Speaker Bio

After more than 35 years in air traffic control and working for the Swedish ANSP LFV, Helena still thinks she has the best job in the world. She has worked in all three branches of ATC: Tower; Approach and Area Control.
Her first position was in Visby Tower on the island Gotland in the Baltic Sea. The majority of her career has been as an approach controller at Östgöta Kontrollcentral, ÖKC in Norrköping where two of the four airports in the TMA are military. One is SAAB, manufacturer of Swedish fighter jet JAS39 Gripen and the other is Malmen, the Swedish Air Force´s pilot academy. She is since 2016 Watch Supervisor at Stockholm ATCC, where she is responsible for the entire operations of the center during the shift.
In addition to controlling aircraft, Helena has throughout her career been active in the Swedish Air Traffic Controllers’ Association, SATCA, where she was President from 2006 to 2017. Helena´s involvement in the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations, IFATCA, has included work on the federation’s magazine the Controller and two years as chair of Conference Committee A. Helena was elected Deputy President of IFATCA at the annual conference 2019. In addition to other tasks, Helena is responsible for the organization of IFATCA´s annual conferences, the Constitutional and Administrative Committee, CAC, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, EDITF and IFATCA´s task force for the further development of the federation, IFATCA2030+.