AIR TRANSPORTATION AND AIR CARRIER OPERATIONS.

Crowded skies can be a big risk; need new air corridors

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Submitted by:
DEEPAK.K.
ROLL NO: 10
MBA S3
 INTRODUCTION

Development and operation of aircraft. In 1783 the balloon became the first aircraft to
carry humans. Production of a successful glider in 1891 and refinement of the internal-
combustion engine led to the first successful engine-powered airplane flight by Wilbur
and Orville Wright in 1903. World War I accelerated the expansion of aviation, and in
the 1920s the first small airlines began carrying mail and passengers. World War II was
another period of innovation in aircraft size, speed, and range. In the late 1940s the jet
engine made possible the subsequent development of commercial airlines throughout the
world. See also airship; helicopter; seaplane.

The airline industry has seen a rapid growth over the last few years. The demand for air
travel has considerable increased considering the fact that airline charges have come
down to affordable levels. Airlines industry has turned out to be one of the most sought
after travelers. Airports are so full now days that has paved way to congestion of skies.
The busyness of an airport is evaluated in three ways: by passenger traffic, movements,
and cargo. The busiest airport by passenger traffic refers to the airport having highest
number of passengers arriving and departing. This airport is not necessarily the airport
having highest number of aircraft movements. In other words, it is not necessary that
highest number of take-offs and landings makes highest number of passengers. The third
evaluation is completely independent of the number of passengers: tonnage of cargo in
and out of the airport. Boom now days have commenced for the aviation industry with
the beginning of open skies policy.

Air traffic control continuously lags behind the increasing volumes of military and
civilian planes using air space. All major international airports and heavily used national
airports are exposed to constant dangers of mid-air and ground collisions. In addition,
major inter-city and inter-continental air-lanes are heavily congested. Aggravating factors
are military plane maneuvers which interfere with civil aviation, and airline economics
which may result in less than optimal maintenance and equipment. The increased use of
private airlines also poses a threat as inexperienced pilots inadvertently enter commercial
air lanes. Justification for an expensive satellite-based plane tracking system over the
Atlantic included the possibility of still greater air traffic density

In the past, the Indian aviation industry was state owned. This meant that airline carriers
could not operate under the laws of the free market. Consequently, the government
decided to liberalize this industry by encouraging privately owned airlines to join this
lucrative sector. The industry has registered a high entry of numerous low cost airline
providers. Only twenty five percent of the domestic market share belongs to government
owned companies. The other percentage is by private airlines. This industry has
undergone a rigorous transformation as it is a far cry from what it was in the short term.
Previous research with regard to this topic has looked at the successes of the Indian
aviation industry after liberalization. However, there are still minimal discussions about
some of the problems plaguing the industry currently. Additionally, there are also few
predictions about the future of this industry i.e. can India continue with the momentum
that it had started with after liberalization. This means that there is need for an
examination into the likely problems that could slow down this growth or halt it
altogether.

India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. The Airport Authority
of India (AAI) manages a total of 127 airports in the country, which include 13
international airports, 7 custom airports, 80 domestic airports and 28 civil enclaves. There
are over 450 airports and 1091 registered aircrafts in the country. In the early fifties, most
of the operating airlines were merged into Indian Airlines or Air India and this monopoly
under the Air Corporations Act continued till about the 1990s. 1991, was the year when
the Indian Government came up with the Open Skies Policy and the Indian skies were
never the same again.

The open skies policy introduced by the Government brought such a huge change in the
aviation scene that suddenly everyone wanted to start their own airline. That’s the
problem with our country. If there’s an opportunity to do something, everyone rushes to
get into it without even realizing if there are any problems or difficulties associated with
it or whether everyone would be really so successful as the others in getting into that
particular field. No one thinks about all this.

Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines were the first private airlines to begin their services after
the Govt opened the skies to private players. And lo and behold! Change became the
order of the day. People were treated to a much better and organized service with well
groomed crews, better seats, easy options of ticketing and a good overall feel of being in
an aircraft. People started flocking to these airlines like never before

Air traffic congestion causes unnecessary and excess fuel usage and associated air
pollution, and noise pollution, especially near airports

One of the current challenges to aviation is reducing the congestion in major airports. The
existing airport facilities, especially at hub airport, are much smaller to accommodate the
huge number of passengers and cargo. While some counties have airport expansion plans,
other counties are developing new airports to meet this demand. However, due to many
factors, airport expansion is not feasible for many countries.

India's aviation boom has made it possible for hundreds of thousands of people to fly for
the first time in their lives, but the increasing aircraft congestion could also be risking
passenger safety, experts say.

