Reading Time: 3 minutes Most probably each of us has seen a movie with some unexpected twists during flights. And, of course, everyone loves seeing a pilot performing safe and heroic landing. Sometimes it may even seem that one is taking a lot of spontaneous decisions and saves the day by depending on his own judgement.  However, there exists […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ryanair had to cancel over 1,100 flights for the second month in succession and complained about staff shortages, among other things, which has caused problems for air traffic controllers (ATCs) in the UK, Germany and France. It was only in September last year that the low-cost Irish carrier had to cancel flights affecting over 400,000 […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute The US and the European Union (EU) are amending two joint agreements expanding cooperation on aviation safety and air traffic management (ATC) modernization. Officials from FAA, the EU and the European Commission co-signed the amendments in Brussels Dec. 13. The amendment to the US-EU Safety Agreement, which originally took effect May 1, 2011, enables the […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes London City Airport (LCY) will be the first in the UK to have its air traffic control (ATC) functions controlled remotely. From 2019, control of aircraft using the airport will be handled from 70 miles away at the Swanwick, Hampshire HQ of the UK’s air navigation service provider, NATS. Controllers there will use 360-degree high-definition […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes Many airlines will be severely affected by a week of disruption caused predominantly by striking French air traffic control (ATC) staff. While Air France has indicated that this will not affect long-haul routes and only a handful of medium-haul ones, flights to the south and west of the country will be badly hit. The French […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a five-year contract worth as much as US$52m to provide essential maintenance and testing support for various air traffic control and landing systems. These systems provide Navy pilots with electronic guidance to help them land safely on the ground and at sea, in all weather conditions. Under the […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute A4E has released an updated version of a PwC study on the economic impact of air traffic control strikes in Europe. Now including the 2016 figures, the analysis reveals that since 2010 the overall impact of strikes have cost €12 billion to the EU economy, associated with more than 140,000 jobs. Since 2010, there have […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes Another air traffic controllers strike in France to cause more chaos for travellers. The ATC union has been criticised for the short notice at which the latest action – the 11th in the past 12 weeks and 51st since 2009 – has been called. As well as disrupting flights due to land in and depart […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes More than 100 flights will be cancelled and many others delayed according to Airlines for Europe (A4E), a lobby group representing carriers such as easyJet, Ryanair and British Airways’ parent company IAG. The industrial action will disrupt flights operating to or from France, or over French airspace. It is the 50th strike by French ATCs […]

Reading Time: 5 minutes Flying over the U.S.-Canadian border is like time travel for pilots. Going north to south, you leave a modern air-traffic control system run by a company and enter one run by the government struggling to catch up. Airlines, the air-traffic controllers’ union and key congressional leaders all support turning over U.S. air-traffic control services to […]