CEO, Airways International Ltd
The situation was potentially devastating. We were faced with what felt like a near impossible challenge – innovate and reimagine our business from a predominantly face-to-face delivery model to fully remote, and fast, to deliver contracted work and keep our people employed.
Digital solutions to support the Covid-19 recovery
After reaching out to our customers to understand their challenges, we developed the AIL Digital Solutions Strategy and in December 2020 launched the Airways Knowledge Online (AKO) Virtual Academy to enable aviation students across the globe to engage and learn remotely.
We responded to the Covid-19 challenges of border closures and global travel restrictions by providing a technologically rich virtual learning environment through the AKO immersive learning studio, reaching global learners through interactive learning experiences and using immersive digital technologies.
Innovative cloud-based technologies were implemented to provide a world-class interactive learning experience that enabled students’ learning to come alive in a remote digital environment.
Now, 12 months on, AKO is in use by air navigation service providers globally as they embrace the new normal for training in this post Covid-19 environment, and our AKO course offerings are expanding to meet demand.
Learn about AKO
Installing simulators from half a world away
Another significant element of our Digital Solutions strategy in response to Covid-19 was the reimagining of our ATC simulator design and delivery methodology, pivoting from a face-to-face model to fully remote.
Just as global border restrictions and country lockdowns were starting in early 2020, AIL was beginning the delivery phase of a project for Avinor Air Navigation Services to install 16 simulators across seven locations throughout Norway – in a tight timeframe of eight months.
Add the challenge of not being able to travel to Norway for site testing and installation, and the stakes for the project were high. AIL worked with Avinor to swiftly develop a Covid-19 mitigation strategy, and got to work to reinvent our simulator delivery process to remotely install and site test the suite of simulators.
Overlaying Covid-19 border and travel restrictions created the right opportunity to adapt a reasonably standard sim commissioning process to be more dynamic, efficient and flexible, which increased feedback loops and collaboration between AIL and Avinor.
The outcome? A successful fully remote installation of a suite of simulators across geographically dispersed sites throughout Norway, with the teams working thousands of kilometres apart – enabling Avinor to start ramping up ATC training ready for the Covid-19 recovery.
The success of the project has opened the door to a new approach to collaboration for simulator installations globally, and a new paradigm of cross-border industry cooperation and teamwork.
We have learned that great things can be achieved by tackling challenges head on and believing in our people and processes. Physical distance from our customers is no longer a barrier and the AIL team is embracing this new way of working.
Physical distance from our customers is no longer a barrier and the AIL team is embracing this new way of working.
to support future remote training
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global aviation industry. With plummeting air traffic volumes due to border and travel restrictions, air navigation service providers are facing significant financial and operational pressures – however air traffic control (ATC) training must go on.
Maintaining controllers’ skills during this time of greatly reduced air traffic has become a major challenge. The risk of losing competencies and proficiency ratings is high for controllers who are used to managing high levels of traffic and a busy airspace.
Air navigation service providers (ANSPs) need to rethink how they train controllers in this new post-Covid-19 world where remote working is becoming increasingly necessary. Reducing costs and increasing efficiency whilst keeping controllers’ skills current have become a key focus.
ATC simulation in a Covid-19 world
ATC simulators play an important part in air traffic control training globally. With the ability to replicate real world environments and traffic scenarios, Ab-initio students gain the required skill and competencies in the sim to be ready for on-the-job training. Simulators are also used by operational controllers to refresh and maintain their skills and train for emergency situations.
Simulators enable controllers to train in high traffic scenarios to keep their skills refreshed – this training is now more important than ever, while controllers are dealing with heavily reduced air traffic on every shift.
Airways’ TotalControl simulators have been used to train air traffic controllers since they were first developed more than 15 years ago. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Airways team began development of a cloud-based simulation solution to support remote ATC training – development which has now proved to be invaluable to meet the evolving needs of the industry post-Covid.
Remote simulator piloting is a key part of this development, helping ANSPs to reduce training costs, minimising time off roster for controllers, and enabling greater flexibility in sim training with the ability for pilots to work from anywhere.
Read about three of our customers who are utilising remote piloting with TotalControl, and how they are benefiting.
Cloud-based simulation to support future remote training
Cloud-based simulation is key to meeting the growing needs of customers requiring remote training capabilities as border and travel restrictions presented training challenges.
Remote piloting, cloud-based systems monitoring and analytics, and part task trainers/self study tools are all swiftly becoming relevant and necessary to support ANSPs to achieve quality training outcomes for their controllers and trainees.
Airways has built this enhanced functionality and usability into an advanced TotalControl simulation solution, leveraging cloud services to enable users to connect to the same simulation session from anywhere in the world. A cloud-based monitoring tool provides live information about running simulations, allowing Airways to directly provide proactive support to our customers. Simulator documentation and training has also been moved to the cloud.
