Privatized ATC, pros and cons

[Spitoon]

It's probably time to give a bit of balance. In the UK we have NATS who were put into this strange Public Private Partnership - i.e. partly privatised - a year or two back. NATS runs the en-route ATC and have contracts to provide ATC at the major TMAs and airports.

Many regional airports have always arranged their own ATC, either by employing controllers directly or by contracting companies like SERCO to provide the services (just as the major airports do with NATS).

So we've had private ATC in the UK for years.

I've worked both for NATS and directly for an airport. Working in the two environments is very different but ATC is no less or more safe because of the contractual arrangements for providing the service. Some of the regional airports have equipment that is better than is provided by NATS - but it's true that some do not! Working hours are tightly regulated - and, as far as I know, they are the same whether you work for NATS or not.

On pensions and retirement, I think it's probably fair to say that NATS staff win hands down.

So, they're different working environments. The thing that makes working at a particular unit either fun (and I really enjoy doing ATC) or not is the management and, to a lesser extent the ops room conditions (if I'm spending my working hours there it has to come into the equation). I've come across good managers and bad managers both in NATS when directly employed.

The bottom line is that private ATC is not inherently unsafe, nor is it necessarily a less satisfying working environment.

I don't work for NATS at the moment but I'm often surprised of the view that NATS controllers seem to have of the world 'outside' - the run up to PPP looks like it was accompanied by scare stories little short of propaganda. Talk to NATS controllers and you'll sometimes hear stories - that are simply untrue - to make your hair stand on end, ask for substantiation and there's nothing to support them. That's not meant as a criticism, it's just what happens when a rumour factory is working overtime.

There's no doubt that morale is low within NATS and at some regional airports but I doubt that it's anything to do with privatisation, it's probably down to lousy management and communication.

Don't confuse the privatisation arguments with all the other problems.

[Edited to get rid of the odd characters]