Rivals join up in bid to push European and US regulators towards defining common standards and reducing delays
Boeing has joined its rival Airbus in a bid to harmonise future communications/navigation/surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) standards. The US manufacturer is to collaborate with the Airbus/EADS/Thales joint venture Air Traffic Alliance in defining "issues affecting the interoperability" of air transport systems, but specific projects are not yet defined.
Air Traffic Alliance, which was legally established as an integrated company last week, is to hold "regular meetings" with counterparts at Boeing Air Traffic Management in an attempt to push regulators in Europe and the USA to define common standards. Air Traffic Alliance president Lionnel Wonneberger says both companies agree "at the high level" on broad themes for the future of CNS/ATM and will jointly promote their views.
Boeing Air Traffic Management senior vice-president John Hayhurst says Boeing needs to help reduce air traffic delays, which cause around $8 billion in losses for carriers in the USA annually, to sell more aircraft. Hayhurst says Air Traffic Alliance and Boeing are "equally committed to increasing the safety, security, capacity and efficiency of the current ATM systems".
Wonneberger says increased automation in data exchanges and auto separation should be the grouping's first priority.
Source: Flight International
