Join the military and your 'banding' depends on time served. None of this "how many tickets, how many aircraft" malarkey. :O

It seems, from some of the posts on here, that the banding ensures you get paid more at units where you have to work with more foul mouthed, ignorant, unprofessional losers?! Minority accepted!:eek:

Now before anyone shouts me down, this is a purely 'What if...?' scenario but something that crossed my mind!

With the Scottish elections coming up and it looking increasingly likely that the Scottish are going to do what we should have done a long time ago and booted Labour out of power, my question is this: IF the SNP get in, and by another quirk manage to get support for a referendum on independance which they won, how would that effect the MACC move to Prestwick?

One of the arguments that's regularly trotted out is that MACC is being 'moved to another country!' (which incidentally I don't agree with at this moment in time). However, this would be the case if Scotland were to become independant.

Now I know that the chances of the SNP getting independance are slim, and the odds of them getting it before MACC moves are slimmer still, but was just wondering hypothetically what the implications could be, if this was to happen...

Fidgell, I can definitely think of several people at MACC who fit all those criteria.

These people are everywhere in NATS I'm afraid.

Try playing football against the CTC and you'll find them there too!

Well one thing's for sure McMHK77, you'd need a Scottish passport to add to your collection, and hopefully a body cavity search by English Customs at the border! Never know where you may be secreting your stash of see you jimmy wigs!

I am not British and I don't need a British passport to work for NATS in Britain.

So why would you need a Scottish passport to work for NATS in Scotland ?

Because of EC directive P155/TA1k.

just a thought.

if a few on here complain about the banding as their traffic is increasing each year and believe it to be unfair.... do you not think that equally a band 5 units traffic increases as much?

all this about banding again... sounds like my last trm course.

W

Agreed, so there should be a band 6, put TC in there, as they are clearly the busiest and most complex unit, and they live in London (for now)

Leave AC in band 5

Who could argue with that??

I'm quite happy in band 4, so don't really give a monkies about the money, just the fairness of the formula did smart a bit.

Explain how TC are "clearly the most busiest and complex" please.

Why can't people validate on the west end if it is such a piece of p1ss?

Because they are south of Watford.Thats all that matters.:E
Band 6? Whats that then?

because.. and lets be honest here.
the training at LACC is a pile of horse s**t.

ive been on numerous visits down there and it may be busy at times, as we all are. but its just not as complex as core sectors at TC. the amount of traffic shifted in the small and restricted airspace that there is, is the main reason.

and before i get shot down here, we have plenty of colleagues here who used to be valid in enroute and will openly admit that the TMA is a hell of a lot harder.

add to that the seemingly hightened enthusiasm to chop trainees at the first hurdle at LACC might be somewhere to hitting the nail on the head.
although we have a good training record,people do fail at TC also.

we all do the same job, just that some places are harder and/or more complex than others.

if someone who had 10 movements an hour was paid the same as me, i dont think i would be to happy about it.

W

TMA is busy and complex, I agree, but it is completely different from enroute controlling so they can't really be compared I'm afraid.

I've known valid people come from TC and fail to validate in enroute so how can it be that much easier? Nothing to with the training regime either.

TC=point at each other and expedite

AC=solving conflictions within a 10 mile airway whilst traffic is almost head on at 1000knots closing speed.(not all sectors)

I've seen DTY, for example, shift 67 aircraft in an hour. Yes, maybe not overly complex, but a lot of RT and not much room to play with as at least half were coming out of the cruise so doing over 400 knots ground speed

AC get more trainees than TC pal, maybe thats why?

Plus not at the first hurdle either, most people I've been involved with got chopped at level 4 onwards so whats that?

240 hours recorded training not including presvc and "free" time.

Thats why most validate at MACC pretty quick because they've had shed loads of radar time already.

if we pointed everything at eachother... we would not stay employed very long.

true, they are 2 very different disciplines to controlling aircraft... wont argue with that. but i would say you do need a certain sort of tough skin and a big set of you know whats to keep things going in th TMA.

W

I know mate, I was valid 3 years on TC North before I was shafted and moved into AC.

I was only ribbing about pointing everything at each other by the way.

''AC get more trainees than TC pal, maybe thats why?''

maybe because you have 2 ATCO's for every position? :E

we will always agree to disagree....its the whole them and us, pre programmed id imagine. nothing personal. its like the engish and the french.

when we move down the road, hopefully sector appreciation will improve between the 2 units.

W

Who's busier and better? Oh yeah and my dad's harder than yours!!!

For :mad: sake grow up will you! Im embarrassed we have so many unprofessional folk in our midst. :*

fidgell.... chill out.

its only harmless banter that goes on in here, at work, over the phones and in the pub.

its how we get by.

W

Your not joking.

Management decided on a T and P so nothing we can do about that I'm afraid, plus our Method Of Operations forbids us from having the electronic displays open on the Tactical display so you would end up operating off two screens and isn't that what happened in Uberlingen?

I don't want to get murdered thanks!