Hello All,
I hope everyone’s summer is going well! I know it’s been a while since my last update so I wanted to address some issues that have come up and some things that will need to be addressed in the near future.
Traffic - As you all have seen, traffic has steadily increased since over the last two months and we have had to stay on position longer and work busier traffic than we were used to in order to accommodate the 5-on-5-off schedule. I have been hearing from multiple sources that while traffic normally drops after Labor Day, this year that won’t necessarily be the case. The projections are indicating traffic levels will remain about where they are right now.
Staffing - I have had a few of you reach out to me about there being instances where you have felt like the area was understaffed for a shift. A few of the FLMs have also voiced their concerns. As of PP21 we will have 28 controllers available to staff in the area. That means we are working with two teams of 14 (6 day, 6 swing, and 2 mid). I am hesitant to increase our COVID staffing guidelines from 5 to 6 for a couple of reasons. First, we have guaranteed leave for the rest of the year so we would be continually staffing under guidelines. That means we could never get any spot leave requests approved, and I know that there are several employees that may end up with use or lose this year. Second, I haven’t seen evidence other than a few instances where we don’t have the staffing to split sectors for brief periods to accommodate spikes in traffic. It sounds like people are still willing to work shorter breaks and longer sessions in order to stay in this posture. If you feel like this is a misrepresentation of how you see things, please reach out to me so we can discuss.
That being said, I would implore all of you to not hesitate to ask for help during spikes in traffic. I have seen instances where controllers got themselves into a jam because they didn’t want to shorten their co-worker’s break. Please look out for each other and make sure safety is still the priority during your shift. The schedule is designed to minimize the risk of COVID exposure and limit its effect on the NAS if it does happen. We can only maintain these schedules as long as safety is not compromised.
Whidbey - Whidbey has formally requested an extension of the DIABLO/HOODOO airspace. Part of their request would extend the airspace into the NW corner of sector 31/12. I will put a copy of the proposal in the area in the next couple of weeks. In the discussions I have had, I indicated that for the proposal to even be considered it would need to be clear of YVR J52 routing and remain clear of YDC..GLASR. Please provide any feedback you may have after you see the proposal.
Tony Germann - Sadly, Tony Germann will be leaving us to pursue an opportunity at ZLA. I have truly enjoyed working with Tony and have looked up to him as a mentor in my time here at ZSE. I think I speak for everyone when I say his presence in the facility will be greatly missed. His last day will be September 12th and we are going to be having a Microsoft Teams farewell at 6:00 pm on that day. Here is the link:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_Nzg1NzY3NzMtN2EwMS00ZGZlLWIxMTEtNDBjNTc5NmRkNzY4%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2255ac6233-9691-462f-9a12-eaccdf35e2bc%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%228534f0f2-f7a5-479e-b78b-4bbb5fecd2f6%22%7d
In Solidarity,
Jared Zimmerman