eglnyt
Unfortunately (or not) the basic recruitment tests are not really affected by age - they are designed to see if a subjects brain works in a particular way.
Whether the brain is good spatially or not etc is something that to a huge extent, is determined at birth. The tests are designed not to be finished in the time limit given - to add a bit of pressure (in part to check accuracy under duress), and because some of the tests could be done by anyne, given unlimited time.
The age part comes into play when you send someone to the college and they have to assimilate new information everyday - and apply it practically. This becomes even more of an issue at a unit.
NATS, quite rightly, tries to recruit people that can potentially validate at any of its units.
It is a known fact, not just in ATC but in any walk of life, that as age increases, the ability to learn new, complicated things decreases.
It is a very difficult thing to say exactly what age that starts to take effect. You can be more specific when you tie it to specific tasks, such as ATCO training for example, but the age will still vary from individual to individual.
So should NATS be forced to train people (and pay them whilst doing so), at extreme ages??
Do you know how long it takes to chop someone from live training in todays tree-hugging environment, even if it is 100% the correct course of action?
Do you think that if the individual in this report was employed by NATS, they would not take every issue that cropped up as ageism?
The UK is fast becoming a claim-culture like the USA. A cynic would say that some people actively go on the lookout for cases such as this to try to gain something for nothing.
If a 40, 50 or 60 year old ended up at the unit I work at, they would get exactly the same treatment - there would be no discrimination... if you're good enough, you're good enough. But NATS should have a policy in place - it is a safety orientated business first and foremost (for those who may forget the fact), and it has business interests (foisted on it by Labour), to take care of.