Ten years on the job
Ten years on the job! I can say that the first ten years passed quickly but on occasion time seemed to be crawling. Under the previous protocols, someone with a 10 year old license would have already made it to approach control. I read somewhere not so long ago that hires in the “beat generation” in the 60s and 70s became tower controllers almost off the street and approach controllers after a mere five years. This was considered normal back then. Work in the old tower coupled to low traffic did not demand a lot of professional skill. In that system it was logical to have the beginners start in the tower and then get promoted to approach control.
Things changed with the new tower, after all, the area of the airport increased threefold with all that this entailed. Traffic had to be organized across many more taxiways and operating two runways also required more concentration and experience. This was also the reason why it looked like a good idea for the approach controllers to come out to the tower one by one for a stint of a few months. As I mentioned before, this idyllic state of affairs did not last long and the old practice of promoting tower controllers with the most experience to become approach controllers with no reverse flow of any kind continued. Unfortunately the tower complement did not get new hires either so our numbers shrunk while those of the approach unit swelled. This meant of course that after a time we could no longer be “promoted” as the approach control unit had more than enough controllers and with no reverse flow, the average age of the tower controllers started to climb inexorably. We were getting old… This had the consequence that soon controllers in the tower were no longer just bright young titans, we too matured into ripe stingrays with muddy eyes. The relationship between the two units also changed. We, tower people no longer took the abuse lying down that was regularly meted out by the approach controllers and through many confrontations we forced them to accept our unit as their equal.
Not long after my 10 year anniversary I got promoted to deputy shift supervisor. This brought an important change in my life as from then on I had to sit quite often in the supervisor position, checking on the traffic and my colleagues. At first I liked this setup, being able to see the totality of the airport’s operation but this meant less time with the microphone actually working traffic. I started missing the “real stuff”. But there was no way back, I had to adapt and work both sides of the equation.
After ten years of placid waters, finally we got a complement of new bodies. They needed qualified trainers, so a few of us got new “trainer” endorsements in our license. This was the beginning of the slumber era. The trainee controller was wrestling with the traffic while his trainer, with headset and all, was slumbering alongside. If the trainee did or said something wrong, I hit him on the head and then we discussed what the issue was. Thereafter back to slumber until the two hour shift was up. I liked being a trainer, I liked the kids and we celebrated together when they got their spanking new license.
Talking about training, I must mention also the simulator. When we were on the training course, this took the form of a model of the airport and its surroundings and the instructors were moving paper aircraft along the tracks, some slower some faster, depending on the individual’s disposition. Some instructors seemed to have a preference for making life difficult for the trainees rather then training them… Some went so far as to light a cigarette and with the same movement set one of the paper aircraft on fire… then laughing loud at his own joke, he would urge the trainee: Now solve this! I would not wish those kinds of instructors to my worst enemies… except for themselves perhaps, they would deserve themselves.
We too started training the young guys on this old model setup but not long after, computer technology entered also the world of the simulator. We treated our trainees in a much more humane manner than was our fate years earlier and the relationship between instructors
and trainees was really good, much better then what we had the bad fortune to experience.
In 1997, that is with a delay of more than ten years, upper management finally realized that the situation had become untenable. There were so many things related to the tower that had to be done, it could no longer be handled with remote control. So we arrived at the first competition for the job of Tower Chief. I did have a few sleepless nights because of that. Although I had a pretty good idea of the tasks that I would need to carry out, I did not feel sufficient strength to be the boss.
Since I was going through a difficult period in my private life at the time, I passed on the opportunity…
I have no idea how many people applied, but in the end it was MK, my friend and former school mate who was the winner. There is no doubt that he was the best possible choice on the basis of his professional competence and experience. His approach to things was essentially the same as mine, so I did not have any regrets for not having tried my luck in the competition.
This was the start of a new era in the life of the tower, filled with optimism and expectations.