Questions for UK ATCOs

[Proceed As Cleared]

Fellow ATCOs from the UK,

There's been a lot of talking concerning privatisation of a part of NATS controlled airspace.
Just for a better understanding:

What type of privatisation is planned to be established? New public management (NPM), meaning the government is holding the majority of the shares?
Or would it be run by some investors?
And what are your major fears in respect of the consequences, such as salary, working conditions, equipment?

I'm employed by an ATC company, which has been privatised 4 years ago under the NPM scheme, with the government holding 99 per cent of the shares.
The company is financially self responsible, no loss coverage by the government.
We've made profit every year since (not too difficult in Europe though nowadays) and therefore got paid an additional bonus.
Nevertheless we're suffering from a severe staff shortage, the roster being extremely tight.

Thanks

PAC

[form49]

PAC,
The proposed Public Private Partnership (PPP) will consist of the government owning 49% of NATS, a "strategic partner" owning 46% and the remaining 5% will be divided amongst NATS staff.
The implications of such a system are obvious and are well documented in the worldwide press, as are the views of the ATCO's (see the relevant postings)
Needless to say, the potential for a major conflict between ourselves and the government is there and WILL happen if things don't change.

It's all well and good making money and getting bonuses, but I (and this is only my opinion) would rather be well paid for the doing the job within the parameters laid out by the relevat authority, knowing that by following the procedures everything that I do is SAFE, and not think about cutting corners to push more traffic, causing problems down the line for my (already overworked) colleagues in area control, just for the sake of a few extra pounds in my pay packet at the end of the month.

Where do you work? Are the staff shortages as a result of the system you now work under?


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Turn left heading 230, close from the left, report established

[Proceed As Cleared]

form49,

Thanks for this info.
I'm working in Zurich ACC, and believe me, we are CERTAINLY NOT working less safe or too expeditious, just to get a nice bonus at the end of the year!
Tfc amount just increases, doesn't it? We've had average 13 per cent more tfc so far (main streams Turkey/Greece to UK, Germany to south/southwest) and we are nevertheless very strict with the airlines complying with the slot allocation procedures.
The bonus we get, BTW, is just nice to have, the company is not obliged to pay us any.
Mentioning, that we get one, I didn't mean to show it off, it was just to explain how it works with us.

The staff shortage, well, there's only one thing to say about that: bad planning by the company (what's new!)!

[daft fader]

most of us are opposed to these proposals because they are not necessary for the future of atc in the uk. All that is needed is some method of securing finance for investment without the government needing to increase its public sector borrowing requirement. Instead of choosing one of two simple methods of doing this, the UK Government has strangely chosen what one of its committees has described "the worst possible option". We are also concerned about the future of our pension fund and for conditions of employment.