IATA General Secretary Pierre Jeanniot hailed the U.K. decision and urged that similar efforts to remove ATC from direct governmental management be adoptedaround the world. Indeed, the existence of separate national ATC organizations throughout Europe is a major underlying source of growing delays. But the U.K. partial privatization proposal also created a lively debate on the safety of spinning off control of ATC services to the private sector. And these concerns should not be taken lightly, as the British government learned to its discomfort when the measure suffered two embarrassing defeats before finally being approved by both houses of Parliament. Governments around the globe should be hard at work looking for innovative solutions to address the growing level of ATC delays.
Travelers demand no less.
But as governments act, maintaining the safety of the world's airways should be paramount. Copyright 2000-2001 Air Traffic Cafe' All rights reserved.