How about just having the correct number of people employed? You pretend your argument is to force an end to AAVA by making it prohibitively expensive, however it's pretty obvious it's just bigger pound signs you're seeing... Stop the AAVAs and stop letting them get away with not staffing correctly.
I agree. NATS are saving millions by not employing the correct number of staff. My sector is 6 down across the unit. 6 x salary, pension and NI contributions must be a saving of nearly a million a year, not to mention the saving in college and training costs.
An increase in the AAVA rate would be another step towards the situation our Spanish colleagues found themselves in.