What is Your Favorite Game?

Are you thinking of a way to enhance your Air Traffic Control (ATC) skills? Investing in an action video game is certainly a good option. 2 studies, almost a decade apart, reveal that action video games enhance our visual skills, our hand-eye coordination skills and our concentration abilities.

Share on Tumblr

The Fountain of Wellbeing

We can find the name of at least 1 person associated with a quest for the fountain of youth in the annals of history.  Spanish conquistador, Juan Ponce de Leon is the most outstanding example because he was the center of a historical debate about whether the search for a mythical fountain was the motivation for his sailing adventures.  
In our 21^st century, the legendary fountain has a new name – wellbeing.  And the search is now openly embraced by swashbuckling organizations. We wonder if Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) are involved in this quest and the question arises:
What is the extent of wellbeing in Air Traffic Control (ATC)? 
The following are excerpts from an information paper on wellbeing in ATC to be presented at the upcoming IFATCA conference.

Share on Tumblr

All ANSPs are equal, but some are more equal than others

In the late 1970s, 35 French millers decided to come together to improve the quality of baguettes in the face of declining bread consumption and competition from supermarkets using cheap flour and low prices. Their complex organizational arrangement provides a sterling example of hybridization* for Air Navigation Service Providers. How can hybridization help?

Share on Tumblr

The Day that a Zouave Soldier becomes an Air Traffic Controller

It is said that a long time ago, carpenters would make marks on their workbenches to indicate measurements and they would then use these measurements as references. Throughout time, benchmarks came to signify reference points for measuring something. As an example, the J32 benchmark that we see in the above picture, is a geodetic benchmark to indicate a reference point that was used in measuring the curvature of a part of Earth's surface.  What are our benchmarks in ATC? Do we have any? Do we need benchmarks?

Share on Tumblr

Sustainable Development

In November 2010,  at the World Summit of United Cities and Local Governments, culture was added to the mix of economic, social and environmental  dimensions to reflect a new strategic approach to sustainable development. What applications of this can we make in ATC and how can we benefit? 

Share on Tumblr

Communicating the Spaces between the Words

Paul Bernhardt's painting of Communication Breakdown portrays the view that disaster to the industrial landscape is a result of faulty communication systems. What about the human communication systems in the service industry of ATC? Can communication styles of management threaten the wellbeing of ATCOs and support staff? For example what is the link between the use of memos and the communication process? Further, how does a manager's view of chronemics impact upon her communication style? 

Share on Tumblr