Far from being satisfied with the $3,600m contract it has from the US Federal Aviation Administration to replace the museum pieces – clustered 360 mainframes – that still keep Americans and Brits in the air, IBM’s showing at the Paris Air Show (CI No 1,192) is not simply a flag-waving exercise: the company’s ambition is nothing less than to solve Europe’s chaotic air traffic control infrastructure at a stroke. The company said genially that it was ready to work in partnership with the countries of the European Community and European companies, to bring to them the fruits of more than 30 years’ experience in air traffic control systems. The problem in Europe, points out Agence France Presse, is that there are no fewer than 22 different air traffic control systems that cannot communicate with each other. And if Europe did go IBM, the UK would for once by ready and waiting – the UK Civil Aviation Authority has already opted to use the new IBM-FAA system.
