Passing ATC clearances
Can anyone throw any light on this please ? Does an ATC clearance passed to an aircraft by R/T have to be spoken by an ATCO or can it be done by an ATCA ? I may be wrong but I believe the Manchester Delivery service was until recently handled by an ATCA in the tower and that was all they did. No push and/or start clearance, just ATC clearance only. The reason I ask is that the tower frequency at my local airport is getting close to saturation point at certain times and I thought if an ATCA could take on the clearance delivery role, it would relieve some pressure from the Tower ATCO. The traffic level and taxiway/ runway configuration would not justify a GMC at present.
Any thoughts ?? Ta.