Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Procedure
I was working Sector X and received the hand off from Sector Y on the B737 which was tracking towards the [ABC VOR] however route had over [DEF VOR] for military active airspace. The aircraft had departed with a DTA change and an Full Route Clearance (FRC) reroute due to military airspace which was correct in the computer. When the B737 checked on the frequency; I verified his clearance and he said he was cleared to [his destination] via [ABC VOR]. It must have been at least 2 to 3 RADAR controllers who worked that aircraft before he was given to me and did not realize his wrong clearance. Also the whole time the aircraft was flashing to me it was tracking towards the [ABC VOR] and the Sector Y Controller never noticed he was given a different route that the one he should have had from the computer for weather and military activity. It is alarming and disgusting how procedures and rules implementation has been lacking in this facility. The fact that several people (including D-Sides) did not notice the aircraft tracking the wrong way is scary. Overall the FAA has turned into a relax training environment and therefore now we have many new controllers that do not know how to separate traffic and or just do a poor job when it comes to coordination since no one can get in trouble anymore; or so the belief is. I have found out instances of almost mid air collisions that nothing seems to be done to retrain the controller in order to improve and for the situation not to happen again. Also there are many distractions that go on in the control room everyday. Most people think we are here to talk about our personal business and weekend stories other than listening to readback errors. Furthermore; I believe management picks and chooses who they want to reprimand when it comes to an error. I have seen senior controllers make mistakes and brush it off as ' no harm no foul ' but supervisors are afraid on coming down on them since they are seniors. I believe the rules should apply to everyone and that they must perform at a certain level in order to maintain their job. The FAA needs to get back to basics and retrain the whole workforce to understand the important nature of our jobs since we are not only the workers but the users of the systems and those 'targets' in our RADAR scopes are airplanes full of people.
Extensive weather and weather routes impacting southern airports; and a reroute was in effect due to active military airspace north. B737 on this day was supposed to fly the amended routing that was in the machine. Before we took the handoff on the aircraft; I mentioned to my R-Side that it appeared the B737 was headed for the north and not [DEF VOR]. When the aircraft checked on; my R-Side immediately inquired about his route and sure enough; the B737 said he was direct [ABC VOR]. My R-Side immediately called the previous sector for control for turns and issued the correct clearance that was already in the computer. Several controllers both estimated that the aircraft had to transit at least 4 other controllers airspace before getting to us. How could this go unnoticed for so long? It is 2 totally different routes of flight; and with all the weather at that time; the B737 had to have been cleared on course sometime within 40 miles of departure; even if you performed a route display on the aircraft; you could clearly see that the flight was way off course; and possibly not on the proper route. Without listening to tapes; I will tell you there is an epidemic in this facility of a lack of attention to detail and there nothing done about it.
Enroute Controller described an incorrect routing event expressing concern regarding the current 'state of ATC' with regard to controller performance and management oversight.