Governing Modernised Air Navigation Service Providers

Air Navigation Services (ANS) around the globe have been traditionally provided by civil servants working in ‘old public management ’ government departments. However, over the past 25 years public service ‘modernisation ’ reforms implemented under the labels ‘new public management ’ (NPM) or ‘reinventing government ’ have significantly changed the delivery mechanisms of these essential infrastructure services. Modernisation’s preoccupation with structural change has seen ANS increasingly delegated to autonomous entities whose organisational forms now include performance based agencies, Government Business Enterprises/Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), and private not-for-profit models. To date, over 40 national governments have implemented managerial and administrative reforms in their ANS providers. ANS providers operate as natural monopolies, which raises issues of autonomy and control. While it is understood senior management need to have direct responsibility