Plane makers join forces to urge better air traffic control systems
24.04.08
Plane makers Boeing and Airbus usually face each other like prize fighters, but earlier this week their top executives shook hands and pledged cooperation in a bid to cool criticism over environmental issues.
Arguing that reducing congestion over airports would go a long way to lessening the impact of aviation on global warming, the two companies announced that they have agreed to coordinate efforts on the next generation of air traffic systems, which are under development in Europe and the US. They also promised to join forces to push the authorities and equipment suppliers to set greener standards.
A state-of-the-art air traffic management system in Europe would allow the industry to save 10 - 12% of fuel consumption, Thomas Enders, the chief executive of Airbus, said. Enders and Scott Carson, the chief executive of the commercial aircraft division of Boeing, said their ultimate goal was to ensure that new air traffic systems could be used by all aircraft and were fully interoperable.
They spoke at an aviation and environmental conference in Geneva, where they and 14 other aviation companies signed a separate declaration committing themselves ‘to a pathway to carbon neutral growth.’
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