Weekly Update 7/2

All,

Hope everyone is having a good week and has a safe 4th of July.  Not much right now, just a few quick things.

ZOA MIT

I mentioned this in slack this week but here is what I sent out in case you didn't see it:

ZOA mgmt has reached out to our mgmt saying that controllers on sector have been cancelling MIT restrictions coming from ZOA. 

Two things on that:
1.) Until adjacent center metering comes online, MIT is a necessary evil. It is not the best approach to this, but it is currently the best we got.  Without it, airborne delays will exceed 15 min and our mgmt does not want to do that. 

2.) If you think that a MIT restriction is unnecessary and you want it terminated, make that request through your supe. If they disagree with you, hit me up with the details and I’ll look into it. 

To clarify, sending one or two aircraft direct BTG for traffic or changing a speed is very different from terminating a MIT restriction.  Please do not terminate the MIT restriction without going through your supe.

Schedule Negotiations

No new info here.  I was scheduled to meet with Jason Alliston last Saturday but he didn't make it in to work so we will meet some other time.  More info when I have it.

Troy Retirement

Thanks to all who donated to Troy's retirement gift.  He was very appreciative and a little emotional when we gave it to him.   Here are a few pics of what was purchased for him with all of your donations.  Big props to Amy for all her work on that as well.

The picture from the card is a quote from this gem recorded during the white book.

Thats it for this week.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 6/25

All,

Hope everyone is having a good week.  This has been an interesting one with PDX metering and a few other things I wanted to bring you up to speed on so do your best to read all the way through.

First off, don't forget that today is Half Christmas!  Cookout at my house starts at 3pm.  4102 Lakeridge Dr E, Lake Tapps, WA 98391.

 

National Election

Today ballots are being mailed out for the 2018 NATCA National Election. If you registered to vote electronically, you will not receive a ballot by mail however you should be receiving an email from GES today.   You may still vote electronically using the GES registration site if you didn't pre-register. If you cast an electronic ballot and a mail ballot, only the electronic ballot will be counted. 

The GES registration site will close at 5:00 pm EDT on Sunday, July 29, 2018. For those who registered to vote electronically by this deadline, electronic voting will close at 11:59 pm EDT on Monday, July 30, 2018. If you have any problems with the registration or electronic voting process, please contact the GES Helpdesk at 1-800-864-1263 or helpdesk@voteges.com. If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact the NATCA National Election Committee at nec@natca.net.

You can find campaign material for all candidates on the bulletin board or via their websites listed below,

Paul and Trish

Bryan Zilonis

Dave Riley

 

SEA Metering Arc(s)

We are still trying to get the meter arcs combined for SEA.  Keeley Amundson met with FAST last week and it was determined they could have all the OP arcs combined into one and depicted on the scopes properly on August 16th.  They are very backed up but that is the tentative plan.  TMU promises to put a memo out to the floor before it happens.

PDX Metering

After the total shit show that some of us had the pleasure of going through this past week, it seems like we have settled on a plan to get us through to Thursday.  Supposedly the runway construction will be done then and we can go back to normal ops.  I plan to request an Art 114 workgroup to hammer out a plan in case we have to do this again in the future.  Thanks to those of you who stepped up for that.  

This is the interim plan: 06 takes 2 minutes, 42 takes 2 minutes, D area takes the rest. We will be using the boundary as the point we meter to. As I said before, keep me posted on issues.

Blood Leave

Article 29 Section 2 of the CBA: Employees may be allowed up to four (4) hours excused absence based on staffing and workload in connection with each blood or platelet donation. If proof of attendance is required, employees shall be notified in advance.

Jason Alliston has instructed all of the supervisors to begin asking for proof of attendance when blood leave is approved.  So if you are prompted to do so, make sure you have that proof to provide.

2019 Schedule

Still working on hammering this all out, big shout out to Chico again for his help.  I am meeting with Jason Alliston this coming Saturday and I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want to propose.  I have only had one person approach me about a schedule idea so hopefully what I come up with works for all of you.  I don't plan to send out a bunch of schedule options during the negotiation process but I do have a good idea of what I think you guys want and I will do my best to accomplish that.  I'll let you know when Jason and I agree on something.

I do have one question...the best schedule option that we've built so far includes a line that has Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday RDOs with 4 10s that would be all 1000-2000.  That line really helps the schedule out.  It's kind of a lynchpin to the whole thing.  However, I need to make sure that someone would want that line and be willing to attach their name to it prior to the bid process.  I definitely don't want to force someone to a line like that.  So if you have an interest in a line like that, please let me know.  You can reply directly to this email and it will go to me.

Solidarity BBQ

Don't forget to mark your calendars for the upcoming Solidarity BBQ on Alki.  Amy has been putting a lot of work into that and I think it's gonna be a lot of fun.  There will be a raffle with totally rad prizes.

Friday, July 6th from 10am to 10pm.  

Alki Park (1702 Alki Ave SW, Seattle)

Be there or be square.

That's it!  Hope to see you all at my house today at 3pm!

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 6/18

All,

Hopefully everyone is having a good week.  Not much going on right now so I'll be brief.  First off, reminder that the Half-Christmas Cookout is one week from today and I look forward to seeing you all there.  Alright, here's what I got.

Troy Harrison Retirement

Troy's last day is fast approaching.  Don't forget to throw some cash in the envelope or Venmo Tony Germann if you want to donate to his retirement gift.

Meter Arcs

I have heard nothing but positive feedback from you all on the idea of extending the OP3 arc.  So I am moving forward getting that done.  More to follow as I know more.

2019 Schedule

It's that time again.  I have started working on a basic outline for what I want next year's schedule to look like (big shout out to Chico for his help with that).  Now is the time to let me know all of your wacky ideas that we might be able to make work.  My first meeting to discuss schedule stuff is with Jason Alliston on 6/30.  Try to get me whatever ideas you have at least a few days before that.  I will keep you all updated on the process as we get going.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 6/11

All,

I’m writing you from ASA603 headed back home from vacation so easy on the meter times 😂. Since I’ve been out for a week, I don’t have much for you.

Matt Dippe attended a briefing on DATA Comm for me last week and I have attached his notes below under the DATACOMM header. Sounds like interesting stuff. Be sure to ask him with any questions regarding DATACOMM.  

Meter Arcs

Having 3 metering arcs between the D and B areas has caused a few issues recently. TMU would like to look into making this one arc. They can make segments of each arc that can be sent to different sectors.  Would you guys rather extend OP1 or OP3? The issue for us would be that 15 will be metering to an arc inside the B area with OP3, or that 14 and 13 will have less time to meet their delay if OP1 is extended.  Let me know what you guys think.

DATACOMM

The system is slated to go active 11/22/2019, and there will be a lot of training leading up to launch. ZSE is the last facility to go active so they feel that it'll be pretty straight forward as most of the kinks will already be worked out. Also most air carriers and corporate will be equipped, and up to speed on the system by the time we go active, so hopefully it'll be painless for us and the air crews. The major airports in the US have been using CPDLC for over a year now and they've had great success with it. The agency gave 3 years to implement 61 towers with CPDLC, and they activated all of them within 1 year, saving 90 million in funds. They then took those funds and began working on the enroute implementation. CPDLC airports are called TDLS (Tower Data Link Service), that'll be important later. Currently SEA and PDX are TDLS equipped. There are two companies providing service coverage for use of CPDLC, and they are AIRINC and SITA (think of them like ATT and Verizon). Both companies provide three levels of bandwidth, VDL-2 (the best), SAT, and 1X (the worst). VDL-2 and SAT will be the two signals our aircraft will be using, but in an emergency 1X can send data but it'll be spotty and slow. There is a program that monitors these coverage signals called NIS, and either OM's, SUP's, CIC's or all will have access to verify that data link coverage is working for the area. If there is an outage, AIRINC or SITA will be financially penalized for every outage lasting longer than four hours, so the agency feels that the system will stay up.

CPDLC Capabilities

With CPDLC we'll be able to send climb/descend clearances, direct fixes/reroutes, crossing restrictions (with speed assignments), transfer of coms, and termination of radar. The climb/descend function will also have a subset option for PD, expedite, immediately, for WX, for restriction, for traffic. We cannot assign headings, speeds, and free text won't be available until later updates, once the system is 100% developed. When you descend an aircraft via CPDLC below FL180, then data link will issue the altimeter with the descent message. It uses one of the two altimeters from the sort box where the aircraft will be expected to descend below FL180. Routes get a little more complicated. It's easy to send an aircraft direct a fix on their route or issue a reroute that rejoins the original flight plan. It's also easy to uplink a track ball picked route, then tie that route back into the flight plan. But when you try to do a route amend function, or uplink a 6 7 10 message the system will reject it. Arrivals have another issue that'll affect the other areas, I'll show you that in person. The route function with CPDLC is probably going to be the best part for enroute. We uplink RYANN.J92.BTY, the pilot selects "WILCO", our system then shows that as the aircraft's new route, the pilot then selects "LOAD" on the FMS, and the new route is automatically loaded into the aircraft's FMS route structure.

CPDLC Comms

This will probably be the most used function for us. The controller can elect to send a CPDLC message to the flight crew to transfer communication to the next sector once the receiving controller has accepted the handoff. Lets say sector 46 flashes ASA140 to sector 13. When sector 13 takes the handoff, the 46 controller can now send ASA140 over via CPDLC. Based on the sector 13 controllers pref-sets, one of two things will happen. One, the 13 controller wants the plane to use voice to check in, so  ASA140 gets this message, "contact Seattle center on freq 135.35".  ASA140 gets the message, "Rogers" it via the FMS, sector 46's VCI and data link icons disappears from the data block. Sector 13's data link icon appears in the data block, and the pilot checks on using voice. Now the 13 controller needs to click on the VCI indicating that ASA140 is on freq. The other pref-set option goes like this. Sector 46 flashes ASA140 to sector 13, 13 takes it, the aircraft gets this message, "monitor Seattle center on freq 135.35 and verify assigned altitude". Now sector 46's data link and VCI icons disappear, sector 13's data link and VCI populate, and the pilot doesn't check on, but is there. The pilot must also select one more button on the FMS verifying the aircraft's altitude. If for some reason the aircraft and our radar doesn't match, we'll get an indication on the data block indication that we need to use voice to verify ASA140's altitude.

