Commercial Fixed Wing
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 7
Confusion; Distraction; Situational Awareness; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance
Airport; Human Factors; Procedure
During the departure/arrival bank under 'Converging Runway Operations'; Ground Control North (GCN) became almost unworkable due to having every departure go to runway 30R. Also every aircraft that either landed 30R; 30L; or 35 had to get to their gate. There was numerous delays for arrival and departure aircraft trying to run Converging Runway Operations at MSP. It is becoming a coordination and volume nightmare. I was able to watch most of the operation working from flight data and I could not believe what I was seeing. There are more crossovers (departure aircraft that depart off 30R and need to turn south into 30L departures) now then there has ever been. The NTSB has said this is an unsafe operation due to a near mid-air collision that occurred back in 2009. And now it's becoming a part of the 'normal' operation during an already stressful; complex environment that Converging Runway Operations (CRO) has placed at MSP. I noticed the LCS controller having to take departure aircraft off the runway after a line up and wait clearance due to aircraft landing 35. The heavy aircraft had to exit at W2 (per the SOP we cannot do this); but this was the only option since there was another heavy that was on taxiway Alpha.Also LCN has to spend more time staring at the Tower Display Workstation (TDW) (DBRITE) in order to judge the 'double gap' they have to depart in. One gap for the 30R arrival and the other gap for the runway 35 arrival. CRO operations at MSP needs to stop. This airport is one of the few core 30 airports in the nation that has to depart and land on the same runways. Adding more complexity to the operation is not what MSP needs especially when the average experience level now at MSP is very low. Please send our concerns to the proper channels in the FAA and Air Traffic Organization (ATO). This is a very unsafe operation due to the increased complexity and volume.
A MSP tower controller reported of unsafe converging runway operations at MSP. The controller wants this type of operation to stop.