Great news about the jumpseat rides if it does come off. I know of a couple of guys that will even come along on a day off to see what it's about. It will go a long way to understanding what it is like from your side.
I have done a couple of jumpseat rides before and it has helped me quite a bit. I do however feel that just having the ATC's along for a ride, isn't the solution. The same goes for the pilots; you've got to come and sit in with us and perhaps, if you see the "fantastic" toys we have to play with and have the procedures we have to deal with explained to you, we may have a bit of
mutual understanding going. I am not talking about a center visit. That is about as good as an ATC looking around an empty cockpit and leaving. You have to come and plug in with us and listen out for an hour or two. We gaurantee a few laughs along the way. Can't take things too seriously what? Perhaps even a radar sim run for the avid tcas controller pilots?
Lets see what comes of it....
