How Mdawe is navigating ATNS through its challenges

ATNS provides air traffic management (ATM) services to all nine ACSA airports, as well as 12 regional airports. The company also has a presence in 24 other African countries, plus St Helena Island, and is responsible for a large part of the Southern Indian and Atlantic Ocean, comprising approximately six per cent of the world’s airspace.

As a state-owned enterprise, human resource development is a key component of the company’s development mandate.

The company has therefore developed the ATNS Aviation Training Academy (ATA), which in partnership with the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), has launched an aviation programme to understand and mitigate the effects of solar activity on aviation.

This programme is aligned with ICAO initiatives to appropriately respond to adverse space weather conditions, such as occurred in mid-May 2024. “The aviation space is increasingly becoming prone to the effects of space weather due to the greater use and continued miniaturisation of microelectronics. This is in addition to the growing reliance on signals from satellite-based aviation navigation systems. Awareness and preparation for eventualities like solar storms and mass coronal ejections has become critical in our industry,” said Mdawe.

“We are also very proud that ATNS’s Aviation Training Academy has been voted IATA’s best training academy for three consecutive years,” Mdawe noted.

ATNS provides more than just a pure air traffic management function in South Africa. The company  has been awarded a contract for ILS maintenance for South African national airports.

Mdawe said, “We have a 30-year service excellence record of maintaining ILS systems for and upholding safety standards and regulations as prescribed by the SACAA and ICAO that gives us a competitive edge in the aviation market. Safety is a priority and a lived corporate value at ATNS. This has earned us recognition as a preferred supplier of air traffic management solutions throughout the African continent.”

In conjunction with the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), ATNS is leading the way in technology adoption, particular in the field of passive radar. ATNS and CSIR engineering teams are working at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) to survey passive radar site coverage. “The CSIR developed the technology, while ATNS provides the technical know-how on the system configuration, in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization standards and recommended practices (ICAO SARPs). The aim is to determine the coverage that the system will provide in the area once deployed. This exercise will also determine the sites and the number of radar antennas to be installed,” she said.

“Deploying passive radar at KMIA is an ideal opportunity to test the system, refine the current software and hardware solutions, and monitor continued passive radar performance characterisation testing over a predetermined period,” Mdawe said.

As a state-owned enterprise, ATNS has been recognised for the transformation of its employee racial mix. “We are on the right track to meet the national development plan objectives as an aviation industry player,” Mdawe added.

However, one of the more significant challenges ATNS faces is staff retention, with many of its experienced air traffic controllers being lured to other countries. ATNS has acknowledged that there is a 10 per cent shortage of ATCs, particularly at Johannesburg International Airport, with staff losses of approximately 10 per cent per year.

To address this, ATNS has signed a joint strategy agreement with the South African Air Force (SAAF) to work together in the deployment of infrastructure, training, human resource sharing, and airspace management.

“The joint strategy aims to establish a collaborative arrangement between ATNS and the SAAF for the deployment of SAAF ATC officers at various ATNS ATSUs (air traffic services units). This arrangement aims to address staffing constraints currently faced by ATNS while simultaneously providing valuable traffic exposure and experience to SAAF ATC personnel,” Mdawe said.