London Control Sectors are too large

[Roman Renner]

Hello,

I had this issue on several flights now and it is just frustrating all the time. Why are controllers allowed to control a sector which covers nearly the whole UK? In my opinion sectors like LON_W_CTR or LON_S_CTR have the right size to handle the traffic in these sectors, but more or less every controller who controlled LON_SC_CTR or even LON_CTR couldn't handle all the traffic there. They really do a good job on the frequency, but they just forgot some aircrafts with the time. When I'm on the ground it takes ages until I can request my clearance. When I'm in the air I always miss the localizer, because everybody is talking or because the controller forgots me. I always love the have ATC and I also love the professionalism of the ATC in the UK, but this is just too much. In this case it is like quantity before quality and that should not be the aim. For me it doesnt make any sense to open a sector which covers a huge area with a lot of traffic, but then you can't really expect good service even if there are the best controllers.

 

Best regards

Roman

[Daniel Hawton]

From my understanding the sector is meant for lower traffic periods, but sometimes it appears lower traffic so a controller hops on to the bigger sector and then all the sudden the airspace becomes crowded because they see a controller on. Even small sectors can sometimes become overcrowded and busy.

[Samuel James]

Daniel is correct. Generally London controllers will open the bandbox positions (LON_SC_CTR or LON_CTR) when it is quiet to offer more of a service to online pilots and more often than not when it starts to become busier then either switch to a smaller sector, split the sector with another controller or log off.

 

Thanks for the feedback Roman!