A part-task trainer within TotalControl enables surveillance controllers and students to practice situations using voice recognition in their own time using a personal computer. Further development on the part-task trainer is underway to improve voice recognition capabilities for tower-based training, and to provide analytics and insights for trainees and instructors. ‘Bite sized’ training scenarios are a powerful way to deliver good training outcomes with a wide reach and minimal impact to operational rosters.
The future of simulation
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many ANSPs and training providers to revaluate what’s important when it comes to ATC training delivery and how simulation fits into that picture.
Flexibility is paramount. When it comes to scale, pricing and delivery, customers want a solution that can adapt with a now rapidly changing industry.
Simulation training as a service seems a likely future model – a step change from ANSPs considering simulation as the procurement of an asset. ANSPs would simply book in their staff or students for training and select from a range of services - from the use of the simulator right through to scenario preparation and simulator piloting.
The mindset of ANSPs regarding the investment required is also changing. Demand is growing for portable, affordable simulators, and advances in technology will further improve how we deliver powerful remote simulator training – doing away with the concept of large bespoke rooms with multiple projectors.
With simulators moving quickly to the cloud, delivery of effective ATC training in a virtual world is breaking down barriers for new simulator users and existing customers alike. The world of ATC training is changing, and Airways is one ANSP adapting our simulator technology and delivery to best meet the evolving needs of the industry.
Learn about TotalControl
Airways International Ltd
Remote piloting, cloud-based systems monitoring and analytics, and part task trainers/self study tools are all swiftly becoming relevant and necessary to support ANSPs to achieve quality training outcomes for their controllers and trainees.
This year, Airways International Ltd (AIL) had a smaller cohort onsite at the event, with Sharon Cooke – AIL CEO, John McKenzie – Regional Director EMEA, and Yuri van den Bongard – Technical Director in attendance.
Our TotalControl simulator with world-class real-world graphics drew many visitors to our stand, as AIL Product Manager Jonny Cooke back in New Zealand demonstrated how remote sim piloting works with TotalControl. There was also much interest in our AKO virtual training academy offerings, as well as the AirShare UAV traffic management system, and our SureSelect ATC selection toolkit of test suites.
World ATM Congress 2021 marks AIL’s first trade show event attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and notably the first long-awaited face-to-face interactions we’ve had with key customers and prospects globally, since March 2020. The next three days were a flurry of activity – the team caught up with customers and industry colleagues, as well as many different organisations keen to explore ways of working with us which reflects our strong reputation in the industry.
Learn more about the products & services we showcased at World ATM Congress.
This year, Airways International Ltd (AIL) had a smaller cohort onsite at the event, with Sharon Cooke – AIL CEO, John McKenzie – Regional Director EMEA, and Yuri van den Bongard – Technical Director in attendance.
nTotalControl simulators have been used to train Airways air traffic controllers since they were first developed more than 15 years ago. Airways is now utilising mobile desktop TotalControl simulators to deliver training to ATCs in regional towers throughout New Zealand, and simulator pilots working remotely to increase sim training efficiency and frequency.
Airways has deployed TotalControl mobile desktop simulators to several regional towers for training ATCs, enabling simultaneous sim training across multiple locations as a safe and effective remote training solution that requires no travel for ATCs.
Dean Urquhart, ATS Manager Planning & Performance for Airways, says mobile simulation enables Airways to take a much more agile approach to training ATCs, providing flexibility and assurance that training can continue even when ATCs are unable to travel.
“We’re really excited to have introduced mobile simulation with remote sim piloting into our training across Airways,” Dean says. “It provides us with many more training opportunities for ATCs needing to refresh their skills – it’s particularly helpful for providing response training for controllers who need to train for particular scenarios.”
Mobile simulation supports Covid-19 recovery
Covid-19 border and travel restrictions have meant controllers in New Zealand have had a sustained period of controlling lower than usual traffic levels. Training in the simulator is critical to ensuring they maintain their skills managing busier traffic loads, so they are competent and confident when traffic ramps back up to pre-Covid levels.
“Traditionally our ATCs have needed to travel to our facilities in Christchurch to train in the simulator – this has obvious impacts on roster capacity, and on cost. When Covid-19 hit and our controllers were unable to travel to train, mobile simulation was critical to keeping their skills refreshed and current,” Dean says.
“We’ve been deploying the mobile simulators to regional towers to support their training programmes. While it has taken our ATCs some time to adjust, as they gain more experience they’re starting to think about how mobile simulators can be used for further training.”
Remote piloting
Airways International is also providing remote simulator piloting as a tool to help ANSPs reduce training costs, minimise time off roster for ATCs, and enable greater flexibility in sim training with the ability for pilots to work from anywhere.
Controllers from Dunedin, Woodbourne & New Plymouth Towers have recently undertaken training in mobile sims set up at their tower locations, supported by simulator pilots working from home.
