PPRuNe Radar,
Yes, you did misunderstand my point.
I was not suggesting that the APR guys provide breraks in a tower hours away.
I was making the point that
a) In European ATC terms, it is very hard to justify always having Air and Ground open at an airport as quiet as Shannon. One may find it hard to justify ever having the positions split based on the usual traffic figures.
b) The ATCO's and the IAA seem quite happy with two ATCO's for one position i.e. one on / one off breaks as seems to be the case for the aproach radar position.
c) The IAA (and also the ATCO's since they have not proposed a reduction) require 3 ATCO's at all times to man a quiet control tower - Air, Ground and one on a break.
Seems to me that 1 ATCO on a combined Air/Ground and 1 to give breaks and cover contingency plus an ATSA for busy periods would be suficient.
Can you see somewhere like Carlisle needing such an ATCO staffing level?
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goodworker
Dfc, would it be common practice to have only one tower ATCO available in your neck of the woods?
I think that you will find it common practice in many places.
You do not have to go as far as the UK......you only have to look at..........Kerry, Galway, Waterford, Sligo, Knock and Donegal..........Oh and of course, it is also common practice at Shannon to not have a spare ATCO to replace either the Air or Ground controller should they fall off their chair and go U/S.
Shannon can get by prefectly safely with 2 Tower ATCOs - one working and one on a break............perfectly safe since there is very little traffic.
If there was only 1 ATCO on shift then quite simply, the tower should have been operated as combined Air/Ground (with flow if necessary - can't see a reason at Shannon) for 2 hours, closed for 30 minutes while the ATCO had a break and re-opened for another 2 hours.
Heck - give the guy a 1 hour break.........still only means a 1 hour closure in 5 hours!!!!!
Why they need a 3 hour break from such hectic traffic is beyond me.
Customers affected by the lack of availability should be making these points to the IAA.
Regards,
DFC