My hopes and expectations for Airspace Asia Pacific  

Thomas Kuhn was a physicist turned historian and philosopher.  In his seminal work The Structure of Scientific Revolution, he argued that science does not progress in a linear manner. 

Science works within a set of accepted ideas.  Over time, anomalies build up which can lead to a crisis, and an alternate set of ideas emerge to replace the old ones.  One example is the shift from an earth-centred view of the universe to a sun-centred view.  From Kuhn, we now have the overused term paradigm shift.

The point is – if science requires step adjustments, what more our conventional thinking on airspace and future skies.  Knowingly or otherwise, the aviation world operates within a paradigm – one that is currently state-centric.  The high points on the current aviation calendar are ICAO Assemblies and DGCA conferences, dominated by states and scripted speeches.  This is especially evident in the regions, where there are fewer or less developed regional aviation frameworks. 

This December, the inaugural Airspace Asia Pacific will be held in Hong Kong, China.  This is a regional chapter of Airspace World which brings together industry leaders, policymakers, operations experts to shape future skies.  Airspace World, and its predecessor events, World ATM Congress and ATC Global have always been Europe-centric.  This Asia Pacific chapter should be an exciting opportunity for the region, and perhaps even a moment of pride. 

I hope Airspace Asia Pacific can catalyse a Copernican shift from a state-centric aviation world to one that is industry-centric, at least for regional ATM in the Asia Pacific.  This would be a real paradigm shift.  For this to happen, we need open conversations that connect ANSPs in the region, not just at the working level, but at the leadership level.  Far too often, we are bogged down by our own domestic preoccupations and have failed to take a more holistic and strategic look at our neighbourhood.  Airspace Asia Pacific could be the professional forum to align our individual self-interests to realise larger collective benefits.  The ideal is to normalise a state-agnostic community approach for a new ambition on regional ATM. 

ATM tech companies play a pivotal role in advancing ANSP capabilities. ANSPs need to work with ATM tech companies to jointly derive solutions, and deploy them, especially since the majority of regional ANSPs are not technology companies and should not be.  For instance, there can be conversations on the innovative and affordable ways ANSPs can implement the regional air navigation plan.  Implementation is where the rubber meets the road.  Such an operations-technology partnership can be a countervailing force to a state-centric aviation world.  This starts by understanding the needs of the region, and I believe Airspace Asia Pacific is the place for this.  

Of late, we have been inundated ad nauseum by comments of a crumbling world order marked by irrational international economics and hostile geopolitics. I explained in an earlier blog that the aviation community can survive what some have called the “new age of geoeconomics.”  We either step forward to build aviation by the industry, for the industry, or we allow market needs and professional excellence to be subordinated to politics that is increasingly capricious. 

In assessing the success of Airspace Asia Pacific, we should be careful not to mistake the form for the truth.  We must not settle for the performative rather than the substantive. It is not enough that we have a glorious show, but that we trigger a real change; even though Rome was not built in a day.  Having more of such regional events will be an indication of commercial success, but the desired impact will be seen in the state of Asia Pacific ATM years from now.  We should not lose sight of our higher purpose.  We are planting a forest, not logging timber. 

I believe Airspace Asia Pacific will be a story of connections on regional ATM.  To borrow a phrase from E. M. Foster, we will “connect the prose with the passion.”  Airspace Asia Pacific will bridge the gaps between needs and solutions, between operations and technology, between the analytical and the emotional.  In connecting ideas, we shift our mindset for the better.