Increase in Air Controller Overload - BBC

[160to4DME]

Increase in Air Controller Overload BBC Ceefax

Air Traffic Controllers working at the new centre in Swanwick are reporting an increasing number of overworked staff.

A NATS spkeswoman has confirmed 30 overload reports were filed from January to May this year, compared with 12 in 2001.

She denied any threat to safety and said the increase was due to staff being encouraged to report their concerns. :eek:

The control centre in Hampshire has been dogged by computer problems.

[Loki]

Well I`ve never been encouraged to file a report. But I have been discouraged by both blatant and subtle means.

[Bombay Bad Boy]

I'd be interested to know from people at LACC....

1) Does the report ring true ?

2) Are you feeling that in comparison with the ancient days of LATCC your less equipted to handle the traffic ?

3) Has flexibilty disappeared for routeings/co-ordination etc ?

4) Do you have confidence in the system ?

Just curious ! things dont always filter out to us Airports Chappies & Chappess's :p :confused:

[straccaletto]

Just to know why you have to fill or not a report.
Let me understand.
Ciao
Straccaletto

[Nogbad the Bad]

Dearest Bombard.......

To put it in a nutshell :

1) YES

2) YES

3) YES

4) NO

[eyeinthesky]

To add to the list:

5) Do you feel that you are not getting supported by your local management when these occur? YES!

[Cavemonster]

I'd love to know who this NATS spokeswoman was.

As we know, such spokespeople must speak the truth thus her statement is founded in fact. If it were not, then she would be guilty of deception or lying.

The question is very simple: how are controllers at Swanwick being encouraged to file such reports?

Obviously I must have missed such guidance myself.

[rickity]

I'll place bets on it being a little known manager of communications imported from BA promoted to HR director to replace the one that thought he'd done rather well with the reduancy round. Next I'll expect a display of her technical and ATC professional knowledge

[CC700_GuinnessTanker]

Straccaletto

We file an 'overload' as part of our Mandatory Occurrence Reporting scheme which requires us (and you?) by law to report any incident in which the safety of an aircraft was - or could have been - endangered.

Thus if a controller feels that he was so busy that it was dangerous, an overload is filed.

The problem is that regardless of the spokeswoman's comments to BBC, the fact is that most controllers have experienced being dissuaded from filing overload reports rather than being encouraged to file them.

The reasons for this are not difficult to guess: someone screwed up the flow rates, management don't want to bust their targets, don't want to drop a collegue in it, can't be bothered with paperwork.

Unfortunately we still have a 'blame' culture rather than one where the overloads could be analysed to determine problems that need fixing and/or used to communicate among the workforce such that we can all learn from the unfortunate experiences of others. In the reports I've filed, if you get any feedback at all, it is generally of the type 'sector x controller mistake and appropriate remedial action has been taken'. Which is nothing more than a convenient statement and as a result nobody learns anything at all.