But the DGCA's employee strength has not increased in tune with the aviation boom. In
2001, when there were only three airline, the organization had 11 officers investigating
air safety cases across India. They still number the same.

Even though there is congestion, the radars have been made more effective. India is also
the second country in the world that has made it mandatory for planes to have collision-
avoidance systems

Congestion-caused waiting times often extend to hours at major airports, and fuel is
wasted by airplanes maintaining circular patterns, stacked above the runways. British

Most of the airports are controlled by the military authorities of the various member
states, who limited or even banned its use by civil aircraft. Civil aircraft were obliged,
therefore, to follow more or less the same routes. Given the increase in traffic, this led to
congested skies.

Delhi and Mumbai handle the bulk of India’s air traffic. While the Mumbai airport
handled about 1.53 lakh take-offs and landings, the Delhi airport handled 1.22 lakh
aircraft movements in 2004-5, the last year for which such figures are available.

Apart from the higher density of traffic, everyone is in a hurry, and under pressure. There
are greater waiting periods on the runway, greater anxiety, and the retirement age for
pilots has been increased from 60 to 65.

India has 125 airports, including 11 international airports. They annually handle about 6
crore passengers and 1.3 million tonnes of cargo. By 2010, India is expected to have 9
crore passengers, according to industry projections.

With the airways getting to be more and more crowded, inevitably, the errors have also
become more and more significant. In their defence, air traffic controllers in the country
have been complaining about serious staffing shortages, which compel the controllers to
work longer hours.

Taking all of these problems into account, analysts have said that there is no scope for
improvement in the near future since airlines still continue to replace the larger aircraft
with smaller planes. Although this practice is meant to maximize profits by flying with a
reduced number of empty seats, it however also means that there will be more delays,
more congestion and more flights.

In an effort to correct these problems, congested airports have been making plans of
charging landing fees that are based on the traffic volume and the time the flight lands so
as to encourage carriers to spread their operations evenly throughout the day. However,
in spite of implementing this new policy, there is no quick fix for such a major problem.
As dispiriting as the news may seem, there are however measures being taken to reduce
these problems and rumours of a new $15 billion satellite-based air-traffic control system
has been doing the rounds for quite some time now. Although this device will take nearly
20 years to improve operations, at least it is a solution to our problems.

Taking all of these problems into consideration, one tends to wonder if chartering flights
could be the final solution. Chartering flights provides the efficiency, flexibility and
privacy to make sure your travelling experience is an enjoyable one. What's more, renting
out an aircraft gets rid off all those annoying flight delays and it has been observed that in
the past few years the demand for charter flights has doubled and continues to grow.

Charter companies like Flight Management International Inc. have emerged as front-
runners in the aviation industry what with their private air transport solutions that include
on-demand charter services, turnkey aircraft management, and charter aircraft
management. Flight Management International creates solutions to meet every kind of
private air travel requirement.

Open skies is an international policy concept which calls for the liberalization of rules
and regulations on international aviation industry most specially commercial aviation -
opening a free market for the airline industry. Its primary objectives are:

• to liberalize the rules for international aviation markets and minimizes

government intervention — the provisions apply to passenger, all-cargo and
combination air transportation and encompass both scheduled and charter
services; or
• to adjust the regime under which military and other state-based flights may be
permitted.
• To permit private players to operate airlines domestically or internationally based
on various paramters .

For open skies to effect, a bilateral (and sometimes multilateral) Air Transport
Agreement has to be concluded between two or more nations.

A bilateral air transport agreement is a contract to liberalize aviation services, usually

commercial civil aviation, between two contracting states. A bilateral air services
agreement allows the airlines of both states to launch commercial flights that covers the
transport of passengers and cargoes of both countries. A bilateral agreement may
sometimes include the transport of military personnel of the contracting states.

In a bilateral agreement, the contracting states may allow the airlines of the contracting
parties to bring passengers and cargoes to a third country or pick up passengers and
cargoes from the host country to the home country of the airline or to a third country in
which the contracting states has existing open skies agreement.

