"The 737 is an extraordinarily robust aircraft, " said Butterworth-Hayes, editor of Air Traffic Management Insight.
Eurocontrol, the European air traffic management organization, sees no impact on the European mainland for now, but shifting winds may carry the ash cloud to parts of Scotland and Ireland within the next 24 hours.
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John Smith, head of Air Traffic Management strategy at Thales, told the BBC that the two issues make a compelling argument for change but admits that not everyone is persuaded that the current system, which has been in use since World War Two, needs an overhaul.
For instance, the same technology that guides missiles can be repackaged to provide satellite-based air-traffic management systems.
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On the same day, Boeing announced the outline of the future air-traffic management system upon which much of the FAA plan depends.
Even Massachusetts-based Raytheon, a one-time conglomerate that has gradually divested commercial lines over the last two decades, has non-defense franchises in areas like air-traffic management and civil communications.
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Many airlines -- Virgin being one example -- are actively developing bio-fuel technologies in an attempt to reduce their reliance on carbon-emitting fossil fuels, while a great deal of work is being done in the area of improving air-traffic management.
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Boeing, which moved its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago 16 months ago to emphasise its diversification, is also forging ahead with ambitious plans to offer satellite-based air-traffic management services as soon as governments have the courage to adopt this technology.
Creating an air traffic services subcommittee to work with the FAA's aviation management advisory council.
In 2007, the NTSB, citing a series of fatigue-related air traffic control incidents, implored the FAA to reform its scheduling practices and implement a fatigue-management program, but the FAA took no action.
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