UNETHICAL ACTS!
 

Toying with lives is unethical!

The effects of the privatisation of rail is evidence of the inadequacy of the whole privatisation hypothesis! That is, lives have been lost as a direct result of the government's estimations, cost cuts, shortcuts and therefore greed.

The privatisation of Air Traffic Control is, in my opinion, directly comparable to that of rail.

The government MUST accept that privatising the rail network has cost lives.

Therefore, it is fair to say, that if the government privatise ATC, then they are effectively approving killing people, or at least excusing the notion, in order that they save money!

This, I find extremely unethical. One cannot put a price on a life!

For the government to go ahead, shows that they are extremely small minded people.

Pick on something else....ANYTHING ELSE...but NOT people's lives!

To privatise ATC is to condone killing.


Thoughts?!

Right on! (as we used to say in saner times). Unfortunately, it doesn`t seem possible to persuade the morons in government and the swampy bits of NATS that they are all barking mad. We shouldn`t stop trying though, well done.

SPOT THE JOURNO LOOKING FOR A STORY!!!!

Hello,

I must say yes and no, I believe that ATC's will remain proffesional irrespective of their employer. I have seen (and worked) this in the past.

Privatisation has a good side as well, it can generate a phenominal amount of technological advance in the procurement of new equipment. It can cause the streamlining of management and weed out the deadwood.

The down side of privatisation will tend toward the beancounters chasing the "buck" and trying to save where they can.

The point is, that the Civil aviation authority will (and should) always be RESPONSIBLE for air safety and in that capacity they should act as regulators to ensure that there are limits which the "private bosses" may not overstep.

Allow the privates to take over the running of the system, keep the govt involved in a standards and regulatory role.

My thoughts.

fweeeep:

Good points but there is a clear lesson to be learnt from the privatisation of the railways. In the first instance the railways were sold off at a time when major investment was needed. Had they sold it already refurbished I suspect that the present situation would be different.

I am sometimes shocked when I go to to ATC and see the equipment they have to work with. It is a testament to your professionalism that you manage so many movements with green screens set in chipboard and a spaggetti junction of cables sticking out of panels whose fastenings have long given up the fight to remain functional.

Had it not been for the government's lick-arse attitude towards the Americans, Swanwick would have been up and running long ago and the bill for the extra expense due to delays footted by Lockheed and co. Instead, they waived any penalty clause just to keep the Americans sweet. All of this is WRONG! What's more it's another example of Herr Prescott insisting on getting his way despite the protestations of those who know better.

The CAA will only be able to do what they do now, i.e. issue mandates on duty limitations, licences and opertaing proceedures and practices. They have very little say as far as investment goes in equipment.

Just an observation, I am against privatisation of the ATC system too, but using the railways as an example isn't a good idea. The stats show that railway safety has improved year on year despite being privatised! What has been lost is punctuality, inter-operability and relative cost.

VnV...
ex-Bletchley Park, CASTE

THE GOVT WILL DO WHATEVER IT WANTS......NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS ABOUT IT.

I AGREE THAT PRIVATISATION APPEARS TO BE VERY WRONG, AND *MAY* COST LIVES. HOWEVER, NO ONE CAN BE CERTAIN OF THE FUTURE.

MCH2K

With regard to the last couple of posts ...i was surprised to see Twojags was a contributor to PPrune...i guess he needs 2 handles...for being 2 faced.

Look at Canada for a case study; NavCanada has been going for a few years now.

I am against privatisation - especially bearing in mind the history and ethics of SE**O.

However, the railways suffered over 10 years of no investment before being sold off, so that argument is a moot point.

Makes you wonder why railtrack et al decided to buy it though - not very good business practice!

Skid - Nav Canada is not a privatised company in the sense that the UK proposes No other country in the world has privatised ATC.