ATC officials not to take on extra load

Kolkata: The Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials at NSC Bose Airport Guild (Eastern region) have decided to stop “extra work” from Monday.
The ATC Guild (eastern region) took this decision in an emergency meeting held yesterday. The Guild has also informed higher officials of their decisions.
According to an ATC officials, every day about 650 aircrafts fly over Kolkata flight information region (FIR) without landing. About 270 flights fly to and from Kolkata. For every flight, 26 ATC officials have to be on duty and at least 5 officials have to work over time to monitor all these flights. Some senior officials have to impart training to fresh or junior ATC officials while doing their normal duties. According to guidelines, on every shift, at least 35 ATC officials are required to be on duty for safe monitoring of the flights.
According to the official, the extra workload is taking a toll on their health. “Any minor mistake due to overwork or fatigue may lead to a mishap," an official said.
The officials said that ideally there should be 175 ATC officials at this airport but there were only 132. Moreover, transfer orders had been issued for some of the officials despite the staff crunch here.
There have been continuous transfers of senior, experienced and rated ATC officials from this airport every year. But the replenishment has not been adequate.
15/06/08 The Statesman

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Categories: Airports Jun 2008, Safety Jun 2008