Wow, some egos here!
However, those same egos are what the management of every air traffic control centre relies upon. If the ATCOs don't believe that they are the best in the world at your centre/unit, then something is wrong.
For that reason I write this post with my real name; I have worked as an ATCO in London TMA, London Area, and Maastricht UAC, and I can indeed confirm that each unit has the best air traffic controllers in the world!
What I cannot accept though, is the allusion that Eurocontrol PRU somehow colludes with Maastricht UAC to either create sympathetic indicators, or perhaps even to plain cheat on the statistics. Please take the time and the effort to educate yourself in respect to the rigour and the fierce independence with which the PRU exercises in terms of data gathering, performance management and reporting. I will even give you the link;
EUROCONTROL - Welcome to the Performance Review Commission (PRC)
Then please read further, and learn from the PRU ACE (benchmarking report), that Maastricht UAC airspace is in fact one of the most complex regions of airspace in Europe. At the same time Maastricht UAC is the 2nd biggest ATC centre (by traffic volume), by far the most productive, and approximately half the cost of the next nearest ANSPs in the core region (say NATS for example), and up to one quarter of the price of some neighbouring ANSPs.
Yet Maastricht UAC manages to achieve these results with an excellent safety record, very satisfied customers, and contented staff. How does this happen? Is this because we have the best ATCOs, or more generally the best staff in the world??
If anybody is genuinely interested in answering this question, I would like you to accept my invitation to visit us here at Maastricht UAC, where you can perhaps understand first-hand why we perform as we do. Please message me, or reply to
[email protected]
and I will arrange individual/group visits with 'access all areas' at Maastricht UAC.
Best regards
Robin Hickson
Operations Management Team
Maastricht UAC