Capt_Mainwaring Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 How many ATC are used in a day over here, is it just the two shifts? And are tower and ground separate responsibilities i.e. are there two controllers on at all times? What about a supervisor or is that not required for a small airport? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmanxpilot Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 3 minutes ago, WTF said: i agree with the more staff, but the bean counters have spoken. It all depends on how much value those in power put on connectivity. A lot of the current issues could be avoided with appropriate investment in the material and manpower resources available at Ronaldsway. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asitis Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 2 hours ago, madmanxpilot said: It all depends on how much value those in power put on connectivity. A lot of the current issues could be avoided with appropriate investment in the material and manpower resources available at Ronaldsway. I sincerely hope the new director comes with a view to running an airport, not to further his CV or develop things in order to do so ! That has been the nub of the issue we have had senior management who didn't want to run an airport, or it wouldn't be in the state it currently is ! 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerremonside Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 13 hours ago, Capt_Mainwaring said: How many ATC are used in a day over here, is it just the two shifts? And are tower and ground separate responsibilities i.e. are there two controllers on at all times? What about a supervisor or is that not required for a small airport? To correctly man the ATC unit, there should be 6 minimum used per day. Ideally to provide cover to complete required administration, training and to cover any incidents safely, there should also be a Supervisor to provide this as well. So the correct Manning would be 8 per day. Currently, due to staff shortage, the ATC unit at Ronaldsway are getting by with 5. This results in regular closures of the approach radar function, and occasional need to close the airport to allow legally enforced breaks to be taken. These are required by legislation both in the UK and under the islands own CAA legislation which is dictated by the IOM CAA policy in their document CP11. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowman Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 there is indeed a shortage. in fact there's an industry shortage. that's why, rightly or wrongly, airports are investigating options for remote atc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Mexico Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 14 hours ago, WTF said: i agree with the more staff, but the bean counters have spoken. Actually there's very little counting that seems to go on and the only beans involved are the magic ones that get acquired at great cost and frequent intervals, are promised to be an instant solution, but usually fail to sprout. One of the things that came out in the York Aviation report was the extraordinary lack of financial information there was about how the Airport operated and indeed government in general. There was no attempt to allocate costs either within or across Departments for shared services such as HR and GTS for example. I doubt it's improved since 2018. If a decision was taken to not recruit enough staff, it's more likely because they couldn't be bothered than any financial constraint. It certainly doesn't seem to have stopped CS numbers going up in general. A shortage of ATC staff is a worldwide problem (when I googled the first news items I found were from Florida, Poland and Australia) and that seems to be pre-Covid. As ever there seems to have been a religious faith that the 'market would provide' and as ever it hasn't. But that's no reason not to try to recruit and train. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Mainwaring Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 2 hours ago, gerremonside said: To correctly man the ATC unit, there should be 6 minimum used per day. Ideally to provide cover to complete required administration, training and to cover any incidents safely, there should also be a Supervisor to provide this as well. So the correct Manning would be 8 per day. Currently, due to staff shortage, the ATC unit at Ronaldsway are getting by with 5. This results in regular closures of the approach radar function, and occasional need to close the airport to allow legally enforced breaks to be taken. These are required by legislation both in the UK and under the islands own CAA legislation which is dictated by the IOM CAA policy in their document CP11. Thank you for a comprehensive reply! Indeed we are understaffed then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 53 minutes ago, snowman said: there is indeed a shortage. in fact there's an industry shortage. that's why, rightly or wrongly, airports are investigating options for remote atc Remote control is where the future lies. Let's hope that this is on Chris Thomas' radar (pun intended). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-lane Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Andy Onchan said: Remote control is where the future lies. Let's hope that this is on Chris Thomas' radar (pun intended). https://www.airport-technology.com/analysis/remote-atc-towers/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Two-lane said: https://www.airport-technology.com/analysis/remote-atc-towers/ Indeed. But it will happen, only a case of when. The same with pilotless aircraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 So it was Iom airport that couldn’t open late so Gatwick cancelled https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/airport-couldnt-accommodate-late-flight-due-to-staffing-constraints/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Mainwaring Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 52 minutes ago, Banker said: So it was Iom airport that couldn’t open late so Gatwick cancelled https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/airport-couldnt-accommodate-late-flight-due-to-staffing-constraints/ But the underlying issue is still easyJet isn't it? The communication sounds poor, from the detail in the article. Airports closing is not just isolated to here, I've been stuck in London on the way to Jersey because of a late running inbound flight and the runway being closed by the time we would have got to Jersey. That's the risk you run with late evening flights to regional airports I guess, especially with low cost airlines. In this case if people had been told mid afternoon they would have had time to think about alternatives or find accommodation at a decent hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Voice of Reason Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 11 hours ago, snowman said: there is indeed a shortage. in fact there's an industry shortage. that's why, rightly or wrongly, airports are investigating options for remote atc What about all those people on EE mobile phone contracts? They could do it from their homes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finlo Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Just now, The Voice of Reason said: What about all those people on EE mobile phone contracts? They could do it from their homes. Could even get Kev Bacon round! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 1 hour ago, The Voice of Reason said: What about all those people on EE mobile phone contracts? They could do it from their homes. Only in Cambridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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