All,
I hope you are having a great week. No tricks in this email. That was fun finding out who only reads the first line of emails before freaking out though. Just as a clarification on that, Amy Sizemore will be taking over my duties temporarily when my wife finally has this damn baby in a few weeks. Just a few quick things this week.
Blue Buttons
I have pursued options for moving the blue button to the dead key in the top right and I found out that it is not possible to move it to that spot. We are going to have to just adapt to losing that key. We are all in this one together. I’ve been using that as my space key for almost 12 years. It’s gonna be a tough transition. If you have specific questions about the logistics of it, Alex has asked that you ask him or Derek since they can provide better clarification than me. Thanks for understanding.
Alex - anavarro@natca.net
Derek - Derek.adams.natca@gmail.com
Health Exam Notifications
Matt Dippe and I both discovered this week that CEDAR notifications are not going out for health exams that Lora is scheduling for us. Apparently the only notice we are getting is in our mail slots. So if you have one coming up, make sure you are checking that mail slot. I’ll address that issue and try to make sure at least a CEDAR notification goes out.
Archie League Awards
The deadline for Archie League nominations is 4/30. Not many have been submitted so if you know of one, please submit it or let me help you submit it.
Any NATCA member can nominate another member in good standing. Only NATCA members can be nominated for an Archie League Medal of Safety Award. Nominated events should include a controller or team of controllers who have gone above and beyond during an emergency situation, or in efforts to keep the National Airspace System safe.
All events between May 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019 are eligible for nomination. All winners will be honored during Communicating For Safety (CFS) 2019, which will be held Sept. 16-18, 2019 at Bally's Las Vegas.
For the Archie League Medal of Safety nomination form, please click here.
In order to nominate, please have the members name(s) and contact information, the date of the event, the pilot and aircraft information, a written description of the event, audio and/or radar files, and any other information that could support the nomination on hand.
If you have questions or are having trouble collecting all nomination materials, please contact Grace Colby.
Pay
Still a lot to sort out on pay issues. There are a lot of strange things showing up on pay stubs. I have something on mine that says “Federal Debt Recovery - Involuntary.” The charge is only for $1.67 but that coding is a little weird/harsh. I would strongly recommend calling the DOI if you have any questions about anything on your pay stub. Unfortunately, due to privacy issues, this is not something I can do for you. The DOI number is 1-888-367-1622.
Also, several of you have received overpayment notices asking you to pay the government back. I highly recommend double checking the DOI’s math on these before paying them. You can call the DOI to explain it. Also, James Darlington has made himself available to answer any questions that he can about pay issues. This is all uncharted territory and every case is different so I can’t overstate the importance of doing your due diligence on this.
James Darlington - darli328@gmail.com
That’s it for this week. I am sticking the flyer for Bill’s Retirement Party at the end of the email to make sure you all know about it.
In Solidarity,
Drew