DATA Blocks 

The data blocks will have a bunch more symbology, however most are there to inform either the pilot or the controller to take action. The only new constant symbol will be a white square above the VCI indicating that data link is connected and functioning. We cant use data link to a coast track, but we can use it if the target was tracked at one point in the sector and then went radar lost. If this is that case the controller will have to use a logic override to send a CPDLC message to the aircraft. The developers said that they wanted ADSB or radar monitoring of aircraft while issuing CPDLC clearances, that's why the logic check for a radar lost aircraft.

Oceanic/ATOPS

We will be able to use CPDLC for all oceanic aircraft,  and send a termination message with the HF freq's to the aircraft. This was of some concern during the meeting because they said that only one sector can use CPDLC at a time, and ZOA 7 usually needs to be connected to our oceanic aircraft to use D10/30. The techs said that it's ok because they still get ADSB data allowing them to calculate oceanic separation. this should be a total game changer for mid ops.

Local Ops

A lot was left for us to determine at the local level with regard as to how data com is used. There are some serious items that need to get sorted out such as the keyboard. All data com uplinks (to the plane) can be done from wither the D-side or the R-side via a few clicks or a /U message. We have the option to swap out one of the space keys above the numbers for a "/U" crud input. If we use that, the controller will need to type the message hit the "/U" key and then hit "enter". The other option will be to use the muti-func F12 key. This key is different in that once it's pressed it'll apply "enter" automatically sending the control instruction to the plane. We have two TDLS airports in our center, all other airports don't have CPDLC capabilities off the ground. They will be changing the 7110 to prevent use of data com during critical phases of flight. So what do we do about all those other airports? We'll have to determine a hard deck for the entire center where a data com aircraft will be able to link to the system. This could be 8,000MSL or 10,000MSL. A controller can force a connection to any capable aircraft even if below the data com deck altitude. An aircraft below the deck just wont show on the glass that that aircraft is data com capable. Another one is the Waiver Altitude function, and this was a complicated one that we will be talking more about later on  

Coverage 

We reviewed worst case scenario coverage maps for each area, and they can guarantee 100% coverage for all high altitude sectors, and coverage down to the approach controls for low altitude. They did tell us that the actual coverage is much better than what was shown to us.

Training

The training for this will be a lot like the implementation for ERAM. Four hours of CBIs, three days of class and labs that must be consecutive. If a controller misses a day or lab problem, then that controller can't advance without retaking the class or lab. Controllers become stale after 45 days, and must then complete a refresher course. The ghost pilots and SGET guys will have to have additional training before being allowed to ghost or make data com problems. Once the SGET person is trained, it'll take that person 3-4 weeks to make the required lab scenarios. For the training cadre, that's a 3 day class, and will have to be trained by national data com personnel.  The ERAM drop that'll allow ZSE to begin training will be installed Sep 20th 2018. We can then begin the process of training the workforce then, by Oct 2019 the final workforce training should be closing in preparation for IOC. Once we go live, ZSE will be using CPDLC and air crews will be notamed to respond via voice until the center feels confident that they  messages are working appropriately.

Matt’s Thoughts 💭  

This system is gonna be bitch'n. Lots of very cool features and capabilities. I personally have some safety concerns about how we are going to locally adapt protocol for using CPDLC.  For instance using the keyboard /U function to uplink instructions seems like an easy way to fat finger a CID and send the message to another aircraft you have track control of. What about training? how is the instructor going to make sure the R trainee knows how to control via voice, or prevent a D-side from issuing a dangerous altitude change to a random aircraft. They system goes online in two weeks in ATL i think, and they said that they'll be keeping everyone informed of what they see happening.

Again, big thanks to Matt for doing that briefing for us. Feel free to ask him any questions. I’ll be trying to get up to speed on it all soon as well.

In Solidarity, 

Drew

Weekly Update 6/4

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  I am flying to Texas tomorrow to spend a week on the beach with family so I know I will be having a good week.  If any issues arise that you need me for, I will still be accessible.  Alright, so here's what I have this week.

VP Appointment

At our local meeting last Wednesday, we heard the proposed amendment to the constitution that would allow us to hold a special election to fill the role of VP.  This amendment was unanimously defeated.  Not one vote was in favor of holding a special election.  So, we will proceed as our constitution is written and the Eboard will appoint.  There are 4 people who have been nominated.  Brooke Dawson (A Area Rep), J-Rod (C Area Rep), Derek Adams, and yours truly.  There will be an Eboard meeting on June 15th where we will decide who the next VP is.

I have given a lot of thought to the VP position over the last month and I am having a really hard time deciding whether or not to remove my name from consideration.  I am only 5 months into a 2 year commitment I made to being the D area rep.  I know that going to the VP office would not be the same as transferring out or resigning but I want to do right by you guys.  If any of you have opinions on what you would like me to do, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Executive Orders

Here is the most recent (5/31) from the NO regarding the EOs:

Brothers and Sisters, 

We informed you on Friday that the President issued three Executive Orders (EOs) that could negatively affect federal employees and their unions. When it announced the EOs, the Administration expressed its intention that the orders would: (1) expedite the process for removing employees from federal service in performance-based adverse actions; (2) reduce the use of union official time government-wide; and (3) reduce the time it takes to negotiate collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and to reduce the costs contained within them. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has advised that it will publish guidance advising agency heads how to implement these orders in the near future; however, it did not provide a timetable.

NATCA has thoroughly reviewed and analyzed the EOs. Based upon the law and the language within our collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), we maintain that none of the changes in these EOs will affect our members or our Union for the duration of each CBA. There should be no changes to any of NATCA's agreements with the FAA - local or national - nor any changes in how they are implemented. The same is true for all current practices and procedures between the parties. If you become aware of any attempts by the agency to take action to implement any of these EOs, or make any other changes, please immediately contact your FacRep and Regional Vice President.

NATCA is working diligently to oppose not just these attacks on federal employees, but similar attacks on federal retirement programs. We know that times like these, when there are multiple attacks on federal employees, can be distracting. While we continue to work to address the challenges presented by these EOs, it is important that we all remain focused on maintaining the safety and efficiency of our National Airspace System.

We will continue to keep you updated as events unfold. 

In Solidarity, 

Paul Rinaldi, NATCA President
Trish Gilbert, NATCA Executive Vice President

EUG LOA

No movement in the last week on this issue.  The guy I have been talking to over there is out of the building for 2 weeks so I imagine we will talk more when he gets back.  I have asked him to send over an official request to change the LOA to our airspace office so we will get that and go from there.  I am thinking that we will end up doing some sort of trial period where we get EUG landers down to 10,000 ft at 30 DME in a North flow.  More on this when I know more.

2019 Schedule

We are in the early phases of building the 2019 MOUs regarding scheduling and leave.  Be thinking about things you would like to see differently in next year's schedule.  Feel free to email ideas whenever.  As soon as we start negotiations, I will keep you all posted on how that goes.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 5/28

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  Lots going on right now, so try to read through all of this.

Executive Orders

As I am sure you have heard by now, at the close of business last Friday, Trump released 3 executive orders that directly target the federal workforce.  We have known since the day the reality TV star got elected president that we were one executive order away from returning to white book type conditions.  This may not necessarily be that, but this is the biggest step towards crushing federal unions we have seen him take so far.  As of right now, we don't expect any immediate impact but there is still much lawyering to be done on these orders before we know the actual impact.  In the Executive Orders are things like limiting official time, taking away NATCA office space, and White House oversight on all contract negotiations.  Personally I would think that some of it violates Title 5 & 49 but we will have to see what the courts decide on that.  I am hesitant to speculate too much about this so for now, just be watching for any changes in mgmt behavior or attitudes toward the workforce and please let me know if you see anything.  For those of you who joined the agency post white book, please know that this is not to be taken lightly.  War has been declared from the White House on federal labor.  Our strength and solidarity is more important now than it ever has been.

Click here for the text of the Executive Orders.

This is the most recent update from Paul and Trish:

We are reviewing and analyzing the 3 Executive Orders effecting federal employees issued yesterday. The expectation for now is there should be no change to any of NATCA's agreements or practices with the FAA, nor any changes in how they are applied.

We will continue to update the membership on the next steps as further details become available. As in the past, we will be strategic and deliberate in our response. 

Together we will address these challenges by staying strong and staying united!

EUG LOA

We have had ongoing discussions with EUG on changes they would like to make to the LOA.  Some of this we discussed on slack last week.  EUG wants all aircraft to be at 10,000 feet 35 DME from EUG.  I think that is excessive but I honestly don't know their perspective very well.  So that being said, I would like to propose that we run a trial period of a week or so where EUG advises us when they are in a north flow and when they are, we will force all EUG landers down to 10,000 feet by 30 DME.  If anyone has any objection to that or suggestions, either reply to this email which will go directly to me, or start a conversation on slack.

They also want a courtesy call when we clear aircraft into IR346.  I have been pushing back on this for awhile but they are really dug in on wanting it.  I am thinking that since the common entry point is in Sector 6's airspace and they are good with this that we should probably just get on board as well and agree to give an advisory call when we clear aircraft into IR346.  Any objections to that, please let me know ASAP.

Schedule Policy

About a month ago, I sent out an email that contained procedures for how we would rotate shift assignments.  This has been met with some resistance by the scheduling office and by our new OM Jason Alliston as well.  He wasn't the OM at the time we came up with those ideas but he wants to have some sort of buy-in on the process.  So for the time being those policies are on hold.  Hopefully he and I can talk this Friday and sort that all out.  I am interested to see what he has to say because what we decide about how to rotate shifts has no impact on mgmt in any way.  Either way, in the interim, we will be returning to the policy that has been in place for years where we just kinda wing it and decide on a shift by shift basis who gets moved.   Since we just published a schedule, Jason and I have time to discuss this before Angie starts working on the next schedule.  Hopefully we can work something out quickly to return some structure to the process so there would be no impact.

NPTL vs Spot Leave

Article 24 Section 13 of the contract covers NPTL.

