28 - The Human Factor

Ice, snow, howling winds and temperatures as low as minus 30.C are hardly ideal conditions to be running an international airport, but that’s the reality for the team at Rovaniemi, Finland’s second busiest airport. 

In beautiful Lapland, sitting on the edge of the Arctic Circle, the near constant need to clear runways and de-ice aircraft should conspire against delivering a smooth operation, but the weather hasn’t closed Rovaniemi in over seven years. 

Attracting record passenger numbers in 2023 as one of Finland’s most important international gateways - and of course the official airport of Santa Claus – keeping Rovaniemi running safely and smoothly is vital.

So, what’s the secret? What snow-how keeps the airport open when so many others would be forced to close? And how do the teams ensure a warm welcome to the thousands of visitors that flock to Lapland to meet Santa and glimpse the Northern Lights every year? 

In this month’s Altitude we’re joined by the teams from whose job it is to battle the elements.

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

Human Factors is the understanding of ‘the human in the loop’. It’s about how people behave and interact both with technology and each other, and it’s something that has become fundamental to safety across aviation and a host of other industries.

But what really is Human Factors? Where did it come from and why is it become so integral? In this month’s Altitude, we’ll be digging into the history, the practical applications and the challenges posed by the rise of things like AI and automation. 

In this episode, Barry Kirby, President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors and NATS’ own Human Factors Director Nuno Cebola have a fascinating and thought-provoking discussion.

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

For more than 25 years, Concorde was the world's only successful supersonic airliner. Flying faster than the rotation of the earth, it could cross the Atlantic in just two and a half hours, with passengers arriving at JFK before they left Heathrow.

Now, 20 years after its final ever flight from Heathrow to Filton on 26 November 2003, we look back at the history of one of aviation’s great engineering and technical marvels. 

There is no one better to help us do that than our very special guest, Captain Mike Bannister. As Chief Concorde Pilot for British Airways, Mike amassed 9,200 Concorde flight hours – around 6,900 at supersonic speeds – more than anyone else. We’ll asked him what it was it like to fly so fast you could watch the sun rise in the West, how it felt to see the curvature of the earth from very edge of space and his memories of being behind the controls for those final flights. 

We’re also joined by air traffic controller Brian Ringrose, who gave Concorde its final ever departure clearance. How did Concorde’s incredible performance impact air traffic control? What special demands did it place on the controllers, and did it enrapture them as much as it did the rest of the world?

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

Can we expect Artificial Intelligence – heralded by just about everyone as the next great technology leap forward - to have a role in air traffic management? 

But how can we look beyond the hype and understand what this technology could really do for aviation? When is it right for AI to play a role in a safety critical industry and how could it impact human decision making? Will we ever really see AI managing live air traffic in our skies and if so, what are the unseen risks? 

In this month’s Altitude we’re joined by a panel to help us navigate this technological and moral maze. 

We discuss Project Bluebird, with its aim of building a digital twin of UK airspace. We also investigate how AI and automation are already starting to transform airport traffic management, and we unpick where AI could be used to improve performance and safety.

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

Airspace – our invisible motorways in the sky – is the underpinning of the entire aviation industry. Vital to the safe operation of tens of thousands of flights every single day, it is an infrastructure relied on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to enhance the UK’s global connections. But it is also in need of a radical transformation.

In this episode of Altitude, we examine why airspace modernisation is such an important part of the industry’s response to the climate crisis and vital to the decarbonisation of the aviation sector. We look at NATS’ experience in delivering the UK’s largest airspace changes, the tools and technologies deployed, the challenges of transforming some of the world’s busiest airspace with views from across the industry and how close collaboration is the key to progress.

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

The Berlin Airlift was a significant episode in the beginnings of the Cold War, with American, British, and French aircrews flying hundreds of daily cargo flights to deliver essential supplies into a West Berlin blockaded by the Soviet Union.

