The Happiest ATC unit.............

[Jerricho]

MACC aren't happy. TC in London are being stuffed around with a relocation date. Swanwick are never happy (:E) The Ozmates in Brisbane and Melbourne have just been put through the NAS rollback. Vancouver Centre have moved to a lovely piece of real estate. People getting moved about and stuffed around.

Who are the happiest worker bees out there? There's got to be someone.

[HAMMY]

TC Heathrow for the last 11 months!!!!!!

[Jerricho]

You've managed to get some more staff then Hammy?!

[Vlad the Impaler]

Surely he means because of the one that they lost................
went to canada apparently

[atcea.com]

San Juan CERAP gets a vote:
1) We live and work in the Caribbean
2) Traffic is challenging but nowhere near overwhelming
3) We make enough to have all the necessities (jet ski, motorcycle, nice car) as well as a few luxuries
4) The people who work here enjoy what they're doing and are not clamoring to leave
5) Management is . . . outnumbered
6) Have you seen Puerto Rican women
:D

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<Have you seen Puerto Rican women>>

Not the ones that sit on two chairs, surely?

As to the happiest ATC Unit... happiness is in the eye of the beholder, or something. I spent 21+ years at Heathrow when the ATC unit was combined TWR/APC and many of those I worked with were extremely happy and we had a real ball. But there were also those who never stopped whingeing about something.... said they hated the place... etc., etc. I thought it was magic, only spoiled for me when the unit was split and half moved to West Drayton Open Prison!

C'est la vie..

[Gonzo]

I'm with HD.

I wouldn't want to work anywhere else. Happiness is what you make it.

[vintage ATCO]

I'm happy. It's everyone else . . . . :p

[ATC Watcher]

From all the ones I visited, I would say LFMM ( Aix en provence ) First . ( compare the days worked, the hours, the sunshine, the strengh of the Unions, the number of controllers versus number of aircraft, and the landscape .. And the new ACC , in a park right in the middle of the city, with the windows viewing the lavande hills....
Women, food and local wine are extra....
Only drawbacks : cost of living and too many British tourists.....
;)

[Minesapint]

I am happiest at Swanwick. The CTC (call centre) just down the road is to me the most dismal place on earth. Its full of career path 'suits' that have yet to realise that they don't have a chance. People sit in rows and you can taste the politics. Ok, I admit it, I would much rather go to Prestwick and move than be transferred to the CTC.:cool:

[Avman]

With a 15% cut in income expected in 2005, it's certainly not the boys and girls at Maastricht :mad:

[zed3]

Don't forget the 'management' attitude on top of that , Avman . Come the revolution !

[Scott Voigt]

ZFW is a great place... Good folks, management is way outnumbered and we don't pay them much attention anyway <G>... It's been varying between 13c and 22c for the last month. Looks like we are going to get back to about 17 to 18c for the rest of the week. Not bad in the middle of winter <G>...

regards

Scott

[West Coast]

KSAN.

Have you seen the view from their office? Plus its San Diego.
13C, crap that's cold. Have to wear shoes instead of flip flops with my shorts.

The ZFW guys who work 120.77 are always pissy.

[LXGB]

Surely any Serco unit anywhere! ;)

LXGB
:ok:

[Minesapint]

Any SERCO units, are there any left! :yuk: :ok:

[African Queen]

Surely any Serco unit anywhere!


Al Ain isn't so bad ...... for a SERCO unit:zzz: :confused:

[Fly Through]

Hey AQ,
You got that radar turning & burning yet? Used to scale out the radar from DXB just to remind myself what fun I was missing!!! DXB deserves a vote, only ****ty temperatures for 2 months a year, the rest of the time........just perfect. Oh ....yeh......work was crap but the lifestyle was greeaaaat!!!!

Rgds
A homesick controller

[letMfly]

I can't comment on DXB nowadays, but it was the happiest ATC unit that I ever worked at when I was there in the eighties.

It's difficult to explain why it was such a happy unit. It was busy (especially when the Dubai Air Wing was still based there) and manned by only seventeen ATCOs working a 5 Watch roster. That meant nine hour shifts without a break but everyone looked on it as normal.

The ATC management was superb - the SATCO, Jim Sawyer (who looked and sounded more like an East End boxer) interfered as little as possible with the operation and was regarded almost as a father figure; his deputy, Larry Matthews was a real one of the lads. Both of them chipped in at the coal face when necessary and were excellent members of the team. Between them they also successfully managed the introduction of SSR, SMR and oversaw the complete refurbishment of the ops rooms (this included replacing the baby-alarm intercom between ADC and APR!).

Other factors which added to the feelgood factor - there was no LCE system, no SRG, no OJTI courses or OJTI checking (everybody just got on with it!). In short we were all treated like big boys (no girls out there in those days) and allowed to get on with the job with no officialdom bearing down on us.

The downside was that new ATCOs were only given a couple of months to prove themselves worthy or they were out. On second thoughts maybe that wasn't a bad system - in the four years that I was there, I can honestly say that I cannot remember any ATC incident (unlike some other units that seem to have them every other week).

