KATSEA: A Veritable Platform to Boost ATSEP Performance
Kenya Air Traffic Systems Engineering Association (KATSEA) – a proud African affiliate of the International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Associations (IFATSEA) – is steadily finding its niche in the global air traffic safety electronics community and building an enviable reputation amongst IFATSEA’s African affiliates and African air traffic safety electronics personnel (ATSEP). Such is the significance of KATSEA’s footprint on the global air traffic safety electronics landscape that the Association is presently working assiduously to host the 54th General Assembly of IFATSEA in Nairobi in November of 2026 along with Kenya’s critical civil aviation stakeholders.
Although KATSEA is presently grappling with a handful of concerns – including the need for the adaptation of the ATSEP concept and CBTA training, change of title from ATO to ATSEP, and concerns surrounding the equitable placement of officers after training as well as the institutionalization of fair selection criteria across engineering personnel cadres – there is a strong determination on the part of the current Wilberforce Lalang-led administration to build upon the achievements of previous administration in order to ensure that the ATSEP working environments in Kenya are aligned with international best practices in terms of competence, training and assessment, licensing/certification, infrastructural adequacy, aviation safety practices, and conformance with international guidance materials including ICAO Doc 10057 (Manual on Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel Competency-based Training and Assessment) and ICAO Doc 9868 (Procedures for Air Navigation Services – Training).
Today, KATSEA can lay claim to a number of achievements; a consequence of dodged determination, strategic thinking, persuasive advocacy, and symbiotic partnerships. A huge number of KATSEA members can walk proudly today as ICAO-trained and certified ATSEP instructors, inspectors, course developers, and assessors. All ATSEP training programmes at the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority-run East African School of Aviation (EASA) have also been operationalized in line with ICAO Doc 10057. The icing on the cake, of course, is the growing prospects of a licensing and certification regime covering the communication, navigation, surveillance and auxiliary systems spectrum. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has not only facilitated the operations of a Licensing and Rating Board, but has also approved an ATSEP licensing and certification policy. As it is now, appropriate ATSEP regulations have been enshrined in the KCARs (Kenya Civil Aviation Regulations) 2024, awaiting final legislative deliberation and approval in the Kenyan Parliament.
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