BDiONU said.....
Since the Heathrow debacle
What debacle? Every controller was provided with a minimum of 56 hours hands-on EFPS training, most of which was in a 360-degree tower simulator (btw, we moved to a new control tower on the same day as commencing EFPS operations). Whilst the transition date was put back a few months to April 2007, this was primarily to facilitate entire watch shadowing sessions in the New VCR, and the new date actually ended up being a better transition time for the airlines. In the end, all 55 controllers completed the training satisfactorily, some of them receiving
extensive additional simulation time and support (believe me, I should know
!).
The New VCR opened with EFPS, and the flow restrictions that were put in place were lifted within hours in some cases. I wouldn't call that a debacle, I'd call it a kick-ass training plan led by a crew of instructors who had the balls to stand-up to Exec-level management and run the transition in a way that made it easier for the ATCOs to operate the equipment.
Believe me, the ATCOs have the power. If you don't think it's fit-for-purpose, only
you can persuade your management. LHR had many, many issues with EFPS throughout the 18-months of training, and had it not been for the fact that LHR ATCOs are by their very nature mouthy gits, the EFPS user group would have shoved their off-the-shelf version straight into operation. Your EFPS working group (I trust you have one) should be working through every one of the concerns that you have, carrying out a full hazard analysis on each one, and coming up with strong mitigations. If one of these mitigations proves to be a reduction in capacity, your management will soon sit up and listen.