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Pointsixtyfive.com is a newer forum for ATC that's trying to gain traction. Check it as well.
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Nov 2, 2016 01:22
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Holy loving poo poo. Just got the ERAM EAD600 briefing. So much cool poo poo and good fixes, all wrapped up in some of the most idiotic UI/interface decisions I've ever seen. Seriously, ERAM is a human-factors study waiting to happen.
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Nov 2, 2016 15:44
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So, what are my options as far as moving to another country and becoming ATC there?
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Nov 9, 2016 06:18
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fknlo posted:So, what are my options as far as moving to another country and becoming ATC there? I applied to Airservices Australia last August and actually interviewed with them in May, but shortly after they reviewed their needs and put the bid on hold, so still in limbo there. Not sure they're going to put more bids out anytime soon. Takes just as long to hear anything as the FAA. I haven't ever seen international bids out of New Zealand, the UK process looks pretty intense and I'm not sure exactly how NavCanada works, I thought I'd read they required residency or something.
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Nov 9, 2016 15:03
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Zochness posted:I applied to Airservices Australia last August and actually interviewed with them in May, but shortly after they reviewed their needs and put the bid on hold, so still in limbo there. Not sure they're going to put more bids out anytime soon. Takes just as long to hear anything as the FAA. I haven't ever seen international bids out of New Zealand, the UK process looks pretty intense and I'm not sure exactly how NavCanada works, I thought I'd read they required residency or something. When I was at the academy they talked about how Australia basically poached academy grads in the not too distant past. I would have been all over that. Looks like I don't really have much in the way of options outside of the middle east and I'm not doing that. Figured now was as good of a time as any to look into something that has interested me since I started. What's the FLM situation like at other centers? We've been so short for a couple of years now that we basically "share" supervisors between areas across the aisle. Right now we have a total of 6 sups between us and the area across from us. There are CIC's in constantly because you obviously can't can't cover with that, especially if anyone has leave. Then there's the thing where my supervisor constantly has a CIC in so he can "do paperwork" and disappear for at least half the day. I've actually refused to go to the CIC class because it's past the point of ridiculousness.
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Nov 17, 2016 15:54
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We're short on supes at DFW TRACON too. Seems like a nice problem to have except that they use controllers to staff the supervisor position (CIC) everyday and they're looking at doing it more next year to save on supe overtime. In personal news, I'm about halfway done with training here. Been here about a year. Hopefully will be done before spring.
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Nov 17, 2016 16:53
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My test is tomorrow, and I've been following feedback on the test (via stuckmic). All I've seen is people complaining about how hard the test is, and saying that they're pretty sure they failed and it was terrible. The general response is "Well, yeah, it's supposed to be hard. It's a stressful job, and the AT-SAT was a joke." I talked to a cousin who's a controller and was part of a testing group for the new bio-q and A-TSA. Her opinion was that it feels "built to fail." "It's not about getting the answers right, so much as not crumbling when you do get some wrong." It would appear that my best bet is to try to stay focused and not get all worked up when I mess something up. It's the waiting that's going to get my all angsty.
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Nov 18, 2016 03:33
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Take a shot of tequila or vodka before you test to calm your nerves.
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Nov 18, 2016 17:02
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Just got back, and while it was difficult, it wasn't anything along the the lines people had built it up to be. There were parts I feel I did well on, and parts where I didn't do so well. What is going to make me angsty is the (up to) 90 day wait. A shot sounds like a good idea. Maybe once I get home from work doing laundry.
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Nov 18, 2016 20:55
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https://twitter.com/AP_Politics/status/799703514247286784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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Nov 19, 2016 02:29
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Last time our union Pres Paul Rinaldi came by, he made a very good case for a not-for-profit private corporation. Who knows. Hopefully our contract stays in force for the full 6 years.
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Nov 19, 2016 02:47
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I wish you all the best of luck during the Trump administration, it's very hard to predict what might happen throughout the federal workforce, not just with ATC. As for me though, I resigned a few weeks ago to start a new career. Keep those skies safe for us 
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Nov 20, 2016 04:18
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JohnClark posted:I wish you all the best of luck during the Trump administration, it's very hard to predict what might happen throughout the federal workforce, not just with ATC. As for me though, I resigned a few weeks ago to start a new career. Keep those skies safe for us I got to give you mad props for this. Takes a huge set of balls to walk away from something like this.
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Nov 20, 2016 18:44
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The Ferret King posted:Last time our union Pres Paul Rinaldi came by, he made a very good case for a not-for-profit private corporation. I believe this is the model that Canada uses -- Nav Canada is a private not-for-profit corporation. I'm not sure if it's particularly better or worse for the employees, but I've had zero complaints about the services they provide from the pilot's point of view.