At the conclusion of the bidding process, employees may submit NPTL requests in excess of the designated leave opportunities. These requests shall be recorded and approved/disapproved subject to staffing and workload and as soon as practicable after the request is made. Approval/disapproval shall not be subject to conditional circumstances. If the request was disapproved and annual leave for that time period, or any portion of that time period, later becomes available, the leave shall be approved on a first requested basis. The Parties at the local level shall establish the method for tracking these leave requests. After implementation at the facility/area, OPAS will be used for tracking these leave requests.

Article 24 Section 14 of the contract covers spot leave

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.

Please notice the very important distinction between the two types of leave.  NPTL is anything you request prior to the schedule being published.  Spot leave is requested during the posted schedule.  The bold section is what defines the difference in the approval process.  For spot leave, the only requirement is to approve the entire shift, should it become available.  For NPTL, there is a requirement to approve PART of the shift if it is available.  This is important because if someone is requesting leave on a 0700 on a day that is at guides and someone else after them is requesting leave from a 1330 on a swing that is above guides then staffing wise, we can approve the 1330 person's request for leave.  However, if the requests were both NPTL then there is a requirement for the 0700 person to be offered PART of their shift off.  In this case it would be the last hour of the shift.  But since it is first come first served we cannot skip the 0700 person and approve the 1330 because the 0700 person had their request in first.  In the scenario I have described, the schedule should post with the partial approval of the 0700 shift person and the denial of the 1330 person.  It would then be up to the 0700 person to decide if the partial approval is enough or if they want to turn it in.  If they turn it in then the next person should get the leave.  In this case the 1330 person.

I know that was quite the read but I wanted to make sure I clarified that process.  If you see it being handled differently, please let me know.  

Thanks for reading all the way through.

All MEMBERS MEETING THIS WEDNESDAY (5/30) AT 3PM @ THE RAINBOW CAFE.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 5/21

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  NATCA in Washington is currently taking place in DC.  We have a few people up there right now.  NATCA National is posting about it across all media platforms if you are interested in that.  I have been to the event 5 times myself and it is definitely an experience I recommend.  Click HERE to see more info about it (login required).

Alright, here is what I have for you this week.

Special Election

First and foremost, there is an all members meeting on 5/30 at 3 pm at the Rainbow Cafe.  This is the meeting where we will be voting on whether or not to amend our local constitution.  If the proposed amendment passes then we will have a special election to determine our next VP.  If the amendment fails then the Local Executive Board will be forced to appoint someone.  Make sure you get yourself to this meeting if you have an opinion about how we do this.

Webscheduler Logins

The agency briefed us as though there was going to be some big change to how we sign in to webscheduler but so for I haven't seen any change.  If you have any issues with it, make sure you let your supe know.

EUG LOA

EUG has been in contact with us over the last few weeks about getting some things added to their letter.  The following is what they are requesting:

For 36 

-Adding a Courtesy Call on IR346

-Adding 5 in trail or lateral separation on aircraft landing EUG airspace. 

-ZSE control on contact for all RBG / OTH landers.

-ZSE control for turns up to 30° on aircraft leaving airspace

-EUG landers crossing 35 DME @ 10,000

I initially pushed back on the courtesy call for IR346 but if it is just advisory and not requesting permission then I am ok with it if you guys are.  The 5 in trail or lateral separation seems like a no brainer because I assume that we all already give EUG a/c separated.  Them releasing control will be helpful as well.  The last thing is where my biggest hang up is.  They really want us to force down the landing traffic so it is easier for them to top the arrivals with departures. I've discussed this with a few people and the general consensus is that it is over restrictive and I tend to agree.  I am interested to know what you guys think about these items.

These are all just ideas so far so please let me know if you have any issues or other ideas while we are working on this letter.  I'll be monitoring the slack for anything you guys want to discuss or you can email me directly if you'd rather do that.

Post Brief Requirements

Last week there was a camera crew in the building shooting some sort of PSA about how we have to do a 2 minute overlap after our briefings.  They even had a sheet printed out saying what we needed to do.  All of that was premature and there is currently no change to how we do position relief briefings.  Let me know if your supervisor is requiring anything new.

Schedule Stuff

I posted this on slack but I figured I would put it here too for posterity. 

One thing I did not clarify in my first example on the last post…

Example:  You are on a line that was bid with a 0800 on Friday and you dreamlined that to a 7.  If you go to another line that was bid with an 0800 on Friday, you will be allowed to keep your dreamline to a 7.  If that dreamline cannot be carried with you then it will revert back to how it was originally bid.  It does not stick around as an option for the next person who bids your line.  The reason for dreamlines being different from swaps in this case is because many of those dreamlines were decided on by seniority so it would be unfair to keep them around if the senior person no longer owns the dreamline.

DON'T FORGET THE ALL MEMBERS MEETING ON 5/30 @ 3PM AT THE RAINBOW CAFE.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 5/14

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  I have a few things for you this week so try to read all the way through.

VP Vacancy

As you all have probably heard by now, Troy Harrison is retiring on June 30th.  Alex Navarro will assume the role of FACREP and the VP position will be vacant.  As our constitution currently stands, the Local Executive Board appoints the new VP.  Since the term will have 18 months remaining in it and we have quite a few volunteers, I have proposed a change to our Local Constitution that would allow us to hold a special election.  That proposal will be voted on at the all members meeting on 5/30.  The Local Executive Board will be meeting this Thursday to discuss the best path for us to make sure you all get the person you want in that position, which may still include appointing someone as there is no guarantee my proposal will pass. 

 

Changes to LMT Missed Approach Procedures

The next amendment to the HI-ILS RWY 32 at LMT (Amdt 7), due to be published 07/19/2018, will include the following new alternate missed approach instructions (not charted but usable by ATC):  "Climb to 10000 on heading 320.  Expect radar vectors.  Missed approach requires a minimum climb of 265 feet per nm to 6700. (Radar required)"

iPads?!?!

The following is part of an update sent out about iPads being sent to facilities.  Just kind of a neat thing I figured you guys would want to know about.

The Agency has started delivery of iPads to many facilities.  The remainder will be delivered by early Fall 2018.  The deployment of the iPads was worked collaboratively with the Agency and there is an ETD (Electronic Training Device) MOU available if you want to see it.
The objective of deploying iPads or ETD’s is to  provide learners the tools to enhance and expedite their training experience thru access to training materials via mobile devices during every phases of technical training.

Facilities currently using iPads have:

• Decreased training times.
• Allowed extensive use of Adobe Reader for maps, chart, SOPs and LOAs, Facility Memorandums, etc.
• Experienced “on demand” access to aviation websites
• Eliminated paper-based student binders (and a lot of unneeded time at the copiers!)

The Agency has delivered the first 2300 iPads to 73 of 303 facilities based upon facility level from highest to lowest, covering 60 % of DEV/CPC-ITs. The next 590 iPads will go to the Academy; followed by purchases for the remaining field facilities.  An operational test of the iPad configuration instructions with select facilities was conducted the last week of April. Configuration support via webinars for the remaining facilities will begin the first week of May. Multiple webinars will be conducted weekly until all facilities have received support.  

New Policy Regarding Swaps/Dreamlines as they Relate to Vacated Lines

In the past, when a line with swaps/dreamlines was vacated, all of the swaps/dreamlines would just revert to how they were bid.  I am going to make an adjustment to that policy to ensure we do things in the most fair way possible that also helps out the people who need the swaps/dreamlines.  

So moving forward, if you have swaps in place and you bid a new line during the year that would not impact your swaps or dreamlines, you will be allowed to keep them.

Example:  You are on a line that was bid with a 0800 on Friday and you dreamlined that to a 7.  If you go to another line that was bid with an 0800 on Friday, you will be allowed to keep your dreamline to a 7.

Same thing with a swap.

Example:  You are on a line that was bid with a 1330NF on a Friday and you swapped with someone to their 0800 on a Friday.  If you bid another line that has a 1330NF on a Friday then you will be allowed to leave that swap in place.

If you go to a line that no longer has the originally bid shift and you can’t carry your swap with you, it will stay with your line and be offered up with it when the line is bid out.  If whoever takes the line doesn’t want to do your swap, it will be offered to everyone eligible for it in order of seniority.  If none of them want it, it will revert to the way it was bid.

Example:  You bid a 1330NF on Friday and swapped it with someone on a 0800.  You vacate your line and now you have Friday off.  Your line will be bid out with a 1330NF and the option to take a 0800.  If whoever selects the line doesn’t want the 0800 shift then it will be offered to those who are eligible, in seniority order.  If no one wants it then it will revert to how it was bid for both parties.

This should allow us to keep some of the swaps we want while not forcing someone to do a swap they don’t want to do as part of a new line.

New Scheduling Policy

The schedule that posted yesterday is the first one to be impacted by the changes made to our scheduling policy.  The only feedback I have received so far has been positive.  Please let me know if you have any issues.  Below is the text from my email on 4/30 email regarding that policy.

---

SCHEDULING POLICIES

Since I took over as rep I have struggled to set a good policy for exactly how we will handle schedule moves.  We have general rules that we follow but because building the schedule is an imperfect process when abnormal things come up we have to improvise and then we find ourselves in a spot where we may be inconsistent next time something abnormal comes up.  So what I have done here is try to write down a general guideline for how we handle schedule moves.  This is not meant to be a decree and if you have a suggested change please let me know and we will discuss it as a group to find the best way to handle our scheduling.

Main Goal is Preserving the Cascading Line

The later you are in your workweek, the more likely you are to be moved earlier if an earlier shift is needed.

First and foremost above all else, the first return to shift request will be the one subjected to the biggest move.  Example being if you get moved from a day to a mid or swing, you will be first to go back to your shift over a 6 to a 7.  Same with swing to day.

Second to that is what day of your week you are on. If on your 5th day you get moved later, your request to return to shift will be ahead of a 4th day that got moved later, provided that the move is the same distance.  (0700 to 0800 and 0600 to 0700)

If a swing shift is needed, we will draw from those people who are working their first day shift of their workweek.  An example of this is Bill’s schedule (Sat/Sun straight 0700s).  If someone needs to get moved from the day to the swing on Monday, the competition for moving will be between Bill and the Thurs/Fri crew since all of them are working the first day shift of their work week.  Again, making every effort to preserve a cascading line.

