Thanks for your words of support poorwanderingwun, they are really appreciated. We are currently under the pump big time here in the UAE where traffic has risen by about 50% in the last 5 years, and is increasing by almost 15% annually at the moment. In that time our number of controllers on nightshifts (by far our busiest shift), has only risen by 1, from 5 to 6. The procedures have pretty much stayed the same, and to compound that we have been having to give Dubai double the usual spacing due to the single runway ops, resulting in ridiculous holding stacks almost every night into Dubai. We are seriously being stretched at the seams, and we need all the help we can get from our pilot friends.
So in light of this, and remembering that pilots and ATC'ers are on the same team, and should be trying to look out for each other and help each other as best we can, things like prompt correct readbacks, make the world of difference.
If pilots flying into the UAE all gave there level passing and cleared level on first contact, readback their clearances with a callsign as required by ICAO, and then continued to listen out, and respond promptly both in word and action, the difficult situation we are experiencing right now, will be made
that bit easier.
I know there will be some on this forum that will have switched off to all that, because it is just ATC blah blah blah, but to the prof(f?)essionals out there, if you help us out by doing these few things, it may just give us the minute or two spare to call Dubai, and try and negotiate with them high speed and direct UKRUM, rather than chasing up required readbacks we should have got in the first place. Thanks.
Last edited by AirNoServicesAustralia; 22nd October 2006 at 22:17.