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Ministry of infrastructure of Ukraine Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services EnterpriseSafety. Efficiency. Responsibility |
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| News |
| 5th May 2020 |
| Quarantine for an air traffic controller: how are those working today on whom safety in the sky depends? |
The work of air traffic controllers under quarantine conditions has changed due to coronavirus proliferation. Traffic decreased by 90 percent, fewer people in shifts, fewer working days, and masks and disinfectants became mandatory attributes. In Ukraine, only Boryspil airport operates for passenger planes, and Lviv aerodrome became a reserve. We talked to the air traffic controller from Lviv control center Dmytro Avramenko and asked him about the operation peculiarities in the new conditions.
"Things will come right, sooner or later we will fly - we do believe in it" - Dmytro Avramenko.
 «It's been a decade since I've been working as an air traffic controller - I love this job. I carry out the duties of air traffic manager, also I have an admission to work as an instructor. My profession is "backstage", many people do not know about it, but flight safety depends on us.
The main thing in the air traffic controller's work is stress tolerance, concentration and ability to make decisions instantly, and they must be only right. I had a maximum of 17 flights in communication simultaneously, and there were from 150 to 400 people on each plane. This is a big responsibility.
Quarantine has changed the terms of our work. Flight information sectors are united, so we divide the operational shift in half - now one air traffic manager has seven people on shift. There are two cycles of work, we work on the usual schedule: day - morning - night, and then two cycles - in the forced downtime. The distance between colleagues is at least two meters. We work in masks and use disinfectants from the first day of quarantine. We try to minimize contact between staff members.
On May 4, we serviced 27 flights on shift - these are purely transit flights. Now "Lviv" is a reserve airport for passenger transportation, if necessary we are ready to provide landings for "Boryspil".
We also hope that we will soon put the new Indra automated air traffic control system into operation. It is more precise, and it is more comfortable to work with than the one we are using now. UkSATSE's laboratory aircraft recently flew over the new system, and the crew helped to test it. With the support of the system we will move to a 5-mile interval between aircraft, now we have a 10-mile interval. That's why the capacity of our airspace will increase.
We expect the air traffic to return soon. We hope that air traffic will resume in the second half of the summer. In the meantime, we're keeping ourselves toned, doing online English.
I wish us all good health - that's the most important thing now. Also I wish the pilots, including my brother, who works in SkyUp, a clear sky and soft landing, I really want to hear everyone on the air. |
| Source: UkSATSE |
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Airport, Boryspil, Kyiv region, Ukraine, 08300, phone: (+38044) 235-21-10, fax: (+38044) 281-84-84
© 2005-2024 Uksatse |
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