All,

This is my second crack at this update.  I accidentally deleted the first one right after I finished it. So I broke my computer in half and then lit it on fire.  So I am doing this update on my wife's computer.  Anyway, here is the news this week.

 

AL Retirement Gift

I think I removed AL from this list successfully, so if I didn't...Sorry for ruining the gift Al.  Chris McKeever is taking up a collection to pay for part of AL's season tickets for the Seahawks upcoming 4-12 season.  If you are interested in donating to this, please either give cash to myself or Garret (he doesn't know I am volunteering him for this) or PayPal/Venmo to drew.s.stewart@gmail.com.  Just make sure you include a note about what it is for.  The plan is to give it to him at his retirement party at the Parkway Tavern on 4/10, time tbd.

 

Shift Swaps

If you do a shift swap with someone, try to have it properly reflected in the webscheduler.  Often times someone will be requesting a 0700 form a 1000 and another person will be requesting a 1000 from a 0700 and those people will agree to a swap.  In this case, try to reflect it in the webscheduler so others don't end up thinking they were skipped.  This is ultimately a mgmt responsibility but it helps us to make sure we don't accidentally screw each other as well.

 

Area Training Rep

Still waiting to hear from Troy on this.

 

Article 46

I wanted to clear something up regarding Art 46.  Let me start by saying that the example I am about to explain is not on the horizon for us, I just want you all to know how it would work if it was.  If we end up with a shortage on a crew, we will solicit volunteers to move to that crew.  If we are unable to get a volunteer, we will determine a "fat crew."  The junior person from this "fat crew" will then be forced to move to the short spot.  This is not a personal policy, this is a procedure that is clearly laid out in our contract in Article 46.  I have had this conversation with several people in the area and I just wanted to make sure everyone understood it.  Again, this is not something that is looming for us, just something I want to make sure we all understand.  Keep this in mind when bidding your line next year, if you want to be a little more secure on your crew, never be the junior person.

 

Juniper Complex Fixes

Our new fixes to clear the southern portion of the Juniper Complex (LOKEY and DNTAY) have been added to the system.  They are not currently on the maps or on the scopes but that will change in coming updates.  Garret has placed little cards that show where they are under the glass on 13 and 30.  LOKEY is the western fix and DNTAY is the eastern one.  DNTAY doesn't technically clear the whole extension but that portion is only to FL270 (I think) so you will likely have altitude there anyway.  I put the fix locations in the header to this email as well for you to see.

 

Full MVA Redesign

As I mentioned last week, Garret has been working to learn the new MVA program and is making some progress on getting our MVAs adjusted.  He has posted proposed changes in the area and I have attempted to attach them HERE and HERE.  Below is a list of what the proposed changes are, please see me or Garret with any concerns.  I think these will be great if we get them changed.

D-Area MIA Proposed Changes:

Project Goals:

1.     Simplification and ‘softening’ of many MIA boundary lines.  Currently, we have a total of 82 MIA areas/polygons.  This proposed revision would reduce them to 60 areas (25% decrease).

2.     No losses of significant altitude areas where vectoring for or issuing crossing restrictions at fixes for approaches is necessary.

3.     Removal of many small, non-cardinal altitude areas (i.e. 049, 059, 098, etc.).

4.     Closer integration with all adjacent sectors, Centers and Cascade Approach MIA/MVA areas (not completed yet).

Sector 30 changes:

1.     New 080 cardinal altitude area in the vicinity of SIY for vectoring arrivals/departures.

2.     Adjustment of current 071 area east of BOK/4S1 to regain the old 070 cardinal altitude MIA area.

3.     Expansion of the 060 area south of ACV by moving the 060/070 boundary along the ACV LOC slightly east.

4.     Expansion of the 037 and 050 areas along V27 and the coastline south of the FOT VORTAC w/the VORTAC now completely inside the 037 area.

5.     Replacement of the larger 092 area SW of MFR airspace with a new 090 area that now includes a smaller 092 isolation area in the vicinity of LEANN/TALEM/KLAMA.

6.     Adjustment resulting in a smaller 159 area for Mt. Shasta with new 150 and 100 step-down shelf areas.

7.     Expansion of the 040 area north of CEC along the coastline to coincide with removal of the 044 area.

Sector 36 changes:

1.     New 025 area south and east of the OTH LOC between MITUE/EMIRE to accommodate vectors for the ILS approach for ADS-B equipped aircraft (once the LOC is depicted, of course).

2.     New 043 area in the vicinity of COOSE extending northeast to accommodate a lower crossing restriction at COOSE for the VOR/DME-B.

3.     Adjustment of current 057 and 060 area boundaries south of RBG to accommodate lower altitudes for RBG inbounds being vectored for the 157-R and EROWY (w/ IDISY still in the 057).

4.     Adjustment of the current 050 area in the vicinity of RBG, extending that area south and east of the VOR by over 4 nm.

5.     Adjustment of current 071 area east of BOK/4S1 to regain the old 070 cardinal altitude MIA area.

6.     Removal of the isolated 039 area north of the OTH VOR/DME (now all just 040).

Sector 10 changes:

1.     Adjustment of 086 area in the vicinity of LMT giving slightly more room (2-3 nm) in the area southwest of TAHNE.

2.     Adjustment of the 100 area in the vicinity of Mt. McLaughlin allowing for MIXUP to be 1-2 miles inside the 090 area.

