Airways Prima-Donnas

[Yankee_Doodle_Floppy_Disk]

Saw Ashley's Parting shot in the CANSO magazine.

Just wondering.

Who was the "Prominent Kiwi ATCO"?

Or did Ashley just make that up?

[zkjaws]

That comment has probably undone all the work he put into repairing the damage to employee/management relationships caused by the 95/96 war.

Not to mention strengthening the opinion of those who never trusted him.

It has changed my opinion of the man.

[mrfancypants]

Is there an online copy available?

[Tarq57]

Airspace 13 (http://issuu.com/canso/docs/airspace_13?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true)

Try that.
[Edit] Mouse over then click on pages 14 and 15. Click to zoom.

[ferris]

So he is pissed off that the job requires skill/talent, and that costs money. He sees the role of the CEO as dumbing-down the job so they don't have to pay the "prima donnas". What a fab mindset in a manager.

[Tarq57]

I think the dumbing-down of the job started some time ago, and it's not too hard to see the progression, if "progression" is the correct word to use.

[pogmothoin]

Crikey!!:}

[songbird29]

The funniest thing is, there is always an engineering/software company ready to sell guys like this their dream....

And what to think in this respect of the European Union's involvement in ATC, not hindered by any knowledge, and their pushing for FAB's and other items on their SESAR wishlist?

[ATC Watcher]

Having said that we need to reduce the bargaining power
of the unions.[...]. Controllers will
intervene only in the event of emergencies.

The CANSO new stategy apparently. read the CANSO DG ( G.Lake) blog/healines on the German controllers.

I always thought this was wishful thinking and kind of , shall I say "envy" or " jealousy" over our working conditions. But indeed what the"prominent Kiwi ATCO " said , certainly not diplomatically, is very true nevertheless.

The shortage of qualified controllers worldwide and the over-specialisation of our job makes us unique, so they have to pay. They hate that and hope automation will make ATC less " human" |dependant and they can reduce their costs = our salaries in the future.
They expected that to happen in the 90's but you can still move today more aeroplanes using controllers and a radar than with automated technology. But one day ( somewhere between 2030 and 50 if you ask me ) it will come.
Airbus and Boeing are separately looking into ATM. Airbus just aquired Metron a few days ago. I know some people in Airbus who are looking into autonomous aircraft for some time. An autonomous aircraft does not need ground based ATC to fly.

This is perhaps what Ashley was referring to. But not in his and my lifetime.

Well there still will be VFR to keep us busy !:E

[1Charlie]

Certainly something I wasn't expecting to hear from Ashley, egos aside however, I think we could all admit there is truth in some of his comments. Whats not surprising is how he waited until leaving before airing this laundry! Hopefully his days of negotiation with over paid prima donnas are gone at the helm of the sinking ship that is NZ Post.

'Automated systems' sound like a great idea don't they. "Controllers will only intervene in emergencies."
The poor, uncurrent controller that has to take over a hairy situation when the computer drops the ball! Then most likely shoulder the blame.

[FLSV]

Maybe automated managementsystems would be a better thing and more likely to happen in our lifetime. It would save the business tons of money! :p

There are many other types of occupations were you need specific skills and talents and no one complains that they are paid well! Software programmers, CEO;s, doctors, football players, singers, stock trader and so on! They all have a unique talent and should be paid well for that.
In my country management at HQ has always been jealous when it comes to talking about money but I think they won’t stand in line to share the blame if I make a mistake when I do my job! They will never understand the responsibility that comes with our kind of work! NEVER! :mad:
We, ourselves, sometimes forget this responsibility, it would be impossible to work if you think about it all the time. But when you do think about it, I have no problem understanding that I should be paid well for it! :)