MrYenko posted:

Additional content: I certified on my last three D sides. Mandatory six month seasoning period begins now.

Bob A Feet posted:

What kind of weather overlay, if any, do you have on your radar displays? I've flown in planes that are weather radar inop and always just asked center/approach if that cloud ahead of me is too bad to fly into and I can usually get a good answer.

MrYenko posted:

Not being in an active training status is basically the best thing, though.

The Slaughter posted:

Yeah at towered places I'll just call the tower if I need an opposite direction.

The Ferret King posted:

Ah it's been alright. But this was always going to be a stepping stone to somewhere bigger. Assuming I didn't top out my skill level here. But I think I've got more to give.

The Ferret King posted:

I actually didn't sense a whole lot of urgency in the pilots voice on the recording.

quote:

Among other provisions, the SAFE TOWERS Act would:

· Restore preferred status for CTI graduates with school recommendations and qualified veterans back into the hiring process.

· Eliminate the use of a Biographical Assessment that unduly disqualifies applicants.

· Allow candidates who will have aged out from the interim hiring process, or were deemed unqualified by the Bio Q, the chance to reapply.

· Establish an ATC Advisory Committee, composed of relevant educational institutions and organizations, to provide advice and recommendations to the Administrator of the FAA in regards to needs, objectives, plans, and content of air traffic control training programs.

o Requires an annual report from the Advisory Committee to Congress citing recommendations. The FAA must respond within 60 days explaining why they did or did not comply.

o Requires the FAA to notify Advisory Committee and CTI schools prior to any future changes in the hiring process and allow the schools an opportunity to comment.

o Requires the FAA take into consideration locally developed training initiatives at CTI schools when establishing best practices nationwide.

MrYenko posted:

They still crank out more suckers students than there are ATC jobs, annually, which is a rather large structural problem with the whole program.

The Ferret King posted:

I love the dramatic and pandering name of that bill.

I was an off the street hire and I don't think I'm unsafe.

MrYenko posted:

Spoke to my old Raytheon boss upstairs the other day, and found out that the last few enroute initial classes have had a 45% pass rate. On average, in a class of 18, 8 or 9 move on to their respective facilities. That should be printed in bold italic 90pt font at the top of your college major paperwork if you're signing up at a CTI school.

quote:

ABC7 sources are calling this an intentional act. The source said the man, who has not been identified, had intimate knowledge of the building and radar system. He cut every radar feed to FAA air controllers before setting gas-soaked rags on fire near sensitive equipment, sources said, and also damaged the communications system.

Tommy 2.0 posted:

It was a contractor. Found the dude in the basement with a bunch of burns from the fire. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes either way, terrorism or pissed off dude. And honestly? After seeing how en route treats their developmentals, I am AMAZED this hasn't happened before. This is why I never treat anyone like poo poo when they are in training, even more so people about to wash. I want to be the nice guy they spare if they go nuts and bring in a automatic rifle. Initial reports just say crazed/pissed guy. But...why? Contractor is making cash. Why so mad?

Tommy 2.0 posted:

poo poo is still absolutely dumb gently caress retarded in the area at my center. The other areas are basically 6 figure welfare for how much we carry the facilities rating.

KodiakRS posted:

Just posted onto the work FB page:


I'm not an ATC guy but is there any way they can borrow some space at ZKC or ZMP and run part of the center from there?

quote:

Or are the next few weeks just going to be a royal pain in everyone's rear end?

Sinbad's Sex Tape posted:

I feel like you guys have way more information than I do at this point. They called me this morning to tell me not to come in and not to bother calling the facility since no one would be there. Then I heard nothing until they called me again and told me not to come in on Saturday.

Tommy 2.0 posted:

Our TMU does jack and poo poo and we take every other center's poo poo because of it.

Sinbad's Sex Tape posted:

Latest union email says we're all on admin leave until October 6th. They have us volunteering at other facilities ripping strips and processing flight plans.

quote:

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS KEEP SKIES ABOVE CHICAGO SAFE, EFFICIENT FOLLOWING FRIDAY FIRE



WASHINGTON – Following a fire last Friday that closed the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZAU) in Aurora, Ill., hundreds of air traffic controllers at more than a dozen key facilities are continuing to safely move as much air traffic flow into, out of and around the Chicago area as possible.



This work will continue into the coming week as the Federal Aviation Administration develops a plan to repair critical communications infrastructure that was destroyed in the fire.



