Mumbai: The high cost of renting, or buying, a flat near the airport has worsened the city's air traffic control's (ATC) manpower problem. This in turn has led to chronic flight delays and ever-increasing cases of potential mid-air collisions.
Expensive real estate turns out to be the real spoiler in a situation where there is heavy reliance on personnel transferred from other parts of the country, as is the case in Mumbai. Had the cost of leasing a flat close to Mumbai airport been the same as that in Delhi, or had it been as cheap as in Kolkata or Chennai, air traffic control officers (ATCOs) across the country, especially seniors, would not have shunned a Mumbai posting. The dearth of official quarters has exacerbated the problem.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which provides ATC services in the 9.6 million sq km Indian airspace, is yet to wake up to the problem.
03/08/15 Manju V/Times of India
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Expensive real estate turns out to be the real spoiler in a situation where there is heavy reliance on personnel transferred from other parts of the country, as is the case in Mumbai. Had the cost of leasing a flat close to Mumbai airport been the same as that in Delhi, or had it been as cheap as in Kolkata or Chennai, air traffic control officers (ATCOs) across the country, especially seniors, would not have shunned a Mumbai posting. The dearth of official quarters has exacerbated the problem.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which provides ATC services in the 9.6 million sq km Indian airspace, is yet to wake up to the problem.
03/08/15 Manju V/Times of India
