Airports Authority of India CNS Officers Job Profile
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a Miniratna - Category -1 Public Sector Unit (PSU) under Ministry of Civil Aviation. Airports Authority of India responsible for the creation of new airports, upgradation of airports and maintaining of airports. It provides Air Navigation Services (ANS) over Indian airspace. Currently, there is a total of 125 airports. Out of which 18 airports are international and rest of them are domestic, custom airports and civil enclaves at Military Airfields. Basically, Airports Authority of India is a service based company.
Image courtesy web: Mumbai international airport ATC Tower
Air Navigation Services (ANS): Air Navigation Services includes Air traffic control (ATC) and Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS). Purpose of ATC is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information. Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers. They provide advisory services to aircraft in the airspace. CNS provides planning, procurement, and commissioning of all Communication, Navigation and Surveillance facilities and support systems for air navigation services.
Salary Details:
Basic salary for different level of officers are shown in the following image
STAY TUNED!
So total in hand salary:
( Basic salary + Dearness allowance + House rent allowance(30%, 20% and 10% for X,Y and Z cities) + perks (46% of basic salary) + medical (fixed: 2875 rs) - PF deductions - Income tax).
Apart from this:
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3% of yearly increment of basic pay and 3% of promotional increment.
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Medical benefits for employee and his/her dependents.
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Performance related pay at JE level: 60k–80k. (If your performance is good /very good).
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Rating amount 18k (max) per month for CNS. But it takes 7–8 years is service to get whole rating amount depending on place of posting.
Salary Details After 3rd Pay Revision:
Basic salary for different level of officers after 3rd pay revision are shown in the following image
So total in hand salary:
( Basic salary + Dearness allowance (0% as on 01-01-2017) + House rent allowance (24%, 16% and 8% for X,Y and Z cities ) + perks ( 35% of basic salary ) + medical ( fixed: 2875 rs ) - PF deductions - income tax ).
Working Details of CNS Officers (Electronics):
Works of electronics personal divided into different parts
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Operational work (Ops),
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Technical work (Tech),
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Special Maintenance Unit (SMU),
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Management in Airports.
Operational Work:
Operation works include AMSS supervisors (Automatic Message Switching System), AMHS supervisors (Automatic Message Handling System), CNS Briefing to aircraft pilots, HFRT controller (High-frequency radio telephony) and NOTAM (NOTice to AirMen). Out of this work of HFRT controller is almost all same as Air traffic controllers work.
AMSS and AMHS:
AMSS and AMHS are protocols defined for transmission and reception of Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) messages. Through which all flight plans, Notam messages, Met messages and ATC messages etc are transmitted to different stations across the globe.
Work of AMSS and AMHS supervisor is to make sure that:
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all messages transmitted should reach destinations without error and similarly receive all messages from different stations without error. If there are errors then ask the corresponding station for retransmit.
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Monitor different AFTN channels. If any found AFTN channel found DOWN or Not working then book a complaint against that particular channel and divert the traffic to the destination via another AFTN route.
CNS Briefing to pilots:
Work of CNS Briefing officer is to brief the all available HFRT (if any), VHF, Emergency, ATIS broadcast, Volmet frequencies, source station VHF frequency, destination station VHF frequency and different CNS related equipment available for service to pilots. So that aircraft pilots can use it when there are flying.
NOTAM:
Full form of NOTAM is NOTice to AirMen. It is a notice from an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots to potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight. If any CNS/ATM facility not available then NOTAM has to be initiated. Work of CNS officer in NOTAM office is to take new NOTAMs, replace existing NOTAMs or Cancel previous NOTAMs.
HFRT controller (High-frequency radio telephony):
HFRT is used where long distance communication required and VHF communication not working/available.
Work of HFRT controller is more or less same as ATC. HFRT controller directly in contact with aircraft pilots over a high frequency very noisy channel. They take advisory services to aircraft from ATC and pass same advisory services to aircraft
Technical Work:
As an electronics engineer, you will be responsible for maintenance of all electronic equipment which is being used by air traffic controller and make sure that serviceability is close to 99.96%. So you have to be active throughout your day. If some problem comes to equipment then you should be in a position to tackle that problem. Electronic equipment that is being used in AAI are AMSS, Security equipment, VHF Tx/Rx, HF Tx/Rx, DVTR (Digital Voice Tape Recorder), ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service), DVOR (Doppler VHF Omni Directional Range), NDB (Non-directional beacon), GP(Glide Path), Localizer, Radar, Automation, ADS (Automatic Dependent Surveillance), CPDLC (Controller Pilot Data Link Communication) and GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation ). So, as an electronics engineer, you will be responsible for maintenance of this equipment.
