ATC ENTITIES
The two entities I have chosen for this discussion are the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and NATS (National Air Traffic Service). They both are the primary aviation know it all for the United States and the United Kingdom. The FAA regulates basically all aspects of aviation as an industry and makes sure every person operating or working on aircraft are compliant with all standards and regulations. They also carry out programs that are beneficial to controlling noise and some of the other environmental effects that come with the aviation industry. The FAA has a command center that uses its advanced Air Traffic Control systems to mitigate potential hazards during flights due to inclement weather by using its Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities which can relay information in a matter of minutes.
NATS on the other hand basically does the same exact thing as the FAA when it comes to civilian aviation. It only controls UK held airspace, which is a whole lot smaller than the United States, and generally only controls around 6,000 flights a day. Outside the controlled airspace, the pilots have full authority over their aircraft and are solely responsible for the safety of themselves and everyone that is onboard that flight. Outside the controlled airspace, the military works with the civilian pilots to provide any needed assistance or services that may be needed so that they can provide a fully integrated service to everyone involved.
References:
FAA, 2020. Facts about the FAA and Air Traffic Control. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved from: https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/facts-about-faa-and-air-traffic-control
NATS, n.d. Air Traffic Control. National Air Traffic Service. Retrieved From: https://www.nats.aero/about-us/what-we-do/atc-explained/
It is nice to hear about other air traffic control facilities in other countries. I am only specifically familiar with the FAA and the entities in the United States, such as you have talked about. I would be interested to know more about the procedures that pilots use including the differing laws and responsibilities of the pilot in command. I didn't know that the military is the entity outside of controlled airspace that helps pilots. Thanks for your post,
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I like your approach to this blog. I have flown internationally quite a few times in my life time. I thought the FAA knew and controlled most or all of the air space. Nice to see how other work at times. Once the aircraft leaves the nation air space and basically goes into international air space. Is it only our military that is tracking and helping those flights, or is there over lap between different nations militaries?
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