Back in March, Daniel Calleja, Director of the European Commission’s Air Transport Directorate, informed his audience at the ATC Global conference in Amsterdam, that “…despite six years’ effort, Europe has yet to achieve its objective of creating a Single European Sky (SES).” Six years indeed… make that thirteen Mr. Calleja.
Thankfully I do not attend that many meetings these days but those I do tend to be teeming with fresh new faces, enthusiastic young experts who sometimes stay long hours to discuss things that we too had discussed at length when we qualified as a fresh new face. I have no doubt about their sincerity or expertise. My concern is about the perception that what they are dealing with is new…
So what is this new ATM system they are trying to create? “A concept predicated on layered planning, based around a strategically derived daily plan and collaborative decision making between the parties involved, evolving towards managing resources rather than demand. Airspace is regarded as a continuum for airspace planning purposes to optimize the available resources… Airspace divisions are based on ATM needs rather then on national boundaries… Free flight airspace is part of the concept… major change of the roles on the ground and in the air… greater use of computer support…” Why am I quoting from the SESAR concept you will ask???
Well, the sad truth is the above quotation is NOT from SESAR or the Single European Sky (SES) but from Edition 1.0 of the European ATM Operational Concept Document, dated 1 March 1997! The foreword of the document lists those involved in its preparation and the list shows an uncanny similarity to the current membership of the SESAR Joint Undertaking. The EC’s DG7 was also there and as I remember, they were pushing really hard for innovative solutions.
Significantly, the document closes with a paragraph on institutional issues that must be solved if the concept is to become reality.
Some of you will remember that this OCD was followed up by other strategic documents, some of which were the subject of signature by all European transport ministers (remember ATM2000+?)… If everyone had taken their pledge seriously, SES should be reality by now and SESAR would just be updating the most efficient and technologically advanced ATM system in the world.
As it happened, the years went by, countless meetings took place and there was precious little to show for it. Has the world changed now so that we have a better hope for success?
Some things have changed for the better, others not.
For one, the airspace user community is much more fragmented than they used to be back then. There are completely new players in the form of the low-fare carriers whose business plans are not always compatible with the expenses associated with major ATM system upgrades. The legacy airlines, fighting for survival, have far fewer experts who really understand ATM, leaving them vulnerable to the vagaries of the other partners. IATA seems to believe that issuing policies is sufficient and does little to defend their positions in some of the all important meetings. It is no accident that the airlines have joined SESAR individually with IATA also joining as a separate entity… Finding the common voice of the industry has never been more difficult.
The EC had so much trouble getting SES off the ground for the same reasons realization of the OCD and ATM2000+ was mostly scuttled. And some of the same players are still around of course…
The OCD in 1997 has already made the point about the need to address the institutional arrangements but precious little was done.
This brings us to the good things. First of all, technology is much more advanced to-day and by introducing relatively simple things like better information management, a lot of benefits can be had without, one dare hope political interference.
But the main item of hope was also contained in Mr. Callaja’s speech. “We need more stringent co-ordination and co-operation mechanisms, we need common decision making procedures and we need to ensure decisions are implemented throughout European airspace.” Those words are diplomatese for institutional reform. Without institutional reform, none of the aims are possible.
So if the EC will act and bring about that all important reform, there is hope for European ATM yet.
Amen!
I do remember even using that doc for something or other.
And how would the institutional changes come about?
There are more (in numbers) independent Members in EUROCONTROL, it seems, than there are independent Members in the EU, after all the legal power is there not in Haren! As long as that is the case EUROCONTROL will not achieve any change that would be too painful for any of the Members. It might just be possible with only the EU membership around, but I doubt it even then. I think CFMU was an accident in history (perhaps many ways, by the way, but let’s let it be) that will not happen again.
How many times did you sit in a meeting room somewhere like Kingsway and heard: ‘This will not work here!’ It (whatever it was, agreed anyway at a higher level as a strategy, concept, goal, plan, commitment, aim, ambition, target. Hell, sometimes even an agreement, or perhaps just an wimpering aspiration). ‘It may work in somewhere like Greece but…’, and then saw it being tested at some place called Hurn or something like that with an accented flavour and called a national development.
Where is the CEATS, what happened to the NUAC, or the real European ACC for that matter, controlling aircraft even over France and the UK by now many years ago? It is quite eyeopening that NUAC gives more hits on Google for Nottingham University Athletics Club than something controlling aircraft:)
Seppo I was going to say that may be times have changed… but then I run into a colleague from the US who had visited the ATC show in AMS and he asked me the followojg question: Steve, I went to the stands of the different ANSPs and asked them about SESAR… My feeling is now that SESAR will have a lot of flexibility in it as each and every one of the ANSPs I talked to actually said that they were going to do things slightly differently, the basic concept is fine but they need to adapt things to their needs… The guy concerend knows what he is about and he thought it was rather cute that SESAR will be so flexible…
We did not have time to go into the details but I had to think you your comment and indeed of the zillions of meetings where things so often bogged down…