Nature of Duties:
About 60%-70% executives in CNS works in shift duty rest works in General duty (10 AM to 6 PM).
Whereas about 80%-85% executives in ATC works in shift duty rest works in General duty (10 AM to 6 PM).
Shift pattern is as follows.
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CNS shift pattern: 4 days cycle shift pattern
A shift: 8 AM to 1 PM (say on Monday)
B shift: 1 PM to 8 PM (on Tuesday)
C and D will be combined: 8 PM to 8 AM (on Wednesday)
Next duty will be A shift: 8 AM to 1 PM (say on Thursday) and so on.
ATC Shift pattern: 5-day cycle shift pattern
A shift: 8 AM to 1 PM (say on Monday)
B shift: 1 PM to 8 PM (on Tuesday)
C and D will be combined: 8 PM to 8 AM (on Wednesday)
Next duty will be A shift: 8 AM to 1 PM (say on Friday) and so on.
In most of the stations, CNS shift pattern will be different. They follow their own shift pattern.
For example in Mumbai, CNS shift pattern is as follows
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CNS shift pattern: 4 days cycle shift pattern
A shift: 1 PM to 8 PM (say on Monday)
B shift: 8 AM to 1 PM (on Tuesday)
C and D will be combined: 8 PM to 8 AM (on Tuesday)
Next duty will be A shift: 1 PM to 8 PM (say on Thursday) and so on.
For example in Hyderabad, CNS shift pattern is as follows
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CNS shift pattern: 4 days cycle shift pattern
A and B shifts are combined: 8 AM to 8 PM (say on Monday)
C and D shifts are combined: 8 PM to 8 AM (on Tuesday)
Next duty will be A and B shifts are combined: 8 AM to 8 PM (say on Thursday) and so on
Job Training:
CNS Ofiicers will under go 20 weeks of training at Civil Aviation Training College (CATC) Allahabad. During this period officers have to study about 20 different CNS related equipment used in AAI, their working and maintenance. Officers will have to pass both theoretical and practical examinations. Passmarks for each subject will 50% of total marks. Out of 20 weeks of training, 2 weeks will be On Job Training(OJT) at airports.
Promotions in AAI:
Promotions in AAI are mostly time bounded as shown in following image
Transfers in AAI:
General transfers:
Officers have to face transfer for every 3-4 years. Every year transfers seniority list will be prepared based on a number of availability. Availability will be different for different levels of executives. In AAI there is something called tenure and nontenure stations. Tenure stations are nothing smaller stations where the traffic is less. Examples of tenure stations are Agatti, Vijayawada, Jamnagar, and Solapur etc. For all tenure stations list visit AAI website. For example, every year about 60-70 Junior Executives will be transferred to tenure stations. If there are 360 numbers Junior Executives are there on the seniority list. Then the officer whose seniority list between 240-300. It takes at least 4 years to go for tenure stations level. Once they complete tenure stations they will be transferred back to nontenure stations. Vijayawada is a 2 years tenure station that means the officer who transferred in Vijayawada for tenure station will have to stay there for at least 2 years.
Outside Out of Region (OOR) transfer:
Executives who joined AAI has to work at least 5 years in another region rather than home region. If Executive home region is Southern. Then he has to work at least 5 years either in Eastern, Western or Northern region. There will be OOR transfer list will be prepared for every year.
Pros of Joining AAI:
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Relatively good salary compared to all miniratna companies of the same category
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Good job security till PSU gets profits to Govt.
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Medical facilities for dependents
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Postings will be in major cities and capital of states mostly.
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Not much work pressure in technical department/units.
Cons of Joining AAI:
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Executives might get transfers even at retiring age also.
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Executives posted at stations like Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi etc works like robots. Especially in Operational department. Same repetitive and irritating work will be there.
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No recognition of your work, because it is a service based company except very very few departments/units.
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No proper management.
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Due to night shifts duties, there are so many health issues.
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Please don't join this organization unless you don't have other options and eagerly waiting for govt job for last few years.
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Note: These pros and cons are according to my opinion. It may differ from person to person.
Recent AAI Recruitment Advt. for CNS and ATC:
Image courtesy web: AAI Recruitment for CNS (Electronics), Electrical, Civil executives through Gate-2016
Note: For more updates visit AAI website: https://www.aai.aero/en/careers/recruitment
