Determinants of Performance in European ATM -- How to Analyze a Diverse Industry

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the factors influencing European air traffic control performance using quantitative methods, highlighting the impact of traffic patterns, user decisions, and airspace structure on efficiency.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of endogenous and exogenous factors affecting air traffic control performance, offering insights for policy and operational improvements.

Findings

Efficiency depends on traffic patterns and user decisions

Airspace structure changes can improve performance

Empirical methods effectively identify performance determinants

Abstract

Air traffic control is considered to be a bottleneck in European air traffic management. As a result, the performance of the air navigation service providers is critically examined and also used for benchmarking. Using quantitative methods, we investigate which endogenous and exogenous factors affect the performance of air traffic control units on different levels. The methodological discussion is complemented by an empirical analysis. Results may be used to derive recommendations for operators, airspace users, and policymakers. We find that efficiency depends significantly on traffic patterns and the decisions of airspace users, but changes in the airspace structure could also make a significant contribution to performance improvements.