The introduction of these procedures are not always financially driven. They make sense if you are a remote airport that is waiting for your last returning flight prior to close of play, when the only movements likely to occur around the airport are associated with that flight, and you can use the ATM to vector, the ATM usually being driven by the same RDPS as the main radar displays. It saves having excess staff hanging around late when they could be in the bar. By devising a procedure, auditing it against the SMS, gaining regulatory approval, conducting appropriate training, and subjecting it to post-implementation operational QC, you legitimise what might have possibly been going on before.....