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Nov 20, 2016 23:13
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PT6A posted:I believe this is the model that Canada uses -- Nav Canada is a private not-for-profit corporation. I'm not sure if it's particularly better or worse for the employees, but I've had zero complaints about the services they provide from the pilot's point of view. From what I know of Nav Canada, I'd take their deal in a heartbeat. A LOT of their structure (particularly in where their funding comes from, and therefore their ability to actually hire and plan for the future,) is better than the ramshackle cluster-gently caress that is the FAA and Congress. My concern is that the US Congress is probably completely incapable of transitioning a federal workforce to a private structure like Canada did without massive pork and outright graft. I'm expecting that whatever comes of this round of privatization talks, if anything, to essentially be written by Lockheed-Martin or Raytheon's legal department with some senators' signatures at the top to make it legal. Just look at what Congress and LockMart did to flight service, as an example.
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Nov 20, 2016 23:22
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Tommy 2.0 posted:I got to give you mad props for this. Takes a huge set of balls to walk away from something like this.
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Nov 21, 2016 05:50
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I was counseled on my usage of sick leave yesterday  e: for a more complete picture 
fknlo fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Nov 27, 2016 |
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Nov 27, 2016 15:17
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It's a shame we can't counsel them on their inability to put warm bodies in headsets.
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Nov 27, 2016 15:44
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Explain for the non-ATC: You were counseled for using sick leave wrongly? Or for not using it?
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Nov 28, 2016 00:53
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For using it "suspiciously." Sick leave abuse is pretty rampant in our line of work. However, if you have several hundred hours of it saved up then you are far from the worst offender. I work with plenty of folks that keep a 0 or near 0 balance. We have a lot of protections for our sick leave usage though, which I had never enjoyed from previous careers. For example, my supervisors do not ask me why I am calling out sick, and a doctor's note is only (sometimes) requested after 3 or more consecutive days of sick leave.
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Nov 28, 2016 00:55
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The Ferret King posted:For using it "suspiciously." It's this. I've used 8 days of sick leave this year which is below average for my area and facility. I have way more sick leave in the bank than average even though I've only been in the agency for a little over 5 years. I don't use a lot of sick leave. The issue comes down to me calling in on or the day after a shift that I've vocally not been a fan of in the past/present. To my credit, they've all been for times I haven't felt good or for fatigue mitigation. It's a situation where I end up getting a total of 4-6 hours of sleep over a 45ish hour period while working 3 shifts. I have enough issues getting an "appropriate" amount of sleep on the back end of the week(so does everyone else) without this shift combo really loving it up. The agency doesn't see this as a problem. I'm far from being some completely innocent guy getting picked on, but popular opinion seems to think it's complete bullshit that they're coming after me with some of the other poo poo that goes on, especially in light of my leave usage/balance. My supervisor being a complete piece of poo poo exacerbates the situation. He's also essentially spreading gossip and making poo poo "that another supervisor heard me saying" up, so gently caress him. I'm going to talk to my facility rep tomorrow to see what my options are.
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Nov 28, 2016 01:40
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I've never seen sick leave abuse inquiries actually go anywhere. Even when the abuse has been really egregious.
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Nov 28, 2016 02:15
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The Ferret King posted:I've never seen sick leave abuse inquiries actually go anywhere. Even when the abuse has been really egregious. I'm not all that worried about getting in trouble. It's more that this is a legit fatigue issue for me and I've told them this and they're basically telling me to pound sand. So do I need to start calling in on those mids? Coming in and filling out an ATSAP saying that I was too fatigued but feel pressured to come in anyway?
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Nov 28, 2016 14:16
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When you call in, make sure to mention that it's because you're fatigued. Use that word.
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Nov 28, 2016 14:26
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In this thread we panic over how the new SecTrans is going to bring back the white book. This is a real thing I heard.
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Dec 1, 2016 22:41
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What's the white book?
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Dec 2, 2016 00:11
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Spacewolf posted:What's the white book? The Ferret King posted:NATCA and the FAA butt heads regularly on all sorts of issues. Some seem more noble and worthy causes than others. The last big dispute occurred in 2006, with expiration of the "Green Book" contract that had been in place for years prior. Contracts are effective for so many years before the FAA and NATCA must go back to the negotiation table and reassess whether the contract still serves the needs of both entities. Our most recent contract, the Slate Book, was ratified earlier this year and is in place for 6 years. So, we should feel reasonably assured that our terms won't be easily impacted by the incoming orange president. Here are the 2016 pay bands without the locality (similar to a cost-of-living) adjustment: 
The Ferret King fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Dec 2, 2016 |
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Dec 2, 2016 00:13
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Eventually they're going to run out of colors to refer to the contract by.