First step towards a civil transport regime

The Convention on International Civil Aviation (1944), signed at Chicago (Also called
the Chicago Convention), was intended to prepare a framework within which civil air
transport could develop (not military or other state activities whether in a piloted or drone
craft). It introduced nine freedoms of the air for those states that have adopted the
Convention and enter into bilateral treaties that may grant any of the following rights or
privileges for scheduled international air services:

1. To fly across the territory of either state without landing.

2. To land in either state for non-traffic purposes, e.g. refueling without boarding or
disembarking passengers.
3. To land in the territory of the first state and disembark passengers coming from
the home state of the airline.
4. To land in the territory of the first state and board passengers travelling to the
home state of the airline.
5. To land in the territory of the first state and board passengers travelling on to a
third state where the passengers disembark, e.g. a scheduled flight from the U.S.
to France could pick up traffic in the UK and take all to France (sometimes
termed beyond rights).
6. To transport passengers moving between two other states via the home state of the
airline, e.g. a scheduled flight on an American airline from the United Kingdom
lands in the U.S. and then goes on to Canada on the same aircraft.
7. To transport passengers between the territory of the granting State and any third
State state without going through the home state of the airline, e.g. a scheduled
flight on an American airline from the UK to Canada that does not connect to or
extend any service to/from the U.S..
8. To transport cabotage traffic between two points in the territory of the granting
State on a service which originates or terminates in the home state of the foreign
carrier or (in connection with the so-called Seventh Freedom) outside the territory
of the granting State (also known as consecutive cabotage), e.g. an American
airline flies from the U.S., lands passengers in London and then boards passengers
to fly to Manchester.
9. To transport cabotage traffic of the granting State on a service performed entirely
within the territory of the granting State (also known as stand alone cabotage),
e.g. an British airline operates a service between Perth and Sydney in Australia).
Open Sky Policy means

(a) involving private agencies in air transport

(b) raising the efficiency of aeroplanes

(c) making air travel cheaper

(d) making aeroplanes faster

Key open skies provisions

Most of the existing civil agreements include:

1. Free market competition:

No restrictions on international route rights; number of designated airlines;

capacity; frequencies; and types of aircraft.

2. Pricing determined by market forces:

A fare can be disallowed only if both governments concur — "double-disapproval

pricing" — and only for certain, specified reasons intended to ensure competition.

3. Fair and equal opportunity to compete:

For example:

oAll carriers — designated and non-designated — of both countries may

establish sales offices in the other country, and convert earnings and remit
them in hard currency promptly and without restrictions. Designated
carriers are free to provide their own ground-handling services — "self-
handling" — or choose among competing providers. Airlines and cargo
consolidators may arrange ground transport of air cargo and are
guaranteed access to customs services.
o User charges are non-discriminatory and based on costs; computer
reservation system displays are transparent and non-discriminatory.
4. Cooperative marketing arrangements
 Designated airlines may enter into code-sharing or leasing arrangements with
airlines of either country, or with those of third countries, subject to usual
regulations. An optional provision authorizes code-sharing between airlines and
surface transportation companies.

5. Provisions for dispute settlement and consultation

Model text includes procedures for resolving differences that arise under the
agreement.

6. Liberal charter arrangements

Carriers may choose to operate under the charter regulations of either country.

7. Safety and security

Each government agrees to observe high standards of aviation safety and security,
and to render assistance to the other in certain circumstances.

8. Optional seventh freedom all-cargo rights

Provide authority for an airline of one country to operate all-cargo services

between the other country and a third country, via flights that are not linked to its
homeland.

Increasing air space is the right move by Airport Autority of India as the industry is
expected to increase at a rate of 16% till 2010. This will help in controlling the air
trafic which is likely to increase due to incoming of lot of new entrants in Indian
domestic market. It will not only improve service provided by AAI, but help boost
foreign flights confidence and bring more and more business to india.

Regional ATC and Satellite Tracking of Aircraft

Contributing to the problem of traffic congestion in the skies is the fact that the current
system of air traffic control is localized. Satellite-based tracking of flights will allow for a
more regionally-based tracking system, providing air traffic controllers with a more
efficient means of utilizing existing airspace. While the transition from current radar-
based tracking to GPS tracking will require a significant financial investment, it will
provide an effective means of optimizing efficiency as air traffic increases

Make the Infrastructure redundant

The solution is really quite simple, make the infrastructure dependent on the vehicle by
giving the vehicle reliable, safe, super capability. Practically, it means adding a Vertical
Take off and Landing capability to jumbo jets, it means adding enhanced vision systems
to avionics packages as standard equip. it means automated and integrated satellite based
navigation, auto-proximity adjustment in three dimensions, it means trusting a pilotless
aircraft which is actually much safer since Human factors - still the biggest reason for air
accidents have now been eliminated.

Replace the older jets with new, larger, and more fuel efficient jets.
This case here is ideal to support replacing smaller outdated airplanes with the larger
passenger airplanes. By reducing the number of flights and increasing the carrying
capacity, you essential reduce the fuel costs, reduce staff, and air traffic congestion as
well.