Traffic Levels

[bagpuss lives]

Hi there <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> . .. .After going out for lunch / dinner with a few members of the airline trade last night I discovered that bums are now firmly back on carriers seats once again and that pax figures on most routes are pretty much back to post 9-11. This is obviously in direct oppopstion to what the number crunching propaganda merchants waffle on about right now.. .. .I was quite surprised at this but thinking about my own unit, traffic is pretty much at the normal levels it was this time last year.. .. .Since 9-11 is the primary reason we aint getting a pay rise this year (somewhat tongue in cheek comment alert!) and that so many people have lost their jobs do you all think :. .. .a) 9-11 is being used as a sick excuse? - 'cos I do!. .. .and :. .. .b) Are things pretty much back to normal at your respective units?. .. .'Cos if they are it discredits all of this nonsense and demonstrates what a sick world we live in.

[niknak]

On schedule services, 'bums to the sun' and other IT charters, and general charter work, there's no doubt that passenger figures are increasing, in fact we saw very little downturn.. .However, there's no doubt that G/A and PPL flying training has been affected, with a significant downturn in these movements. . .Whether it's because people who would learn to fly are more cautious about the short term economic situation, or genuinely cannot justify making (in the UK), such a large commitment to obtain and properly maintain a PPL, I don't know.

[chiglet]

On checking the figures yesterday, EGCC is precisely 128 movements down from 1/1/01-23/3/01 as compared to 1/1/02-23/3/02. All the pax loads seem to be up too. .we aim to please, it keeps the cleaners happy

[1261]

Our traffic never dipped although crews told us that loadings were down on some services. We are now busier than ever!. .. .What I find particularly annoying in all this is that all of the airports (NSL) staff in NATS are working under individual contracts to the airport operators; our charges (and hence our revenue stream) are governed entirely by those contracts - which are (to the best of my knowledge, anyway!) totally unrelated to actual movements handled. . .. .If I'm wrong, and there is a relationship, then I'm putting in for a 12.5% pay rise as that's the net increase in traffic (ATMs) at EDI over the last year.. . . . <small>[ 24 March 2002, 10:54: Message edited by: 1261 ]</small>

[ATCO Two]

NATS supplies ATS to airports under two types of contract: fixed price such as Manchester, London City, Farnborough etc., and the BAA contracts. At BAA airports, NATS' revenue is derived from an Air Navigation Service Charge applied to each landing. This is based on the MTWA of each aircraft type and is charged per metric tonne or part thereof. At the london Airports the current rate is £1.19 per tonne for the first 100 tonnes, and £0.48 for each subsequent tonne or part thereof. At Edinburgh for example, the charge is £2.26 for each and every metric tonne. Revenue is therefore directly linked to the number of ATMs, BUT the trend for airlines to use smaller aircraft types when passenger demand is lower has a considerable impact on income for NATS. Here endeth the lesson. See AIP GEN 4.2.1 for more information.

[1261]

Thanks ATCO Two; that's very informative!. . . . <small>[ 24 March 2002, 19:24: Message edited by: 1261 ]</small>

[Christopher James]

So isn't it time we made it clear to the union that no pay rise is not acceptable? Are we not as important to aviation as the pilots, who have had their bonus reinstated, or their management who have had their pay cuts reversed?. .. .911 is being used to rebase the terms of NATS employment and there is no longer any justification for it. Significant growth will be back again soon, time to redress the imbalance.. .. .09L

[slurp]

i have just been told BA have put their mangers back on full pay and have paid the Xmas bonuses