UK staff shortages
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Anotherthing, I wholly agree!!
Some of the LAS's who only hold a planner ticket do it so infrequently that they actually become a hinderence when it is busy!!
A quality planner, IMHO, is one who is way ahead of the game and doesn't sit there and wait to be asked to do this or do that!!
I also wouldn't like to be planner only on a sector that I have never done Tactical on as you don't really understand the intricacies of the sector unless you have been in the hotseat!
The situation of Planner taking the R/T occurred a few cycles back when I was planning and my Tactical had frequency problems and I had to use the R/T on my console to take over. If that had been a planner only and an 'incident' happened who would have taken he flak??
Some of the LAS's who only hold a planner ticket do it so infrequently that they actually become a hinderence when it is busy!!
A quality planner, IMHO, is one who is way ahead of the game and doesn't sit there and wait to be asked to do this or do that!!
I also wouldn't like to be planner only on a sector that I have never done Tactical on as you don't really understand the intricacies of the sector unless you have been in the hotseat!
The situation of Planner taking the R/T occurred a few cycles back when I was planning and my Tactical had frequency problems and I had to use the R/T on my console to take over. If that had been a planner only and an 'incident' happened who would have taken he flak??
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I'd just like to qualify my post (number 20 of this thread) as I don't want this to get into a AC/TC willy waving contest, by saying that there are a small handful of coordinators on the TC side who are not exactly proactive or too helpful all of the time...
That's just human beings for you but at least they do have the knowledge that if you ask them to do something, they should be competent and capable.
Similarly, as I have stated before, I am sure there are a large number of good, proactive planners.
I have had my bacon saved a couple of times (and saved other peoples a few times as well) by the fact that the coordinator has pointed out a potential mistake/oversight. There's no room for egos, it's just getting the job done
That's just human beings for you but at least they do have the knowledge that if you ask them to do something, they should be competent and capable.
Similarly, as I have stated before, I am sure there are a large number of good, proactive planners.
I have had my bacon saved a couple of times (and saved other peoples a few times as well) by the fact that the coordinator has pointed out a potential mistake/oversight. There's no room for egos, it's just getting the job done
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Anotherthing:
Spot on!
ImnotanERIC: No perhaps you're not (but with comments like yours I'm beginning to wonder), but I bet you're not perfect, either.
If just one or two people go away from the safety days with something which they will use one day which will prevent an overload or mid-air collision, then it has to be worthwhile, don't you think? Just think, you might be on the one this person decides to help one day. But then, you don't need help, do you...
Spot on!
ImnotanERIC: No perhaps you're not (but with comments like yours I'm beginning to wonder), but I bet you're not perfect, either.
If just one or two people go away from the safety days with something which they will use one day which will prevent an overload or mid-air collision, then it has to be worthwhile, don't you think? Just think, you might be on the one this person decides to help one day. But then, you don't need help, do you...
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Thumbs down for the safety days this year, I think.
The general shop-floor consensus is that the days have been boring and not a constructive use of time (not least on a core day). The problem with a forum like this year's safety days is that the people who shout the loudest are the ones who are heard.... all day long. Note that these are not necessarily the people who have the most relevant issues - several people I have spoken to have said that the days have been used by the more vocal members of the group as an opportunity to spout vitriol about other sectors/ATCOs/ATSAs/procedures. Occasionally entertaining, but rarely constructive.
The opening question for discussion on my safety day, to paraphrase it, was "What do ATSAs do that p*ss you off when you're working as a planner?" The ATSAs, in the room at the same time, were asked a similar question about the planners. Call me controversial, but I would say that's a rather counterproductive way to assess any problems that may or may not exist. And in general, these problems DON'T exist - trust management to get the wrong end of the stick though.
Planner-only validities are the biggest threat to the ongoing safe ATC operation at LAC. A lack of feel for the tactical operation puts them at a disadvantage straight away, and few people who hold these tickets achieve enough useful hours a month in the hotseat to keep them competent. Unfortunately, management currently see planner-only validations as an ideal sticking-plaster treatment for achieving the required flexibility to allow the operation to continue when the dreaded iFACTS training begins. As anotherthing says, this is a retrograde solution which no-one at the shop-floor level likes. Any deficiencies in the planner-only valid controllers should be identified by the LCE scheme - but of course there is understandable pressure on LCEs to allow these people with barely satisfactory skills to remain part of the operation to provide cover during the summer etc etc.
But all the above is merely a digression - the issue of the thread is the staff shortage. If there's one thing the safety days this year might have achieved, it will be to show those in management that we are hopelessly ill-prepared for the busy periods this summer. The operation runs on next to no contingency at the best of times, and might scrape through another summer with the help of a vast raft of AAVAs if we're lucky. LAC was understaffed when it arrived at Swanwick six years ago, and staff numbers have continued to fall ever since. It only takes a few controllers to be absent from the ops room in winter to cause extensive delays (I'm guessing we must be well over 100,000 minutes as a direct result of the safety days). While on the one hand management can be applauded for taking the hit for what they view as an important day for all ATCOs and ATSAs, the delays are surely an ominous sign that the house is not in order?
Of course, the company would not be stupid enough to plan these safety days for, say, this weekend (Ireland vs Wales) or most of next week (Cheltenham Festival) would they?! Especially when the West End sectors are those that are suffering from lack of staff the most?!
