British air traffic is run like a water company. That's why it failed
This failure meant that no planes could be accepted into southern UK airspace for around an hour, until a backup system was brought on line. Flights headed for UK airspace could not even take off in many cases. It was a very bad day for this to happen, at almost the very peak of summer airline activity with almost every jet in service working as hard as possible to get people to their holidays and bring them back. The ripple effect means that cancellations and problems will continue into the weekend.
Stranded passengers will, in most cases, blame their airlines – the companies they had a deal with. And if they think they can get better service from another airline, they may take their business elsewhere. The airline business is intensely competitive, which keeps the companies investing in their services and doing their best to win customers.
Unfortunately for the airlines, however, the provision of air traffic control – particularly en-route control – is a natural monopoly. Just as it makes very little sense to have multiple sets of water pipes running to a house so that water companies could compete for the householder's business, it would make very little sense to have multiple air-traffic control organisations competing for the job of handling the airlines' traffic. In a situation not unlike the railways, air traffic control at any given airport may be contracted to a different provider once a contract term is up, but 'en route' control above FL245 is a monopoly held by a public-private partnership called NATS Holdings (National Air Traffic Services).
Rather as is the case with water companies, NATS has no competition: its customers have to use it. Again as with water companies, the prices it can charge are set by the regulator, in this case the Civil Aviation Authority. But, again like a water company, it has private investors to answer to and they expect to receive as much revenue as possible. There is no incentive to invest in providing the best possible service as there is no competition.
This is demonstrably not a good or effective way to run vital pieces of national infrastructure. We all know about the hosepipe bans, water outages and sewage spills that have resulted at the water companies. NATS, too, does not provide a reliable service. Quite apart from this week's problems, there were major outages in 2014 and 2023 leading to widespread disruption and misery.
When I was flying fast jets for the RAF, we practised for emergencies and problems constantly. The culture was much the same once I moved to British Airways, which is still for my money one of the best airlines in the world. As an airline pilot I spent hundreds of hours in the simulator making sure that if disaster struck my response – or the response of my colleagues – would be instant.
The controllers and engineers at NATS should have the same ethos: they too have lives in their hands. The backup system that came into play after an hour this week should have been constantly up and running, and in play within seconds. The handover procedure – and procedures for dealing with other kinds of emergency – should be regularly practised. There should be multiple backups for every system.
And there is blame to go round beyond NATS on this. In a regulated monopoly market, the regulator who sets the prices and supervises the provider has to be regarded as every bit as responsible for any disaster as the provider itself. All eyes are now, rightly, on the CEO of NATS Holdings. But the Civil Aviation Authority should be subject to just as much scrutiny.
I'm not pretending the solution here is simple. Making sure that a natural monopoly runs itself in the best interest of the customers isn't simple in any industry. But we really must do better than this.
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The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Storm Floris to cause disruption into Tuesday in Scotland, Network Rail says
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Rail, road and ferry travel have been disrupted and festival events cancelled as Storm Floris sweeps across Scotland, bringing with it heavy rain and gusts in excess of 100mph. Disruption on the railways has left passengers facing multiple cancellations, while a number of roads around the country have been blocked. Western coastal areas are bearing the brunt of the summer storm but strong winds and heavy rain are affecting much of the rest of the country. An amber weather warning is in place in an area stretching from the central belt to the north coast until 11pm, with the Met Office saying injuries and danger to life are expected from large waves hitting seafronts, coastal roads and properties. The rest of the country is covered by a yellow weather warning until 11.59pm on Monday. Police said they had received 'multiple reports' of campervans being blown over on the A87 between Broadford and Portree on Skye, while in Aberdeenshire the A96 is closed in both directions near Old Rayne because of several fallen trees. Fallen trees have also seen a number of other roads closed, including the A95 Rosarie road in both directions and the A96 in a number of locations, while the A9 at Daviot is partially blocked by a fallen tree. High winds have also led to the closure of the A9 Dornoch Bridge in both directions, and the A1 Tyne Bridge is only open to cars and single-decker buses. Those driving in poor weather have been urged to avoid the worst-hit areas and slow down when on the roads while allowing time for delays. The storm has also had a 'severe impact' on railways, with a number