mr plot
1) $100000 a month and can't support your family?!
how many children do you have?
I don't know where you get your information from, but please be advised that an ATCO II in MPS 44B ears 74,725 HKD per month - a far cry from the 100,000 mentioned by you. Please don't tell me you include Accomodation Allowance - not everybody is lucky enough to get that. The point I wanted to make was that our salary has been static for a decade and a change is not likely although the cost of living is going up. Agree?
2) Half an hour early? I thought he was two and a half early!
The controller mentioned in the mentioned "TOIL-event" was allowed to leave after a busy and tiring 2 hour-session on Ground. He was due for a "late break" (maximum 60 minutes) 30 minutes later. 30 minutes? Big deal!
Surely, a high-ranking manager has more important matters to attend to than such petty stuff. Like making sure the troops are happy and that the traffic flows smoothly.
Get your facts right, pal!
When Boss Norman took over here a few years ago, the prevailing feeling was that he was a welcomed breath of fresh air and a desperately needed change from his predecessor whose life ambition seemed to be having his photograph taken as often as possible and in as many places as possible. A figurehead from a remote planet. People's feelings of expextations grew when Boss Norman was quoted in the press, saying we needed more controllers. Sadly, however, nothing much has happened since then. Many controllers have left (one wonders why!) and the trainees take longer-than-expected time to check out. One of the main reasons for the dragged-out training is that the supervisors usual quick fix is to take a trainee off training to cover for sick leave. This may work in the short term, but there is a high price to pay for the trainees. Their training is interrupted and goes on far too long. On top of this, the trainees are often called upon to work on their days off. During their training period they need all the rest they can get and working on their days off is thus very counterproductive. Consequently, the trainees are often tired - even on the first day of their "new" training cycle - and this naturally can be detected in their performance.
The thing in HK ATC is that nobody wants to address the real problems which are lack of staff in combination with bureaucratic, petty and old-fashioned management who do not have even the slightest idea how to run a busy ATC unit. Additionally, a new control center is on the drawing board requiring even more staff.
In Hong Kong ATC the messenger can expect to be shot, so the individual supervisors simply want to survive their shifts rather than create any waves. Nobody is prepared to stick out their necks by imposing restrictions on traffic due to shortage of staff or even telling Boss Norman (or better still: LEGCO!) that more staff is urgently needed.
The size of the snowball is growing every day: the number of people wanting leave, but not getting it gets bigger constantly, people generally suffer from fatigue and tend to call in sick more often than before, an increasing number of local (S)ATCOs have an "overflowing leave balance" and their 1,5 - 3 days of well-deserved leave disappers into thin air every month, causing a very strong feeling of anger and thirst for revenge. Does Boss Norman know the real situation here? My feeling is that he is "protected" from the truth, because nobody wants to be the messenger.
What would happen if the press were made aware of just how disastrous the whole situation is in HK ATC? Somehow, I think that this is the only way things will change for the better. One thing is for sure: as long as things appear to run on rails nothing will change. Has the time come to involve the press?