I hope this doesn't deteriorate as I think it helps all of us understand each others jobs a bit better. Some will see this as hot air but they don't have to read it if they don't want to.
4HP you originally said
And it wasn't even busy.
and then said
The radio was quiet; it was 3 in the morning with only three a/c in the hold at DESDI; these were arrivals, directed to the hold.
In most western busy airports and the related control centres, they have the staff to have dedicated planners and dedicated executive controllers. We don't, therefore we have to fill both roles, meaning we not only talk to and control aircraft, but also are on the phone to Dubai App negotiating spacing etc. We also are busy trying to plan our traffic and the levels they want and see if we can accomodate. We also are coordinating with all the surrounding FIR's (Tehran is a nightmare, but we have to persist taking up time that could be spent working out EAT's). So when you say the radio is quiet that does not mean we are not busy. Also at 3am we are generally very busy as that is one of our busiest times with a rush of departures from Qatar crossing with all the Dubai and Abu Dhabi departures and converging with all our overflyers along with having to deal with the departure rush out of Dubai and Sharjah for traffic going East. Bottom line is the guys probably was not quiet, even though the radio sounded like it.
Maybe a trip down to Abu Dhabi to visit the ACC would be of value for everyone, preferably between 1030 and 1230 on a nightshift, so hopefully you might see what we see and the cluster f**k that ensues each night here. It may then help explain why the same guy that handled that, may be a bit rude later on at 3am, and not respond to the request for EAT's as he should.
Sorry if I seemed overly defensive but we all get truly sick of hearing how Heathrow does it this way and Gatwick does it that way, and why can't we be like them. We have 6 or 7 guys on a shift handling about 500 movements a shift, with no flow system to help us, late ugly transfers from Tehran, and a building site for a major airport, with one runway and 15% annual growth in traffic still with an archaic radar system. Next time you are in the UK and want to know why things go smoothly there ask the controller how many controllers are on his shift in relation to the number of movements handled. Ask him what it would be like there if there weren't slot times for departures and arrivals, and what it would be like if you had no control over the aircraft until 100NM's from the airport, and if you need to change something with that neigbouring FIR you have to spend 10 minutes with the phone ringing only for the cleaner to answer it. Ask him if he would like to control all the airlines that have been banned from operating in Europe, the ones that can't speak English, don't know what Indicated Air Speed is, and who descend to the heading that you give them. Ask him how he would like those aircraft in the middle of a 15 aircraft sequence.
