40TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, Geneva, Switzerland, 19-23 March 2001WP No. 176Policy Review on Validity of Controller Licence |
Introduction
This policy was included for review at the Marrakech 2000 conference.
The policy is in the IFATCA Manual at Page 4342; Paragraph 4.2.2.and is as follows:
| “4.2.2. A controller’s local rating becomes invalid after a maximum break in service of six months, and revalidation is necessary before resuming duty (Lyon 1976).” |
A review was thought necessary because many national authorities now require revalidation after much shorter period of time than six months.
Discussion
This policy was recommended by the then Standing Committee 5 in Lyon 1976, WP63.
The working paper recognised that different authorities stipulated different periods to elapse before revalidation of the rating was required. Six months was decided upon as policy because this was the greatest length of time allowed by those authorities that required re-validation. It was recommended that policy be produced because there were some administrations that did not stipulate any re-validation requirement.
On examining the current wording of ICAO Annex 1 dated 5th November 1998, the following paragraph was noted:
| “4.4.3.4. Validity of Ratings
A rating shall become invalid when an air traffic controller has ceased to exercise the privileges of the rating for a period determined by the Licensing Authority. That period shall not exceed six months. A rating shall remain invalid until the controller’s ability to exercise the privileges of the rating has been re-established.” |
It is not known whether this was the content of ICAO Annexe I when the policy was adopted by IFATCA, however the two policies appear to be identical.
The intent of the original policy was to limit the time a rating remained valid if it was not being used, should a national authority not impose a limit, and to establish that a controller was required to re-validate before the rating was used again. ICAO Annex 1 reflects both of those objectives and uses the same time period of six months. The issue of shorter time periods being specified by some authorities was considered to be a matter for local negotiation as ICAO only specifies the maximum time allowed.
IFATCA supports the worldwide use of ICAO documentation unless otherwise decided by conference. It is therefore unnecessary to have IFATCA policy that reflects the content of ICAO Annexes.
Conclusions
ICAO Annex 1 paragraph 4.4.3.4. contains similar wording to the IFATCA policy under review.
Revalidation periods shorter than that specified by ICAO are a matter for local negotiation.
Recommendation
That the policy contained at Page 4342 Paragraph 4.2.2. be deleted.
References
IFATCA Manual.
IFATCA Professional Manual.
ICAO Annex 1 dated 5th November 1998.
Last Update: September 29, 2020