Solicitation for Refresher and the Training Department

There are currently two solicitations posted on the sign in computer.  

One is to be an R side instructor for JC in the Training Department from 4/2-5/17.  This closes 3/8.  Please let your supervisor know if you are interested in this.  In the past these have been eligible for 10 hour days but this one is unclear on that.  Make sure you ask your Supervisor if that is something you want to do.

The other solicitation is for Refresher Training.  The classes would be from 5/21-5/25.  This solicitation closes 3/15.

I know a few of you have already shown interest in these but make sure if you are interested that your supervisor knows.

Drew

Weekly Update 2/26

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  I did a little revamping with the email.  Hope you like the giant NATCA logo and the fighters.  I might be getting the hang of this website finally.  Got a few things going on so this update might be longer than usual, so please do your best to stick with it all the way through.  Here goes…

QC Detail

The detail to work with Lee Kramer in QC is still open for another couple of days (Closing date is Feb 28th).  Make sure you get your name in if you are interested.

From CEDAR:

Employees selected for this assignment will provide assistance to the Support Manager for Quality Control. Operations permitting, duties will be assigned intermittently for a period to be determined by the Support Manager for QC.

Dawn’s Job — Training Specialist

Temporary NTE 1 year (may be extended)

Bid closes 3/6/2018

Link: https://www.usajobs.com/getjob/viewdetails/491379600

Schedule Movement

We will soon be bidding out April Warfel and Al Passero’s lines.  Hopefully as soon as Wednesday.  I expect this to cause quite a shuffle so please make sure you are checking the sheet and marking whether or not you are interested in the line.  I want to get this done as fast as possible so Angie has time to reflect it in PP11.  You can expect me to be hassling you if you don’t initial the sheet.

Metering

Ok so this is a big deal right now.  We recently had a joint team brief with the B area and TMU.  I am going to try to capture some of it here.  Frist of all, apparently during metering someone is “regularly” assigning M79+ to aircraft.  This claim was made by one person in the B area and I don’t believe it.  If for some reason it is true and it is you assigning M79+ during metering…STOP.  PLEASE STOP.

• Route Key:  Route key everyone.  Get the route updated before you send them to the next sector.  I know you may have been told differently in the past, but that is no more.  Update all routes.  The only way this can negatively impact the meter program is if the new route puts the aircraft at BTG at a time later than their scheduled meter time.  This should almost never happen and TMU should be vigilant and correct it when it does.

• Showing the whole delay:  We are still working on making this a reality.  This Wednesday I plan to run a test of it to see if there are any negatives and if I see none, I will be working to make it permanent.  In the meantime it might not be the worst idea to be informing pilots that in the next sector they will still be delayed 5 more minutes to help get them used to it.  Randy Vincent is also supposed to be getting with the airlines to let them know they will be metered through multiple sectors in ZSE.

• Locked in Times Changing:  Apparently this is just something that might happen.  I have seen it happen where the time went up 3 minutes after we turned the aircraft back.  This should be rare but can be caused be a whole host of things.  The best thing to do if it happens is to hit the new time.  If you feel like it, you can call TMU and if they have a slot further up the list, they might be able to change it.  This is just something we are going to have to do deal with for now.  I am hoping that seeing the BTG time changes this.

• Meter Delay vs Sequence Delay:  I have been working with metering for about the last 8 years and I had never heard of a sequence delay until last week.  I think a better explanation is coming from TMU at some point but the general idea is that aircraft can have a 2 minute delay with us and no delay in the B area.  I previously didn’t think that was possible.  If we have 2 then they have 5, right?  Well apparently not always.  We could potentially be seeing a delay that is intended to space the aircraft out as required for the HAWKZ arrival.  This was news to me and hopefully we will learn more about it in the future or even better, maybe it will stop being an issue when we see the whole BTG time.

Possible Bid for B Area

Just a heads up, the front office is kicking around the idea of opening up a bid for a D area person to go to the B area.  As of right now it is just an idea and it would be voluntary.  I’ll let you know if any of that changes.

Juniper Complex

We are currently having a good chat on Slack about how we should handle Juniper Hart clearances and what we should expect the B area to give us as the “controlling agency.”  Make sure you join up on that channel if you want your voice to be heard!  Click the link below that applies to you!

Legislative Class

Last week, Jackson Yang took two days of his personal time to go learn more about NATCA’s legislative involvement and how our lobbying efforts work.  I think it is awesome that he stepped up to volunteer for something like that and I wanted to shout him out for it.  Please let me know if you have any interest in anything NATCA offers as far as classes or any activism goes and I will get you whatever information you want.

Slack Invites

Lots of people joined last week!  Don’t forget to turn on notifications if you want to know what is going on in there.  Only the following people are left to join:

Mark Baden

Geoff Goodfellow

Eric Johnsen

Bill Kohler

Brett Lewis

Derek Myers

April Warfel

Carl Warfel

Jared Zautner

Jessica Randall

If your name is listed here, click the orange button below.  If your name is not here then you are already on slack and you can click the blue button to join the conversation. (In case you are viewing this on the website, these buttons are only visible on the email.)

To make sure you are in the right channel, click the multi colored hashtag (pound sign) in the top left and select the lowercase d to join our slack.  Then go to the top right and go to settings and turn on all notifications.  If you don’t turn them all on, you won’t get any.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 2/19

All,

Hopefully everyone is having a good week.  A few new things this week and a few carryovers from last week.  Looking forward to seeing everyone today at 4pm at Dave and Busters!

