Spanish ATC
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Vin rouge
"One would assume the controllers are not overworked, otherwise they wouldnt be volunteering for so much overtime."
Speaking to a controller friend of mine who is Spanish but does not work in Spain, I donn't believe that the overtime is voluntary; I understood the majority of it to be compulsory, although I stand to be corrected.
One thing strikes (pardon the pun) me about all this is that we are very clearly not in possession of facts from credible sources and as such I don't think we can easily judge the rights and wrongs of this. The media and government sources will clearly put a spin on it all, if indeed they have the true facts in the first place! Don't praise or condemn until we know.
Cheers,
northerner
"Keep smiling... It makes people wonder what you're up to..."
"One would assume the controllers are not overworked, otherwise they wouldnt be volunteering for so much overtime."
Speaking to a controller friend of mine who is Spanish but does not work in Spain, I donn't believe that the overtime is voluntary; I understood the majority of it to be compulsory, although I stand to be corrected.
One thing strikes (pardon the pun) me about all this is that we are very clearly not in possession of facts from credible sources and as such I don't think we can easily judge the rights and wrongs of this. The media and government sources will clearly put a spin on it all, if indeed they have the true facts in the first place! Don't praise or condemn until we know.
Cheers,
northerner
"Keep smiling... It makes people wonder what you're up to..."
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to northerner
From a fellow northerner (Lancaster)
I am sure we do not hear all the facts all of the time. Sometimes the facts are as the politics see fit to disseminate.
My original post was not about politics but as a result of facts that could not be massaged.
My second post was, I suppose, political, but only asking a question !!
Dave
I am sure we do not hear all the facts all of the time. Sometimes the facts are as the politics see fit to disseminate.
My original post was not about politics but as a result of facts that could not be massaged.
My second post was, I suppose, political, but only asking a question !!
Dave
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area,
I believe if you are a professional engaged in critical infrastructure work such as emergency services and ATC, then yes, it should be.
There are better ways of going about this than striking.
I wonder if the controllers would take a halving of salary and pensions if they double the number of controllers?
I think we all know what the answer to that one would be.
I believe if you are a professional engaged in critical infrastructure work such as emergency services and ATC, then yes, it should be.
There are better ways of going about this than striking.
I wonder if the controllers would take a halving of salary and pensions if they double the number of controllers?
I think we all know what the answer to that one would be.
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Vinrouge:
Do you?
they have increased our working hours by 40% (before last friday´s royal decree, now, without the sick leaves, maternity/paternity leaves, formation training etc, not included in the working hours, well, you make the calculation yourself)
they have reduced our pay by that same 40%
I think we would all prefer to have another 10% off our pays and go back to our "late" working hours....
As many pointed out before: it´s not about the money
regards
I wonder if the controllers would take a halving of salary and pensions if they double the number of controllers?
I think we all know what the answer to that one would be.
I think we all know what the answer to that one would be.
they have increased our working hours by 40% (before last friday´s royal decree, now, without the sick leaves, maternity/paternity leaves, formation training etc, not included in the working hours, well, you make the calculation yourself)
they have reduced our pay by that same 40%
I think we would all prefer to have another 10% off our pays and go back to our "late" working hours....
As many pointed out before: it´s not about the money
regards
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calcafgo
Hello mate,
I went on strike for half a day back in the 1960`s. It was much against my priciples but, as in your case, it was not about the money. It was about the breaking of contractual agreements.
Sadly, it seems, nothing has changed !
Good Luck to you.
Dave
I went on strike for half a day back in the 1960`s. It was much against my priciples but, as in your case, it was not about the money. It was about the breaking of contractual agreements.
Sadly, it seems, nothing has changed !
Good Luck to you.
Dave
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I have already commented on this. Please read what has been posted if you wish to reply.
I am not in a position to make such a judgement. May I know the basis for your assertion?
I do not know the details of their deployment, and specifically, I do not know who are in the control rooms or for what purpose. I would feel very concerned however, about having to fly in a sector under control of someone who needs intimidation to go to work. And no, it's not about the stress, it's about the lack of maturity shown by such a person. The former you can deal with, but the latter...
