this question.
Do you already know about the Technology Park and their role in Canarias Geo Innovation Program 2030? You'll learn more about their work and the opportunities they are supporting to bring new concepts to life. One of the areas discussed is airspace risk assessment.
Airspace risk assessment is also an area Murzilli Consulting has supported in their work with U-space and SORA implementation work. If you are following this topic, then you understand the importance of solving this challenge not only for high altitude operations (HAO), but to scale the drone industry.
There's a lot of interesting work taking place in Spain, to help us get there. Listen and learn more....
The NTSB report about the accident in Washington DCA is over 400 pages long. Understanding its air traffic control implications is not easy and Vincent Lambercy has two guests on this special episode:
- Philip Mann, author of “The SCAR Framework: A Systematic Approach to AI Decision-Making in Critical Systems,” with nearly 30 years of experience in complex, safety-critical environments, including 17 years at the Federal Aviation Administration
- Mathew Lewallen, whose career has spanned multiple continents and conflict zones, with roles ranging from air traffic control crew supervisor to managing international altitude reservations across NATO, U.S., and partner nation airspaces.
Together, they take a deep dive in the report and then extract what makes sense for air traffic control experts.
James Evans, General Manager - Commercial, Airways International joins our Editor-in-chief, Claudia Bacco to look ahead at 2026 from the perspective of his new role in the organisation.
One of the main areas of discussion focussed on their shift in marketing priorities to ATC training and selection. Although this topic was important in 2025, it has now become the leading topic for them. Listen to learn more about why and the success they are seeing with the programme. There are some amazing statistics shared.
Drones and AAM are also included, with an overview of the first deployment of Airshare outside of New Zealand. From the perspective of expanding internationally, there are highlights of other successes outside of the region related to simulation and training.
And last, a sneak peak of what to expect from them at the upcoming Airspace World event in May.
John van Hoogstraten is the author of Reclaiming the Skies. In this episode, he discusses the book and the discussion it triggers online. John’s experience as an air traffic controller (ATCO), operations and safety manager, and consultant all over the globe gives him an interesting perspective. His current position as an independent consultant allows for a refreshing, free tone of speech.
The book starts with a razor-sharp analysis of how airlines imposed schedules on air traffic control (ATC) and how changes following the liberalisation phase pushed all actors into a race where each was focused on different achievements:
- Airlines for on-time performance
- Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) for capacity
- Airports for runway throughput
The second part of the book focuses on solutions. According to “Reclaiming the skies”, what ATC needs is predictability, rather than last-minute actions to handle demand. The key to bringing predictability to ATC is to establish ownership of the trajectories – including the timing aspects. It introduces concepts like Airline Flight Optimisation System (AFOS) and the SmartSlot tool by Shift Aviation Solutions.
Oksana Bardygula, Vice President Oliver Wyman, joins Marita Lintener, Global Airspace Radar Editor to discuss leadership, career advancement and employee retention in the global aerospace sector. We dive into the findings of the report "Lift Off to Leadership" Edition 2, jointly released jointly in February 2026 with the International Aerospace Women’s Association (IAWA).
For decades, the aviation and aerospace sector has struggled to attract and retain employees from diverse backgrounds. Beneath this well-known challenge lies a deeper issue: the significant underrepresentation of women in leadership positions - highlighting the need for immediate and sustained action. This need has become more urgent given a worldwide industry talent shortage that is limiting both innovation and growth.
This discussion is a must-listen for aviation and aerospace professionals. In this episode we bring you evidence-based insight from a survey of 250 global aviation and aerospace leaders, on the root causes of talent attrition, reveal the pathways of successful leadership, and deliver actionable recommendations for individuals, organizations, and the industry. Join us for data-driven insights and real-world strategies you can use today.
You can download the full report under https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2026/feb/aviation-aerospace-women-leadership-barriers.html and on https://iawa.org/lift_off_to_leadership_second.php. Everybody is invited to join the discussions on Linkedin with the hashtag #LiftOffChallenge.
Malte Seifert, director of XPONENTIAL Europe met with our Editor-in-Chief, Claudia Bacco to look ahead at the upcoming event on the 24-26th March in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The event is only in its second year but has seen a great amount of growth from exhibitors and registered attendees compared to last year's event. There are also more live demonstrations planned for this year, a hackathon, startup pitching competition and additional conference tracks.
In addition to the XPONENTIAL Conference programme there are also Partner Conferences including the European Drone Forum, Cybersecurity Forum, Standards Forum, Bundeswehr German Drone Defence & Innovation Forum and the Autonomous Inland & Short Sea Shipping Conference.
Bringing together these topics under one roof allows for different participants to network and learn from other industry verticals facing similar challenges.
Peter Sachs, Head of Airspace Integration, Zipline spoke with Claudia Bacco, Editor-in-Chief, Global Airspace Radar about the 10 year path that has helped Zipline evolve to where they are at today.
We discuss the market needs in two very different markets. The support of medical requirements via drone delivery in Africa and the delivery of food and household supplies in the US.
In order for this to be successful, UTM is a key component. Building on UTM functionality, we look at Remote ID, electronic conspicuity, detect-and-avoid and more. These technologies all get us closer to autonomy, which is required for this concept to scale to it's full potential.
Stephen Creamer, President & CEO, ATCA joins Claudia Bacco, Global Airspace Radar Editor-in-Chief to discuss changing times in the US National Airspace (NAS). The last year has brought a great deal of change within the NAS, and we dive into these topics. One key topic of discussion is the promise of BNATCS and the challenges to getting there.
The opportunities for modernisation of the US infrastructure are many. It will take time to phase in how to achieve this goal. Maybe a shore up of the existing infrastructure before introduction of altogether new technology?
ATCA Connect 2026 is in a new location, with a new format this year. Learn more about the goals for the event and what you will gain by joining in March. Think about connecting all of the players in aviation.
Let's listen to the new entrants to our industry more, we could learn something that benefits all of us by considering their 'fresh look'.
In this episode, Katarzyna Zmudzinska meets Dr Gabriele Enea, Assistant Group Leader of Air Traffic Control and Weather Systems at MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Lincoln Laboratory, for a discussion about disruptive weather and air traffic.
We get to know Gabriele’s story and hear about the most common types of disruptive weather events and how they impact operations. Gabriele explains what we can expect from the weather in the coming years and the ways in which its impacts can be mitigated.
From the episode, we learn about the different approaches taken in Europe and the USA to handling weather impacts, as well as some of the most exciting research projects currently underway at MIT.
Gabriele answers the standard questions and asks a surprise question of the host.
Simon Hocquard, President & CEO, CANSO shared his insights with Claudia Bacco, Editor-in-Chief, Global Airspace Radar. 2025 was the first year to have two events under this umbrella, the marquee Airspace World in Lisbon and the inaugural Asia Pacific event.
What did CANSO learn and how will it impact the 2026 events?
The main show in Lisbon and another new event focussing on the Middle East and Africa coming this fall with the opportunity for new themes, technology discussions and networking.
And don't miss the Seamless Skies Awards. All of this and more in this episode.
Marita Lintener and Vincent Lambercy debrief Airspace Asia Pacific, looking at the show under all angles:
- The venue in Hong Kong and the logistics
- The exhibitors, who was there and who was missing
- The theaters, topics, and programmes
- The attendance
- The feedback from exhibitors
Listen to know how they perceived the three days of Airspace discussions and exhibitions in Hong Kong, learn more about the latest trends and the future of ATM and UTM in the region.
Guy Laor, Vice President Operations and Strategy, Airwayz joined our editor-in-chief Claudia Bacco to discuss the achievements of the Israel National Drone Initiative (INDI) to date and the path forward. Airwayz has recently announced their role as the central orchestrator for phase 3 of the initiative.