New OM
During my grueling two day collaboration training on 2/14 and 2/15 I learned that we will be getting B Area Supervisor Jason Alliston as our next OM.  I discussed a few things with him and I am cautiously optimistic about how he will be as an OM.  Not sure when he will take over, but I think they are shooting for April.

Supervisor Duties
In case you care who is assigned what, here are the following duties that are assigned to our area FLMs:

Baker - Airspace & Procedures/510/Pubs
Brennan - Quality Control
Brier - Training
Michelsen - Schedule/TMU

AMDT Change
The change should currently be in effect.  Has anyone seen any issues on the floor with the increased delay?

Pending Requests
Jason Poole is still planning on briefing all of the supes on this in March.  However, our incoming OM (Jason Alliston) is in agreement with me on this and plans to follow the contract as well.  Make sure you are letting me know about any issues with this.
 

Just as a reminder, here are the relevant contract excerpts:

Article 24 Section 14

Spot leave is leave requested for any period during a posted watch schedule. Leave requests for the shift being worked shall be approved/disapproved subject to staffing and workload within thirty (30) minutes of the request being made. Leave requests for future shifts shall be approved/disapproved subject to staffing and workload within two (2) hours of when the request was made, or prior to the end of the shift, whichever is less. Approval/disapproval shall not be subject to conditional circumstances. Leave requests shall be approved in the order that they were requested. If the request was disapproved and annual leave for that time period later becomes available, the leave shall be approved in the order that the request was received.

Article 32 Section 8

When considering an individual request for a shift and/or days off change, the Agency will consider the staffing and workload of the losing and gaining shift as a precondition to approval. If it is determined that those needs are adequately met, the change shall be approved.

Area Training Rep
I got a few volunteers for this and we are currently in the process of setting up the details.  More to come.

CEDAR/Hot Sheets
Anyone getting PRoCs yet for not checking their CEDAR?  Let me know.

Refresher Training
Refresher Training will be taking place May 21-24.  We are still looking for some volunteers and some ideas for this.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions on either.

Next is some notes from Garret from our Meeting with the Coast Guard last month:

---

ZSE/USCG Meeting Summary – January 2018

Background:  At the request of the US Coast Guard, two pilots from the North Bend Sector arrived at the Auburn Municipal Airport for an informal face-to-face meeting and facility tour with ZSE personnel on Friday, January 26, 2018.  The primary purpose of the meeting was to improve mutual awareness of operational requirements and limitations between all parties in order to increase safety and efficiency.

Participants:  Lieutenant Chad A. Perdue was the lead representative for the USCG.  Glen Wood (Airspace and Procedures Support Manager) was the lead representative for ZSE.  Representing the D-Area was Garret Wilkerson (Airspace SME), Bill Kohler (Airspace SME), Drew Stewart (NATCA Area Rep) and Vaden Michelsen (FLM).  Representing the B-Area was Jonathan Bradshaw (Airspace SME) and Annika Preciado (FLM).

Takeaways and Discussions:

1.     USCG primary concern:  The North Bend Sector operates the MH-65D helicopter (Type AS65/G, aka “Dolphin”), which is not approved for flight into known icing conditions.  This limitation often prevents USCG pilots from being able to accept an IFR clearance at or above the MIA as required by ATC.  Therefore, the Coast Guard was most interested in learning how ATC might be able to issue them a clearance for an Instrument Approach Procedure (IAP) without having to climb to the MIA.

Solution:  We discussed how pilots should contact ATC in advance and (1) relay their current position (preferably by referencing a FIX, WAYPOINT or FRD) and altitude, (2) emphasize MEDEVAC priority, if necessary (i.e. “Coast Guard Rescue”), and (3) state the approach requested.

If the pilot is unable to accept a clearance at or above the MIA, it was suggested (weather permitting) that they make an alternate request to maintain VFR until established on a published segment/transition of the approach (no closer than the FAF) at or above the published altitude of that segment/transition.

We explained how in this case, ATC could issue an approach clearance below the MIA, only if the pilot is able to maintain VFR and subsequently report established on a published approach segment/transition at the proper altitude.  We also discussed how contacting ATC in a timely manner with such a request helps increase efficiency since other traffic may also be a factor.

2.     Fuel limitations:  Due to the somewhat limited fuel capacity of the MH-65D (AS65/G) helicopter, their ability to absorb additional delays is also limited.  If ATC does need to delay them for traffic, it is important to issue them an accurate expectation of the delay time.

3.     OTH pilot training:  Since both new pilot and recurrent training require a certain number of approaches in a given time period, the Coast Guard will periodically request multiple approaches at OTH.  It was discussed how to streamline this process and increase efficiency for both the pilots and ATC:

a.     The D-Area suggested that the Coast Guard call the FLM/CIC desk number about an hour before such training flights to coordinate timing and give the sector controllers a heads up.  This gives ATC the opportunity to plan accordingly for workload and staffing.

b.     After discussing their needs further, ZSE also suggested a specific way for the Coast Guard to file their IFR flight plans for approach training at OTH:

i.     KOTH..OTH..EMIRE..KOTH, requested altitude 040, with “NO SIDS” in the remarks.