“Having the ability to pilot exercises remotely allows us to plan training more efficiently. During these times of the Covid-19 pandemic, this means we can continue training safely with less disruptions,” Dean says.
Jon Brooks, Chief Controller at Queenstown Tower, leads a team of 10 air traffic controllers who managed approximately 600 daily aircraft movements pre-pandemic. Queenstown Tower was one of the first regional towers in New Zealand to implement mobile simulators for training purposes.
Training to date completed in the mobile simulator includes re-current training that previously required staff to travel to Christchurch four times a year.
“Mobile simulator training allows controllers to refamiliarise themselves with the fast-paced communication and processing required in a post-pandemic environment,” Jon says. “Alongside this, the mobile simulator gives controllers clarity in procedures, and reinforces correct applications and practice time on site.”
The mobile simulator has been used in Queenstown to validate new internal processes. “With aircraft movements below pre-pandemic times, there was less opportunity to trial improvements in a live airspace. The simulator confirmed that these were positive and improved safety.”
The Queenstown Tower team has also used the mobile simulator in a ‘show-and-tell’ training opportunity with other aerodrome users. Local customers of air traffic services, such as airlines, airport Duty Managers, ground crew, and airport users were able to see the wider impact of their actions. This simulated exercise helped improve the efficiency and safety of the aerodrome as users better understood the consequences of their actions on the wider system.
The team found the simulator equipment easy to set up and use – it is easily packed into three suitcases, and while the monitors are smaller than the sim monitors in the Christchurch Training Centre, the mobile simulator works well for particular exercises.
And, having simulator pilots working remotely “was as good as them being in the next room,” Jon says.
The Queenstown International Airport tower team looks forward to continuing to use the mobile simulator for training exercises and to adjust to future aerodrome developments, alongside the eight 12 other New Zealand regional towers using this technology. It’s leaps and bounds ahead of where simulation technology was at when Jon first trained as a controller – “A lot has changed from 30 years ago, when we had to push model planes around with pencils and pretend to phone someone!”
Before becoming an instructor in 2016, you were an Air Traffic Controller. What led you to join the aviation industry and become a controller?
I have always had a fascination with aeroplanes and the perceived freedom of flying. This interest led me to get my private pilot’s licence while I was in high school so I could enter the Air Force. My mother, however, mailed me a newspaper cutting for Air Traffic Control training. I applied for the program and got accepted about 32 years ago and as they say – the rest is history!
What memorable moments do you have from your ATC training?
I don’t often reflect on the study I completed or what I learnt, but rather the people I trained alongside. I still have strong ties with them and keep in touch. Some of them, like me, are still a part of the Air Traffic Control sector.
What was your experience like as an Air Traffic Controller?
I jumped in and out of control towers and radars centres throughout New Zealand. During my time within the operational environment, I was always instructing in some way or another. I have no specific memories that stand out, however, working with students who have had significant hurdles to overcome and have succeeded are memorable, you don’t forget those moments.
What led you to transition from being a controller to an instructor with Airways Training?
I was approached by our Manager of Training, Kelly de Lambert, and offered the opportunity to join the team. As I could no longer work as an operational controller due to medical reasons, this role was the perfect fit. It allowed me to continue working in the air traffic control sector and continue the rewarding experience of training students.
What do you enjoy most about being an instructor?
I have had the privilege of teaching students from over 10 countries and have been able to deliver courses in Kuwait, Vietnam, and the UAE. Students with good personalities, willingness to learn and overcome challenges are enjoyable to instruct. Often finding ways to help these students succeed by adapting my training to their cultural needs and individual students’ learning style leaves an impression.
If you could give any advice to future ATC students, what would that be?
I spent some time thinking about this as I thought this was an important question. My three pieces of advice, from my own experience, would be:
- Be prepared to give it (your training) everything you’ve got - It’s short-term pain for long-term gain
- Learn from the experienced people around you - draw from their experience and learn from their mistakes
What do you think aviation will be like in 10 years, any guesses?
In New Zealand, we’re currently encouraged to work from home if we can, which I’ve been doing. Seeing how this is possible with the sophisticated technology we have now, like our AKO virtual courses, I wouldn’t be surprised if our airspace is controlled remotely by people at home on secure networks. No matter what happens due to the nature of aviation, you must be flexible with however it evolves and try to stay ahead of the curve.
Finish this sentence - If I’m not at work, you will find me…
As the world moves into a post-Covid environment, you’ll see me travelling, on or in the water, or spending time with friends and family.
The Airways Training centre was opened in the 1950s, and has the capability and expertise to deliver courses to both first-time controllers and seasoned professionals. The instructors behind each student’s journey collectively have over 85 years of experience in the training environment.
Airways Training Instructor Richard Lange has taught students from over 10 countries over the past six years, and has travelled to Kuwait, Vietnam, and the UAE during his time as an instructor. He shares a little bit about himself below…