The social life out there was excellent - BBQs, deep sea fishing, wadi- bashing etc. and IAL (now SERCo) was a good company to work for with good benefits (but not now I believe).

To sum up it was a great experience at an excellent unit.

PS The second happiest unit that I have worked at was Abu Dhabi

:cool:

letMfly

[ILS 119.5]

Have heard LBA could be one of the most miserable units to work at. This is due to bad management. The teamwork (which is supposed to be paramount in ATC) is not there anymore. This is due to a "them and us" attitude. The unit is run as a military unit because of the management being ex service personnel who cannot adapt to civilian life. From what I can gather, if the ex mil management could be removed and run by civies then the unit would be far better.
Only what I have heard
Rgds

[ATC Watcher]

Sorry ILS, I thought the post was about the " happiest " not the worst, because if you start there , you ´ll open a pandora box the size of...:E

[Jerricho]

ILS, you're not playing the game :rolleyes:

[ILS 119.5]

Sorry, just trying to define the lower limit

[stillin1]

ILS 119.5
Blimey, you missed the mark again! Just cos yer buddy "tiddles" jumped before he was pushed and you failed to find him a job you really do have a downer on the place don't you?

Quote: "Only what I have heard". "Sorry, just trying to define the lower limit"
Regards:yuk:

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<The ATC management was superb - the SATCO, Jim Sawyer (who looked and sounded more like an East End boxer) interfered as little as possible with the operation and was regarded almost as a father figure; his deputy, Larry Matthews was a real one of the lads. Both of them chipped in at the coal face when necessary and were excellent members of the team. >>

Wow - brings back memories. Larry was on the same ATC primary course with me in 1966 and I met him in Cape Town a couple of years ago. Jim is well, living with Jean on the south coast of the UK in retirement. He was my Watch Sup at HLLT back in 1970 and when we saw him not long ago he was just the same as we remembered him. Great people....

[Lon More]

LetMFly Back in the 80s it was a different world and most of the units i visited then were good places to work in - at the risk of incurring flak - back in the 1960s even LATCC at Drayton wasn't too bad, if you didn't mind the views.

Too many "managers" these days, glad I'm out of it

Lon More, Here before Pontius was a Pilot or Mortus a Rigger

[letMfly]

<<Wow - brings back memories. Larry was on the same ATC primary course with me in 1966 and I met him in Cape Town a couple of years ago. Jim is well, living with Jean on the south coast of the UK in retirement. He was my Watch Sup at HLLT back in 1970 and when we saw him not long ago he was just the same as we remembered him. Great people....>>

Glad to have stirred some good memories HD.



Lon More Totally agree with you. In the 70s and 80s there was a lot of fun in ATC, consistent with safety of course. Nowadays the "dog eat dog" environment has removed the fun element and the net result - staff go long-term sick on a regular basis due to stress related illness. Never used to happen in the good old days!

[African Queen]

Yep, she's turnin' and burnin' alright....only problem is I heard it's not likely to be commisioned til mid 2006 :D :D :D (I hate radar)

[achtung]

Hey Avman, 15% paycut in Maastricht and let's not mention the germans eh?! up to their ole tricks again! ;)

[The Claw]

Surely any Serco unit anywhere!


LXGB are you on drugs :confused: :yuk:


Speak to ya soon:E

[Jerricho]

Now, my next question is..................

"Coldest ATC unit". ;)

[DirtyPierre]

Jerricho,

Your question should be....

Coldest Civilian ATC Unit?


I'm sure there are some military units above the Arctic Circle or in Antartica that are run by military ATC units, but the low pay and cool working conditions must make up for it.


Coldest civilian ATC unit?....Winterpeg would have to come close. We've got nothing in Oz to match that.

[ATC Watcher]

If you speak civilain unit I would say it it Longyearbyen (ENSB) in Swalbard ( Spitsbergen ) at 76 N . Been there, pretty cold in winter.
If you talk military I would vote for Thule AFB in Greenland.

Alert ( Elesmere Island ) is a bit further North than Thule, but I do not think they have an ATC unit as such there ( any Canadian friend can correct me of course)

[Jerricho]

No Dp, I meant THE COLDEST!!!!:rolleyes: Full stop.

What do they say? Misery loves company.

[Minesapint]

I would go for Thule. I rated it the coldest place on earth and that was in the 70's before global warming!:ooh:

[Gonzo]

How about some of the Antarctic research stations?

McMurdo? Although it's a bit warm at the moment being 3 degrees C.

Amundsen-Scott is minus 23 with a 70mph wind. Forecast to be minus 36 on Saturday. And it's summer! :p

[ATC Watcher]

I do not think Mc Murdo and Admussen-Scott have ATC units as such , but again any New Zealander ( or USAF) can confirm ?

So Thule AFB it is.

