62nd IFALPA CONFERENCE Dubrovnik, Croatia, 16 -20 March 2007

Conference Statement Implementation of Lateral Offset Procedures

Whereas navigation systems of extreme accuracy such as GNSS are increasingly becoming standard on all types of aircraft, and

Whereas more than twenty years ago IFALPA recognised the inherent risk of a collision between aircraft as the result of highly accurate navigation systems, and has therefore developed appropriate policy and promoted the use of lateral offset tracking procedures, and

Whereas in 2004 ICAO published the “Revised Guidelines on the use of Strategic Lateral Offsets and the Effects on Airspace Safety”, and

Whereas ICAO Annex 11 requires States to implement a safety programme that ensures that air traffic service providers monitor safety levels, identify safety hazards and implement appropriate measures to maintain an acceptable level of safety, and

Whereas only a few States / Regions have used the ICAO Guidelines to implement this safety enhancing procedure, and

Whereas the implementation of the ICAO Strategic Lateral Offset Procedure (SLOP) was designed to allow quick implementation in “oceanic and remote continental” airspace, without the need for an additional safety assessment, if the airspace fulfils the conditions specified in the above mentioned Guidelines, and

Whereas this does not preclude the authorisation of SLOP in conditions beyond the current ICAO Guidelines if the respective State / Region determine that it is not in conflict with other airspace parameters, and

Whereas the terms “oceanic and remote continental” had been deliberately chosen by the ICAO experts without a specific description to allow implementation in airspaces where normally no electronic traffic surveillance capability exists, and

Whereas in such airspaces, safety depends on basic navigation accuracy, safe separation minima and adequate procedures to mitigate the risk of gross errors, such as flying at a wrong altitude, and

Whereas a globally standardised SLOP is the most effective measure to reduce the risk of mid-air collisions.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 2007 IFALPA Conference, held in Dubrovnik, Croatia from 16 – 20 March 2007 urgently calls upon:

• All States and ICAO Planning and Implementation Regional Groups (PIRGs) to authorise the ICAO SLOP in all appropriate airspaces at the earliest opportunity, and
• ICAO to support States and PIRGs in their efforts to implement SLOP, and ICAO to continue developing advanced offset tracking procedures (such as the embedded lateral offset concept).