As for the hamster wheel comments elsewhere: I do know and appreciate the job controllers do, and I have in the past received invaluable assistance from them (and a bit of leniency as well on occasion
), and I have been to a few control towers both in Spain and other countries (France, Germany, and the Czech Republic). My impression comparing the levels of performance and professional demeanour of the three latter with the first has only reinforced my previous opinion based on service received at the other end of the mic/telephone.
I am genuinely interested to hear, Lon, about your experience visiting Spanish control centres and interacting with Spanish ATCOs, as you are much more qualified than me to form a valuable opinion. I do note that there appear to be huge differences in the level of performance of controllers depending on the regions, so please specify which centres you have been to (in my experience, in the South--Seville, Malaga, etc.--they are generally fine, and they get worse as one approaches Madrid and Barcelona).
another task they are totally unsuited for.
The only reason they are in the Ops Room then is to intimidate
As for the hamster wheel comments elsewhere: I do know and appreciate the job controllers do, and I have in the past received invaluable assistance from them (and a bit of leniency as well on occasion
), and I have been to a few control towers both in Spain and other countries (France, Germany, and the Czech Republic). My impression comparing the levels of performance and professional demeanour of the three latter with the first has only reinforced my previous opinion based on service received at the other end of the mic/telephone.I am genuinely interested to hear, Lon, about your experience visiting Spanish control centres and interacting with Spanish ATCOs, as you are much more qualified than me to form a valuable opinion. I do note that there appear to be huge differences in the level of performance of controllers depending on the regions, so please specify which centres you have been to (in my experience, in the South--Seville, Malaga, etc.--they are generally fine, and they get worse as one approaches Madrid and Barcelona).
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Dave,
You don't need to be, because they weren't.
Easy mistake to make though, from an uncritical read of the media. That's what I thought myself, until I queried it.
Sorry, just saw your other post:
It is if you do not assure certain minimum levels of service, amongst other things. Strike action in itself is not illegal, in fact it is a constitutional right in Spain, but certain behaviour which does not fall within the definition of a strike certainly is against the law (not to mention common sense), as has been shown.
Easy mistake to make though, from an uncritical read of the media. That's what I thought myself, until I queried it.
Sorry, just saw your other post:
Should strike action be illegal ?
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military control
Hi guys,
Does `the Military have taken over control` as outlined by Heathrow Director mean that civilian controllers have to provide their services with a gun at their ear or that Military controllers have taken on the role of providing Air Traffic Control Services ?
If it means that the Military are to provide ATC services, may I remind you all, of the mid-air collision of a Spantax CV990 and an Iberia DC-9 over Nantes on 5th March 1973. This was a direct result of control being entrusted to the Military when the French controllers went on strike.
I do not mean to denigrate my Military ATC friends, but that we each do our own job. We can`t do each other`s job without adequate training.
Dave
Does `the Military have taken over control` as outlined by Heathrow Director mean that civilian controllers have to provide their services with a gun at their ear or that Military controllers have taken on the role of providing Air Traffic Control Services ?
If it means that the Military are to provide ATC services, may I remind you all, of the mid-air collision of a Spantax CV990 and an Iberia DC-9 over Nantes on 5th March 1973. This was a direct result of control being entrusted to the Military when the French controllers went on strike.
I do not mean to denigrate my Military ATC friends, but that we each do our own job. We can`t do each other`s job without adequate training.
Dave
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Vinrouge the funny thing is that its not the IMF knocking on the Irish , Spanish or Portugeese door but dear old Merkel looking to ensure the greedy German banks dont have to write off the loans they made, out of greed . That is the foundation of the problem down here and in Ireland. The best thing we could do for ourselves is tell you guys to shove it and go back to the peseta , punt and Drachma and just devalue like as always was done and leave you holding your precious euro,, its just like a stone around our knecks now.
The incompetence of the Spanish government managing this along with an agenda is staggering yet people like yourself are so easily stirred as part of the mob and its sad that a suppossed well paid professional like yourself is baying for blood. 2 weeks ago they realised the controllers were out of hours in an agreement made 2 months ago and yesterday they sent a letter to everbody telling them their hours were increased and they had no choice..brookfields and p2f are treated better .. its not all about money from the atc at least and even if it is so what .. as others have said , the pilots would not be paying to fly now if they had stood up for themselves. State medical surgeons are paid just as much, should there money be cut , are people calling for it to be cut.. are they part of the " priveligiado " ? ..I mean all they do is " routine " surgery .. its not complicated...all you need is a knife.. Blanco and Zapaterro dont want the dispute solved, their objective is not cost savings for the state .. they want the union gone so they may sell AENA at a higher price to their buddys for a donation to the party coffers no doubt. They are of course not falling on their own sword giving themselves a cut of 5%.