Prior to joining Airwayz, Guy actually worked at INDI focussing on UTM, UAS, and urban air mobility projects. He is an operations and airspace expert with a long background in both military and civilian aviation beginning his career as an Air Traffic Controller in the Israeli Air Force - where he still serves in reserve.
Join the discussion to understand how this initiative is helping Israel to progress it's nationwide programmes and identify learnings that can be leveraged not only in this country but others working on these same topics.
Moodie Cheikh, CEO and founder of Searidge Technologies discuss the company latest projects in Doha and how a hybrid digital tower allows air traffic controllers manage new parts of the airport where direct visibility is restricted.
The discussion also covers wider topics:
- the company's history, as it approaches its 20th anniversary
- factors behind a success in different contexts, like the Middle East, North America, UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore
- how software platforms should be the standard and what Searidge's Chorus platform allows
- Moodie's view on interoperability, and a honest and optimistic opinion about what the industry should do next
- the integration of artificial intelligence in air traffic control
For this very technical episode, we revisit our previous signature question about the future of ATM in 5 and 50 years - before asking the new one too.
Smugglers use balloons to illegally carry cigarettes form Belarus to Lithuania and those balloons disturb the traffic at Vilnius airport! Vincent Lambercy discusses this with Saulius Batavicius, the CEO of Lithuanian ANSP Oro navigacija. Is this only smuggling or is there more behind that?
Saulius also discusses how the ANSP works in the Borealis alliance and also with iTEC for the technical side. He explaines how to improve ATCO mobility and get other benefits from such international collaborations.
Finally, Saulius shares his views on how technology and humans work together today and how this could change in the future.
In today's episode Kasia Żmudzińska meets two guests from Airways International: Philipp Zeitel, Training Quality Manager and Jonny Cooke, Head of Products.
A 95% success rate in Air Traffic Control (ATCO) training in New Zealand, was an inspiration for recording this episode. It is a really high number and it raises the question: what is behind such outstanding result?
Jonny and Philipp share their views on how to make the selection process attractive, available and light for a wide pool of potential ATCO candidates, what are the steps of the recruitment process and what makes Airways' approach to Assessment Centres worth the investment.
The guests also share insights into the key skills and personal traits that define a successful air traffic controller, and whether these abilities can be consciously developed and practiced.
If you are interested in Air Traffic Control (ATC) and want to learn more about what makes a selection process successful, don't miss this episode!
Günter Graf, Vice President New Business Development & Innovation, Frequentis and Ralf Irmer, Head of Vodafone Tech Innovation Centre, Dresden joined Claudia Bacco, Global Airspace Radar Editor-in-chief to discuss the role of 5G and drones can play in enhancing public safety.
The two companies have already been working together for quite a while across public safety topics and the use of Mission Critical Services (MCX). Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) continue to play a larger role in providing connectivity and communication for drones.
Both organisations share their work in the ADELE project - Automated drone deployment from the control centre. The project tested the use of drones in a real operational environment with the Rostock fire department, reinforcing how emergency services teams can benefit from the introduction of drones to their first responder teams.
Listen to the discussion and we hope you'll come away with some new ideas for the use of drones.
Alex Bristol and Peter Merz are Vincent Lambercy's guests for this special episode about the CEO transition at Swiss ANSP skyguide. Alex will leave the company after eight years and three months as CEO and Peter will formally take-over in November 2025. Peter is the ex chief of the Swiss Air Force and used to be a user of skyguide's services.
Alex reflects on his time at skyguide and how the company evolved under his leadership, and also on some hard times, including the COVID crisis and a technical issue forcing to "clear the sky" for a few hours.
Peter speaks about his career as a military pilot, squadron, and base leader, as well as in the Air Force's leadership. He explains why he decided to be a candidate and now how the transition runs.
Today Kasia Żmudzińska meets Karolina Frisk - Group HR Manager at Entry Point North to explore the topic of managing generational differences in the context of training and working with aviation professionals and students.
Entry Point North has a new course in its offering - Human Factors: Navigating Generational Differences. Karolina explains the findings of the student resilience study and its generational aspects that inspired the development of this training. We learn how training organisations can apply these insights to enhance their performance.
This episode offers a deep dive into the topic of generational differences - where they come from, how they show up in training environments and how to make the best out of this knowledge. For example, it can help us better attract younger candidates to Air Traffic Controller roles.
If you are curious about what the student resilience study has revealed and what it tells us about the younger generation, this episode is a must!
Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili Consulting joined our editor-in-chief Claudia Bacco to discuss telecommunications supporting drones. A twist is mentioned in the title and the twist is the view from China. Having just returned from a trip to China, Monica shares insights from visiting China Telecom including their drone program. The twist goes further in that the telecommunications company is leading the effort to test drone flights as opposed to the regional air traffic control organisation being in the lead. Certainly different than what we're seeing in Europe and the US.
We also dug deeper into the use of spectrum and the mobile infrastructure in this endeavour, what can be re-used, what needs to be changed/enhanced. Join us in the discussion which leans more toward the telecommunication part of the equation.
Monica Paolini, PhD, is the founder and principal of Senza Fili. She is an expert in wireless technologies and has helped clients worldwide to understand new technologies and customer requirements, create and assess financial models, evaluate business plan opportunities, market their services and products, and estimate the market size and revenue opportunity of new and established wireless technologies.
Drone sandboxes are a way to bridge the gap between regulation and reality, allowing for testing in safe ways. On this episode, Vincent Lambercy discusses with Antoine Martin. Antoine serves as "Advanced ATM Officer" with the French Directorate of General Civil Aviation and has been with the french ANSP DSNA before.
We discuss the status of the current drone regulations in Europe, how the French CAA facilitates testing for drone operations, Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights, and more.
Why are sandboxes useful, and even needed, and how they will evolve in the future? How is the gap between the regulation and the standards, and what is missing for routine BVLOS flights?
We discuss this and more, and Antoine's question is to Florian Guillermet.
What are the leadership skills for a career in aviation? What is the market like for senior positions in air traffic management, what are the regional differences and requirements? Are your qualifications and skills already future-proof?
Arpad Szakal is Marita Lintener's guest on this episode. Arpad is Partner Aviation, Transportation and Infrastructure at CORMIS PARTNERS SEARCH & INTERIM MANAGEMENT, specialising in senior level positions. Marita and Arpad discuss the essential skills for the future, the challenging economic context for C-Suite executives, cross-sector demand for the best leaders and how diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are evolving in the current socio-political framework.
Hear first-hand how to prepare for a headhunter call, gain actionable recommendations on how to accelerate your professional journey from a junior position, the importance of sponsorship and many more insights for a successful career.
How does EUROCONTROL help stakeholders making aviation more sustainable? How is the agency in a unique position to provide guidance and advice, but also tools and measurements that ANSPs, airlines, and airports can use to become more sustainable?
Marylin Bastin is Vincent Lambercy's guest on this episode and they explore all facets of what EUROCONTROL does to make aviation more sustainable. Marylin brings the debate beyond usual topics like free route and continuous descent operations. We discuss how a lot of the sustainability question actually find its roots in the energy discussion but also how getting funding for the transition will be critical.
EUROCONTROL's Flying Green portal is mentioned a couple of times in the episode and can be found at https://flying-green.eurocontrol.int/ and the Global Airspace Radar article about it can be found at https://globalairspaceradar.com/stories/navigating-towards-sustainable-aviation-eurocontrol-flyinggreen/
In this episode, Kasia Żmudzińska meets Lea Trampitsch-Vink, Human Performance Lead at Austro Control, to discuss the future of humans in aviation.
Lea tells the story of her remarkable journey — from serving as a navigator and warship commander in the New Zealand Navy, chasing pirates off the coast of Africa, to her current leadership role at Austro Control.
She shares her views and ideas on how to get more performance out of today's aviation workforce at times of increasing demand, without causing burnout, how to make the European ATM Master Plan work from a human factors perspective, where the limits of automation development lie, and much more!
