For years, airlines on both sides of the Atlantic have been nagging their governments to do something about air traffic control (ATC) before it became too late. Nothing was done and over this summer crisis point was duly reached. Perhaps that is no bad thing if it finally allows the industry to arrive at a conclusion which has been brewing for some time: that government is simply not equipped to sort the problem out.
It is not a question of the rights or wrongs of public and private ownership, but simply a question of practicality. ATC incorporates many of those things that political systems are typically very bad at delivering. For a start it requires heavy capital investment - especially in its present neglected state. And it requires that investment to be made consistently as part of a long-term plan, often with little immediate return. As governments the world over have repeatedly demonstrated, they are generally bad at handling such investments, prone to the vagaries of public opinion and bogged down by the battles of party politics. ATC's lack of public visibility and therefore votes has not helped.
The crisis in Europe has already provoked a storm and now it is the turn of the US majors express frustration. Continental chairman Gordon Bethune is characteristically blunt: "We need to get the government out of it." He is right. ATC providers need access to reliable sources of long-term capital, and the independence to focus on their long-term goals. Whichever way it is cut, that means some form of commercialisation.
As the aviation industry is beginning to realise, the consequences of gridlock are potentially much more wide-reaching and damaging than just headline delays. This industry is globalising, literally, with its open skies deals and alliances. But as Air France chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta asked recently in Washington: "What's the use of this if our planes cannot land at the other end? Or we have to circle in the hope of obtaining a landing slot, which sometimes takes as long as the journey itself. Almost all Europe's major airports are saturated and the situation in US airports is much the same."
Globalisation will only continue to stack further pressure on the world's ATC system. US Department of Transportation figures show that each new open skies agreement can increase traffic between the two signature nations by as much as sixfold.
Spinetta says the airlines must push the relevant authorities in Europe and the USA to take the urgent steps to solve the problem. American Airlines chairman Don Carty too agrees with the need for urgency. At the George Washington University aviation infrastructure Summit in November, he pointed out how statistics show "just how ugly things got last summer and how much uglier they're likely to get if we don't act fast".
The USA's close call with gridlock this year has made people start to think about the possibility of a privatised ATC system: or at least an FAA that is privatised in character and, most critically, self-financing.
But no-one in the USA seems truly to have grasped the real nettle - a more efficient, "privatised" ATC system will not necessarily mean a cheaper system. Many Americans have become starry-eyed over the notion of privatisation. They believe a Nav Canada-type operation will be a miracle-worker, not only solving the congestion problem, but also lowering fees.
That simply cannot be the reality, with the huge investments that are required to modernise the ATC system. Who spends the money is used is not really the issue - a reformed FAA might also prove to be a highly efficient operator. It is more important is getting the money in the first place and airlines must be prepared to step up to their part of the investment bargain.
First, however, US industry needs to reach a consensus and demand that Congress deals with reauthorisation. It must speak with a single voice so that congressmen no longer have the excuse that aviation lobbyists compel them to fight their own corner and perpetuate debate rather than action. With reauthorisation, the FAA would at least be free to begin reform. That might ultimately lead to a fully-privatised, efficient ATC organisation for the next century.
On 5 December the world's transport ministers, airline executives, trade representatives are invited to meet in Chicago to put in place a platform for a new model of global air transportation appropriate to the needs of the new millennium. If they fail to discuss ATC, the rest of it will just be so much talk.
Source: Airline Business