I certainly agree that the controllers have not been entirely logical in this but If i were pushed and poked with laws being passed monthly to tell me what my new employment contract is and previous agreements being rowed in I would be none to happy . no holidays , forced overtime , no letup in pressure ,, I can see how I would snap... Nor would I be happy to work under armed gaurd with my doctors advice about fitness ignored and no ability to resign as it amounts to treason ( in fact controllers here cant resign and could not without severe penalty before the state of emergency was declared but now quitting is " treason " ... harks back to darker days in europe and the east.
How sad it is that the state is managing to turn its citizens on each other to take care of the german banks.
Somebody asked if it safe to fly here at christmas time. Based on a quick conversation today with a controller in Torejon I would book with an airline that will help you change your dates or flights if its cancelled ( ie not ryanair etc . who just give you a refund and leave you to fend for yourself ). This isnt over by a longshot and from what I understand especially in winter weather things can be made run very slow indeed. There is plenty of problems in the pipeline yet.
Should Strike be illegal.. no of course not . quite frankly unless your management dont be so short sighted.. if you do not have the right to strike then you end up with a dicator state , like say North Korea. It has been impossible to have an all out strike in many areas of the spanish workforce for some time now , from Metro drivers to ATC. Basically as things stand in most sectors down here you can strike so long as it doesnt inconvenience anybody, especially in sectors the state wishes to sell such as metro , rail and air. The end game in the ponzi scheme is near for everbody yet everybody follows the pied piper whilst singing songs of praise.
The incompetence of the Spanish government managing this along with an agenda is staggering yet people like yourself are so easily stirred as part of the mob and its sad that a suppossed well paid professional like yourself is baying for blood. 2 weeks ago they realised the controllers were out of hours in an agreement made 2 months ago and yesterday they sent a letter to everbody telling them their hours were increased and they had no choice..brookfields and p2f are treated better .. its not all about money from the atc at least and even if it is so what .. as others have said , the pilots would not be paying to fly now if they had stood up for themselves. State medical surgeons are paid just as much, should there money be cut , are people calling for it to be cut.. are they part of the " priveligiado " ? ..I mean all they do is " routine " surgery .. its not complicated...all you need is a knife.. Blanco and Zapaterro dont want the dispute solved, their objective is not cost savings for the state .. they want the union gone so they may sell AENA at a higher price to their buddys for a donation to the party coffers no doubt. They are of course not falling on their own sword giving themselves a cut of 5%.
I certainly agree that the controllers have not been entirely logical in this but If i were pushed and poked with laws being passed monthly to tell me what my new employment contract is and previous agreements being rowed in I would be none to happy . no holidays , forced overtime , no letup in pressure ,, I can see how I would snap... Nor would I be happy to work under armed gaurd with my doctors advice about fitness ignored and no ability to resign as it amounts to treason ( in fact controllers here cant resign and could not without severe penalty before the state of emergency was declared but now quitting is " treason " ... harks back to darker days in europe and the east.
How sad it is that the state is managing to turn its citizens on each other to take care of the german banks.
Somebody asked if it safe to fly here at christmas time. Based on a quick conversation today with a controller in Torejon I would book with an airline that will help you change your dates or flights if its cancelled ( ie not ryanair etc . who just give you a refund and leave you to fend for yourself ). This isnt over by a longshot and from what I understand especially in winter weather things can be made run very slow indeed. There is plenty of problems in the pipeline yet.
Should Strike be illegal.. no of course not . quite frankly unless your management dont be so short sighted.. if you do not have the right to strike then you end up with a dicator state , like say North Korea. It has been impossible to have an all out strike in many areas of the spanish workforce for some time now , from Metro drivers to ATC. Basically as things stand in most sectors down here you can strike so long as it doesnt inconvenience anybody, especially in sectors the state wishes to sell such as metro , rail and air. The end game in the ponzi scheme is near for everbody yet everybody follows the pied piper whilst singing songs of praise.
