Government Is Selling Off ATC Services At 14 Airports

The government of Spain has set in motion a plan to privatize much of its air traffic control system, beginning with the services provided to 13 airports.

The move is in part a response to a wildcat strike by air traffic controllers in Spain early in December. The average air traffic controller in Spain had earned nearly $400,000 per year, and when the government cut those salaries, the controllers walked off the job. Spain declared a "state of alert", and the military took over operation of ATC for the duration of the strike. Controllers now average about $266,000 per year.

The French news service AFP reports that Spain's transportation minister called the move to privatize air traffic control "the largest structural reform in recent years of the airport sector."  The first 13 airports to make the switch include Seville, Valencia, La Palma in the Canary Islands, and Lanzarote. The move was announced in a government bulletin, and airport operations company Aena is expected to bid on the rights to ATC. The Spanish government said it plans to sell off 49 percent of Aena to bolster the general fund. According to it's website: "The Public Business Entity Aena has its own legal character independent to that of the State, fully legal, public and private capacity and its own equity. Likewise, it is listed in the Ministry of Transports and Infrastructures that, in line with the mandate established by the Government, will establish its directives for action, approve the annual plan of objectives, monitor its activity and carry out, without prejudice to other authorities, the control of its efficiency in accordance with the regulations in force."

The plan is eventually to privatize air traffic control at 48 of the nation's airports.

FMI: www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?pagename=Home&Language=EN_GB