If you’re curious about human factors and performance in aviation, and want to hear insights from an expert with first-hand operational experience, this episode is for you!
Karl Wannenmacher, CTO, Frequentis, speaks with our editor-in-chief Claudia Bacco about all things technology.
Starting with highlights of the current focus of his organisation - Service-oriented architecture (SoA), cybersecurity internally and throughout the entire supply chain, and artificial intelligence (AI).
What about the ANSP view? ANSPs are challenged to achieve a fully automated air traffic management (ATM) infrastructure within the next 20 years. The path to achieve this goal is supported by the SESAR ATM MasterPlan and the CATS CONOPS. Other industries, such as public safety where Karl's prior focus was, have already started implementation of topics such as SoA 10 years ago. So how does ATM get there?
We took a look at the definitions of SoA, how to implement it, what infrastructure is needed. What ANSPs - Skyguide and DFS - provide good examples of current progress, while being open about their challenges. Also addressed, the readiness of infrastructure vendors and the opportunity to leverage lessons learned and solutions from the wider tech industry.
In addition, a bit about quantum computing and blockchain.
Our editor-in-chief, Claudia Bacco had the opportunity to speak with Youzec Kurp, Vice President, Airspace Mobility Solutions at Thales to better understand the current status of unmanned traffic management (UTM) and how we progress this topic as an industry.
The conversation touched on a great deal of material along the spectrum of UTM. Starting off with a basic question: is it an application or an ecosystem? Some of the key areas that are needed to progress the growth of drones include BVLOS and ATM integration. From a BVLOS perspective the podcast considers the challenges facing the full implementation of BVLOS and potential lessons learned from years of BVLOS flights in military aviation. UTM cannot remain an adjacent tool to the ATM infrastructure and needs to be integrated. Where are we with getting to a seamless integrated system of systems for ANSPs to use?
Agility, innovation and fresh thinking from startups in the world of drones can add opportunities for the future. What does Thales think about startups playing a role in future UTM solutions? The company not only works with the civil/military aviation community, but also critical infrastructure organisations. How is this different? And last but not least, who is responsible for drone surveillance?
In this episode, Marita Lintener sits down with Laurent Renou, Head of EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub, to uncover the ambitious new strategy. Listen to the insights about the tangible returns organisations are seeing from hub partnerships, and the hub's pivotal role in the European SESAR programme.
Laurent shares surprising insights about the skills that actually matter in aviation innovation today and explains why professionals at every career stage should be paying attention to opportunities at the forefront of European air traffic management transformation. They also discuss what's really happening in the global talent war.
Have you heard about the Israeli Done Initiative (INDI)? Maybe not, but now you have a chance to learn more.
Claudia Bacco met with Dror Ben-David - Israel Drone Initiative (INDI) subject matter expert, Libby Bahat - Head, Aerial Infrastructure Department, Civil Aviation Authority of Israel and Ami Weisz - Chief Engineer, Manager, Aircraft Certification Department, Airworthiness Division, Civil Aviation Authority of Israel to better understand the work they've accomplished to date and looking ahead for the future.
The first thing to note is that Israel has a lot of flying under their belts and this seems to not be a well promoted topic. There were also many surprising discoveries during the discussion:
- The CAA of Israel works with aircraft developers to identify airworthy challenges and work together to resolve for success
- Funding is available to work within the INDI programme in a collaborative manner with 60% of the costs of the work during this time funded
- How Israel is currently implementing U-space, it's a bit different
- What is the real need behind BVLOS?
You need to listen to hear the answers.
Philip Butterworth-Hayes, Editorial Director, Unmanned Airspace shares the latest findings from their Global AAM/UAM Market Map reports with Claudia Bacco. Learn more about the latest research findings in North America and Europe about these topics. Key takeaways include:
-
Implications of the recent USA Executive Order
-
Who's winning the race to market
-
What challenges still remain
-
Regulation vs a sound business model - a chicken and the egg discussion
-
What don't we know yet
The list could go on with more key topics, these are just the top five. Listen to hear the detailed discussion and reach out if you have questions you'd like answers to. Please join the discussion!
Intersoft Electronics was created in 1983 and started with radar quality monitoring. The company then expanded its offerings with signal processors, and continued its expansion with navigation equipment measurement and validation tools.
One of its flagship products is the SkyRF drone, used to shorten ILS, VOR and PAPI calibration, developed together with skyguide.
In this episode, Darren Gillam discusses how Intersoft APAC supports their customers with their specific challenges, taking into account cultural and local aspects, always working in building long lasting relationships.
In this episode, Ourania “Rania” Georgoutsakou, Managing Director of A4E European airlines association sits with Marita Lintener. They discuss the summer 2025 traffic peak and how A4E would measure “success” after the season from an industry and passenger perspective. Rania explains the airline's view on the revision of regulation EU261 on passenger rights and how they see the interdependencies with the delay situation. They discuss the lessons learnt of Rania after two years in the airline industry coming from the tech sector, what makes the airline business so special and much more.
The must-listen episode in summer 2025 for all stakeholders.
In this episode, Alain Siebert, Chief Technology and Strategy of the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) discusses the ATM Master Plan 2025 with Marita Lintener. Alain is sharing his surprises during the campaign journey and what is actually new in 2025. Together they have deep dives into the key elements of this edition which include the implications of the security context in Europe, environmental redesign of ATM and flight procedures, and why this is the most deployment oriented version ever. Listen to the success factors for implementation, the required economic and technological regulations, what are the interdependencies with RP5, the role of the human and future of staffing and how the Master Plan is linked with the developments in the traffic growth regions of the world.
On this episode, Simon Hocquard, Director General of CANSO looks back at Airspace World 2025 with Claudia Bacco. They discuss how the event was and also the future with two new Airspace World events coming, in Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi.
They also discuss the future of the workforce in the industry, the CATS CONOPS, Advanced Air Mobility readiness in Asia and much more.
This episode with Dale Drake, Director ATC Sales at UFA explores their latest product: ATTranscribe, which can be used to facilitate voice transcription in the context of incident investigation.
We dig deeper in how voice recognition can be used in ATC and discuss how ATTranscribe is UFA's first step out of simulation.
The team of Global Airspace Radar wraps-up Airspace World 2025 in this final episode of our special series.
We look at everything what happened on the third day and give our final comments on this edition of Airspace World 2025. We discuss the best of this edition, identify new trends and share our insights on the latest topics in airspace management.
The team of Global Airspace Radar reports about Airspace World in this special episode recorded on site after the second day of the show.
News, announcements, insights, trends, panels, press releases, we share it all with you. Wether you are at Airspace World and want to know the latest or if you could not make it, this special episode will sum it all up for you!
The team of Global Airspace Radar reports about Airspace World in this special episode recorded on site after the first day of the show.
News, announcements, insights, trends, we share it all with you. Wether you are at Airspace World and want to know the latest or if you could not make it this year, this episode will bring you up to speed with all what happened today!
Speech recognition has been around for a long time but never achieved results deemed sufficient for making it usable for Air Traffic Control.
Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence and constant increases in computing power could change it. Eric Button, founder and CEO of EnhancedRadar discusses this and how the company focuses exclusively on this topic.
EnhancedRadar will be present at AirspaceWorld 2025 at booth number H21600.
Synthetic Device Training Instructors - STDI for short - can instruct in any organisation with an EASA license. This step in liberalisation shows how market rules apply and what the results can be.
Samuli Suokas of Lektor discusses with Vincent Lambercy and shares his experience as somebody who runs both a training organisation and an agency providing other organisations with STDIs.
The market is not mature yet and agencies can make an important contribution. And if one days ATCO endorsements can be made site independent or training significantly shorter, ATCOs could start moving around too, and the same kind of market would develop.
