Airfield departure times
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: uk
Age: 70
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
bookworm - ref your post nos 36.
If CFMU issue a CTOT a pilot does not need to have a DLA message sent UNLESS he wishes to delay his flight further. (ie. company operational reasons).
On my most recent flight my CTOT changed 7 times! No way could I keep sending DLA messages in those circumstances.!
If CFMU issue a CTOT a pilot does not need to have a DLA message sent UNLESS he wishes to delay his flight further. (ie. company operational reasons).
On my most recent flight my CTOT changed 7 times! No way could I keep sending DLA messages in those circumstances.!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: uk
Age: 70
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
10W. Thank you for your valuable contributions to this debate. I was beginning to think that nobody understood the situation I found myself in. You obviously do. This situation is happening all over Spain every day and it seems pilots have given up trying to sort it. That cannot be allowed to happen.
You also touched on the subject of `providing a service to customers`.
On my last flight from Spain, CAT was forecast for the whole route. Not particularly unusual, but on that day it was continuous moderate to severe at most cruising levels - which is quite rare. Lots of requests for ride reports / level changes etc. Too many replies from Spanish controllers of the usual - `station calling say again `
We checked in with London Control at the FIR boundary and his first reply was - `expect mod/severe turbulence 20 miles ahead - do you wish to climb?`
Now that, my Spanish friends, is what I consider to be part of an ATC service. In one transmission he demonstrated he KNEW the problems we were facing, he ANTICIPATED what we would want, he PROVIDED an EXCELLENT solution and he was being HELPFUL! He did not need to do this - but his professional training and pride in the job produced this result.
Put simply - he provided a service to his customers.
Do you think you do?
You also touched on the subject of `providing a service to customers`.
On my last flight from Spain, CAT was forecast for the whole route. Not particularly unusual, but on that day it was continuous moderate to severe at most cruising levels - which is quite rare. Lots of requests for ride reports / level changes etc. Too many replies from Spanish controllers of the usual - `station calling say again `
We checked in with London Control at the FIR boundary and his first reply was - `expect mod/severe turbulence 20 miles ahead - do you wish to climb?`
Now that, my Spanish friends, is what I consider to be part of an ATC service. In one transmission he demonstrated he KNEW the problems we were facing, he ANTICIPATED what we would want, he PROVIDED an EXCELLENT solution and he was being HELPFUL! He did not need to do this - but his professional training and pride in the job produced this result.
Put simply - he provided a service to his customers.
Do you think you do?
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Canarias, Spain
Posts: 127
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Splitduty,
The answer is YES. As i said before, if you want to compare us to the brits, compare everything, and not only the last link of the chain, even if it´s the only one you get to see when you fly. That´s why we are here.
So the complete answer would be: yes, but taking into account that we have to work under lower standards than our british colleagues. For sure, your controllers that day didn´t have any weather radar available, no information from management about the CAT issue, overloaded sectors, 25 minutes roster changing from one control position to another, no professional training at all, etc.
I understand your complaint, of course, and i encourage you to make a report to your company, Eurocontrol and EASA (surprised i don´t include AENA in this list?).
Best regards.
Do you think you do?
So the complete answer would be: yes, but taking into account that we have to work under lower standards than our british colleagues. For sure, your controllers that day didn´t have any weather radar available, no information from management about the CAT issue, overloaded sectors, 25 minutes roster changing from one control position to another, no professional training at all, etc.
I understand your complaint, of course, and i encourage you to make a report to your company, Eurocontrol and EASA (surprised i don´t include AENA in this list?).
Best regards.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: uk
Age: 70
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
SONNENDEC,
Here we go again. Everyone`s fault except Spanish ATC,
Lets look at your points one by one and see if they make sense :-
1) you quote ` lower standards than our British colleagues` - My point exactly, but what do YOU mean?
2) you quote `controllers didn`t have weather radar` - I don`t think the British controllers do either. But they are able to build a picture of what is happening from pilot reports. Could you not do likewise?
3) you quote `no info from management about CAT` - this I find incredible. Do you seriously go on duty with no idea of what the weather is? Can you not self brief? There are many Met sites even if management do not spoon feed you the info! Don`t the pilot reports alert you to the weather around? Do you think at all?
