IFATCA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President Technical
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President / Asia - Pacific
Duncan Auld was elected as EVP Technical at the 2013 IFATCA Conference in Bali, Indonesia. Following two terms totaling four years in the role of EVPT, he was elected Deputy President at the 2017 IFATCA Conference in Toronto, Canada. At the 2019 Conference in Costa Rica, he was appointed for a one year term as President & CEO of the Federation.
Following a brief journey as a student pilot in Australia, Duncan entered air traffic controller training at the age of 20. His first rating was the airspace formerly known as 'West Procedural' controlling Western Australia and a large portion of the Indian Ocean from Melbourne Area Control Centre. This sector group controlled approximately 7 percent of the Earth using procedural (non-radar) control methods.
After a while he became responsible for local procedures and change management for various sector groups interfacing with safety management systems, safety hazard identification and safety assessment processes. After enough time at Melbourne ACC Duncan transferred to the Sydney Terminal Control Unit, where he worked both Sydney Approach and Sydney Departures. He now works as an Air Traffic Services Aviation Safety Inspector for the General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi.
As a member of various ICAO Panels & groups over the years he obtained a valuable understanding of the change processes and internal mechanics of ICAO. Over several years he found some time to attain a Master's Degree in Aviation Management which, combined with the experience at a global level, has provided him with a thorough understanding of international aviation law, national regulatory environments, and considerable experience in drafting and presenting working papers, and writing technical based procedures.
His time as EVPT has allowed him to promote and enable change in aviation which otherwise he would not have had the chance to do. Of particular focus was safety initiatives such as our safety culture workshops in the African Region.
He serves the Federation at the endorsement of his home association Civil Air Australia.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President / Africa & Middle East
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President / Europe
With more than 30 years of experience in Air Traffic Control, Helena still thinks she has the best job in the world. She has worked in all three branches of ATC: Tower, Approach and Area Control.
Her first position was in Visby Tower on the Swedish island Gotland in the Baltic Sea. The majority of her career has been spent in the TRACON Östgöta Kontrollcentral, ÖKC in Norrköping, Sweden as an approach controller. The airspace in Östgöta TMA is rather small but holds four airports, two civil and two military. The two military airports are the Swedish Airforces pilot academy and SAAB, manufacturer of the Swedish fighter JAS39 Gripen. These two airports are located only 9 km from each other. This contributes to the need of very fast decision-making, which suits Helena perfectly. She is since 2016 Watch Supervisor at Stockholm ATCC, with responsibility over the entire ATC operations during the shift.
In addition to the controlling, Helena has throughout her career been very active in the Swedish Air Traffic Controller´s Association, SATCA. She was the President of SATCA 2007 - 2018. Helena´s involvement in IFATCA has included work on the federation´s Magazine, the Controller and two years (2018-2019) as Chair of IFATCA´s Committee A during the annual conference. During the conference 2019 in Costa Rica, Helena was elected Deputy President of IFATCA.
In addition to the other tasks that fall onto the Deputy President, Helena is the person on the Executive Board who is responsible for arranging the annual conferences and also for the newly created Equality, Diversity and Ethics Task Force of IFATCA.
Job Titles:
- Liaison Officer to the ICAO
Job Titles:
- Australia / Communications Panel ( CP )
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator
Nicola joined the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA, now AirNav Ireland) in 1994. She works in Shannon en route centre as an area controller, OJTI, instructor and human factors actor.
Nicola is the IFATCA liason officer on the IATCA Ireland board. As well as her international work she has a focus on recruitment and promoting the ATCO career.
Besides her appointment as the Federation's Communications Coordination in 2023, Nicola is also part of the IFATCA's Equality, Diversity and Integration Task Force and of the IFATCA2030+ TF.
Nicola has a primary degree in English literature, a Masters degree in Organisational Psychology and a Masters degree in Women's Studies.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President / Americas
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President Professional
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President
- Finance