By Michael R. Granger
"The controller working a busy pattern told the 727 on downwind to make a three-sixty – do a complete circle, a move normally used to provide spacing between aircraft. The pilot of the 727 complained, 'Don't you know it costs us two thousand dollars to make even a one-eighty in this airplane?' Without missing a beat, the controller replied, 'Roger, give me four thousand dollars' worth.'"
"Tower: TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees.
Pilot: Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?
Tower: Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"
Those two jokes might not tickle the funny bone of many, but you can bet air traffic controllers chuckled quite a bit, in part because they are funny and perhaps, more accurately, because they are familiar. The members of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) Association of St. Maarten join thousands of their peers around the globe in dedication to a profession that many consider one of the most undervalued and unappreciated in the world. The ATCs will be the first to say truer words have never been written.
Consider for a minute the responsibility ATCs are charged with; thousands of lives in their hands daily and by extension the economy of the island; having to do their job under extreme stress levels; a skill set unmatched in most professions and, yet, they are an after thought. Let's face it, when travelling, not many think about air traffic controllers. We think about making our flight, getting a window seat, and getting out of the airport as quickly as possible.
The task of ensuring safe operations of commercial and private aircraft falls on air traffic controllers. They must coordinate the movements of thousands of aircraft, keep them at safe distances from each other, direct them during takeoff and landing, direct them around bad weather and ensure that traffic flows smoothly with minimal delays.
Up until 2004, St. Maarten's controllers impressed the most senior of pilots with their aircraft handling skills without radar. Pilots were known to be shocked upon visiting the tower and realizing there wasn't any radar. So radar or no radar, the airport's ATCs can function and do so at the highest levels.
"Our function is to conduct a safe, orderly and expeditious flow of traffic," says Duncan van Heyningen, Vice President of the Association and a 17-year veteran ATC. "Executing safe operations is the priority," added the President Aurillio Baly, a 15-year veteran ATC.
Including themselves, the two senior ATCs lead an association of 24 controllers at Princess Juliana International Airport. The association in its current form has been in existence for about two years. In its previous structure, the association was more of a social body for the controllers. After leaving the ABVO union, Van Heyningen, Baly and others transformed the association and gave it legal power to, among other things, act as a union and negotiate on behalf of the controllers.
Eight of the 24 are qualified in radar approach and tower departments and provide ground, clearance delivery, tower and approach all in one. Their skills and knowledge, as evidenced by commendations from pilots and function upgrading, are tops in the Caribbean.
The volume of traffic they handle, with PJIA being the second busiest airport in the region (second only to San Juan), keeps controllers on a high operational standard, especially in terms of working with one runway and limited airspace in which they have to space air traffic.
In a conversation that lasted for about an hour with Van Heyningen and Baly, their technical knowledge was superior, the love for their job unquestioned and, although they preferred not to delve into it at this point in time, their frustration at PJIA is simmering just under the surface.
Starting out
As many boys do, both Van Heyningen and Baly dreamt of flying. Sitting in a captain's chair, feet on the pedals, a firm grip of the yoke, travelling all over the world and facing varying aerial challenges are all part of the appeal of wanting to become a pilot. For both gentlemen, however, that dream wasn't meant to be, so they settled on the closest and next best thing.
"When I was in school, I wanted to be a pilot but that opportunity didn't present itself. So one day in discussion about a career change with a friend (Aramis Halley) with whom I worked at Modern Business Machines, he encouraged me to apply at the airport. So he arranged an interview with Jan Brown, who is still Director of Air Traffic Services today. I was hired soon thereafter. The aviation world was always intriguing to me so I thought if I can't fly, let's do the next best thing. And the rest is history since 1993," Van Heyningen said.
For Baly, ATC operations were like a drug, it got into his bloodstream. "I worked at the airport as an intern in accounting while attending St. Maarten Academy. During my lunch break, I would go up in the tower and I've been there since 1995. I tell the young guys today that when you hear the "talk" in the tower, that stuff gets in your blood. I love to plug in and feel that adrenaline. If you ask the controllers, they will tell you their adrenaline only really pumps when we have like 10 or 12 planes to handle," Baly said.
They noted that, compared to other jobs, a majority of people who become ATCs stays in the profession. Some start off a little rough, others choose to further studies, but most grow to love the profession.