4) you quote `overloaded sectors` - this one I might have some sympathy for you. I know pilots cannot judge a controller`s workload from RTF loading. However, it does give some indication! I can assure you the London controller`s frequency was much, much busier than the Spanish ones. Ask any pilot.
5) you quote `25 minutes roster change` - was this a problem when you were all earning massive amounts of money earning overtime?
6) you quote `no professional training at all` - MY POINT EXACTLY.
I repeat - do you still think you provide a good ATC sevice?
Here we go again. Everyone`s fault except Spanish ATC,
Lets look at your points one by one and see if they make sense :-
1) you quote ` lower standards than our British colleagues` - My point exactly, but what do YOU mean?
2) you quote `controllers didn`t have weather radar` - I don`t think the British controllers do either. But they are able to build a picture of what is happening from pilot reports. Could you not do likewise?
3) you quote `no info from management about CAT` - this I find incredible. Do you seriously go on duty with no idea of what the weather is? Can you not self brief? There are many Met sites even if management do not spoon feed you the info! Don`t the pilot reports alert you to the weather around? Do you think at all?
4) you quote `overloaded sectors` - this one I might have some sympathy for you. I know pilots cannot judge a controller`s workload from RTF loading. However, it does give some indication! I can assure you the London controller`s frequency was much, much busier than the Spanish ones. Ask any pilot.
5) you quote `25 minutes roster change` - was this a problem when you were all earning massive amounts of money earning overtime?
6) you quote `no professional training at all` - MY POINT EXACTLY.
I repeat - do you still think you provide a good ATC sevice?
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Spain
Age: 49
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Splitduty, if I don´t need to something... I just simply don´t do it.
Will I go home earlier if I am nice? will I earn more? will I have more rest time? The answer is NO, so I have no need to be nice.
There was a time where I provided traffic information when tfc was with less than 10 NM, or climbing to a lower level... now of course I don´t, I follow the RCA, so will only provide tfc info for esential tfc (when the separation is less than published). Same with all other things that are not mandatory. I am unhappy at my work (I have to work 470 hours more each year than I did), so I don´t really care about the work. I just wait untill go home time and try to do as little as I can to comply with the rules. I could provide better service (Tfc info, turbulence info, holding info and so on) but there is nothing for me to win with it.
I could also say I have studied the RAD and I apply it... poor pilots facing turbulence and asking to climb on restricted routes, they will never climb with me. I try to learn all the regulations to know what should I do and what I shouldn´t... maybe if´s revenge for my 470 hours/year lost... maybe.
Good luck over Spain... lots of TCAS TA coming with 5 NM soon.
Will I go home earlier if I am nice? will I earn more? will I have more rest time? The answer is NO, so I have no need to be nice.
There was a time where I provided traffic information when tfc was with less than 10 NM, or climbing to a lower level... now of course I don´t, I follow the RCA, so will only provide tfc info for esential tfc (when the separation is less than published). Same with all other things that are not mandatory. I am unhappy at my work (I have to work 470 hours more each year than I did), so I don´t really care about the work. I just wait untill go home time and try to do as little as I can to comply with the rules. I could provide better service (Tfc info, turbulence info, holding info and so on) but there is nothing for me to win with it.
I could also say I have studied the RAD and I apply it... poor pilots facing turbulence and asking to climb on restricted routes, they will never climb with me. I try to learn all the regulations to know what should I do and what I shouldn´t... maybe if´s revenge for my 470 hours/year lost... maybe.
Good luck over Spain... lots of TCAS TA coming with 5 NM soon.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: uk
Age: 70
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Akhorahill,
I feel sorry for you. None of us aviation professionals earn extra money for doing a good job. Only bankers do.(and not necessarily for even doing a good job) But we still provide the best service possible. Even if we earn nothing like Spanish controllers.
You have just admitted what I and all pilots I know have thought for years.
Very sad. Why do you contine to do the job if you are that unhappy?
However, I do not think you can offload your responsibilities so lightly.
I am sure others will have thoughts.