Last edited by paidworker; 5th Dec 2010 at 00:27.
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Noise...
It’s funny (and sad) how the core issues of this debate have been drowned out by all kinds of nonsensical noise throughout the past few months. Considering the issues at hand, why does it matter how professional or unprofessional Spanish ATCOs are compared to ATCOs in other places? Why does it matter how much money they are earning? In this particular context I consider these to be non-issues.
It really surprises me how some people here get so incredibly hung up about how much money Spanish ATCOs used to earn, or are still earning. It’s not like the Spanish ATCOs were stealing the money from their employers. If anything, they successfully worked the system to their advantage to maximize their own benefits, but why blame them for that? Wouldn’t most people do the same? What’s unethical about getting the most out of your contract, as long as you are not breaking any laws, or consciously violating any other kinds of rules?
It seems to me as if AENA took the decision to grant high overtime pay and beneficial working conditions to the Spanish controllers in the past, and I guess they did that for a good reason (not enough staff, in need of OT, etc…). It’s supply and demand. Yes, perhaps the salaries of some controllers became outrageously high as a consequence of that, but how is that the ATCOs fault? Isn’t it rather a consequence of myopic management on behalf of AENA? Why should the controllers take such a severe beating for that now, and see themselves subjected to a sudden and what appears to be a disproportionately harsh increase of workload in conjunction with massive pay cuts? Simply because AENA noticed what fools they have been in the past, allowing for such benefits to take hold in the first place?
Then there are the comments on here how the ATCOs should just suck it up and get used to the kind of ****ty contracts and corporate treatment far too many people are unfortunately suffering in their jobs these days. How sad is that? What’s up with this “My life is ****, so your life should be **** too” attitude?
Personally, I know I wouldn’t be fit to work in an environment of constant coercion. Some of the facts that the Spanish ATCOs who have contributed to this discussion have shared here are simply appalling. (e.g. operational decisions being made by non-operational staff). For a controller this is the stuff nightmares are made of. It scares the **** out of me, and it upsets me because I know what corresponding operational risks and consequences are. Last but not least, it never ceases to astonish me how conceited yet at the same time ignorant to the complexities of the ATM system some of the contributors to this debate who have claimed to be professional pilots are. They may not notice it themselves, but it shows in a lot of their comments and statements.
It’s very unfortunate that it has come this far, but if only half of what has been shared about AENA’s regime is true, this is definitely NOT how an ATC operation in Western Europe should be run in the 21st century. I’m afraid it will be extremely tough to establish anything that resembles good will between the involved parties again. I’ll be transiting through Madrid in a couple of days myself, and am hoping for the best.
It really surprises me how some people here get so incredibly hung up about how much money Spanish ATCOs used to earn, or are still earning. It’s not like the Spanish ATCOs were stealing the money from their employers. If anything, they successfully worked the system to their advantage to maximize their own benefits, but why blame them for that? Wouldn’t most people do the same? What’s unethical about getting the most out of your contract, as long as you are not breaking any laws, or consciously violating any other kinds of rules?
It seems to me as if AENA took the decision to grant high overtime pay and beneficial working conditions to the Spanish controllers in the past, and I guess they did that for a good reason (not enough staff, in need of OT, etc…). It’s supply and demand. Yes, perhaps the salaries of some controllers became outrageously high as a consequence of that, but how is that the ATCOs fault? Isn’t it rather a consequence of myopic management on behalf of AENA? Why should the controllers take such a severe beating for that now, and see themselves subjected to a sudden and what appears to be a disproportionately harsh increase of workload in conjunction with massive pay cuts? Simply because AENA noticed what fools they have been in the past, allowing for such benefits to take hold in the first place?
Then there are the comments on here how the ATCOs should just suck it up and get used to the kind of ****ty contracts and corporate treatment far too many people are unfortunately suffering in their jobs these days. How sad is that? What’s up with this “My life is ****, so your life should be **** too” attitude?