All controllers, no matter their background or reasons for choosing the profession grow to understand that their job description is fairly simple: control air traffic on and within the vicinity of the airport and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centres according to established procedures and policies. Authorize, regulate, and control commercial airline flights according to government or company regulations to expedite and ensure flight safety.
Stress
The controllers work in three shifts of seven hours, manageable, but burdened by several nagging issues that increase the stress level of an already stressful job. "We are dealing with thousands of lives each day and, besides the nature of the job itself, there are other surrounding issues that add to the stress. For example, when equipment fails or a critical phone line goes down in the high season – a phone line that we use to coordinate with San Juan, Antigua and St. Kitts – these kinds of things put extra strain on people," Van Heyningen said.
Although he did not comment on it, you got the impression that these nagging problems, and more, occur more frequently than controllers care for. Baly added that St. Maarten's airport has to keep up to pace with the rest of the world. "The rest of the world is upgrading. We have new flights coming in and all of that is fine, but we have to go with the times. We know we can't move Cole Bay hill, but configurations (with the runway) can change. Yes, we're doing the RESA (Runway End Safety Area), but within that you also have to consider the controllers. When we go on courses, we can't apply what we learn because we are shut out," he said.
And what about the stress of the worst case scenario involving aircraft? Baly and Van Heyningen said any controller who says he doesn't have that fear on occasion, is lying. Their training and confidence in their skills, however, ensure that this sort of scenario isn't thought about as much as people would think.
"In the beginning, I used to look at how many people were on every plane. Over the years, the planes have become a blip on the screen. It is my job to get this blip from this point to that point safely and in the least amount of time. That's it," Van Heyningen said. "I've witnessed belly up landings, planes that ditched in the sea. All these things play in the back of your mind. But it's your job and you are taught how to deal with emergency situations. Everybody experiences fear, but you trust in each other's ability," he said.
Adding to some of the woes is the fact that ATC operations have been short staffed for the last five years, and, it is understood, this wasn't because of a lack of applications submitted at PJIA. "As ATC we can do a better job at recruitment. Curaçao for example went on a recruitment drive where they ran two courses simultaneously. Right now we are covered, but we have no room for sick leave and vacation," Baly said.
They continue to take part in career days at various schools and the like, but, says Van Heyningen, students have to be targeted in their third year of high school to get them interested. "We can definitely do a better job," he said.
Unappreciated
Air Traffic Controllers are some of the highest paid people in the world...so goes the myth. Van Heyningen and Baly would have you know that is exactly what it is, a myth. They understand how people might subscribe to that train of thought because of the amount of responsibility they have, but their compensation, although comfortable, does not reflect the level of their tasks. They opined that they are directly responsible for the main source of income for St. Maarten and feel strongly that they are an asset to St. Maarten and should be treated as such.
ATC's at PJIA are responsible for six airports; that's right – six! Saba, Statia, Grand Case, St. Barths, Anguilla and of course St. Maarten. In 2009 they handled 30, 547 arrivals (aircraft) and 30,336 departures from PJIA. They literally guided 532, 427 passengers safely to St. Maarten in 2009 and have been doing so for years – and yet, they get no love.
"Nobody really thinks about ATC when flying, anyway. You think about everything else except if the ATC is happy today," Van Heyningen jokingly said. "If I tell someone I'm an ATC, they go, 'Oh, you're the guys with the orange cones!'" he said.
"People don't realize that ATCs actually fly that plane when they are in our airspace. The pilots are there yes, but we tell them where to go, when to turn, what speed they should be at and where we want them. It's like conducting a musical," Baly added.
On top of all of that, they also have to deal with rude, stubborn and defiant pilots, the only people they are in constant contact with and who you would think would appreciate them more than anyone. "But they soon come to understand that my instructions are not debatable. What the ATC says, goes," Baly said.
"There are a lot of pilots from especially the bigger airlines who think of St. Maarten like a third world country and think we don't know what we doing," Van Heyningen said. But with the volume of traffic we handle, airlines are confident of our skills. If airlines didn't feel safe coming into PJIA, they would stay away and we have flights being added. That speaks to the credibility and skill of the ATCs," he said.
So the next time you're sitting in an airplane rolling back from the terminal and about to taxi into position for takeoff, or you're on approach coming back home, consider that there are a few good, unappreciated men and women with their hands on your wings, guiding you home or sending you off safely. Clap for the pilots, but thank heavens for the ATCs.
