11 November 2025 – Global Airspace Radar’s, Issue 2 – 2025

David Perks, IFATCA representative to ICAO explains his work

The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) is the global voice of air traffic controllers (ATCOs), representing more than 130 member associations and their 50,000 members. We are an apolitical federation, advancing the professional interests of controllers by, amongst other things, producing training and guidance material for the benefit of our members and other industry professionals.

IFATCA is also involved in representing the interests of our members (and the profession in general) through our participation in numerous forums, the highest profile of which is our representation at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). We’ve been providing members and advisors to expert groups for decades. Currently we participate in 12 panels and working groups.

Such is the reputation of our representatives for providing relevant, meaningful and expert advice, it’s not uncommon to see IFATCA representatives appointed to leadership roles within the various expert groups. One of our members was elected chair of their panel in 2021, a rare occurrence for an industry representative and a first for IFATCA. It’s testament to the contributions made by IFATCA to the various ICAO expert groups over decades that our members are entrusted with such roles by other industry and State nominated colleagues.

The voice of ATCOs at ICAO

In 2001, ICAO appointed IFATCA as a permanent observer on the Air Navigation Commission (ANC). IFATCA is one of a number of industry organisations appointed as permanent members of the ANC, which includes the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Civil Aviation Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO).

The ANC manages the ICAO technical work programme and acts under the authority of the ICAO Council. Its work areas comprise 17 of the 19 Annexes to the Chicago Convention and the associated Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), and Procedures for Air Navigation Services (PANS). The bulk of the ANC’s work programme includes reviewing the output of the various panels and working groups for which it’s responsible, and recommending SARPs for approval by the ICAO Council and PANS for adoption.

The role of our representatives on the various panels and working groups differs from that of industry observers appointed to the ANC. The rules under which the panels operate are clear that members participate ‘in their personal, expert capacity and not […] as representatives of their nominators’. Panel members nominated by industry organisations make an equal contribution to the collective decision-making process as their State nominated colleagues.

Permanent observers appointed to the ANC, whether nominated by an industry organisation or a State, do not serve in an independent capacity. This responsibility falls to the 19 commissioners nominated by their States and appointed by the ICAO Council. Industry observers in the ANC, however, still have a critical role to play.

Working together with other associations

In addition to these tasks, our ANC representative works closely with other industry observers, often drawing on our collective expertise to provide informed feedback to the commission and other ICAO bodies. For instance, IFATCA, IFALPA, IATA and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA) were recently invited to give an informal briefing to the ICAO Council on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), an invaluable opportunity to raise awareness of the impacts of this threat to a critical piece of global navigation infrastructure. We also coordinate our feedback at major ICAO conferences such as the Air Navigation Conferences and the General Assembly.

There are only 19 commissioners entrusted with the responsibility of reviewing amendments for 17 of the 19 annexes. This is an enormous breadth of material to cover by a small number of commissioners. Industry observers, including IFATCA, provide essential knowledge and experience to better inform commissioners in their decision making, resulting in a better rule-setting for the international aviation community.

Our representatives draw upon their own experience and qualifications, and the collective expertise of over 50,000 ATCOs, to provide critical inputs into the ICAO rule making process. Two of our permanent standing committees, the Professional and Legal Committee (PLC) and Technical and Operational Committee (TOC) are reviewing and updating IFATCA’s Technical and Professional Policy Manual.

IFATCA also works with our colleagues within the ICAO Secretariat who coordinate all the ICAO activities, and are of invaluable assistance in helping us ensure we are in a position to maximise our contribution.

IFATCA is funded by our member associations (who are in turn, funded by individual controllers) and a small number of corporate partners. We don’t have the funding to pay our ICAO representatives and rely on them volunteering their time and effort. The time commitment varies from two weeks a year to over six months a year for our ANC representative. It’s a credit to these volunteers that IFATCA continues to make such a substantial contribution to the aviation community.

David Perks

David Perks began his ATCO career in Sydney in 1990. Since 2018, he has represented IFATCA on ICAO’s Separation and Airspace Safety Panel (SASP).

View the article online on Global Airspace Radar following this link.