As a Muscat controller, I'm with those who say that our airspace and procedures are long overdue for a complete overhaul. We should have had a think tank established about 10 years ago to ensure that we're ahead of the game. As it is, I'm fairly suspicious that we won't be able to catch up with the growth in traffic anyway, so let's just rearrange the deckchairs and fiddle while the thing burns.
It's hard putting together a long sequence into Dubai, knowing full well that the UAE centre is going to be set up and not knowing when the call is going to come saying that no more traffic can be accepted and then having to set up ad hoc holding patterns on our side of the boundary.
That said, there's no excuse for the slanging going on here. Apart from a few prima donnas, most ATCOs are just trying to do their best. We are all under pressure and we all need to put ourselves in the other guy's shoes as much as we can. Spending some time at another unit is always a good way of seeing through anothers' eyes and personal relationships are great for softening some of the comms that go on. It's too easy to shout at someone you don't know.
We're a big team, guys and gals, regardless of where the ACC lines fall.
Take care out there
