Spanish ATC

[flameproof]

A few observations and comments

I have been following the whole situation closely, and monitoring ATC frequencies since Friday afternoon, so I have some observations, and some theories. First, the observations:

1. ATC has been completely arrogant during the whole issue - they simply referred pilots who asked what was going on to a NOTAM. If a pilot complained too much, the controller said he would file a report.

2. For some reason (controllers say it was to maintain safety, I have another theory) one or two controllers stayed in place, either FIR and TWR or TWR alone, with ALL frequencies bandboxed to the single controller.

3. As the FIR controller had to keep at least one sector open to justify his presence, some dispatchers were able to guess an outbound route that could be accepted. The clearance controller... well, THE controller would cancel and reject all flight plans, until a German Wings flight managed to find out that plans going out via OKABI were being accepted. Three flights (two German Wings) managed to get out of Barcelona, until someone told the controller to stop accepting plans even those filed via OKABI.

4. There were two NOTAMS released on the issue, the last one closing the three FIRs due to "lack of ATC", no further info given, out early in the morning, and had an EST up to 12:00h. Eurocontrol was at the same time pushing out AIMs stating FIRs closed until 18:00. There was no other NOTAM out of LEAN during the whole day, only the ones in effect were cancelled when the controllers went back to work, forced by them being placed under military orders.

5. When they went back to work, TMA controllers would deny ALL requests for direct routes or shortcuts, the standard answer to pilots was "There is a procedure, and I cannot deviate from it". With few aircraft around, there was no reason for not allowing things to move along quicker, considering the circumstances.

Now the theories & opinions:

1. Few controllers remained in place not out of safety, but so that the government couldn't claim they acted unsafely and completely abandoned their duties.

2. The controllers were actively disturbing operations, as instead of simply saying: "If you want to get out via France, file via OKABI", they just denied plans and kept operations guessing.

3. When operations resumed, you could feel tension in the voices of the controllers, but not to the point of a female controller that went on TV crying saying that she was the one in best shape inside the center, and that they were working at gunpoint. The military & police simply told the controllers to get back to work or face disciplinary action under military law, which is basically an arrest, and could end up with up to eight years in prison. No guns were drawn whatsoever, the controllers simply chickened out when faced with prison time.

4. The controllers could have done the same after the long weekend holiday (Saturday to Wednesday inclusive), and they would have saved face in front of the public eg. "we held out for the people". Instead, they have turned the public almost 100% against them.

5. There has been close to zero hiring in the ATC sector in Spain for the last few years, some say it is due to pressures from controllers wanting to keep earning huge sums in overtime, and others that the government doesn't want more controllers. The maximum salary of a UK ATCO is some 110k€, whereas the average in Spain is 330k€. With the amount paid in overtime, the government could pay tons of extra controllers, so applying Occam's Razor, it would seem logical to assume the controllers don't want to lose their huge salaries.

It has all been very sad, from both sides acting like children in a playground, I just hope it is all resolved quickly and as painlessly as possible.