Mgm controller described an on going A80/ZTL airspace transfer process that leaves pilots confused a...

Narrative:

I was working radar at mgm approach. This aircraft departed auo airport; which is 17NM east of my airspace in the A80 columbus sector. He called me about 15NM northwest of his departure point and said the he had not been able to contact anybody to give him his IFR clearance from auo. Nightly; A80 closes the columbus sector and gives the airspace to ZTL (sector 09 and 21). The airport/facility directory says that this airspace transition will happen 3 hours later. There is a NOTAM; currently auo 09/006 that amends the time to 3 hours earlier; but it is a frequent occurrence that pilots don't find that NOTAM and spend the first 10-20NM of their flight VFR and flipping through charts and frequencies. Often; mgm approach is the first human they can find and we usually have to redirect them to ZTL. This 3-hour early closure was billed as temporary due to staffing; but has now continued for at least two years. This exceeds the intent of notams. If A80 is going to continue to give this airspace to ZTL; then it should be published appropriately and notams cancelled. Note that auo is not the only airport impacted. There are similar notams at 10 other airports in this same sector; although most list the new hours; but not the frequency.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MGM Controller described an on going A80/ZTL airspace transfer process that leaves pilots confused and unable to contact the correct ATC facility; resulting in extra workload for the reporter's facility.

Narrative: I was working radar at MGM Approach. This aircraft departed AUO airport; which is 17NM east of my airspace in the A80 Columbus sector. He called me about 15NM northwest of his departure point and said the he had not been able to contact anybody to give him his IFR clearance from AUO. Nightly; A80 closes the Columbus sector and gives the airspace to ZTL (sector 09 and 21). The Airport/Facility Directory says that this airspace transition will happen 3 hours later. There is a NOTAM; currently AUO 09/006 that amends the time to 3 hours earlier; but it is a frequent occurrence that pilots don't find that NOTAM and spend the first 10-20NM of their flight VFR and flipping through charts and frequencies. Often; MGM Approach is the first human they can find and we usually have to redirect them to ZTL. This 3-hour early closure was billed as temporary due to staffing; but has now continued for at least two years. This exceeds the intent of NOTAMs. If A80 is going to continue to give this airspace to ZTL; then it should be published appropriately and NOTAMs cancelled. Note that AUO is not the only airport impacted. There are similar NOTAMs at 10 other airports in this same sector; although most list the new hours; but not the frequency.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	837155
Time
Date	200905
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	AUO.Airport
State Reference	AL
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Radar 22 Air Traffic Control Supervisory 2.5 Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (mon) 0 Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 5
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Mgm controller described an on going A80/ZTL airspace transfer process that leaves pilots confused and unable to contact the correct ATC facility; resulting in extra workload for the reporter's facility.