ANAC - CIPE - ICAEA SEMINAR Buenos Aires, Argentina 28-29 September 2011 By Captain Rick Valdes

1. ANAC - CIPE - ICAEA SEMINAR Buenos Aires, Argentina 28-29 September 2011 By Captain Rick Valdes IFALPA representative to ICAO’s PRICE SG

2. WHY ARE WE HERE TODAY? Flight SAFETY!

3. Life experiences

5. Presentation Outline • IFALPA • Global role • IFALPA policy • Safety • Progress • Aviation English—a Crossroads • Unregulated industry • What you can do

6. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR LINE PILOTS’ ASSOCIATIONS • IFALPA represents over 100,000 pilots in over 104 countries. • Recognized by ICAO as the global voice of pilots.

7. Language Proficiency--The Trail of Wreckage • Trident/DC-9 mid-air collision, Zagreb -1976 • Double B747 runway collision, Tenerife - 1977 • B707 fuel exhaustation, JFK - 1990 • B757 CFIT, Cali - 1995 • IL-76/B747 mid-air collision, India - 1996 • MD83/Shorts 330 runway collision, Paris/CDG -2000 • MD80/Citation runway collision, Milan - 2001 The common element: English language proficiency Source: ADREP

8. IFALPA’S POLICY on Language Proficiency It is essential that pilots are, at all times, fully aware of the situation in the ATC environment. This is, obviously, impossible if communications are being conducted between other aircraft and the ground station in an incomprehensible language.

9. IFALPA’S POLICY IFALPA has no national, ethnic or linguistic bias, but recognizes that if there is to be a single aviation language, this must, from a practical point of view, be English.

10. Aviation English • Does not belong to a particular culture • A tool for controllers & pilots • Has no special inherent qualities • Most accessible of all second languages • Can be successfully integrated into training programs in common English

11. Annex 6 Operation of Aircraft, Parts I and III • Operators shall ensure that flight crews speak and understand the language used for radiotelephony communications

12. Annex 11 Air Traffic Services • Air traffic service providers shall ensure that air traffic controllers speak and understand the language used for radiotelephony communications • English shall be used for communications between air traffic control units except when another language is mutually agreed

13. UA 497 New Orleans4 April 2011

14. ICAO PHRASEOLOGY • ICAO STANDARDIZED PHRASEOLOGY SHOULD BE USED IN THE ENTIRE WORLDWIDE AVIATION COMMUNITY. INCLUDING, THE USA.

15. How has the safety threat of insufficient language proficiency been managed to date? Denial Cosmetic Reform

16. Denial—Defensive attitude • “My pilots have been flying for years and have never had a problem.” • Cosmetic compliance Minimize cost, look for work around. Select based on price only. Appear to comply. • Reform—Solve safety concern • Commit resources, time, and talent to implement a long-term fix.

17. ICAO Member State Reports • 62 Nations report compliance • 28 Filed a difference • 7 Asked to clarify • 64 Have not updated • 34 No response Reported by ICAO April 2011

18. Why such slow progress? • Scale of training • Large numbers to be trained • Language training takes time • Schedule flexibility • Aviation English is complex and specialized. • Unregulated industry

19. Language Training is complex Language training and testing are professional activities. Aviation English requires experienced merging of two areas of expertise: linguistics and aviation.

20. Aviation English • Complex cross section of expertise and interests • Safety imperative • Operational requirements and considerations • Academic expertise and standards • Commercial enterprise

21. Operational • Traditional academic or general English programs not appropriate. • Operational constraints • Content and focus of training • Timing and delivery of training • Expertise required of teachers • Teachers need aviation operational familiarity

22. Academic • Language teaching requires academic specific language teaching expertise • Academic English programs are most effective • Maintain strict teacher standards • The business of language teaching less strict

23. Hard for lay person or aviation administrators to know how to choose well

24. Unregulated Industry Language training and testing are unregulated. Quality varies widely. Quality matters. POOR QUALITY TRAINING WASTES TIME AND MONEY.

25. CAUTION! • DO NOT allow your training program to teach how to pass the test! • SAFETY, is why the ICAO requirements were created. • Hold your training partners/providers to high standards

26. Aviation English Instructors: Essential elements • English language proficiency • (ICAO Extended Level 5 or Expert Level 6) • Good academic qualifications in Language Teaching • Aviation Familiarity, via direct experience, internship, or co-teaching with aviation SME

27. What are High Standards? • BEST: Master degree in • Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) • Applied Linguistics • Foreign language education (not literature) • Good • Bachelor degree in above fields • Graduate diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) • Minimum • Certificate or non-related degree Document 9835

28. WHAT ARE THE ICAO LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS ABOUT? Flight SAFETY!

29. Thank you, Captain Rick Valdes RV767@AOL.com