Air Traffic Management

Economics, Regulation and Governance

Margaret Arblaster

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780128111192
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Transportation & Navigation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Air Traffic Management: Economics Regulation and Governance provides the latest insights on approaches and issues surrounding the economic regulation and governance of air traffic management (ATM). The book begins by explaining what ATM is, showing its importance within the aviation industry. It then outlines the unique institutional characteristics that govern ATM, also discussing its implications for economic regulation and investment. Technological developments and the issues and approaches to safety regulation are also covered, as are the implications ATM has on airports. The book concludes with an exploration of future directions, including the entry of drones into airspace and the introduction of competition in ATM services

Air traffic management plays a critical role in air transport, impacting both air safety and the efficiency of air services. Yet air navigation services are shifting from government provision to private industry, creating the need for more critical analysis of governance and economic regulation within the ATM industry.

• Consolidates the latest economic regulation and reform material regarding air traffic management
• Provides numerous practical examples and real-world case studies drawn from around the globe
• Explores economic regulation in both larger and smaller economies
• Written from an objective, informed and practical perspective by an experienced regulation practitioner and researcher

1

The Air Traffic Management Industry

Abstract

This brief introductory chapter outlines the importance of air traffic management (ATM) to the international community, national communities, and the aviation industry. The services comprising “ATM” and how ATM is distinguished from other related concepts, such as air navigation services, are introduced. A variety of ATM users and stakeholders are described. An overview of the issues associated with modern ATM provision explored in the book is provided as well as an outline of the structure of the book.

Keywords

Air navigation services; Air traffic management; ATM industry challenges; ATM stakeholders

Air Traffic Management

Air traffic management (ATM) and airports are the aviation infrastructure that enables air transport services for people and goods. Through air traffic control (ATC) and related services, ATM provides the connecting infrastructure that allows aircraft to fly safely between airports. Through managing the separation of aircraft and air traffic flows, ATM provides services that are essential for safe and efficient air transport.

The air transportation industry is a complex system with many interconnected components. ATM and airports play an important role in the productivity of airline services and in the accessibility of airline services for passengers and freight. The quality of the air navigation infrastructure and ATM services, together with the technology available in aircraft and pilot training, determines the ability of aircraft to fly safely and efficiently in airspace, including effecting flight times and fuel burn. ATM operates in a global context, facilitating international and national connectivity. ATM impacts the costs of air transportation directly through charges and indirectly through service quality, including through delays and inefficient routings that can be imposed on aircraft operations.

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the ATM industry and outlines the structure of the book. The services comprising “ATM” and concepts related to ATM, such as air navigation services (ANSs), are described in the first section of the chapter. The economic impact of air transport and ATM is discussed. A variety of ATM users and stakeholders are outlined. An outline of the structure of the book and the issues associated with modern ATM provision explored in the book completes the chapter.

What Is Air Traffic Management?

ATM coordinates air traffic in airspace primarily through ATC, aircraft traffic flow management, and airspace management. It is a complex activity based on technologies that are continuously evolving.

Air navigation systems were primarily developed following World War I when aircraft movements and speeds started to increase to prevent aircraft colliding with each other, obstacles on the ground and terrain. At this time the international aviation community recognized that systems were needed to allow aircraft to fly safely between locations leading to the development of networks that aircraft could use to fly between aerodromes in different locations.

ATM is a safety-critical, globally networked industry provided under State government obligations and responsibilities. As a consequence it is highly regulated at an international and national level, and in some cases at a regional level. Air navigation service providers (ANSPs) are the institutions that provide ATM and its supporting services. ANSPs have tended to be nationally based, government controlled and owned business enterprises. ATM has been aptly described as “a complex, high technology industry characterised by a focus on safety, a dependence on humans and a fragmented governance structure based on State-by-State institutional arrangements” (CANSO, 2017).

