ICAO Annex 1 details the standards and recommended practices (SARPs) for personnel licensing. Although not defined in the Annex, a licence per definition is a permit from an authority to own or use something, do a particular thing, or carry on a trade. Licensing is a system of standards, processes and procedures to ensure that personnel undertaking safety related tasks in civil aviation (pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance engineers, etc.) are competent to perform their tasks to the prescribed standards.

Annex 1 also sets out the applicable ATCO standards for the rating, validation, training, aviation English and procedures for acquiring a licence, keeping the licence valid, renewal of the licence and even provisions for withdrawal of ATC licence under certain conditions. Where all these conditions are met, the ATCO is licensed to perform an air traffic control service. Where they are not, the ATCO cannot perform an air traffic control service.

Provisions related to ATCO training are found in both Annex 1, Chapter 4 and PANS-TRG, Part IV. In 2016, ICAO introduced the Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) approach, further detailed in Doc 10056 – Manual on Air Traffic Controller Competency-based Training and Assessment.

 

LICENSING AND TRAINING: ARE THEY SO DIFFERENT?

While the licensing domain related more specifically to the ATCO licence and its associated privileges and responsibilities, the training domain refers to training and assessment matters. Because the latter normally leads to the former, and because to maintain a licence, a certain amount of recurrent training is required, both domains are actually closely linked. In fact, they usually co-exist and may occur concurrently.

 

What falls under Licensing and Training?

The licensing and training domain is vast and encompasses a large number of sub-topics, such as:

  • LICENSING:
    • Recency and competency;
    • Proficiency;
    • Loss of Licence (LoL);
    • Recruitment and selection of ATCOs;
    • Licensing issues;
    • Retirement policies;
    • Ratings and endorsements.

 

  • TRAINING:
    • Human Factors related to training and assessing;
    • Just Culture, trust and mutual respect;
    • Safety Management Systems (SMS);
    • Relation between ATC Schools and operational environment;
    • Failure in ATC training;
    • Emergency training;
    • E-Learning;
    • On-the-Job Training (OJT);
    • On-the-Job Instructor (OJTI) Training;
    • Competence assessment;
    • Refresher training;
    • English language training;
    • Examination, validation and consolidation;
    • Aptitudes testing;
    • Performance measurement in ATC.

For more information, visit one of the following WIKIFATCA pages:

