Airport.

[Hairy Poppins]

Maybe we could just sign ATC over to a benevolent AI? 

In fact we could sign the entire Government over to AI and be done with it.

[Lxxx]

52 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

It's expensive. That's why it's not really been taken up. At the moment it's seller's market for the software, another couple of software providers might bring the price down.

Remote ATC operations will come to IOM and the HIAL, eventually. There'll be no other choice. As I suggested on a another topic IOM could position itself as the place where Remote ATC could be based. That would, of course, require an absolutely iron cast IT infrastructure.... which, despite what MT and IOMG say, doesn't exist!

The island should be positioning itself as a remote provider of services for a whole number of industries. If they had the foresight to employ people in the Starship Enterprise with the requisite skills and experience to think outside it's very limited box. 

[mad_manx]

1 hour ago, Steve_Christian said:

This has happened to me once - with BA on approach to Bologna. The visibility was very poor so they were landing on pure ILS with no visual of the runway at all. They stressed that phones can interfere with this system and stressed the importance of having phones all turned off. But they didn’t come round to check. I’m also a frequent flyer and it’s the only time it’s happened to me. 

I have seen this on landing  but in my case it was for take off... That's why I found it weird. 

The crew did explain about interference with instruments etc as the reason for asking us to do it ..

[WTF]

1 hour ago, mad_manx said:

I have seen this on landing  but in my case it was for take off... That's why I found it weird. 

The crew did explain about interference with instruments etc as the reason for asking us to do it ..

smells of bullshit.

[Ringy Rose]

20 hours ago, Derek Flint said:

get that, but they manage it for other places.

The only one in the UK is London City. Cobb tried to get it going with HIAL, but everyone objected and he eventually had to back down and run away to Ronaldsway with his tail between his legs.

And London City certainly isn’t without weather-related issues, some of which are made worse by the remote tower.

 There’s also the fact that London City has a decent back up if the remote link breaks. Swanwick is only an hour away and so ATC can be on site if needed.

If our link broke we’d be knackered until the engineers and ATC could get here on the ferry.

[gerremonside]

4 hours ago, Ringy Rose said:

The only one in the UK is London City. Cobb tried to get it going with HIAL, but everyone objected and he eventually had to back down and run away to Ronaldsway with his tail between his legs.

And London City certainly isn’t without weather-related issues, some of which are made worse by the remote tower.

 There’s also the fact that London City has a decent back up if the remote link breaks. Swanwick is only an hour away and so ATC can be on site if needed.

If our link broke we’d be knackered until the engineers and ATC could get here on the ferry.

And don't forget LCY is doing just Tower or "runway" movements, not maintaining a service out to 40 miles as is the case with the Approach unit here. 
Doncaster approach was done by Liverpool but mainly only because the same group owned both airports, and again provided service only very close to the Airport. The downsides were coped with for both of the above reasons. 
The area around the IoM has many intricacies which it's really important that a controller knows well in oder to provide a safe and efficient service, I think if you ask any pilot who operates regularly here they'd favour a controller with local knowledge any day. 

Edited August 28 by gerremonside

[Derek Flint]

20 hours ago, Two-lane said:

All this stuff about the airport being controlled by an AI robot on the far side of the planet via ultra-high-speed optical networks is very impressive, and will no doubt put the IoM on the world map, but:

1. What problem are you trying to solve?

2. What created that problem?

Not enough air traffic controllers

And

Not enough air traffic controllers

10 hours ago, gerremonside said:

And don't forget LCY is doing just Tower or "runway" movements, not maintaining a service out to 40 miles as is the case with the Approach unit here. 
Doncaster approach was done by Liverpool but mainly only because the same group owned both airports, and again provided service only very close to the Airport. The downsides were coped with for both of the above reasons. 
The area around the IoM has many intricacies which it's really important that a controller knows well in oder to provide a safe and efficient service, I think if you ask any pilot who operates regularly here they'd favour a controller with local knowledge any day. 

I'm sure there's a solution in all this somewhere. We just seem to be looking at one solution in an increasingly tight market for staff.

[Molly Coddle]

40 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

Not enough air traffic controllers

And

Not enough air traffic controllers

I'm sure there's a solution in all this somewhere. We just seem to be looking at one solution in an increasingly tight market for staff.

But this doesn't explain why we're losing the ATCs we already have?  It doesn't matter how many are recruited if we can't keep them.

[GreyWolf]

A pilot who I have no reason to doubt has told me the major part of the problem is the chap in charge. Julian has mentioned him on the mannin line yesterday. ATC does have a shortages everywhere  but that doesn’t explain how many have we lost and why, since the new chaps been in charge.

Edited August 29 by GreyWolf

[asitis]

3 minutes ago, GreyWolf said:

A pilot who I have no reason to doubt has told me the major part of the problem is the chap in charge. Julian has mentioned him on the mannin line yesterday. ATC does have a shortages everywhere  but that doesn’t explain how many have we lost and why since the new chaps been in charge.

The largest grey land mammal has just entered the room !

[madmanxpilot]

25 minutes ago, GreyWolf said:

A pilot who I have no reason to doubt has told me the major part of the problem is the chap in charge. Julian has mentioned him on the mannin line yesterday. ATC does have a shortages everywhere  but that doesn’t explain how many have we lost and why since the new chaps been in charge.

It’s not just controller woes.

It seems decisions are often made without consideration or understanding of  the subsequent consequences. The unnecessary closure of runway 21 for an extended period led to the inability to land in strong southerly winds and the unwarranted withdrawal of the DME during the recent ILS replacement meant the landing minima was much higher than it needed to be. Both led to multiple cancellations and delays which were totally avoidable.

Also, ask the local general aviation pilots with aircraft based at Ronaldsway how decisions that have been made by the HoATS have affected their ability to use their aircraft at night and in low cloud/ visibility conditions.

 

Edited August 29 by madmanxpilot

[Astiast1ve]

The expansion plan for Ronaldsway sounds interesting, especially with the widening of the runways. If the construction is completed by November, it could potentially mean more airlines and flights to choose from, which might open up new opportunities for travelers, including those looking for better deals or specific routes.

For anyone who's been frustrated with limited options or high prices, this could be a game-changer. Speaking of deals, if you're flying out of Ronaldsway, it's worth checking out cheap business class tickets. Sometimes, when airports expand or update their facilities, it brings in more competition among airlines, which can lead to better prices even for premium seats.

Edited September 3 by Astiast1ve

[lfc84]

16 minutes ago, Astiast1ve said:

The expansion plan for Ronaldsway sounds interesting, especially with the widening of the runways. If the construction is completed by November, it could potentially mean more airlines and flights to choose from, which might open up new opportunities for travelers, including those looking for better deals or specific routes.

source?

[madmanxpilot]

20 minutes ago, Astiast1ve said:

The expansion plan for Ronaldsway sounds interesting, especially with the widening of the runways. If the construction is completed by November, it could potentially mean more airlines and flights to choose from, which might open up new opportunities for travelers, including those looking for better deals or specific routes.

The main runway at Ronaldsway is 46 metres wide, Tthat is 1 metre wider than both runways at Manchester.  
 

I’m not sure what plans you are looking at, but they seem to be a bit out of date. The runway extensions at Ronaldsway were widened (unnecessarily) from 30 metres to 46 metres a couple of years ago.

[WTF]

1 hour ago, lfc84 said:

source?

their arse