Skyguide attributes breakdowns to technical innovations
Published: Thursday, Mar 28th 2024, 05:20
Updated At: Thursday, Mar 28th 2024, 05:10
Back to Live Feed
The head of the air traffic control company Skyguide, Alex Bristol, has attributed the recent accumulation of mishaps to new technical innovations. Such incidents can never be ruled out when they are launched, Bristol said in an interview.
Bristol repeatedly emphasized that safety was and is always guaranteed. The accumulation of incidents cannot be denied, said the Skyguide boss in an interview with CH Media published on Thursday. He announced an external investigation.
An internal investigation had concluded that the incidents had occurred independently of each other. In particular, there was a lengthy disruption on October 30, 2023: for one afternoon, no aircraft were able to take off from Zurich due to a technical problem at Skyguide.
Capacities reduced
In response to the recent incidents, skyguide reduced the capacity of flight movements in Zurich and Geneva between March and the beginning of June. As there is no peak period during this time, this additional buffer is not noticeable. Two software updates will be launched in view of the peak summer season. "These will significantly improve stability," said Bristol.
The skyguide boss said that he should have focused on fallback systems earlier, knowing about the accumulation of breakdowns. Skyguide is implementing the major Virtual Center project without a fallback system. With this project, the company wants to completely virtualize its system.
Fallback systems are not provided for in the regulation. Correspondingly few air navigation service providers in Europe have one. "We will have to invest more here in future," said Bristol. Today, 65 million francs are spent on this every year. "In future, I think at least CHF 100 million will be needed," he said. Further steps in this regard are still open.
Difficult summer months
When asked about the general situation in the aviation industry, Bristol was pessimistic: "I expect the summer months of 2024 and 2025 to be very difficult, at least in Europe and North America."
The industry is still struggling with a shortage of skilled workers. Traffic and demand are increasing. However, there are labor disputes in many places. Bristol therefore expected further strikes at airlines, other European air navigation service providers and ground handling companies.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic