Air Traffic Controller Sounds Alarm

Passengers wringing their hands over delayed flights and lost baggage aren't the only problem plaguing airlines. A near collision on the tarmac at Dallas-Fort Worth airport on April 6 punctuated a six-month period that included 15 other runway "incursions" — a spike from eight during the same period the year before. With air traffic controllers having operated for more than 600 days without a new contract from the FAA, morale among them is at an all-time low, and with just 11,100 fully trained professionals serving the entire country — the smallest number in 16 years — a combination of fatigue and frustration is laying a dangerous groundwork. Doug Church, union spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, says the practitioners of this unsung profession are being hung out to dry. "We're left trying to hold the system together like MacGyver — with duct tape and scissors and string." TIME caught up with air traffic controller Melvin S. Davis, a 22-year veteran and the facility representative for Terminal Radar Approach Control for Southern California, which serves airports in Los Angeles, Burbank, Ontario, Orange County, Palm Springs and San Diego.

TIME: Air traffic controllers are frequently ranked as among the most stressful of jobs. Why?

Melvin S. Davis: There are intense amounts of stress in short bursts. Studies can link the fact that we — myself being one of them — die much younger than our counterparts. And that comes back to stress and the impact it has on the body. My daily routine is dealing with aircrafts that have anywhere between two and four hundred people on board, and that are traveling at about 600 miles an hour. They all have an objective — to get the airplane on the ground as quickly as possible. And I have to be the traffic cop. In the high-density terminal environment, there's one individual who has to pull it all together, and that's me.

What are the inherent difficulties in pulling together that process?

One of our Achilles' heels is a very antiquated communications system. We use 1950s technology to communicate in a 2010 environment. The frustrating thing is, there are incredible technologies available for communicating — via data-link or digital voice radio systems — and I've seen people die because we haven't implemented those technologies.

Is cost the reason why?

It's more politics than it is cost. The FAA is a rule-making agency. When you've got to do rule-making, politics get involved, and then it's hard to decide which equipment, whose company gets mandated, etc. And it's not necessarily just the lawmakers that complicate the process, but all the stakeholders: the airlines, general aviation, corporate aviation and then the government's air traffic control. To do nothing is a lot easier.

How does communication with planes work?

It's really fairly simple. We're using a CB radio with a little bit higher power. If you fast-forward to the way we communicate over cell phones or the Internet, or data-link technology, all those technologies are available, and we're not using them. We're stuck in the CB radio, Smokey Bear days.

How much of a hindrance is using outdated technology?

We had a labor dispute a couple of years ago that has now transitioned into a safety issue. The FAA had a mandate from Congress to start running things like a business, to be more cost-effective. That has manifested itself in the rise of runway incursions [airplanes invading each other's ground space]. These are very clearly the result of a reduction in staffing, a decline in experience, and an increase in the use of employee overtime, which leads to increased fatigue. The result is a 300% to 400% increase in operational errors. Listen, this is a great job and I will retire happy. This is not about work rules. It's about the guys I see walking by my office with black circles under their eyes on their third cup of coffee. And they're making mistakes, which results in two bullet trains coming together at 600 miles an hour from opposite directions.

How could the safety situation be improved?

I strive for perfection, but I'm human. The way to fix that is to provide oversight and redundancy. There are two pilots in the cockpit of every commercial aircraft. If one of them has a heart attack or makes a mistake, the other one is there to fix it. What's happened over the last few years is to save money, they've engineered out oversight of the human element. It's too expensive to have that second team sitting and watching the first team. So the bottom line is that one of the prescriptions for improving safety is hiring and retaining high-quality individuals in the places where we have the greatest amount of risk. But that's too expensive. And so we have a rise in operational errors. It's a business decision.

And what could be the consequences?

I can tell you. In 1991 there was a horrible accident in LA, we — being air traffic controllers — cleared one airplane to land on an occupied runway. We killed 34 people. I was there the next morning, I knew the person that did it. I saw her go out on stress leave. I saw the body bags come out of the airplane, and I can tell you, I've got that sinking feeling in my stomach right now that we're just another day away from another one of those situations. It's going to break my heart, because we've been telling everyone to listen. We've been very careful not to be Chicken Little, but we're at the point of critical mass.

Do you think the public understands challenges facing air traffic controllers?

