Air traffic control, business regulation and CO 2 emissions
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Air traffic control, business regulation and CO2 emissions Steve Hammond*, Jacky Civil, Matt Ross and Keith Slater NATS, Operational Analysis, NATS CTC, 4000 Parkway, Whiteley, Fareham, Hampshire PO15 7FL, UK. *Corresponding author.
Abstract
A metric has been developed that, for the first time, makes it possible to measure the fuel inefficiency resulting from the action of Air Traffic Control, by recording a few simple, specific, straightforward components of a flight. A significant benefit of this approach is that it can be completed efficiently – without expensive data gathering and without complex calculations, making it transparent and meaningful to stakeholders. On the basis of this novel analytical work NATS, with the technical support of its OR analysts, was confident to hold constructive discussions with the UK Civil Aviation Authority on the incorporation of the 3D inefficiency score within the existing service quality regulation scheme. This was important for NATS En Route Limited (NERL) as it effectively helped define part of its business operating environment. The service quality scheme provides the regulator with a means of imposing financial reward or penalty based on the service quality delivered by NERL. Therefore, this will have a direct effect on NERL revenue during forthcoming financial regulation periods. OR Insight (2012) 25, 127–149. doi:10.1057/ori.2012.5
Keywords: NATS; aviation; regression; regulation; KERMIT Received 1 November 2011; accepted 2 April 2012 after one revision
Introduction NATS is the major provider of Air Traffic Control (ATC) within the United Kingdom and is divided into two operating arms. NATS Services Limited (NSL) provides the majority of the ATC at UK airports and is run along conventional & 2012 Operational Research Society Ltd 0953-5543 OR Insight www.palgrave-journals.com/ori/
Vol. 25, 3, 127–149
Hammond et al
service industry lines. NATS (En-Route) Ltd (NERL), on the other hand, is the sole provider of en-route ATC services in the United Kingdom and as such is economically regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority. This regulation is licensed through price controls, which cap prices, as well as incentivising cost efficiency, investment in future capability and high service quality. The controls are implemented over a series of Control Periods. Control Period 3 (CP3) started in 2011. During the initial customer consultation phase of the CP3 economic regulation review, taking account of the increasing cost of aviation fuel and the introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation in Europe, NERL’s airline customers called for the development of additional service quality measures to address NERL’s impact on aircraft fuel use and hence the environment. Fuel forms a substantial part of an airline’s operating costs and it is estimated that nearly 4.5 million tonnes of aviation fuel was consumed within UK airspace in 2010 at a cost of approximately d600 per tonne. NERL’s Operational Analysis (OA) Department was tasked to consider what aviation environment
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