AirNav Ireland mood check

[MaintainVFR]

Hi all,

As some of us Student Controller Programme applicants are in the closing stages of the recruitment process, I would like to ask for some insights into the life at AirNav post spin-off. All I could find around here were older topics from around ~2013 when the mood was generally down and overtimes, understaffing, worsening conditions for new entrants etc. were discussed a lot. Now that a 'new ANSP' has been established, how is the general environment, morale? Does the IAA/ANI separation lead to any perceivable changes in the day-to-day? Also I'd appreciate some details around how the roster patterns work for ATCOs at the moment, vacations, etc, or anything you think would be good to know for those considering the SCP offers.

Thanks!
S.

[JSR44]

Morale is extremely low. The split did nothing except get a load of managers promoted. There are queues of people waiting to leave.

All units are massively understaffed and management refuse to take meaningful action to stem the flow of retirements and resignations. Result is fatigue and horrible rosters especially in Dublin. There is mandatory overtime which is a huge sticking point with staff and HR refuse to negotiate the scheme. The union went looking for a cost of living wage increase recently and the company came back with an absolutely laughable counter offer. Probably one of the lowest wage increases of any ANSP in Europe despite Ireland having the highest cost of living in the EU. It's also impossible to find accommodation and there are no allowances or resettlement costs covered. The company makes massive profits every year but sees fit to pay the student controllers an "allowance" of only €300 a week, which is disgraceful when you consider what students in other ANSPs are getting. There's a general feeling that management hate the operations staff and wouldn't spend a penny if it meant the ordinary staff would benefit.

Saying all that, they do occasionally give us free pizza once every couple of months if you're lucky to be on shift that day. :bored:

[confused atco]

Da mhead a athriaionn rudai, is ea is mo a fhanann siad mar an gceanna

[bettercallsaul]

Maybe the best you can do is get in, get the licence, then do your time and leave to a better place... Or if you speak grerman, french, ducth etc look for other options.