I would say that we've been treated fairly well in the media and in public perception. When I introduce myself and say what I do, overwhelmingly people say, "Wow, you guys are doing a great job. Hang in there, we're pulling for you."

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Pitfalls in paradise: why Palm Jumeirah is struggling to live up to the hype

Dubai's sheikhs have claimed it is "the eighth wonder of the world", and seen from space the tree-shaped sand and rock formation of the Palm Jumeirah looks exactly that.

But after the hype about David Beckham buying a mansion here and the novelty of living four miles out to sea has faded, that claim is starting to look shaky. It seems there is a little trouble in paradise.

Four thousand "Palm pioneers" have moved in and are getting to grips with life in the sweltering Arabian Gulf. This week, when the Guardian visited, the gripes were as common as the plaudits among the Brits who are in the vanguard of this new community.

Multimillion-pound villas have been squeezed together "like Coronation Street", air-conditioning bills are hitting £800 a month and persistent snags have led some to joke it is more "eighth blunder" than "eighth wonder".

The villas were developed by the government-owned Nakheel Properties, and many residents believe the company's slogan, "Our vision inspires humanity", which flutters on flags around the place, is beginning to look over-egged.

It is not all bad news. The blue seas which lap the man-made shores are teeming with rays, hermit crabs and baracudas. Away from the ongoing construction, which has four years to run, life in the middle of the ocean is incredibly peaceful.

But for Rachael Wilds, 42, an exhibition organiser from Surrey who moved in with her family to a palatial villa on one of the Palm's "fronds" a year ago, it was not what she expected. She found her £3m property squashed against a neighbour's and set in a barren, almost treeless, landscape. "It was absolutely nothing as it was depicted in the brochure," she says. "There was a massive gap between the villas and it was full of lush tropical gardens. We were totally shocked at the closeness of the villas."

Despite summer temperatures of 48C and high humidity, access to centralised air conditioning was not included in the purchase price of apartments, and residents are rebelling against plans to ask them to pay extra. More seriously, there is evidence the low-pay and hard conditions endured by the thousands of migrant workers who built the area are driving many into despair and debt.

It has made for an awkward start for a development that is far more than a whim of the Dubai royal family. Palm Jumeirah is the testing ground for the United Arab Emirates' strategy for life after oil - big-scale tourism. Once complete, there will be homes and hotel rooms for 65,000 people.

Crucially, the Palm adds 40 miles to Dubai's coastline. The sheikhs are gambling this will keep the visitors coming back. Two even bigger man-made islands are under way along the coast: a replica of an existing island called The World and another called The Universe.

The lab rats in this experiment are a strange mix. They include England footballers, a battalion of middle-class Britons from places such as Salisbury and Weybridge, and even, it is said, Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, who is thought to have a house opposite Kieron Dyer, the West Ham midfielder.

Raffaele Cannas, 47, a British property consultant, was one of the first to pick up his keys in late 2006 and found himself squeezing a couple of England players into his Mini after they'd asked to see how he had decorated his apartment. "I didn't know who they were at first, but I had David James doubled up in the front seat and Andy Cole tucked in the back," he says.

After the Brits came the Russians, and a growing number of rich Iranians. Many aspects to life here are undeniably good. Residents can soak up an incredible amount of sunshine - some years it never rains - and the beaches are groomed at least twice a week.

But this is no picture-book desert island. Its size is the most arresting characteristic for newcomers. An eight-lane motorway is at the Palm's trunk, and each frond is a mile long. Meanwhile, there is yet more expansion, with 40 hotels being built on the breakwater.

At times it is also a harsh environment. Lawns routinely wither without intense watering and the tallest trees are, in fact, mobile phone masts dressed up to look like palms.

Just 18 months after moving in, Cannas is thinking of leaving for New Zealand. "The marketing machine was so powerful, calling the Palm the eighth wonder of the world, that people's expectations went through the roof," he says. "It hasn't turned out like that."

For many soaring property prices have softened any discomforts. A "signature villa" which went for £750,000 in 2002 is now worth £3m.

A nagging guilt for some is the quality of life of the migrant construction workers who built all this. Most are from India and Bangladesh and they travel in bus convoys from labour camps in the desert each morning.

A typical labourer earns £25 a week, and many are in debt to agents in their home countries who paid for their passage. KV Shamsudheen, a workers' rights activist in Dubai, says interest rates can be as high as 120% a year.

