In the uk 25 years ago, it used to be that as part of the atco training, each cadet that wished to could get a PPL. The thinking being that a controller that also flies has more knowledge and understanding of a pilots workload in different phases of flight and of the various pitfalls of defying gravity. over the years though this was at first reduced to 15 hours of flight so that one could get a glimpse of the same environment. also , BA did a great course where you got to see a large glimpse of their operations, all the way from the frontline check in staff , through a quick glimpse of the cabin crew training, including the smoke room, and on to the cockpit and even getting some time in on of their fantastic simulators. which i appreciated greatly. Now, in the big world of big business, it has been decided that this was an irrelevent expense that can no longer be justified. whether this has had a negative effect on the service provided?, only the customers could say, and they dont seem to have been complaining.Another thing that has changed is the training of atco's themselves. Back in the day a controller was trained and validated EACH discipline in their career. starting in the tower, then moving to approach , then finally to area. When i joined this had been streamlined a little, so that i did a tower course and got 6 weeks of live on the job training before the decision was made as to which discipline suited the company at the time... errr i mean which discpline i preferred
today the streamline process has been increased so that they decide which discipline a course is going to be right from the beginning. If that happens to be an area course , then the students there will do a foundation course, which amongst its many modules includes basic aerodynamics , nav, law , met etc., followed straight by an area course and will not even do a tower course.The aim seeming to be, to push as many suitable people through the college in the shortest amount of time. The point i am rambling to make is that the level of experience a trainee has at the end of the course is far less than it was 25 years ago, and from my experience, even basic things , such as aircraft recognition and performance are dependent on the trainees level of interest in aviation. I am not saying that you have to be the worlds biggest spotter to do this job, but a modicum of interest would at least help, and that the end product from the college takes longer to validate partly because of it. Now i know that this is a broad sweeping generalisation, and will be quite happy to be criticised if figures prove me wrong, but that is just my experience since the course has changed.
Another thing that changed was cockpit access. Again, in the past the idea was that a controller on his days off, or if he was flying away somewhere could have a quiet word with the cabin crew to see if the captain would accept a controller in the jumpseat. Once in the cockpit they could chat and discuss questions that each had, and suggest solutions to particular problems each had, but all on an unofficial level. Now , due to 9/11,security has rightly been tightened. fam flights are still available but to arrange them requires security checks and takes longer which has removed the ad hoc chance of a jumpseat chat.also , again big business has questioned the financial necessity of the scheme, and what financial benefits are gained by it.
The atco in the uk has changed, they have been specialised for their particular discipline from an early stage. WHen i validated i knew some things , but i had the vast experience of the older controllers who had done these various disciplines, to tap into if i came across something i didnt know, or hadnt seen before. today the number of those people is dwindling as they come up for retirement a resource that will be sadly lost.
come back hd nearly all is forgiven!
well my psychiatric nurse has arrived to take me back to the padded cell. hope this helps some
