Resilience has been our key message, because the constant growth we had come to know was transformed into traffic fluctuations and a less predictable airspace. The ATM ecosystem now must account for disruptive factors such as pandemics, weather, or political issues, and require ATC services to be flexible and able to scale up and down cost efficiently, with a greater level of resilience. As witnessed in other industries outside ATM, this has accelerated the development of digitalisation and virtualisation and, in the long run, increased automation.
The continuous development of the digital ATM system brings many benefits, including the essential integration of ATM and unmanned traffic management (UTM). Digital data and autonomous systems are the future for managing both traditional aircraft and new airspace users. From the start, UTM relies on greater autonomy, less manual control as well as a shared information space through system-wide information management (SWIM). The convergence of ATM and UTM will change ATM to become more autonomous, safer, and also eco-friendly.
Providing a greener aviation with sustainable solutions is also a major topic for the industry; solutions that provide more precise route planning and traffic management—and that consider real-time weather data with optimised flight profiles—will reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Adding effective departure management tools in the tower will also reduce engine time on the ground.
It is our joint responsibility to make sure air transport is carried out in a sustainable way that protects the environment. For that reason, the Frequentis group invested into ATRiCS in 2020 and Frequentis Orthogon in 2021. Both companies are at the forefront of providing automation and traffic synchronisation capabilities to optimise traffic in the air and on the ground. An autonomous ATM ecosystem will advance a safer, more secure, and sustainable world.
The industry and our customers must rethink the current operating model and business focus, as the existing playbook to cope with challenges will no longer work. The role of ANSPs and suppliers is changing and to some extent will converge: IT moves into ATM and with that the continued adoption of "as-a-service" models. Communication is still the core of airspace safety. As networks and communication technologies move from legacy to digital means, radios will be seen as a communication service in an IT-based environment. The IT revolution in ATM has just started, and we are mastering this shift by providing safe and secure communication solutions that take advantage of modern IT concepts.
The future for the aviation industry is not black and white; there is no single solution for every challenge. Our challenges instead require combined approaches, creating true technology partnerships ready and prepared to work on the future of aviation now. We are determined as a company, and as people, to do this.
Hannu Juurakko, Frequentis VP Air Traffic Management and Chair ATM Executive board
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