Institutional and structure changes in air navigation service-providing organizations

Airlines markets throughout the world have gradually gone through a liberalization process over the past 25 years. Regulatory changes involving other parts of the air transportation supply chain have globally been the subject of far less dramatic changes, and indeed some elements are still largely publicly owned monopolies. There have, however, been gradual reforms to the ways in which are traffic control and navigation services are being provided. A diversity of models has gradually emerged, ranging from traditional state ownership, through a variety of corporatized structures, to regulated private companies. While many of these new institutional forms are still at a relatively early stage in their history and development, there is still scope, using fairly well-established managerial economic approaches, to assess the implications of their structures. The analysis is based on a multi-dimensional performance matrix (e.g., including safety and financial considerations) and embraces a diversity of institutional models from around the world (e.g., a public/privatize partnership in the UK, a non-share corporation in Canada and Switzerland, and state owned in France and the US).