TFDCs and clearances
I guess one of my problems with this is that ALL of the clearances would be issued by perhaps one TFDC. This would cover many major airfields rather than just one (as is done at the moment).
TFDCs are well trained (but not licensed ATCs) and I feel that even a licenced ATC would have some difficulty maintaining the SA required to issue clearances for multiple fields. It is easy enough to keep track of runway configurations at one place - how hard to keep track at 3 or more? For each runway configuration ML has different rules about which SID will be issued and our systemic separation is in some cases wholly based on these being correct...
This is, of course, all to save both staff and money. TFDCs are considerably cheaper to employ and quicker to train...
Blue