Course aim

This course serves as a complete introduction to Air Traffic Control for people who work within the aviation industry, from administrative employees up to management positions. Additionally, we recommend the course for staff working within organisations that cooperate or liaise with ATC and the aviation industry. For example: aviation media, technical & IT staff, HR, and safety-related industries. After completing the course, participants:

• Understand the overall ATC environment, the different levels of ATC, and the responsibilities and duties each of these different controllers have.
• Have knowledge of operational aspects that ATCOs deal with in their day-to-day work.
• Understand the specific language used in the ATC environment: phraseology, definitions, rules.
• Have basic knowledge about the interactions between ATCOs and staff in other roles within the aviation environment: pilots, ATCO assistants, flight data officers and briefing officers
• Have basic knowledge about safety, and the traffic handling procedures in Air Traffic Services.
• Know about the used equipment and technologies and the related environmental issues.
• Have real working experience from actively participating in simulator exercises and a study visit.

Course structure

This standard course is two days in duration: however, it can be customised to suit customer needs. The standard course dedicates one day to theoretical learning and one day to practical simulator training, which helps participants to first understand the ATCO environment and then experience being a part of it.

Content in brief

This course is customisable, meaning that it can cover topics such as, but not limited to:

Theory
Introduction to the course including the following: basic aspects of the ATC environment, regulations and definitions, Air Navigation Service Providers’ overall mission.
ATCO work, including:

• ATCO roles and their working environment: Tower (TWR), Approach (APP), and En-route (ENR) control.
• Orientation within subjects such as phraseology, abbreviations, aircraft, equipment used, flight plans, safety.
• Controller-pilot interaction.

Modern navigation methods reducing environmental impact: fuel consumption, emissions, noise, green approach concept.Simulator exercise preparation. ATCO duties, working methods, exercise briefing, phraseology.

Simulation

Demonstration. The instructors will run a live demonstration in Tower and Approach environments.

Simulator training in Tower (TWR) and Approach (APP) environments:

• TWR: start-up, pushback, taxi, take-off, landing.
• APP: holding procedure, vectoring arriving IFR traffic, speed control, ILS approach procedure.

Summary of the course with emphasis on the key learning aspects of ATCO work.

Prerequisites

As the course is aimed at staff with a professional interest in the ATC environment, there are no prerequisites.