Name: S. Swaminathan
Age: 44

Designation:  Deputy General Manager (ATC), Watch Supervisory Officer, IGIA, Delhi

Family Background: 
Spouse is a D.G.M. Finance in the A.A.I

Father is a Retd. Asst. Technical Officer from the Civil Aviation Department.
Educational Background: B.Sc., Physics, M.A. Philosophy, M.B.A. Systems & Marketing

What inspired you to become an ATCO ?

As a two year old I learnt to walk on the runway at Chennai the then Madras Meenambakkam Aerodrome

As a ten year old I learnt cycling on the runway at the Madurai Aerodrome

The air traffic density increased by the time I was twenty and the runways became busier for child’s play. To control the runways and the metal birds that take to air was no child’s play, but I thought I was man enough by now to do that.

How did you imagine it and how has it turned out ?

I knew about ATC from early days, but not comprehensively. However, I always knew that ATC professionals were very much respected and the real good ones were even revered.  This is one helluva of a job that provides tremendous job satisfaction. I’d rather be an ATCO for a “few dollars less” than be any one else.

Gods control the earth from the skies above,
Air Traffic Controllers the skies, from the earth below”

Though know job is less important and no people are less important, this one, by Jupiter, is very special.

What is your day like ?

Every day is new, in this job. I complete 24 hours of work in a four day cycle, 1330 to 1930 hours on day#1, 0730 to 1330 hours on day#2, 1930 to 0730 hours on day#4 through day#3, The good thing about the shift pattern of work is that there is plenty of time at one’s disposal if one is ready to work 16 to 18 hours a day. The flip thing is that the circadian rhythm is upset beyond the individual’s imagination and has a telling effect on the long run.

 How often do you go on leave?

Working 24X7X52 a year we are entitled to a dozen casual leave, close to about 18 to 20 days closed and restricted holidays and 30 days of earned leave. I go on leave when absolutely necessary, or else what place can be more fun than an ATC unit, where you are a part of an enthusiastic team of professional colleagues, packing their voices on carrier waves and send them all the way upto 46000 feet. The day will be incomplete without atleast one compliment from the flier and one situation over which either I pick up cudgels or a pilot picks up cudgels with me.

What are your hobbies ?

I never learnt the lesson of the great sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who once said “ if you dig 3 feet at ten place you will not strike water, you may if you dig 30 feet at one place”. I sketch & paint (World University Services award winner), I pen poems ( winner of creative writing at the intercollegiate level, published an anthology and served as the poetry magazine of British Library’s (Trivandrum) Culture Café poetry magazine), I love music ( percussionist in the college music team), movie buff (professional theatre artiste in a Chennai based troupe for two years), play cricket ( a game I have tried to master over four decades, imagining at one time that I would become a Gavaskar or Gundappa Vishvanath, the wish remained so have I still Swaminath and no way close to Vishwanath)

Tell u something about your department, its hierarchy, promotions, induction, training etc.,

The Executive Director (ATM) is the highest functional post in the hierarchy. The Junior Executive Trainees are at the bottom of th tree. Assistant Manager, Managers, Senior Managers, Assistant General Managers, Deputy General Managers, Joint General Managers and General Managers, in that order from bottom-top occupy the tree. Recruitments take place at the level of JETs or Managers from time to time, as deemed fit by the management. However, in my opinion, recruitment of ATCs should be at a single entry level, preferably at the Managerial level, given the huge responsibility associated with the job. The ATM Wing is one of the six major wings of the Airports Authority of India. Promotions are based on vacancies. But trust me, though stagnations are a cause of concern, even after promotions upto the Joint GM grade, the nature of work changes little. Ab initio training and Advanced specialty Training (e.g. Radar Control) is provided at the Civil Aviation Training College, Allahabad. In addition, On the Job training is provided at the respective Air Traffic services Units by the Regional and local training Cells, in accordance with international and national norms.

Is there a shortage of ATCOs? How does that affect your work life? And why is there such a shortage? What is the future like for your schedules etc?

In the game of demand, supply and the gap thereof,, by the time arrangements are made to meet the existing demand there has already been a shift due to greater demand. There are no good predictors of growth or lack of it in the industry. I have seen ATCos perform a night duty at the age of 58, on the eve of their retirement. No longer will such phenomenon be seen. The new phenomenon of attrition needs to be addressed too.

Shortage of manpower, especially trained manpower at various specialist positions, does put an extra load on few senior controllers. However, the enormous amount of team spirit is on display only during such testing times.

Future is one area I shall always take a peek into with guarded optimism.

What is the work pressure you have to deal with?

ATC is a job where “work pleasure exceeds work pressure” .If the controller has the right knowledge, skill sets and attitude, pressure is minimal or virtually non existent….especially if the VHF is good, the fliers display excellent airmanship and discipline, all aids are serviceable, fellow controllers share a HAWTHORNE bondage. However, the job is stressful because of zero tolerance of errors, human lives involved, for which the controller is the joint custodian, along with the flight crew, until the flight is in his jurisdiction.

Your opinion and interaction with?

Pilots are the direct recipients of the services provided by the Air Traffic Controllers. A good flier and a good air traffic controller are great friends even if they know each other only by their voices and not faces. I have a good number of fliers for friends. However, there have been situations which I wish never ever occurred, ‘cause of the sensibility-sensitivity issues. In the space and time war and the deep desire of every bird to be the early bird, undesirable exchange of words leave a bad taste. Both pilots and ATCs may pride in winning a battle, but little do both realize that ultimately the war, they both ought to fight together is lost.

A message for the flying community

Nothing different from the message that every flight of yours echoes aloud:
“How many ever times you take to the air, and how much ever high you fly, remember you need to safely return to the terra firma”

If you were not an ATCO what would you have been and is it worth it and how?

I always wanted to be a doctor of medicine.. I lost out narrowly in the selection
I worked as a Medical Representative for Glaxo for three years. I wanted to be a pilot, passed a scholarship exam and was awarded scholarship assistance by the Madras Flying Club (TN Govt.,) all I was required to pay was INR 1800 for 60 hrs of PPL training, I was discouraged to pursue that line, I ended up as an Air Traffic Controller.

After two decades of romance with this trade, it is anathema, to think that I were not to be an ATCO.

However, I may have been a aviation regulator, a flier, or an aircraft engineer, or a dispatcher, or a communication engineer, or a cabin crew, or an airline commercial staff, or an airport manager, an aviation security staff or an aviation correspondent with the media..or if I were not to be an executive a support staff, ….and if not that either, a traffic hand…if not that either, I should have been cleaning toilets at an airport … and yes I would have worth the while because I have my roots here and this industry is a place I belong…

Email: Swamy64aqua2003@yahoo.com