ATC Clarification
My information was slightly incorrect last night. Nobody was sick. Each controller has a licence. Each separate rating (e.g. Cork tower, Shannon approach, Dublin tower etc) is a separate entry with separate date of expiry. Cork is so short staffed that each week a different controller from Dublin is sent down to cover the roster. When one of these controllers arrived down yesterday, s/he discovered that his/her rating had lapsed. Nobody was willing to come in to cover this staff shortfall. Hence, for safety reasons the IAA closed Cork airport for the duration of the night duty. No management have ATC ratings. Cork opened again when the day duty arrived at 8am. Dublin, Shannon and Cork are all heavily understaffed. IAA have not employed any controllers since 2004. They have issued lie after lie on their press releases. IMPACT only now responding in kind but probably too little too late. IAA claim that their ATC organisation is not "reliant upon overtime" yet over the last few weeks all 3 stations have had minor and major closures. And Tom, it is not being done deliberately as the IAA might make out, and it definitely isnt being done only at Cork. Hope I have clarified things. There is a longer thread in the ATC section.