West Country ATCO recruitment question
aceatco, retired
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: one airshow or another
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And I can assure Gonzo that almost professional has no shortage of "when I was at Luton...." stories!!!
VA
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: SW UK
Age: 68
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Nice to see I've provoked a lively discussion, then...
As I said in the original post, this was purely for a bit of research and nothing else. With a number of retirements pending over the course of the next few years, it's always useful to know where the next bunch of ATCOs are likely to be coming from. From my viewpoint, I've never said that I only want to recruit ex-NATS ATCOs. Had I done so, there would be a lot of empty seats...that said, I'm not in the game of putting bums on them just for the sake of it.
The experience issue is valid. Many of you who read this will be only too aware that in days past (?), some non-NATS regional airports ATSUs had a reputation (deserved or not) for being somewhat parochial: "We do it like that here, son, and that's the way you'll do it" etc etc. Many non-NATS regionals have a very static ATC workforce and that's not always an entirely good thing. I would suggest that with NATS, there is probably a healthy combination of experienced ATCOs and new starters at most units as ATCOs from other units get posted and newly-qualified Cadets are posted-in. At least, that's the way it looked to me when I worked for them.
The policy of recruiting/sponsoring internally from the ATSAs on my unit has been hugely succesful but does little to introduce additional experience of life/procedures/ideas/practices at other ATSUs. It's potentially very expensive too if you have a failure at college- or unit-validation stage and a limited training budget, not just in terms of money but also in time.
Having an operational input from someone from "outside", NATS on non-NATS, with relevant (and I make no excuses for using that term again) experience can make a very positive contribution to the way a unit runs and works, I believe. I come back to the word "relevant" again. Sure, if your total ATCO compliment is comprised of 40%, sponsored ex-ATSAs, you may be able to happily add a %-ageof ex-military controllers, a %-age with ex-GA-only backgrounds and a %-age with experience at an aircraft manufacturers ATSUs, for example. Wouldn't it be advantageous though, in an ideal world, to also add a sizeable number with comparable or busier civil, commercial airport backgrounds, to preserve some semblance of balance to the team?
Don't listen to rumours, either - many of our team will dish-the-dirt on me to your face, or on the phone! Thanks again to all who've been bothered to post. Much appreciated.
As I said in the original post, this was purely for a bit of research and nothing else. With a number of retirements pending over the course of the next few years, it's always useful to know where the next bunch of ATCOs are likely to be coming from. From my viewpoint, I've never said that I only want to recruit ex-NATS ATCOs. Had I done so, there would be a lot of empty seats...that said, I'm not in the game of putting bums on them just for the sake of it.
The experience issue is valid. Many of you who read this will be only too aware that in days past (?), some non-NATS regional airports ATSUs had a reputation (deserved or not) for being somewhat parochial: "We do it like that here, son, and that's the way you'll do it" etc etc. Many non-NATS regionals have a very static ATC workforce and that's not always an entirely good thing. I would suggest that with NATS, there is probably a healthy combination of experienced ATCOs and new starters at most units as ATCOs from other units get posted and newly-qualified Cadets are posted-in. At least, that's the way it looked to me when I worked for them.
The policy of recruiting/sponsoring internally from the ATSAs on my unit has been hugely succesful but does little to introduce additional experience of life/procedures/ideas/practices at other ATSUs. It's potentially very expensive too if you have a failure at college- or unit-validation stage and a limited training budget, not just in terms of money but also in time.
Having an operational input from someone from "outside", NATS on non-NATS, with relevant (and I make no excuses for using that term again) experience can make a very positive contribution to the way a unit runs and works, I believe. I come back to the word "relevant" again. Sure, if your total ATCO compliment is comprised of 40%, sponsored ex-ATSAs, you may be able to happily add a %-ageof ex-military controllers, a %-age with ex-GA-only backgrounds and a %-age with experience at an aircraft manufacturers ATSUs, for example. Wouldn't it be advantageous though, in an ideal world, to also add a sizeable number with comparable or busier civil, commercial airport backgrounds, to preserve some semblance of balance to the team?
Don't listen to rumours, either - many of our team will dish-the-dirt on me to your face, or on the phone! Thanks again to all who've been bothered to post. Much appreciated.
ATCOJ30
Why not headhunt at Aberdeen. A poster in their restroom several years ago boasted of all the units which they had supplied with "highly trained ATCOs". They included Newcastle. Teesside, East Midlands, Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Honk Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manchester, Leeds, Prestwick, Dunsfold, Bailbrook, Mastricht, Gatwick, Bahrain, Jersey, Bristol (briefly), CATC, Scottish and London Centres + many others. I hear that they have a surplus of ATCOs now, so it may be worth sniffing around if your package is big enough (so to speak!).
letMfly
Why not headhunt at Aberdeen. A poster in their restroom several years ago boasted of all the units which they had supplied with "highly trained ATCOs". They included Newcastle. Teesside, East Midlands, Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Honk Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manchester, Leeds, Prestwick, Dunsfold, Bailbrook, Mastricht, Gatwick, Bahrain, Jersey, Bristol (briefly), CATC, Scottish and London Centres + many others. I hear that they have a surplus of ATCOs now, so it may be worth sniffing around if your package is big enough (so to speak!).
letMfly
