June 20, 2007: As the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 unfolded, the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States ordered all aircraft over or enroute to U.S. airspace to be grounded immediately. Europeans were amazed at the swiftness with which the skies over America were cleared of all aircraft. They also wondered how they would handle a similar emergency. There is good reason for their concern: Europe may have become an economic unit, but its airspace remains as fractured as the customs borders once were across Europe.

The move toward economic and political unity in Europe is occuring literally only on the ground. The airspace managed by Europe is actually slightly larger than the airspace over the continental United States. However, the U.S. has its air traffic controllers reporting to just one agency, instead of the 47 individual agencies that guide air traffic over Europe. There are 58 regional air traffice control centers in Europe, compared to only 21 in the United States. All air traffic control centers in the U.S. have the same computer operating system. At Europe's control centers, 22 different operating systems are currently in use.

What is most interesting is that Europe's fractured airspace has a direct negative impact on the ability of European airlines to compete on an equal footing with their American competitors. The average air traffic controller in the United States handles nearly twice as many flights as his European counterpart, and the cost of "handling" a flight in Europe is about 70 percent higher than on the other side of the Atlantic.

It should be no surprise that major European carriers support a thorough reform of the European air traffic control system. By reducing the number of "hand-off" points as an aircraft switches airspace jurisdictions, the German carrier Lufthansa estimates that it could reduce its consumption of jet fuel by twelve percent a year, saving 142 000 tons of jet fuel annually. With environmental concerns being so important to Europeans, Europe's inefficient air traffic control system also burdens the atmosphere with ten million tons of additional CO₂ emissions by keeping planes in the sky longer than necessary.

The European Union has made remarkable process in creating a customs union in Europe, a common currency and a common border on the ground for countries participating in the Schengen treaty. However, Europe's fractured airspace shows that there is yet some distance ahead on the road to full unity.