Originally Posted by
whowhenwhy
Under ICAO FIS, in uncontrolled airspace, if you have surveillance and the flight is identified, regardless of whether the flight is VFR or IFR, you provide traffic information and avoiding action if the pilot requests it or if you as an ATCO believe it necessary. If you want to provide ATC service, then you do so in controlled airspace but bear in mind that you provide FIS and alerting service alongside ATC service to controlled flights.
And that, in my opinion, is the way we should be doing it. I suggested it at the working group which decided the present services and was ignored; didn't even appear in the circulated meeting notes.
Actually when I first started (1973 as a cadet, 1974 as a controller) we had almost the same system:-
IMC Radar Advisory Service; the controller provides traffic information followed by avoiding action to maintain at least 5 nm from unknown traffic.
VMC Radar Advisory Service; the controller initially provides traffic information then avoiding action either at the request of the pilot or if the controller deems it necessary.
Flight Information Service using radar derived information; the controller provides traffic information to identified aircraft.
Flight Information Service; the controller passes proximity hazard warnings on known traffic; used for unidentified traffic or at units without radar.
All nice and easy until the late '70s when some d1ckhead decided to change it and that's when the rot started.
If anyone wants to know the next stage, I'm prepared to present it here but I don't want to go rambling on unnecessarily and boring you to death.