As a controller I believe that Class C is much safer than Class E.
I do not understand what is gained with Class E and question the benefits of controlling IFR aircraft (which may include vectoring aircraft) yet have other unidentified aircraft with an unverified level that are not talking to ATS. The big sky theory will continue to work well until the day, which I hope does not come, 2 aircraft come together in Class E.
That said thanks Dick for highlighting the fact that the ATC system should be resourced and staffed with safety in mind. It is about time that CASA and Government instruct Airservices to fix it and increase ATC numbers.
Unfortunately as mentioned in another post Airservices does not seem to acknowledge that staffing numbers must be increased. There seems little hope especially according to the interview with Airservices CEO published in the December 2009 Australian Aviation. This article continues to maintain the position "that it now has enough staff, and that the bigger issue was not the number of controllers, but how they were deployed".
Seems nothing is going to change any time soon (I hope I am mistaken)
Last edited by twisties; 24th Nov 2009 at 10:44.