I feel sorry for you. None of us aviation professionals earn extra money for doing a good job. Only bankers do.(and not necessarily for even doing a good job) But we still provide the best service possible. Even if we earn nothing like Spanish controllers.
You have just admitted what I and all pilots I know have thought for years.
Very sad. Why do you contine to do the job if you are that unhappy?
However, I do not think you can offload your responsibilities so lightly.
I am sure others will have thoughts.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: England
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Splitduty, if I don´t need to something... I just simply don´t do it.
Do you understand the amount of people who you are putting at risk of injury or even, in the worst case, death by not being bothered to give me information about something which is bloody dangerous to everybody on my aeroplane and the hundreds of others in your airspace, just because you don't want to?
You can't wait to go home? Please don't bother turning up in the first place.
I was beginning to feel some sort of sympathy for you lot but I'm afraid that you have just lost it, completely.
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Spain
Age: 49
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don´t do anything if I don´t have to...
I have to provide info about severe turbulence because it can compromise safety, so I do it (one day on tfc requested descend from FL330 to FL210 because of that), and I warned all the TFCs in the vicinity. But light turbulence does not compromise safety... so I don´t pass the info unless requested.
I do the job because I am paid to do it. You wouldn´t imagine how many ppl is unhappy with his job (at least here in Spain) and continues doing it because the need the money to live.
And as I said, I am always learning new things about the job to comply strictly with the rules. Try to change the rules, will be easier than change me. Good work or bad work... I don´t even try to understand the difference, now it´s only "legal work" for me (remeber the 4,5 million euros fee in Spain for "going against the law").
I have to provide info about severe turbulence because it can compromise safety, so I do it (one day on tfc requested descend from FL330 to FL210 because of that), and I warned all the TFCs in the vicinity. But light turbulence does not compromise safety... so I don´t pass the info unless requested.
I do the job because I am paid to do it. You wouldn´t imagine how many ppl is unhappy with his job (at least here in Spain) and continues doing it because the need the money to live.
And as I said, I am always learning new things about the job to comply strictly with the rules. Try to change the rules, will be easier than change me. Good work or bad work... I don´t even try to understand the difference, now it´s only "legal work" for me (remeber the 4,5 million euros fee in Spain for "going against the law").
Here's a case in point:-
Departed large Spanish airport a few weeks ago - Moderate/Severe turbulence from 2,000 ft up to FL150 (not forecast). I advise on R/T:-
"XXX be advised for information of other a/c moderate occasional severe turbulence on climb to FL150"
Reply?
"Ah yes, we did have an a/c report that half an hour ago too!"
The sector was NOT busy at all!
Departed large Spanish airport a few weeks ago - Moderate/Severe turbulence from 2,000 ft up to FL150 (not forecast). I advise on R/T:-
"XXX be advised for information of other a/c moderate occasional severe turbulence on climb to FL150"
Reply?
"Ah yes, we did have an a/c report that half an hour ago too!"
The sector was NOT busy at all!
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Canarias, Spain
Posts: 127
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Splitduty,
Didnt say that at all.
Well, after lots of posts both here and at the other thread about spanish atc, i thought you would have got that point already. Anyway you can read my last posts to see what i mean.
Well, it´s not only this, of course, but altogether that makes the controller unaware of a lot more things than you may think.
I do think, thank you. We could get to those met sites if we had internet at work, which they took away. And we do self-brief, but as i told you before, it´s the whole picture that makes the work difficult, not just one thing. If you put all the issues that we have to deal with every time we sit infront of the scope together, you will get a confused controller, not an efficient one.
What day was that? just look at the everyday´s eurocontrol NOP and compare Madrid FIR with London FIR, so you won´t have to ask the pilots.
Of course not, because we didn´t do that absurdity. It´s completely crazy to change every 25 minutes, doesnt matter if they pay you 1 euro or 1 million.
And mine too. We agree. Both happy.
It seems that you haven´t read ANY of my posts.
Best regards.
Here we go again. Everyone`s fault except Spanish ATC,
1) you quote ` lower standards than our British colleagues` - My point exactly, but what do YOU mean?
