Europe: Airline group faults traffic controllers amid delays

The leading trade group for global airlines is criticising air traffic control agencies in Europe for seeking "super-normal profits" instead of investing to improve performance at a time when air travellers are facing longer waits. The swipe by the IATA, which called on governments to help resolve the "bottlenecks," comes after EUROCONTROL reported air traffic management delays this year have jumped 133% compared to a year earlier — reaching 47,000 minutes per day. IATA said delays were mostly caused by staffing and capacity shortages, weather disruptions like thunderstorms and strikes such as those this year in France. Demand, too, has grown: Traffic is up 3.8% this year in Europe, and June 29 set a new one-day record for commercial flights on the continent: 36,825. But the trade association largely pinned blame on air navigation service providers that direct air traffic. The industry association is in essence accusing the air control agencies of sitting on mounds of cash at a time when needs have soared. "Unfortunately, key ANSPs in Europe have not made needed investments in their businesses, preferring instead to make super-normal profits," IATA said. The largest ones, it said, had "either under-invested in staff" or used "outdated employment practices which don't deploy staff when and where they're most needed." Story has more details.<br/>