ATCO.A.015 Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability

ANNEX I – PART ATCO – REQUIREMENTS FOR THE LICENSING OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS · Regulation (EU) 2015/340 · EAR revision 14 Jun 2024

IRImplementing rule

ATCO.A.015Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability

(a)The exercise of the privileges granted by a licence shall be dependent on the validity of the ratings, endorsements and of the medical certificate.

(b)Licence holders shall not exercise the privileges of their licence when having doubts of being able to safely exercise the privileges of the licence and shall in such cases immediately notify the relevant air navigation service provider of the provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence.

(c)Air navigation service providers may declare the provisional inability of the licence holder if they become aware of any doubt concerning the ability of the licence holder to safely exercise the privileges of the licence.

(d)Air navigation service providers shall develop and implement objective, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence in accordance with point (b), to declare the provisional inability of the licence holder in accordance with point (c), to manage the operational impact of provisional inability cases and to inform the competent authority as defined in that procedure.

(e)The procedures referred to in point (d) shall be included in the unit competence scheme according to ATCO.B.025(a)(13). [applicable until 3 August 2024 - Regulation (EU) 2015/340]

(a)The exercise of the privileges granted by a licence shall be dependent on the ratings and rating endorsements, validity of the unit and licence endorsements, and of the medical certificate, unless the medical certificate is not required in accordance with point (b).

(b)The medical certificate is not required when exercising instructor or assessor privileges in a synthetic training device environment.

(c)Licence holders shall not exercise the privileges of their licence when having doubts about being able to safely exercise the privileges of the licence and shall in such cases immediately notify the relevant air navigation service provider of the provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence.

(d)Air navigation service providers may declare the provisional inability of the licence holder if they become aware of any doubt concerning the ability of the licence holder to safely exercise the privileges of the licence.

(e)Air navigation service providers shall develop and implement objective, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence in accordance with point (c), to declare the provisional inability of the licence holder in accordance with point (d), and to inform the competent authority as defined in that procedure.

(f)The procedures referred to in point (e) shall be included in the unit competence scheme according to point ATCO.B.025(a)(13). [applicable from 4 August 2024 - Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/893]

IR · ATCO.A.015 — Regulation (EU) 2015/340 · Regulation (EU) 2023/893 · ATCO Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 14 Jun 2024

GMGuidance material

GM1 ATCO.A.015(b)Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability

Show the text

[applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]

GM1 ATCO.A.015(b);(c) Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability [applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]

GROUNDS FOR PROVISIONAL INABILITY Examples of grounds for doubting the ability to safely exercise the privileges of the licence may be that the licence holder is:

(a)under the influence of psychoactive substances;

(b)unfit to perform the duties due to injury, fatigue, sickness, stress, including critical incident stress or other similar causes;

(c)not meeting all the competence-related requirements set out in the unit competence scheme. [applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]

(a)Examples of grounds for doubting the ability to safely exercise the privileges of the licence may be that the licence holder is:

(1)under the influence of psychoactive substances;

(2)unable to perform the duties due to injury, fatigue, sickness, stress, including critical incident stress or other similar causes;

(3)not meeting all the competence-related requirements set out in the unit competence scheme.

(b)Provisional inability based on the grounds referred to in points (a)(1) and (a)(2) is meant to cover only short periods of time (for example: generally before the next scheduled duty period, but no longer than 7 days) with the aim of allowing the affected air traffic controller to consult an aero-medical examiner regarding the doubts about being able to safely exercise the privileges of their licence. In such cases, the provisional inability may only remain applicable until a medical review is performed by an aero-medical examiner. [applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]

GM · GM1 ATCO.A.015(b) — Regulation (EU) 2015/340 · ED Decision 2023/011/R · ATCO Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 14 Jun 2024

GMGuidance material

GM1 ATCO.A.015(c)Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability

Show the text

In case of doubt about the medical condition of the air traffic controller, the provisions of ATCO.MED.A.020 should apply.

GM · GM1 ATCO.A.015(c) — Regulation (EU) 2015/340 · ED Decision 2015/010/R · ATCO Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 14 Jun 2024

GMGuidance material

GM1 ATCO.A.015(d)Exercise of the privileges of licences and provisional inability

Show the text

PROCEDURES The procedures developed and implemented to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence, to manage the operational impact of provisional inability cases and to inform the competent authority should include but are not limited to:

(a)the processes to declare and terminate provisional inability;

(b)an indicative list of cases when the competent authority shall be informed of the declaration or termination of the provisional inability;

(c)the processes to inform the competent authority; and

(d)the mitigating measures to be implemented to ensure sufficient capacity and the continuity of the service. [applicable until 3 August 2024 - ED Decision 2015/010/R]

PROCEDURES The procedures developed and implemented to enable licence holders declaring provisional inability to exercise the privileges of their licence and to inform the competent authority should include but are not limited to:

(a)the processes to declare and terminate provisional inability;

(b)an indicative list of cases when the competent authority shall be informed of the declaration or termination of the provisional inability; and

(c)the processes to inform the competent authority. [applicable from 4 August 2024 - ED Decision 2023/011/R]

GM · GM1 ATCO.A.015(d) — Regulation (EU) 2015/340 · ED Decision 2023/011/R · ATCO Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 14 Jun 2024

All rules in SUBPART A – GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Consolidated from the EASA Easy Access Rules (revision 14 Jun 2024, extracted 17 Aug 2026) for convenience. Not the official publication — verify against the Official Journal of the European Union and the EASA publications before operational use.

Ask Metis about ATCO.A.015 →

Metis opens with Avioverse in October 2026 · request early access.