The 46th annual NBAA International Operators Conference (IOC) drew a record-setting 700-plus corporate pilots and flight-support specialists to San Francisco in late February for four days of presentations and discussions aimed at helping international operators fly safely, securely, efficiently, and legally—the IOC’s mission.
Changes to the North Atlantic airspace and track (NAT) system; a fix for Letter of Authorization (LOA) approval delays; and updates on emission monitoring programs were among the hot topics covered in the more than two dozen presentations, featuring 60-plus subject matter experts. The perennial regional reviews—continent/country profiles including key airports and operational issues—this year took note of Japan’s bizav preparations for the 2020 Olympics, and the airspace dispute between Singapore and Malaysia that has derailed use of the former’s new ILS at Seletar Airport, among other issues.
Updates on avionics highlighted developments including global ADS-B tracking via Iridium’s new Low Earth Orbit satellite network. As often, the real world also intruded, this time with news of the closure of Pakistani airspace—a region that many attendees (the overwhelming majority Part 91 operations) either fly through or have clients they support who do.
Sit-down lunches, refreshment breaks, a pair of evening socials, and hospitality suites hosted by IOC sponsors including Bombardier, Gulfstream, Aerion, Universal Weather, World Fuel, Jetex and Collins Aerospace, gave attendees ample time to share knowledge and make contacts.
Despite all the resources available, the distances today’s long-range jets travel and the vagaries of en route weather and the myriad airspaces they traverse continue to make international operations challenging. IOC has become the go-to event for those eager to keep up with critical news and developments.
Weather Ahead
A weather briefing, providing a quick but fairly deep dive into seasonal weather in various regions and continents, commenced each day’s presentations, and this year they emphasized the impact global climate change is expected to have on aircraft operations. These include stronger convective activity; increased frequency of high level icing; changes at airports and over routes of flights; jet stream alteration and amplification; more persistent negative operational weather; and extreme turbulence, said meteorologist Mike Wittman of EVO Jet Services. Current weather models can’t yet replicate the changing conditions, making forecasting increasingly difficult.
Nat Iyengar, a Hong Kong-based senior pilot with Jet Aviation, noted in the Southeast Asia Regional Report, seeing temperature shifts as large as +10 to +20 degrees ISA within 100 miles, resulting in “a really big impact on performance.”
Warming in the Arctic, where global temperature increases are most pronounced, is changing and slowing the patterns of the northern hemisphere jet stream, Wittman said, with persistent weather systems that remain in one place among the results.
Accelerating LOA Approvals
New and preowned long-range aircraft today are equipped with systems and capabilities mandatory for global operations: RVSM, RNP, CPDLC, and other core capabilities stakeholders and the FAA call “the Big Ten.” But until Part 91 owner/operators get Letters of Authorization (LOAs) from the FAA approving their equipage, procedures, and training, they can’t use the systems, and the LOA process takes an average of six months.
The FAA and NBAA unveiled at IOC what they call an LOA streamlining initiative focused on new aircraft, based on an in-development standardized application format. Under the initiative, OEMs are developing standardized “statements of capability,” trainers are developing a standardized “training compliance matrix,” and the FAA will adjust inspector guidance, said Fred Armstrong, FAA’s manager of performance-based flight systems. Additionally, it’s submitted electronically, and the application will be available to all departments whose sign-off is required, replacing the prior sequential review process. The current schedule calls for workshop meetings to resume in late March and continue through the year, followed by “change management execution.” The FAA reauthorization passed last year requires the FAA to streamline its approval process.
NAT Changes
The North Atlantic Track High Level Airspace (NAT HLA) remains in the midst of a years-long implementation of new rules and technology designed to squeeze more traffic into the airspace, which carries the bulk of air traffic between the U.S. and Europe. Currently Phase 2B of the North Atlantic Data Link Mandate (NAT DLM) trials is in effect, requiring FANS 1/A in the entire NAT, FL350-FL390 inclusive. To meet that ICAO mandate, aircraft must have Performance Based Communication and Surveillance (PBCS) equipment comprised of a minimum of Required Communication Performance (RCP) 240; Required Surveillance Performance (RSP) 180; and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) 4 approval. Three core NAT tracks are reserved for PBCS approved aircraft, and the test may expand beyond those tracks after March 28, 2019.
As of January 30, 2020 aircraft in all ICAO NAT regions will need FANS 1/A from FL290 and above, but it won’t be required in airspace monitored by radar and/or ADS-B, airspace north of 80 degrees latitude and New York Oceanic FIR.
Meanwhile, Advanced Surveillance‑Enhanced Procedural Separation (ASEPS) trials are scheduled to begin in the NAT on March 28, and will reduce longitudinal separation to as little as 14 miles, and reduced lateral separation trials will begin six months later. ASEPS incorporates new emergency contingency procedures.
