Air Traffic Control

and how to find the humorous side of it!

Cartoon of duck controller/Swamp

And sometimes as the exhausted controller weaves his (or her) way home after a frantic day at the "office", this may very well be the feeling.

The airways system is a complicated beast - populated by highly sophisticated machinery and intelligent, well-meaning, but ultimately human beings. Inevitably, some of these people live in a world of economics and "the bottom line", while others are passionate about aviation and its traditions and history. Somehow the world of flight is big enough to accomodate them both, and have a sense of humour despite them!

I worked in the Control Tower at Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) for many years. When it is busy, the controllers tend to concentrate intently on what they are doing. (Thank God for that .. say the travelling public!). But luckily there are not enough aeroplanes in Australia to keep all the airports busy 24 hours a day, and when the pressure drops off, the lads like to relax a little and provide a photo opportunity for the aviation historians!

Trust us - we're from Air Services!

Relax - we're the professional team from Air Services Australia, and we're here to help you!

There used to be more pages relating to ATC in Melbourne here, but they were getting so out of touch, I decided to remove them.

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This page by Bernie O'Shea
Last modified on 6 June 2003