Breaking news - Major NATS project opens on time.....
 

Congratulations

Hotel Swanwick - the enhanced rest facility for ATCO's is open!

Yipee

More comfortable than the previous rest facilities, pity the air conditioning was so loud...

Wasn't aware anybody worked nights at Swanwick, or is the facility for the benefit of the day staff left who actually have to stay for their rostered hours:\

What are you talking about?

To NOTARED

This response is along the lines of the Facilities Manager at Swanwick asking why night shift staff need to sleep on night shifts as his cleaning staff certainly didn't need to! I'm assuming (although we are tought in air traffic not to assume) this individual and NOTARED have never had to be responsible for peoples lives at 0400 without adequate sleep working the Eastbound rush. Making snide comments about night shift workers wanting comfortable rest facilities to enable them to carry out their job as safely as they can is pathetic. I would invite any "DAY" worker to sit in an ops room or tower for 1 night shift and see how they feel at home time. Driving home is a challenge most of the time let alone having been working busy traffic (nb: most airlines first rotations are still worked by the night shift) first before that. I'm not an ATCO but have sat next to them on nights for last 9 years and have struggled to stay awake myself on many occasion so I can only sympathise with anyone wanting to get their head down on a break on something other than a manky fold down chair

You're the man, notared!! Well said. None of us at Swanwick work nights. But God only knows what I was doing in the ops room the last two nights and why I had to sleep until noon today and yesterday. Any ideas?

But keep up the good work, notared. It's people like you that keep this country great!!

Remember, if your aircraft experiences an emergency at 2am, you had better hope that the sleeping controllers have Vodafone mobile phones, otherwise they'll be fast asleep whilst the controller on duty deals with everything him/herself! :E

Steady Scuzi ... it sure ain't gonna involve a Heathrow controller :8:E

Had the pleasure of staying last night....it was that good I have booked again for tonight.:}
I particularly enjoyed the OPNOT that was put out as guide for use of the ERF...thank you for wasting 4 pages on telling me how to use a bed and a light switch...this company knows no bounds when it comes to wasting peoples's time and money.

I too enjoyed my stay in swanwick towers. couldnt find my way out this morning though. one corridor and i got lost.
A/C was good and easily adjustable.
best thing to hit nats since mode s.

Its a very nice facility, but the walls are a little thin and im not a fan of hearing my colleagues take a piss in the marble clad restroom whilst im trying to count sheep.... it just feels a little wrong.
I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts, as no doubt it will be taken away from us in the next pay deal and renamed ' (insert CEO's name) tactical and security debriefing bunker' housing some of the most sinister senior managers so they can rest their bleary eyes and tired brains from brainstorming how to take the company to the wall.
Oh, and theres no where to keep my sandwiches.

Wot's this then. Can you elaborate please for the benefit of your very curious Irish colleagues :suspect:.

They give you accomadation on night duties??. I can imagine that this is better than a 'manky old fold down bed' but that's pure luxury for us.

We have 4 in total for 23+ controllers each night. All those that dont fit on the 4 fold down beds end up sleeping on lie-lows in the shower room floors, dirty office floors that have had hundreds of people walking on them and even the floor of the jacks. I kid you not.

We have zero facilities for night staff to get their head down (major safety factor as pointed before) but then maybe thats because OFFICIALLY any head down time is denied.

The crazy thing is this-when we spent 40 million on our new building the original plans had night accom/quarters for the staff. Then some idiot noticed that in plans and decided to do away with it. As a result we spend our down time on nights on any office,shower or toilet floor that we can find. Add to that floors of corridors, storage rooms,filing rooms phtocopier rooms and you start to get the picture

Great way to treat your money-earning staff. The airport fire crew up the road dont have to do that.

Anyway well wear on the new digs and go on tell us about the butler staff rumour has it ye have!

How long before we lose our rooms to visitors that NATS can't afford or aren't important enough to be put in a hotel any more?

24 room two story block with toilet and shower facilities on each floor, lockable individual a/c controlled rooms with ridiculously noisey silent close doors fitted at every opportunity.

4 years late - nothing new here then, total cost approx £1.2 million, £200,000 over budget - nothing new here then, not fit for purpose as too noisy - nothing new here then!!

Part of a pay deal many years ago that has only just been completed, certain highly paid , fast car owning individuals didn't think it should be built!!:mad:

Well I checked in for a couple of nights and found it not bad at all :D.

Agree that for new aircon units they are bloody noisy. Hell, the one in my room was clearly out of balance 'ticking' against its housing :(.

Would have been nice to have had some sort of clock/alarm system though.

Overall though, top marks!!


Spamcan

what a muppet

KingLouis

far be it for me to spring to Zookers' defence, but why is he a muppet? I did exactly what he suggests a week ago, and slept like a baby.

Even simpler, leave the key fob out of the slot that controls the a/c.