Hello Everyone,
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Looking ahead to the new year, there are going to be a few changes I would like to make sure everyone is aware of.
Spot EA and no more 10-minute OT for swing shifts
In an effort to reduce overtime usage, we have agreed to eliminate the 10-minute overtime at the beginning of the swing shifts and you can expect to see 1350 shifts assigned in its place. The 1350 shifts should be rotated within each crew. The new shift assignments will start on January 10th.
The trade-off is the ability to assign spot EA to send people home when they are no longer needed for the day. Management is not going to track the EA so it will be up to us to try to distribute it as evenly as possible.
I have created a sheet that I put up by the headset bins to track EA given. It will be up to each crew to keep it up to date and determine who should be the next person to receive it. Attached to the tracking sheet is a copy of the memo from CEDAR that describes the circumstances in which spot EA might be approved.
Chart changes
The recent chart change has been printed and available in the area for the past few weeks and most of it is now in effect. I wanted to highlight the few things that will have the most impact on our operation.
CHINS STAR: All RNT landers, regardless of SEA flow, cross RADDY at 110 and 250 knots or less.
GLASR STAR A/B: On the STAR or direct WOODI north of FLAAK. Aircraft direct WOODI landing KSEA in a south flow must enter S46 airspace at 120 and 250 kts or less. Aircraft direct WOODI landing KSEA in a north flow must enter S46 airspace at 270 kts or less and comply with STAR restrictions.
NUW Downrigger will be in effect January 14, 2021, unless they postpone it again.
BWS
There is still no word on when we might be returning to BWS. Looking at the schedule, the amount of bid leave drastically increases at the beginning of April, and traffic levels do seem to be trending upward. If we cannot sustain minimum staffing and training, I could see the possibility of returning to BWS around that time. For now, this is just conjecture until we see what the next month or so brings.
Training
I haven’t heard of anyone not able to get their minimum training time in. Thank you all for making training a priority. We are going to see a few more trainees on the floor. Two supervisors and one TMU controller.
Please remember to wear your mask, especially when social distancing cannot be maintained (i.e. training, relief briefings, working a D-side). There have been some instances where proper mask usage was not being done and a few supervisors have brought it to my attention. I told them that I would reach out to the workforce and remind them to do so. We have done what we can to keep management accountable with their mask wearing and we expect they will be doing the same.
I would like to thank all of you for making this area the best place to be at ZSE. Keep up the good work!
In Solidarity,
Jared Zimmerman
(801) 635-9184