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Dec 2, 2016 03:40
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Spacewolf posted:Eventually they're going to run out of colors to refer to the contract by. Don't worry, your local hardware store has loads of color names for them to reference! In 10 years, it'll be the "Seabreeze Mist" book.
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Dec 2, 2016 06:07
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Yet a large majority of controllers around here are to-the-grave GOP supporters. The amount of cognitive dissonance required to vote against your best interests, where there is LESS than a decade of an example of it, is staggeringly mind numbing.
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Dec 4, 2016 05:49
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It was the same when I was an embedded contractor with the DOD. A bunch of people complaining about democrats and Obama but happily soaking up the guaranteed pay increases and good benefits.
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Dec 5, 2016 00:50
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Tommy 2.0 posted:Yet a large majority of controllers around here are to-the-grave GOP supporters. The amount of cognitive dissonance required to vote against your best interests, where there is LESS than a decade of an example of it, is staggeringly mind numbing. We're overtaxed for our extremely hard work and strong work ethic and furthermore  . Controllers making $150k+ a year that might plug in for an hour or two a day bitching about welfare queens sucking up their tax dollars involves zero irony. It really does seem to be mostly about money. And guns. A whole lot of straight up gun nuts where I'm at anyway.
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Dec 5, 2016 02:29
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Same here. But I think that's pretty much expected in Texas. I don't even hate guns, I just don't want to talk about them ALL THE TIME.
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Dec 5, 2016 02:34
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Apparently a controller at KBOI fell asleep in the tower recently. I'm sure the FAA's response won't go overboard and will correctly respond to the issue of fatigue.
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Dec 11, 2016 01:32
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We need a solution for the mid, because sitting in a cold dark room staring at an empty scope for an hour or more is a sure fire loving recipe for nodding off, intentional or not. Our facility had a brief flirtation with allowing non-communicative personal electronics (radios, MP3 players, etc on low volume,) but clamped back down on that. So you have the option of reading a book, or literally sitting still and fighting sleep. I've taken to quick looking myself and bothering other areas on the mid, just to stay awake.
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Dec 11, 2016 02:35
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MrYenko posted:We need a solution for the mid, because sitting in a cold dark room staring at an empty scope for an hour or more is a sure fire loving recipe for nodding off, intentional or not. Our facility had a brief flirtation with allowing non-communicative personal electronics (radios, MP3 players, etc on low volume,) but clamped back down on that. So you have the option of reading a book, or literally sitting still and fighting sleep. The answer is to randomly gently caress up your weekly schedule and then when workers use sick leave to mitigate fatigue you counsel them on their leave usage  I find it funny that pretty much every center seems to do the mid differently. I know some have 2 per area for the whole night and they split with one generally out of the area sleeping. We run with 3(4 when there's weather and we complain enough) and then each crew kind of goes from there. My crew this year decided to go without rotating which 1/3rd of the shift you work and I've liked it but it's contingent on one guy biting the bullet and working the outright shittiest one. Our guy that does that doesn't sleep at all on the mid so it works fine for him. I doubt we'll be doing it again next year though. My favorite setup was having whoever worked first just sleep on a camping mat on the floor for the remainder of the night. First and last were in good shape every week and if you were second but could get a little sleep before you worked you'd be in good shape too. Then someone in Memphis was "rearranging some chairs" while a couple of planes separated themselves with TCAS and they cracked down on sleeping in the area.
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Dec 11, 2016 04:07
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ZJX and mids: 2 each area. Senior controller picks which half of the shift they want to work. Done. No electronics allowed. Cornhole is a go.
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Dec 11, 2016 05:42
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Tommy 2.0 posted:ZJX and mids: 2 each area. Senior controller picks which half of the shift they want to work. Done. No electronics allowed. Cornhole is a go. That's how we do it at ZMA as well, except we're a little more flexible on who works first. Working second half suuuuuuuuuuuucks. Also, we don't have cornhole boards. Or any joy in our lives.
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Dec 11, 2016 14:17
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There are always random discussions here about going to 2 on the mid but I don't know if it would actually happen. We're somewhat busy with 2 FedEx and 1 UPS hubs basically the next sector over. We get a pretty healthy amount of west to east coast traffic too. Thunderstorms on our weekday mids loving suck and are just asking for trouble, especially if they don't bring in a 4th.
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Dec 11, 2016 15:43
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We roll with 3. First guy takes over some time after 10 until 1 am, then 1-3am, 3-5am. We just page somebody if we need them (we never do)
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Dec 12, 2016 02:39
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