What are the duties of an ATC supervisor?

Question

We know that each air traffic control facility has a "supervisor", a person who is "in charge of the controllers", so to speak.

What exactly are the duties of the supervisor? Here are some of the things I've guessed:

1. Resolve conflicts between a pilot and a controller (by assigning a different controller to the position? Taking over the radio directly?)
2. Assist in emergency situations (coordinate with nearby airports / approach sectors?)
3. Deciding when to merge / split sectors, when to bypass noise reduction procedures due to weather etc.

Am I correct?

Answer 1

In the FAA, there are two types of "supervisors" who might be on duty at any given time: a genuine managerial supervisor, who is part of the managerial pay scale and is not part of the bargaining unit (union); or a "controller-in-charge," a "line" controller (a bargaining unit employee) who has been certified to perform most but not all supervisory duties if a supervisor is on break, not scheduled that day, etc. Sometimes the supervisor or CIC will be working a control position, or they might be working at a desk in the back of the operation not talking to any aircraft directly.

In either case, the general duties of the supervisory position are:

• Running the shift (determining the break schedule, approving sick leave, etc)
• Assigning controllers to combine or decombine control positions as traffic and complexity warrant
• Assigning on-the-job training to ensure trainee controllers get sufficient training time
• Monitoring the operation and, if they feel it is necessary, instructing a controller to take a specific action to ensure safety (this happens very rarely!)
• Coordinating with surrounding facilities—not about individual aircraft (the controller on position does that) but about traffic management initiatives, contingency situations (e.g. telling people "we lost commercial power so we're on generators, be prepared in case we lose those too"), etc
• Answering the commercial phone if people call (survey pilots informing where they will be operating, military ops calling to see if a plane can come do practice approaches, someone claiming they saw a UFO, noise complaints, etc, etc)
• Keeping the daily log up to date (logging equipment outages, runway closures, etc)
• Coordinating with other facilities or airport operations regarding emergency aircraft or crashes

The CIC authorized to carry "on the spot" corrections—telling the controller on position they need to do something else for safety reasons—but is not authorized to perform personnel actions like officially counseling a controller about a loss of separation. That's reserved for the actual supervisors.

Of note, if you hear a controller give an instruction and then another controller comes on the frequency and gives a different instruction, that isn't a supervisor. That's the instructor plugged in alongside their trainee controller. During training the certified trainer controller is responsible for the position, so they will give their trainee latitude to make their own mistakes but will step in to prevent an actual safety event.

Answer 2

That is a very complex question. What do you mean with ATC facility, exactly? ACC, sector control, approach or something else? Their operation will depend heavily on the type and if it is US, EU or somewhere else.

I can tell you, that there will not be any conflicts between a pilot and an air traffic controller, everybody is very professional, if a pilot really does something wrong or does not comply, a report will be issued, after the fact.

An ACC may receive an emergency call and re-route the plane accordingly. But typically they won't handle emergencies, as the vast majority happens during take-off.

En-route conflicts will not occur in a managed sector, if there should be one unexpectedly, the pilots are responsible, as a last resort you have the TCAS. At least in europe, that is the order of precedence.

Sectors are split according to a fixed plan. Controller roasters are similar to pilot roasters. You can't change them on a whim. Controller workload is watched closely. Also the errors they may make.

Noise reduction is a concern of SIDs/STARs (the routes close to an airport) of the given TMA and they are not in the purview of either an ATC controller or supervisor. They are issued after a lengthy process by the ANSP.

This is a general answer for the situation in EU/US. Things may be different elsewhere.

The ATC facilities:

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Tower

In a tower, the supervisor will usually
- ensure safe conduct of the watch
- check flight plans, slots, etc
- liase with centers, cfmu, airlines, etc
- handle, support, supervise emergencies
- day-to-day management
- controller management (breaks, time, etc)

Depending on the airport controllers will occupy a wide range of positions.

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Approach

Approach is typically a different facility, that is colocated and has their own supervisor. The tower supervisor will coordinate with the approach supervisor.

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ACC

The ACC has similar duties to a tower. The difference is, that the positions are for one sector, there are much more positions. There may be two controllers per sector. You will then have 1-2 "supernumerary controllers" for X controllers.

Apart from that you will have a number of assistants and other personnel for a variety of duties.

In an area control center, the supervisor will ensure, that all this works well together, so much more responsibility.

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Situations

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taxiway assignment

In this situation, we are in the tower on ground control. There is not much a pilot can do other than follow the instructions. Sometimes they have to wait, sometimes they are forgotten or they loose their slot. Sometimes the lineup is slow, there are a number of things that could happen.

It should be noted, that most airports have a departure management software to de-conflict aircraft management. Most pilots know that.

Here a supervisor might go and ask, if a plane can be squeezed in, if it lost its slot.

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speed / altitude

In controlled airspace, a pilot will follow the instructions to the letter. There might be communications issues, "climb to" / "climb trough" If they don't comply here, that would be a major issue and would trigger all sorts of alarms. It could ultimately end with two fighter jets next to the aircraft...

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plane crash

The controller would handle the aircraft and emergency services, the supervisor will call approach, they will divert all aircraft, most likely back in stacks, then he will close the airport for traffic. Every airport has an ATIS, the message there would be updated. Then the ACC is informed and also cfmu/network manager.

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