If a day shift is needed, we will draw from those people who are working the furthest swing shift into their workweek.  An example of this is Jason Cruz’s schedule (Sat/Sun straight swings).  If someone needs to get moved from the swing to the day on Friday, the list of people who could be moved is Jason Cruz and anyone on a standard Tues/Wed line.

If we can move an AWS (10 hr line) line 2 hours forward or backward while still maintaining a cascading schedule, we will do that first as opposed to moving day to swing or swing to day.

Also, midshifters are not in the rotation for third swings but they are in the rotation for later day shifts. (As late as an 1100)

If 2 get moved from an 8 to a 7 from the same crew, whoever has been moved most has their request to return in first.  No difference in whether the total number of moves were earlier or later since we don’t know what you do and don’t like.

Tracking resets every year and to initially establish it, lowest seniority moves first.

In the past the policy on moving someone’s shift when they have a leave request in has been unclear. The policy moving forward will be that we will only NOT move you if your leave can be approved at posting time.  Exceptions to this will be the 4 shifts that make it more difficult to get leave from.  (1600, 1530NF, Mids, 0600)

Example:
If someone has a 4 hour EOS request off of a 1500 and it is their turn to get a 1600, the only way they get passed for that 1600 rotation is if either the leave can be approved prior to publishing OR we can publish at guides (or above) and give the FLM the opportunity to approve it. 

Example:
If someone has an entire shift requested off and it is their turn to get forced to a mid we will only skip them them in the rotation for that mid if the leave can be approved at posting OR we can publish at guides (or above) and give the FLM the opportunity to approve it.

Getting skipped in the rotation for a shift means the person who got it is racking up the tally marks for shift moves and it will decrease their likelihood to get moved in the future.

As far as smaller moves go (like a 0700 to an 0800 or 1330NF to a 1500), first priority still goes to protecting the cascading schedule.  

Example:  Two Thurs/Fri people have 0700s on Tuesday.  Bill also has a 0700 on Tuesday.  If we need to move someone to an 0800, to protect the cascading schedule, Bill would only be in the rotation on Tuesday if he had a shift that was an 0800 or later on Monday.

Dreamlines are also first to go. 

Example: I have a 1230 Dreamline from a 1330 on Thursday. If a 1330 is needed for coverage later into the night, it will be me that is moved, not someone from the day shift.

---

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 5/7

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  3 quick things for you.

Line Vacancy

There is currently a solicitation up to fill a Sat/Sun no mid line.  It is looking like Amy is going to get that and then we will bid out her line.  Please remember to check the sheet.  It doesn't take that long to do.  There is no reason this should take several weeks to finish.

Credit Solicitation

You may have seen in the area there was a posting to solicit for credit hours on certain shifts to cover for CIC class.  I think there is some confusion about this.  The agency absolutely can solicit for credit hours as long as they do so equitably (Article 34 Section 8 of the Slate Book).  If they solicit for credit hours and then assign OT, that is not ok.  That would be grieved.  If OT needs to be added to the schedule, then it must be OT, regardless of who volunteered for credit. I will be working with Jason Alliston in the future to develop a process that we can count on to be used every time with regards to credit solicitation.  I think we can do better than taping it to the sign in computer.

Talk to Me

There has been a rash of issues brought to me by people other than the ones that they happened to.  I don't see myself as someone who is difficult to talk to so this is hard for me to understand.  I have several avenues that you can contact me through that I am always monitoring.  You all have my number, my email, and if you want to ask a question publicly, the slack.  So I am having trouble understanding why so many issues never make it all the way to me.  I hear about them after the fact, through someone else, or not at all.  I would like to encourage you all to bring any issue to me.  No matter how small.  I know I play around a lot, but I am not mean, I promise.  I am here for you guys and I can only be as good of a rep as you will let me be.

That's it for this week.  Hope you guys are out enjoying this nice weather!

In Solidarity,

Drew

503.593.8178

drew.s.stewart@gmail.com

Weekly Update 4/30

All,

I hope everyone is having a great week.  I do have a few things of note to update you on this week so try to make it all the way through this one.

New CPC Line

I am meeting with whoever our OM is (currently unknown but it will eventually be Alliston) on Tuesday to discuss where to put the new line that we have no the FG is certified.  Per the MOU we have until May 2 to get the new CPC line done.  My goal is still to fill April's line but we will see what they agree to.

New Sector 36 Frequency

This is still a ways off, scheduled to happen June 12.  Apparently 121.4 interferes with WADS and they carry a bigger stick than us so we are changing our frequency.  There will be more to follow on this, just wanted to give you what I know now.  There are 4 sites that need changing.  King Mountain and North Bend will go down at the same time then Horton and Harness Mountain after that.  The actual chart change will be 19th of July.  The new frequency will be 127.55.  More to follow in the coming weeks on that.

OT Return to RDO

The language in our MOU has caused some confusion on how we handle return to RDO requests from an OT assignment.  If you are on the volunteer or "yes" list and assigned an OT, you will not have an automated return to RDO put in.  You will need to make that request yourself.  If you are on the non-volunteer or "no" list and you are assigned OT, you will have an automatic request to return to your RDO put in.

Meaning if you are on the "yes" list and you are assigned an OT that you do not want, you will need to put in a request to return to your RDO and it will be dealt with in the order it was received.  This does not preclude mgmt form cancelling an OT as long as they still follow Article 38 Section 9 of the contract which says: Overtime shall not normally be canceled without seven (7) days notice.

---

Scheduling Policies

Since I took over as rep I have struggled to set a good policy for exactly how we will handle schedule moves.  We have general rules that we follow but because building the schedule is an imperfect process when abnormal things come up we have to improvise and then we find ourselves in a spot where we may be inconsistent next time something abnormal comes up.  So what I have done here is try to write down a general guideline for how we handle schedule moves.  This is not meant to be a decree and if you have a suggested change please let me know and we will discuss it as a group to find the best way to handle our scheduling.

Main Goal is Preserving the Cascading Line

The later you are in your workweek, the more likely you are to be moved earlier if an earlier shift is needed.

First and foremost above all else, the first return to shift request will be the one subjected to the biggest move.  Example being if you get moved from a day to a mid or swing, you will be first to go back to your shift over a 6 to a 7.  Same with swing to day.

Second to that is what day of your week you are on. If on your 5th day you get moved later, your request to return to shift will be ahead of a 4th day that got moved later, provided that the move is the same distance.  (0700 to 0800 and 0600 to 0700)

If a swing shift is needed, we will draw from those people who are working their first day shift of their workweek.  An example of this is Bill’s schedule (Sat/Sun straight 0700s).  If someone needs to get moved from the day to the swing on Monday, the competition for moving will be between Bill and the Thurs/Fri crew since all of them are working the first day shift of their work week.  Again, making every effort to preserve a cascading line.

If a day shift is needed, we will draw from those people who are working the furthest swing shift into their workweek.  An example of this is Jason Cruz’s schedule (Sat/Sun straight swings).  If someone needs to get moved from the swing to the day on Friday, the list of people who could be moved is Jason Cruz and anyone on a standard Tues/Wed line.

If we can move an AWS (10 hr line) line 2 hours forward or backward while still maintaining a cascading schedule, we will do that first as opposed to moving day to swing or swing to day.

Also, midshifters are not in the rotation for third swings but they are in the rotation for later day shifts. (As late as an 1100)

If 2 get moved from an 8 to a 7 from the same crew, whoever has been moved most has their request to return in first.  No difference in whether the total number of moves were earlier or later since we don’t know what you do and don’t like.

Tracking resets every year and to initially establish it, lowest seniority moves first.

In the past the policy on moving someone’s shift when they have a leave request in has been unclear. The policy moving forward will be that we will only NOT move you if your leave can be approved at posting time.  Exceptions to this will be the 4 shifts that make it more difficult to get leave from.  (1600, 1530NF, Mids, 0600)

Example:
If someone has a 4 hour EOS request off of a 1500 and it is their turn to get a 1600, the only way they get passed for that 1600 rotation is if either the leave can be approved prior to publishing OR we can publish at guides (or above) and give the FLM the opportunity to approve it. 

Example:
If someone has an entire shift requested off and it is their turn to get forced to a mid we will only skip them them in the rotation for that mid if the leave can be approved at posting OR we can publish at guides (or above) and give the FLM the opportunity to approve it.

Getting skipped in the rotation for a shift means the person who got it is racking up the tally marks for shift moves and it will decrease their likelihood to get moved in the future.

As far as smaller moves go (like a 0700 to an 0800 or 1330NF to a 1500), first priority still goes to protecting the cascading schedule.  

Example:  Two Thurs/Fri people have 0700s on Tuesday.  Bill also has a 0700 on Tuesday.  If we need to move someone to an 0800, to protect the cascading schedule, Bill would only be in the rotation on Tuesday if he had a shift that was an 0800 or later on Monday.

Dreamlines are also first to go. 

Example: I have a 1230 Dreamline from a 1330 on Thursday. If a 1330 is needed for coverage later into the night, it will be me that is moved, not someone from the day shift.

---

That pretty much covers it.  If you have any questions or concerns with how I have chosen to handle this moving forward, please let me know.  We've spent so long with "hand-shake" agreements and "best guesses" of how to handle stuff so I am making an effort to specify these policies.  Like I mentioned, this is an imperfect process so even with these rules in place something will still come up that is not covered here but at least with have a guideline.  Hit me up on slack or email with any questions.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 4/23

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  It's been a busy one for me.  I am finally headed home from Philly in a few hours and ready to get out of this city.  I only have a few things this time, one of which is a convention update.  Enjoy!

LSC Opening

Clarence Courtney (Area A) has been selected to the training department and will remain with the LSC, however with the retirement of Dawn McElvain, we will be soliciting a replacement for her.  If you are interested, please send Troy an email directly (not me) by Monday, April 30rd COB.   All selections will be vetted by the Local Eboard and LSC.  His email is louhoozer@hotmail.com.