“This is one of the most challenging situations that air traffic controllers and other FAA employees have faced since 9/11,” NATCA President Paul Rinaldi said. “The damage to this critical facility is unlike anything we have seen before. Since the first moment when radar scopes went dark at Chicago Center Friday morning, controllers have ensured the highest level of safety at all times. We know this has been a tremendous disruption to the travel plans of many people. We are working diligently to re-establish as close to normal operations as possible to minimize the inconvenience to travelers while keeping safety above everything else.”



There are four en route centers that border the ZAU airspace; Cleveland Center (ZOB), Indianapolis Center (ZID), Kansas City Center (ZKC), and Minneapolis Center (ZMP). Each of these facilities has helped assume the ZAU airspace responsibilities, and worked very well with Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities in Chicago, Milwaukee, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and elsewhere (see full list in final paragraph), as well as with many control towers, including both O’Hare and Midway Airports in Chicago.



“We have seen a plan of action established by the adjacent centers and other key facilities that is evolving and improving by the hour, and providing safe service that is increasing in efficiency,” NATCA Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert said. “Air traffic controllers are trained to expect the unexpected and make a new plan work safely. The level of resourcefulness and ingenuity that has been demonstrated over the past three days is truly astounding. Controllers and other FAA safety professionals will continue to implement outside-the-box thinking to get the system functioning well while Chicago Center repairs are made.”



As of Sunday afternoon, arrival traffic into O'Hare and Midway is being fed to Chicago TRACON (C90) directly from ZMP and ZKC. Arrivals into Chicago airports from ZOB and ZID are being descended down first into South Bend TRACON, then into C90. Departure traffic from O'Hare and Midway continue to be worked directly from C90 to ZKC, ZID, and ZOB, while traffic to the north continues to depart the tower en route through Milwaukee TRACON.



Updates below:


ORD: The arrival rate has been increased to 72 per hour. Departure restrictions are still in place in all directions. Manual handoffs with other control facilities are still in place in the absence of a fully functioning automated flight plan system. We are seeing departure delays of up to 15 minutes. That could increase to 30 by later today.


C90: An already short-staffed facility is utilizing ZAU controllers to help with increased coordination to different centers. That is ensuring that the operation is as efficient as possible. “We continue to work hard, and I am so proud of the controllers’ professionalism and work ethic,” NATCA Facility Representative James Hall said. “We are C90 - we will always figure out a way to move the airplanes. I anticipate increasing our efficiencies with continued out-of-the-box thinking. That is, of course, with continued ZAU controller support, and staffing to hold.”



ZAU: This is the first time since 1963 that ZAU air traffic controllers have not worked the airspace. “The controllers at Chicago Center are currently providing as much assistance to other facilities as possible,” NATCA Facility Representative Toby Hauck said. "I have attempted to put into words what we have been through and it is impossible to describe. I thank all those facilities and controllers who have stepped up.”


ZID: “So far, the arrival process seems to be going well,” NATCA Facility Representative Jim Larson said. “We have had to make manual handoffs to the approach controls on all of the arrivals, but our controllers have done a good job of dealing with the increased traffic and complexity.” ZID's radar and radio coverage has been exceptional, and is allowing them to radar identify the aircraft while they are still within Chicago TRACON airspace, but until the problem with the automated flight plan data is solved, it remains a tedious operation. Extra staffing has been called in to assist with the new procedures and airspace in both areas. This will most likely continue for the duration of the ZAU outage.

ZKC: ZKC has set up a new sector that is working a chunk of Chicago Center's (ZAU) airspace to allow for O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) arrivals and departures to be worked. They have a plan in place in which they own 16,000 feet and above from Joliet (JOT), which is just in Chicago TRACON's (C90) airspace, west to Des Moines (DSM) and south to Centralia, Ill. (ENL). They have radar and frequency coverage, so ZKC is working directly with C90 to accomplish handoffs and transfer of flight plans.
Additional personnel is helping the areas adjacent to ZAU¹s boundary with the extra position being opened and transferring of flight plan information. “We also have a dedicated phone brought in that is dialed into C90, acting as a direct line for the ease of passing flight plans to and from C90,” NATCA Facility Representative Aaron Merrick said. “Once we got our plan implemented Friday, things began to move smoother than they were after the initial phase of the situation.”

ZMP: They are doing a very similar operation as ZKC. They have created a sector that works what is called the "Bullz" arrival and two departure routes - one west and one north - as well as the tower operations en route from Milwaukee and Green Bay. “We have extra staffing in the facility to help with the situation,” NATCA Facility Representative Mike Thompson said. “There are many great people doing many great things with very little to work with.”


