The diverse worlds of air traffic control and airline catering meet with the extraordinary acronym of Eatchip, which, much to the disappointment of food aficionados, stands for European Air Traffic Control Harmonisaton and Improvement Programme.
All of a sudden, the usually lugubrious air traffic control sector has moved into overdrive. Several developments indicate that ATC is reacting at last to its shortcomings. The most significant are the development of Fans and, most recently, the opening up of military airspace in Europe.
Both moves merit congratulation. Following its introduction over the Pacific, the Future Air Navigation System is saving airlines millions by giving them the freedom to choose optimum routings, and the technology is soon to be made available over the congested Bay of Bengal.
In Europe, the recent agreement covering flexible use of airspace by civil and military authorities is remarkable for the speed with which it was reached - two months - and its scope - all 33 European Civil Aviation Conference nations. Inevitably, there will be some scepticism among the military forces who have given up previously guaranteed access to vast swathes of airspace. They will need to be convinced that the change is bringing positive benefits to airlines. Equally, airlines will need to show flexibility.
Meanwhile, many ATC authorities are changing their own organisational status. This could bring about some problems for airlines. The UK's National Air Traffic Service is now a government owned company rather than a statutory authority, but still has severe limits on capital expenditure.
Non-profit firm Nav Canada is to take over Canada's ATC system in July, and with it comes the right to levy user fees. However, the US is concentrating on streamlining procurement rather than privatising the FAA.
Airlines have the twin objectives of extra ATC capacity and stringent cost control. Loosening the reins of government control may help in providing extra capacity, but it will have its price for airspace users.
Source: Airline Business
