Brothers and Sisters,
Schedule and vacation leave bidding begins Monday! NATCA is running this year’s bid and will continue to do so for the duration of the contract. I am responsible for this bid. The area designees for this bid are the same as last year: Tony Germann, Brooke Dawson, and Derek Adams. The bid must only be run by an area rep (or designee), or current supervisor/CIC on position.
The bid rules are similar to years past. Days off and round one of the vacation bid will be conducted together. The Basic Watch Schedule MOU states: “Employees scheduled to be away from the facility/area have the option of providing their bid requests via written proxy to the NATCA designated representative for submission.” If you are going to be away from work, please leave a proxy with me for your schedule and vacation bid or some way to contact you. Round one of the vacation bid is one or two consecutive or non-consecutive work weeks. Rounds two through five are up to five days within a work week. A work week is defined as seven consecutive days. In round six, you may bid the rest of your accrued leave for the year in individual daily increments.
S46 LOA: The LOA is not going to change to the extent that was previously discussed. On November 10, the northern boundary between ZSE and S46 will change to accommodate the up numbered MADEE arrival and the future RNAV arrival to KPAE from the east. These changes will be discussed in briefings the week of October 31.
Route Channelization: The transfer of control between our area and the C Area is expanding. We will have control for altitude changes, 30 degree turns, and speed adjustments from the high altitude sectors. The C Area high altitude sectors will have the same control from us. Within our area, the transfer of control between Sectors 31 and 03/12 will be simplified. These changes also take effect on November 10 and will be discussed in briefings the week of October 31. Please try to attend!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please come find me, email at skorniakoff@comcast.net, or call/text me at 253-332-2066
In Solidarity,
Paul Skorniakoff