ANSPs undertake the management of air traffic with the objective of providing safe and efficient operation of aircraft in airspace and on the ground. There is considerable diversity among ANSPs. They are affected by national and regional cultures, organization and business models, levels of traffic density, traffic complexity, ATM infrastructure, and the technological platforms available.

ATM comprises three main functions. ATC is the process of separation of aircraft in the sky as they fly and at airports where they land and take-off. Air traffic flow management is the sequencing of aircraft along air routes and at airports. Airspace management is the organization of airspace into air routes and control areas to cater for traffic volumes and respective needs. ATM is part of “ANS,” a term applied to the group of services provided to aircraft to enable safe and efficient flight from one destination to another.

Fig. 1.1 provides an overview of the traditional composition of ANS, and Table 1.1 provides a brief description of each service. Further elaboration on ATM services is contained in Chapter 2.

Figure 1.1 Overview of air navigation services. Adapted to Baumgartner, 2007. The organization and operation of European airspace. In: Cook, A. (Ed.), European Air Traffic Management: Principles, Practice and Research. Ashgate. Figure 1.1, p. 2.

Table 1.1

Summary description of air navigation services

Service	Description
Air traffic management	The dynamic, integrated management of air traffic and airspace (including ATSs, airspace management, and air traffic flow management)—safely, economically, and efficiently—through the provision of facilities and seamless services in collaboration with all parties and involving airborne and ground-based functions (ICAO, Annex 11)
Air traffic services (ATSs)	Services that regulate and assist aircraft in real time to ensure their safe operations
• Air traffic control (ATC)	Service is provided for the purpose of preventing collisions between aircraft and on the maneuvering area between aircraft and obstructions; and expediting and maintaining an orderly flow of air traffic (ICAO, Annex 11)
• Flight information services	Service provided for the purpose of giving advice and information useful for the safe and efficient conduct of flights (ICAO, Annex 11)
• Alerting services	A service to warn the relevant bodies when an aircraft in difficulty is in need of assistance from search and rescue bodies, and to give these bodies the necessary cooperation (Baumgartner, 2007)
• Air traffic advisory service	A service provided within advisory airspace to ensure separation, in so far as practical, between aircraft that are operating on IFR flight plans (ICAO, Annex 11). (The service operates in regions where ATSs are inadequate.)
Air traffic flow management	A service established with the objective of contributing to a safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic by ensuring that ATC capacity is utilized to the maximum extent possible and that the traffic volume is compatible with the capacities declared by the appropriate ATS authority (ICAO, Annex 11)
Airspace management	The task of planning and publishing the management of airspace, divided up into air routes, and civil and military control areas reserved for airports, while at the same time guaranteeing the safety and fluidity of traffic (Baumgartner, 2007)
Communication, navigation, surveillance	Essential technological systems, procedures, and programs for pilots in the air and air traffic controllers on the ground that facilitate the process of establishing where the aircraft is and when and how it plans to arrive at its destination
Communication	The use of communications technologies for airborne and ground-based coordination (passing data and instructions between pilots and controller and between control centers)
Navigation	Applications that are used to maximize the capacity of airspace by facilitating flows of traffic between airports and maximizing safe and efficient access to airports (assists pilots to direct their aircraft along safe paths)
Surveillance	Infrastructure that is used to enable a safe, efficient, and cost-effective air navigation service (confirming the location of aircraft)
Meteorological services	Provision of meteorological information for aviation users necessary for safe and efficient civil aviation operations, including the provision of observations, forecasts, warnings, and advisories
Aeronautical information services	A service established within the defined area of coverage responsible for the provision of aeronautical data and aeronautical information necessary for the safety, regularity, and efficiency of air navigation (ICAO, 2016b, Annex 15)
Search and rescue services	Assist...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of Tables, Figures, Boxes
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• List of Acronyms
• 1. The Air Traffic Management Industry
• Part One. Background on ATM Technical Characteristics, Governance and Safety Regulation
• Part Two. Economic Regulation of ATM
• Part Three. Future Directions
• Index