Inside an airline's control center: "A very nervous person couldn't work"

ViladecansThe room is, above all, full of screens. Some have maps of Europe marked with different coloured areas or crossed by infinite aircraft routes. Others show weather forecasts that change every second. There are also those that show statistics, mainly on the punctuality of the nearly 700 flights that the 60 people who will be in this room will have managed by the end of the day. The Vueling operations control centre is the heart of the airline's operations, from which all routes are monitored in real time. However, this space is a secret even for the rest of the company's staff, as access is restricted. Located in the new headquarters in Viladecans, it is in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

"Cheer up for the afternoon. Today they say there are regulations," warns a colleague before taking the lift. Anna Morata is the head of the operations control centre for the shift at Vueling and this Thursday she will be the one who will make the final decisions in the room between six in the evening and six in the morning of the following day. These "regulations" that she must take into account are the warnings she will receive from Eurocontrol, the "air DGT" that manages traffic in the European skies and that warns airlines when they must modify a route because the airspace is too congested or if military exercises are being carried out, to give two examples. "If a flight is affected by a regulation, we will have to change the route to try to reduce each minute of delay that is attributed to us," she explains.

Morata has been working in the Vueling control centre for 12 years. Now as head of the room on one of the shifts, but before that she worked as a flight operations agent (called in English flight dispatcher), another of the key roles shared by the occupants of this cabin. "It is the link between the pilot and the airport. It is responsible for preparing all the necessary documentation for the captain: it tells him the exact route, the flight levels, what is the maximum weight that can be carried, how much fuel is needed, the runways that must be used... It is a lot of information," he points out. Most of the plans are recurring, that is, a standard plan is used for a certain route, which can be modified later in case of unforeseen events. It will then be the flight agent who puts into action the alternatives to find a solution.

Another department in the lounge is dedicated to controlling the legality of the crews – that is, ensuring that the strict rest rules are followed – and planning who will be available if a pilot has fallen ill or has a family emergency. There is also a team in charge of informing passengers when there are problems with delays or cancellations. Morata was also there in the summer of 2016, when the operational chaos at El Prat brought many headaches to the airline: "It was a year of learning. We have applied it and now we are always moving forward with everything. This summer we will already be holding meetings to see how the following summer is planned." During this time, he explains that technological improvements have been incorporated into the lounge, devised by Vueling itself.

On Thursday afternoon, there is a fairly relaxed atmosphere in the operations control centre, but Morata assures that this is not always the case. "A very nervous person couldn't work here. There's a lot of stress and sometimes you have to know how to manage this workload suddenly. It must be nice to have to do things right away, because sometimes there's not much more time to think," he reflects. He finds it strange to remember the contrast with the days of the Covid pandemic, five years ago, when they went from 700 daily flights to operating just 8 to ensure the connection with the islands.

A mirror room and one for emergencies

The Viladecans room has a twin – not as shiny but just as effective – in another town that does not share the same internet, water, electricity or gas network as Vueling. If the generator fails, everything can still be controlled from there. In addition, the company also has another room for emergencies – now we are talking about extreme crises such as an air accident – from where the catastrophe would be managed, with screens to follow the images of the event on various television channels: "It has only been used for periodic drills."

Morata came to this profession because she had always liked aviation: "Like perhaps all the girls of my time, I thought "I want to be a flight attendant," but later I asked myself why I couldn't be a pilot." Finally, she did not choose to command planes, but she did sign up for a degree – then "very unknown" – in aeronautical management that was taught at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). "I remember the first New Year's Eve I was here. It was all men. Now it's changed a lot and I think it's 50-50," says the shift manager.