Having worked outside NATS (as an ATCO) for 3 years before joining NATS through the fabled Experience Controller recruitment (quite a feat I hasten to add, having seen how inept NATS HR truly are), I have found that the people who whinge the loudest about how bad NATS actually is are the people who have only ever worked for NATS.
I always say to people who moan about how grim days are with NATS to go and experience life away from NATS. They'll soon be knocking on the door begging for their job back.
There's no doubt that
some aspects of working for NATS have gone downhill in the last few years.
But they are still far and away the best company, in the UK at least, to work for.
The last outfit I worked at expected you to come in on your third day off of the cycle once a month.
Payrise every year was 2% without fail.
No protection for Loss of Licence.
No extra payments for OJTI.
No extra payments for shift work.
No early-go's (which do still happen in NATS despite people's claims to the contrary, even at Swanwick).
Working 2 hours on 30mins off, even on the busiest Summer days.
No extra payments for overtime, you just took your day off at another time.
No TOIL.
NATS aren't perfect for sure, but they are definately one of the best ATCO employers in the UK. And from reading other threads on here about the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and the US I would suggest that they are one of the better employers of ATCOs in the world as well.
