OK Agreed we should be playing the ball not the man. However ASA are allegedly the "service" provider therefore I think the title is warranted. This rant is not about the girls and boys at the ATC desks but about the woeful state of the sysytem.
Get this. Out and about last night hear EK420 being given holding instructions "for the sequence" for the love of dog, he created the sequence when he left DXB 10+ hours earlier (and I bet his ETA didn't vary by more than a minute).
As for my own experience. Departed to allow us to arrive at PTL +/- a couple of minutes. RWY 21 WX Severe fine. and still coped 20 mins slow down. Just seems to be the norm.
If this is indicative of the competence of NOC/ASA..... Dog help and preserve us.
Think the pitiful infrastructure is worthy of another thread "standby for holding instructions"