There is no “volunteer” list. Go read the “contract” at http://www.faa.gov. Go and read the last ratified Agreement at http://www.natca.net. The “list” that is being referred to is a list of people that have “indicated a desire to work overtime.” Doesn’t say how much or how little. Doesn’t say that you will work every overtime opportunity that comes down the road. The Agreement even says that if I can’t find someone to replace me and still can’t work the specific shift, the Agency can relieve me of the assigned overtime. This is all part of the shiny, happy, fantasyland the the wanna-be Administrator lives in. The same fantasyland that is filling up with ignorant masses that accept the spin of the FAA as truth. By listening to Bobert you run the risk of knowing even less than he does about air traffic control.

If you question Bobert, you might actually discover the truth. It’s the controller’s decision as to whether or not they can accept an overtime and fatigue is only one factor that enters into that decision. If you take an overtime on Sunday and make a mistake on Friday is the overtime to blame? Could be. If you take an overtime on Saturday after working the previous 5 days and make a mistake that shift? Could also be, but remember you can’t make a mistake when you’re not there.

The FAA can’t even make a statistic out of this. Or maybe they just refuse to. Next time you want to get an answer from Bobert, get the real one. Is it safe? And can you explain safety as a function of voluntary/involuntary overtime in relation to time spent on position by disgruntled employees when compared to the increase in retirements and inexperienced trainees being placed in the most complex facilities we have?

Allow controllers to refuse to work overtime. If they don’t want to work it, they don’t have to, period.

Make the only exception for public safety- like for a lifeguard flight or critical (ie, not training) missions of national defense.

The FAA would NEVER allow this, because they know perfectly well that NATCA would immediately encourage its controllers to turn down overtime (which, if the union tried to encourage right now, could be termed a “job action”- with the same results as the PATCO strike in 1981) and the flow of traffic at several major hubs (think ATL, ORD, the NY area, etc) would slow to a crawl thanks to a lack of controllers.

Besides which… well, you know what? I’m going to write a blog entry on this subject. Check out the Follies. ;)

Paul

We have been screaming since the late 90’s people need to be hired because of retirements. What did they do? Patted themselves on the back and got lots of bonuses for, well, i’m not sure what for. They stuck their inept heads in the sand and did nothing. If i failed to do my job like they did, not only would i not get a bonus, i would be fired.

It is very clear to me and every controller in the country these hirings are 4 to 5 years late at a minimum. I have no idea why Blakey and her cronies sat on their hands when it was obvious this was coming. They either did not care or are inept, or both.

This is beyond an irritation for controllers. It will start impacting safety and affecting the economy with slowed traffic.

As a controller for 26 years at New York Center I am not on the “No OT” list and I like getting overtime money. After working an 8 hour day and getting paid for 8 I relish working an 8 hour day and getting paid for 12. I prefer working 3 overtimes every two months. With our severe shortage of controllers I worked a ton of overtime last year, too much, way too much. At one point I worked 14 straight weeks of overtime. The amount of overtime was far outside my parameters of a comfort zone and the increase of fatigue was and still is dangerous. Around the tenth week of the aforementioned stretch I realized that my summer was slipping away and I did not get to enjoy any of it. What are the alternatives?

If we were all on the “No OT” list, the overtime would be assigned by reverse seniority and the kids would be assigned 52 straight weeks of overtime. I do not want to do that to my co-workers.

If management opted not to order anyone to work overtime, I would have to work combined positions and/or work two and a half hours on position. Neither option is appealing and both options create more danger and fatigue then a sixth work day.

Rather than work at 150% of my capacity for 5 days, I would prefer to work at 125% of my capacity for 6 days even though it will mean that I will miss summer again in 2008.

-Mark Blanchard

I think I would have dug a little deeper before I wrote an article like this. Maybe Bobby is right for once. Myself, I’d like to see the percentage of volunteers at the facilities that have declared “emergencies.” And if his numbers are correct, does that make it right? Well, you know what they say about Federal Aviation Regulations…They are written in blood.

I am waiting for you to respond with a followup post on this subject.

Don Craig

I think you should be getting the idea you don’t know shit from shinola on this subject. Doug Church should be on your must call list before you spout off any more FAA propoganda.

Terry Miller - Line Controller (CPC) who cannot get the days off this summer I wanted, mostly for Oshkosh, because of staffing.
(I am also an incurable airport bum)

We work OT because it is scheduled - we do not have a choice! Our staffing is supposed to be 24 to 26 controllers. Do the math - OT is necessary just to build a schedule without factoring in vacation time, sick leave, etc. The FAA will say anything to cover up the fact that they did not adequately plan for the controller retirements that are happening now. I would be happy to answer any other questions you might have. Thanks.

We have a controller who is currently facing a time off without pay suspension because his schedule is so jacked up by management that he can’t even keep up with or remember all the overtime shifts he has been assigned. His CRIME? He forgot to come in and work
his forced overtime shift! Imagine that! MANAGEMENT short staffs the facility and causes the staffing problem that forces this controller to work tons of overtime. THEN when the controller makes one small slip up and FORGETS to come in for one of his overtime
shifts (he THOUGHT he had the day off, after all it WAS his day off) management moves towards an immediate suspension of the employee.