One hundred migrant workers killed themselves in the Emirates in 2006, and the trend is rising, he says. Alcohol is a growing problem, with workers racking up debts to buy drink.

In Jebel Ali, a dusty camp almost 10 miles from the Palm, 30,000 male workers live up to 12 a room in prefabricated blocks. "I am not happy," says a Bangladeshi carpenter known locally as Sofiull, 52. "The company said I would earn £60 a week, but I am getting £30. They have delayed my pay two months and it's a great problem."

Mohamed Mahboub, 30, has been in Dubai for three years. He hasn't seen his daughter since she was a baby, but sends £30 of his £45-a-week supervisor's salary home. "I miss her, but I am a poor man and I owe money, so I cannot go back yet," he says.

It is a world away from the exclusive gated fronds back on the Palm, where the only sound is often the splash of a paddle from a kayak, the favourite pastime of Palm dwellers.

"Life here is 150% better than in the UK," says Donna Dempsey, 46, a ballet teacher from Kent. "We have our garbage collected every day, we have clean streets, we have low crime. You can really chill here. Sometimes it's hard to go to work."

In numbers

13m
The number of litres of desalinated drinking water the Palm Jumeirah uses when at capacity

28
Bottlenose dolphins have been flown in from the Solomon Islands to populate Dolphin Bay, an 11-acre lagoon

94m
The cubic metres of sand used to build the Palm Jumeirah

84
The site has doubled the natural 42-mile coastline of Dubai

4
The Palm is four times the size of Hyde Park in central London

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Big in Japan: 5 mistakes made by first-timers in Japan

One of the main questions that ex-pats in Japan are often asked is simply this: "Why Japan?"

And, truth be told, most of us just shrug our shoulders and give some sort of trite answer like: "The food here sure is delicious!" Or, depending on the temperament of the audience: "The women here sure are beautiful!"

You get the picture....

As for me, I've always argued that the real appeal of Japan is simply that it's an incredibly interesting country to explore. Even after living here for more than five years, and spending literally thousands of hours jumping over the linguistic hurdles of Japanese grammar, I still suffer from a fair bit of culture shock on a day-to-day basis.

You see, I guess that's really the gist of why Japan is so appealing to foreigners like myself. No matter how hard you try to assimilate, there will always be more challenges to overcome, especially if you want to penetrate the heart of one the world's most closed societies. Simply put, life in Japan is anything but boring.

Of course, there are dozens of cultural landmines that must be dodged on a daily basis here. And on that note, I present to you today five mistakes made by first-timers in Japan.


1) There is no word for no.

Japanese has something of a steep learning curve (to say the least!). Of course, one thing you'd better learn if you want to survive here is that there is no word for no. Yes can mean no, maybe most likely means no, but saying no directly pretty much informs those around you that you have about as much social grace as a bovine.

2) Be mindful of your footwear.

The Japanese don't take kindly to foreigners who forget to take off their shoes when entering private spaces. Use the slippers - that's why they're there - though be mindful that no two pairs of slippers are created equal. After all, the Japanese especially don't take kindly to foreigners who walk through the kitchen in toilet slippers.

3) Go easy on the ramen.

I love ramen. You probably love ramen. And yes, the ramen in Japan is damned near the food of the gods. But seriously, after eating the stuff three times a day for a week on end, your gastrointestinal system will start to hate you. Assuming you haven't figured out what toilet slippers look like, this can quickly become a serious problem.

4) Learn how to use chopsticks.

At your local cheap Chinese restaurant in North America, there's a good chance that a fork and knife are always on hand. However, this doesn't mean that this convenient culinary option is readily available in Japan. Although you might not be the most dexterous diner in the restaurant, you'll look like an overgrown child until you indulge in the fine art of Zen chopstick mastery.

5) Don't date club girls.

If there is one bit of advice that I can impart to you now, it's to never date club girls. Yes, women in Japan are beautiful, and yes, they do tend to be attracted to foreigners. However, keep in mind that just because they have a cute and smiling face, doesn't mean that they're all-together innocent. If a girl you meet in a club speaks fluent English, is decked out in designer labels, and keeps reaching for your wallet, steer clear! Chances are that she's been around the block a few dozen times, which means you're just moments from getting fleeced. Trust me - she's not the one you want to bring home to meet mom!

As this list can go on and on and on, feel free to chime in with your own words of wisdom for new arrivals in Japan!
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