Toward a Single European Sky

Abstract

To meet rising traffic projections over the next 20 years, Eurocontrol must develop Europe's first uniform air traffic control standards. This case illustrates the usefulness of management science methods for obtaining agreement and commitment among stakeholders. Excerpt UVA-QA-0736 March 26, 2010 Toward a Single European Sky On the journey toward an integrated air traffic management system in Europe by 2020, the key date was January 24, 2007. On that day, the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program held a stakeholder forum in Geneva to encourage the entire air transport community to commit to performance targets for future European air traffic management (ATM) systems. For the first time in European air traffic management history, the SESAR consortium brought together all major stakeholders in European aviation, including airspace users, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airport operators, safety regulators, military organizations, and research centers. In all, the forum comprised 76 people representing 30 stakeholder groups. Eurocontrol The primary objective of Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic management (ATM) organization, was the development of a seamless, pan-European ATM system. Eurocontrol developed, coordinated, and planned the implementation of European ATM strategies and their associated operational plans in collaboration with national authorities, air navigation service providers (ANSP), civil and military airspace users, airports, manufacturers, professional organizations, and relevant European institutions. Eurocontrol's core activities spanned the entire range of gate-to-gate air navigation service operations, from strategic and tactical-flow management to controller training, from regional control of airspace to the development of leading-edge technologies and procedures. In 2007, Eurocontrol had 38 member states and was headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The agency had approximately 2,400 staff located in seven European countries and reported to the transport and defense ministers in the European Commission. . . .