Drones can pose a real threat to air traffic and detecting them is not an easy task. In this episode, Vincent Lambercy discusses with Stephan Kraschansky, the CEO of AARONIA's Austrian branch. This episode covers the following topics:
- The reality of the threat posed by drones
- Different types of cases, from ignorant to malicious
- Sensors used to detect drones and data fusion
- The need for a multi-layers approach
- AARONIA's experience
Claudia Bacco speaks with Anne Stephan about the latest innovations in 5G technology and how this could impact aviation and airspace management:
- The current status of LDACS
- 5G as the next step in telecommunication networks
- How the technology can support drones flying BVLOS operations
- 5G as a backup or even a main ground - air communication system
- The interrelationships between AI and networking, how networks must adapt to AI use cases but also how AI can help manage networks in a better way
Claudia Bacco speaks with Amit Ganjoo about how ANRA Technologies is getting ready to become the first U-Space Service Provider (USSP) certified at EASA level.
- How should multiple USSPs work in the same U-Spaces?
- What states should prepare and offer to USSPs to make the competition possible?
- Which Common Infrastructure Service Provider (CISP) models exist and why it is important to choose one and the same for all of Europe?
- How the certification process is organised, with differences at EASA and national regulators levels?
Amit also explains where ANRA stands with the current certification of their systems.
Vincent Lambercy discusses with Ralf Heidger of German ANSP Deutsche Flugsicherung about the development of Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) and Single Central Information System Provider (SCISP) in Germany.
They discuss the need for central services provision for U-Space Services Providers (USSPs), what those services should be and how they should be provided, in a centralised or decentralised way.
The discussion also includes the need centralised tracking of drones and the question about funding for such centralised services.
The Global Airspace Radar team discusses the launch of this new multi-channel airspace management hub and but there is more to this episode. We each look our hopes and expectations for 2025:
- Vincent: more open systems and technical integration, giving more room to smaller industry providers
- Claudia: more-AI but not to the point of replacing ATCOs
- Marita: the impact of defence and military changes on civilian traffic management
- Kasia: more newcomers, especially at the edge of space and the return of supersonic flights
Our guest today is Marita Lintener - President-Elect of IAWA (International Aviation Womens Association) and MD/founder of Lintener Aviation Consultancy, talking about the current struggle of attracting and retaining new talents in the aviation and ATM industry. We listen to Marita's views about how to attract new talents, which skills will be of a value in the future, what skills make great leaders, how to encourage diversity in work teams and design attractive workplaces, the importance of role modelling in Europe and all over the World and how to win the war for talents.
Learn more by checking the studies mentioned in this episode:
- Lift Off To Leadership
- McKinsey - Women in the Workplace 2024: The 10th-anniversary report
- IATA 25 Initiative
- World Economic Forum - Equity, diversity and inclusion
- McKinsey - The talent gap: The value at stake for global aerospace and defense
- Women in Transport – EU Platform for change
- Diversity Ambassadors in Transport
- War on the Rocks „Turbulence ahead: The Maintenance workforce dilemma threatening the future of airpower“
Today's guests Juliette Bonet - Airside Operation Manager at Paris Airport and Pierre Berolatti - Deputy Chief of Operations at DSNA tell us about the "behind the scenes" of one of the biggest events of 2024 - Olympic Games in Paris. We learn about the preparations for the Olympics from the perspectives of the Airport and DSNA, about extraordinary measures in place to make the event run smoothly, how the opening ceremony and the related no-flight zone around Paris was handled and how "the mass departure" of over 11,000 athletes and team officials was managed.
In this episode, Vincent speaks with the CTO of DFS Friedrich-Wilhelm Menge.
Today we will get to know Friedrich-Wilhelm's story of joining DFS, what he does to keep the employees up to date, his opinion about advantages and disadvantages of being such a large European ANSP, how far is the ATM industry today in terms of leading edge technologies, how easy it is to attract new talents to DFS, what are the ideas behind the Future Delivery Model, how DFS prepares for the future, and at the end, Vincent asks the standard closing question.
The guest of today's episode is Benjamin Baier - the CEO of Imtradex - provider of communication solutions for ATC and other industries from Germany. In this episode we learn more about Benjamin and the company, what is the reason of having the manufacturing process in Germany, what are the advantages of having so specialised products, what are the new features of the new ATC headset model designed for remote towers ATCOs. We also hear about the most unusual request from customers Imtradex had to deal with and if ATC headsets have wireless connections. At the end Vincent asks the signature question.
Vincent's guest in this episode is Jannik Breum - Product Manager at Terma.
In today's conversation Jannik talks about his career path and what is a typical day of a product manager. We learn about what Terma does apart from SMRs, what products does it offer in other industries and what are the benefits of operating in various industries and application areas. Jannik explains what an eSMR is, what are its main features and much more! At the end Vincent asks this season's signature question.
Today's episode was recorded at the Airspace World in Geneva and Vincent's guest is the CEO of PANSA - Magdalena Jaworska. Magdalena tells her story of joining the ATM industry and re-joining the Polish ANSP, gives updates about the ANSP's current situation, what are the plans for the future as regards the Agency's products and services to be offered to the market, drone traffic development in Poland and about the direction of PANSA after the recent turbulent times. Magdalena talks about gender equality status in Poland and shares her advice for young females considering a career in ATM. At the end, the discussion turns toward motivating and attracting young talents to the industry and tackling environmental issues.
This episode opens the new season of our podcast series. Vincent's guest today is Cliona Mimnagh - the Safety Manager Terminal Services at AirNav Ireland. We hear about Cliona's career path, what are the goals of safety in ATM an how is it managed, how do colleagues with engineering and with operational backgrounds work together, how is the safety unit organised within the ANSP, how are the two sides of safety dealt with - the management of hazards and the project side i.e. safety assessment.
We learn about safety work division in the COOPANS Alliance and how the safety work is devided and managed between the new Irish ANSP and the regulator and what were the main opportunities and challenges to handle in this new set up. At the end, Vincent asks the new signature question of this season.
In this podcast episode David Perez - the CEO of DataBeacon and MD of Innaxis, talks about what Data Beacon is and what are its offerings, shares his views about data analytics industry in the US and in Europe, certification of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) tools for ATC. We learn about DataBeacon's recent implementation of the ADS-B based solution for AFIS officers, provided in 6 airports in the UK, and what could the future bring in terms of ADS-B only, AI and ML based tools in ATC. David also shares his ideas about the ATM in the next 5 and 50 years from now.
In today's episode Vincent interviews Jouhayna AlMheiri - Senior Air Traffic Control Officer and On-The-Job Training instructor from the UAE. Jouhayna tells her story of becoming an Air Traffic Controller, what skills and abilities are useful in this job, what lifestyle and mode of work the ATCOs have, what has been her experience of being an Emirati woman doing the demanding job of an ATCO and what are her views on the developments in ATM in the next 5 and 50 years. Jouhayna also shares about her YouTube channel on the basics of ATC.
In this episode Vincent hosts the two guests - Stephan Wollschläger and Dietmar Weishaupt who talk about what T-Systems product has been provided to Berlin Airport, how was it possible to implement the pre-departure sequencer in only 6 months, what are the lesons learned from that process, what are their visions for the next 5 and 15 years as regards the development of A-CDM and more.
In this podcast episode Vincent meets Kate Arlouskaya - in charge of administration and marketing at ANSART, and Serge Miranovich - the CEO of the company. Firstly, the guests explain what ANSART does and what are its offerings to the market, then we hear views about the advantages of being an SME-size company in the ATM industry. The guests talk about what is special about their products and whether in-cloud / in-browser solutions are the future, or perhaps already the reality in air traffic surveillance?
At the end, we learn where can we find ANSART at the Inter Airport Europe 2023 event in Munich, and of course what are their forecasts for the next 5 and 15 years in our industry.
