ENAIRE adds over a hundred maintenance technicians, operations technicians and engineers to its staff this year

ENAIRE will have 628 maintenance technicians, 252 operations technicians and 244 engineersThis year ENAIRE will increase by 16.4% its staff in the maintenance, operations
and engineering professional groups that provide technical and professional support to the systems required to manage air navigation: communications, surveillance (radars), air navigation aid, aeronautical information and stations, and air control technologies, among others.

With these new incorporations, the number of maintenance technicians, operations technicians and engineers will have increased 19.3% in the last 4 years, going from 928 in 2014 to 1,214 in 2018, that is, almost 200 new positions.

89% of the 137 new positions filled from the last call for ENAIRE regional sites and the network surveillance unit (SYSRED H24) will be allocated to these three professional groups.

Specifically, 67 have been allocated to reinforce the professional groups of maintenance technicians and engineers for regional exploitation and 39 to the group of operations technicians.

In addition, out of the total number of incorporations, 67% will be covered by internal promotion, which involves encouraging the development of ENAIRE professionals, as a corporate commitment.

With this considerable reinforcement, ENAIRE will have a staff of 244 engineers (41% more than in 2014); 628 maintenance technicians (+7.5%); and 252 operations technicians (+36.2%).

These figures are proof of the commitment towards technological modernisation and innovation, which is in line with ENAIRE's Strategic Plan: the 2020 Flight Plan.

The incorporation of such a considerable number of positions in the technical and engineering staff is tangible evidence of ENAIRE's effort to provide a safe, efficient, competitive and sustainable air navigation service with full guarantees in a context of traffic growth.

The tasks carried out by ENAIRE staff, both in the implementation and especially in the exploitation phase, are essential to providing the service. The level of qualification and experience of the technical profiles are key to implementing, managing the functioning of and maintaining the new systems within the highest possible security and quality standards.

This is why it is essential to foster the professional development of the technical staff and promote, as is currently happening, their continuous and specialised training, with the awareness of the need of being at the forefront of innovation in a sector whose technological component is one of its cornerstones.

Description of the functions of technicians and engineers

Maintenance technicians

They are the professionals responsible for the appropriate functioning of the systems required to manage air traffic. Among these systems particularly stand out the communications, automation and control systems; the radars; and the different air navigation aids.

All of this entails permanently monitoring all these technological systems, the carrying out of their preventive maintenance and correcting possible incidences in order to guarantee the optimum operability of the installations and equipment.

Moreover, these professionals are responsible for logistics management in everything related to the equipment and systems in the different facilities, stations, and control centres and towers in which they provide their service.

Operations technicians

They manage the aeronautic information communications, including those from air traffic control towers and centres, as well as those associated with the functions of the office that manages the NOTAM aeronautic notifications.

They provide information and help in the provision of services related to air transit management, air traffic flow management, generating and updating operational documentation and supporting the ENAIRE H24 Network Services and Supervision Office.

They also carry out the function of pseudo-pilots in operational simulation exercises when training air traffic controllers.

Engineers

They are in charge of drafting, executing and contracting engineering projects.  The engineers are responsible for designing, analysing, developing and implementing new systems and operational concepts in line with the European convergence plans.

They also provide support in the testing, verification and security phases prior to the commissioning of new air navigation equipment or their additional functionalities.

About ENAIRE

The public corporate entity ENAIRE is a company designated by the Ministry of Public Works to manage the fourth largest airspace in Europe in terms of traffic through 5 control centres, 22 control towers and a network of air traffic infrastructure and equipment. In 2017 the air traffic managed by ENAIRE transported over 250 million passengers in 2 million flights.