Though complex, with proper planning, even a novice can navigate the NAT, as pilot Peter Bing showed in the North Atlantic Regional Review, presenting some of the datalink messages he received on a recent flight to and from Europe in a Challenger 300.
SAFA & MELs
Two years ago at IOC Laurent Chapeau, head of the Ramp Inspection Office at French Safety Oversight Authority, responsible for his country’s SAFA (Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft) inspections that all inbound and outbound non-EU registered aircraft are subject to, created a firestorm when he said Part 91 U.S. operators were required to have a Minimum Equipment List (MEL) for their individual aircraft. Under FAA rules, the OEM’s Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL) for the aircraft type is sufficient. Chapeau was back this year to provide an update on the SAFA program and the MEL issue. Adopted by the EU in 2012, SAFA inspections aim to ensure international operators are conforming to ICAO safety standards, and now Canada, Australia, and a handful of other countries, though not the U.S., have instituted them.
The inspections cover 53 specific items related to the flight deck, cabin, cargo, and aircraft condition. French inspectors examine about 1,500 private aircraft per year, and Chapeau said in the last two years only one aircraft was assessed the most severe, a Category III finding, which can ground an aircraft. Inspection items that have caused problems include lack of policy and procedures for en route fuel checks, and improper calculation of fuel reserve requirements, Chapeau said. But the MEL remains an issue, and no workaround is in place.
Doug Carr, v-p regulatory and international Affairs at NBAA, said some 9,500 U.S. operators are subject to the MEL rules, but final guidance from the FAA has been delayed by the recent government shutdown. In the interim, presenting a SAFA inspector with proof an MEL application has been submitted to the FAA may result in no finding, but Chapeau couldn’t guarantee all his inspectors would treat the situation this way.
Airspace Restrictions
The flare-up of tensions between Pakistan and India and resulting temporary closure of regional airspace illustrated the issues many of the pilots and flight handlers attending IOC commonly confront. “Twenty years ago, not many people flew over that airspace,” Pete Lewis senior v-p of Global Trip Operations at Universal Weather and Aviation, one of the IOC sponsors, told AIN. “Some might remember the old Purple routes, when it was difficult to get a permit, but it’s well-traveled today.” Lewis noted, “Airspace closures around the world are not terribly unusual,” and said “plenty of alternatives” for safe routing are available, adding that with proper planning resources, in this area as in others, operators needn’t “get afraid about traveling.”
The Flight Dispatch Team at Dubai-based Jetex Flight Support was also monitoring the situation and advising customers, said Caterina Taylor, manager, North American business development.
Global Emissions Control Programs
After dropping off the radar, emissions control programs are back in focus, and an International Regulatory Update session explained the three schemes now in place: The European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS); the ICAO-nominated Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA); and Switzerland’s homegrown ETS, effective January 1, 2018.
Under EU-ETS, a cap and trade plan established in 2012, any aircraft emitting more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 annually will have to pay for carbon credits for the overage; aircraft below the threshold are exempt from payment, but must still register. A chart listing more than a dozen aircraft and their CO2 emissions accompanying the presentation showed, based on 400 flight hours per year, a Cessna Mustang emits 348 tonnes; a Falcon 2000LXs, 1,081; and a Gulfstream 650 emits 1,932 tonnes. Monitoring for EU-ETS has been extended through 2023, though payments are suspended while CORSIA’s global approach is assessed.
U.S. operators are assigned to various national administering authorities for their EU-ETS reports, and some 600 are registered with the UK. By the end of March, reassignment to other EU member aviation authorities is to be completed by all, eliminating concerns about the fate of the aircraft’s compliance status after Brexit.
Meanwhile member states continue looking for operators that have avoided compliance, and the advice with IOC, “The penalties and discipline actions can be very real,” said Bruce Parry. IBAC environmental director.
Meanwhile the impact of Brexit on business aviation operations in Europe in general remains an unknown, as several presenters noted.
CORSIA is a market-based offsetting plan, which will require operators to purchase offsets for growth in emissions linked to increased fuel burns above a baseline to be set before the end of 2020 by ICAO. CORSIA requires operators to monitor emissions on all international flights as of January 1 of this year. Under CORSIA, all operators must report emissions from international flights annually, and those exceeding the baseline will be required to submit an annual report and supporting documentation to an accredited verifier for validation. Operators that emit less than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually on flights covered by the scheme are exempt from payments, as are aircraft of less than 5,700 kg mtow (12,500 lbs.) Operators near the 10,000-tonne threshold should consult their administering authority (the FAA for U.S.-registered operators) for guidance.
Under the Swiss ETS, operators who in 2016 reported more than 1,000 tonnes for EU-ETS must comply with Swiss ETS, which requires them to submit a monitoring plan; track flight distances and payloads; and compile an annual report of applicable flights (to, within, and from Switzerland). It also requires an accredited third party to verify the annual report prior to submission.