In this podcast episode, Vincent Lambercy interviews Julian Sube, co-founder of Skysquitter, a company that operates an ADS-B network across Europe. Julian discusses the unique approach of Skysquitter, which owns all the receivers for their network, providing more control and higher data quality compared to crowdsourced networks. He also highlights the additional services they offer, such as live weather information and data processing. Julian emphasizes the advantages of working with smaller companies, including flexibility, faster response times, and a customer-oriented approach. Looking ahead, he predicts better ADS-B integration, fewer terrestrial navigation aids, and the need for a strategy to integrate commercial drones into existing procedures. In the longer term, Julian envisions a larger role for artificial intelligence in ATM and the integration of space operations into air traffic control systems.
Time Based Separation or TBS is a great way to improve airport capacity. This is now in operation at Amsterdam Schiphol airpot and we discuss how this project went and dive deep in the details in this episode with Sebastiaan de Stigter, who is the TBS project manager with Dutch ANSP LVNL.
Roles are swapped in this special episode! Vincent goes from being the host to being guest, with Stojanche asking questions. We get a look back at the last seasons, rom why we do this podcast in the first place, how it all started, to what we learned doing it, recalling fun moments and discussing how it will continue in the future.
Our today's guest is John Franklin - Head of Safety Promotion at EASA. We talked about what actually is the definition of safety, how a mature safety organisation perceives and manages it, how will safety evolve along with introducing more and more technologies into ATM, what is the philosophy of safety, what is the "Summer 2023" safety campaign all about and who is it designed for, and of course, what will the next 5 and 50 years bring in terms of changes in safety.
Our today's guests are Max Bezzina - the CEO of INGENAV and Richard Landreville - the principal and founder of Betterizon Consultants Inc. We talked about the idea and the team behind the "CHarlie" project and its goals, we discussed if the AI - based tools for ATCOs will replace humans from the job, or if they will remain just as a support in the future, certification of the AI tools and their compatibility with various ATC systems, and of course, what will the next 5 and 50 years bring in the context of AI and Air Traffic Control.
Our guest today is Paul Stevens, the CEO of the Mayflower College. We talked about standardization of ATC phraseology, how speaking to non-native English speakers is addressed in the training, the role of empathy in speaking with foreigners, communication tips for native English speakers, when to use plain English in ATC, the effect of stress on communication, what changes in communication between ATCOs and pilots we can expect in the future, and our signature question - what will the next 5 and 50 years bring in terms of communication in ATC?
Our today's guest is Christian Woborsky - the Product Manager OneControl at ADB Safegate. We talked about the company - how did it start, develop and what are its offerings. We discussed if the standardisation and configurability of ATC tools help reducing their cost, involving clients, in this case - ATCOs, in the process of designing and modifying the ATM software, how to deal with replacing the existing
ATC tools with new ones and, as always, what will the next 5 and 50 years bring in ATM.
Our guest today is Klaus Meier - the CTO of Skyguide. We talked about Virtual Centres and what is so special about them, what does location independence mean, what is the current state of play of the Virtual Centre in Switzerland, was the Covid-19 time a challenge or an opportunity for Skyguide, the role of Skyguide in the standardisation of Virtual Centres, lessons learned from the implementation process, how does Skyguide deal with recruiting new talents, closure of the Swiss airspace in June 2022 and, of course, our signature topic - what will the next 5 and 50 years bring into ATM.
Our today's guest is Kristian Lavin - the CEO of TowerHouse Studios and an active ATCO in Estonian Air Navigation Services. Today's topic was about the ATC Simulation Game - "Flight Level" developed by TowerHouse. We talked about its features, intended users, how to get up to speed to play the game, why active ATCOs play it and at the end our signature topic - evolution of ATM industry in the next 5 and 50 years from now.
Our guest Francine Carron is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program Manager at Skeyes. We discussed the following topics:
- The guest's personal career path and current position.
- What ANSPs can do in terms of sustainability and CSR.
- The status of CSR at skeyes and ATM in general.
- Diversity and Integration in ATM.
- Vision of CSR and ATM in 5 and 50 years.
In this episode, we dive right into the signature question ourselves. Vincent Lambercy, the CEO of FoxATM and Julija Razmislaviciene, the managing Director of FoxATM Baltics discuss our vision of the operational and technical aspects of air traffic management (ATM). While also considering organizational and other elements that come up.
If you would like to take a shot at answering our questions, please let Vincent know via his email: vincent.lambercy@foxatm.com.
Our guest for this episode is Claude Levacher, the CEO of SkySoft-ATM. He joins us in this episode to discuss the following air traffic management (ATM) topics:
- Personal introduction and career path.
- The company history of skySoft-ATM and its working relationship with Skyguide.
- Bringing developers and air traffic controllers closer together for successful innovation.
- The benefits for Skyguide to work with SkySoft instead of joining a more extensive alliance such as iTEC with several air navigation service providers.
- ATM video recording technology brought outside to the control room industry.
- Cross-feeding between ATM and non-ATM activities.
- Cultural differences between international organizations.
- Evolution of ATM industry for the next 5 and 50 years from now.
In this episode, we look back to 100 years of ATC and talk about IFATCA with our guest Marc Baumgartner. We discuss the long history, the factors making ATC what it is today, and how IFATCA participated into that. And as always, we close-up with our typical question about Marc's view of ATC in 5 and 50 years.
Our guest Cate Bichara is the head of inclusion and diversity at Skyguide. We discussed the following topics:
- The guest's personal career path and current position.
- What psychological safety is and the four pillars to promote safety together with cross-industry examples.
- How to bring management on board with putting psychological safety as a priority.
- Cultural and generational differences and the tools to enable inclusion.
- What the guest expectations and goals are as an ambassador of diversity in a male dominated industry.
- The guest's vision of diversity and inclusion in ATM.
- Vision of ATM in 5 and 50 years.
Our guest Jérémie Bayle is the head of the STARSim project at DSNA. We discussed the following topics:
- The guest's personal career path and current position.
- The reasons behind StarSim and decentralized training.
- The project's scale, number of airports, timing, current status.
- Is a mix of engineering and operations the key to success?
- The guest's vision of ATC training in 5 and 50 years.
Our guest Anna von Groote is the director general at EUROCAE. We discussed the following topics:
- The guest's personal career path and current position.
- What a virtual center is, and the technical difference between a virtual center versus existing air traffic management (ATM) systems.
- Whether air traffic control could ever be done from home.
- What the benefits of a virtual center are, and the obstacles to realizing virtual centers.
- What can EUROCAE bring to the table with regard to virtual centers.
- Timing of standardization.
- The guest's vision of virtual centers in 5 and 50 years.
Our guest Andy Foxhall is the head of International Business Solutions at NATS. We discussed the following topics:
- The guest's personal career path.
- What it's like working with the Red Arrows and as an air traffic controller at Gatwick airport.
- How it is to move partly away from the microphone to training, supervising, and leading air traffic controllers.
- The decision to become a consultant and work with other air navigation service providers (ANSPs), and advice for others contemplating the same.
- ATC differences around the world.
- The guest's vision of air traffic management (ATM) in 5 and 50 years.
Our guest Silja Guðmundsdóttir is the Director Of Business Development at Tern Systems, a company that designs and builds air traffic management (ATM) solutions. We discussed the following topics:
- What makes air traffic management in Iceland different from other countries.
- The ATM system Polaris' scope, history, and next steps.
- The different usages of Polaris outside of the local ANSP and working with other customers.
- How to attract young talent, and improve diversity and inclusion in the air traffic control industry.
- Vision of air traffic management in 5 years, and 50 years from now.
