Narrative:

I was training my trainee at [an oceanic] non-radar sector. At the beginning of the shift we asked for an afp (flow control program) for the day shift. We were denied; I was told; by washington [traffic management]. An afp is a flow control program with estimated departure clearance times on the east coast; to control the traffic volume in oceanic. This afp was constructed specifically for this sector; notorious at this time of year for traffic overload. We also had weather visible on our display along the center boundary. This weather had been consistent since 3 days previous; a slow moving west-to-east system doing about the same thing each day. No surprises here. So again; we had asked for our afp; and I was told that we were denied by washington. They did not want ground delays; but to manage things manually in the air with a normal departure schedule.as I was training my trainee on this sector; the traffic volume went to an extremely high level; particularly for a non-radar sector. Coupled with this; almost every aircraft passing through was deviating around weather; most of them up to 50 miles off the airway; rendering non-radar airway separation impossible. The only thing left was altitude separation; and with the volume; we ran out of altitudes quickly. The fact that we made it out the other side of this without having an [operational error] was a miracle. In my opinion; with an afp in place we can regulate high volumes of southbound traffic easily with estimated departure clearance times. However; in washington; they have the airline representatives hovering over the flow control people; and for public perception purposes they would rather us just throw all the planes up in the air and try to manage things on the fly; rather than have people sitting on the ground.in many instances we can do this; but we need to recognize the times when safety is the priority; not profit-driven motives from the airlines. That's the end of the opinion section; now for one last fact. In my [many] years of being an air traffic controller; this was one of the most; if not the most dangerous situation I have ever witnessed or been involved in. Totally unnecessary. Safety first! The afp was specifically designed to alleviate unsafe traffic overload in this sector. Don't be so scared of the airlines that you're afraid to use it. Why even have it in the first place? Safety first!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Center controller reported the Traffic Management Unit Command Center refused to implement a flow control program for weather in the airspace causing the sector to become over-saturated and compromising safety.

Narrative: I was training my trainee at [an oceanic] non-radar sector. At the beginning of the shift we asked for an AFP (Flow Control Program) for the day shift. We were denied; I was told; by Washington [Traffic Management]. An AFP is a flow control program with estimated departure clearance times on the east coast; to control the traffic volume in oceanic. This AFP was constructed specifically for this sector; notorious at this time of year for traffic overload. We also had weather visible on our display along the center boundary. This weather had been consistent since 3 days previous; a slow moving west-to-east system doing about the same thing each day. No surprises here. So again; we had asked for our AFP; and I was told that we were denied by Washington. They did not want ground delays; but to manage things manually in the air with a normal departure schedule.As I was training my trainee on this sector; the traffic volume went to an extremely high level; particularly for a non-radar sector. Coupled with this; almost every aircraft passing through was deviating around weather; most of them up to 50 miles off the airway; rendering non-radar airway separation impossible. The only thing left was altitude separation; and with the volume; we ran out of altitudes quickly. The fact that we made it out the other side of this without having an [operational error] was a miracle. In my opinion; with an AFP in place we can regulate high volumes of southbound traffic easily with estimated departure clearance times. However; in Washington; they have the airline representatives hovering over the flow control people; and for public perception purposes they would rather us just throw all the planes up in the air and try to manage things on the fly; rather than have people sitting on the ground.In many instances we can do this; but we need to recognize the times when safety is the priority; not profit-driven motives from the airlines. That's the end of the opinion section; now for one last fact. In my [many] years of being an Air Traffic Controller; this was one of the most; if not the most dangerous situation I have ever witnessed or been involved in. Totally unnecessary. Safety first! The AFP was specifically designed to alleviate unsafe traffic overload in this sector. Don't be so scared of the airlines that you're afraid to use it. Why even have it in the first place? Safety first!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.