Originally Posted by
blueskythinking
I am not sure I have seen it stated anywhere that Nats as a company has also lost millions of pounds in revenue during the crisis. .
OK, the figures are in the public domain. NATS income is circa £2.1 million per day and running costs circa £1.86 million per day, you can do the math
Nats has been portrayed as somewhat like a police service of the air.
Not our job.
i would have said that the airspace was open and it was up to the caa , government and the airlines to make the decision to fly or not.
Nope, NATS operates on a licence from CAA (the goverment) and as a part of the conditions of it's licence must abide by rules, regulations and laws, including the ICAO guidance etc. which the government signed up to. Every ANSP in Europe operates similarly and, as you seem to have missed it, a lot of european ANSPs closed their airspace. Indeed some countries went further and banned all flying, but HM Government didn't take that step (and NATS don't have that remit).
I would put forward that Nats overstepped its remit and to listen to junior people being allowed to appear on TV and advise passengers what to do or not do was a total farce. I have not seen the new ceo at any time on tv or senior board members!.
Hhhmm, you must have missed NewsNight when Jeremy Paxman interviewed the new CEO. All the spokesmen on the TV etc were ATC facing senior managers (Alex Bristol Head of Strategy & Investment, Jonathan Astill Head of ATC Prestwick Centre, David Harrison formerly GM ATC Manchester now Head of Safety and so on) I think a member of the board wouldn't have quite the same street cred as a senior ATC manager.
I think the airlines were well placed to make their own judgements , obviously with government and met office guidance. If , as seems likely it was a case of possible long term engine damage as opposed to aircraft having in flight shutdowns then That is a commercial decision for the operators.
No it's not a commercial decision, it's a safety decision. Pilots may only fly aircraft with a relevant air safety certificate, pilots may only fly aircraft for which they have a valid licence. This is done for many safety reasons but a big one is public safety. I wouldn't want some gung ho flyer leaping into the skies when it had been deemed potentially unsafe to do so and have the wreckage landing on my head thank you very much.
BD