JCAA Supports Work of Air Traffic Controllers – Williams-Singh

Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Nari Williams-Singh, said the organisation is committing to supporting the work of air traffic controllers in ensuring the safety of the country’s airspace.

“We share the expressed commitment to safety and we are advanced in a strategy for effecting a comprehensive upgrade and modernisation programme for our air navigation services…to meet the requirements of the global air navigation plan and the global aviation safety plan,” Mr. Williams-Singh said.

He was addressing Thursday’s (October 15) opening of the 26^th regional meeting of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association (IFATCA), at the Holiday Inn Resort in Montego Bay, St. James, under the theme: ‘Ensuring Safer Skies for the Next Generation’.

Mr. Williams-Singh commended the IFATCA, which is celebrating 54 years this year, for its work in ensuring safety in the Jamaican airspace and beyond.

He said the theme for the conference is apt, as it “mirrors your membership’s focus and responsible approach to duty while maintaining the peripheral vision needed to propel the industry along the path to sustainability, safety and continued growth.”

He noted that since the inception of the IFATCA in 1961, member entities have dedicated themselves to the strengthening of coordination in the exchange of information in order to ensure safety in air traffic.

“The air traffic controllers’ position as a key component of the air transport industry is indisputable. A safe and efficient air transport industry not only relies on advanced precision instruments and air navigation technologies, but on the high calibre of (personnel)  and support groups, which seek to provide quality air traffic services to the industry,” Mr. Williams-Singh said.

The IFATCA meeting is being attended by key players in the air transport sector from Jamaica, The Bahamas, Curacao, Canada, The Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Haiti.

IFATCA represents more than 50,000 air traffic controllers in 127 countries.

The goals of the Federation are: to promote safety, efficiency, and regularity in international air navigation; to assist and advise in the development of safe and orderly systems of air traffic control and new procedures and facilities; and promote and uphold a high standard of knowledge and professional efficiency among air traffic controllers.