3.     Expansion of the 090 area in the vicinity of MIXUP, SPRAG, and north toward the Sector 05 boundary.

4.     Removal of 088 area in the vicinity of MIXUP.

5.     Adjustment of the 102 area in the vicinity of LKV, creating a new larger 100 area with new 101, 102, and 116 exclusion areas instead.

 

Shift Change Request Reminder

Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period.  So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit.  A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.

 

Credit Request Reminder

The biggest thing I want to remind everyone of with credit requests is YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE CREDIT ON THE BOOKS TO REQUEST TO BURN IT.  Meaning if you have 4 days of credit requested throughout the year then it is not possible for you to have the days necessary to cover that since we can only have 24hrs of credit.  Please keep an eye on this.  It is a very easy thing to get caught doing wrong and if you get caught doing it, you will likely be the reason mgmt audits everyone’s leave requests.

 

Metering Explanations

TMU has been working to put together an explainer document for some common questions about metering.  These are TMU's answers to common questions.  The following is what they have come up with:

Metering Explanations:

Metering Delay/Sequencing Delay

  • TBFM calculates delay to meet an arrival rate (which is programmed via a spacing matrix by the TMCs).  It also calculates delay in order to sequence aircraft at each of the metering fixes and/or metering arcs.
  • During metering, an aircraft may have a small delay indicated in the D area, but none in the B area.  This delay is due to TBFM sequencing the aircraft at the outer Meter arc.  This will only be an issue if the D area controller decides to meter more time than the indicated delay.  That would result in the aircraft being behind the assigned meter time and that will push back (waterfall) the delay backwards into the other arrivals.

Updating routes and Frozen times jumping

  • Updating a Frozen aircraft’s route: If TBFM projects the aircraft will arrive at the Meter fix (arc) later than the currently scheduled time after a route amendment, the aircraft might jump to the back of the list and the slot that the aircraft had in the TBFM timeline could potentially disappear. If the TMC is notified prior to a controller routing an aircraft, the current slot can be noted/preserved so that the aircraft can be placed back in it quickly if it were to jump out.
  • TBFM will adjust times even after they are frozen. The adjustments are small, but they are large enough to potentially lose a slot when an aircraft jumps out of the assigned slot.  If the TMC is not aware that the aircraft was routed direct, and that aircraft jumps to the back of the list, he/she may not know where that aircraft was originally.
  • TMC Techniques:
    • Swapping slots with aircraft that have negative times to keep the list up to date.
    • Shuffling slots with internal departures (swapping the aircraft in the list).  This is done because the towers can release aircraft two minutes earlier and one minute later than their CFR time, so the departures do not always land in the correct slot once departed.
    • List stability.  TBFM will jump aircraft around when frozen aircraft are mixed with unfrozen aircraft.  Since ZSE’s arrival streams have varying freeze horizons, it is common for TMCs to freeze aircraft further out to create stability.
  • Oceanic, Alaskan, Hawaiian, and sometimes Canadian flights do not appear in TBFM until they are within ZSE radar. These flights will suddenly “pop” into the TBFM list since they appear a lot later in radar than flights on the other arrivals. The TMC may shuffle the flight down the metering list to put the aircraft in a more equitable arrival slot.  This would affect the frozen times on all streams.

Delay Countdown Timer (DCT)

  • When an aircraft is in level flight and on it’s FP route, the DCT is accurate. Once an aircraft’s speed is changed, the DCT changes to reflect the new ground speed (by turning, descending or climbing an aircraft, it’s speed will change).  TBFM constantly updates the DCT based on the aircraft direct the next fix in the FP with the current speed. 
    • For example:  An aircraft has a 5 minute delay according to the DCT.  This aircraft is turned into a strong head wind, which drops the aircraft’s speed dramatically. TBFM recalculates, which drops the DCT to 0 after two minutes of actual time has passed.  Once that controller sees a 0 for the DCT, that aircraft is turned back to the fix on it’s FP and the DCT now jumps back up to 3 minutes. This is because TBFM has recalculated again based on the speed, which increased once that aircraft was out of the wind.

When aircraft are slowed too much or slowed when there is no delay:

  • Over delaying an aircraft results in negative delays on the TBFM timeline. Once an aircraft has fallen behind its slot, that slot is very difficult to fill. Over delaying an aircraft creates compacted demand where there originally wasn’t because it pushes that aircraft back into the aircraft behind it. This may result in times being shuffled, the metering list being rescheduled or even ZSE being shut off by TRACON due to an excess of aircraft.
  • Having aircraft cross a metering fix/arc with 0 to +1 is better than -1.

 

NCF Step Challenge is Over!

The standings are as follows:

  1. TX (1,156,978 Steps)
  2. KC (933,465 Steps)
  3. DP (745,641 Steps)
  4. HA (561,890 Steps)
  5. AM (539,633 Steps)
  6. ZK (20,734 Steps)

I'm guessing that some of you quit tracking your steps...looking at you ZK.  But nonetheless, thank you all for participating and donating to the NCF.  The prizes I promised are as follows:

  • Rare Breed Wild Turkey Bourbon (I pick this one)
  • 24 pk of PBR
  • $20 Starbucks gift card

KC, let me know which of the remaining 2 prizes you want, DP gets the other one.

Just for perspective, the person who won the whole challenge got 4,041,795 Steps.  That's cray cray.

 

That's it for this week.  Let me know if you have any issues and don't forget to join the conversation in Slack.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Drew