Africa & Middle East.........News from AFM Regional Meeting

zby Fateh Bekhti, IFATCA Executive Vice-President for the Africa and Middle East (AFM) Region The 30th IFATCA Africa and Middle East regional meeting (AFM RM) was held in the city of Hammamet, Tunisia. The meeting took place at the Russelior Hotel in Hammamet from Nov. 13-15. This was the fifth time that the meeting was hosted in Hammamet. mon issues on which we can work together, learn from each other, and develop solutions for the benefit of our members and the industry.

Attending the meeting, there were 144 participants, representing 25 IFATCA member associations (MAs). In addition, representatives from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attended the meeting as observers. Six international organisations attended and are as follows; ICAO, IATA, IFALPA, IFATSEA, ACAO, and ITF. Three national organisations attended as follows; Tunisian ANSP (OACA), Tunisian CAA (DGAC), Tunisian Medical Centre of Aeronautical Expertise (CEMEDA), and the South African ANSP, ATNS.

This year’s IFATCA AFM RM focused on training as key enabler of air traffic controllers’ professionalism. The Federation strongly believes that we have many comThe 2019 AFM RM agenda included panel discussions and presentations on the aforementioned theme. It also involved a joint ICAO/ACAO/IATA/IFATCA fatigue and risk management workshop, led by IFATCA President and CEO Duncan Auld, IFATCA’s ICAO ANC Representative JeanFrançois Lepage participated, and me.

The three day meeting covered various areas and key issues centred on the meeting theme: the training and strategic program of the Tunisian CAA (DGAC), IFATCA’s training initiative and TOC/PLC working program, IFATCA/ITF working together in conflict management and resolution, IFATCA’s Equality, Diversity, and Ethics Task Force (EDETF), ICAO support and cooperation/ training, ACAO training support for member states, IFALPA training initiative and challenges in pilot training, ICAO fatigue risk management system implementation by November 2020, and the current training allowed by the IFATCA budget.

The first day of the AFM RM started with official opening remarks from Mr. Skander Khalfallah, Secretary General of the Tunisian Association – Association Tunisienne des Contrôleurs de la Circulation Aérienne (ATCCA), Mr. Lofti Mhicen, CEO of the Office de l’ Aviation Civile et des Aéroports de Tunisie (OACA), Duncan Auld, me, and His Excellency Mr. René Trabelsi, Minister of Transport and Tourism, who officially opened the meeting.

The event then continued with two presentations from the Tunisian CAA (Direction Générale de l’ Aviation Civile [DGAC] de la Tunisie), an overview of the air navigation system in Tunisia provided by the national

air navigation service provider (ANSP), and a presentation of the situation in Tunisia offered by the local member association, ATCCA.

The Arab Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO) then presented their training support initiative for their member states. All presentations were focused on the need for more comprehensive training in the African Region and highlighted regional cooperation as a key enabler for achieving this goal.

During the afternoon, Jean-François Lepage led a discussion regarding the work of the Professional and Legal Committee (PLC) and Technical and Operational Committee (TOC) of IFATCA. Mr. Sverre Ivar Elsbak gave an overview of the IFATCA’s EDETF.

IFATCA’s Executive Vice-President of Professional Mr. Peter Van Rooyen gave an in-depth presentation on the many workshops offered by the Federation. His pre

sentation was followed by a presentation from Mr. Mohamed Smaoui, the Regional Deputy Director of ICAO’s office in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. Smaoui was joined by representatives from IFALPA and IFATSEA, who shared their experiences and initiatives with regards to training in the aviation industry. Mr. Hennie Marais, the Chief of Air Traffic Services for ATNS South Africa, gave an entertaining and thought-provoking presentation on the links between training and professionalism in aviation. The day concluded with presentations from our sponsors: United ATS and Indra.

The second day of the AFM RM started with a joint workshop on the provisions of the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) that will become applicable on the Nov. 5, 2020. Mr. Smaoui gave a detailed overview of the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) contained in Annex 11, paragraph 2.28, and Appendices 5 and 6. Mr Duncan Auld stressed the need for FRMS to be supported by a robust safety oversight system. Mr. Jehad Feqir from IATA presented the FRMS strategy from the airline perspective. A panel of experts from different fields in aviation then interacted with the audience and discussed the implementation of FRMS in the region. The panel was moderated by Mr. Smaoui (ICAO-MID, Cairo, Egypt) and composed of Mr. Feqir, Mr. Mohamed Rejeb (ACAO), Dr. Hanéne Djmail (CEMEDA), Cptn. Souhaiel Dallel (IFALPA), Mr. Auld, me, and Mr. Lepage.

The third day of the AFM RM started with a closed session for member associations. The meeting adopted the agenda for the 30th AFM RM and accepted the report from the 29th meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

Mr. Auld presented an update on the upcoming IFATCA annual conference that will

be held in Singapore in March 2020. He discussed the ongoing preparations, registration process, and visas. Mr Auld continued with an update on the Federation’s budget and the adjustments that were made by the Executive Board since the conference in Conchal, Costa Rica, in order to meet the requirements, set by the directors at conference.

Mr. Wickel Yannick Elidjé (Côte d’Ivoire) presented the conclusions of a survey conducted within the AFM Region to find out what were the main issues and challenges of the member associations.

Mr. Walter Litto Mashaba (South Africa) introduced the problems caused by the lack of a SSR codes allocation scheme in Africa and proposed certain solutions as a way forward.

Mrs. Nadia Bomowongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) summarized the challenge of ICAO language proficiency in the region and walked the participants through a review of the current situation in Africa.

Mr. Ahmad Abba then provided the participants with an excellent presentation on the current status of the Safety and Just Culture in the AFM region.

Finally, the Kenyan Member Association presented an offer to host the 2020 AFM Regional Meeting in Mombasa, Kenya. The offer was accepted by the meeting.

The meeting was officially concluded by Mr. Habib Makki, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Tunisia, Mr. Khalfallah, and me. y

fateh.bekhti@ifatca.org

All photos: IFATCA

z Photos: (above/left) Participants at the 30th IFATCA Africa and Middle East regional meeting (AFM RM) held in the city of Hammamet, Tunisia (above/right) (right to left) IFATCA President and CEO Duncan Auld, IFATCA’s ICAO ANC Representative JeanFrançois Lepage, and IFATCA Executive Vice-President for the Africa and Middle East Region Fateh Bekhti