Feature Family Business

zby Antonio LANDI, Air TRAFFIC CONTROLLER, Maastricht UAC

ATC takes different forms and functions around the world, but one quality rings true globally: ‘a team is more than the sum of its parts’.

Only in a handful of professions will you find a more closely-knit group. They start from trainees in a classroom to one day handling the most stressful and complex traffic situations in a control tower or ops room. The challenges of the careers lead ATCOs to build intense and unique relationships which are beyond being ‘just colleagues’. To some, colleagues are their family. For many, that is not just a sweet hyperbole but a truth, here are a few of those stories.

z Nicola at her graduation in 1999. flanked by her father Rory and her husband Finbarr z Bert, Luk, and Giel at Maastricht UAC

Nicola's career in ATC started in 1994, when she left university to follow in the footsteps of her father Rory, who was a controller in Dublin. His colleagues warmly welcomed “Rory’s daughter” and would recount stories about seeing her grow up. Nicola quickly realised that she was joining a big family. For a few years, father and daughter worked in the same team at Dublin ACC. Rory tried his best to treat her like any other colleague, but he was never able to hide how proud he was of Nicola. He even had an ATC necklace made for his daughter to commemorate the start of her career. Throughout Nicola’s training, she always had her dad as her #1 supporter; he helped her with exam preparation and discussed separation and LOAs. Rory passed away in 2017 and Nicola still misses telling him her interesting traffic situations

In the meantime, Nicola moved to Shannon ACC where she works alongside her husband, Finbarr, who is a supervisor there. At work, they like to keep their relationship professional.

And the family ties do not end there: Nicola’s brother, Shane, works as a radio officer in North Atlantic Communication.

Bert’s career at MUAC began in 1992. He was eight when he built his first glider model plane; following in his dad footsteps who enjoyed flying gliders and his uncle, who was a commercial pilot.

Bert’s younger brother, Luk, was still in school when Bert started working as a controller. After visiting the operations room with his brother, Luk applied and started his training in 1999. He was assigned to the same sectors as Bert. Luk considered himself lucky to have somebody that close to him with whom to talk about the challenges of the training and receive advice. They have since then worked many shifts and countless aeroplanes together, a fact that their dad would always proudly announce to his friends.

In 2018, Luk introduced his nephew Giel to the profession, just like Bert had done for him almost twenty years earlier. Luk recalls that after listening keenly for just 30 minutes, Giel already showed excellent aptitude. During his training at the ENAC college in Toulouse, France, Bert took a roadtrip on motorcycle to see how his nephew’s training was going.

Giel is currently working towards his 2nd qualification in a different set of sectors than his uncles. Besides regularly coordinating on the phone, Bert and Luk check on him when they occasionally bump into each other.

z Danny and Godard Wamba

Godard and Danny Wamba are father and son from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Recently, Godard became the chief of Kisangani Bangoka airport. He started his career in 1983 as a controller in N'Djili International airport, Kinshasa, the biggest airport in DRC, where his son Danny is now training to become a controller.

Danny had always been interested in his father’s profession and applied in 2016, when he was 24 years old. He was one

of the 100 trainees that started training in Kinshasa. Danny and his father would sometimes talk together about the training and Godard would give him tips about ATC techniques and encourage him to improve his English.

Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their training, Danny and his group are, at the time of writing, in the OJT stage for tower control.

Danny is looking forward to completing his training and following in his father’s footsteps. He has big ambitions and hopes to, someday, become a supervisor or airport chief in Kinshasa.

z Carlos and Godfrey

Godfrey, 48, and Carlos, 28, are brothersin-law who share their workplace at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Godfrey, a science graduate, began his career in 1998. At the time, training took the new recruits to many places around the world: Godfrey trained at Bailbrook College, in the UK. His first assignment was at Charles Prince International airport where he worked until 2008 when he transferred to Harare. Last year, Godfrey validated in the ACC validation and is currently a senior ATCO.

After Carlos finished school, Godfrey showed him a newspaper ad for a job in ATC. Godfrey helped Carlos to prepare for his interview and in 2013, Carlos started his training. He is a senior ATC assistant, in the process of obtaining his tower and approach ratings. For the past few years, they have been working side by side. Godfrey also volunteers for projects run by ATCAZ (ATC association of Zimbabwe). Carlos was also involved in the association, but has since focussed on his studies to obtain a software engineering degree.

z Annabel and David

In 2007, Annabel was a 26 years-old teacher when she applied to become a controller, joining her father, David, now 68. At the time, David had become supervisor at Entebbe International airport. For a few years they worked together: David was responsible for Annabel and her group’s station validation which represented the last exam before they could take on the duties of ATC.

David always wanted somebody in his family to pursue the same career as him. Annabel’s training process was lengthy: recruits were trained at staggered times. After an introduction to ATC, she was trained in aerodrome control in Tanzania, where they practiced in a simulator with projectors before returning to Uganda for her onthe-job training.

Throughout the 180 hours on-the-job training required for Annabel to obtain her license, David always kept up-todate on her progress. Knowing that he supported her boosted Annabel's confidence and she qualified on approach in 2014, followed by an enroute endorsement 2016.

