Nav Canada
Nav Canada is a privately run, not-for-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established in accordance with the Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act (ANS Act).
<SNIP>
History
The company was formed on November 1, 1996 when the government sold the country's air navigation services from Transport Canada to the new not-for-profit private entity for CAD$1.5 billion.[2]
The company was formed in response to a number of issues with Transport Canada's (TC) operation of air traffic control and air navigation facilities. While TC's safety record and operational staff were rated highly, its infrastructure was old and in need of serious updating at a time of government restraint. This resulted in system delays for airlines and costs that were exceeding the airline ticket tax, a directed tax that was supposed to fund the system. The climate of government wage freezes resulted in staff shortages of air traffic controllers that were hard to address within a government department. Having TC as the service provider, the regulator and inspector was a conflict of interest. Pressure from the airlines on the government mounted for a solution to the problem that was hurting the air industry's bottom line.[10]
A number of solutions were considered, including forming a crown corporation, but rejected in favour of outright privatization, the new company being formed as a non-share-capital not-for-profit, run by a board of directors who were initially appointed and now elected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nav_Canada
NAV CANADA is the company that owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation service (ANS).
We manage 18 million square kilometres of Canadian and oceanic airspace. With 40,000 customers and 12 million aircraft movements a year, we are the world’s second-largest air navigation service by traffic volume.
As a private company, our revenues come from our aviation customers, not government. By investing in technology and controlling costs, we have kept customer rates stable while improving safety and flight efficiency.
Our dedicated employees provide services to commercial and general aviation from facilities throughout Canada. These services include air traffic control, flight information, weather briefings, aeronautical information services, airport advisory services and electronic aids to navigation.
http://www.navcanada.ca/EN/about-us/Pages/default.aspxCouple of thoughts - I don't know if US corporations would allow for the same no-for-profit set up. They are much more likely to want a for profit corporation that would be owned by either stockholders or by the aviation industry. The point that is mentioned in the history part of the Wikipedia article on the reasons for setting up NavCanada - the need for updating the technologies and government freezes of wages - is what the US air traffic system has been facing for decades. Maybe a new system of management would allow for those improvements, but given the reluctance of US corporations to improve infrastructure (heck, they don't even want to MAINTAIN infrastructure!) or invest in their own systems I am cynical about the possibility of this change making a difference.
= new reply since forum marked as read
