Several years ago, Boeing was so worried about the sad state of air traffic management in the US and Europe that they actually thought it would adversely impact their customers to the point where they would end up buying fewer aircraft… This was the stated reason for the establishment of Boeing ATM, a new division that was supposed to bring the needed medicine for air traffic management world wide. The initiative was never the success story it could have been, in no small part because of the industry crisis that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Now it seems that Airbus has decided that there was money to be earned in air traffic management and they launched a new subsidiary company, called “Airbus ProSky”, dedicated to the development and support of modern air traffic management (ATM) systems. Airbus ProSky will become the channel through which Airbus will interact and develop ATM programs such as “Single European Sky ATM Research” (SESAR) in Europe, as well as NextGen in the US. In particular, for these two ATM programs, the new company will help accelerate and support the process of their implementation, and link them together by capitalizing on the technological, operational and commercial synergies.
Airbus ProSky will also contribute Airbus’ aviation expertise further afield for other nations by working with their Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), airworthiness authorities and airlines. This will help them achieve the common goal of transforming their ATM systems with the latest technologies and procedures, to achieve the highest operational efficiencies with more direct routings resulting in around 10 percent less aircraft fuel consumption, and significant reductions in CO2 and noise emissions.
The first such undertaking announced by Airbus ProSky was the recent MoU with Chinese authorities for cooperation in ATM, whereby Airbus ProSky will assist the Chinese Air Traffic Management Bureau (ATMB) with the introduction and implementation of new ATM concepts, airspace design, deployment support, training and best practices. Furthermore, authorities in other countries are also exploring the opportunities of working with Airbus ProSky to adopt the principles and know-how developed for ATM systems in Europe and the US.
Airbus ProSky will be led by a team of experienced executives from key disciplines and functions. Heading the team will be Eric Stefanello, President of Airbus ProSky and SVP of ATM at Airbus. He will be supported directly by Marc Hamy as VP of SESAR and NextGen Deployment. Hamy was formerly chief-of-staff for France’s Transport Minister and previously, CEO of the French Air Navigation Services.
“With Airbus ProSky we are harnessing the competencies both within Airbus and also from the wider EADS group, to help transform ATM services across the European Union, the US and other countries globally,” says Eric Stefanello, President of Airbus ProSky. “We are complementing the existing skills and business of ATM manufacturers and ANSPs by partnering with key industry players to deliver a global ATM approach, and bring operational, commercial, and environmental benefits to the airline industry,” he added.
Reading the aims of ProSky one cannot but draw comparisons with the aims as they were stated for Boeing ATM when it was launched. It will be interesting to see whether Airbus will be more successful in this ATM venture than their arch rival has been in theirs.