Charly-Viktor – ref your post, no offence taken. Hope answers helped.
Punchespilot – was not on duty. Have a brief outline of what transpired. All this is best directed to our Safety Manager at OTBD ATSU.
AS there is still a ‘haze’ of sorts out there ref Doha status…based on current Bahrain AIP information and only current Bahrain AIP info, Bahrain is the governing Area/En-route (UIR) FIR, with Doha as a subservient Approach Control (Radar)unit. Yes Doha has its own sovereignty and airspace…it currently does not have its own FIR…that is Bahrain’s. Nothing watershed here at all…all this is available in Bahrain AIP and has been for well over 20yrs now. Doha Approach Control and Aerodrome Control are executed from Doha.
Ref the contracts at Doha; - As stated previously, what has and still amazes me, is the frivolous abandon with which important documents are often reviewed. Again, by this I am referring to our over analytical, near ‘anal’ approach to contracts that bind us financially…in particular HP agreements relating to Vehicles etc, etc…or even mortgages…How often haven’t I heard the following mouthed off by some of my colleagues over the years in my career..;-“…and I got that in writing!!, in BLACK and WHITE..yeah…let them just try and pull a fast one now…!!” , Or “….I am covered, I insisted they put XX, and BB, and CC in the contract….insisted on that,… or said I was going elsewhere….and they did!!”, Or “…don’t accept that!!, they are obliged to, it is part of the blah blah wakka-wakka fishpaste Act…. etc, etc….insist that they put that in BLACK and WHITE in the contract so they cannot renege at a later stage….!! - …And that is what I have seen as what one can only term a perceived discerning no nonsense approach to our intricate understanding of contracts, contracts as basic as your average garden variety HP or the like!!! Yes, we certainly are no pushovers when it comes to understanding and reviewing contracts.
Yet, when it comes to THE most important contract of our lives…the one that governs our actual livelihood/income/survival…describe it as you wish…for some reason we turn into Homer Simpson and suffer innumerable ‘Doh’ moments down the line when we react angrily to what we perceive to be withheld and important and yet DID NOT insist it be negotiated into the contract!!
Yet the reality of the situation is more often than not, the issue causing all the anger and frustration is something that was mentioned over the phone or as a possibility in an e-mail accompanying a job offer (Contract)!! Again,…this does not mean that, that particular issue/requirement will not be forthcoming…on the contrary, it normally HAS been forthcoming…well, in my experience anyway.
Remember, and there is no scientific insight required here…or intense holistic knowledge of how contracts work…a simple, but extremely accurate rule of thumb is this;- If it IS in the contract you WILL get it!! I also suggest you review the Qatari Labour Law as well. It is available through any search engine online without charge and is regularly updated.
On the operational front, the national airline of Qatar is expanding at a phenomenal rate; as a consequence the peninsula of Qatar is now firmly ‘on-the-map’ – so International recognition, which has many faces and forms, is growing at an alarming rate.
This said, naturally the challenges facing any controller working at Doha, be it Aerodrome or Appraoch are at times ‘everest’ like. This steep learning curve for most is what is slowly, but surely evolving the Doha controller into someone unique…in particular when it comes to Multi-Tasking skills!! To this day, I am never at a loss of pride in witnessing what individuals are capable of…irrespective of age, sex or nationality. This is naturally bias, and as such will understand any recriminations…however, what I have seen elsewhere and what I see at Doha, ….makes me very proud of my colleagues and their day-to-day achievements!!