David retired in 2014, but enjoys talking to his daughter and other colleagues about ATC. He also follows international developments through IFATCA.

In 2007, David received a Distinction of Merit from IFATCA for his contribution in helping to re-instate three controllers who were suspended following a separation minima infringement.

Ann-Marie and Asaph are mother and son, ATCOs from Trinidad and Tobago who work at Piarco ACC. The centre is situated opposite to the Piarco International airport and provides TWR, APP and ACC services. Those services extend to the TMAs of the Eastern Caribbean region and the western part of the Atlantic Ocean inside the Piarco FIR (TTZP).

Asaph began his training with theoretical and tower training before moving to APP and training in procedural control in 2008. Asaph joined his mother Ann-Marie, who had been working there since 1990. In 1999, at a time when only a handful of women worked at Piarco ACC, Ann-Marie became the first female chairperson of TTATCA (Trinidad and Tobago Air Traffic Controllers Association). She remained involved in the association throughout her career and was chairperson again from 2013 until 2015.

Ann-Marie was always interested in Asaph's performance throughout his training and early career. She was proud to hear of her son’s achievements and glad to have somebody in her family who shared her passion for aviation. Having gathered plenty of experience, Asaph is waiting for an opportunity to apply for a supervisor position in the ACC.

Also in Trinidad and Tobago, Gerold, 61, and Kevin, 41, are father and son who have shared many shifts and happy memories in Piarco ACC's operations room. Gerold began his career in 1981, after watching a documentary on the 1976 Zagreb mid-air collision. In 2006, he became a supervisor later chief of the Piarco ACC. He oversaw the introduction of radar in the ACC as well as Kevin’s training.

z Kevin & Gerold working side-by-side

While Kevin always wanted to be a pilot, after visiting his father's workplace, he realised he liked ATC and began training in 2008. He obtained his full rating in 2012, shortly before radar was

introduced. He remembers how difficult those years were. He is grateful for his father's encouragement and advice, even if he preferred to do things his own way.

Gerold and Kevin were one of the first families working together at Piarco ACC. Sharing the workplace helped bring the two even closer to each other. Even in his retirement, Gerold keeps up to date with the aviation world and his colleagues at the centre. While Kevin has developed his own style of working and coaching, he carries on his father’s legacy, passing on some of the advice he received, mixed with his own experience, to his trainees.

z The Byas Sisters at work

Vanessa and Stefania Byas, better known as the Byas sisters, are controllers from the Dominican Republic. They both applied to be ATCOs in 2009. Vanessa was working at the Dirección General de Aviación Civil (now Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil or IDAC), when she learned about the possibility of becoming a controller. She shared her interest with her sister and both successfully applied.

Throughout their career, both have had the opportunity to work as controllers and instructors at different stations in Santo Domingo, at the international airports of Las Americas and La Isabela in Higüero, and at Santo Domingo ACC.

They found great support in each other in both their careers and in their personal lives. The Byas sisters remember the realisation of how special it is to have your sister and best friend working with you as an ATCO, or as instructors for new recruits. Stefania and Vanessa are proud ambassadors of women in ATC and strive to increase the involvement of women in the industry.

The sisters are members of the ADCA (Asociación Dominicana de Controladores Aéreos) through which they try to reach as many people as possible, inspiring through their excellence and determination more women to join their craft.

z Caitlyn and Nathan Valeri

Nathan and Caitlyn Valeri are father and daughter who worked in Boston ARTCC(ZBW), in Nashua, New Hampshire. Nathan, 65, retired in 2013 just as Caitlyn, now 32, started her training in Oklahoma City, the FAA's main training hub. Caitlyn found her passion early on; she was 10 and her dad would bring her to visit the control tower where he was working.

Nathan joined the FAA in 1981. During his career he has worked at Beverly and at Manchester-Boston regional airports before transferring to Boston Centre. Working together has strengthened their relationship. Since his retirement, Nathan has been back to visit his “superstar” and his colleagues. He was one of NATCA's facility representatives and keeps up to date with what is happening in "his" centre and the industry.

Caitlyn also works with the union as a member of the facility election committee and helps organising similar committees in other US regions.

Christine Padgett is an ATCO at Washington ARTCC (ZDC) in Virginia. She began her career in 1999, training at the Atlanta centre while also cultivating a passion for flying and obtaining a PPL. Her father, Victor, worked in the air force when he met Carol, Christine’s mother. Christine’s uncle, John Thornton, and her father worked together in the US Air Force before moving to the FAA. Both were fired during the PATCO strike in 1981. In 1986, her uncle John Thornton was one of the founders of NATCA.

Christine’s dad, her uncle, and her mother, who worked as a secretary for PATCO, all enjoy the “work talk” and were always ready o lend an ear. Taking inspiration from her uncle, Christine served on various committees and in a number of roles. In 2019, she received the Steve Hansen Safety Advocate Award for her extraordinary achievements working on NATCA’s behalf to improve aviation safety standards. Since 2021 Christine chairs the National Safety Committee as a National Safety Representative. She is NATCA’s ATSEP Analyst for the Eastern Service Area’s Event Review Committee (ERC). Christine’s uncle passed away in 2013 but his legacy and achievements live on through NATCA’s effort to safeguard aviation professionals working rights.

