Age old problem, who will be there when I get there.

[Greg Miller]

In my 3500+ hrs on Vatsim, I've come to accept that the ONLYway to assume that they'll be there when you arrive is during an EVENT.  That's fine, and I fly most of them because I enjoy the experience of talented ATC to guide me home. 

Outside of events I look to see who's on-line, how long they've been on.  I assume if its a major center like JFK/BOS that if CTR/APR has been on say 30-45 minutes they will be there when I arrive.  Much of the time they are, but not always.

I just wish, hope, dream that there was some way ARTCC's would ask their staff to publish when they will be on-line, Start-End.

I use VATTASTIC to make my decisions.  In the boxes for each position (CTR,APPR,TWR) it should be a simple task to post hours in those boxes.  This would be a simple way to keep ATC and pilots informed.

Opinion welcome.

Greg Miller
AAL203

[Camden Bruno]

There has been a similar discussion taking place on the VATSIM forums.

All I will say from a personal standpoint is that you must remember this is entirely a volunteer controller-base, with that said, be appreciative of what you have. Controllers can argue the same thing against pilots! Why do a large amount of pilots fail to contact us when we are online, why do they disconnect as soon as we send them a 'contact me' message, etc. And why hasn't there been something developed where pilots schedule themselves in advance so us controllers can get on line at a time to experience the most traffic possible.

A lot of controllers simply get online when they get the chance, and log off when they feel that they're getting tired, want to go spend time with family, have to make dinner, etc. We don't have controlling schedules, therefore, we usually don't know when we're going to be logging off. The controllers are just like pilots, we control when we want just like you conduct flights when you want.

Now that I've given my personal opinion/input, at Boston Virtual ARTCC we have an ATC Timetable, which sounds like what you're looking for. It is optional on the controllers part to mark himself on this Timetable, however, we have found it to be very popular and almost all of our controllers use it. We encourage it's use so that pilots are able to know when ATC coverage will be available. On top of that, controllers use it to coordinate when shift-changes may take place.

Hope this helps for when you're flying in/around our airspace.

Regards,

[Jacob Perez]

Like Cameron Said, Controlling is a volunteered based program, I would love to tell people what time I will be logging on and off. There are however certain things we can not account for, I have had emergencies come up while controlling and I do my best to let everybody know I am closing rather unexpectedly, but sometimes I just have to go. If I put on a time table that I will be online say 0000z-0200z and have to leave early and in a hurry, I would hate to upset somebody just because they do not know the full scope of the situation. This leads to bad feedback by potentially a large number of pilots who have planned a flight based on my "availability" if my airspace is popular enough. in short, timetables are a good idea in theory, but in practice, in the real world day-to-day, it is just something that can no be taken as seriously as I think you want it to be.

[Wesley Miles]

I've noticed a trend of USA ARTCC's adding controller schedules to their websites... a feature we are adding to the new ZKC website as well.  If we continue on this path, that will help.  But we cannot force all controllers to use this, and many cannot commit to times because of the voluntary nature of this organization.

In short:  until we're paid, this problem will always exist to some degree.

[Alexandra Robison]

To tack onto what Wes has said, ZAB has recently added a controlling schedule to our website. It is infrequently used, although it's usage is rising. We cannot force our controllers to use it, however we encourage it. Although as others have pointed out, we are a volunteer organization, and do this as a hobby. Real life gets in the way, and sometimes you HAVE to log off unexpectedly for one reason or another (as an example, I am on call 24/7 at my job, and sometimes I get the phone call that requires my attention right away).

Just my $0.02.

[Kenneth Bambach]

If you want guaranteed ATC absent an event, perhaps some of that tax you pay on your fuel can go towards funding a work schedule with paid controllers

[William Anderson]

I completely agree with everything that has been stated in this thread.  To add to the discussion, sometimes when I get home from work/school, I have an urge to control, sometimes I have an urge to fly and sometimes I just don't want to do anything with VATSIM. That being said, I will control until I either get tired, bored, or annoyed (sometimes the pilots make us frustrated). Also, when I am controlling, I cannot tell you when I'm going to get off. Lately, I've been running around 2 hour sessions (which is about what they do in the real world) but it depends on several different factors.

Some controllers will put there log off time in their description, but it is not required.

I hope this sheds a light on the other side of the scopes