The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) has complained strongly to Eurocontrol about the lack of recognition given to general-aviation interests in the preparation of the future European air-traffic-management (ATM) system.
It says that, despite working on the European ATM System (EATMS) concept for a period of one and a half years, Eurocontrol has not given IAOPA "-any position on what might be the operational concept for the EATMS time frame".
It adds that, while it believes that Eurocontrol is the leading authority on the initiative, it has learned that "-nothing could be further from the truth".
IAOPA expresses its "discomfort" with a centralised, ground-focused, ATM system which relies to a great extent on datalinks between air and ground-based computers.
The organisation "strongly recommends" that general aviation is better represented in the EATMS studies. "We are concerned that people in love with technology are leading the way, where pilots, controllers and businessmen should be in control," it says.
Source: Flight International
