International Civil Aviation Day

  There are some 100,000 commercial flights each day in the world, which means that literally millions of interactions take place between pilots and air traffic controllers , very often in a foreign language since English is the international language of civil aviation. This entails a special form of bilingualism as it is very domain-specific and has to be optimal at all times. How does it take place? How efficient is it? Are there breakdowns and if so, what are they due to? What still needs to be improved?  Pilot and Air Traffic Controller Communication in a Foreign Language In non-English speaking countries, near 100 percent, because few air traffic controllers and only some pilots are native speakers of English. In countries where English is the official language, it will depend on the percentage of international flights or international student pilots . This will vary according to region. The civil aviation authorities in each country, which are affiliated with the Intern...

  The most important number to remember about 30-year-old Shaesta Waiz’s record-setting round-the-world flight is not the 24,816 nautical miles flown in 176 flight in 2017 hours across 145 days, not the 30 stops in 22 countries, but the 3,000 young lives she touched in 32 outreach events. “ICAO has been a huge help since Dreams Soar was first conceived, introducing me to aviation officials in so many of the countries … providing flight safety and route advice, and helping to organize the global support and cooperation.” ICAO’s support for Dreams Soar is part of its Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) programme , focused on attracting young people to fill the hundreds of thousands of career positions coming available for new pilots and other skilled air transport personnel. Every time I open the door of an aircraft, I ask myself, ‘How did a girl with my background become so lucky? The truth is, anyone can be me,” remarks Captain Shaesta Waiz. Born in a refugee camp into...

Aside from glass cockpits and digital fly-by-wire, basic commercial aircraft technology has changed little in the past three or four decades. But the next 5-10 years could see a revolution of sorts. Researchers are racing to design, develop and commercialize passenger aircraft that reduce emissions and noise pollution with Tesla-type battery power or cruise above the congested ground traffic of megacities. What’s the status of electric aircraft dreams? Where might they fit into the future commercial aviation scheme? AB INITIO TRAINERS?  Despite the hype of recent announcements about regional airline-size aircraft, the initial application of electric propulsion is more likely ab initio flight training. “The transition from training on an electric airplane is ideally aligned with a turbine aircraft like an airliner,” said George Bye, founder of Bye Aerospace in Englewood, Colorado, US, and designer of the transonic Javelin advanced jet. He was also FlightSafety International’s projec...