ZOB: As of noon on Sunday, ZOB was receiving about 85 percent of ORD departure flight plan information. However, everything is still manual coordination whether they have the flight plan info or not.

ZOB's airspace plan is also very similar to ZKC. The facility has basically extended their western boundary 60 miles further to the West, almost to C90’s eastern boundary. With the extra airspace they’ve attained from ZAU, they were able to create two new departure sectors. These sectors handle all east, northeast and southeastern departures.

“The affected areas of the facility handling the additional sectors are all requiring extra staffing to handle the extra workload and complexity,” NATCA Facility Representative Drew MacQueen said. “We expect this to continue as work to increase traffic levels out of ZAU continues to mount.”


TRACONS IN ZAU AIRSPACE: Controllers working radar positions at the TRACONS in Cedar Rapids, Champaign, Des Moines, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Milwaukee, Moline, Muskegon, Peoria, Rockford, South Bend, Springfield, Waterloo, and also Grissom Air Reserve Base in Kokomo, Ind., have played a crucial role in the effort to get traffic moving as a temporary solution while ZAU is down. In the case of traffic flowing into and out of Chicago airports, they are providing a conduit between the adjacent centers and Chicago TRACON. “These employees are working a staggering amount of traffic, using new procedures and methods being altered almost constantly, and ensuring safety in very difficult and pressure-filled situations,” Gilbert said. “It’s a great team effort in progress.”

Tommy 2.0 posted:

I saw the time frame this happened, and if it had happened at around 9-10am, I feel certain there would have been some serious mishaps. And it is pretty scary being at work and people talking about how easy this scenario is to pull off. Centers are sitting ducks. It is nuts and scary.

two_beer_bishes posted:

So two flights takes off out of ORD going east bound and are told to contact ZOB after departure but none of the flights going eastbound can get in contact for about half an hour. I'm told they're being separated 30 miles in trail, but if they aren't in contact with anyone, how are they providing separation?

unnoticed posted:

I asked this in the pilot thread but didn't get a response...

Are controllers able to do flight following for VFR traffic in the Chicago area at the moment? I've heard they are really overworked due to the fire. I'm planning a skyline lakefront flight for this weekend and I prefer to get following over there since there tends to be a lot of traffic.

Kilonum posted:

Reading through this thread makes m shudder to think of the kind of poo poo show that would have happened if the rear end in a top hat had pulled this stunt on the day before Thanksgiving.

quote:

No relationship was found in this study between overall HS GPA, educational degree achieved, or being a CTI graduate and training status.

MrYenko posted:

Are you going to have to do the enroute academy course?

quote:

I've got my radar ticket already so I'm sure that will help, but the rules will take some getting used to.

MrYenko posted:

Sounds familiar: we got the 4 hours of leave for transitioning to ERAM, but we can't have spot leave, because we're understaffed.

MrYenko posted:

We were just informed at ZMA that instead of six (6) trainees for the fiscal year, we'll be getting fifty (50).

Our training department is gonna be hoppin'.

The Ferret King posted:

I'm finally building up some experience training others and I've really not been enjoying it. I've yet to have a developmental that gives a crap and it's pretty irritating. I'm also really friendly, patient, and bookish so they like to give me the trainees that are struggling so they're not getting constantly demoralized by the more aggressive controllers.

I'm not certain it's been a good tactic for anyone involved, as my recommendation rate is pretty low so far. I'm even looking at going through a training review board (official process to extend or terminate training) with one of my developmentals within a month. I've never done that before.

MrYenko posted:

My area just got another transfer, this time with fourteen years as a CPC.

...Which makes him #3 on the seniority list.

I'm going to be Wednesday/Thursday until the heat death of the universe.

Tommy 2.0 posted:

Holy poo poo my thoughts exactly.

Abu Dave posted:

How do you go about looking into Flight Service Stations careers? I do dispatch for trains already, but I prefer aviation and I think it sounds ideal.

The Ferret King posted:

Boy it's good money if you can keep the job a while though. I have two coworkers that started in flight service and they made 6 figures in their early 20s.

Very likely they would have been laid off by now, but while it lasts it's a good gig if you can be responsible with your cash.

Krime posted:

Any of you CPCs going to the safety conference coming up in Vegas?

The Ferret King posted:

MrYenko posted:

We also have a third radar position, called a tracker. During extremely heavy traffic, the R side will stand up, behind the tracker, who takes the radar controller's seat, and plugs in at the radar console. The Voice Control System splits the tracker off onto the R-side's landlines, and the R-side simply scans, and talks to airplanes. All R-side data entry is performed by the tracker, who is doing a scan of his own, double checking the radar controller.