We explained our requirement to issue a transition on the OTH6 SID, which the pilots usually do not want to fly.  By having them file this route with “NO SIDS” in the remarks, they can be cleared “as filed.”

This routing also allows ATC to issue a clearance for the ILS or LOC RWY 4 approach once the pilot reports established on the transition between the OTH VOR/DME and EMIRE at or above the transition altitude of 3000.  This routing also gives the controller the ability to issue the approach clearance without radar-identification.

 4.     OTH call signs:  North Bend Sector commonly uses C6501, C6512, C6514, C6522 and C6581.  They told us the first two digits represent the helicopter type, except that the C66XX call signs are also the AS65/G when the last two digits are rolled over from 99.

---

Slack Instructions
This is not really all that complicated but you do have to make a few moves to ensure you get all of the alerts for the area slack channel.  Here's the best step by step process I can come up with.

If you have are already set up in the slack app, skip straight to step 4.

1. Download Slack
2. Go to your email and click on the link I sent you (might say from Devin Carlisto)
3. Set up your account.  Please put your full name in the name spot and as your display name, please only put your operating initials.
4. Click the multi-colored hashtag - # - (pound sign if you're over 50) in the top left corner of the app.  When this menu comes up, there should be a  lowercase "d" there with a lock next to it.  Click on that.
5. You are now in the D area slack.  To get any notifications, you have to turn on "all" notifications individually for each channel.  So now click the three vertical dots in the top right.  Then go to settings --> notifications and turn on all notifications.  If this gets to be too much for you, you can always go back and change it later.
6. Please announce yourself!  I am keeping a list of who all is set up in the slack and I promise I will hassle you relentlessly until I know you are at least on the slack.  Whether or not you choose to participate is up to you.

You can follow the same process (step 5) in the main ZSE channel (#general) if you want to get notifications for that as well.

The following people still need to sign up:
Zach Deubler
Tim Clark
Andrew Ferguson-Johns
Eric Johnsen
Wonbae Kim
Jordan Sandoval
Kelly Saunders
Matt Williford
Korri Courtois
Mark Baden
Geoff Goodfellow
Mark Haechler
Brett Lewis
Bill Kohler
Derek Myers
Paul Ross
April Warfel
Carl Warfel
Denise Spencer
Jared Zautner

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR SLACK

I wrote those instructions mostly from memory so forgive me if I missed something.  Also, I have taken several people's phones and set it up for them and I can do this for you as well.  Just find me on break and I'll do it.  Also, I can do this at the Dave and Busters Meetup today (2/19) at 4pm!!  Hope to see you all there!

In Solidarity,

Drew

D Area Update - Fall Special

1.  2015 Leave -

Ok, this is likely your final warning from me.  Management has told me that anybody who has overbid their leave (what you have plus what you will accrue this year) will have their requests canceled for any requests that you don't have the leave to cover.  For example, if you have 24 hours of annual left for this year, and you have five days of annual requested, your first three days will stay there and the next two will be deleted.

You have until roughly October 12th to fix your leave requests.  I say roughly because they aren't sure how much time Joni and Katey need to count up everyone's leave and then count up the requests, subtract holidays, etc etc.  I do know management wants to have it done before the next pay period schedule is published because that one has Thanksgiving and they want to make sure people aren't illegally blocking somebody from getting leave.  I would expect to see something posted in the area about this soon.  Let me know if you have any questions about this.

2.  NATCA Nominations -

Troy beat me to the punch notifying all of you last week, but nominations for all positions in the facility are open as of Thursday.  You can nominate one person for each of Fac Rep, VP, Treasurer, Secretary, and D-Area Rep.  You should have a nomination form in your mailbox (your work mailbox).

3.  2016 Bidding -

A lot of people are wondering when we will start the bidding process for next year.  Renee says that the MOU's are basically done and agreed on, and they are at the region to be approved.  They expect that to happen this week.  They plan to brief the workforce on the new MOU's during the week of Oct 12, and then start bidding the week of Oct 19.  Last year we took a very long time to get through the whole thing.  I take a lot of the blame for that, as it became tedious to constantly keep track and notify people to bid.  So, for this year, I want to say, let's try and move it along a little faster.  Please be prepared to bid when it is your turn.  I'll hopefully be better at keeping it going, and Joni will also be helping to move the bid along.

4.  Red Book Ideas -

I don't know how many of you get emails from NATCA national, but they sent out an interesting one recently.  The "red book" contract will expire next summer and so the process of negotiating a new contract will begin this winter.  NATCA wants to hear from you if you have some ideas on things that could be changed, added, or removed from our current contract.  Here is what Paul and Trish sent:

Brothers and Sisters,

Our Collective Bargaining Agreements for the ATCS, TMC/S and NOTAM bargaining units (Red Book) are set to expire in July 2016.

After a review of the existing articles and mid-term agreements reached since ratification, it has been determined that that we will open negotiations with the Agency in order to incorporate the improvements and benefits that we have secured since 2009. We will also explore improvements in a number of other areas.

We are in the process of identifying a team that will bargain on your behalf. It is anticipated that bargaining will commence early 2016.

It is important to know that NATCA successfully lobbied Congress to change the impasse procedure in the 2012 FAA Authorization Bill to prevent the FAA from unilaterally imposing work and pay rules as it did in 2006. The new law ensures that if the parties do not reach agreement upon a new contract that we will proceed to mediation.  If the parties cannot reach a voluntary agreement through mediation, we will go to binding arbitration.  

