Dear Dick,
"Re Flight Service I did change the system so that FSO's were like FSO's in the rest of the world ie providing an ICAO type flight information service. Our FSO's were providing an en -route traffic information service as if they were some type of lower paid and lower skilled ATC."
I DON'T THINK SO.................
I NEVER thought of myself or my job - service to the industry - as some form of a lower skilled ATC.
I DID think of myself as a professional FSO providing a much needed communications and flight information service to aircraft, large and small, operating OUTSIDE CTA, arriving and departing from AD's NOT in CTA, and to those INTERNATIONAL aircraft on long range international routes - particularly those over the oceans of the world.
Not to mention the all important SAR alerting and plain old HELP! More often than not, on HF.
(Most accidents occurred OCTA i.e. on the ground below the CTA ...)
We all understand the leaps in technology - sat. VHF links vs the 'old' HF etc - but, the 'system' as it is now, is, in my opinion, rather deficient in both services and safety margins.
Without the required numbers of STAFF - be it ATC or your 'dreaded' FSO's -
the 'system' is diminished severely.
The correct BALANCE of STAFF of all diverse qualifications to provide the diversity of services required - each well qualified in their own right, and using the proper tools available - e.g. what's wrong with a group of STAFF utilising RADAR to provide a 'different' service to those acft outside CTA, and thus being able to perhaps prevent some of those unfortunate occurrences you relate to on other forums??
Note - not a CONTROL function, but an ADVISORY, in flight information service.?
We did not know if conflicting IFR traffic were in IMC or VFR conditions - it was not necessary - we simply needed to know who was where in relation to each other....
Anyway, you know the rest of this story.........
Cheers to all,
