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Last week, the ATM world made its annual pilgrimage to Madrid for the World ATM Congress. There were a number of interesting developments, which we will cover in depth in the Aviation Intelligence Reporter this month; but one of the most interesting was the launch of the ATM Policy Institute (www.atmpolicy.aero), a new think-tank designed to help those interested in reform of ATM to understand the issues, and the myths.
In the interests of full disclosure it should be noted that Aviation Advocacy is deeply involved in the ATM Policy Institute and provides its secretariat. That should come as no surprise. We have been advocating reform of ATM for as long as anyone out there. It is to be hoped that the think-tank can take up the challenge that we have thrown out and explain why airlines are prepared to accept mutual mediocrity in ATM services, rather than use ATM as a competitive tool. Better still, perhaps the think-tank can convince airlines that they can and should be using ATM as a competitive tool.
However, in the short term, the focus is not on that question, but rather on the question of how liberalisation of ATM services can be made to happen. The first paper the ATM Policy Institute has published, The Case for Liberalising Air Traffic Control, sets out what benefits liberalisation brings.
It seems that there is interest in the work of the ATM Policy Institute. The launch was well attended. So well attended there were more attendees than seats available. Making that more remarkable, the launch had some heavy-weight competition for attention. The SESAR JU Awards for ATM Excellence were being handed out next door, and all around the exhibition hall, exhibitors were handing out free drinks to all comers. Still, they came to talk ATM reform.
A number of the attendees were no doubt merely curious to see such a quixotic attempt at reforming a notoriously hard-to-move industry; others seemed interested in getting to know ANSPs in the pursuit of their academic studies. Nevertheless, one group attended en-mass and were very keen to be involved – airports.
Airports are identified in the paper as an important player in the liberalisation process. The benefits of liberalisation can be reaped both quickly and quantifiably at airports. A well-functioning airport, able to attract more flights and to be able to improve airlines’ operations in a way that is unique to each airline’s operations at that airport is attractive to both airlines and airport managers. The airports can see this. The ANSPs, to which such logic applies equally, maybe less so.
Some ANSPs hide behind the ICAO Guidelines, somehow thinking that the obligation to be non-discriminatory, transparent, cost-related and kind to small animals precludes things like volume discounts, variable pricing and charging differing amounts for differing services. There is no economic theory and no economist in the world that thinks that. Why do we cling to this?
Maybe technology is the rate determining step? That is one of the things the ATM Policy Institute is looking at too, but so far, there are no technological impediments.
So, in a nutshell, there are good reasons to do something and no regulatory or technological reasons not to do something. The million dollar question is how do we make the airlines understand this and push for reform?
