To mark International Meteorological Day on March 23, Global Airspace Radar spoke exclusively with the leader of the European Cockpit Association’s (ECA) Meteorological (MET) Task Group, Daniele Veronelli. The interview coincides with ECA’s release of its position paper: Enhancing Aviation Weather Information for Flight Safety – A pilot view.
A gap that has been years in the making
Weather has always been aviation’s most unpredictable variable. However, the gap between advances in meteorological science and what pilots receive has widened instead of narrowing. It is this paradox – better data, poorer access – that prompted ECA to publish its second position paper on weather. “We need the airlines to implement the technologies that are already available,” says Daniele, a 10,000-hour A320 Captain and ECA’s representative in the EASA MET Expert Group. “The tools exist. The connectivity to exploit them in the cockpit often does not.”
In 2014, ECA called on stakeholders to provide pilots with the right tools and latest technologies. EASA followed with its own strategy paper in 2018, setting out recommendations on weather information for pilots. Yet more than seven years later, ECA assesses the gap has widened. “The pace of change is much slower than the technological progress we see,” Daniele observes. “We find ourselves dealing with tools that are less advanced than what would be available.”
Old tools for new weather patterns
The urgency has only increased. Weather impacts on aviation are growing, and patterns are not only intensifying, they are also relocating. Daniele points out that the fog that once blanketed Milan Malpensa for weeks in winter is slowly retreating. “Convective weather of the kind uncommon in southern England a decade ago is now a regular operational reality,” he notes. Space weather has become an additional operational consideration, and its associated risks need to be mitigated.
Pilots face new operational challenges, yet the tools in the flight deck have too often remained unchanged and digital information is frequently inaccessible in real time.
Five pillars, one fundamental enabler
ECA’s paper is structured around five pillars: connectivity, readability, coordination, space weather and training. In conversation, it quickly becomes clear that the first of these underpins the rest.
Secure, reliable and continuous flight deck internet connectivity is a fundamental enabler for modern data-driven aviation operations. Without it, pilots are reliant on static pre-flight briefings and forecasts downloaded on the ground that may already be hours old. In contrast, with real-time data access, turbulence reports, live convective overlays and updated aerodrome weather become accessible on the electronic flight bag (EFB) throughout the flight.
Daniele says training in this area is essential. “More targeted training is needed on how to exploit the available information.”
Implementation frustrations
The technology to provide this connectivity exists and is in use, but only a fraction of the global fleet is enabled. A minor percentage of short- and medium-haul aircraft in Europe are estimated to be fully equipped; the proportion is higher on long-haul operations, where carriers have moved faster. Flight data service providers already offer the data and visualisation tools to make real-time weather operationally useful. The issue, as ECA stresses, is access, not product. “It’s about implementation, not invention,” Daniele says. “Make better use of what already exists.”
Readability and usability improve considerably once connectivity is in place. Without it, significant weather areas are communicated as long strings of coordinates, which is technically correct but operationally cumbersome. With a connected EFB, the same data is displayed as a clearly highlighted map overlay. The cognitive benefit in a high-workload environment is not trivial.
Striving for a common picture
Another operationally significant gap is coordination, specifically the absence of a shared weather picture between the flight deck and air traffic controllers. When pilots deviate around weather in a terminal area, the controller managing the flow often cannot see what prompted the request. ATC radar and pilot EFB do not show the same image, resulting in reactive traffic management rather than proactive planning. “If they could have the same picture as us, it would be possible to plan the flow in advance in a way that is much better coordinated.”
Eurocontrol’s Network Manager (NM) has already demonstrated this logic at European scale, Daniele points out. The EUMETNET Cross Border Convection Forecast (CBCF) tool supports the NM by enabling pre-emptive flow planning the evening before operations, reducing delays through anticipation rather than reaction. The challenge now is to replicate that approach in terminal areas.
Call to action
ECA’s paper is addressed to airlines, regulators, ANSPs and meteorological organisations. Daniele says the ECA message is clear: “If nothing is done, operational inefficiencies and safety risks related to weather will persist or increase. We have the potential technologies available. We need to implement fast and all stakeholders to support.”
