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GMX
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Do the "old farts" have to learn something or did you mean something else? The "old farts" taught me 20 years ago, but I'm viewed as an "old fart" now.
If there was new, better equipment I'm sure it would be easier, right? I'd be down with that, but unfortunately there isn't new stuff so we have to teach on what we have. So ultimately, new guys have to learn what's there. It's not the "old farts" fault. I teach what I learn on the same equipment because I know what's efficient with what we have.
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I mean there definitely is new equipment that the FAA doesn't implement for whatever reason because other countries use better stuff. Maybe NATCA hasn't assigned an art 114 rep to it or something idk.
Then there is equipment we have that we don't implement at certain facilities. Like why are we not all on electronic strips at this point? Even in , at least the TRACON, there really isn't a need for strips and definitely not every single strip. So that would be one where I would say people are stuck in there ways and resistant to changing.
32andBelow
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The new equipment is like driving a 2026 Honda civic. The old equipment is like driving a Honda s2000 with a standard transmission. One is a lot lore fun but still isn’t a Ferrari.
GMX
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Which one is the Ferrari? You were all 2026 Civic compared S2K. The current Civic is a Ferrari? Why is a manual bad? User control of trans is good in my opinion.
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Tbf, the vast majority of other countries have to upgrade a few towers, a couple approach controls and maybe a center. The FAA system is FAR bigger than any other countries.
And personally I don’t want electronic strips. In the approach environment I see 0 need for it and frankly when im busy the last thing I want is to be fiddling with another screen and I assume keyboard. The only major thing I want is an end to this “not your control” bs when trying to amend something so I can flash it. Should flash to whoever I tell it to flash to.
GulfBravoPapa
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Agreed. As a tracon controller I use my strips every single day. They are absolutely critical on the satellite sectors. I want to write down the four approaches my student pilots wants, the vfr's requested altitude, the priep someone gives me, the missed approach instructions, same random rarely used fixed for an approach someone requests once a year, the energency's details... etc
SquawkHijack
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I saw them introducing something like that at CFS for terminal facilities. I think there’s some truly wild stuff coming for en route as well.
When I was at TSEW, I remember talking about who tf chose the ABC keyboard because we chicken peck like a bunch of boomers on a desktop. Lead instructor (retired from PCT) said he was on the workgroup for them and they were chosen because their generation didn’t learn how to type in school… my retort was, “okay but the FDIO has been qwerty this entire time?” Dude was pissed lol.
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Writing on strips is like texting while driving.
32andBelow
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The best automation system is MEARTS and you’re not going to convince me otherwise
Soul_Controller
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QoL improvements are the last thing that a cash strapped agency will care about. So you get a qwerty keyboard and electronic strips. Can you work more airplanes with it? Are there some brilliant controllers out there that wouldn't have washed if only they had a normal keyboard?
It's a one handed keyboard.
Or send it to jdatc because he would have been a kickass president and actually ran.
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Do I hear complaints about equipment?
- Nick Daniels
To OP, this pretty much encapsulates ATC. Given a chance to complain to someone who actually wants to hear it and it results in this.
Bullet point format
- Nick Daniels
To OP, this pretty much encapsulates ATC. Given a chance to complain to someone who actually wants to hear it and it results in this.
Bullet point format
- Pay
- Grossly incompetent hiring pipeline
- Limited throughput at the academy
- Pay
- A union who, at the higher levels, is largely more interested in their position and self-service than representing the workforce
- A union who actively shuns and disparages members who are not part of the "in" club
- Grossly inadequate transfer/promotion system
- Pay
- Equipment and facilities that are falling apart
- Lack of staffing, overworked, undertrained, inability to use leave
- God awful work schedules (admittedly sometimes self imposed), made worse by above
- Pay
- Shrinking federal benefits
- "Unstable" funding leading to clusterfucks every couple years that are so predicable
- Medical standards that put health and employability in direct conflict (some movement recently on this)
- Pay
- Wildly inconsistent training standards, half-assed attempts at improving training
- Pay
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- ZSU San Juan CERAP
honestly, MEARTS is pretty capable and if we could get rid of paper strips for every single aircraft, it wouldnt be bad. We are supposed to be getting Flight plan readouts and FDIO amendments on the scope which will go a long way towards making that happen.
32andBelow
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That’s crazy you guys don’t have flight plan read out. You just mean the textual flight plan or the line?
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yep. Gotta look at the strip on the board for information not in the data block
32andBelow
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Dang that’s crazy.
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