I want Bobby’s Job. I could then lie straight up in front of congress, perger myself in the process AND MAKE A HELL OF LOT MORE MONEY THAN WHAT I MAKE as a controller. I bet good old Bobby gets weekends off and his kids see him at home. I can’t just LIE to pilots and get away with it. If I lied about runways
being clear, mountains not being in your way etc. I would be killing people. BUT GOOD OLD BOBBY SURE CAN.

Heck he is making a well paying CAREER OUT OF IT!

AND YOU BOUGHT IT ALL HOOK LINE AND SINKER! As far as I am concerned you’re just a head nodder, like a little bobble doll in the car. Bobby speaks; you nod, what a shame really. You know now that I think about rob your dead on in your recent blog: I “CAN’T HAVE
IT BOTH WAYS” i.e. I can’t get both the truth and lies out of good old Bobby, instead IT’S JUST ONE WAY: lies. Because really I am NOT getting any real TRUTH from Bobby.

John Jirschefske
Long Beach Tower

PS: You might be MISSING the point. There are always two LISTS of controllers at each facility, those that desire overtime and those that do not. Are there some on a desire or “call me” list? Sure, there are. But
THE POINT IS the FAA has mismanaged their employee resources to the point of them being so desperate for bodies that that are ROUTINELY forcing ALL controllers into mandatory overtime situations. Their
new rebaselined staffing plan is just work all the remaining controllers to death or until they collapse.

The real problem is this late in the staffing crisis that is exactly what we are headed towards; a collapse. I just hope I am not on frequency in the cockpit when THAT happens.

First, only the FAA can authorize overtime. Controllers MAY NOT simply show up early, stay late, or come in on a day off for the purpose of collecting overtime.

Second, in cases where overtime is authorized by the FAA, it is for reasons such as staffing (too few controllers on the shift), training, etc. Again, the FAA determines when and how much overtime will be used.

Third, once per year (typically during the yearly crew bidding timeframe), the FAA asks if you would like to be called for overtime, or would NOT like to be called. Some prefer not to work overtime. Some will say yes. The choice only helps management limit their time spent calling for overtime - example: if they have a list of 12 eligible for overtime and 3 said ‘no’, then they would call the other 9 first. Either way, the FAA can assign overtime to anyone at anytime regardless of this designation - and if a supervisor can not get ahold of the first 9, you bet your bottom end the other 3 will get a call.

Now, the FAA wants to label that ‘volunteered for’, when in fact it is nothing more than a process invented by the FAA to help their supervisors make better use of their time when calling in or assigning overtime.

The FAA is playing a public-relations semantics game with the word “volunteer”. You could say when I answered the phone, I volunteered.

The FAA does maintain a “volunteer” and a “non-volunteer” overtime list at every facility nationwide. This list is to insure that the agency assigns overtime equitably. It is every much to insure that those who are higher in seniority who do not want overtime are not called as it is meant to insure those who want overtime are called equitably. This was something that was negotiated in every collective bargaining agreement and was carried over in their imposed work rules.

For the past 19 years that I have been a controller, I was on the volunteer list. The system was adequately staffed, and I received maybe one overtime call per year. Some years I never got called. Once the staffing became what it is today, I (along with an overwhelming majority of my collegues) removed my name from their volunteer list. The people who are on the “do call” list are the young folks who are making one-third of what I am making, and need the money to get by. I watch one of our kids eat Raman noodles every day at work. Another was excited that she was scheduled to work nights next week because she gets 10% differential pay after 6pm.

I have personally told these stories to my members of Congress. I certainly am not Rafael Palmerio or Roger Clemens, so I tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. What would I have to gain by lying? Having said that, I will make sure the controllers who don’t regularly read your blog have a shot at this as well. I’m sure you’ll get some viewer mail.

By the way, perhaps you should ask the FAA why they put a tower-experienced military controller, and veteran of two tours in Iraq on the street after setting her up for failure by having her start her career in the busiest approach control in the world - New York TRACON?

Maybe you could find out why 23 controllers is suddenly acceptable at JFK when 37 was the standard for 20 years and how that doesn’t equate to delays. Or why a controller at Syracuse worked 13 and a half hours because they could not find someone to work overtime and they refused to call in their supervisors - or the controller who pulled a double shift at Washington Center under the same circumstances.

Feel free to drop me a line or drop my my blog.

Tony “YC” Yushinsky
President
NATCA ALB Local

This is a good example of why it is tough to get the message out about Imposed Work Rules, Change of Culture, ridiculous starting pay and planning ahead for the loss of retiring controllers. Someone who has been there on both sides of the radio frequency shouldn’t fall for the big glob of FAA cheese bait. Overtime means understaffed. The more understaffing there is, the more overtime there is. Even Cinnabuns taste crappy after the third one!