In advance of any formal bargaining, we are asking the membership to submit ideas for consideration in any new agreement. These ideas will be reviewed in preparation for negotiations. Please submit your suggestions to 2016contractideas@natca.net.

In Solidarity,

Paul Rinaldi

NATCA President

Trish Gilbert

NATCA Executive Vice-President

5.  Article 5 Person -

They are looking for somebody to do an upcoming D-side dysim stint for Korri and Geoff.  Let myself or your supervisor know if you are interested.

Ok, that's the latest news,

Chico

The Latest

1.  2016 Schedule -

Ok, the results are in, and by a narrow margin option A prevailed.  That is the option with 3 16's and both mids as 23's.  So, that will be our schedule for next year.  Here is a copy of it for your reference:

2016 D Area Schedule (2 CWS) Final

I talked with Renee yesterday and she says that right now the plan is to start bidding the week of October 12.

2.  Guides -

Guides are going to be lowered starting next year.  I know we have had a bit of a discussion about these, and I know that initially people seemed against this idea, but I think more people have come to realize that it will only help bring us closer to what we actually do anyway.  It will also be that much easier to get one more person off the schedule.  They aren't being lowered across the board however.  I think we are only going down one on the weekday day shifts, so it will basically be:

Weekdays 10/8

Weekends 8/8

It's not final, but I'll let you know when I know.

3.  Early Shift Change Requests -

I don't know how many times I've written about this, but it has come up again.  This time however, some people's shift change requests actually were deleted by management and not reentered at the bottom of the list.  I've already notified people whose requests were deleted, so if you didn't hear from me, you're good.  Just know that if you put in your request early, it can be removed and not necessarily put back in for you.  I know that sometimes people get away with it because nobody catches it, but I just wanted to have you watch out for that so you don't lose out on your shift change.  If you have questions about when you can put in a valid request, let me know.

4.  Wearable Technology in the Control Room -

This info came from Troy.  He expects this to be briefed to the facility soon.  I just thought I'd throw it out here for your reference:

The Parties have conducted a joint review of the capabilities, functionality and use  of cell phone watches (Apple, Andriod, etc.) and fitness trackers.  The parties have agreed that these devices are permitted in operational areas but shall be set in the “off” (powered down) position.  If the watch/tracker cannot be powered down (turned off), it shall not be permitted in operational areas.  Turn Off Tune In,  and Professional Standards programs provide tools and resources to assist in educating employees.  Issues arising from implementation of this joint guidance will be addressed using Article 8 and Professional Standards prior to more formal measures being initiated.

Shelly Mlakar and Phil Barbarello

5.  All Members Meeting -

I'll be out of town, but there is an all members meeting coming up this Friday, September 25th.  It will be at the Spunky Monkey at 3pm.  This could be a very informational meeting as we have a lot of things looming on the horizon right now.  i.e. Next year's schedule and MOU's, staffing, elections for next year's reps, and also the sequestration/funding/furlough stuff that is coming up very soon.

6.  Nerdy Radio Stuff -

Mary Chandler sent this to me about the recent frequency congestion we've had on sector 13.  This is totally just FYI, but I thought it was kind of interesting because I didn't realize that this was how frequencies worked:

Apparently Sector 13 has been having some frequency interference issues (remember you can send me a little note now that Dan has retired so I can track problems on your behalf).

The technicians out in the field took many trips and went through all sorts of trouble-shooting on their equipment and then they bumped into a broadcast station engineer at the access gate to Powell Butte (east of Redmond, Oregon) and found that a new radio station had started broadcasting on 8/25/15.  Apparently the FAA was not on someone’s checklist to ensure the new station wouldn’t interfere with our frequencies but we should have been.  One of Sector 46’s RCAGs (CH29) is at the same location as one of Sector 13’s RCAGs (CH48) and when CH29 transmits plus the two radio stations (one old and one new) are transmitting, the frequency waves add up to Sector 13’s UHF frequency.

    121.35 (sector 46)

  + 107.7 (existing radio station, no problem)

  + 106.5 (new radio station, a problem)

  =  335.55 – Sector 13’s UHF frequency

Honestly, I’m not making this up … I got this info straight from the radio guys’ mouths/email.

Anyway, the new radio station is “on the hook to change frequency, add filters, lower their power, or pay for whatever changes we would make to our site to accommodate their operation” according to the FAA frequency management engineer.  I will let you know if I hear more on the subject and please don’t hesitate to ask if you need further information!

That's the latest,

Chico

Short D Area Update

Not too much to report lately, but here's what I have...

1.  Annual Leave Requests -

You may have heard already, but there are many people (not just in the D Area) who have overbid the amount of leave they have plus what they are scheduled to accrue this year.  The managers are apparently about to crack down on this, so Russ gave me a heads up to pass along to you guys.  If you think you may be one of these people, you want to go in to web schedules and cancel any leave requests you don't want.  If you aren't sure if you are one of these people, let me know, and I can tell you how to check.  Or, I think I can actually check for you if you are having a hard time with it.

Russ said he isn't sure what the "punishment" would be, but he is speculating that they will leave requests alone for however many hours you have, but then any requests after that which would put you over your annual leave balance would be cancelled.