2) you quote `controllers didn`t have weather radar` - I don`t think the British controllers do either. But they are able to build a picture of what is happening from pilot reports. Could you not do likewise?
3) you quote `no info from management about CAT` - this I find incredible. Do you seriously go on duty with no idea of what the weather is? Can you not self brief? There are many Met sites even if management do not spoon feed you the info! Don`t the pilot reports alert you to the weather around? Do you think at all?
4) you quote `overloaded sectors` - this one I might have some sympathy for you. I know pilots cannot judge a controller`s workload from RTF loading. However, it does give some indication! I can assure you the London controller`s frequency was much, much busier than the Spanish ones. Ask any pilot.
5) you quote `25 minutes roster change` - was this a problem when you were all earning massive amounts of money earning overtime?
6) you quote `no professional training at all` - MY POINT EXACTLY.
I repeat - do you still think you provide a good ATC sevice?
Best regards.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Canarias, Spain
Posts: 127
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fireflybob,
This is bad work. Period. You can´t forget to warn the pilots about that kind of turbulence. On behalf of my colleague, sorry.
Here's a case in point:-
Departed large Spanish airport a few weeks ago - Moderate/Severe turbulence from 2,000 ft up to FL150 (not forecast). I advise on R/T:-
"XXX be advised for information of other a/c moderate occasional severe turbulence on climb to FL150"
Reply?
"Ah yes, we did have an a/c report that half an hour ago too!"
The sector was NOT busy at all!
Departed large Spanish airport a few weeks ago - Moderate/Severe turbulence from 2,000 ft up to FL150 (not forecast). I advise on R/T:-
"XXX be advised for information of other a/c moderate occasional severe turbulence on climb to FL150"
Reply?
"Ah yes, we did have an a/c report that half an hour ago too!"
The sector was NOT busy at all!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: uk
Age: 70
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ye gods. This is going from bad to worse!
I have made my points and shall leave others to judge whether representitives of Spanish ATC have restored confidence in how they operate their system and how professional they are.
Meanwhile, I am off to fill out that survey about them.
I have made my points and shall leave others to judge whether representitives of Spanish ATC have restored confidence in how they operate their system and how professional they are.
Meanwhile, I am off to fill out that survey about them.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Canarias, Spain
Posts: 127
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Splitduty,
I am not reprentative for anybody but myself, as akhorahil is, and as you are. This is a public forum and and not a technical committee.
And i´m for sure not here to restore anybody´s confidence, but to ask for help so we can change some things that have to be changed. I think you missed that point.
Please DO!! thank you.
Best regards, and calm down a bit, there´s no need for all that hostility.
I have made my points and shall leave others to judge whether representitives of Spanish ATC have restored confidence in how they operate their system and how professional they are.
And i´m for sure not here to restore anybody´s confidence, but to ask for help so we can change some things that have to be changed. I think you missed that point.
Meanwhile, I am off to fill out that survey about them.
Best regards, and calm down a bit, there´s no need for all that hostility.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: England
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Akhorahill
Sorry, you said this but you meant something else?
What's in it for you? Professional and personal pride.
I could provide better service (Tfc info, turbulence info, holding info and so on) but there is nothing for me to win with it.
I could also say I have studied the RAD and I apply it... poor pilots facing turbulence and asking to climb on restricted routes, they will never climb with me.
I could also say I have studied the RAD and I apply it... poor pilots facing turbulence and asking to climb on restricted routes, they will never climb with me.
What's in it for you? Professional and personal pride.
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: guess where...
Posts: 112
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"He who is free of sin shall throw the first stone"
As I am not, I shan't.
I must confess though that I'm also a bit astonished at Akhorahill's answer but I will not flame him for that. I think that is not the right attitude but unfortunately I can see where it comes from as I have to remind myself every day that I'm a cualified professional and my job and my duty are to provide the best service I can to my customers to the limit of my ability or possibilities.
That said the human factor relating to a job is now so low I'm pretty confident it will be a case study in years to come... and I'm hoping like mad that the lecture does not end with some charred metal junks on the ground.
There are other threads (the old one about spanish ATC comes to my mind) in which our current working conditions are described. Please don't give me that "but you earn a million euros" again, if you really believe this worth talking about we can open another thread and I' comment extensively on that. In any case here is a link to an ATCO's payslip.