Licensing & Training 118

  1. AAS 1.13 DETERMINING OPERATIONS READINESS OF NEW ATM SYSTEMS
  2. AAS 1.23 SYSTEM-BASED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL LICENCE CONCEPT
  3. ACAS (TCAS Training for ATCOs)
  4. ADME 2.14 REMOTE AND VIRTUAL TOWER
  5. Advanced Training, Assessment, Rating and Checking of ATCOs
  6. Aerodrome Radar Control Rating
  7. Air Traffic Control Instructor Rating
  8. Amendment to ICAO Annex 1 – ATCO Licences
  9. ANSP Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  10. Aptitude Testing for Air Traffic Controllers; Development of Aptitude Tests for ATCOs
  11. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in ATC
  12. ATCO Performance
  13. ATFM Licensing study 
  14. ATS 3.40 MOVING TO A NEW FACILITY
  15. ATS 3.41 STATE AIRCRAFT AND DUE REGARD OPERATIONS
  16. Attracting New Air Traffic Controllers
  17. Competence Assessment
  18. Consolidation After Validation
  19. Continuation Training
  20. Conversion of Military ATCO Licences
  21. Draft Convention for the Profession of Air Traffic Controllers
  22. E-learning as a Training Tool
  23. Educational Issues on Distraction (Guidance Material)
  24. English Language Proficiency Requirements
  25. Examination and Validation Procedures
  26. Forcing Controllers to Work at a Specific Foreign Location
  27. Global Harmonisation of Air Traffic Control Training
  28. Guidelines for the Qualification and Training of AFIS Personnel – (Review of ICAO Circular 211 AN/128)
  29. Human Factors Integration in New ATM Systems
  30. IFATCA Training Manual
  31. Interpersonal Relation Skills of Assessors
  32. Language Training for ATCOs
  33. Licensing of Air Traffic Controllers
  34. Licensing of ATCOs
  35. LM 7.1.4 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CONTROLLER-IN-CHARGE (CIC) IN REGARD TO LIABILITY AND OPERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
  36. Loss of Licence
  37. Maintenance of Recency and Competency
  38. Military to Civilian Licence Conversion
  39. Military to Civilian Licence Conversion
  40. Monitoring Developments in the FAA
  41. Monitoring the Evolution within PRICESG and English for ATCOs
  42. Normal Operations Safety Survey – NOSS
  43. On the Job Training (OJT) & Simulator Duty
  44. Operating two Different Air Traffic Control Ratings During the Same Operational Shift
  45. Performance-based Endorsements
  46. Policy Review of Simultaneous ATC Training on Adjacent Positions
  47. Policy Review on Validity of Controller Licence
  48. Position Paper on Remotely Operated Towers
  49. Provision of ATS over Foreign Territories
  50. Rating and Endorsement Policy
  51. Rating for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Control
  52. Rating for ROT
  53. Rating of ATFM Staff
  54. Relationship Between the ATC Trainee and the Instructor
  55. Report on Committee C
  56. Review of IFATCA Policy Regarding ATCO Recruitment & Selection
  57. Review of ILO Conclusions
  58. Review of MED (Medical Matters) – Professional Policy of the TPM
  59. Review of Part IV – Professional Policy of the TPM
  60. Review of Professional and Legal IFATCA Policy Relating to Unlawful Interference with Particular Regard to Controllers Training
  61. Review of the IFATCA Initial Training Manual for Air Traffic Control
  62. Review of the IFATCA Training (TRNG) Policy
  63. Review of TRNG (ATC Training) – Professional Policy of the TPM
  64. Review of WC (Working Conditions) – Professional Policy of the TPM
  65. Review Policy on Training
  66. Review Policy on Use of Unqualified Personnel
  67. Roles and Responsibilities of the Controller-In-Charge (CIC) in Regard to Liability and Operational Responsibility
  68. RPAS Licensing
  69. Selection of Assessors
  70. Staffing of ATFM Units – the Need for Licensed ATCOs to Man These Positions
  71. Study of Automation – Controller Training
  72. Study of ICAO Training Manual Part D-2 “Air Traffic Controller”
  73. Study of Selection Procedures for Air Traffic Controllers
  74. Study on the Correlation Between Compensation for Loss of Licence, Early Retirement Programme, Medical Checks, Proficiency Checks and Conditions of Employment
  75. Study Remote Towers Concept
  76. Study Remote/Virtual TWR from the Professional, Procedural and HF View
  77. System-Based Air Traffic Controller Licence Concept
  78. Team Resource Management
  79. Team Resource Management
  80. Terms of Reference – SC4 Human and Environmental Factors in ATC
  81. The Operational Role of the OJTI
  82. The Proficiency Checking of Air Traffic Controllers
  83. The Provision of Surveillance Approach and Aerodrome Control Services as Combined Function
  84. The Provision of Training for the OJT Coach
  85. Training for On-the-Job-Training-Instructors (OJTI)
  86. TRNG 9.1.2 SELECTION
  87. TRNG 9.1.3 TEAM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
  88. TRNG 9.2.01 GENERAL CURRICULUM FOR ATC TRAINING
  89. TRNG 9.2.02 GRADUATION
  90. TRNG 9.2.03 LINK BETWEEN ATO AND OPERATIONAL UNITS
  91. TRNG 9.2.04 REASONS FOR FAILURE IN ATC TRAINING
  92. TRNG 9.2.05 AUTOMATION CONTROLLER TRAINING
  93. TRNG 9.2.06 AIRBORNE COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (ACAS) TRAINING
  94. TRNG 9.2.07 BASIC DOCUMENTATION FOR USE BY TRAINING OFFICERS / INSTRUCTORS
  95. TRNG 9.2.08 EMERGENCY TRAINING
  96. TRNG 9.2.09 E-LEARNING
  97. TRNG 9.3.1 ON-THE-JOB-TRAINING (OJT)
  98. TRNG 9.4.1 A SYSTEM COMBINING ASSESSMENTS WITH EXAMINATIONS
  99. TRNG 9.4.2 USE OF UNQUALIFIED PERSONNEL
  100. TRNG 9.4.3 AIR TRAFFIC FLOW MANAGEMENT (ATFM)
  101. TRNG 9.4.4 COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT
  102. TRNG 9.4.6 TRAINING AND LICENSING FOR DEDICATED FLIGHT INFORMATION SERVICE
  103. TRNG 9.5.1 REFRESHER COURSES
  104. TRNG 9.5.2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING
  105. TRNG 9.5.3 SUPERVISORY AND MANAGEMENT COURSES
  106. TRNG 9.5.4 FLIGHT EXPERIENCE FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS
  107. TRNG 9.6.1 RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING FOR MILITARY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS
  108. Update on English Language Proficiency
  109. Use of Unqualified Personnel
  110. Use of Unqualified Personnel – Legal Aspects
  111. Virtual Centres – Review ATS 3.15 Functional Blocks of Airspace
  112. WC 10.1.3 DISPUTES
  113. WC 10.2.2 MANAGEMENT OF ATS PROVIDERS
  114. WC 10.2.7 WORKING WITH UNSERVICEABLE OR INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT
  115. WC 10.3.4 RECENCY AND COMPETENCY
  116. WC 10.6.1 LOSS OF LICENCE
  117. WC 10.7.8 USE OF MULTIPLE ATCO RATINGS
  118. Written ELP
Last Update: 13th December 2024
27th October 2019 2010 Jean-Francois LepageWIKI

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