Our guest Josef Anschau has flown over almost every part of the world as a commercial pilot and is now the Chief Operating Officer at PVS aero. We discussed the following topics:
- Guest's professional background
- Procedure Validation Solutions aero offering and history
- The necessity for procedure validation, and whether simulator flights are the way to go
- Solving mistakes in procedure designs
- Stakeholder collaboration in procedure designs
- How does the guest view ATC from a pilot's perspective and whether ATC is different in other parts of the world
- Evolution of ATM in the next 5 years and also in the next 50 years?
Samuli Suokas founded Lektor Consulting which trains air traffic controllers worldwide. We discuss the following topics:
- The guest's journey from being an ATCO to now, and the purpose of Lektor Consulting
- The type of training offered and receiving training certification
- What Lektor Consulting does differently to improve the training process
- What are the type of skills required by ATCOs now and in the future
- Whether remote training continues after COVID
- ATCO training in 5 years and 50 years from now
Our guest Alberto Quintana works in digital transformation for ATC while also coming from an operational background and he joins us to discuss the following topics:
- Personal introduction of the guest
- Applying AI to radar and flight plan data
- The future implementations of AI in the coming years and the current implementation status
- The workflow changes for ATCOs working with AI
- How AI is implemented in safety critical situations
- Explainable AI
- The evolution of ATM in the next 5 years? And in the next 50 years?
Lyne Moreau, the VP and Chief Strategy Officer of NAV CANADA, joins us to discuss the following topics:
- The personal career path of the guest and current role scope
- The 'new' strategic direction and its time horizon
- How NAV CANADA is regulated and the importance of common understanding
- Challenges and opportunities of moving ahead with the strategic direction
- Partnership and similarities between ANSPs
- Commercial ventures and future philosophy
- Importance of visibility to improve the gender balance in ATM
- The vision of ATM 5 years from now and 50 years from now
Norbert Haslacher, the CEO of Frequentis AG, joins us in this episode to discuss the following topics:
- Personal introduction of the guest.
- The heritage and vision of Frequentis AG.
- The cross‐industry innovation from the diverse safety-critical industries to improve Frequentis AG products and services.
- The transformation that Frequentis AG underwent from a hardware-centric company to a software company.
- The mergers and acquisitions strategy since the IPO.
- The viable systems organizational model, and future growth plans.
- Future of ATM industry for the next 5 and 50 years from now.
In this episode, our colleague Stojanche Gjorcheski is debuting as host with our guest Mr. Hari Iyer. Hari is a software engineer and followed his passion to work in the ATM industry as a research engineer and currently as a PhD at ASU. His company worked on projects most notable with the FAA and NASA. The following topics were discussed:
- Hari's personal journey from software engineer to the ATM industry and how an international can work in the United States' Aerospace sector.
- The projects Hari has worked on as a research engineer and his current work as a PhD for human systems engineering in aviation.
- The way ATM works in the US and how to work as a private company for the FAA/NASA.
- How NASA and the FAA work together with regard to the development of new ATM systems.
- A vision of ATM technology 5 years from now and 50 years from now.
In this episode, we are delighted to speak with Dr Debora Cazzani, the Marketing & Export Manager of MC Solutions. The focal points of this episode were innovations in AGL and A-SMGCS. The following topics were discussed:
- The mastery of MC solutions and its history.
- Design factors behind using optical fibers in the solutions and retrofitting existing infrastructure with optical fibers.
- The business scope of MC Solutions and the interoperable solution they offer.
- The independent measurement tools of an ALCMS that MC Solutions offer for auditing airports, the importance of adhering to standards, and being able to demonstrate compliance.
- Knowledge and technology transfer from non-ATM products to ATM.
- The evolution of AGL and A-SMGCS in the next 5 and 50 years.
The guest of this episode is Marina Efthymiou , an Assistant Professor in Aviation Management at the Dublin City University. We discussed the following:
- Background and expertise, including research and papers, teaching and education activities
- Aviation Management course at DCU, part of which relates to ATM, audience, key topics / subjects, prospects of future career
- Technical & managerial leadership
- Most important skills for a fresh graduate student (technical, managerial or else)
- How are aviation students are encouraged and prepared to think about sustainability
- Thinking outside the box for aviation related topics (new technologies and concepts like UTM, optimization)
- Future jobs in aviation / ATM, skills / knowledge needed, skill sets which will become obsolete (i.e. operational / technical)
- Current important directions of research and development activities in ATM
- Education and university studies in ATM and aviation in the next 5 and 50 years
The guest of this episode is Andre Schenider, the CEO of Geneva Airport. We discussed the following topics:
- Personal introduction and presentation of GVA, including latest news, traffic figures
- Role as Board Member of ACI EUROPE and the purpose of this organisation
- Areas for close collaboration with ANSP and common work on a longer term
- Who has the last word for large projects (i.e. new runway or ramp) - is it the ANSP or the airport?
- Payment model of ANSP vs. airports and conflicting interests
- Current trends, challenges and solution in the airport industry
- Airport operations and development for the next 5 and 50 years
The guest for this episode is Simona Frankova, the Managing Partner at NG Aviation, a small company from Slovakia, offering digital solutions for aeronautical stakeholders. We discussed these topics:
- Need for more digitalisation in the AIM and ATM world and better, digital NOTAMs
- Weight of legacy and the reasons for it (i.e. worldwide compatibility, equipment, ...)
- Approach and solutions offered by NG aviation
- Tackling ATM with a start-up mindset, difference in cultures and tempo
- Being a female leader in the ATM community, both in Europe and in the Middle-East
- Evolution of AIM and ATM in the next five years and also in fifty years
In this episode we had a guest from Denmark. Jesper Skou is the Co-Founder of Skypuzzler and we discussed the following topics:
- C-level experience with ANS organisations in different parts of the world
- new role at Skypuzzler and more about this new company
- vision on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)
- place of Skypuzzler in the ATM / UTM landscape
- ATM and UTM in 5 and 50 years
In this episode we had as a guest the Vice President & Business Development Manager Bill Lang from Adacel. We discussed the following topics:
- Adacel is 35 years old - overview of company's history, best successes and biggest milestones
- Auroras’ technological advantage
- Adacel's ATC system and simulator compared to TRACON, ARTCC and TWR technologies
- Adacel's global expansion
- Recent contracts with Seychelles Aviation Authority and France's DSNA
- Custom software development for air traffic control and more
- Acquisition of Cybernetica's Virtual ATC Tower
- Expantion in the remote towers segment
- Evolution of ATM in the next 5 and 50 years
In This Episode we had as a guest from Norway, we talked with the Principal Engineer Kjell Arne Kamben from Edda Systems. We discussed the following topics:
- Company history of EDDA ATC Simulators
- Edda Systems products and services
- Most successful simulator
- Remote Training Concept
- Airspace Planner, VCS Simulator, and Test Data Generator: can they be integrated
- R&D work on simulators improvements
- Cooperation with Avinor on Remote Tower Simulators
- Edda Systems customers (training centers, ANSPs, universities)
- Interest in other industries, apart from ATM
- Evolution of ATM simulation in the next 5 and 50 years
In this episode we had as a guest Ruud Ummels, the managing Director at To70, a Dutch aviation consulting company. We discussed the following topics:
- Brief introduction of To70
- Scope of work: strategy and execution
- Sustainability share in the work of To70
- Main clients of To70
- A-CDM for railway transport and lessons learned
- ACI and CANSO membership
- To70 and ATM in general in 5 & 50 years from now
In this episode we invited a guest from Brazil, namely from the technological company ATECH. We spoke with the Business Director, Marcos Resende about the following topics:
- ATECH's long history and acquisition by Embraer Group
- Brazil's ATM structure, including country size and challenges thereafter
- ATECH's work in regards the latest technological developments like remote/digital towers and virtual centers
- ATECH's work in the area of AI
- ATECH's experience in other South American countries, in Africa and in Asia
- How will ATM evolve in the next 5 years and in the next 50 years: in Brazil, in South America and in the world in general
What can Air Navigation Services Providers do to make aviation more sustainable? How does sustainability integrate with the historical mission of maintaining a safe and efficient flow of traffic? In this episode, we explore various initiatives and ways of working through which ANSPs can contribute to this important and required change:
- Network management to avoid having aircraft waiting while in the air
- A-CDM to reduce waiting time on the ground with engines running
- Flexible Use of Airspace, to better share airspace between civil and military users
- Free Route Airspace, both nationally and internationally, to let aircraft fly the most direct routes
- Arrival Management, to reduce the time in holding patterns
- Continuous Descent Operations, to reduce fuel consumption and emissions during the approach
- RNP AR approaches, which save time by shortening the approach trajectories at airports with complex surroundings
- Use of drones to check radionavigation installations
The guest for this episode is Andrew Taylor, Chief Solutions Officer at NATS. Andrew has a long-lasting career in ATM and has shared with us some very interesting view. We discussed the following:
- The job of a Chief Solutions Officer explained
- Where NATS stands with digital and remote towers
- Image recognition and interpretation as an application of AI in digital towers
- Can AI be used to detect deviation from clearances (stop bar overrun) without the need for a ground radar
- More use cases for other parts of AI, not related to image processing: decision making support tools and “virtual assistants”
- AI versus human in regards to errors: the dynamics of new type of hazards and incidents
- Acceptance and certification of AI, in general and at NATS
- AI versus ATCOs
- view on the future of ATM in the next 5 and 50 years
In this episode, Philip Butterworth-Hayes, the publisher of Unmanned Airspace shares his view on the future of UTM. We discussed the following:
- Position of Unmannedairspace.info and how you watch the industry
- The roles of ANSPs and the industry (USSPs, CISPs, …) in UTM
- The biggest UTM illusions that did not came true in the last years, and what are the next ones that will go down (or not)
- Role of local organizations (cities, counties,…) and the ownership of very low altitude urban airspace
- Evolution of UAM in the next 5 and 50 years
Janusz Janiszewski, CEO of the Polish ANSP PANSA shares his view on the future of ATM and UTM but also his experience leading during the COVID crisis.
