ATCO rostering during the pandemic

In 2021, ANSPs were reviewing staffing, training and investment as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traffic. This article reflects the rostering questions raised at the time.

The relevant planning challenge was to consider both the immediate operating situation and the workforce needed as traffic returned.

Start with the current process

Identify the work involved in collecting availability, maintaining qualifications, building the roster and managing changes. Review how the process responds when demand or staffing assumptions change.

The purpose is to identify specific improvements, rather than assume that every spreadsheet-based process needs the same replacement.

Evaluate before committing

A representative simulation can help an ANSP assess a proposed tool before a wider implementation. Use the organisation’s demand, staffing and rules, then compare coverage, overtime, duty distribution and planner effort.

A modelled result should retain its assumptions. It does not establish an achieved saving or remove the need for operational review.

Plan the transition

Implementation includes data preparation, configuration, integration, training and validation. Compare those costs with licence, hosting, maintenance and support over an agreed period.

Deployment options also need review with IT and the operational team. A cloud or self-hosted approach has responsibilities that should be agreed before use.

Test assumptions before implementation

The enduring lesson from this period is the value of testing assumptions before committing to a roster pattern or implementation. SkyRoster supports that work through constraint-based roster generation, staff records, requests and reporting.

Historical claims about free access, fixed onboarding times and coverage of a stated percentage of ANSPs have been removed. See current pricing, deployment options and evaluation resources.