Eduardo Garcia, CANSO’s Senior Manager, Future Skies, on using the CATS CONOPS to move from vision to coordinated delivery.
Eduardo Garcia, CANSO’s Senior Manager, Future Skies
In aviation, we often speak about trajectories – defined paths, shared intent, and the continuous adjustment needed to reach a destination safely and efficiently. Yet beyond the operational meaning, trajectories also describe how ideas evolve: through conversations, debate and collective reflection.
The past few weeks have felt very much like such a journey, moving from the warm energy of CANSO OSC Connect in Abu Dhabi to the crisp winter intensity of the ICAO GANP Study Group meeting in Montréal. Different settings, different audiences, but a shared question: how do we translate vision into implementation?
OSC Connect brought together a truly global community — operations, safety and innovation leaders from across the regions — under the theme Skies in Transition. The conversations were practical and forward-looking. The discussions centred on how each OSC group can contribute to the Complete Air Traffic System (CATS) Concept of Operations (CONOPS) roadmap, and how we move from frameworks to coordinated delivery.
The atmosphere was one of renewal. It was the first major gathering under the refreshed OSC structure, and there was a strong sense that the industry is ready to move beyond isolated initiatives towards a more integrated transformation. Participants explored how multiple elements fit together as a system — not as individual projects, but as building blocks of a new operational paradigm.
This was the starting point of the journey. It aligned the community, listened to different perspectives, and built momentum.
A few days later, the setting shifted to ICAO Headquarters in Montréal, where the forthcoming ninth edition of the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) was the focus of the GANP Study Group. If Abu Dhabi was about energy and alignment, Montréal was about structure, governance and long-term direction.
The discussions centred on one of the most consequential evolutions of the GANP in recent years: the development of a Minimum Implementation Path (MIP). The intent is to move from a catalogue of options towards a more actionable framework that provides a baseline of safe, globally interoperable capabilities.
Participants explored what the MIP should represent:
A single global path, but potentially with multiple lanes.
A path that is time-bound and measurable.
A focus on interoperability, safety and uniformity.
A grounding in the existing GANP elements, with the Basic Building Blocks as its foundation.
This reflects a broader shift in the GANP’s evolution. Over the years, the plan has moved from prescriptive guidance to a more performance-based approach, but that flexibility has sometimes made implementation challenging for countries. The ICAO Assembly’s direction – and the Study Group’s discussions – signal a desire to rebalance the framework, maintaining flexibility while providing clearer priorities and sequencing.
Equally important was the recognition that the GANP must become more than a strategic reference. It needs to function as a practical implementation framework, supported by stronger performance reporting, clearer communication and closer alignment with regional and national planning cycles.
In many ways, Montréal marked a turning point: the moment where the global community began defining not only where we want to go but also how we get there together.
What makes this journey particularly meaningful is the growing convergence between industry initiatives and global planning. The discussions in Montréal explicitly acknowledged the role of the CATS CONOPS as a strategic reference for the evolution of safe air traffic management, reinforcing the opportunity, and responsibility, for the industry to actively contribute to the GANP’s next phase.
The alignment is natural. CATS provides the narrative of transformation – seamless airspace, advanced automation, new entrants and integrated operations – while the GANP provides the global planning and implementation architecture. Together, they form two paths in the same journey: vision and implementation.
There will be white papers on Service-Oriented Architecture and True North too, exploring the architectural and strategic foundations of future air traffic management.
Together, these initiatives represent the operational arm of the broader strategic journey – translating global direction into concrete workstreams.
If the recent conferences have been about reflection and alignment, the coming months will be about delivery. In the weeks ahead, we will be launching the renewed CATS working areas (WA), each addressing a critical dimension of the transformation:
WA1: The CATS Roadmap, guiding the overall journey and priorities.
WA2: Elevating Safety, ensuring that transformation strengthens, rather than challenges, our safety culture.
WA3: Advanced Air Mobility, advancing integration of new entrants.
WA4: Higher Airspace Operations, preparing for the next operational frontier.
WA5: Automation, addressing the human–machine partnership at the heart of future operations.
Eduardo Garcia, CANSO’s Senior Manager, Future Skies
Looking ahead, 2026 will be an intense year. But intensity is not a burden. Rather, it is a sign of momentum. The industry is entering a phase where transformation is no longer conceptual, it is organisational, operational and increasingly tangible.
Journeys are rarely linear. They involve detours, debate and moments of recalibration. Yet what connects Abu Dhabi and Montréal – and what will connect the many meetings, workshops and collaborations ahead – is a shared commitment to shaping a safer, more connected and more resilient air navigation system.
Journeys are rarely linear. They involve detours...
In the end, the most important trajectory is the collective path we are charting together – turning vision into reality, step by step.
Close
Eduardo Garcia, CANSO’s Senior Manager, Future Skies, on using the CATS CONOPS to move from vision to coordinated delivery.