- How PANSA leads innovation and digitalisation projects: iTEC, agreement announced with Indra and the status of the aviation innovation hub in Poznan
- The status of the development of UTM / U-Space in Poland
- The #businessPANSA initiative and how PANSA offers products, services and expertise to the ATM market, including the development of own tools, like CAT, TERMINUS, PANDORA, PANSAUTM and others
- The status of the Solidarity Transportation Hub project and PANSA share into it
- The role of PANSA leading the A6 alliance
- The evolution of ATM in the next 5 years but also in the next 50 years (this is a standard question we ask all guests)
The guest of this episode is Neil Bowles, the Executive Vice President at Searidge Technologies. We discuss the following topics:
- Use cases for remote / digital towers at large airports. Searidge projects in Hong-Kong
- What Searidge brings to smaller airports in a real remote use case
- How do projects in the US or in the Asia Pacific region differ from European implementations
- Vision for ATM in 5 years & 50 years from now
The guest of this episode is Sharon Cooke, the CEO of Airways International, the commercial branch of New Zealand ANSP Airways. We discuss the following topics:
- The role and relationships between Airways and Airways international
- The products and services that Airways International brings to the ATM market
- "Airways Knowledge Online", the digital learning community for ATCO training and how it changed the training business, which also prove very useful in COVID times
- Completion of projects at intercontinental scale, like the delivery of multiple simulators to Norway out of New Zealand and how such distance is not a hurdle to projects anymore.
- The evolution of the ATM market in 5 and also 50 years
The guest for the second episode of the year is Marcel Bakker, the General Manager Systems & Infrastructure at LVNL, the Dutch ANSP.
- Brief overview of the TWR2020 project, decommissioning of paper strips, the new "polaris" radar and simulator center building, the start of remote tower implementation
- Next steps of these and other new projects
- How does the transition works in regards to LVNL continuing its own development of the triple A system to purchasing systems from industry providers (AMAN from DFS, joining the iTEC alliance, electronic flight stirps from FREQUENTIS, ...). Cultural impact on the organization
- Virtual center idea at LVNL
- Evolution of ATM systems in the next 5 years but also in the next 50 years
This episode's guest is Steven Moore, the Head of ATM Network Operations at Eurocontrol. We discussed the latest trends in the ATM industry and the following:
- roles and activities of the Network Manager (NM) in terms of ATM
- COVID - opportunity to reconsider restrictions with the traffic increasing again
- How is the NM supporting The Free Route Airspace and how is it impacted? Will we go towards FRA at a larger scale, across FIRs and even FIRs from different ANSPs
- How is NM working on integrating "low level" newcomers from the drones industry
- What about newcomers at high level, targeting lower orbit and space
- What other initiatives is NM pushing for
- updates on iNM project
- ATM and NM in the next 5 years and in the next 50 years
For this episode we have as a guest Christian Schleifer, the General Director at EUROCAE. We discussed the following:
- Goals, activities and members of EUROCAE
- How are the activities funded
- How can members contribute & What kind of organisation can join
- Latest activities around UTM
- ED standards outside of Europe
- Future of ATM and of standardization in the coming 5 and 50 years
In this episode we had a guest from Portugal. Marcos Coelho Costa is the Member of Corporate Strategy and External Affairs at NavPortugal, the Portuguese ANSP. The topic of this episode is Cooperations between ANSPs: Portugal’s Perspective and we discussed the following:
- The level of cooperation in air traffic management has been constantly increasing in the last decades - what does this mean concretely for NavPortugal
- Thought on the actual results of cooperation strategies
- As NavPortugal controls a lot of oceanic airspace, they co-operate outside of Europe too. What are the partners and what are the challenges of working with ANSPs thousands of miles apart
- Considering the long lasting collaboration with some Portuguese speaking ANSPs, how have NavPortugal achieved to maintain it and strengthen it throughout the years
- Tip to someone new to the domain wanting to look for new partnerships
- ATC in 5 years & in 50 years
The guest of this episode is from the USA. We have talked with Jen Lemmon, the President of PWC Organisation (Professional Women Controllers) and the Operations Manager at the Houston Tower for FAA. We talked about how important it is to bring awareness about aviation career opportunities for young girls and women and also about the following aspects:
- What is the status of gender equality in ATM and why it is important
- What are the factors causing a better gender balance in our industry
- What can be done to get more girls to know that they can be air traffic controllers
- What are PWC’s main activities & the goals to achieve in the next 5 years
- How can listeners support PWC
- Evolution of ATM in the next 5 years & in the next 50 years? Will it be more balanced when it comes to the gender share of the industry?