LTP
The general shop-floor consensus is that the days have been boring and not a constructive use of time (not least on a core day). The problem with a forum like this year's safety days is that the people who shout the loudest are the ones who are heard.... all day long. Note that these are not necessarily the people who have the most relevant issues - several people I have spoken to have said that the days have been used by the more vocal members of the group as an opportunity to spout vitriol about other sectors/ATCOs/ATSAs/procedures. Occasionally entertaining, but rarely constructive.
The opening question for discussion on my safety day, to paraphrase it, was "What do ATSAs do that p*ss you off when you're working as a planner?" The ATSAs, in the room at the same time, were asked a similar question about the planners. Call me controversial, but I would say that's a rather counterproductive way to assess any problems that may or may not exist. And in general, these problems DON'T exist - trust management to get the wrong end of the stick though.
Planner-only validities are the biggest threat to the ongoing safe ATC operation at LAC. A lack of feel for the tactical operation puts them at a disadvantage straight away, and few people who hold these tickets achieve enough useful hours a month in the hotseat to keep them competent. Unfortunately, management currently see planner-only validations as an ideal sticking-plaster treatment for achieving the required flexibility to allow the operation to continue when the dreaded iFACTS training begins. As anotherthing says, this is a retrograde solution which no-one at the shop-floor level likes. Any deficiencies in the planner-only valid controllers should be identified by the LCE scheme - but of course there is understandable pressure on LCEs to allow these people with barely satisfactory skills to remain part of the operation to provide cover during the summer etc etc.
But all the above is merely a digression - the issue of the thread is the staff shortage. If there's one thing the safety days this year might have achieved, it will be to show those in management that we are hopelessly ill-prepared for the busy periods this summer. The operation runs on next to no contingency at the best of times, and might scrape through another summer with the help of a vast raft of AAVAs if we're lucky. LAC was understaffed when it arrived at Swanwick six years ago, and staff numbers have continued to fall ever since. It only takes a few controllers to be absent from the ops room in winter to cause extensive delays (I'm guessing we must be well over 100,000 minutes as a direct result of the safety days). While on the one hand management can be applauded for taking the hit for what they view as an important day for all ATCOs and ATSAs, the delays are surely an ominous sign that the house is not in order?
Of course, the company would not be stupid enough to plan these safety days for, say, this weekend (Ireland vs Wales) or most of next week (Cheltenham Festival) would they?! Especially when the West End sectors are those that are suffering from lack of staff the most?!
LTP
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LTP -
As a TC bod, I feel for you guys, especially regarding the issue of staffing.
The big problem is, until people are prepared to stand up and be counted by refusing to do AAVAs then the situation will not improve.
Management would possibly see any mass consensus (or at least any attempt to get one) as a possible disciplinary offence (though how, I do not know), but just one month, say July/Aug or Sept, of solidarity with all staff in your Ops room agreeing to refuse AAVAs would make the management wake up and smell the coffee.
I'm far from a militant, union loving person, but until staff stand up for themselves and their wellbeing they are going to be trodden down.
AAVAs are a cheap and flexible way for management to staff the Ops room - it is a good way of wallpapering over the cracks.
Unfortunately as is human nature, the very people who complain of staff shortages i.e. shop floor workers, shoot themselves in the foot by aiding and abetting the glossing over by accepting AAVAs.
A quick fix would obviously not be achieved, but it needs to be brought to that attention to the management in a way that will hit them hard. You have said that AC have been short of staff for over 6 years now... it's maybe time that if the Union is not going to be robust, the workforce should be.
Although a quick fix is not feasible, it's ridiculous that things are getting worse over the six years period you mention, not better.
As a TC bod, I feel for you guys, especially regarding the issue of staffing.
The big problem is, until people are prepared to stand up and be counted by refusing to do AAVAs then the situation will not improve.
Management would possibly see any mass consensus (or at least any attempt to get one) as a possible disciplinary offence (though how, I do not know), but just one month, say July/Aug or Sept, of solidarity with all staff in your Ops room agreeing to refuse AAVAs would make the management wake up and smell the coffee.
I'm far from a militant, union loving person, but until staff stand up for themselves and their wellbeing they are going to be trodden down.
AAVAs are a cheap and flexible way for management to staff the Ops room - it is a good way of wallpapering over the cracks.
Unfortunately as is human nature, the very people who complain of staff shortages i.e. shop floor workers, shoot themselves in the foot by aiding and abetting the glossing over by accepting AAVAs.
A quick fix would obviously not be achieved, but it needs to be brought to that attention to the management in a way that will hit them hard. You have said that AC have been short of staff for over 6 years now... it's maybe time that if the Union is not going to be robust, the workforce should be.
Although a quick fix is not feasible, it's ridiculous that things are getting worse over the six years period you mention, not better.
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eyeinthesky- i never said i didn't need help, infact I am more than happy to receive it. Probably not as much as you are glad for it, but hey ho.
honk honk
I also did not mean that some planners were exempt form these magnificent safety days, just that I know for a fact that not every valid planner will have attended one when they have finished the rounds.
honk honk
I also did not mean that some planners were exempt form these magnificent safety days, just that I know for a fact that not every valid planner will have attended one when they have finished the rounds.
