London 133.07
I often work this frequency. I have never found it anything less than frantic.
The pace at which the controller has to issue instructions, and the lack of any gap into which one can even call in on first contact is extraordinary.
I take my hat off to the controllers, but various questions arise:-[list=1][*]How can a controller stay sane when life goes at this pace?[*]How can he or his Assistant keep up with the amount of writing required?[*]How can a controller even talk to other controllers to hand people off or accept new flights joining if the moment he even pauses for breath someone thumbs the tit and the ATCO then has to listen to them?[*]How can he take the time to brief his replacement when it's time for a cuppa?[*]If anyone had an emergency what hope would there be that a Mayday would be heard?[/list=a]
Does anyone else consider this state of affairs to be anything remotely approaching satisfactory? Will this sector be subject to a substantial amount of rationalisation when Swanwick is up and running? Or sooner?