Eduardo Garcia, CANSO’s Senior Manager, Future Skies
The past few weeks have felt very much like such a journey, moving from the warm energy of CANSO OSC Connect in Abu Dhabi to the crisp winter intensity of the ICAO GANP Study Group meeting in Montréal. Different settings, different audiences, but a shared question: how do we translate vision into implementation?
OSC Connect brought together a truly global community — operations, safety and innovation leaders from across the regions — under the theme Skies in Transition. The conversations were practical and forward-looking. The discussions centred on how each OSC group can contribute to the Complete Air Traffic System (CATS) Concept of Operations (CONOPS) roadmap, and how we move from frameworks to coordinated delivery.
The atmosphere was one of renewal. It was the first major gathering under the refreshed OSC structure, and there was a strong sense that the industry is ready to move beyond isolated initiatives towards a more integrated transformation. Participants explored how multiple elements fit together as a system — not as individual projects, but as building blocks of a new operational paradigm.
This was the starting point of the journey. It aligned the community, listened to different perspectives, and built momentum.
In aviation, we often speak about trajectories – defined paths, shared intent, and the continuous adjustment needed to reach a destination safely and efficiently. Yet beyond the operational meaning, trajectories also describe how ideas evolve: through conversations, debate and collective reflection.
This reflects a broader shift in the GANP’s evolution. Over the years, the plan has moved from prescriptive guidance to a more performance-based approach, but that flexibility has sometimes made implementation challenging for countries. The ICAO Assembly’s direction – and the Study Group’s discussions – signal a desire to rebalance the framework, maintaining flexibility while providing clearer priorities and sequencing.
Equally important was the recognition that the GANP must become more than a strategic reference. It needs to function as a practical implementation framework, supported by stronger performance reporting, clearer communication and closer alignment with regional and national planning cycles.
In many ways, Montréal marked a turning point: the moment where the global community began defining not only where we want to go but also how we get there together.
A few days later, the setting shifted to ICAO Headquarters in Montréal, where the forthcoming ninth edition of the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) was the focus of the GANP Study Group. If Abu Dhabi was about energy and alignment, Montréal was about structure, governance and long-term direction.
The discussions centred on one of the most consequential evolutions of the GANP in recent years: the development of a Minimum Implementation Path (MIP). The intent is to move from a catalogue of options towards a more actionable framework that provides a baseline of safe, globally interoperable capabilities.
Participants explored what the MIP should represent:
A single global path, but potentially with multiple lanes.
A path that is time-bound and measurable.
A focus on interoperability, safety and uniformity.
A grounding in the existing GANP elements, with the Basic Building Blocks as its foundation.
Equally important was the recognition that the GANP must become more than a strategic reference. It needs to function as a practical implementation framework, supported by stronger performance reporting, clearer communication and closer alignment with regional and national planning cycles.
In many ways, Montréal marked a turning point: the moment where the global community began defining not only where we want to go but also how we get there together.
If the recent conferences have been about reflection and alignment, the coming months will be about delivery. In the weeks ahead, we will be launching the renewed CATS working areas (WA), each addressing a critical dimension of the transformation:
WA1: The CATS Roadmap, guiding the overall journey and priorities.
WA2: Elevating Safety, ensuring that transformation strengthens, rather than challenges, our safety culture.
WA3: Advanced Air Mobility, advancing integration of new entrants.
WA4: Higher Airspace Operations, preparing for the next operational frontier.
WA5: Automation, addressing the human–machine partnership at the heart of future operations.
What makes this journey particularly meaningful is the growing convergence between industry initiatives and global planning. The discussions in Montréal explicitly acknowledged the role of the CATS CONOPS as a strategic reference for the evolution of safe air traffic management, reinforcing the opportunity, and responsibility, for the industry to actively contribute to the GANP’s next phase.
The alignment is natural. CATS provides the narrative of transformation – seamless airspace, advanced automation, new entrants and integrated operations – while the GANP provides the global planning and implementation architecture. Together, they form two paths in the same journey: vision and implementation.
There will be white papers on Service-Oriented Architecture and True North too, exploring the architectural and strategic foundations of future air traffic management.
Together, these initiatives represent the operational arm of the broader strategic journey – translating global direction into concrete workstreams.
Eduardo Garcia, CANSO’s Senior Manager, Future Skies
Journeys are rarely linear. They involve detours...
In the end, the most important trajectory is the collective path we are charting together – turning vision into reality, step by step.
Looking ahead, 2026 will be an intense year. But intensity is not a burden. Rather, it is a sign of momentum. The industry is entering a phase where transformation is no longer conceptual, it is organisational, operational and increasingly tangible.
Journeys are rarely linear. They involve detours, debate and moments of recalibration. Yet what connects Abu Dhabi and Montréal – and what will connect the many meetings, workshops and collaborations ahead – is a shared commitment to shaping a safer, more connected and more resilient air navigation system.