MEDIA TYPES: this ongoing excuse of "not having a staffing plan" when TFN arrived 3 years ago is wearing thin.
How much time would it take to look at employee records and just graph the age profile? 3 years ago, there were 1000 ATC'ers - give or take - any clerk could have gotten a rough outline of just the age profile in less than a week.
Then all they had to do was remember that in 2005:
i) most aged late 40's are allowed to access their superannuation at 50,
ii) late 30's/early 40's are allowed to access their super at 55
etc.
without even having to ask individual intentions/personal circumstance, a rough outline of staffing requirements due retirement could have been formed quickly and with little effort. It's not a black art - it's basic maths.
being aware/reminded that the recruitment and selection process typically takes 12 months, and training at the college another 12 months [with pass rates ranging from 50% to 75% or original intake], then a further 6 months to initial endorsment, and up to 5 years to become a full performance controller should have helped them realise they were potentially already behind the eight ball.
and we told them they were at the staff meetings in 2005.
Obviously our concerns were not taken seriously. But to take 107 controllers away from separating traffic at the end of 2007, with no surge in recruitment...... well, by then, TFN had 2 years in the organisation to realise it really does take 2 to 2+1/2 years to get replacements....
there is just no way TFN could have been ignorant of this potential situation. And not to fix in 3 years - well there's a word for that, starting with N, but I don't want to get done for libel.
but I guess it's sooooo much easier to try and blame (or create) "renegade controllers" for the current "service interruptions"