Headset Policy Hated
by Pete Thompson

Morale at Winnipeg ACC, already at an all time low, sank yet another notch yesterday with the introduction of a new headset policy that is despised by most controllers. The policy is hated by most, not only because the policy itself is unnecessary and intrusive, but because of the choice of wording in the bulletin that announced the policy. So what is hated most about this policy? Well, actually the list is quite long, headed by the opinion that we are professionals who are able to determine how to best utilize our equipement to safely run our traffic. We don’t tell managers how to manufacture imaginary numbers to support their irrational hypotheses, so why are they dictating whether we control aircraft using a handset, or a headset.
Some specifics: “Since commercialization of our company, our culture has changed in that safety is now our number one priority”. Exactly what was our number one priority before this? I am not sure what a manager’s number one priority was before privatization, but a controller’s number one priority always has been, and always will be, safety.
" Accidents as recent as the SWR111 disaster illustrate the importance of clearly understood communications.” This reference is a little difficult to understand. In this example, the controller in question was in fact wearing a headset. Would this incident somehow have been less safe if the controller was not wearing a headset? If so, how? In Winnipeg, most specialties are staffed so that a one-person position is the exception rather than the rule. During the time that the lone controller is receiving an estimate from an adjacent sector, is it more likely that a controller will miss an important call from an aircraft if they are using a handset? Quite the contrary. When receiving an estimate while on handset, any transmission over a frequency will cause the controller to move the handset away from the head so that the nature of the call over the frequency can be determined. If using a headset, it is more likely that there will be two conflicting messages being received over the same headset speaker. Chances are that both will be missed, and repetition of both the estimate, and the call from the aircraft will be required. If management is determined that we should use a headset 100% of the time when working a radar postition, then provide adequate staffing so that every single position has a data controller all of the time.
Finally, the timing of this ops bulleting is questionable. Upper management is telling us by way of negotiations that our services are not very valuable to them; local management is attempting to tell us that safety is our number one priority, but that cross training from specialty to specialty will be accomplished in a ridiculously low number of days. Morale is at an all time low, and very few are willing to co-operate with any management initiative, even if, by some inconceivable twist of fate, it was beneficial to the controllers. What a great time to introduce a new policy that will be hated by almost everyone!
As always, however, the controllers in Winnipeg ACC will continue to do their best job, despite management’s best efforts, secure in the knowledge that their jobs are necessary and important. Whether we’re being managed by Transport Canada, Nav-Canada, Serco, or Wal-Mart we’ll still be there, providing the professional service that keeps this country moving.