2.  Training Review Boards -

There are some training review boards coming up.  Troy is wondering if there is anybody interested in becoming a TRB rep for NATCA.  If you have some interest in that, let me know and you can potentially sit in on one to see the process.

That is all I have for now.

Chico

D Area Latest - Schedule Edition

1.  This Year's Schedule - 

Just a heads up, but we will have a line out for bid soon.  It will be Renee Soerink's line.  It is a Sat/Sun RDO line, 15, 1330NF, 8, 6, 23.  This line coming available is based on Jackson or Tyler Shore becoming a CPC.  If Renee ends up going before Jackson or Tyler become CPC, then her mid will rotate through the Sat/Sun crew until they do.  The schedule change will go into effect once Jackson or Tyler Shore become CPC.

Not sure exactly when this line will be going up, but I think we'll probably do it mid/late July.

2.  Guides -

Renee Peavey wants to lower our guides by one across the board (except for the first and last hours of the day).  I don't really see a problem with this as the supervisors consistently go below guides anyway.  This will just more accurately reflect what we need and should allow more people to get leave.  I don't know exactly when this change would happen, but I think it is for next year.

3.  Mids, 16's, and 6's for Next Year -

This is probably going to be complicated to read, so ask me if anything is unclear here....

This was first brought to me by Drew, and then secondly brought to me by Robello.  This is still kind of a rough idea, so it may not end up exactly like this, but this is the gist.

For next year, instead of having mids be 23's, we have them be 2230's (except for the Sunday morning mid on crew 3.  That still has to be a 00).  I'm not entirely sure, but I think most people come in for the mid around 10:30 anyway.  This provides a little extra staffing for that hour.  You can also still request a 23, or a 22.

If we have 2230 mids, we would be able to eliminate 16's also, and instead have 1530's.  We would also be able to schedule one less 16 (now a 1530).  So, for your crew of four, on your first day, instead of 3 16's and one 15 like it is now, it would be two 15's and two 1530's.  You will still be able to request a 16 should you want one.

Finally, in the mornings, there will still be 4 6's scheduled, but one of the 6's on their fifth day will be assigned a 545 (except Sunday morning, because of the mid).  You can flex on that 545, so you can come in as early as 515 on that shift.

Please give me your feedback on this!  I want to know what you think before we go ahead with this idea.  Namely, are you ok with 2230 mids?  Are you ok with 1530's instead of 16's?  I also want to know how to handle the 545 shift.  Should that rotate between the two 6's on their fifth day?  Should it be tied to one line?  Or, Drew likes the idea of bidding "priority" for that shift.  So, you can either bid top priority or last priority for that shift.  If you bid top priority, you will get it all the time unless you are on leave.  If you bid lowest priority, you will get it only if the other person is on leave or on another shift.

If I don't hear any feedback, we will go ahead with this plan.  I think it works fine for us without changing a whole lot.

4.  Next Year's Schedule -

It looks like we'll be bidding 31 lines for next year.  I want to get a schedule ready to take to management, so I've been working on a few.  I assume from the response last year that we are still interested in having CWS lines (4 10's).  So, I've whipped up three schedules here, one with no CWS, one with two CWS, and one with three CWS.  Take a look at these and see what you think.  For the record, I like the 3 CWS one best.  I think that one provides the most even coverage possible.  I went ahead and made these with the 2230 mid/1530/545 thing in mind.  If we don't end up going with that, then that will just change those mid shifts, and also some of the CWS lines would have 14's instead of 13's.  I also made these based on the current guides.  If the guides do go down by one, the schedules wouldn't change at all.

3 CWS -

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gRZuhEFAaDhkJa54icM_bI_6KWqSc1YSkiG70YItVCc/edit?usp=sharing

2 CWS -

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gS1nd5nJ2v1-SoGfJml-jOgQguxa9p4t3QUP_ZppMvs/edit?usp=sharing

No CWS -

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M8gcmtdZQtVDHxsJeu5UosG38vFMlgZxNRqN8sESOis/edit?usp=sharing

Keep in mind, these schedules are just preliminary and can (and probably will) change once Robello and Renee take a look at it.

5.  Parking Stickers -

Ok, I think parking stickers are ready to be picked up again.  The D-area week is July 19-25.  I think you can go in any time though and get a new one.

6.  Remote Monitoring -

This is another thing Drew has brought up to myself and also to Russ.  At ZFW and also at ZKC (and likely other centers) they have the ability to remote monitor other sectors.  So, you can dial into whatever sector you want and hear their frequencies.  Drew and Russ told me this was useful for seeing if an aircraft took a frequency change, or other things where you don't necessarily want to bother the next sector.  Russ went ahead and turned this ability on for sectors 30, 13, and 14.  I think 10 has it also.  To use it you first dial *2.  Then call the sector you want to monitor.  For example, if you wanted to listen to 46, you would dial *2, and then 446.  To turn it off, you dial #2 and then you do something else that I can't remember right now.  Ha ha, better ask Drew or Russ for clarification before you try it.

I also heard recently that Dan Baker is trying to get this turned off.  I think he is concerned about the possibility of distractions?  Anyway, just know that it is there.  For now anyway.

I think that's all for now.  Let me know what you think about the schedules, and also the 2230 mid thing.

Chico

D Area News

1.  Radar Map Changes - 

So, after getting feedback from some of you, the ACV glideslope tick marks are going to remain on the scope as they are now.

