Sorry to be the bearer of bad news ladies and gentlemen but due to to Air traffic Control shortages we will be making two rather large orbits at cruise level before continuing our flight to Melbourne today. Yes , you heard it here first, it`s only a matter of time before the continual "productivity" enhancements result in the remaining controllers finally throwing in the towel and no longer proping up the system. Most of us are so disillusioned with the continual cutbacks that it`s only a matter of time before somebody gets a large orbit or two a bloody long way prior to top of descent. WHY? because the next sector is too busy and hasn`t had a decent break for more than two hours and has worked 13 days in the last 14. Management refuse to make any attempt to look forwards ( most sectors are a significant % up movement wise year-on year, with no signs of a leveling off ) and are only capable of reviewing last years data.Guess what , last year you didn`t open the console enough so now you lose it.