Airport Live - BBC 2 UK - 17th June 2013
 

A behind the scenes look at Heathrow which is on for the next 4 evenings, including emphasis on ATC in tonight's episode.

Could be interesting, or could be completely cringe worthy and have a lot of spin on it.

I guess I'll have to watch it with a beer in hand and see :ok:

See: http://www.pprune.org/spectators-bal...port-live.html

Will other units be issued with NATS ATC embroidered shirts? Or is this just gloss for the beeb?

Will also be great when everyone else gets the legal requirement of no more than 1 1/2 hours in position :ok:

Some of us have it as an Enhanced relief attracting position as part of WP, but it's not a legal requirement like it seems to be at Heathrow :}

Also, someone tell the NATS guy to get his hands out of his pockets. Kate Humble will think he's fiddling with himself :O

So tomorrow the guy is "on the runway" with his bats, I hope he doesn't get run over!

And he's going to be using baseball bats apparently :cool:

"Best ATCOs in the business"!

:eek:

Very Blue Peter-ish...
I expected John Noakes and Valerie Singleton to appear...

Fair do's, he thought he'd be talking to Dan Snow but providence decreed it would be Katiebabes. You know what they say, life is short, fiddle with yer willy while you can!

I'll take a stab at 'no' and 'yes' in that order. Mind you, I'm not opposed to the company shirt idea as long as they're free. Takes the choice out of the 'what to wear. oh I'll just go dressed as a tramp' dilemma.:}

You can buy them on the Hub.
The black polo shirt is only around £12 (plus tax plus postage).

Bargain

If dear old Basil Turner could see the dress code for the VCR now, he'd have a fit, eh Bren ? Not a jacket or tie to be seen ! ;)

Aaah, the days of corduroy jackets, and the occasional blazer. Some people didn't wear ties, even then, but preferred the cravat.

Here we go again, folk thinking that dress is important. I remember when my watch, C , was featured in the Airport prog' in '98, lots of people whinging that the ATCOs weren't wearing suits - especially some of our assistants, Graham J in particular. It's how well you do the job! Not the wearing of a smelly shiney M&S suit!! Rant over!:ugh:

Well done guys and girls; even if the only one I recognised was Munawar.

Eric... You're right. Remember Doug Handley and his cape? He wouldn't clear someone for take off unless his cuffs were showing correctly. Now they go to work with their knees hanging out!

Er,no Brian - neither Loki nor I said it was important. It was simply a fact of life, at least in the early 70's, when we would have been sent home if we'd turned up for work @ LL attired as they are now.
Agreed - I have been known to work in a Chelsea FC top, back in the days when the VCR air-con was u/s ! (whether or not I was doing the job well is a matter of opinion, of course ) :p

Brian,
do not forget that 'ATCO' stands for 'Air traffic Control Officer'.

A police 'officer' will generally adhere to a dress-code, as will 'officers' in the RAF, Army and Navy.

Dress-code is an emotive subject. When i and my contemporaries joined NATS, a suit or sports jacket was obligatory. Bow-ties were often proudly worn too.
At the unit I 'retired' from, the cleaners and other support staff were often dressed more appropriately than the 'officers' they were supporting.
Not a 'rant', just merely an observation.
If NATS had provided me with a polo-shirt with the company logo emblazoned on it, would I have worn it?
Certainly, even if it lit up and flashed 'NATS', in the dark.

Uniform and dress code are different. I can't imagine a police officer wears all that stuff because he feels it is befitting of his job title, more that he's told to. I'm not sure what officer means in this context, I don't know if comparisions to actual rank structures are relevant. Lots of jobs have "officer" in the title these days and I don't think the word necessarily conveys any of the military meaning.

Oxford English dictionary definition:

Definition of officer
noun

1a person holding a position of authority, especially one with a commission, in the armed services, the mercantile marine, or on a passenger ship: he is also a serving officer in the army
a policeman or policewoman: the RUC has 8,150 full-time officers tougher sentences for attacks on police officers
a bailiff.

2a holder of a public, civil, or ecclesiastical office:a probation officer the Chief Medical Officer
a holder of a senior post in a society, company, or other organization:a chief executive officer

3a member of a certain grade in some honorary orders, such as the grade next below commander in the Order of the British Empire.

Eric T

I don't think it was unreasonable for me to draw an inference re dress from your post #11:rolleyes:

TDM

Malc I come to the same conclusion when watching Countryfile - that Geordie still talks as if he is on Blue Peter!

Zooker

You have unwittingly touched on all three of my careers ( or attempts at :uhoh: ) in your post.

Before becoming an RAF Officer I spent 2 years as a cadet, or uniformed clerk, with Surrey Police. In those far-off days uniformed coppers were never seen without their caps or helmets on for fear of a right rollocking if seen by the Sgt or Inspector, and you certainly didn't see them parked illegally outside chip shops or cashpoints! Times have changed!

In my time as a Herc' nav' you were only allowed to wear flying suits on the aircraft - I even had to change at Wake Island before going to check the Met' on a one hour stop! In my son's time flying suits were worn in the OM, ties were not mandatory in the bar etc; the RAF equivalent of Basil Turner would have been spinning in their graves. However, I'm told by an old Herc' mate of mine that even aged 66, smartly but casually dressed (as befits a former Cathay captain), he has been chewed off by a retired Air Marshal type for walking through the RAF Club tieless -' F**k Off' to him did the trick. Times have changed.

Now my CAA career - IMHO the standard and quality of controlling got better as dress standards changed, or got worse in some folks' eyes.I liked to think that scruffy me paved the way for shorts wearing etc at LL - we were not in the public eye and if it felt more comfortable to be in casual dress - so be it!:O

Mind you - as for men wearing ear rings etc Ugh!

I would have thought that, as a NATS employee you would have more important things to think about such as job security, pension, and technological advances threatening your job than whether you wear a tie or are referred to as an "officer" or not.

In the 21st Century working for NATS you are just an employee.