Al has another change on the way to help us out.  He is making a couple waypoints to route people around VARMIT.  Attached is a picture of the change.  I'm not sure exactly when we'll see those, but they are on the way.

2.  ZOA LOA Changes - 

Al has definitely been busy in the airspace office and is working on LOA changes in the ZOA letter.  Please let myself or Al know what you think about these changes:

1.  In addition to giving and receiving control for 15 degree turns, we will also give and receive control for speeds and beacon code changes to and from ZOA.

2.  Instead of ZOA calling us every time the RENO MOA goes active, we will have something in the letter that says as long as ZOA turns on the airspace in the EDST that will serve as notification to us.  This will reduce the amount of calls that we have to answer from ZOA.

(For the record, I'm in favor of both of these changes)

3.  Big Wig Meeting - 

Facilities from all over the northwest came to ZSE last week to discuss collaboration between NATCA and management.  Most of it wasn't too groundbreaking, but there were a few things I wanted to pass on from it.

ERR's - The ERR policy is likely going to change within the year.  It isn't finalized yet, but we were told that it will be soon.  They are basically going to have a "target" number for staffing at each facility.  If your facility is "well-staffed" (over 100% of the target number) you will be guaranteed a release within 3 months.  If your facility is around the target number (90-100%) you will be guaranteed a release within one year.  If your facility is under staffed (below 90%) your ERR won't be considered until your facility reaches target staffing (or 90%).  Again, this isn't finalized and I was scribbling this down as fast as I could, so these numbers could be a little off.  If you are considering an ERR, you may want to do it soon as I'm fairly sure ZSE is currently understaffed.

Distractions in the control room - Jim Ullman (our Regional Vice President for NATCA) was at the meeting and was particularly concerned with distractions in the control room.  He seemed to be mostly referring to cell phones, but other distractions as well.  This is a direct quote from Jim, "You guys want to be treated like professionals, you guys want to be paid like professionals, then you guys need to act like professionals."  So, be careful about using your phone in the control room.  Jim said NATCA doesn't have any moral ground to stand on to try and defend you.

Flight Surgeon - Most of you guys have heard about the new flight surgeon we have and how he has created a lot of problems for controllers at our facility.  Well, the equivalent of Jim Ullman was there on the management side (I forget his name, but I think the last name is Osterdahl?) and he hadn't heard anything about the problems the flight surgeon has been giving us.  Troy Harrison spoke up first about it and told Osterdahl about the problems we were having, and numerous other facilities spoke up as well regarding situations they've had also.  Osterdahl said he was definitely going to follow up on that.  He did admit he doesn't have much authority over the flight surgeon, but said he would look into some of the claims.

4.  GA Fam ride potential - 

The following comes from Garret about an exciting possibility:

Greetings everyone,

The purpose of this e-mail is to solicit interest among ZSE controllers that would like to go on an unofficial (non-duty time) FAM flight with a local general aviation pilot.

Since March I have been volunteering with the FAA Safety Team doing pilot outreach & educational work.  The goal is to improve safety through better communication, mutual understanding and teamwork between pilots/controllers.

One of the contacts I’ve made within the local general aviation community is Jim Posner from the Bremerton Pilots Association, a chapter of the Washington Pilots Association with about 1,000 members.  I’ve arranged 4 pilot tours at ZSE during the next 2 months so that they can see/hear the environment we work in.

Jim and several other members of the BPA have generously offered to donate their time & money so that ZSE controllers’ can ride-along with them on a flight.  This is a great opportunity for anyone that has never been in the cockpit of a small airplane before.

Understand that for liability reasons the pilots have made it clear they would rather keep these flights “unofficial”, aka, on your own schedule.  This keeps the process much simpler and does not put any additional stress on our staffing.  Although most of the pilots are based in Bremerton, in most cases, they should be willing to meet you at the nearest suitable airport that is convenient for you.  Depending on the pilot you might be able to see IFR and VFR operations.  There is no financial obligation whatsoever.

If you are interested, please e-mail me (garretwilk@gmail.com) your contact info and if you have ever been up in a small airplane before.  I’ll use a first-come, first-served priority for those that respond with interest.  If the demand is great enough I’ll give further priority to first-timers.

Please feel free to e-mail/call/bug me anytime with questions you might have.  Once I get at least 5 people on the list, Jim and I will begin putting pilots in contact with controllers directly so that you can work out the timing/location details on a one-on-one basis.

As of now, I’m sending this out to the D-area ONLY.  But by next week the other areas will get this e-mail as well…so jump on it now if you’re in!

Thank you,

Garret Wilkerson

ZSE, D-Area

E-mail:  garretwilk@gmail.com

Cell:  206-290-5737

5.  Leave and the Lack Thereof - 

I've been saying this, but just to reiterate, staffing is going to be very thin throughout this year.  Thursday and Friday swing shifts are going to be the shortest that we have throughout the week.  Most shifts are one over guides and some two over with everyone showing up, so there isn't much wiggle room.

There are already some of you that aren't getting your non-primetime leave approved, and I'm sure there will be more of that.  We basically have to make sure that management is doing everything they can to get you that day off (short of overtime).  So, they should be borrowing somebody from the day/swing if they are able to or using trainees for staffing, etc.  I had to clarify that to Russ this week, so there could be other supervisors that don't realize that either.

