ATC IssuesA place where pilots may enter the 'lions den' that is Air Traffic Control in complete safety and find out the answers to all those obscure topics which you always wanted to know the answer to but were afraid to ask.
Firstly, i like to believe that most controllers are pround of the job they achieve in difficult circumstances, rather than arrogant about their superiority. Secondly, Av8boy, kind off recognise your monologue, Not sure that 'Col Nathan Jessop'(AKA big jack) would be happy about you passing off that soap box effort as your own work!?
i dont think i've ever met, or,ever likely to meet an atco that feels inadequate when faced with a pilot.
it doesnt bear thinking about , what would be next an inferiority complex about coach drivers, where would the maddness end.
not wishing to burst your bubble Purr777 but a few years ago i was on the lash in central london with a few mates, one a proffesional pilot, who dropped this fact into every sentence when speaking to the fairer sex , one was a docker, and the others atcos. no prizes for guessing the only one who went home feeling inadequate that night!
Controllers arrogant - surely not! Well yes, they/we are. Ex RAF pilot plus 25 years ATC and I can definately state that controllers are like pillions - "I wanna be up front".
Just because pilots get paid more than controllers, and are generally looked upon in awe by the general public, does'nt mean controllers should feel inadequate.
You should'nt read much into a controller being arrogant............the selection process favours "head strong" type's as it is thought they make better controllers.
I don't agree that pilots are looked up to - at least not anymore. In the 60s and 70s maybe, but now it's a pretty dull, repetitive job similar to bus driving....and the public have come to realise it just as being cabin crew started to lose all its appeal in the late 80s.
They all need a sound thrashing in my book ..........
especially those london area chaps - not so much as a 'please' or 'thank you' verbal diahorrea (spelling) if you ask me. If I want to be vectored round another aircraft I'll bl**dy well ask for it. why else did they give us those TCAS thingies eh ??? to help us save the day (again) when you girlies get too busy doing you nails or playing noughts and crosses with the chap on the screen next to you.... didn't hear of the CAA considering giving you mini-control columns next to your desk so you could take over from us!! did you ?? eh ?? thought not.
well I've got news for you ATCO girlies if you want a real mans job then come spend a day with me 'soaring' through the skies round europe......... again and again.......sometimes 6 times a day on the same route........wearing the same uniform I got 5 years ago........(that still makes me look like a hotel porter.)
the glamour in the cabin may have gone but the birds now-a-days are good in a scrap and know what real tattoos should look like.
The staff travel, food, perks and lifestyle were all over-rated anyway. strap me in, pay me less that I made 5 years ago and let me fly chav's round all day for 900 hours a year and I'll show you nothing but gratitude because I'm a mans man, an airline pilot and I DEMAND the respect I deserve damn it.
If you ASTCO girlies couldn't cut the mustard then deal with it or go home and cry into your mummies apron. just stay out of MY sky.
