Swiss Cheese ASA Style
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Location: Alabama, then Wyoming, then Idaho and now staying with Kharon on Styx houseboat
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The current culture came from the top i.e. Greg Russell.
Lots of promises to the front line staff and feigned shock at the lack of availability of leave, career progression, staff planning, age profile, etc.
Guts the training area, dubious appointments/promotions followed by departures to pursue other opportunities. TFN is then pushed out the door following Credit Card issues.
What people did he appoint? What management structure did he put in place?
Lots of promises to the front line staff and feigned shock at the lack of availability of leave, career progression, staff planning, age profile, etc.
Guts the training area, dubious appointments/promotions followed by departures to pursue other opportunities. TFN is then pushed out the door following Credit Card issues.
What people did he appoint? What management structure did he put in place?
Profitable skies for all
Last edited by gobbledock; 10th Dec 2012 at 10:58.
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CDM tail-chasing
Meanwhile, Europe looks to move beyond a CTOT-based ground delay management system and focus instead on TTAs.
FAIR STREAM: Common approach to increase flight efficiency
Are we world class? Or simply buying last decade's technology?
FAIR STREAM: Common approach to increase flight efficiency
Are we world class? Or simply buying last decade's technology?
Robovic is about right - CEO's have no more than a year to make their mark on a business or they are finished.
What worries me is that Stalb sounds like a rule following bureaucrat - not a leader, if what "Gentle flyer" reports is correct.
"Transform the Business"/ "business transformation", or "transforming" anything at all are plain and simple wank words that are giant waving glowing red flags to professionals that the manager has no idea what they are talking about and has been sold a load of coblers.
The fundamentals of a business are the fundamentals of the busines and they cannot and will not be transformed no matter how many high priced consultants tell you otherwise and I have sat on both sides of the table with that caper, so lets hope Stalb has been misreported.
Facts are stubborn things and will not transform, and I think I understand that ATC requires sufficient trained bums on seats to do the job and all else is unimportant bull****.
The second very large warning sign is the suggestion (if true) that some piece of software (metron?) is going to be relied on to do the transforming and that once this system is working all problems will magically be transformed away. That never, ever happens.
This idea - that once our software is delivered all will be well, is a crutch I've seen managers use time and again and it never ends well. Managers are either too scared to confront, or don't understand the real problem, so a little wishful thinking and the ever present software salesman convinces the manager that a computer system will solve all their problems without personal pain - and they never deliver.
Of course the manager finally leaves, blaming the software and staff for having failed them.
The issue that needs to be confronted, if Pprune posts are anything to go by, is that the economic concept of ATC/AsA as a "profit centre" that must generate a "dividend" to government is deeply and fatally flawed.
Until that mindset is removed then the situation and performance will get progressively worse, and that will continue until sufficient people have paid with their lives to convince Government that this experiment has failed and must be terminated.
What worries me is that Stalb sounds like a rule following bureaucrat - not a leader, if what "Gentle flyer" reports is correct.
"Transform the Business"/ "business transformation", or "transforming" anything at all are plain and simple wank words that are giant waving glowing red flags to professionals that the manager has no idea what they are talking about and has been sold a load of coblers.
The fundamentals of a business are the fundamentals of the busines and they cannot and will not be transformed no matter how many high priced consultants tell you otherwise and I have sat on both sides of the table with that caper, so lets hope Stalb has been misreported.
Facts are stubborn things and will not transform, and I think I understand that ATC requires sufficient trained bums on seats to do the job and all else is unimportant bull****.
The second very large warning sign is the suggestion (if true) that some piece of software (metron?) is going to be relied on to do the transforming and that once this system is working all problems will magically be transformed away. That never, ever happens.
This idea - that once our software is delivered all will be well, is a crutch I've seen managers use time and again and it never ends well. Managers are either too scared to confront, or don't understand the real problem, so a little wishful thinking and the ever present software salesman convinces the manager that a computer system will solve all their problems without personal pain - and they never deliver.
Of course the manager finally leaves, blaming the software and staff for having failed them.
The issue that needs to be confronted, if Pprune posts are anything to go by, is that the economic concept of ATC/AsA as a "profit centre" that must generate a "dividend" to government is deeply and fatally flawed.
Until that mindset is removed then the situation and performance will get progressively worse, and that will continue until sufficient people have paid with their lives to convince Government that this experiment has failed and must be terminated.
Last edited by Sunfish; 10th Dec 2012 at 21:14.
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METRON is a (mainly) red herring in terms of this discussion. It's already up and running, and does a job that needs to be done (how well it does it is another discussion).
TFN buying METRON, quitting and then being employed by METRON stinks, but sadly is hardly unusual in business.
I aslo disagree that ASA and the RAAF using the same system makes no difference. When Pearce ATC went over to TAATS, our workload dropped significantly. Unfortunately, the rise in traffic levels quickly outstripped the efficiencies we gained.
Even running ASA at a profit doesn't have to have a safety impact. If done properly it would just mean airlines paying too much. Just like an airline, a firm competent regulator backed by an expert investigator would set hard limits and requirements based on science and logic, and enforce them. Oh, wait...
I think the problem we had was who was running the show. The two focuses seemed to be stamping his personality and cutting costs. On present form his replacement seems to be a 'just coast along' type.
If I could change anything at ASA it would be scrap SDE and the fantasy of generic ratings, and replace ALM's with rated supervisors.
TFN buying METRON, quitting and then being employed by METRON stinks, but sadly is hardly unusual in business.
I aslo disagree that ASA and the RAAF using the same system makes no difference. When Pearce ATC went over to TAATS, our workload dropped significantly. Unfortunately, the rise in traffic levels quickly outstripped the efficiencies we gained.
Even running ASA at a profit doesn't have to have a safety impact. If done properly it would just mean airlines paying too much. Just like an airline, a firm competent regulator backed by an expert investigator would set hard limits and requirements based on science and logic, and enforce them. Oh, wait...
I think the problem we had was who was running the show. The two focuses seemed to be stamping his personality and cutting costs. On present form his replacement seems to be a 'just coast along' type.
If I could change anything at ASA it would be scrap SDE and the fantasy of generic ratings, and replace ALM's with rated supervisors.
Last edited by Nautilus Blue; 11th Dec 2012 at 04:02.
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Interesting to hear on the grapevine that AFS are apparently looking at a Joint User, 1 TCU, 2 Centre model for 2017. I thought that was attempted about 8 management 'cycles' ago....Anyone for maybe Nambour?? 
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The tautological wheel!
Interesting to hear on the grapevine that AFS are apparently looking at a Joint User, 1 TCU, 2 Centre model for 2017. I thought that was attempted about 8 management 'cycles' ago....Anyone for maybe Nambour??
Last edited by gobbledock; 11th Dec 2012 at 05:02.
Nunc est bibendum
Ground delays in the form of 'gate hold' works well until you run out of gates to park arriving aircraft. What we lack in Australia is a 'time out' area where we can tow scheduled departing aircraft to sit and wait for a start time and thus free up the gates for arriving aircraft. The pond in Sydney is about the only obvious place but there are no procedures in place to use it as a gate hold.
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Smoke and perhaps flames.
While it is good to see media reports about how concerned the airlines are with air traffic control delays at Sydney Airport this Christmas, the real story is the dangers posed to travellers by a badly run, dishonest and unsafe system that is a serious and immediate threat to public safety. Ben Sandilands – Plane Talking.
Last edited by Kharon; 12th Dec 2012 at 21:02. Reason: I ONLY said HOPE.
