09 October 2022
New tools for governance and compliance challenges
We are pleased to introduce Osprey Flight Solutions' new tool to support airlines managing an ongoing operational governance and compliance challenge as explained in the following article.
On the face of it, it is an anomaly that national aviation authorities and other regulators take such an active role in providing ‘intelligence-led’ direction and advice on aviation operations over or near conflict zones. Effectively stating ‘the risk to your operation is so great that I am going to dictate that you cannot operate in this particular area’ is a significant outlier in the way they conduct their business across other functions.
However, the perception (however close to reality it is) that airlines do not have the capability to do this themselves, as well as the operators themselves making very loud demands for support from the state intelligence capability, have driven the requirement for this.
Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, government organisations, due to their inherent political agenda, are simply unable to provide objective support to the industry; the politicisation of the NOTAM system is obvious across the board, clearly demonstrated by incidents such as the international regulatory response to the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight in May 2021.
Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, government organisations, due to their inherent political agenda, are simply unable to provide objective support to the industry.
However, this does not change the fact that prohibitions exist and that the regulatory bodies that implement them may have the right to impose significant fines or other regulatory consequences for any breach. So, the challenge then becomes interpreting and implementing these NOTAMs and other notices operationally. Anyone who has dealt with any regulation at all will know that the norm is for reality to be ignored, clarity to be sacrificed for obfuscation through attempted diplomacy and practicality to disappear into the abyss of convoluted publishing mechanisms. Where this really becomes difficult is when all these issues are compounded with the complexity cross-regulatory compliance requirements through codeshares and it is difficult to see how compliance exists at all, let alone is widespread. It is often, although certainly not exclusively, when operating codeshare flights that breaches occur.
Sentinel AI
The good news is that this kind of requirement is where AI capabilities can excel and bring enormous benefits to users. The ability to actively monitor websites for change, identify the details of that change and translate it into a data and visual output is bread and butter for machine learning algorithms, with neural networks bringing extremely high levels of accuracy. Finding solutions to aviation risk problems like this is core business for Osprey, and this particular problem is why Osprey:Sentinel has been developed.
Sentinel is a simple to use, web-based platform, part of the Osprey suite of capabilities that consists of two main functions. Firstly, the automatic and almost instant monitoring, gathering and visualisation of any changes to notices published by regulatory authorities. Secondly, every flight that an operator conducts can be checked for compliance against all extant or newly published notices. The operator can then be immediately notified of any breach, the second either the flight plan is filed, or a new notice is published.
Sentinel is therefore an automated compliance tool, ensuring that operators do not miss changes in regulatory notices and that they are immediately notified of any potential breach, allowing them to make timely and accurate decisions to avoid the breach if needed. This reduces risk, saves time, and increases efficiency.
Sentinel is another example of Osprey developing a specific platform to answer a clear need from the industry and deliver an industry first. It is an integral part of the broader suite of Osprey’s risk platform, giving the most accurate regulatory picture available in the industry today.
There is the additional benefit that Sentinel is a single interface through which the notices from the most prominent authorities can be viewed and compared. Unfortunately, this clearly shows that inconsistency is far more usual than agreement amongst these organisations. This inconsistency is another symptom of the underlying problem with the current application of the notices system. Applying sanctions through overflight prohibitions is a valid tool to use in a geopolitical context, but when it is conflated and confused with a mechanism specifically created, understood, and described as being for the safety of flight operations, it forces airlines to make operational decisions that put their aircraft at greater risk. To solve this, the industry and governments, and regulatory bodies need to be honest about the utility of overflight advisories and prohibitions, what they are actually used for and the accuracy of the picture of the risk environment that they portray. Until that happens, operators need a system to accurately monitor compliance with these notices, enabling them to focus their resources and efforts on understanding the actual risk to their operations. Sentinel does just that.
Finding solutions to aviation risk problems like this is core business for Osprey, and this particular problem is why Sentinel has been developed.
For further information on Osprey:Sentinel, or any of the other Osprey products, or to discuss a specific challenge or problem that Osprey may be able to solve, please get in touch.
Gallagher's Aerospace Division act in collaboration with Osprey Flight Solutions to seek to bring state of the art of aviation security threat intelligence solutions to clients, and as with the newly developed Osprey:Sentinel module, other tools that address governance and compliance issues which may expose airlines to fines and prohibitions from aviation regulators.
Author
Andrew Nicholson
CEO, Osprey Flight Solutions
Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered Office: The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London EC4N 8AW. Registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 119013.