The guest of this episode comes from the USA. Cyriel Kronenburg, is the Vice President International Development and Strategic Partnerships at uAvionix Corporation. We have discussed an interesting topic with the following aspects:
- What are TIS-B and FIS-B and how they relate to ADS-B
- The safety benefits of TIS-B-FIS-B and the role it can play in the integration of all airspace users
- Where are TIS-B and FIS-B used, geographically
- TIS-B and FIS-B were developed for general aviation, initially. How can they be used for unmanned vehicles and the integration of drones
- What is uAvionix doing on TIS-B and FIS-B market
- U-Space future: Will operators have to change drone related equipment depending on the country
- uAvionix and U-Space challenges
- Specifics of doing equipment for drones and for A/C
- Integration of drones at airports
- ATM and UTM in 5 years and in 50 years in the US and abroad
In this episode we have two guests from skyguide - Mario Winiger, the Just Culture Ambassador & Melanie Hulliger, the Line Safety Delegate. We have discussed the following aspects:
- What is Just Culture and why is it needed
- If the ATCO reports the error himself, is he freed of any charges or how does it work
- Responsibilities of the job of a Just Culture Ambassador as such and why does skyguide needs one
- Changing the law in regards to Just Culture & how was this process
- How is Just Culture implemented around the world in ATM and in Switzerland
- Just culture in 5 years from now and in 50 years from now
- ATM in 5 years from now and in 50 years from now
Following our conversation with Benoit Fonck from SESAR Joint Undertaking (Episode 009), the guest of this episode is Mariagrazia La Piscopia, the Chief Strategy and Program Manager at SESAR Deployment Manager. We discuss the following aspects in regards to the deployment of SESAR:
- What is SESAR deployment, why is it needed, how is it organized and who is involved
- How is SDM different from SJU
- What are the main benefits of SESAR deployment for ATM and European aviation / economy in general
- What has been good, what could be done differently, what are the challenges at SDM
- Operational stakeholders in SESAR deployment
- How can smaller ATM companies participate in the implementation of SESAR projects
- Importance of continuing the digitization and modernization of European ATM
- Key drivers for a smooth continuation of ATM modernization through SESAR
- ATM in the next 5 years and in the next 50 years
The guest of this episode is Marek Bekier - Senior VP ACR. The topic of this episode is private ANSPs & new ANSPs and we touched the following aspects:
- What distinguishes ACR, and other private ANSPs providers, from the legacy state-owned ANSPs, while looking at the organizational structure
- Initial ATCO training takes years and costs a lot of money. How does ACR do the training: in-house or subcontracting
- What is the service portfolio that ACR and other private ANSPs can offer the airport segment - today and tomorrow
- How do incumbent ANSPs normally react to competition in the market and how regulators react to a private ANSP
- Relationship with legacy ANSPs
- Experience and particularities while working with smaller airports
- How was the transition when taking over from the legacy ANSP
- ATM in 5 years from now and in 50 years from now
The guest of this Episode comes from France. Loïc de Rancourt is the Expert of Performance Operations and the Project Manager for Skylab, at the Parisian division of DSNA. We discussed the following:
- Origin of Skylab project, need for performance management
- Choice of KPIs, who choses, which KPIs, target audience, time horizon (retrospective, vs. tactical, vs. post-ops)
- Proximity to operations at all stages of the project, including development on site
- Lessons learned from measured KPIs, COVID effects
- Lessons learned from developing close to operations vs. centralized development by a central technical department
- ATM / performance management in 5 years and in 50 years
The guests of this episode are Vicky Bhogal-Hunt, ATC Operations Specialist at Air Navigation Solutions Ltd and Paul Diestelkamp, the Head of Business Development & Solutions from Air Navigation Solutions Ltd (ANSL). The topic is radar in the tower and we touched the following aspects:
- With radar in the tower, the approach service is provided by an ATCO sitting in the tower and not in the approach room - so, is it one more ATCO in the tower or is it the same tower ATCO managing TWR and APP traffic at the same time
- whether RiTT is replacing the usual approach unit or is it used in low traffic situations only
- In some cases, the APP is not collocated with the TWR. Advantages of RiTT in such a case
- Impact of RiTT in terms of ATCOs obtaining and maintaining new ratings
- whether RiTT is a specific rating or an usual APP rating and whether ATCOs work both TWR and APP
- whether the implementation is more of a technical, operational or processes adaptation
- How does the regulator see such a change
- Future of ATM in 5 years and in 50 years
In this episode, our guest comes from from Brussels, this is Benoit Fonck the Chief Programme Officer at SESAR JU. The topic is to explain how smaller ATM suppliers can participate in SESAR. Among others, we touched on the following aspects:
- What is SESAR
- How is SESAR structured and what is the reporting hierarchy in this structure
- Updates on current SESAR status and major directions currently covered by SESAR projects
- What has been good, what could be done differently, what are the challenges of the programme
- How can smaller ATM companies participate in SESAR research projects
- What is the application procedure and how can smaller companies know when and where exactly to apply
- Advice to a small company wanting to contribute to SESAR
- SESAR in the next 5 years and in the next 50 years
The guest of this episode is Vanessa Rullier - Senior Manager ATM and Special Projects at European Business Aviation Association in Brussels. The topic discussed is the role of EBAA in ATM and we touched the following aspects:
- why specifically is EBAA active in ATM
- EBAA activities related to the ATM
- what works well and what works not so well in ATM
- differences between ATM in Europe and in the US
- specific needs of business aviation compared to commercial airlines in ATM
- ATM in five years from now and in 50 years from now
The guest of this episode is Niclas Gustavsson - Vice President Business Development & Governmental Affairs at SAAB Digital Air Traffic Solutions. The topic today is the remote towers in Sweden and touched the following aspects:
- developments at Swedish Mountain Airport and the new Remote Tower Centre in Stockholm
- lessons learned from remote tower projects
- what could be done differently
- differences between building an airport with a remote tower from scratch and adding a remote tower to an existing airport
- remote towers - why now
- the role of new technologies and the human factor in regards to remote towers
- how are partnerships between an ANSP and a tech company formed. New entrants to this field
- ATM /remote towers in five years from now and in 50 years from now
The guest of this episode is Xavier Pretat, the Head of Fatigue Risk Management at ENAC in Toulouse. We covered the following main points:
- the impact of fatigue on ATCOs and typical fatigue level
- how to manage fatigue and why there is a need for that
- what is fatigue management about: measuring and taking corrective measures or preventing it altogether
- how does COVID crisis impact on ATCOs fatigue
- links between fatigue in the cockpit and fatigue at the control sector
- changes in fatigue management in the next 5 years and in the next 50 years
The guest of this episode is Romain Hericher, the former Operational Strategy Director at Dubai Airports in the United Arab Emirates. We covered the following main points:
- how is A-CDM seen in the Middle-East
- How can A-CDM work outside of the EUROCONTROL area, or without a network manager
- Is it easier to implement A-CDM at an airport like Dubai where there is only one dominant airline and one dominant ground handler
- Aspects of managing capacity at DXB which is open around the clock, even with an outbound peak during the night
- Challenges related to A-CDM in the Middle East
Find out more about FoxATM HERE.
The guest of this episode is John van Hoogstraten, the Operations Director at Cyrrus. We talked about the expertise of consulting companies and how they contribute to the ATM industry, as well as the following interesting aspects:
- role of consultancies and what do they bring to the table for the ATM industry
- life cycle of a consulting project and the interaction between the players involved
- view on neutrality and independence of consultancy companies
- aspects of working different roles in operations, operational management and consulting and lessons learned thereafter
The guest of this episode is Jochen Bauer, the Director Sales & Marketing at Guntermann & Drunck. We talked about KVMs and how they are solving user challenges in the ATM industry.
- What are the roles and advantages of KVM switches and extenders in ATC
- Are there features that are specific to ATM
- Does G&D develop specific products on request
- Are there ATM features that later got used by non-ATM customers and vice-versa (i.e. features from other industries coming to ATM)
- What is the future of KVM switching
The guest of this episode is Robert Koster, the founder of AerLabs. We looked into the topic of aircraft and drone noise as well as a few other related aspects:
- Impact of aircraft noise (and emissions in general) on aviation, airports, air routes
- Current picture globally and in Europe in regards to noise. Where is it the noisiest
- How is noise measured
- Noise mitigation measures from airports and ANSPs
- Perceived noise versus real noise
- View on the noise coming from drones
- How noise sensitivity could increase when traffic restarts
The guest of this episode is Axel Knutsen, the VP Unmanned Traffic Management at Avinor, the ANSP of Norway. We talked about the current developments regarding drones and UTM deployment in Norway. We will cover the following related topics:
- Who are the UTM players in Norway, who did develop and deploy the system
- What features does it provide to drone operators and to ATCOs
- Which other parts of the company are impacted
- How many flights get registered on a typical week or month and what is their nature
- Do operators stick to their plans and how is this handled if they do not
- What are the next steps for the UTM program in Norway