CICs Approving EA

Troy spoke with Don Hill today and they agreed that CICs can approve EA for "Blood Leave" as long as they consult with the OM first.  So in other words, the OM has to approve it.

Convention Recap:

Day 1:

Credentials Committee Report:  387 delegates, 191 alternates and 361 members in attendance representing 14,788 votes

Business:

A18-01 regarding National Standing Committees- passed without debate.  

A18-02 regarding Nomination and Election of Officers- passed without debate. 

A18-03 regarding National Conventions- Adopted as amended.

A18-04 regarding National Conventions- Defeated. 

A18-05 regarding National Conventions- Defeated. 

A18-06 regarding National Conventions- Defeated. 

A18-07 Withdrawn by the authors

A18-08 regarding Interpretation and Amendments to the Constitution-  Passed without debate. 

A18-09 regarding Seniority- Defeated. 

A18-10 Withdrawn by the authors

A18-11 regarding Seniority- Defeated. 

A18-12 regarding Seniority- Defeated.

A18-13 Withdrawn

A18-14 not heard (out of order)

A18-15 regarding Seniority- Defeated without debate. 

A18-16 regarding Seniority of BU members other than ATCS/TMC/FSS/NOTAM (Region X)- Passed. 

R18-01 Membership Trust Fund- Passed.

R18-02 Past Presidents Attending Conventions- Postponed

R18-03 Reimbursement for Training/Meetings - Passed.

Day 2:

Credentials Committee Report:  388 delegates, 196 alternates, and 347 members representing 14,788 votes.

Safety Committee: CFS registration is now open. CFS dates are October 22-24, 2018.

Organizing Committee: 3351 new NATCA members since 2014, 25 new FCTs now NATCA since 2014. RNT is now NATCA and that makes 100 represented FCTs. 95% of ATCS are NATCA members.

Business:

NEB Resolutions

1. Large Group Financial Tracking- regarding charter and financial policies for En Route, TRACON FACREP and CORE30 airports-Adopted. 

2. CFS Lodging- regarding NEB determination to issue or amend a CFS lodging policy-Adopted. 

3. Convention Subsidy- regarding criteria for determining which Locals qualify- Adopted.

 R18-02- regarding amending Past Presidents Attending Conventions- Passed. 

R18-04- Withdrawn by authors

R18-05-Withdrawn by authors

R18-06-amend/rename: Recognition of NATCA Locals from facilities transferred to the FCT Program- Adopted.

R18-07- Withdrawn by authors

R18-08-not heard

R18-09- Add new: PSD-5 Vision100 retirement for FSS ATCS- Postponed indefinitely.

R18-10-Withdrawn by authors.

R18-11- add new: PSH-1 Honorary Membership- Gordon Graham- Adopted.  

*New Business Day 2 (untimely amendments and resolutions not in the original booklet sent out to membership): 

UA18-17-regarding Finances (minor wording change)- Passed

R18-12-regarding Amend: SR-1 ARVP Official Time (wording change)- Passed

R18-13-regarding Amend: SRN-1 National Officer Salaries- Passed.

R18-14- add new: PSH-2 Honorary Membership- Mike McColgan- Adopted. 

R18-15- add new: as amended SRF-24 Convention Subsidy- Adopted.

Day 3:

Benefits Committee:  natcabenefits.com

Retirement Seminar in Seattle 11/13-11/14, register at portal.natca.org

Open enrollment for UNUM ends 4/30 (natcadisability.com). 

Aviation Medicine Advisory Service (AMAS)-   www.aviationmedicine.com Free and confidential information and council from doctors (who don’t work for the FAA) on issues/questions that may affect our medical. 

Ford X Plan- dealer cost plus 10% plus any incentives. (www.fordpartner.com) Partner code: BOFVJ

AT&T discount program-  Discount code 4924955 for 15% off.

Penn State Program- (online bachelors and masters degree programs) NATCA members provided in-state tuition and 5% tuition discount and college credit for completing a certified NATCA Academy course. www.worldcampus.psu.edu/b2b/natca

Geico Discount Program-  www.geico.com/fed/natca 

Credentials Committee Report:  382 delegates, 197 alternates and 381 members representing 14,753 votes. 

New Business Day 3 (untimely amendments and resolutions not in the original booklet sent out to membership): 

UA18-18- regarding Article VII: Nomination and Election of Officers - Adopted.

R18-16- regarding deletion of PSD-1 Twenty year Retirement (9/96)- Passed.

R18-17- regarding Add new SRG-10 return rights after training failure- Passed. 

R18-18- regarding Add new: PSH-3: Dean Iacopelli Conference Room- Passed unanimously. 

R18-19- regarding Amend: SRF-24 Convention Subsidy (4/18)- Adopted.

World Controller’s Cup- November 4-10th 2018 www.playthewcc.com

 

Other Items and my thoughts:

The dates for the 2020 NATCA Convention in Houston, TX have been confirmed as May 27-29th.  Mark your calendars.  Also after a very close vote, Fort Lauderdale was awarded the 2022 convention over other bids from Boston and San Francisco.  FLL will probably be the cheapest overall option, not counting the cost to get us west coasters out there, but I was really pulling for SFO.  Oh well.  Lake Tapps 2024??

The other really interesting thing was the general consensus on not deleting section 3 of our seniority policy.  That is the section that makes it to where if you take a supervisor job and come back, your seniority gets reset.  We passed the policy in Miami in 2008 and every convention since there has been a proposal to remove it.  The following 4 conventions there was really heated debate on the topic and even a roll call vote in 2010.  A roll call vote is where each member's vote is individually cast by your delegates.  I assumed that we were getting closer and closer to deleting that section which would restore seniority to those who were supervisors and returned to the boards.  I was very pleased to see that there was almost zero debate on the topic as only one person spoke in favor of it.  It was almost unanimously defeated, only one vote in opposition.  That means no changes will be made, supervisors do not get seniority back.

The other interesting item was the debate about where and how often to have convention.  I won't bog you down with the details of the debate but the general gist of what we passed is this: The convention body still votes on the convention location (as opposed to the proposal of making it permanently in Vegas).  The only way that it will end up in Vegas is if the host city does not meet certain logistical and financial criteria set by the NEB.  Those criteria could be anything form room rate limits to whether or not we can all stay in the same hotel.

We also changed the President and EVP salaries to where both make the same amount ($260,000 per year), this takes effect in September after the elections.  Previous salaries for President and EVP were $250,000 and $240,000, respectively.

You should be receiving an updated National Constitution in the coming weeks.  I am happy to discuss any of the convention business with any of you at any time.  I nerd out over this stuff so don't hesitate to ask.  Looking forward to getting back to the West Coast soon and I'll be back to work Wednesday.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 4/16

All,

I am in disgusting rainy Philadelphia preparing for Convention.  I don't have a lot to share this week but here are the two things I do have.

Upcoming OJTI Class

There is an OJTI class upcoming in June.  If you have an interest in becoming an OJTI, let you supervisor know.

CICs Approving Excused Absence

Jason Alliston is officially our OM and one of his big issues is CICs approving excused absence.  The HRPM says that FLMs have approve excused absence and  "Blood leave" is an excused absence.  However, the contract does not specify who can approve excused absence and the contract supersedes the HRPM.  I spoke with Troy about this and he is going to work on this issue with Don Hill to see how we should handle this as a facility.  In the interim, I would recommend having a supervisor or OM approve the blood leave.  I'll let you know what I find out.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 4/9

All,

Really not much to share this week, just rolling over some updates and reminders from previous weeks.  Next week is our biennial convention in Philadelphia.  At our last local meeting, we took a vote to see how the local feels about each proposed amendment.  Those results are posted outside the control room.  If you have any questions or opinions on those amendments or about convention at all, please don't hesitate to ask.  Also, congrats to ZD for being our newest CPC!

AL Retirement Gift

We are still collecting money to donate to Al's season tickets as a retirement gift.  You can send me any donations via venmo or PayPal to drew.s.stewart@gmail.com.  His retirement party is tomorrow night (4/10) in Tacoma at the Parkway Tavern @ 6pm.  Click here to RSVP on the facebook.

Shift Change Request Reminder

Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period.  So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit.  A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.

Credit Request Reminder

The biggest thing I want to remind everyone of with credit requests is YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE CREDIT ON THE BOOKS TO REQUEST TO BURN IT.  Meaning if you have 4 days of credit requested throughout the year then it is not possible for you to have the days necessary to cover that since we can only have 24hrs of credit.  Please keep an eye on this.  It is a very easy thing to get caught doing wrong and if you get caught doing it, you will likely be the reason mgmt audits everyone’s leave requests.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Metering Explanations from TMU

All,

I wanted to clarify a couple of things from my last email.  The attached explanations came from TMU and still contain some issues that we might need to work through.  Main one being whether or not we route a/c direct to BTG when we are done with them.  The 7110 requires all routes to be updated and TMU wants us to call them every time we route key a locked in aircraft so something has to give.  Making that many calls to TMU is not operationally feasible.  I haven't heard any issues coming from the floor about this in awhile so it seems like it is something we are working through with a modicum of success.  Just know that when you route key aircraft to BTG there are things that could happen to make the time jump.  Be prepared for that possibility.  Again, these are TMU's responses, I just want to get them out to you all so you know their thoughts on all of this stuff.  Feel free to join in on slack to discuss.

Metering Explanations:

Metering Delay/Sequencing Delay

• TBFM calculates delay to meet an arrival rate (which is programmed via a spacing matrix by the TMCs).  It also calculates delay in order to sequence aircraft at each of the metering fixes and/or metering arcs.
• During metering, an aircraft may have a small delay indicated in the D area, but none in the B area.  This delay is due to TBFM sequencing the aircraft at the outer Meter arc.  This will only be an issue if the D area controller decides to meter more time than the indicated delay.  That would result in the aircraft being behind the assigned meter time and that will push back (waterfall) the delay backwards into the other arrivals.

