After reading 6 pages of postings here are my 2 cents.
1. First some very good posts and excellent discussion!
2. I work in Bahrain ACC and there has recently been a memo posted for job openings in Dubai...looking for radar/tower validation/ 5 years exp. I was told they are looking for 10 controllers. It has come to my attention that someone from the UK was recently hired with just over 12 months validated tower time and no approach validation.....scraping the bottom are we??? When I asked the "person in charge of hiring" why people with more experience are being turned away I was basically told to mind my business.. The problems do not only lie with the so called great Dane... it's also a local management problem.
3. Speaking of procedures and RVSM. UAE has a procedure that if they have not received an aircrafts flight plan via the AFTN (the system that transmits flight plans to the appropriate facilities) the aircraft is not allowed to enter RVSM airspace ... Even if we as BAH ATC confirm the aircrafts RVSM status they still do not accept these flights. Well what we predicted happened a few nights ago. THe UAE has a total AFTN crash... Just about every single flight had to be descended to FL270 or below before entering UAE aispace.. We are talking flight from EGLL to WSSS. Try telling a pilot at FL 390 he must descend to FL 270 half way through his flight. This time I do believe the GD is responsible for this procedure..
Moral of this story is that you can't always blame ATC because in most cases they are dealing with incompetent managers/regulators.
Last thing! Can you guys/gals flying through BAH Fir wear your headsets in the cockpit..
) "Say again Bahrain?!!?"