TFN did know about the staffing problems, he just had more important things to do ;
'When I came into this business two and a half years ago I was immediately confronted with a whole range of issues and you can’t always do everything at the same time. What we did in the first instance was to restructure the business and to work on our fundamental systems – our HR systems, our finance systems – which were in need of a great deal of work. At the same time though, I was very mindful of the fact that our air traffic controllers were telling me that there were shortages of staff.'
Azimuth 'Candid CEO Interview' Jan 2008