Controller's Views on the ATM System of the Future

[ATC Watcher]

Make it one airspace, one standard and then auction of pieces to the BEST provider... Not necessarily the local one...

That I agree with , that was exactly the SES and FAB original idea. The Sovereignty and military issues killed it , just like they killed Eurocontrol plans in the 1970s. This could change in the future , when say , Gibraltar will be part of Spanish airspace and Cyprus will be under one FIR again to take only 2 examples out of many

Well any business with a ROI of over 20% and most of it guaranteed, whether they do a good job or not, is a business that a lot of people are interested to invest in!

In the east of Europe, yes, but in western Europe ? Both DFS and Skyguide made losses last year.despite an exceptional raise in traffic/revenue. and those 2 were the 2 most aggressive proponents of the free market idea, In fact both are caught in a vicious circle of having been so cost efficient that they are now facing serious capacity shortfalls, that only a massive investment and recruitment can solve , and raising route charges is probably the only way out...

[SINGAPURCANAC]

@Aso,
It is very hard to explain to opposite side. They are well numbered,strong and out of question as well.

How to explain differently,when we all know that unit rate ( and money that ANSPs generates ) are designed to cover ALL costs related to ATC bussines, at least in ECAC area?
If we need 100 atcos per year, than we have money for them. If we are short of 10 people, we have money to recruit, train and validate those 10. Among many other reasons, different unit rate is different because the price of ATCO ( or recruit,train and validate new one) is different from country to country. So there is no space to tell stories that we don't have money for new people or to employ enough qualified ATCOs.

But,
When you have ruling cast of ATM managers ( who can't loose their job for whatever reason) than you have a system that will blame everything except them.
And when I said, adjust unit rate according to performance rate, I just thought about that. Reduce management benefits if ANSP constantly are "behind traffic".
Every NM report starts with: "The biggest ATFM delay are Carlsruhe, Marseilles,Brest...)...every report. Does any manager from these units ever get be fired because of low performance? Of course, no. How the hell they could predict that they don't have enough people for incoming season ( or two,three in a row)....to ask more, or to organize job better, or to train better...

I don't know exact numbers, but I could bet (for a cocktail -somewhere in Spain) that every of these above mentioned ANSPs has 100% full all administrative and management positions but 70-80% of operational stuff (ATCOs) .

Reduce management benefits, if performance is "behind traffic". That was core of my idea.
The best benefits for best service. No other way around.

after 20+year in ATC and many year active in Union questions, I am pretty sure that "ATC stuffing issues" are just another way to say :"Raise our salaries..."

And yes, I am not idealist. I know that,
If Germany and France lead other way around -nothing will change. small ANSPs couldn't change high level political questions.

[ATC Watcher]

@ SingapurCANAC ; you do not change with age .....

there is no space to tell stories that we don't have money for new people or to employ enough qualified ATCOs.

You just forget the RPs, which are at the root cause of this , the EU mandated a fixed reduction of costs/Unit rate per year ( or Reference Periods , or RPs, for those here not aware of the EU jargon ) and that meant less posts as it was/is easier and far cheaper to downsize the workforce and rely on overtime than to recruit new staff. But fully agree with you regarding management posts filled at 100% and ops staff at 75 % . Number and costs of ATM support staff is a big problem in EUR.

Reduce management benefits, if performance is "behind traffic". That was core of my idea.

another area where we can fully agree.But You know this will never materialise. in Aviation even if you run a business down to the ground by your incompetence you still remain employed and get your bonus .But OK, same for the banks ..

I am pretty sure that "ATC stuffing issues" are just another way to say :"Raise our salaries..."

Not anymore, that as a bit used in the 80-90s , today where in the west salaries are all around 100 K/year money it is no longer the main issue, but mandatory overtime and working 10 days on 1 day off is.
And the sad part is that even if by a miracle we would lift all budget restrictions and raise the money today , it would take 5 years at least to go back to last years staff levels. Politicians driving those RPs expected new technology to reduce the number of controllers needed, the promised new technology is still not there and we have not enough staff to cater for the raise of traffic today . End of the story.