of services being pre-emptively cancelled and speed limits in place on all routes. Edinburgh to Fife/Perth/Dundee; Perth to Dundee/Aberdeen/Inverness and the West Highland Line are among the routes that were closed at noon on Monday. Network Rail has reported a number of storm-related incidents, including trees falling on to overhead lines at King's Park in Glasgow, Cornton near Stirling and near Paisley, and damage to overhead wires in the Hamilton Circle area. LNER has warned passengers not to travel north of Newcastle while Avanti West Coast has advised passengers not to travel north of Preston, as it warned it will be 'heavily impacted' by the weather. Meanwhile, ScotRail has urged people to secure all outdoor equipment such as trampolines. Posting on social media, the rail operator said: 'We're asking anyone with garden equipment, such as tents, trampolines or furniture, to secure items so that they don't blow onto the tracks and interfere with lineside equipment.' The Kusz family are among those contending with delays and cancellations on the railway, as they attempt to return home to Blackpool with 11 pieces of luggage following a family holiday in Ayr. They are currently at Glasgow Central station where they said there had been 'about nine cancellations'. Paul Audoire, 59, told the PA news agency: 'The weather is not as bad as we thought, they are just taking precautions. 'We need to get off at Carlisle, wait for another train, get off at Preston and change trains again. 'I don't know how long we need to wait at Carlisle or at Preston. It's just a case of leapfrogging all the way.' Ferries have also seen widespread disruption, with ferry operator CalMac cancelling a number of sailings on Monday as a result of high winds. 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BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Totally torn apart' - how Morecambe decline threatens a whole community
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We all come here for the same reason - because we care."That level of care means supporters, led by fans group The Shrimps' Trust, have been protesting against Whittingham's ownership of the club and demanding he sell up for deals have been agreed in the past but nothing has come to fruition and fans face the prospect of having no club to support in the upcoming season."This place is half of my life", says Kate Barker, a fan and former chief steward for 20 years who was subsequently made honorary life vice-president. "All my good friends are here. It's a cliche, but we are a family and we look after each other."We always look forward to seeing each other on a Tuesday and a Saturday, and going to see a match. We might win, lose, or draw - the result doesn't really matter. We've never let football get in the way of a good day out." "We'll still gather together and talk about the old times, what we've done and where we've been. 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I've known lots of them for years."I feel broken. Numbness has set in." The club offers far more than football to local residents. Its facilities host a variety of events, fun days and fundraisers for the community and causes close to people's hearts."The club does major work in the community, including sessions here for the elderly people and sessions in care homes," says former co-chairman Rod Taylor, who has removed from the board earlier this summer in a video call hastily arranged by Whittingham."We've got a pre- and post-cancer group that meet regularly, we go into schools to deliver sessions. You can't put a price on that. A high percentage of the population of this town is touched by more than football in some way."That idea of connection across the community, and across generations, is something which typifies the essence of Morecambe's supporter base."Football is that release from normality," Taylor says. "It's a generational thing. My granddad took me to our old stadium Christie Park when I was about five or six years of age. It stays with you. It's ingrained. It's in your DNA."I feel Whittingham probably has to raise more money to settle some of his some of his personal debts. I think he's trying to squeeze more money."The BBC has repeatedly attempted to contact Whittingham, but received no response. Chair of The Shrimps' Trust, Pat Stoyles, has dedicated swathes of his spare time to trying to protect the club's status and long-term future in recent years."The lack of communication from Jason Whittingham has been the biggest problem," he says. "The turmoil has been going on for weeks and weeks on end."The start of the EFL season last weekend was difficult. Normally we'd be glued to that sort of thing, but seeing live football again shows to people what we're going to be missing."The social part of football is the biggest part. What goes on the pitch - that's fine. It's about the people you travel with, you drink with, you stand with, the community that you feel apart of. For a lot of people, losing that is going to have a big impact on their whole wellbeing, their mental health."Some people are already asking if, should the worst come to the worst, we can still go to places together."The National League will meet again on 20 August and, unless convinced Morecambe have the financial means to complete the season, will formally expel them from the fans, staff, and players wait anxiously to see if Whittingham will finally sell the club before it is too late.
The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
McDonald's UK arm slashed donations to Children in Need last year, accounts show
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