We discussed leave at our latest e-board meeting as negotiations for next years MOU's are going to happen soon between Troy, Jeff, and management.  Would you guys be interested in less leave spots that were guaranteed?  Or more slots, but not as many guaranteed?  There were differing opinions in our meeting, and I wanted to get your feedback that I can take back to them.

Whew, that was a lot of info...

D Area Update

1.  D-side Briefings -

There is apparently some kind of QA audit going on regarding briefings from the D-side when "going to one."  They are trying to see if they are taking place, and whether or not they are recorded when they do take place.  The supervisors have apparently been told to keep an eye on this and keep track of all the briefings they see.  I'm told no names are being attached to these, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

2.  Training Priority -

You might have heard something about a trainee's second and fourth days being their priority days.  This is coming from Don, and here is how I understand it.  On days where there are multiple trainees and not enough OJTI's to train them, priority will be given to those trainees on their second or fourth day of the week.  This eliminates having the supervisors having to pick and choose who gets trained on a specific day when all the trainees can't be trained.  The goal remains to train every trainee every day, but on those days when we can't, this is supposed to help the supervisors know who should be trained.  Don says that this won't affect annual leave, i.e. if it is a trainee's second day, they shouldn't deny your leave solely based on needing to train them that day.  Look for new training plans to have some sort of explanation of this second and fourth day rule in them.

I've told Don that it sounds fine on the surface, lets see how it goes and possibly revisit it if we find some snags.  Let me know if this second and fourth day thing causes any problems so I can fix it.

3.  Radar Map Changes -

Al has been working on cleaning up our map a little bit, and also helping clear up how we should be vectoring at LMT and ACV.

He is tying all of the military fixes to one button (currently named the LMT TACAN 32 button) so that when you hit that button, you will see all the fixes relating to high approaches, and vectoring for final.  This way you don't have to always have them displayed as we currently have it.  He is also putting together cheat sheets for each approach at LMT that shows different fixes on the approach, and what altitudes you should be vectoring them at.  Look for these changes to happen sometime at the end of this month.  I've attached a sheet that Al put together, listing all of the changes specifically.

4.  Another Radar Map Change -

There is an idea to remove the vectoring "tick marks" and approach gate at ACV and have them tied to either a DIK button and/or a map button.  The rationale is that it will clean up the scope and you can pull it up when you need it rather than having it constantly displayed.  If it goes on the DIK, it would be tied to the button that pulls up the MIA lines and altitudes.

Any thoughts on this idea?  Sound good or leave them constantly displayed?

5.  Parking Decals -

Don't forget we have to get new parking decals.  Our week to visit the guard shack starts Sunday May 3rd.  I've attached a flyer that explains what you need to do.

6.  Schedule Ideas -

If anybody has any ideas for next year's schedule, let me hear them.  I've already had Drew approach me with one idea, and I'll propose that to you guys as we get closer to schedule building and negotiation.  For now, if you have an idea, run it by me and I can run it by the area.

That's everything for now.  Let me know if you have feedback on any of the items above!

Chico

The D Area Latest

1.  JN -

Fred has retired as most everyone knows by now.  Thank you for being an awesome coworker Fred.  Congrats on your retirement!

Fred retired a little earlier than expected, so we had to move Kimberly to cover his mid.  Fortunately Kimberly wasn't affected too much as she was able to stay on Tue/Wed.  Drew moved onto Mon/Tues in Fred's place.

2.  Other Schedule Stuff -

We will be losing Gallo shortly, so the weekday day shifts will take a hit there.  We will also be losing Dave soon as well.  As of now, there are no plans to fill their lines.  We simply don't have the bodies.  So, we'll just be going ahead without them and doing our best to cover.  I do know that when Dave goes, there will be a 16 shift that will have to be rotated around the Mon/Tues crew on Wednesday nights.

Looking ahead to next year (I know it's only April, a lot can change) it looks like we'll be bidding 31 lines with potentially two R-side trainees close to certified.  For reference, we bid 34 this year.

3.  Even More Schedule Stuff -

Look for the schedule to get pretty thin as we move into summer.  Be prepared to be short and to have a tough time getting leave.  Now, with that being said, if you notice anything weird about your schedule or your requests, and you can't get your supervisor to fix it or look at it, let me know so that I can look into it.  I had one thing brought up to me a few weeks ago that the supervisors missed.  I don't check the schedule all the time to make sure everything is being done correctly, so the only way I'll know if something is wrong is if you let me know.

4.  LMT trips -

I'm hearing word from Renee Peavey that there is the potential for some trips to LMT.  The Air Force has told management that they want the trips to be incentives for people that are doing good work here.  They are also wanting to remind us that these trips are a privilege not a right, and that a ride on an F15 is not guaranteed if you go down there.  Somebody there at the Air Force didn't appreciate the attitudes of some of the last group that went down there apparently.  (I'm not sure who they are talking about, and was surprised to hear that).

I don't know when the trips are scheduled yet, but they think there might be one in June and might be one in September.  Matt and Garret were already owed a trip to LMT from Troy Gascoyne but that trip fell through, so I know they are on the list.  I think other people will be chosen to go based on which days the trip is, who can get off the schedule, and who has not been before.

5.  New Students on the Floor -

We have two new D-side trainees that have just made it through the DYSIM.  Christina Phorimavong (former military controller at Pope Field) will be going to Wed/Thurs and Jason Cruz (former controller at PAE) will be going to Fri/Sat.  Give them a high five if you see them.