I know that my working conditions should not affect the service I provide but it does nevertheless. That is the reason why there is a "human factor" at all, because it DOES interfere with you work.
During the last 18 months I've been brandmarked a terrorist, a kidnapper. Scores of people who do not know me have the stone-set knowledge that I am privileged (in a sense, I am) and that somehow their economic or social misery has been caused by me.
I have seen a trap set on us to provide an excuse for the first state of alarm (something not even the terrorist attacks on Madrid managed) in our democracy's history for which many of my colleagues are facing criminal prosecution. (Just as a sidenote, there is a rumor that the president of our labor union was threathened at the government to be considered a criminal and therefore loosing custody rights to an adopted child).
I've seen colleagues fired or exiled to other centres ... just the day after the government's party had landslide losses on local elections... coincidence? I've seen the very same judge that dismissed our claims that our constitutional rights to labor union representation had been violated concede that very same point for other public workers of the royal mint.
I've seen colleagues leave to work to other countries, one of them to Irak. Come on guys! Just think of how the conditions must be for someone to leave our "privileges" and go to start a career in Irak... his blog is an interesting and witty reading (spanish) but never forget the grim facts.
I've been trained to find safety threaths and then every new law I read changes my work in a way that makes me shudder. How many slices of "swiss cheese" are left? Will I be the one who makes a fatal mistake with dire consecuences?
And then I have to think that I'm one of the lucky ones, that I do not jet work at an ACC / TACC which have been the hardest hit.
So while I do not excuse it in any way, I can feel how Ankhorahill has reached that state of mind.
Just for the record:
They seared away both some time ago. They are still somewhere, clinging to the gutters resisting to let go.
As I am not, I shan't.
I must confess though that I'm also a bit astonished at Akhorahill's answer but I will not flame him for that. I think that is not the right attitude but unfortunately I can see where it comes from as I have to remind myself every day that I'm a cualified professional and my job and my duty are to provide the best service I can to my customers to the limit of my ability or possibilities.
That said the human factor relating to a job is now so low I'm pretty confident it will be a case study in years to come... and I'm hoping like mad that the lecture does not end with some charred metal junks on the ground.
There are other threads (the old one about spanish ATC comes to my mind) in which our current working conditions are described. Please don't give me that "but you earn a million euros" again, if you really believe this worth talking about we can open another thread and I' comment extensively on that. In any case here is a link to an ATCO's payslip.
I know that my working conditions should not affect the service I provide but it does nevertheless. That is the reason why there is a "human factor" at all, because it DOES interfere with you work.
During the last 18 months I've been brandmarked a terrorist, a kidnapper. Scores of people who do not know me have the stone-set knowledge that I am privileged (in a sense, I am) and that somehow their economic or social misery has been caused by me.
I have seen a trap set on us to provide an excuse for the first state of alarm (something not even the terrorist attacks on Madrid managed) in our democracy's history for which many of my colleagues are facing criminal prosecution. (Just as a sidenote, there is a rumor that the president of our labor union was threathened at the government to be considered a criminal and therefore loosing custody rights to an adopted child).
I've seen colleagues fired or exiled to other centres ... just the day after the government's party had landslide losses on local elections... coincidence? I've seen the very same judge that dismissed our claims that our constitutional rights to labor union representation had been violated concede that very same point for other public workers of the royal mint.
I've seen colleagues leave to work to other countries, one of them to Irak. Come on guys! Just think of how the conditions must be for someone to leave our "privileges" and go to start a career in Irak... his blog is an interesting and witty reading (spanish) but never forget the grim facts.
I've been trained to find safety threaths and then every new law I read changes my work in a way that makes me shudder. How many slices of "swiss cheese" are left? Will I be the one who makes a fatal mistake with dire consecuences?
And then I have to think that I'm one of the lucky ones, that I do not jet work at an ACC / TACC which have been the hardest hit.
So while I do not excuse it in any way, I can feel how Ankhorahill has reached that state of mind.
