I am an Air Traffic Controller at Perth Airport, the major domestic and international airport in Western Australia.

I have been in ATC since 1975. My employer is Airservices Australia, and I am represented by our union, Civil Air.

Civil Air is more a professional body rather than an industrial union, though every 3 years they have their hands full trying to negotiate our Certified Agreement. Every time it comes up for renewal, the employer is always trying to bludgeon us into a reduction of pay and conditions. Airservices are currently trying to shift line managers to the AWA (Australian Workplace Agreement) and as such are getting few applicants for the positions. They certainly are not getting the best people for the jobs due to the oppressive nature of the offered agreements.

Sadly, because of the short sighted and self serving nature of the organisation, Air Traffic Control has gone from being a career to simply being a job. If Airservices did not have a monopoly on ATC employment, they would have no staff. This is most unfortunate, as I still enjoy the work I do, but the lack of recognition and appreciation of the employer, coupled with the constant band aid approach to every small event, has made the environment in which we work most unpleasant.

As an ATC I have worked at Perth (enroute, tower, radar approach departures flow) Jandakot (a VFR tower or GAAP tower as we call it in Australia), Karratha, Sydney Tower, and a secondment to Canberra in Operations Support.

If you want to see more about the TAAATS system that we use, check out David McMillan's home page. He is a controller at Melbourne Centre.

I am currently working in the Tower at Perth. Here are a few photos of the site.

Dawn. Taken by an Airport Safety Officer from the domestic apron.

Bird's eye view, courtesy of Wings Photographics

From a distance

Closer

A view from the top