As we pay tribute to the courage, commitment and sacrifice of our armed forces community during Armed Forces Week, two members of RAF 78 Squadron, our military colleagues at Swanwick, tell us about their part in the King’s Birthday Flypast. Flight Lieutenant Ross Hammerton and Sergeant Jack Ford were aboard the Voyager aircraft that flew over Buckingham Palace earlier this month.

Humans are at the heart of air traffic management. They are responsible for keeping our skies safe, and ensuring traffic continues to flow safely and efficiently. Despite rapid advancements in technology that support Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) in managing more aircraft, the role of the human as the decision maker has not changed.

We’re now less than a month away from West Airspace Deployment (West) and we are busy finalising preparations for implementation.

I recently spoke at an online webinar hosted by Resilient Pilot on the topic of skills fade and the anxiety being felt by air traffic controllers and pilots who have been furloughed for the past year (and more) and therefore working with far fewer flights than usual due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.  

As the flying season is now well underway, we thought we’d provide a deeper look over the coming weeks, at some of the services that are available to pilots. Today we’re starting with the Lower Airspace Radar Service (LARS).