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By the way, what is an "air traffic controller"?

2022-09-16T10:01:09.384Z


FOCUS - A thousand flights are canceled this Friday on the sidelines of a strike by air traffic controllers. The opportunity to reflect on the daily life of a profession as fantasized as it is misunderstood.


“They act in the shadows and no one suspects their existence.

Yet every year, the lives of millions of individuals depend on it”.

These are the words they use to introduce themselves on their Instagram account, in a riddle worthy of Father Fouras.

They are poetically called the “air traffic controllers” but their name in the city is more prosaic.

They are the air navigation control engineers (ICNA) or, it is shorter, the air traffic controllers.

Their decision to go on strike, at the initiative of their main union (the SNCTA), led, in anticipation, to the cascading cancellation of a thousand flights departing from France this Friday, September 15.

This shows how crucial their role is in the well-oiled machine of airports.

Loïc Parisi, air traffic controller at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport since 2005 and national secretary of the SNCTA, summarizes:

“We are the eyes of the pilots”

.

“Within the airport, we manage a space, a take-off or landing runway so that safety is guaranteed.

“Most often in pairs, they trace the trajectories every day, analyze the speed, the altitude, the course of 10,000 flights in French airspace.

They are also the voice that guides the pilot in the cockpit throughout the journey.

Read alsoAir traffic controllers' strike: a thousand flights canceled in France this Friday, update on traffic forecasts

Eyes in the skies (but not only)

The goal ?

Avoid, of course, that there is a "

hitch

", in other words an accident, in flight or on the ground.

But also ensure that the procedures are followed in terms of noise pollution, for example, or environmental protection.

We know less about it but, in addition to civil aviation, some air traffic controllers specialize in business aviation and chartering during exceptional events, such as the forest fires this summer.

The image of Épinal which represents them in their towers, facing screen walls, is it accurate?

“In reality, we look more at the outside through the glass than our screens”

, specifies Loïc Parisi, who officiates in particular in the north tower of Roissy, 95 meters high, one of the highest in Europe.

“It's the only way to identify how the aircraft is behaving, which doesn't show up on a radar screen.

But the screens make it possible to anticipate.”

Read also Canceled flight: how to get a refund for your plane ticket?

180 controllers at Roissy

Officials within the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, under the aegis of the DGAC (the general directorate of civil aviation), the air traffic controllers of our airports are recruited by competition, after two years of higher education, by the national school of civil aviation (ENAC), in Toulouse.

They graduate after three years of training.

The profession is then divided into three main categories:

  • tower controllers, who take care of aircraft on the ground at the airport and take-off,

  • approach controllers or "approachers", who handle everything after take-off and landing,

  • en-route controllers, who deal with aircraft crossing French airspace.

    They are posted in dedicated bases, such as that of Athis-Mons, in the Paris region.

At Roissy, 180 people rotate as tower controllers and approach controllers, complementary roles.

On the other hand, the function of “en route controller” is, in his opinion, too technical to be exercised by the first comer.

“I would be unable to fulfill it despite my five years of training

.

Read alsoAirlines: discover the champions of flight cancellations this summer

A passion job

All this forms, in fine, a precise but invisible ballet.

Unsuspected but permanent.

The controllers must demonstrate a great capacity for concentration and reactivity so as not to miss anything, the slightest thoughtlessness could have dramatic consequences.

They also need to be able to change plans in a fraction of a second in the event of the unexpected.

“It's a job that requires constant attention.

We can't afford to take thirty seconds."

At Paris-Charles de Gaulle, to ensure maximum concentration, they observe a regulatory break of 30 minutes every two and a half hours.

The hours are reduced (32 hours per week) and the retirement age, anticipated (59 years).

The professional describes a “passionate profession”, like many aviation professions.

A certain magic remains in the fact of successfully flying a plane.

And from our towers, the view of Paris is breathtaking.”

Proof of this interest: on Instagram, the “Air Traffic Controller” account, held by the SNCTA, is followed by 11,000 people.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-09-16

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