[Scott Voigt]

McMurdo actually does have an ICE runway and had a tower of sorts and GCA unit. In the past the Navy ran it with a sub unit from VXE-6. The Air Force took over last decade and I don't know who does it now. Used to work and fly with those folks. Talk about a bunch of nuts <G>...

regards

Scott

[justcoolen]

JERRICHO, very interesting. Reading these comments, I have realized that working with units that hate their job conditions, makes them the coldest "people" to work with. It my not be the temperature, but their attitudes would freeze the nuts off Dorothy's Tin Man. I won't specify, for risk of political reasons, but they know who they are.
Juniors are on top again, way to go boys!
And Jerricho, how is that -50 wind-chill treating you?

[Jerricho]

It sure makes you know you're alive. You coming for a visit? ;)

[Lock n' Load]

Here on the western edge of the prairies, the temperature shot up overnight to a balmy, positively tropical, -11 celcius! That's t-shirt weather! May take a chance and not even plug the car in today....
Still waiting for you to pop over for a beer or three, Jerricho! Be sure to stay over a Tuesday night - we need all the help we can get with the pub quiz.

:ok:

[Jerricho]

LnL, there's a trip planned over your way once all this white stuff is gone. So I guess I'll see you in July ;).

[Lock n' Load]

We expect the thaw in late May actually, so there! July is hailstorm season...
:hmm:

[HAMMY]

LnL,I'll think you'll find that Jerricho,pub quiz and help don't really go together.

[Jerricho]

You're up late Hammy. You wet the bed?

Unfortunately he's correct.

[Ops and Mops]

Maybe it was someone elses bed.......:E

[Lock n' Load]

But since the music questions will be about Men at Work, Crowded bleedin' 'Ouse and Midnight bloody Oil (the other half will be a mix of heavy 80s rock and C&W; welcome to Alberta), he might be handy!
As for the geography section, is there anywhere Jerricho hasn't been?

[Jerricho]

Fiji.

I think that will be next on the ATC world tour. ;)

[runtobarlu]

Coldest don't mean the coolest..if you follow my drift !!!

[Jerricho]

Coolest would have to be Tobago tower. That would be cool.

[Minesapint]

How about the busiest unit?

I start the bidding at 1.7 million.....:cool:


07th Jan - Year end figures from National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK's leading air traffic management provider, show that in 2004 it handled more flights than ever with fewer delays.

A total of 2,180,206 flights used UK airspace in 2004, a new annual record and an increase of 4.9 per cent on 2003. Figures show that in December 2004, NATS handled 165,045 flights, an increase of 5.3 per cent over the same period in 2003.

Despite rising traffic levels, service delivery showed significant improvement, with the average delay, per flight, attributable to NATS in 2004, falling to 25 seconds, compared to 44 seconds in 2003, a reduction of 43 per cent.

The number of flights that experienced delays attributable to NATS fell markedly. In 2004, 97.5 per cent of flights experienced no air traffic control delay, up from 95.2 per cent in 2003.

NATS Chief Executive, Paul Barron, said: "Despite record numbers of flights, NATS delivered its best performance in 2004 on record. To manage this level of traffic safely, and at the same time reducing delays, is a credit to everyone at NATS.”

The London Area Control Centre (LACC) at Swanwick, Hampshire, which handled over 1.7 million flights through 200,000 square miles of airspace above England and Wales, recorded its best performance ever in the latter part of 2004.

For a period of 24 consecutive days, between 27 November and 20 December, there were no delays to flights attributable to Swanwick and of the 133,000 flights handled in December, only 36 received a delay attributable to the centre.

[Spuds McKenzie]

Sorry to spoil your party, Minesapint, but "busy" is not only expressed in numbers of flights.
Being an ATCO, you should know, that size of airspace, amount of vertical movements and amount of time an acft is on the freq can increase (or decrease) the complexity exponentially.
Therefore big d*cks are not necessarily busier than small ones... :hmm:

[Minesapint]

Still rest my case. Take Clacton sector. The vast majority is climbig or tuther. Most of our traffic is not level for long. I do agree with what you say.

[Gonzo]

Can we close this thread now, before we get into the 'mine's busier than yours' and movements per staff figures are worked out?

[45south]

Quite right !

As we all know you can work your socks off with 2 a/c or watch the world go by with 10 in a sausage machine!;)

[Minesapint]

I was just trying to identify the busiest units. If people feel threatened then by all means close it. I work at Swanwick but the busiest places I have ever worked were Binbrook CAC at Lindholme and Valley tower. Way beyond Swanwick :cool:

[achtung]

Lux. sector Maastricht can be naughty.

[Tower Ranger]

Jerricho
I`d have thought Tobago TWR would be one of the warmest places to be when the Radar is turning and burning!! For those of you that haven`t seen it the VCR is built into the radar tsupport frame so that you are sitting right under the darn thing!!

[ATC Watcher]

Defining busy is not easy. If we agree on the number of a/c at a given time on the frequency divided by tthose the % of those on vertical or heading evolution, then some sectors at LATCC or Maastricht score very high indeed , but..
I worked in Maastricht with 25 + on the FQ and thought that was the max achievable, until I visited some US Towers ( Chicago, Atlanta or JFK on a friday afternnon was a mind opener I can tell you ) At least on those days ( 1990 ´s) they beated us Europeans a long way.... They also got relieved every 20 minutes.