Weary Operators
Fatigue, a perennial focus due to its impact on performance and the havoc international travel plays on the circadian rhythm, was framed as a long-term health issue by Dr. Vladimir Nacev, a psychologist and private pilot. Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to depression and psychosis, hypervigilance, impulse control problems, and physical problems, including ulcers, immune system disorders, and weight gain.
Nacev recommends operators commit to fatigue risk-management programs for flight crews, dispatchers, schedulers, and operations personnel and offered a number of healthy sleep tips. Among them: Do a brain dump before bedtime; avoid exercise before bedtime; and if you can’t fall asleep, get out of bed. Nacev noted fatigue-related issues account for 21 percent of reports in the Aviation Safety Reporting System and 88 percent of the accidents investigated by the NTSB.
More effective fatigue measuring, monitoring, and mitigation tools are available and in continuous development, and today’s managers and C-suite executives are increasingly data-driven and likely to employ them, said Steve Thorpe, a senior captain at Merck, Sharp & Dohme, in addressing Fatigue Fighting Foibles.
Keeping Pace with Technology
For all the technology at a pilot’s command, Ryan Frankhouser, regional director – Americas at UAS, in Pre-Trip Technology, said aviation lags well behind other industries in digital adaptation. Examining business aviation’s role in emerging technologies, Frankhouser issued a call to action, challenging pilots and industry professionals to tell service providers what they want and need in digital tools, and to comment on those already available; otherwise, the time and money needed for development won’t be invested. He urged attendees to “police” service providers to ensure they use and protect personal data responsibly, and to be unafraid of “disruptive innovation.”
James Albright, chief pilot for a Part 91 flight department and former self-confessed paper addict, demonstrated how to go Paperless Oceanic, including using electronic global plotting charts for planning and position reporting. (Regulations mandate plotting charts, but they needn’t be paper.) Going paperless saves time and money and enhances safety, and as long as the aircraft is PED tolerant, all you need is an iPad and the right apps, as Albright showed.
Preparing Tomorrow’s Operators
With flight departments facing a shortage of talented and trained young professionals entering business aviation, in Mentoring Matters, YoPros Steve Maynard, a CAM with John Deere, and Brian Koester, NBAA senior manager, flight operations and regulations, framed the issue as a matter of necessity for international flight departments, in order to keep their operations safe and sustainable. NBAA recently created a mentorship program that features a formal mentoring contract, goal development tools, and handbooks for both mentor and mentee. Best practices for formal mentorships include setting goals, regular scheduled meetings, and an end date, the presenters said.
Meanwhile, during the gathering IOC awarded almost $20,000 in scholarships to four students and young professionals to support their business aviation education.
Homecoming
For all the rigors of international operations, lack of clarity among customs and border patrol (CBP) inspectors can make returning home a challenge, when it comes to rules governing inbound non-scheduled air operations. For example, inspectors may demand General Declaration forms, which don’t apply to such flights. The latest on this perennial hot topic: The in-development GA Operators Guide, which will spell out CBP rules covering such inspections, has been “a bit delayed,” and will now be published piecemeal, among the updates covered in U.S. and Canadian Customs: Facilitating Travel, National Security, and Profitability. The GA Operators Guide’s glossary will come first, and should in itself resolve many misunderstandings, said Laura Everington, senior manager, government and industry affairs at Universal Weather and Aviation. Sho’s been working with Eric Rodriguez, CBP program manager for general aviation, as outside and inside point persons on agency issues affecting business aviation. (Rodriguez, a semi-frequent IOC guest and presenter, was unable to attend due to government shutdown issues.)
Perhaps not all the misunderstandings are on the inspectors’ side. In an instant poll, 50 percent of responding attendees reported spending multiple days studying foreign regulations when planning a trip; but 34 percent said they spend one hour or less studying U.S. regulations in preparation for their return.
The next goal, working with CBP, is to create a non-commercial APIS for all bizav and GA flights, a “single syntax system” that once introduced in the U.S., “could have ICAO’s blessing and be offered to the World Customs Organization as a global solution,” Everington said. He said customs inspectors in many other countries understand the difference between these and commercial operations even less than do U.S. CBP officers.
Ryan Flanagan with the CBP’s alternative funding programs office, provided an update on the Reimbursable Services Program (RSP), which enables private entities to pay for services beyond what CBP can offer under its budget (e.g., after-hours or remote-location clearance), as long as services delivered to the public aren’t affected. In 2016 the program was expanded to allow any private or government entity to join, at no cost to enroll or remain on the rolls. Costs charged are pegged to local CBP salaries; in the San Francisco area, $100,000 would pay for about 639 hours of CBP service, Flanagan said.
The NBAA 2020 IOC is scheduled for March 16-19 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