Since 2014, an award has been created in John’s memory to recognise extraordinary contributions that have significantly changed the course of NATCA’s history. The first Thornton award was presented in 2014 to his wife, Ginny.

z Uyangua and her husband, Davaakhuu

Uyangua, 34, is an en-route controller at Ulaanbaatar APP/ACC in Mongolia. She began her career in 2005 when she received a scholarship to train at the “state flight academy” in Kropyvnyckyj, Ukraine, where she received her bachelor’s degree. Ukraine was familiar for Uyangua: she and her family had lived in Kyiv for 8 years while her father studied to become an avionics engineer.

Uyangua and Davaakhuu met at the flight academy, while helping new students, including Davaakhuu, study Russian, the language in which the classes were given.

Today, they are married and have two daughters, and like spending work breaks together to play darts.

z Uyangua's brother Tamir

Uyangua's brother, Tamir, and her husband, Davaakhuu, were classmates at the same academy in Ukraine. Now 31 years old, Tamir was inspired to become a controller by his sister. He too received a scholarship to study in Ukraine. Today, he works at Ulaanbaatar ACC as an approach controller.

z Umi and Wirawan at her graduation

Umi Muthiah Syahirah is an Indonesian controller. After graduation in 2011, she joined the aviation academy. During her three-year long training, her older brother Wirawan accompanied Umi on a trip to Makassar ATC center, at the Sultan Hasanuddin Int’l airport. Following the visit, Wirawan abandoned his studies to pursue a career in ATC. Fortunately, their family was very supportive of their choices. As Indonesia's air traffic control service is semi-military and Umi being Wirawan’s senior, he always had to salute her when they met at the academy, though they were always relaxed and friendly with each other.

After her graduation, in 2015, Umi was stationed at Sam Ratulangi Int’l Airport in Manado. In 2018, she transferred to Makassar Centre. Following his grauduation in 2015, Wirawan is stationed at Karel Sadsuitubun, Langgur. In 2018, he became the Head of AirNav for the Southeast branch of Maluku, Langgur.

The Liao family initially counted four controllers at their dinner table! Recently, Webber married a colleague from Taipei

ACC. And Joey is also married to a controller. It means there are now six controllers in their family.

Doris is the eldest sister. She passed the special national exam for civil aviation personnel in ATC. Her training began in 1997 with OJT at Kaohsiung tower and she received her license the next year. She also qualified in other stations and she is currently stationed at Taipei approach where she holds an admin position handling incident investigation. Doris and her husband, Wen-Te (a pilot for EVA Air) make full use of the multi-tasking skills they learned in their careers; the skills help in providing for their 3 daughters for whom Doris tries to be a role model each day.

Doris was the first of her siblings to become an ATCO and eventually Jim, Joey and Webber followed in her footsteps.

Joey is Doris’ younger sister and she passed the national exam for ATC in 1998, when she was 24 years old. The next year she began her training and received her license at Taipei Tower and, later, Taipei approach). Since 2016, she transferred to the Taiwan’s ANSP headquarters as a senior ATC, and later became the chief of Air Traffic Control Section in 2019.

z Liao’s family (from left to right): Doris, Jim, Joey, Webber, and their parents.

Joey remembers one of the most special times when she was relieved by her younger brother Webber: a typhoon over Hong-Kong had caused major diversions to Taipei and visibility was poor. The parking bays were limited as so many airplanes were occupying the taxiways. Towards the end of her shift the pressure was starting to mount. Her younger brother Webber was just starting his night shift and he quickly grasped the situation and followed through with the plan his sister’s plan. As Webber took over, he told his sister: “relax, go home and say hi to the kids.” To have her brother there that night supporting her made all the difference.

Jim is a supervisor at Taipei tower. He is also qualified for Taipei approach. He majored in IT studies and was studying to become an airline pilot when he took the ATC exam. Jim was the last amongst his siblings to take the test and start his ATC journey started his training in 2006 at 30 years old.

During his OJT, he would rarely, if ever be coached by one of his siblings but when working together he always noticed how their familiarity and understanding of one another made the job easier and more relaxed.

Webber is the youngest ATCO in the family and works at Taipei tower as a supervisor. He majored in civil engineering before serving in the army for two years. When that ended, inspired by his sisters, Webber turned to ATC in 2003 when he was 24 years old. The next year he started training and got dispatched to Kaohsiung tower for his OJT. Webber remembers the times when they would all work in the same facility and have some duties together. It felt like he was at home surrounded by his family. Currently, both his sisters have moved to office positions. He rarely sees his brother Jim, who became a supervisor at Taipei tower.

The family chat group is the first stop for all the siblings whenever they need help from each other.

Family is not an important thing-it is everything. By blood or by fate ATCO families are our strongest support and we are grateful for them all! y