Air controllers will soon have to point out for biometry when they take office, a “security” requirement, the Minister of Transportation argued on Sunday, after a “serious incident” at the end of 2022 that had shown a fault work organization.
A decree “that authorizes the creation of automated personal data processing called ‘SPS, a system to verify the presence at the air controllers site, was published today” on Sunday in the official magazine, the Ministry of Transportation announced in a press release.
The controllers will have to point with their finger and their badges at the beginning and end of each vacation. The will will be present in each room and in each control round.
The establishment of this device was part of the recommendations of the Office of Research and Analysis for the Security of Civil Aviation (BEA), after a “serious incident” in December 2022 at the Bordeaux Airport.
An opaque absence system
Two planes had almost collided, and the BEA had caused responsibility for a defective organization of the work of the controllers.
Already in 2010, the Court of Auditors already, in a report, had considered “unacceptable” the opaque absence authorization system in air traffic control. With this unofficial system, team leaders authorized, during low traffic periods, part of the staff so as not to present themselves to work, without being at rest or training.
“I wanted to carry out this essential reform. The installation of the biometric pointe meets a requirement to strengthen security, according to the recommendations made by the competent authorities,” said Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot, cited in a press release.
The Cnil gives its agreement
His ministry stressed that the National Data Protection Commission (CNIL) had validated the principle of resource to biometry, “considering that it is legitimate and proportional to the challenges of air traffic control.”
The publication of the decree occurs 11 days of a call to the strike of the main union of Sky Steremen, the SNTTA, which requires a salary capture of inflation and an evolution of the governance of the profession. However, the SNTTA emphasized at the beginning of September that the rejection of the establishment of biometric badges was not part of its statements.
In early July, on the edge of school holidays, European air traffic had been interrupted by a strike released by the second French union of the profession, UNSA-ICNA. Among his complaints were “generalized surveillance that is established”, including the implementation of badges.
Source: BFM TV