Personally, I know I wouldn’t be fit to work in an environment of constant coercion. Some of the facts that the Spanish ATCOs who have contributed to this discussion have shared here are simply appalling. (e.g. operational decisions being made by non-operational staff). For a controller this is the stuff nightmares are made of. It scares the **** out of me, and it upsets me because I know what corresponding operational risks and consequences are. Last but not least, it never ceases to astonish me how conceited yet at the same time ignorant to the complexities of the ATM system some of the contributors to this debate who have claimed to be professional pilots are. They may not notice it themselves, but it shows in a lot of their comments and statements.
It’s very unfortunate that it has come this far, but if only half of what has been shared about AENA’s regime is true, this is definitely NOT how an ATC operation in Western Europe should be run in the 21st century. I’m afraid it will be extremely tough to establish anything that resembles good will between the involved parties again. I’ll be transiting through Madrid in a couple of days myself, and am hoping for the best.
Pegase Driver
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Similarities with 1981 USA ATC and Ronald Reagan's measures
Songbird29 : Perfectly correct about the similarities between PATCO 1981 and Spain today about a Union believing they could win in isolation, or better said : strong enough to shut down the country, and get whatever they wanted as former USCA President declared a year or two ago. I had forgotten that point. An that of Flow Control of course. You're right on that one too ( except for CFMU in Europe that was created because demand exploded and infrastructure could not follow )
When I said totally different situations I was more refering to the staff numbers . In 1981 the FAA facilities were overstaffed,and they were a relatively large workforce (young retired controllers in their late 40s and early 50s, management guys with licence, instructors, military etc..)that could be used to fill a gap. In Spain their are vastly understaffed ( hence the overtime and problems today) No retired controllers able to take over (too old anyway) , very few management holding a license , plus a very small military controller workforce ( a couple of Hundred max ).
Another large similarity between the 2 is the Political will of a Government to crunch a Union and set an example for the others Unions. (remember the postal workers Union in 81 that also wanted to challenge the Federal employees Strike ban ?)
As to IFATCA poor reaction : I was in that meeting in Amsterdam. There were much more that one European Union wanting to strike support . But the consensus was against, you're right. People were affraid among other things that the US Government would take over the control over the lucrative High seas in The North Atlantic., and possibly never give it back .
.
Bringing back strange memories all that.
ATCW
When I said totally different situations I was more refering to the staff numbers . In 1981 the FAA facilities were overstaffed,and they were a relatively large workforce (young retired controllers in their late 40s and early 50s, management guys with licence, instructors, military etc..)that could be used to fill a gap. In Spain their are vastly understaffed ( hence the overtime and problems today) No retired controllers able to take over (too old anyway) , very few management holding a license , plus a very small military controller workforce ( a couple of Hundred max ).
Another large similarity between the 2 is the Political will of a Government to crunch a Union and set an example for the others Unions. (remember the postal workers Union in 81 that also wanted to challenge the Federal employees Strike ban ?)
As to IFATCA poor reaction : I was in that meeting in Amsterdam. There were much more that one European Union wanting to strike support . But the consensus was against, you're right. People were affraid among other things that the US Government would take over the control over the lucrative High seas in The North Atlantic., and possibly never give it back .
.
Bringing back strange memories all that.
ATCW
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Without going into the rights and wrongs of the strike
I just wonder about the safety aspects of accepting an ATC clearance from a civilian ATCO working under military duress?
The same situation in a cockpit would be called a hijack.
Perhaps nobody cares as long as the planes keep operating.
I just wonder about the safety aspects of accepting an ATC clearance from a civilian ATCO working under military duress?
The same situation in a cockpit would be called a hijack.
Perhaps nobody cares as long as the planes keep operating.
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To try and explain. Controlled AirSpace is owned/managed/licensed by each European government and those governments award a licence to an ANSP to run the airspace in accordance with the terms and conditions of the licence. In Spain it's AENA, in Germany DFS, in UK its NATS and so on, whether the ANSP is adminstered by the government or privately owned (in Europe that is only NATS) makes no real difference because they must comply with the licence and state regulations.
We are all, to a greater or lesser extent, dependant on air transport to support the infrastructure of our countries. That may be by bringing in tourists, essential supplies and equipment, consumer goods, spares, food etc. etc. Therefore air transport and the structure to support it is a vital national asset and it is extremely important to each country to ensure that it is secured for normal operation, otherwise that country is going to sink.
