Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information and other support for pilots.
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the Industrial Revolution, when mass labor became important in factories and mines. As striking became a more common practice, governments were often pushed to act. When government intervention occurred, it was rarely neutral or amicable. Early strikes were often deemed unlawful conspiracies or anti-competitive cartel action and many were subject to massive legal repression by state police, federal military power, and federal courts. Many Western nations legalized striking under certain conditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCs, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control towers on the ground, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft in their assigned airspace visually and by radar, and give directions to the pilots by radio. The position of air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. Controllers apply separation rules to keep aircraft at a safe distance from each other and within proper airspace in their area of responsibility and move all aircraft safely and efficiently through their assigned sector of airspace, as well as on the ground. Because controllers have an incredibly large responsibility while on duty and make countless real-time decisions on a daily basis, the ATC profession is consistently regarded around the world as one of the most mentally challenging careers, and can be notoriously stressful depending on many variables. Many controllers, however, cite high salaries, and a large, unique, and privileged degree of autonomy as major advantages of their jobs.
NATS Holdings, formerly National Air Traffic Services and commonly referred to as NATS, provides en-route air traffic control services to flights within the UK flight information regions and the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area. It also provides air traffic control services to 14 UK airports.
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PATCO was a United States trade union that operated from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 following an illegal strike that was broken by the Reagan administration.
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, commonly known as Eurocontrol, is an international organisation working to achieve safe and seamless air traffic management across Europe. Founded in 1960, Eurocontrol currently has 41 member states with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. It has several local sites as well, including an Innovation Hub in Brétigny-sur-Orge, France, the Aviation Learning Centre (ALC) in Luxembourg, and the Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The organisation employs approximately two thousand people, and operates with an annual budget in excess of half a billion Euro.
Marion Clifton Blakey is an American businesswoman and former government official who served as president and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America. Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, she served as the eighth full-time chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association, an American defense industry trade association from 2007 to 2015. Before this, she served a five-year term as the 15th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Blakey was the second woman to hold the position, serving as a successor to Jane Garvey, the first woman to hold the Administrator title. She was the second Administrator who was not a licensed pilot. She was awarded the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2013.
Airservices Australia is an Australian Government owned corporation, responsible for providing safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally responsible services to the aviation industry within the Australian Flight Information Region (FIR). Some of Air services responsibilities include air traffic control, airway navigation, and communication facilities, publishing aeronautical data, airport rescue, and fire-fighting services. Airservices Australia has international partnerships with ICAO, CANSO and IATA.
A flight information service (FIS) is a form of air traffic service which is available to any aircraft within a flight information region (FIR), as agreed internationally by ICAO.
Air traffic control in Australia is provided by two independent organisations, one civilian and one military. The civilian provider is Airservices Australia, which controls civilian airfields and airspace. The military provider is the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which controls military airfields and adjoining airspace. This includes Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy aviation bases.
The New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association (NZALPA) is a trade union in New Zealand. It represents commercial pilots and air traffic controllers. NZALPA is affiliated with the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations.
The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) is an independent agency of the United States government that governs labor relations between the federal government and its employees.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is a labor union in the United States. It is affiliated with the AFL–CIO, and is the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It also represents a range of workers related to the air traffic control (ATC) industry, and the FAA itself.
Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) is a labor union in the United States, that is affiliated with the Office and Professional Employees International Union. It is certified by the NLRB and currently represents air traffic controllers who work in private sector air traffic control towers, and is actively organizing controllers nationwide. PATCO signed an Alliance Agreement with the Teamsters Airline Division on October 15, 2008. The union also includes hundreds of former controllers fired during the 1981 strike by the previous union of the same name. PATCO uses the Federally Registered Trade Mark original union's logo to strengthen its claim to the PATCO lineage.
The Air Traffic Organization (ATO) is an air navigation service provider in the United States of America. The ATO is the operational division of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers (GATCO) is a guild of air traffic controllers which began organising in 1952 and was established in 1954. In 2004, it had over 2000 members spread over 125 locations in the UK and overseas in both civilian and military sectors.
A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register.
Remote and virtual tower (RVT) is a modern concept where the air traffic service (ATS) at an airport is performed somewhere other than in the local control tower. Although it was initially developed for airports with low traffic levels, in 2021 it was implemented at a major international airport, London City Airport.
The King's Birthday Honours 1941 were appointments in the British Empire of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of various countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published on 6 June 1941.
