If you utter the words ”free flight” these days, a number of interesting reactions are likely. These can range from blank stares via violent reactions to sad headshaking. On one occasion somebody actually asked me.…”But you still have to pay airport taxes…?” But jokes apart, there are plenty of experts who will remember how much… Continue reading Free flight…or…Flight of Fancy?
Tag: ATCO
The Great SID/STAR Phraseology Fiasco
Most of us find the workings of ICAO pretty strange. The constant repetition of States’ sovereignty, with its assumption that they actually know what they are talking about, is quaint, rather than obviously dangerous. The glacial speed of progress, with timescales measured in years for quite minor textual changes, can be exasperating, but nothing is… Continue reading The Great SID/STAR Phraseology Fiasco
Freight dogging with TNT Airways
Sure they can…! A large majority of Air Traffic Controllers are usually busier during the day than during a nightshift. There are however a few radiotelephony callsigns which are always associated with night operations. One such call sigh is “Quality”, the official ICAO callsign of TNT Airways which sounds familiar to all ATCO-s on night… Continue reading Freight dogging with TNT Airways
The story of Alpha Mike
It was in summer of 1971 when I started training for air traffic control at the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Air Academy in Manila, Philippines. Actually, it was only the fourth time since 1957 that they accepted women in ATC training classes, the last one being in 1963. All those years, only 11 women graduated… Continue reading The story of Alpha Mike
20 October – ATCO day
The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) was founded on 20 October 1961 by 12 European national ATC associations. On its 20th anniversary on 20 October 1981 IFATCA decided to name the day “the day of the controller” and ever since member associations have celebrated 20 October as the International Day of the… Continue reading 20 October – ATCO day
20 October – ATCO day
Air traffic control centers are often far away from the airports and the sunscreen glass of the control towers (which for the time being at least tend to be on the airport…) prevents people from getting a glimpse of those inside. To pilots and vehicle drivers on the airport surface, the voices may be familiar,… Continue reading 20 October – ATCO day
Visiting an office with a view
Familiarization flight with Transavia One of the countless drawbacks of 9/11, a few of you may have realized, is that even for air traffic controllers it has become increasingly difficult to visit a cockpit of an airliner, indeed most of the airlines adopted a closed cockpit door policy. I used to take every opportunity to… Continue reading Visiting an office with a view
Are you sure it is better to fly high?
Continuing the theme of the difference between what is commonly assumed in Aviation and the facts, let’s just think about cruise altitude. Everyone knows that aircraft fly high for reasons of efficiency, not to mention community noise. But is this always right? For years I cringed as colleagues harangued controllers, insisting that they simply had… Continue reading Are you sure it is better to fly high?