Irish ATC Training

[kevindelaney]

Does anybody have any experience with the training process for becoming an ATCO with the Irish Aviation Authority? They are currently taking on trainees for a January course and i was wondering if there is any comments good or bad on the course! One thing i would like to know is if the qualification allows you to work in other countries such as the UK and Europe?

Thanks

[chargreen int]

:yuk: be advised you get paid f-all ,you will be treated like a child no matter your age,no guarantee of a job at the end like current course have been advised scp6.more than likely left to rot in shannon for the rest of your life:{ ,its a reasonable course best part is the friends you make expect about 100-150 exams both p**s easy and very hard.and if you do qualify you will be looked down upon by the senior controllers .

[beamwidth]

unlike the prevoius reply, i'm not gonna paint such a rosy picture!!! the iaa doesn't appear to know its own future needs in terms of staffing, and there are a million rumours about the latest recruits and how many positions are there. they're bound to know in time for the next scp, ha ha. your qualification will not let you walk into any other job, most other agencies will insist on a proficiency check, irrespective of age or experience. the course is hard, but do-able, there has been a recent intake of new instructors, and the bastard factor, though still there( as anywhere), is not as widespread, one recent exception aside. the only advice i can give is suck it and see!

[chargreen int]

:ok: here was me thinking i wasn't painting a rosy pic i agree with bandwidth iaa haven't the foggiest they have to be the worst aviation organisation in europe they dont know what they want they just want less hassle from the staff.they have no idea what staff needs the need for the future they haven't planned for retirements with the current upgrading of the radar system ,which i must admit the cbt is a load of horse s**t.there bulling staff into finishing it and if they do get the system up on time all managment get big bonuses do the atco's no not a chance just more grief from up above.my advise go to the u.k. at least you will get paid for the training and if you ever have an incident you wont walk around with two clothes pegs on your shoulders .

[kevindelaney]

thanks everyone. Just as i thought the IAA like most organisations in Ireland these days seem to be missing the point. I have indeed applied to the UK for the course and as written about in detail in this forum there are delays of up to a year and 18 months. Having spent a lot of time abroad i would love to have come home to start an ATC career but it seems that eveything Irish when it comes to bureaucracy.

Oh well......

[jack4577]

just find out what happened to scp 6!! One of the Iaa's biggest f**k ups.They were screwed and still are even though they joined in oct 2002.But if you can hack the iaa's bull its not a bad job.