Despite impossible odds, Berlin was sustained by air for 15 months from June 1948, with more than one third of flights being handled from Gatow Airport in the British sector of the beleaguered city. But what made the operation a success? What was the importance of ATC, and how did technical advances help lay the foundations for modern high intensity operations?

We mark the 75th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift with this very special episode of Altitude. NATS Heathrow Air Traffic Controller and aviation history lover, Adam Spink, speaks to retired Squadron Leader Garry Garrets, a man who flew on the Berlin Airlift as part of a celebrated 30-year RAF career. 

Hear the behind the scenes story of how the West Berlin was kept alive thanks to the most monumental airlift in history.

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

While the weather may have played its part, Saturday 6 May saw a wonderful flypast over central London to mark the coronation of King Charles III. But what does it really take to organise such a spectacle in what is some of the world’s busiest airspace and why does the weather have such an impact? Did the King get to choose the types of aircraft?!

In this episode of Altitude we’re joined by special guests from the Royal Air Force, Wing Commander Noel Rees - Mission Commander for the whole flypast - and 78 Squadron air traffic controller, Warrant Officer Nicola Epps. 

We’re also joined by NATS operations supervisor, Richard Taylor to understand the impact a major flypast has on civil air traffic operations. We’ll look at how all the organisations involved work together and why the UK’s ‘joint and integrated’ air traffic management system is so important.

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

NATS has just reopened recruitment for trainee air traffic controllers, but what does that process look like and what kind of career can successful candidates look forward to?

In this episode of Altitude we’re exploring the whole recruitment process, from understanding the requirements and the application process through to assessment and beyond. We’ll also be looking at the training, what’s involved and how candidates can best prepare for success.

Two air traffic controllers will share their experiences of recruitment, training and validation and what it’s like to then put that learning into practice looking after some of the UK’s most congested airspace and one of its busiest control towers.

Recruitment for trainee controllers is open so find out more and apply at www.nats.aero/careers/trainee-air-traffic-controllers

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

As the world mourned the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, plans for the first state funeral of a British monarch in more than 70 years were being put into action.  

As a mark of respect, it was agreed that aircraft would not overfly the funeral or procession from Central London to Windsor Castle - a period of over nine hours via a route just a few metres from Britain’s busiest airport, Heathrow. 

What followed were 10 days of incredibly intense preparation, as teams from across NATS, Heathrow Airport and the airlines worked to create a minute-by-minute plan. The aim was to deliver respectful silence while keeping the airport open and the disruption for passengers to an absolute minimum. 

Join our panel of Kathryn Leahy, Team Heathrow Director, and Pete Glass, NATS General Manager Air Traffic Services, Heathrow, along with host, Ady Dolan, NATS Heathrow Air Traffic Controller and Head of Training, to hear the quite remarkable, untold story of how the industry came together to deliver one of the most complex, intricate, and ambitious civil air traffic operations in decades.   

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero

From transforming how urgent goods are moved around the world to surveying infrastructure in remote, dangerous environments and aiding accurate, rapid emergency response, uncrewed aviation has long promised to revolutionise our lives and the aviation industry.

But unleashing that potential means delivering safe and scalable Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, something that remains the biggest hurdle for the burgeoning uncrewed aviation sector to overcome.  

What are the technological, regulatory and operational boundaries that still exist? How can air traffic service providers work with the industry to integrate new airspace users and where are the opportunities for new services and solutions?

No one is better placed to discuss all this and much more than our panel for this month’s Altitude livestream.

Charles Tavner is the CEO of Flylogix, a pioneering company bringing together artificial intelligence, satellite communication and low-cost electronics to develop a new generation of smaller, more efficient, uncrewed aircraft.

We’re delighted to also be joined by Louisa Smith, Head of Aviation at Apian, a hugely exciting medical drone start-up aiming to deliver faster, smarter, greener healthcare that can improve patients’ health outcomes and staff well-being.

NATS’ Russell Porter, Head of UTM Stakeholder Engagement, is in the host’s chair, for what is an unmissable, fascinating discussion.

You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero