Striker - that sentence does not imply I believe we have a god given right at all, simply that as reasonable people we are entitled to a reasonable response to a request. That is right and proper and respectful! If you can't see that and apply that automatically throughout your day then I am afraid you have a problem........ I consider that to be an integral part of being professional.
Controllers don’t have to give you an explanation or an excuse that you consider “palpable”.
See above!
It seems to me that some controllers are using this thread to get some more general stuff off their chests and the thread is drifting into an "us" and "them" situation.
1985 - I don't ask for directs more than once, I don't ask for anything unreasonable and if a request is rejected when I know its down to some purile "action" then yes I would like to tease that out of the controller. I don't usually ask for reasons why not but this situation is very frustrating for those of us operating throughout Spain. Are you really not able to see that?
As for preferring them NOT to go on strike - I'd far rather they did! That way, we simply don't fly, the wastage doesn't occur and we don't get wound up when we are supposed to be working together as a TEAM.
Finally, we can all play the game. Yes we can all request headings for non existant weather, opposite runways for performance reasons etc etc. Who wins? No-one that's who.
If you think companies leaning on AENA will get them to change their decisions then you better think again. The spanish don't like being bullied. I guess nobody does but the controllers in Spain mostly come from the same gene pool as the management so they won't bend to pressure IMHO.
No, this is a futile situation which can only serve to frustrate all who come into contact with it who choose to their job to a high standard.