On this milestone anniversary, we wanted to re-share the stories of two controllers who worked on 9/11 – alongside the incredible account recorded in the London Area Control supervisor’s log book – in commemoration of the victims, and in thanks for all those who worked on that day and every day to help keep the skies safe. 

Monitoring the performance of our air traffic controllers is an incredibly important part of the work we do to keep our skies safe. In May, we launched the NATS Management of Competence System (or NMOCS), a single evidence-based system which is transforming the way we manage the competence of our controllers. Find out more.

As you read this, all our existing Altitude episodes are available to listen as your leisure from all the usual podcast libraries, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music.

In this data visualisation, we share an example of a recent infringement at Southampton Airport, to explain how such an incident can have an impact on other airspace activity and users and to help raise awareness in the hope of minimising these occurrences in the coming months.

With airports so impacted by the Covid crisis, tools like Intelligent Approach that help airports utilise runways and airspace more efficiently, for a fraction of the investment needed for new ground-based infrastructure, will be more valuable than ever to operators as traffic returns.

When faced with an opportunity to upskill in programming languages earlier this year, NATS’ Analytics team thought outside the box. Rather than go on a traditional training course, they looked into their own skills and created an alternative in-house training experience.  Rhona Murphy, Analytics Core Team Lead, tells us more…

In uncontrolled airspace, it is up to individual pilots whether to use an air traffic service or not. Pilots don’t have to call and use the Flight Information Service (FIS) available to them, but here’s some information on why we think you should consider it…. 

I recently spoke at an online webinar hosted by Resilient Pilot on the topic of skills fade and the anxiety being felt by air traffic controllers and pilots who have been furloughed for the past year (and more) and therefore working with far fewer flights than usual due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.  

By 2030, the aviation industry is targeting an overall reduction of at least 15% in net CO2 emissions relative to 2019, and a 40% net reduction by 2040. Managing our airspace more effectively, and flying more efficiently, will play a crucial role in the future of aviation.

Up to eight vertical and horizontal launch spaceports in the UK are currently proposed. The vehicles launched from each of them will use airspace just as other aircraft already do, and as the custodians of UK airspace, NATS’ role is to integrate them safely and sustainably into our network.