Madrid FDP System

[Ayr_Man]

No one seems to be willing to release any info on the Madrid system folks ----knowledge is power and all that! ------ however I have managed to gather some info on this wonderful new FDP system from the gossip network either first or second hand.

From an ATCO "wearing rose tinted specs" point of view it would appear to be the best thing since sliced bread. The Madrid guys sit there getting paid 100K pa totally unstressed, smoking and drinking coffee whilst pugged in. The supervisers do a 24hr shift followed by 1 week off--who needs early go's? and they retire age 50! The system is used at the ATC college with real time 3D simulation and throughout major airports/centres in Spain, and, wait for it, it doesn't break down . Sounds ideal eh!

Now ,back on planet Earth where SRG , NATS ,and even President Blair's gov. might be interested, here are some realistic facts.

It takes three ATCO'S to operate the system and man each sector - - no early go's here guys, and think of the cost !
There are no ATSA'S, they are the "third ATCO"
It does break down, but only a little bit ,and then only for a short while.

:cool: ASTA LAVISTA BABY

[Arran's view]

Ayr man. Probably the reason there is so little information is because it has not yet been evaluated. If you want to know more then ask the union reps or managers who have been out to see the system.

From people I have spoken to it appears the system is not just an FDP system but we are talking about a whole ATC system... radar processing, phones, displays as well as FDP.

The manning was observed as identical to current Scottish ops. Single man when quiet then double and during peak periods a co-ordinator. So no extra cost in staff there.

Maybe the real facts will be clear after the simulations next year. Get you name down now and learn to drink coffee and dream what you could do with 100k per year in Spain ! :D

[Flight Plan Fixer]

Great point!

The boss of NATS FDP is out there checking it out as we speak....rumour has it that NATS will have a joint UK/Spanish/German FDP system whenever in the next ten years.

Give or take.