Love of Aviation

vivalgarve: You’ve had a long career in aerial navigation. Is this what led to you writing this book?

Natividade Gomes Augusto: Yes, I’ve been in this business for about 20 years, mostly in airports and aerial navigation – a career that I began in 1990. I’ve always had a great need to understand the aerial operations going on around me, so I began to observe my colleagues and register everything I saw and heard. That’s how my book came about. My first objective in publishing this work is to tell people about aviation – show society how an airplane travels through the air in safety, and explain to all passengers – in technical terms – how their journeys are undertaken.

Your book talks of the history of aviation and of air traffic control. Are these two subjects mutually associated?

Their concepts are. When there’s a development or breakthough in air traffic control, aviation tends to develop as well. Aviation is made up of a multiplicity of players – from the people who actually manufacture the planes, to the airline companies, airports, aerial navigation experts, airplane technicians, the training of airline staff, back-up, and, of course, the regulating agency (in Portugal’s case, the «Instituto Nacional de Aviação Civil» -National Institute of Civil Aviation). The history of aviation is made by the evolution of one or more players.

Who is this book aimed at? Professionals, or any member of the public that is interested?

This book is particularly aimed at fans of the history of aviation, but it also has another slant. Any professional – particularly aeronautical science students – would be interested in this book. Some faculties have already added it to their list of bibliographical references.

Has Portugal always developed alongside other countries – or have there been some exceptions – due to our neutrality during the war, etc.?

Portugal has kept pace with other countries, and even won international renown at some points. Just remember the deeds of my fellow countryman, aviator Sacadua Cabral (who made the flight from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro in 1921). Portugal is a member of various international organisations – the most important of which is ICAO - International Civil Aviation Organization. ICAO came about during a convention in Chicago. It has 18 annexes with recommended practices and norms. These other countries follow, in order to understand each other in a globalised world.

In the air, the relationship between pilot and air traffic controller hasn’t always been consensual. What’s your experience?

As I’ve already said, the airline companies where pilots and air traffic controllers operate make up part of a puzzle. This puzzle has to work because it’s part of a system with well-defined rules. The relationship between the pilot and the air traffic controller has to work – and none of these professionals would be crazy enough to think the contrary, because they know that the safety of society lies in their hands. I’ve written how these professionals are trained to reflect a culture of strong security. Happily, in Portugal, there have never been very serious cases involving human error. In this sector in aviation, the Portuguese are actually considered professionals of excellence!

There haven’t been many books about aviation written by Portuguese authors (in Portuguese!). Yours is a pioneer. But, even so, you had to become your own publisher, why?

I spent four years writing and publicising this book – particularly as there were no bibliographical references. I had to invest a lot of time in observation and interviews. Thus, I felt I deserved reward – both economically and socially. Neither publisher first interested in the book would give very much. The percentage of profit would have been very small – and the book wasn’t going to be plugged in the way I had hoped. So I decided to get the social recognition I wanted myself! In economical terms, I decided to present the book in environmentally friendly sort of way – as a quality work. As a result, I went way over budget…

One of the current debates in Portugal centres on the construction of a large new airport for the capital. In your opinion, and in light of what you’ve learned in your research, will we get more and more airports in the future – or will flights and infrastructures have to become rationalised?

When an airport has reached its capacity there are three hypotheses to choose from. The first is to increase capacity – if the space is available. This happened in Portela, in Lisbon. The second is to construct a complementary airport. This hypothesis, although it has some advantages, can also bring problems to passengers and airline companies alike.

Finally, there’s the hypothesis of building a new airport. The construction should be possible by modules – in stages – to help return of investment. We have an example of failure in the case of Athens airport, which was all built at once – with a total investment that didn’t match the economical return, so in the end it’s existence wasn’t justifiable.

Once the expansion of the current airport in Portela has reached ‘the end of the line’ (both in land and air terms), a new airport will have to be constructed. Nonetheless, costs have to be well worked out – and quickly – as tardy or incorrect decisions could cost the Portuguese people a fortune!

You say you are in love with aviation. What fuelled this passion?

It’s actually one of my three passions: people, security and aviation. Aviation was a constructed passion - not one with me since the beginning. I learnt to love it by being, and continuing to be, in this work environment eight hours everyday. My greatest passion, however, is Security – and my next literary works will be linked to this theme.

Thank you for the interview!