There has been discussion recently about privatising the USA's Air Traffic Control (ATC) provider the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Organisation (ATO). I don't think the proposals go far enough! Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said in his opening remarks at that committee, in relation to privatising the ATO, that, "Nothing less than America's leadership is at stake. In an industry that we pioneered and have led since Kittyhawk." He then recounted the various attempts and proposed reforms to fix the FAA's problems. He continued, "Since 1995 Congress has passed various reforms to allow the FAA to run more like a business." Then he s
In this article I will make the case that competition leads to improved safety. Don’t misunderstand me, Airservices Australia does a good job. But they would be better still if they had some competition to sharpen them up. There is a great deal of discussion about the privatisation of the FAA Air Traffic Organization (ATO) at the moment. If you may be involved in, or affected by, the privatisation of the ATO, then this article might be of interest to you. You can also read my article: FAA ATO - Privatisation Doesn't Go Far Enough! and other blog articles on my website www.thecrom.com. Competition drives efficiency It is generally accepted that competition improves efficiency, quality and ser
Time Management and Workload Prioritisation involves making best use of my time, maximising efficiency and productivity.
When Drones can do ‘Detect and Avoid’ we won’t need ATC any more. The aviation community in Australia sometimes complains about the slow pace of change of the aviation legislation. Try changing the Laws of Physics! Aviation has come a long way in the last 100 years but, these days, the gains being made in efficiency are slowing. Aircraft are getting lighter and engines are becoming more fuel efficient but the improvements are generally incrementally small. The technology being built into aircraft today will be around for 20, 30 or, perhaps, 40 years. The point is, the laws of physics don’t change and, therefore, there is only so much that we can do to make improvements. However, unlike the l
