Theodore Kiritsis, President of the International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Associations (IFATSEA), remains a man of profound professional eminence, especially when it comes to painting a lucid picture of the historical essence of IFATSEA on one hand and the bourgeoning air traffic safety electronics personnel (ATSEP) professional landscapes on the other hand.

            Even after having been serving IFATSEA for about 28 years or so, Mr. Kiritsis still remains an enigma and a thorough-bred ATSEP with an uncommon and vivid perspective on air traffic safety electronics practices globally. His subsisting tenure as President of IFATSEA has been marked essentially by constant streams of sterling achievements, which have equally been expanding IFATSEA’s visibility.

            Mr. Kiritsis’ ongoing and recent campaigns, including attendance of high-brow regional and international aviation events and the organization of high-level meetings with the crème de la crème in the global aviation community, have been pushing IFATSEA steadily to the fore in the global aviation space. For instance, Theodore Kiritsis, in company with IFATSEA Vice President, Patrick Delaney, recently had a one-on-one meeting with the President of the ICAO Council, Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano, on the sidelines of the recently concluded 14^th Air Navigation Conference (ANC) in Montreal, Canada. A few months ago, Mr. Kiritsis also participated in the EUROCONTROL FLY AI Forum as a speaker, delivering an impactful presentation to promote the very essence of ATSEPs within the global aviation safety value chain. He has also had a tète-à-tète with Michele Merkle, Chair of ICAO Air Navigation Bureau.

            In this interview with Air Traffic Safety Electronics International Managing Editor, Adeyinka Olumuyiwa Osunwusi, Theodore Kiritsis shares his thoughts regarding some of the various horizon-expanding campaigns he has been engaging in.

From your perspective as the President of IFATSEA, what elements are most likely to define the roles and relevance of ATSEP in the context of today’s global aviation landscape?

Let me start by saying that given my duty as President of IFATSEA and ever since the General Assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2023, I have participated in many conferences, showing the flag of IFATSEA and promoting ATSEP’s interests. What is happening at the moment in the aviation ecosystem could be described as a monumental transformative awakening consisting of an intensive technological paradigm shift towards more automation and digitalization, the introduction of Artificial Intelligence and what could be described as an abstraction from the technological layer.

It’s worth emphasizing that having regard to the contemporary roles of ATSEP, technologies produced by SESAR and NextGen must necessarily take into account the Human Factor elements by buying in expertise from Professional Staff Organizations (PSOs) who will offer a reality check stemming from their operational experience. However, the various research projects that develop the said technologies do not necessarily include the ATSEP in their way of thinking. I would also like to note a clear lack of a maintenance concept wherein degraded modes of operations are taken into account when developing concepts of operations (CONOPS).

IFATSEA has been making huge efforts whenever and wherever invited, as in SESAR where we have been participating since 2005. We have also participated in dozens of meetings, providing the ATSEP perspectives aimed at our inclusion in the concept documentation. As an example, I participated at the FLY AI forum in EUROCONTROL as a speaker a couple of months ago. So, if we want ATSEP to be included in future aviation technological plans with a meaningful Task and Job Description in relevant national, regional or ICAO regulations we have to be there when discussions are taking place and decisions are being made.

You, in company with the IFATSEA Vice President, Patrick Delaney, held a high-level meeting with the President of the ICAO Council, Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano, on the sidelines of the recently concluded 14^th ICAO Air Navigation Conference in Montreal, Canada. What would you say was the actual motivation for this meeting? And was there a prior tête-à-tête between you and Mr. Sciacchitano?

As President of IFATSEA I firmly believe that it is my duty to promote the recognition of the ATSEP profession globally. Therefore, for me it was imperative that we visit the President of the ICAO Council in his office to present IFATSEA views on subjects of interest relating to ATSEP training and licensing as well as other items of mutual interest like the context of ICAO Annexes I the context of the global aviation community.

However, this was not planned in isolation. It was actually in line with the context of the Strategic Plan of IFATSEA. The one-on-one meeting with Mr. Sciacchitano was preceded by an online meeting with the ICAO CNSS (CNS and Spectrum) Department and my participation in the GNSS Spoofing and Jamming Conference in Antalya, Turkey where I met with ICAO officials. Also, just before the meeting in the ICAO Headquarters, I had an online meeting with the ICAO Air Navigation Bureau Chair, Mrs. Michele Merkle. Again on this occasion, I made a full presentation regarding our issues. All these meetings happened for the first time in the 53-year history of IFATSEA and would hopefully open new routes of communication with ICAO.

Perhaps I should add that I met the ICAO Council President a few months ago, thanks to an invitation to an aviation event based on a new IFATSEA MoU with HERMES – Air Transport Organisation and Director General, Dr. Kostas Iatrou. I had the opportunity of meeting with the President on this occasion and after a discussion we agreed to meet at the ICAO Headquarters during the ANC. I have been personally invited to over five aviation events by HERMES since last year to speak for ATSEP.