Yield management for privatised air traffic control?

Air Traffic Control (ATC) ensures the safe and expeditious passage of all aircraft in controlled airspace, usually, airspace above 5000–7000 ft or around main airports. Serious airspace congestion has led to demands for more cost-effective ATC and to plans to privatise air traffic services in the UK. These trends offer numerous opportunities to apply Operational Research in the 21st century, especially to improve information management. In a context of ATC privatisation, this paper investigates how applicable yield management (YM) policies are to European ATC. Necessary conditions for the use of YM are examined and difficulties in using YM for ATC are identified. Following this, possible YM solutions are outlined. Finally, the implications of YM for airspace users are addressed.