I can't believe I missed this post !
Standard Noise ... Your arrogance is staggering !
Talk about in need of attitude adjustment !
As one of the Airline Ops / ATC w@nker and halfwits ( quotes from Standard Noise !
) slated by the above buffoon, please allow me to put forward our case ...
If we get a call from our handling agent saying that a flight will not make his slot due to pax / baggage discrepancies, a/c tech issues etc etc, then for obvious reasons, we will delay the FPL.
SN - I'd put money on the fact that even though you may be able to see the a/c with your all-knowing beedy little eyes - could you have told me that three pax are missing, the boarding cards don't tally. or the bloody a/c itself has a snag ???? No .. didn't think so !
On the other hand, you may be chatting to the crew over R/T, and he may ask you for some tolerance on the slot. Even though you've probably given him more slack than you should, if you end up delaying the FPL yourself, because the crew can't be arsed to call their own ops dept ... do you take into account the en-route restrictions and traffic counts etc etc ? Or do you just blindly amend the EOBT ? By doing this you may increase the workload on overloaded sectors, as opposed to end up with a horrendous slot. Done with good faith I appreciate, but without thought to the possible consequences.
We, whilst not perfect by any means, obviously and agreeably have no perfect idea of the current traffic situation at the dep airport itself, and how this will affect you. And to be honest, all we will do is try and amend the EOBT to a) reality as to what the a/c can achieve, and b) on a route that will hopefully avoid the most penalising regs. As long as the slot fits the EOBT, then job done. If you need more taxying time due to local circumstances, then surely you should contact BRU to have the taxi-time amended by the Central Computer that issues the slots in the first place !!
As NoSig mentions, most Airline Ops have RCA access. and will probably receive the new CTOT and communicate it to the crew before you can.
Now in the case mentioned by No Delay, the crew may well have told their ops team that they can't make the CTOT, Ops have delayed the FPL, whereas ATC have kindly found a gap for him. Result though, a delay with the new CTOT. The cause ? Certainly NOT the local ATC unit, or the Airline Ops, because the crew told ops they couldn't make it, and ATC wanted to help in getting them away. Did the crew mention that had spoken to Ops ? Probably not ! In this case the fault lies unfortunately with the crew.
We find crews will ask anyone to help them improve their CTOT, and don't realise that we ( ATC and Ops ) are probably going to be delaying the same plan !
We'll also often find that the EOBT is amended without our knowledge by the local ATC. Why ? Same reasons as above. It's easier for the crews to call ATC on the R/T than Ops on the mobile or via ACARS. Then if they get hammered, you're also likely to get the same intolerance because of the new delay. This is crew laziness and ignorance ! Nothing more or less. We are often reminding crews to call us first if they need a CTOT/EOBT amendment, before speaking to ATC. That way we can give them an idea of what the tactical situation is should they delay on the same route.
If this particular crew blamed ATC, then that's arrogance on their part. And if the Ops Mngr did the same, then ditto IMHO !
Luckily, my dealings with London FMP and most local units ( apart from MAD !! ) have been more than helpfull.
SN, fair point about incorrect types on FPLs etc. One airline that subbed for us recently seem to fit that profile perfectly unfortunately. As said before, ops aren't perfect.
However, most majors these days ( incl the much maligned LCAs ) spend a lot of time and money on developing their own ATC Cells. These guys are H24 dedicated to improving the slot management, ATC co-ord and route efficiency of the overall operation.