Just for the record:
Originally Posted by Lord Spandex Masher
What's in it for you? Professional and personal pride.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: England
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Daermon,
No matter how you feel towards your employer you shouldn't take it out on your customers. Us.
I regularly get utterly hacked off with my company. Incompetence, poor decision making, extended duties for nothing extra, screwing up my time off etc., etc., etc. But, I do not ignore the needs of my customers. I still try everything I can to ensure that my customers receive the service they expect, occasionally I even exceed their expectations!
I still have pride in what I do even in the face of adversity, at 3am, on the second of my extra two sectors, at the end of a sixteen hour day knowing that I will not be getting home for another five hours, eight hours into my day off, because I have to get a taxi back to my home airport and then drive home because I haven't been able to land at my home airport because it's now closed because of hours of delays but I am ensuring that my customers can get home. I could have said no, by the way.
It would be nice if, one day, I receive a service from Spanish ATC that exceeds my expectations. You really won't have to try that hard.
Now, this isn't aimed at anyone in particular except those people who demonstrate the same attitude as Akhorahill described.
I live in hope.
No matter how you feel towards your employer you shouldn't take it out on your customers. Us.
I regularly get utterly hacked off with my company. Incompetence, poor decision making, extended duties for nothing extra, screwing up my time off etc., etc., etc. But, I do not ignore the needs of my customers. I still try everything I can to ensure that my customers receive the service they expect, occasionally I even exceed their expectations!
I still have pride in what I do even in the face of adversity, at 3am, on the second of my extra two sectors, at the end of a sixteen hour day knowing that I will not be getting home for another five hours, eight hours into my day off, because I have to get a taxi back to my home airport and then drive home because I haven't been able to land at my home airport because it's now closed because of hours of delays but I am ensuring that my customers can get home. I could have said no, by the way.
It would be nice if, one day, I receive a service from Spanish ATC that exceeds my expectations. You really won't have to try that hard.
Now, this isn't aimed at anyone in particular except those people who demonstrate the same attitude as Akhorahill described.
I live in hope.
PPRuNe Bashaholic
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 1997
Location: The Peoples Alcoholic Republic of Jockistan
Posts: 1,442
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The post by Lord Spandex Master sums up the UK way of doing things. Spanish ATC is not alone in having attacks made on their conditions or having management try to beat them over the head. They only have it at a greater degree, for now.
Look in this Forum over the years and see how NATS staff have had numerous battles to fight. Battles on pensions, pay, new equipment ..... The lists are long. The workforce fight these issues, sometimes winning, but often losing. But, regardless of the battle, we never ever bring the problems on to the controlling position. We don't provide any less of a service, or do only what we have to when controlling. If you claim to be a professional, then that is the only way to behave. We save our fighting energy for where it belongs, that is engaging management and political bodies, primarily through our elected union representatives.
I hope Akhorahill's post has lost something in translation and they have been misunderstood. If however they really do operate that way, withholding flight safety information and making no effort to ensure an efficient ATC operation, because they are pissed off with their situation, then they are dangerous and should not be classed as fit for duty. In that case, please report for your duties as normal but tell your management that you don't feel mentally fit enough for operational sector duties. You may prevent an avoidable incident or accident, and that, my friend, is showing real professionalism. Your customers pay for, and expect, nothing less.
Look in this Forum over the years and see how NATS staff have had numerous battles to fight. Battles on pensions, pay, new equipment ..... The lists are long. The workforce fight these issues, sometimes winning, but often losing. But, regardless of the battle, we never ever bring the problems on to the controlling position. We don't provide any less of a service, or do only what we have to when controlling. If you claim to be a professional, then that is the only way to behave. We save our fighting energy for where it belongs, that is engaging management and political bodies, primarily through our elected union representatives.
I hope Akhorahill's post has lost something in translation and they have been misunderstood. If however they really do operate that way, withholding flight safety information and making no effort to ensure an efficient ATC operation, because they are pissed off with their situation, then they are dangerous and should not be classed as fit for duty. In that case, please report for your duties as normal but tell your management that you don't feel mentally fit enough for operational sector duties. You may prevent an avoidable incident or accident, and that, my friend, is showing real professionalism. Your customers pay for, and expect, nothing less.