6.  Whirlyball -

NATCA is looking to host a solidarity event this fall.  They are planning a trip to Edmonds to play some Whirlyball.  Right now they are trying to gauge interest in an event like this.  Take a second and fill out this survey if you are interested:

http://www.powr.io/plugins/ survey/view?id=1075948&mode= page

I did it and it only takes a second.

That's the latest,

Chico

Couple Things

1. Archie League Awards -

Troy Harrison has sent out an email about this already, but just wanted to remind everyone that Mark, Matt, and Al will be receiving their Archie League awards tomorrow night.  The award ceremony starts at 7pm.  You can stream the event live at this address:  http://www.natca.org/news.aspx?zone=Top%20News&nID=9312#n9312

2.  27 Day Rule (28, depending how you count it) - 

I've had more than one of you mention this rule to me in the past few weeks, so I thought I would just send out a reminder one more time.  Shift change requests will only be considered if they are within 27 days of the first day of that pay period.  If you make a request prior to 27 days before the first day of the pay period, it may be considered invalid and skipped over.  Now, I highlighted the word "may" because it seems like most supervisors don't enforce it.  However, just know that they may decide to and your request would then go to the bottom.

Basically, if you count back four weeks from the start of a pay period, that is the first day you can make a request for that pay period.  Here is an example:

Pay period 9 is coming up, beginning on Sunday, April 5th.  All shift change requests for that entire pay period can be entered beginning Sunday March 8th at 12:00 AM.  

3.  Round Three Bidding....

This is trudging along...  I take part/most of the blame because I haven't kept a close eye on this or pushed anybody to bid, but we're almost done!  Let's try and grind the rest of that out.

4.  Sentry Eagle - 

Most of you may have heard this already, but Sentry Eagle is scheduled for this summer.  So, be on the lookout for a lot of planes pointed at LMT.

That's all I have for now,

Chico

Two Quick Notes

1. Archie League Award -

ZSE has it's first ever Archie League Award, and it is courtesy of the D Area!  Mark Haechler (R-side), Matt Dippe (D-side), and Al Passero (third set of eyes and ears), helped get a plane to LMT after picking up some ice and having trouble climbing.  They will be recognized at this year's Communicating for Safety conference in March.  So, give these guys a high five if you see them.

2.  Eastbound EUG/Northbound MFR Aircraft continued...

If you go to our brand new website (natca-zse.com) and go to B area updates (reminder, the password is zse), you will find a post talking about interim altitudes and then a string of comments from B area controllers about it.  All areas are invited to participate in the discussion, so if you have concerns or an opinion you would like to share, you can do it there.  Here is the link to the post:  http://www.natca-zse.com/new-blog-1/2015/1/13/interim-altitude-throughout-zse#comments-outer-wrapper=

Chico

D Area Update

Happy New Year D Area!  Here's some of the latest info...

1.  Leave Bidding - 

We are still grinding out the bidding.  Round three is very near, you can bid the remaining days you will earn this year.  Here's the current status:

2015 PTL ALL AREAS.xlsx

2.  New ZSE Natca Website - 

Devin Carlisto of the C area made a website for our local Natca.  It is www.natca-zse.com.  (You can also get there by typing natcazse.com, zsenatca.com, or zse-natca.com).  On that page you will be able to find links to different forms, links to the D area updates, as well as other area updates, and much more.  You can also submit your MAC address so that you can use the wifi at work.  Click on the Wifi link to do that.  The wifi will be blocking people that haven't submitted their MAC addresses soon.  This is to make sure that the wifi is only utilized by Natca and PASS members.

Some areas of the website are password protected, and the password is zse.  It is password protected so that only Natca members are able to see the content.

3.  Oceanic Data Blocks - 

I'm hearing rumors that the way we handle our oceanic traffic could be changing soon.  I know that right now there are many different ways that we all handle the oceanic guys, but they may try to standardize it soon.  They might start having us keep datablocks on everyone until they cross the OCB.  Right now, its just rumors, but its something to think about.

4.  Northbound MFR departures and Eastbound EUG departures climbing to high - 

The local safety council (LSC) is looking into our northbound MFR departures that are climbing to FL 240 or FL 260 etc.  The B area can never be sure what the aircraft is actually doing, since sector 36 is pointing them out to 15.  I've told Renee Peavey that this happens very few times throughout the day and hasn't caused any dangerous situations that I'm aware of.  I do however understand the B area's confusion on the way we handle those guys.  The LSC is going to get back to me with their ideas on how to better handle this (if any change at all), and we'll go from there.

The LSC is also looking into eastbound EUG departures coming from sector 6, 5, or 46 to sector 13.  They were wondering if there was any confusion there, and I said that I wasn't aware of any.  If you see it is coming from 6 or 5, you know they are stopped at FL 230 and you may have to do a point out to 46 and/or 14.  If you see it coming from 46, you know the aircraft is already climbing to whatever is in the datablock.  If there is some confusion out there that I'm not aware of, let me know and I can take it back to the LSC.

5.  Monster Trucks - 

Natca Reloaded is doing an event coming up soon at the Tacoma Dome.  It is a monster truck show and Natca will cover your ticket.  Additional tickets are $12.  You can sign up on the bulletin board in the hallway by the control room.  I attached the flyer with some more information.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or ideas,

Chico