The Spanish government were faced with their national air transport system collapsing and had to take action to secure it. The decision they made was to make the airspace military and bring it and the supporting structure (staff) completely under government control, i.e. not operated by the state owned AENA hence a military Colonel now being effectively the Centres Managers. This has allowed them to be able to, for want of a better word, coerce the staff to operate the air transport system.
That does NOT mean that the Armed Forces are sitting in each control centre with weapons. Nor does it mean that military controllers are now controlling civil aircraft, they are simply not trained (nor licensed) to.
Without getting into the various rights or wrongs of this I'm looking at the future and how this affects Europe as a whole. The EU are spending a large sum of money to integrate all of the ATC infrastructure across Europe (SESAR with an eye on the American Next Gen project). AENA are quite a big player in this undertaking, however it seems to me that Spain can no longer participate as they've now stepped outside of European Harmonisation.
Interesting times ahead, very interesting times.
BD
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for the people who can't read a long post and get their info from things like The Sun, can I just quote a couple of bits from above -
I know people don't want to miss a week in Benidorm, but ....
2 weeks ago they realised the controllers were out of hours in an agreement made 2 months ago and yesterday they sent a letter to everbody telling them their hours were increased and they had no choice
laws being passed monthly to tell me what my new employment contract is and previous agreements being rowed in
no holidays , forced overtime ,
in fact controllers here cant resign and could not without severe penalty before the state of emergency was declared but now quitting is " treason "
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Spain Politics under Zapatero, Blanco and Rubalcaba...
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and /or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
"It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion."
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”
(Josef Goebbels, Minister for Propaganda, Germany 1925-1945)
"Politicians are like seagulls. They arrive from out of nowhere in a fluster, squawking, sticking their beaks in.... crapping all over everything and then flying off leaving a mess."
"Politicians are like nappies / diapers...They should be changed frequently, and for the same reason."
'Anyone who wants to be a politician should be automatically barred from being one.
(Not Josef Goebbels...)
The thing is of course that it would be no different if Rajoy and the PP were in charge. I was amused to see that Mariano did in fact get caught up (inadvertently?) when his flight from Lanzarote back to Madrid was grounded by the action...of course Snr. Smug-mug is now demanding a full explanation from the Zapatero government...yeah, him and a few thousand others...
Spanish politics, like Brit politics is, was and always will be hit the little man hard, fast and often. Spain is a country where in the event of an accident, the primary objective of any Accident Investigation seems to be to apportion blame and work out who to put in jail. It's not a case of establishing how or why the accident happened in the first place. If one looks upon the ATCOs walkout as an Accident Investigator would, the overwhelming evidence points to the primary suspect in this case as being AENA itself being driven by the government.
There are many similarities between the ATCO action and the governments reaction and the UK miners strike and the Thatcher government and UK media response...
Its all about killing the Unions, flogging off the family jewels to raise cash, (yet retaining a controlling interest) and keeping the little man under the thumb.
pp
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and /or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
"It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion."
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”
(Josef Goebbels, Minister for Propaganda, Germany 1925-1945)
"Politicians are like seagulls. They arrive from out of nowhere in a fluster, squawking, sticking their beaks in.... crapping all over everything and then flying off leaving a mess."
"Politicians are like nappies / diapers...They should be changed frequently, and for the same reason."
'Anyone who wants to be a politician should be automatically barred from being one.
(Not Josef Goebbels...)
The thing is of course that it would be no different if Rajoy and the PP were in charge. I was amused to see that Mariano did in fact get caught up (inadvertently?) when his flight from Lanzarote back to Madrid was grounded by the action...of course Snr. Smug-mug is now demanding a full explanation from the Zapatero government...yeah, him and a few thousand others...
Spanish politics, like Brit politics is, was and always will be hit the little man hard, fast and often. Spain is a country where in the event of an accident, the primary objective of any Accident Investigation seems to be to apportion blame and work out who to put in jail. It's not a case of establishing how or why the accident happened in the first place. If one looks upon the ATCOs walkout as an Accident Investigator would, the overwhelming evidence points to the primary suspect in this case as being AENA itself being driven by the government.
There are many similarities between the ATCO action and the governments reaction and the UK miners strike and the Thatcher government and UK media response...
Its all about killing the Unions, flogging off the family jewels to raise cash, (yet retaining a controlling interest) and keeping the little man under the thumb.
pp