Updating routes and Frozen times jumping

• Updating a Frozen aircraft’s route: If TBFM projects the aircraft will arrive at the Meter fix (arc) later than the currently scheduled time after a route amendment, the aircraft might jump to the back of the list and the slot that the aircraft had in the TBFM timeline could potentially disappear. If the TMC is notified prior to a controller routing an aircraft, the current slot can be noted/preserved so that the aircraft can be placed back in it quickly if it were to jump out.
• TBFM will adjust times even after they are frozen. The adjustments are small, but they are large enough to potentially lose a slot when an aircraft jumps out of the assigned slot.  If the TMC is not aware that the aircraft was routed direct, and that aircraft jumps to the back of the list, he/she may not know where that aircraft was originally.
• TMC Techniques:
  • Swapping slots with aircraft that have negative times to keep the list up to date.
  • Shuffling slots with internal departures (swapping the aircraft in the list).  This is done because the towers can release aircraft two minutes earlier and one minute later than their CFR time, so the departures do not always land in the correct slot once departed.
  • List stability.  TBFM will jump aircraft around when frozen aircraft are mixed with unfrozen aircraft.  Since ZSE’s arrival streams have varying freeze horizons, it is common for TMCs to freeze aircraft further out to create stability.
• Oceanic, Alaskan, Hawaiian, and sometimes Canadian flights do not appear in TBFM until they are within ZSE radar. These flights will suddenly “pop” into the TBFM list since they appear a lot later in radar than flights on the other arrivals. The TMC may shuffle the flight down the metering list to put the aircraft in a more equitable arrival slot.  This would affect the frozen times on all streams.

Delay Countdown Timer (DCT)

• When an aircraft is in level flight and on its FP route, the DCT is accurate. Once an aircraft’s speed is changed, the DCT changes to reflect the new ground speed (by turning, descending or climbing an aircraft, it’s speed will change).  TBFM constantly updates the DCT based on the aircraft direct the next fix in the FP with the current speed. 
  • For example:  An aircraft has a 5 minute delay according to the DCT.  This aircraft is turned into a strong head wind, which drops the aircraft’s speed dramatically. TBFM recalculates, which drops the DCT to 0 after two minutes of actual time has passed.  Once that controller sees a 0 for the DCT, that aircraft is turned back to the fix on it’s FP and the DCT now jumps back up to 3 minutes. This is because TBFM has recalculated again based on the speed, which increased once that aircraft was out of the wind.

When aircraft are slowed too much or slowed when there is no delay: 

• Over delaying an aircraft results in negative delays on the TBFM timeline. Once an aircraft has fallen behind its slot, that slot is very difficult to fill. Over delaying an aircraft creates compacted demand where there originally wasn’t because it pushes that aircraft back into the aircraft behind it. This may result in times being shuffled, the metering list being rescheduled or even ZSE being shut off by TRACON due to an excess of aircraft.
• Having aircraft cross a metering fix/arc with 0 to +1 is better than -1.

Again, this is directly from TMU.  Please don't hesitate to jump on slack and discuss.

PS - You can also venmo money for Al's retirement gift to garretwilk@gmail.com

Weekly Update 4/2

All,

This is my second crack at this update.  I accidentally deleted the first one right after I finished it. So I broke my computer in half and then lit it on fire.  So I am doing this update on my wife's computer.  Anyway, here is the news this week.

AL Retirement Gift

I think I removed AL from this list successfully, so if I didn't...Sorry for ruining the gift Al.  Chris McKeever is taking up a collection to pay for part of AL's season tickets for the Seahawks upcoming 4-12 season.  If you are interested in donating to this, please either give cash to myself or Garret (he doesn't know I am volunteering him for this) or PayPal/Venmo to drew.s.stewart@gmail.com.  Just make sure you include a note about what it is for.  The plan is to give it to him at his retirement party at the Parkway Tavern on 4/10, time tbd.

Shift Swaps

If you do a shift swap with someone, try to have it properly reflected in the webscheduler.  Often times someone will be requesting a 0700 form a 1000 and another person will be requesting a 1000 from a 0700 and those people will agree to a swap.  In this case, try to reflect it in the webscheduler so others don't end up thinking they were skipped.  This is ultimately a mgmt responsibility but it helps us to make sure we don't accidentally screw each other as well.

Area Training Rep

Still waiting to hear from Troy on this.

Article 46

I wanted to clear something up regarding Art 46.  Let me start by saying that the example I am about to explain is not on the horizon for us, I just want you all to know how it would work if it was.  If we end up with a shortage on a crew, we will solicit volunteers to move to that crew.  If we are unable to get a volunteer, we will determine a "fat crew."  The junior person from this "fat crew" will then be forced to move to the short spot.  This is not a personal policy, this is a procedure that is clearly laid out in our contract in Article 46.  I have had this conversation with several people in the area and I just wanted to make sure everyone understood it.  Again, this is not something that is looming for us, just something I want to make sure we all understand.  Keep this in mind when bidding your line next year, if you want to be a little more secure on your crew, never be the junior person.

Juniper Complex Fixes

Our new fixes to clear the southern portion of the Juniper Complex (LOKEY and DNTAY) have been added to the system.  They are not currently on the maps or on the scopes but that will change in coming updates.  Garret has placed little cards that show where they are under the glass on 13 and 30.  LOKEY is the western fix and DNTAY is the eastern one.  DNTAY doesn't technically clear the whole extension but that portion is only to FL270 (I think) so you will likely have altitude there anyway.  I put the fix locations in the header to this email as well for you to see.

Full MVA Redesign

As I mentioned last week, Garret has been working to learn the new MVA program and is making some progress on getting our MVAs adjusted.  He has posted proposed changes in the area and I have attempted to attach them HERE and HERE.  Below is a list of what the proposed changes are, please see me or Garret with any concerns.  I think these will be great if we get them changed.

D-Area MIA Proposed Changes:

Project Goals:

1.     Simplification and ‘softening’ of many MIA boundary lines.  Currently, we have a total of 82 MIA areas/polygons.  This proposed revision would reduce them to 60 areas (25% decrease).

2.     No losses of significant altitude areas where vectoring for or issuing crossing restrictions at fixes for approaches is necessary.

3.     Removal of many small, non-cardinal altitude areas (i.e. 049, 059, 098, etc.).

4.     Closer integration with all adjacent sectors, Centers and Cascade Approach MIA/MVA areas (not completed yet).

Sector 30 changes:

1.     New 080 cardinal altitude area in the vicinity of SIY for vectoring arrivals/departures.

2.     Adjustment of current 071 area east of BOK/4S1 to regain the old 070 cardinal altitude MIA area.

3.     Expansion of the 060 area south of ACV by moving the 060/070 boundary along the ACV LOC slightly east.

4.     Expansion of the 037 and 050 areas along V27 and the coastline south of the FOT VORTAC w/the VORTAC now completely inside the 037 area.

5.     Replacement of the larger 092 area SW of MFR airspace with a new 090 area that now includes a smaller 092 isolation area in the vicinity of LEANN/TALEM/KLAMA.

6.     Adjustment resulting in a smaller 159 area for Mt. Shasta with new 150 and 100 step-down shelf areas.

7.     Expansion of the 040 area north of CEC along the coastline to coincide with removal of the 044 area.

Sector 36 changes:

1.     New 025 area south and east of the OTH LOC between MITUE/EMIRE to accommodate vectors for the ILS approach for ADS-B equipped aircraft (once the LOC is depicted, of course).

2.     New 043 area in the vicinity of COOSE extending northeast to accommodate a lower crossing restriction at COOSE for the VOR/DME-B.

3.     Adjustment of current 057 and 060 area boundaries south of RBG to accommodate lower altitudes for RBG inbounds being vectored for the 157-R and EROWY (w/ IDISY still in the 057).

4.     Adjustment of the current 050 area in the vicinity of RBG, extending that area south and east of the VOR by over 4 nm.

5.     Adjustment of current 071 area east of BOK/4S1 to regain the old 070 cardinal altitude MIA area.

6.     Removal of the isolated 039 area north of the OTH VOR/DME (now all just 040).

Sector 10 changes:

1.     Adjustment of 086 area in the vicinity of LMT giving slightly more room (2-3 nm) in the area southwest of TAHNE.

2.     Adjustment of the 100 area in the vicinity of Mt. McLaughlin allowing for MIXUP to be 1-2 miles inside the 090 area.

3.     Expansion of the 090 area in the vicinity of MIXUP, SPRAG, and north toward the Sector 05 boundary.

4.     Removal of 088 area in the vicinity of MIXUP.

5.     Adjustment of the 102 area in the vicinity of LKV, creating a new larger 100 area with new 101, 102, and 116 exclusion areas instead.

Shift Change Request Reminder

Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period.  So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit.  A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.

Credit Request Reminder

The biggest thing I want to remind everyone of with credit requests is YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE CREDIT ON THE BOOKS TO REQUEST TO BURN IT.  Meaning if you have 4 days of credit requested throughout the year then it is not possible for you to have the days necessary to cover that since we can only have 24hrs of credit.  Please keep an eye on this.  It is a very easy thing to get caught doing wrong and if you get caught doing it, you will likely be the reason mgmt audits everyone’s leave requests.

Metering Explanations

TMU has been working to put together an explainer document for some common questions about metering.  These are TMU's answers to common questions.  The following is what they have come up with:

Metering Explanations:

Metering Delay/Sequencing Delay

• TBFM calculates delay to meet an arrival rate (which is programmed via a spacing matrix by the TMCs).  It also calculates delay in order to sequence aircraft at each of the metering fixes and/or metering arcs.
• During metering, an aircraft may have a small delay indicated in the D area, but none in the B area.  This delay is due to TBFM sequencing the aircraft at the outer Meter arc.  This will only be an issue if the D area controller decides to meter more time than the indicated delay.  That would result in the aircraft being behind the assigned meter time and that will push back (waterfall) the delay backwards into the other arrivals.

