KINGSTON, Jamaica – President of the Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers Association (JATCA) Kurt Solomon has called on the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) to provide answers regarding safety at the country’s two international airports using malfunctioning equipment. 

“We were not informed about what the problems are and what we needed to do (regarding the equipment). We need to know how we are expected to proceed in these circumstances and the likelihood of a recurrence. We want to know what the medium term plans are in terms of new equipment. it would be good to have some kind of disclosure from them as to how they are going to treat with the transition,” he told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

The air traffic controllers have not been performing some functions over the past two days, after Solomon said, their equipment failed.

“Some of the equipment became unusable — we were not able to use it at all, and this (use of the equipment) goes hand in hand with the instructions that we have to give to the aircraft. There are certain functions that require using certain equipment. Members have opted not to carry out those functions. We are working with the tools that we have,” he explained. Solomon declined to specify the affected equipment.

Solomon said the controllers are therefore not carrying out the particular functions that require the use of those failed equipment. He said the labour ministry had made contact indicating that a meeting would be held yesterday, but that the meeting had not happened because they were unsuccessful in making contact with the ministry. He noted that the JCAA had also expressed that it wanted to meet.

Meanwhile, the association’s head acknowledged that the air traffic controllers may be in breach of aviation regulations, but stressed that answers must be forthcoming from the authorities. This is the second time in less than six months that the air traffic controllers have refused to carry out some of their duties in protest of challenges with equipment.

 Air traffic controllers coordinate the safe movement of aircraft. Among their critical duties are issuing landing and takeoff instructions to pilots, controlling ground traffic at airports, managing communications, providing information to pilots including runway closures, and weather updates.

In a release the JCAA said it is spending US$15.1 million to upgrade the island’s air traffic management equipment and facilities, and representatives of the French contractors Thales Air Systems would be in the island this month carrying out a number of key evaluation and system design activities. Thales is supposed to have evaluated the island’s radar sites between January 18 and 23.

The JCAA said the 21 month contract earmarked for completion by October, 2017 involves the supply and installation of new air navigation infrastructure that includes three radars at several locations across the island, a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Management (ATM) automation system, and air traffic control and 3D tower simulators.

Alphea Saunders