Your denunciation of the air traffic controller strikes in connection with the European Union Single Sky initiative (Comment, 25 June-1 July) is aimed considerably short.
Even the German Air Traffic Controllers Association, not a member of ATCEUC (which called for its members' action), clearly shares the concerns that were so strongly voiced. Your criticism that it was "just" about the likely loss of a large number of air traffic controller jobs is representative of a common suspicion towards any union activity that we don't really understand. Had the German association decided to join the action - we didn't think the time was right for it - it would have relied on that same justification to make any industrial action legal.
However, the real concern is about the inevitable massive disruption of service if there aren't a number of significant amendments to the current proposals.
We all agree that there must be some sort of "single sky" which can only be seen as a synonym for an air traffic management system that ensures a seamless and seemingly uniform service throughout Europe and beyond. Rather than tearing the existing system down and building it again from scratch, which will lead to as many risks as it may hold promises, air traffic controller organisations around the globe have always proposed (and will keep doing so) an evolutionary approach. Industrial competition (every supplier keeping their own operating system or source code secret), as much as political inertia means that simple and straightforward measures such as harmonising airspace structures, industrial system standards, operating procedures and phraseologies haven't yet had a chance to become effective.
The magnitude of the proposed overhaul does not increase its chance of success, but it creates more unrest in the profession than is beneficial for the overall aviation system.
Klaus Berchtold
President German Air Traffic Controllers Association
Munich, Germany
Source: Flight International
