ATC callsign and freq readback
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Belgium
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the radar target doesn't light up gents
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Belgium
Posts: 33
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The "bye" "hello" are milisecond differences in clearances that come automatic for the simple fact that we are humans treating with humans.
It is not the hi`s or bye`s that annoy or take my precious freq time when i work.
I control on one of the bussiest centres in europe Maastricht UAC (delta). (I am still an OJT under supervision waiting for checkout due formalities.
) What really occupies and takes away my "Precious" freq time are;
-wrong/missing or no readbacks, including the frequencies and the "FLs" cut out from the descent clearances.
-pilots not listening to the frequency or not responding. Including guys that are in my airspace but not in my frequency because they got the wrong frequency.
In order to give an idea I will try to explain how we work. It's generally two of us working on a sector; one executive controller on the frequency, one planner on the phone. Planners job is to do the coordinations with the next sectors and pass the exec conflicting traffic, and plan the traffic in general (their planned FL, etc) and coordination with the militaries. i.e. In busy situations I don't want my planner busy on the phone asking if the acft i just transferred, who did not read back the freq, is with the next ATSU, when s/he should be getting me a lower lever for a EDDL inbound or arrange parallel headings on two acft.
Especially in busy environment (one of my faults as well) people tend to speak faster with the idea of trying to save freq time. However the result is quite the opposite, pilots don't understand you and you start getting wrong readbacks that you need to get back to, resulting in more waste of time. Cutting out important words from readbacks has the same effect as the controller must go back to get the correct readback.
People get the wrong idea sometimes when they try to find solutions to problems. You need to find the real problems not necessarily the most obvious but in the end not relevant ones. Hi`s or bye`s are natural in us humans, and you constrain yourself more trying not to say it then just letting it go, how long does it take you to say "hi" anyways? I find it more important that people concentrate on more important issues, like how pilots' need to realise certain things we ask them to do/readback are not for us to satisfy our ego, but that there are reasons behind them. That guy descending to 70 instead of FL270 almost had a loss of seperation with a guy below. Certain things are critical with clearances.
As a controller I am the last person that wants to waste freq time, but i am not going to save anything cutting out from safety, safety is first, (Hi's and bye's, eventhough not safety issue, as I said before are easier and quicker said than left out). I am sure the pilots can't agree more as their life is involved in it as well.
Being professional does not mean we need to be rude, cutting out the short greetings, I believe, is also rude. It might not seem so but the freq is our working environment and like any other person we like to keep our working environment warm and friendly. We as controllers are supposed to know how to control the freq but we need cooperation and understanding from the pilots as they do from us, and 98% of the time this is so. However I do not see the benefit from cutting out hi's or bye's.
P.S. when data link(DALI/CPDLC) is totally in use it will help us a lot in freq saving. We in MUAC are testing few aspects; transfers, squawk changes, dct route clearances at the moment can be passed via DALI, most of which can also be done by the planner. In the future climb/descent/heading clearances can also be passed to be used when there is time for acknowledgement and is safe to wait for it. Now THAT's a time saver, and we will have to get rif of bye's as DALI does not use them. How ever we are still stuck with hi's as the pilots have to call in on the next freq.
It is not the hi`s or bye`s that annoy or take my precious freq time when i work.
I control on one of the bussiest centres in europe Maastricht UAC (delta). (I am still an OJT under supervision waiting for checkout due formalities.
) What really occupies and takes away my "Precious" freq time are;-wrong/missing or no readbacks, including the frequencies and the "FLs" cut out from the descent clearances.
-pilots not listening to the frequency or not responding. Including guys that are in my airspace but not in my frequency because they got the wrong frequency.
In order to give an idea I will try to explain how we work. It's generally two of us working on a sector; one executive controller on the frequency, one planner on the phone. Planners job is to do the coordinations with the next sectors and pass the exec conflicting traffic, and plan the traffic in general (their planned FL, etc) and coordination with the militaries. i.e. In busy situations I don't want my planner busy on the phone asking if the acft i just transferred, who did not read back the freq, is with the next ATSU, when s/he should be getting me a lower lever for a EDDL inbound or arrange parallel headings on two acft.
Especially in busy environment (one of my faults as well) people tend to speak faster with the idea of trying to save freq time. However the result is quite the opposite, pilots don't understand you and you start getting wrong readbacks that you need to get back to, resulting in more waste of time. Cutting out important words from readbacks has the same effect as the controller must go back to get the correct readback.
People get the wrong idea sometimes when they try to find solutions to problems. You need to find the real problems not necessarily the most obvious but in the end not relevant ones. Hi`s or bye`s are natural in us humans, and you constrain yourself more trying not to say it then just letting it go, how long does it take you to say "hi" anyways? I find it more important that people concentrate on more important issues, like how pilots' need to realise certain things we ask them to do/readback are not for us to satisfy our ego, but that there are reasons behind them. That guy descending to 70 instead of FL270 almost had a loss of seperation with a guy below. Certain things are critical with clearances.
As a controller I am the last person that wants to waste freq time, but i am not going to save anything cutting out from safety, safety is first, (Hi's and bye's, eventhough not safety issue, as I said before are easier and quicker said than left out). I am sure the pilots can't agree more as their life is involved in it as well.
Being professional does not mean we need to be rude, cutting out the short greetings, I believe, is also rude. It might not seem so but the freq is our working environment and like any other person we like to keep our working environment warm and friendly. We as controllers are supposed to know how to control the freq but we need cooperation and understanding from the pilots as they do from us, and 98% of the time this is so. However I do not see the benefit from cutting out hi's or bye's.
P.S. when data link(DALI/CPDLC) is totally in use it will help us a lot in freq saving. We in MUAC are testing few aspects; transfers, squawk changes, dct route clearances at the moment can be passed via DALI, most of which can also be done by the planner. In the future climb/descent/heading clearances can also be passed to be used when there is time for acknowledgement and is safe to wait for it. Now THAT's a time saver, and we will have to get rif of bye's as DALI does not use them. How ever we are still stuck with hi's as the pilots have to call in on the next freq.