Updating routes and Frozen times jumping

• Updating a Frozen aircraft’s route: If TBFM projects the aircraft will arrive at the Meter fix (arc) later than the currently scheduled time after a route amendment, the aircraft might jump to the back of the list and the slot that the aircraft had in the TBFM timeline could potentially disappear. If the TMC is notified prior to a controller routing an aircraft, the current slot can be noted/preserved so that the aircraft can be placed back in it quickly if it were to jump out.
• TBFM will adjust times even after they are frozen. The adjustments are small, but they are large enough to potentially lose a slot when an aircraft jumps out of the assigned slot.  If the TMC is not aware that the aircraft was routed direct, and that aircraft jumps to the back of the list, he/she may not know where that aircraft was originally.
• TMC Techniques:
  • Swapping slots with aircraft that have negative times to keep the list up to date.
  • Shuffling slots with internal departures (swapping the aircraft in the list).  This is done because the towers can release aircraft two minutes earlier and one minute later than their CFR time, so the departures do not always land in the correct slot once departed.
  • List stability.  TBFM will jump aircraft around when frozen aircraft are mixed with unfrozen aircraft.  Since ZSE’s arrival streams have varying freeze horizons, it is common for TMCs to freeze aircraft further out to create stability.
• Oceanic, Alaskan, Hawaiian, and sometimes Canadian flights do not appear in TBFM until they are within ZSE radar. These flights will suddenly “pop” into the TBFM list since they appear a lot later in radar than flights on the other arrivals. The TMC may shuffle the flight down the metering list to put the aircraft in a more equitable arrival slot.  This would affect the frozen times on all streams.

Delay Countdown Timer (DCT)

• When an aircraft is in level flight and on it’s FP route, the DCT is accurate. Once an aircraft’s speed is changed, the DCT changes to reflect the new ground speed (by turning, descending or climbing an aircraft, it’s speed will change).  TBFM constantly updates the DCT based on the aircraft direct the next fix in the FP with the current speed. 
  • For example:  An aircraft has a 5 minute delay according to the DCT.  This aircraft is turned into a strong head wind, which drops the aircraft’s speed dramatically. TBFM recalculates, which drops the DCT to 0 after two minutes of actual time has passed.  Once that controller sees a 0 for the DCT, that aircraft is turned back to the fix on it’s FP and the DCT now jumps back up to 3 minutes. This is because TBFM has recalculated again based on the speed, which increased once that aircraft was out of the wind.

When aircraft are slowed too much or slowed when there is no delay:

• Over delaying an aircraft results in negative delays on the TBFM timeline. Once an aircraft has fallen behind its slot, that slot is very difficult to fill. Over delaying an aircraft creates compacted demand where there originally wasn’t because it pushes that aircraft back into the aircraft behind it. This may result in times being shuffled, the metering list being rescheduled or even ZSE being shut off by TRACON due to an excess of aircraft.
• Having aircraft cross a metering fix/arc with 0 to +1 is better than -1.

NCF Step Challenge is Over!

The standings are as follows:

1. TX (1,156,978 Steps)
2. KC (933,465 Steps)
3. DP (745,641 Steps)
4. HA (561,890 Steps)
5. AM (539,633 Steps)
6. ZK (20,734 Steps)

I'm guessing that some of you quit tracking your steps...looking at you ZK.  But nonetheless, thank you all for participating and donating to the NCF.  The prizes I promised are as follows:

• Rare Breed Wild Turkey Bourbon (I pick this one)
• 24 pk of PBR
• $20 Starbucks gift card

KC, let me know which of the remaining 2 prizes you want, DP gets the other one.

Just for perspective, the person who won the whole challenge got 4,041,795 Steps.  That's cray cray.

That's it for this week.  Let me know if you have any issues and don't forget to join the conversation in Slack.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 3/26

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  Lots going on right now so bear with me and try to make it to the end of this update.

Line Waterfall

I hit a snag with our line waterfall.  I assumed that as soon as we bid out Al's line, we would immediately bid out April's line.  Well Poole pushed back on that idea and it put us in a bind.  So because we are not bidding out April's line just yet, I have to give her a chance to bid in the waterfall too. I did, and she took KR's old line.  So there has been a slight amendment to the waterfall.  I am meeting with Poole on Wednesday in hopes of settling this and bidding out April's line but if I am unable to come to an agreement with him, I will send it up to Troy and Don to sort it out.

The adjusted waterfall to take place for PP11 is as follows:

MK to AL
KR to MK
AW to KR
AM to AW
CH to AM
KD to CH
YJ to KD
ZK to YJ
GR to ZK
KX to GR

RNT is Now NATCA

Renton Tower has joined our ranks as a NATCA facility.  For us, this means that ZK will be picking up a few years of seniority and will be moving up in the world.  I don’t know for sure yet exactly where he fits with the added time but I think it is right around KC.  Amy will be gathering the information on this soon and updating our seniority list.

Area Training Rep

This is still at the facility level.  I spoke to Troy last week and he plans to meet with Don Hill to discuss specifics.  If you have any questions or suggestions about it, please feel free to take those to Troy.

Article 46 Move to B Area

As of yet, this is still not happening.  Any discussions regarding this move are on hold until the fall.  If you hear anything about it let me know and I will run down its accuracy.

LSC Vacancy

Expect there to soon be a facility wide solicitation to replace Dawn McElvain on the LSC.  I’ll let you know when that officially comes out.

Full MVA Redesign

Garret has been working to learn the new MVA program and is making some progress on getting our MVAs adjusted.  To do this in the most effective way would require a total redesign of our MVA Map.  I am onboard with this because the end result is going to be lower MVAs all around.  If you are opposed to a change in our MVA map, please let Garret or me know.

Cascade Approach

Cascade has begun the process of renegotiating their LOA with us.  So far they have asked for the following:

EUG airspace

• ZSE control on contact for all RBG / OTH landers.
• ZSE control for turns up to 30° on aircraft leaving airspace.

MFR airspace

• ZSE route all MFR landers from 36 direct SAMIE.
• Notify Cascade when sectors combine/decombine. Just so Cascade knows if an aircraft needs to go to 30 or 10 if they’re climbing high eastbound.  (I assume it'll still be anyone's guess what frequency they end up on)

They are also are interested in taking some of our airspace.  They want to increase their vertical boundary by 1-2,000 ft.  I am generally against the idea of giving up airspace but I wanted to see what you all thought about it.  Cascade says that their MVA in the SW corner is 9,100 and it’s tight sometimes especially when MFR is landing 32. Also, they could top our Mt McLoughlin MVA, for better radio coverage for Sector 10 and aircraft would not need that V122..LMT transition. 

We are in the early stages of talks with them so please jump on the slack and let me know your thoughts or tell Garret or me in person as well.

A Sides Being Converted to D Side Processors

From the ERAM Adaption Oversight Team:

ERAM "Tech Refresh 2 Early D" is underway to address an ERAM risk related to hardware failures and limited availability of spares, including the D/A positions.  In the current ERAM software baseline, the replacement processor do not support D/A positions, which will continue to using existing hardware until delivery of the EAE200 system release.  In addition, Risk 246, P615 Performance Issue, identifies CPU and memory utilization issues associated with existing D/A position processors.

An opportunity exists to replace additional processors during "Early D" and reduce both risks affecting the D/A processors by converting converting D/A positions if the D/A functionality is not required.  This adaptation change must be implemented in advance of hardware replacement to ensure the current, fallback and alternate releases installed on the processors are compatible with both the old and new hardware.

The conversion of D/A positions to D positions is optional, and sites should retain any D/A positions they feel are necessary.  Any remaining D/A positions will be replaced during the "Tech Refresh 2 Full" activity and the delivery of the EAE200 system release that supports D/A positions using new hardware.

Impact on us:

We have 2 D/A position processors on the D area, known to us as "A Sides."  There is one hidden behind our bay headers and one in between Sector 13 and 14.  We were asked if we could convert one of those to a full "D side" processor.  I elected to upgrade the one in between 13 and 14.  This will likely have no impact on us, but it is possible they install a D Side screen to go with the new processor.  If you actually read everything above and are now all the way down here I am pretty impressed.  Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns regarding this process.  Anthony Goodwin can probably answer them as well.

Shift Change Request Reminder

Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period.  So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit.  A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.

Credit Requests

The biggest thing I want to remind everyone of with credit requests is YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE CREDIT ON THE BOOKS TO REQUEST TO BURN IT.  Meaning if you have 4 days of credit requested throughout the year then it is not possible for you to have the days necessary to cover that since we can only have 24hrs of credit.  Please keep an eye on this.  It is a very easy thing to get caught doing wrong and if you get caught doing it, you will likely be the reason mgmt audits everyone’s leave requests.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 3/19

All,

I hope everyone is having a good week.  I've been gone for the past week but I have been doing my best keep up with what is going on in the area and here is what I have for you this week.

Map Changes

Garret has been hard at work in airspace trying to add some stuff to our maps.  This has been a tedious process for him but he is making some headway now and we wanted to try to get some feedback.  Here are the proposed changes:

a.       Add the following roads to our "EMER" map button:

1.       I-5, starting 30 nm north of EUG to northwest of RDD.
2.       US-97, starting 30 nm north of the sector 10/05 boundary to its termination point in Weed, CA.
3.       US-199, from Grants Pass, OR to Crescent City, CA.

b.       Add the following lakes to a new button labeled "LAKES/RIVERS":

1.       Crater Lake
2.       Upper Klamath Lake
3.       Shasta Lake
4.       Summer Lake (NW of LKV)
5.       Lake Albert (NE of LKV)
6.       Crump Lake (SE of LKV)
7.       Big Sage Reservoir (NW of AAT)
8.       Lake Malheur (near Burns, OR)

c.       Add the following rivers to the same new "LAKES/RIVERS" button:

1.       Rogue River, from northwest of Crater Lake to Gold Beach, OR.
2.       Umpqua River, from just north of OTH to just west of Mt. Thielsen.
3.       Trinity River, from just south of Weed, CA to the mountains east of ACV
4.       South Fork Trinity River, from the mountains east of ACV to just southeast of Dinsmore, CA.
5.       Sprague River (NE of LMT)
6.       Suislaw River, from Florence, OR to 20 mile south of EUG.

d.       Remove the "NRS WAYPNTS" map button.  These are the "K" fixes that we rarely use anyhow.  They will still be viewable using the GPD on the EDST (D-Side) if necessary. Removing this button will make room for our new "LAKES/RIVERS" button.

e.        Add TUNGS southeast of FOT on V27 (IAF for the RNAV-B approach at EKA).  We don't have anything on the map now in that area so clutter won't be an issue.

