The end of 2011 is in fact the end of an epoch in the history of Hungarian air traffic control. I do not want to qualify this epoch, future generations might do that in the fullness of time. The fact remains, an important generation of controllers have retired. I call them the “beat-generation”. About 40 people have, willingly or reluctantly, chosen for retirement in 2011 mainly to avoid the consequences of the altered pension rules kicking in this year.
They were lucky in this also, like in so many things during the past 40 years. Our generation will miss out on any favorable terms of retirement, exactly because of the huge numbers in the “beat-generation” causing the strain on the State retirement fund to grow exponentially. This is why the age limit for retirement is being raised, a fact that affects our generation especially hard since the age limit is climbing in front of our very noses.
The “beat-generation” was lucky also in arriving at the airport at just the right time. With low traffic, they did not take long to learn the tricks of the trade. I have heard from them many times that they became air traffic controllers more or less by accident, they were working at the airport where they heard that aircraft could not only be flown but also controlled… Of course as time passed by, they grew with the traffic. They had another ace up their sleeves. In those decades, controllers were still a team, they knew how to stand together and protect their interests. This was the case when we came home from the ATC course in Riga after almost three years. They knew that our knowledge was superior to theirs (not only because of Riga) and they responded by simply closing ranks. At the courses held on home base they were present as instructors and they did their best to make us hate this business and to discourage us from trying to be more clever than they were.
Those of the “beat-generation” who climbed to management rank also knew how to stand fast for their interests and this was not always for the benefit for the trade itself. For instance, they can take credit for starting the process of complete separation between the tower and the approach control unit. They were too lazy to come out for a month or two to work in the tower standing in the middle of the prairie simply because it would have meant coming to the airport a half-hour early. Their mate inside management had no eye for advancing the profession and did not motivate the others to get both kinds of license qualifications. Instead, succumbing to the pressure being exerted against the rotation he “spared” his colleagues and as a result the tower/approach rotation died a slow death. Together with it went the dream of ever having European quality tower/approach control. Of course, to a large extent it was also our fault that we allowed things to degrade to this level. Our generation, the “riga folk” slowly dispersed and everyone tried to make their fortune individually. A few of them jumped ship and went over to the “beat-generation” side where they were rewarded with management positions whereupon they too promptly forgot what our business was all about.
Instead of harping on this some more, I would like to devote a few words to three colleagues who were among last year’s retirees.
First of all, HM who was one of the first female controllers. She was my instructor and trainer, this is why I am particularly partial towards her. She started her carrier in the old tower and then went on to the current biped horror working there until the end of last year. She is probably the only colleague who has never changed shifts, she has been an asset to Shift C from the start until the very end. She retired as shift supervisor.
Then there is KO who graduated in Riga a year ahead of us and I had a lot to thank him for during my initial tower period. He took me to all good things not only in the business but also in sports activities. Just as in Riga, it was his invitation that started me in football with the ATC team which led to participation in three continental tournaments. “Duck” had interesting ideas that pilots and the airport supervisors sometimes found surprising but never in a way that could have been mistaken for an incident. It was more an event for us when his name was mentioned in our favorite pub.
Finally I have to mention KV who was not an aerodrome controller but rather the ops chief of the regional airports. Poor chap, he was not very keen on office work, after all he was a pilot who flew light aircraft all his life and who kept turning up in constantly changing, odd parts of the country… sometimes as pilot, sometimes as flight information officer. His last airport was Sarmellek which closed its doors at the end of last year with KV’s departure. Knowing KV however, I do not think he will be languishing at home for very long. He has already launched on learning English properly since as a flight information officer, he only really spoke aviation English.
We took leave of all three colleagues in a café and I must admit, I do envy them.
Well, I wish them all the best. And the rest? I leave that to the future.