I have attempted to attach a map to this email showing these but we'll see how that goes...

Let me or Garret know what you guys think about all of these proposals either via email, in person, or in slack (button below).

LMT Hours

We had previously agreed to amend LMT's operational hours effective 5/1.  They have lost another controller and need to push that up so we have agreed to have the new hours take affect on 4/1.  The new hours are 0700-2200 Local.  You can expect that in a briefing this week.

Line Waterfall

We completed the line waterfall and for those who care it went as follows:

MK to AL
KR to MK
AM to KR
CH to AM
KD to CH
YJ to KD
ZK to YJ
GR to ZK
KX to GR

These changes should take place in PP11.  No change in the plan for AW's line.  I will let you know when I know more.

Shift Change Request Reminder

Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period.  So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit.  A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.

 

Overbid Leave

There is growing concern in the area and amongst the FLMs that some of you have overbid your leave.  I have on many occasions assured mgmt that we will police that ourselves and we will make sure we are not over bid.  Please don't make me a liar.  If you are close on your leave then please double check it to make sure you didn't over do it.  Keep in mind that when requesting credit, you must currently have the credit in the bank.  Having an approved request to work the credit to earn it does not count.  Mgmt has been pretty loose with this but we all need to make sure we know the rules.  If mgmt decides to do a leave audit and you are overbid, they will likely pursue discipline and that is really not fun for anyone even if we are able to stop it.

 

Schedule Issues

If you come across a schedule issue and it is something that the FLM can easily fix, feel free to pursue it yourself.  However, if you do not get the answer that you want, please let me know and I will deal with them.  This is easier than beating your head against a wall with certain FLMs.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 3/12

All,

I hope you are all having a good week.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE CHECKING THE LINE VACANCIES AND INDICATING WHETHER OR NOT YOU WANT IT.  We are currently working on the plan for April’s line.  I will let you know when I know more.

Possible LMT Trip

I’ve been told there might be a little extra money in this year’s budget for a trip to LMT.  If this does happen, the people that go will be those that were selected to go last time when it fell through.

EAP

I recently learned that EAP is actually something we can safely use.  They provide financial and legal advice as well as many other services.  When I came into the Agency I was taught never to use the Agency’s programs because I was told “never tell the agency something is wrong with you if you don’t have to.”  That has since changed and the EAP is co sponsored with NATCA and confidential (unless you are a harm to yourself or others).  You probably all learned this in IST like I did but here is the link if you decide to use it:

Magellanhealth.com/member

Shift Change Request Reminder

Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period.  So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit.  A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.

Schedule Issues

If you come across a schedule issue and it is something that the FLM can easily fix, feel free to pursue it yourself.  However, if you do not get the answer that you want, please let me know and I will deal with them.  This is easier than beating your head against a wall with certain FLMs.

I'm on Leave

I will be on leave until 3/21 but I will be pretty accessible.  I’ll be in Denver on 3/14 and 3/15 for the Regional Preconvention Meeting and then I’ll be off to Chicago to celebrate 34 years of not dying by drinking green beer and puking in a green river.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Weekly Update 3/5

All,

I hope you are all having a good week.  Not a ton going on in the area right now outside of line vacancies but here is an update on some stuff that I have worked on recently.

Juniper Complex

We have had a pretty good conversation going on on Slack about Juniper Complex procedures so make sure you get on in there if you have something to say.  For now, no policies are changing but one thing did come up regarding transitioning the airspace.  The B area doesn’t generally believe that they need to let us know ahead of time before clearing someone into Juniper.  That being said, if you do choose to transition the airspace, be sure to call them and advise them not to clear anyone in the airspace until you say otherwise.  I know there are different opinions on whether or not we should even be transiting the airspace while it is scheduled to go hot but should you choose to, I think this is a good practice.

Metering

Last Wednesday we did a little test run on the floor where we set the amount of delay taken by the B area to 0.  The time we displayed was still the arc time but the delay was the full delay at BTG.  Meaning the true arc time was the displayed time minus 5 minutes.  I don't think this really gave us what we were looking for.  I think what most of us want to see is the actual BTG time.  So for now there will be no change.  I am working with TMU to find a way to display the BTG time and no arc time.  I think that might be the most seamless way to do it.  In that case we would just cross the boundary into the B area with the 2 digit timer (count down timer) at 5 or under.  I’ll let you guys know what I find out.

FLM Issues

We have had a few issues where an FLM remembered an exchange between an employee and him differently than the employee remembered it.  I only say this to draw attention to the fact that if you decide to talk to an FLM on the non-recorded line, you are running the risk that the story changes after the fact.  I’m trying not to just outright accuse anyone of anything, but you all know who to be weary of.

Shift Change Requests

Vaden is the scheduling supe now and he has been publishing the schedule a little earlier than we are used to.  Overall this is a good thing but it brings back up the issue of people putting in requests too early.  He deleted the first few he found and re added them, I would not expect that to continue.  If you put your request in too early, expect it to get deleted and not put back in.  Remember that shift changes for an entire pay period can be done 28 days before the first day of that pay period.  So the actual day of the request could be 40 days out but as long as it is within 4 weeks of the Sunday that starts the pay period, it is legit.  A simpler way to look at it is that at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning is the first second that you can put in a request for a pay period that is two ahead.

B Area Article 46 Move

THIS IS ALL STILL IN RUMOR PHASE.  However, I do want you to all be prepared in the event that it happens.  Article 46 of the contract allows the agency to realign the workforce.  The TL;DR version is that they will determine the eligible employees (likely D area) and then solicit a move to the B area.  If they are unable to get a volunteer they would force the junior CPC to the B area.  If you do volunteer you get a 1% bonus when you go and another 1% when you check out.  I’ve attached Article 46 of the contract to the bottom of this post if you want to read it for yourself.

Bid Vacancy Waterfall

Looks like MK will be getting AL’s line and we have a pretty big waterfall about to take place so please please please initial ASAP as to whether or not you want the posted line.  I will be hassling you if you don’t.

I feel like everyone who wants to be on slack already is.  Hit me up if you have any issues with slack or anything else.

In Solidarity,

Drew

Article 46

Section 1

The Agency shall notify the Union at the national level as soon as possible, but not less than twelve (12) months, in advance of a facility closure, or relocation and/or severance of existing facility functions and/or services or inter-facility realignment requiring the reassignment of employees. The notification period may be reduced by mutual agreement of the Parties at the national level.

Section 2

In the event of a facility closure, or relocation and/or severance of existing facility functions and/or services, or inter-facility reorganization, the procedures outlined in Article 47 of this Agreement shall apply when a reduction-in-force is necessary.

Section 3

The Agency shall notify the Union representative as soon as possible, but not less than six (6) months, prior to intra-facility reorganizations (e.g. areas of specialization are realigned and/or established) involving bargaining unit employees.

The Agency shall notify the Union representative as soon as possible, but not less than three (3) months in advance, when a staffing imbalance exists within a facility that requires retraining of individuals to solve the imbalance.

These notification periods may be reduced by mutual agreement of the Parties at the local level.

Section 4

In exercising the provisions of Section 3, the Agency shall determine the number of employees to be selected. Solicitations for volunteers shall be facility-wide unless otherwise mutually agreed to by the Parties at the local level. If after this initial change has been completed another imbalance was created that requires further action, the Agency shall designate the area from which volunteers will be sought and the number of employees to be selected from each area.

Section 5

In facilities where staffing imbalances exist, volunteers shall be solicited from all qualified employees where no individual retraining is necessary to complete the change. If after this initial change has been completed another imbalance was created that requires further action, the Agency shall designate the teams from which volunteers will be sought and the number of employees to be selected from each team.

Section 6

In exercising and complying with Sections 4 or 5, each vacancy shall be filled by the reassignment of the most senior qualified volunteer. If there are no volunteers, selections shall be made using inverse seniority from among the qualified employees within the designated area(s)/team(s) which were identified in the solicitation. The transfer of employees shall be accomplished within three (3) months of the close of the solicitation. If the transfer is not accomplished within three (3) months of the close of the solicitation, the selection list shall be considered void.

Section 7

A CPC who has volunteered for an intra-facility reassignment shall receive an incentive bonus equal to one percent (1%) of the employee's Base Pay and an additional one percent (1%) once he/she has fully certified in the new area. When a CPC who is involved in an intra-facility transfer in accordance with this Article is unsuccessful in achieving certification in his/her new area, the employee shall be retained within his/her existing facility. The first priority shall be a reassignment back to the area that he/she was previously certified. Nothing in this Section precludes the Agency from offering multiple areas based on organizational needs. If more than one (1) position is offered, the employee shall be given the opportunity to select the area to which he/she will be assigned.

Section 8

In the event that an administrative/directed reassignment becomes necessary as a result of one of the actions stated in this Article, the Agency shall expedite existing selections awaiting release to/from affected facility(s) prior to making a decision as to the number of employees to be affected as well as the locations involved. Should it be determined that there are still employees subject to directed reassignments, the Agency agrees to set qualifications and solicit volunteers. The Agency will then assign the most senior volunteer(s). If there are insufficient volunteers, inverse seniority shall apply from among qualified employees.

Employees adversely affected by the conditions set forth in this Article shall be entitled to receive permanent change of station (PCS) expenses in accordance with Article 58 of this Agreement.

Section 9

Nothing in this Article is intended as a waiver of any bargaining obligation with respect to remaining substantive issues and/or the impact and implementation arising from any change as a result of the implementation of any provision of this Article.

Section 10

The express terms of this Article apply separately and distinctly to each of the following bargaining units: Air Traffic Controllers, Traffic Management Coordinators/Specialists, FSS, and NOTAM Specialists.

Open Line

We are currently bidding out Al's line to take effect no sooner than PP10.  Please indicate on the sheet posted in the area if you are interested.  This will create a pretty big waterfall so please be vigilant about checking the sheet.  We are still in the process of figuring out the best way to bid April's line but we won't be doing that until we can complete the bid for Al's line anyway.

Also, the posted Article 5 solicitation is going to be for FLM Donny Cone and for Jordon Sandoval.  So keep that in mind when making your decision.