Do the math on that one. I’m too tired from getting my butt kicked “working less traffic” to figure out those fractions.

At my ARTCC, we’re losing most of our controllers when or soon after they are eligible. This means YEARS before they would normally be forced to retire at age 56. We’re losing them because of the imposed work rules, clear and simple — and this is at one of the more relaxed and easy-going Centers in the country (often referred to as the Country Club of Centers). It must be really difficult (of course, I know it IS) at some of the busier and more short-staffed facilities where, ironically, you want your people more rested and ready to work the big pushes.

As far as trainees go, out of the 55ish developmentals hired since 2006, we’ve lost 22. Many of those just up and quit, tired of working a second job, preferring better pay and working conditions elsewhere. (Do you really want your controllers working second jobs and getting no sleep???) And this is considered acceptable??

A scary thing about this system is that the general public won’t see the consequences until sometime down the road — when all the experience has vacated the building, when the lack of redundancy in the safety systems comes home to roost, when the proverbial shiites hit the fans. You get what you pay for people, and the FAA wants to pay less and less for more and more. Good Luck with that.

Our voice of reason. One more point…since these rules were imposed on us, (the FAA still refers to it as a contract) the very folks they’d planned on replacing us are (CTI’S) are leaving in droves for better employment and better working conditions. I agree with my friend Don, thanks for giving us the opportunity to respond and thanks for taking the time to read them.

Chuck Adams
GFK NATCA

What we all meant to say was, “Thanks for asking the question.” :)

Seriously, all the controllers appreciate your interest and deciding to ask about our issue with your one chance at asking a question.

And you are right of course. The vast majority of controllers are retiring well before it is mandatory. I myself retired the first week I was eligible. I could have worked 8 more years.

But I couldn’t. What is often overlooked these days, is that the FAA was short-staffed before the retirement wave started. It’s been understaffed for a decade or more. It made working conditions bad before. Now they’re just intolerable.

Thanks again.

Don Brown
http://gettheflick.blogspot.com/

Management is preparing for another 5% presidential pay increase this January while those of us who do the demanding job which most of them ran from receive nearly nothing.

Chuck Adams
GFK NATCA

Let’s take a little look at what he said.

From the Administrator’s Fact book, July 2001 edition:

Total number of bargaining unit employees that are controllers (page 33 of the booklet, page 36 of the pdf file): 14,973
Total number of operations by ARTCCs for 2000: 46,056,000
Total number of operations by FAA towers: 52,116,000

From the Administrator’s Fact Book, July 2008 edition:

Total number of bargaining unit controllers: 15,010
Total number of ARTCC operations: 46,748,000
Total number of Tower ops: 44,067,000

So on the surface of it, it looks like he’s right. Same number of controllers working fewer planes.

BUT…. guess what? He’s not right. Why?

Well, a number of reasons. First of all, the number of controllers for FY 2008 aren’t actually on board; that’s a projection and it’s the first day of the fiscal year. To get to the 14,874 they claim for FY 2007, the FAA had to hire a few hundred newbies at the last possible moment- right at the end of September- and then they parked them in Oklahoma City for a few weeks with nothing to do, because there weren’t really any slots for them at the training academy.

So they faked those numbers. (Oh, and guess what? The FAA’s leaders get raises based on whether or not they met their staffing goals, which included numbers hired… but I’m SURE that didn’t have anything to do with the scam they pulled.)

Secondly, and the biggie… in 2006, the FAA hired roughly 1550 trainee controllers. In 2007, they hired around 1800. In 2008, they’ll again hire around 1800.

Only a very small percentage- maybe 10%- of those hired in 2006 are currently “CPC” (certified professional controllers- full journeymen controllers).

And nearly none of the 2007 or 2008 hires are full performance level controllers yet.

In fact, the FAA’s own documentation shows what I’m talking about. Page 28 of the agency’s updated Controller Workforce Staffing plan shows that in 2000, the percentage of the workforce that were trainees was roughly 16%.

In 2008, that percentage is nearly doubled, to 29 or 30%.

So let’s go back and look at those numbers again. In 2000, 14,973 total controllers, minus 16% trainees, equals 12,577 CPC controllers.

In 2007, 14,874 controllers minus 29% trainees equals 10,560 controllers.

In 2000, 98,172,000 operations in centers and towers divided by 12,577 controllers is roughly 7,800 operations per controller.

In 2007, 90,815,000 operations in centers and towers divided by 10,560 controllers equals… 8,600 operations per controller.

That means the average controller, right now, is working 10% more airplanes per year than they did in 2000.

It also means the Sturgell is full of crap. But then, we knew that.

Oh yeah… A controller making journeyman status in, say, Chicago Center in 2000 would be paid a salary of $88,440. In 2008 dollars, that would be $109,112. That’s serious coin, sure, but that’s also one of the most demanding jobs in one of the most demanding training programs, after 3 to 5 years of employment, in the world.

But in today’s FAA, a controller achieving journeyman status in Chicago Center will make around $92,000.

First of all, that’s a far cry from Sturgell’s $168,000. And second of all, that’s a tidy little cut from the pay level under the old contract.

So the reality is that Sturgell is lying through his teeth. Today’s controllers are working more airplanes for less money than they did in 2000.

And of course the results show it- more delays, more stress, more errors, and more people retiring from the ATC workforce.

Sincerely,

Chuck Adams
NATCA
Grand Forks, ND

Rob,

Be careful whenever any Agency official or spokesperson uses the words “settlement offer” when you are speaking of contracts. To my knowledge, ALL settlement offers from the Agency have been to have NATCA drop all grievances, Unfair Labor Practices and lawsuits as they remotely relate to the Imposed Work Rules. NOT in return, as Mr. Sturgell implied, for a member-ratified collective bargaining agreement.

During negotiations in 2005/2006, the Agency said they needed 1.9 billion in cost savings. NATCA offered 1.4 billion. Subsequently, during negotiations last year, NATCA found the 1.9 billion, but the Agency walked away. That’s a matter of public record as it was stated by Congressman LaTourette during a House Transportation & Infrastructure hearing.

Interesting that it’s the controllers’ fault that they’re unhappy, according to Mr. Sturgell. The Agency briefed their own management team in 2006 in St. Louis that if THEY (management) handled the imposition of the work rules correctly, 95% of us would be happy.

The majority of the upper echelons of the Agency couldn’t admit the truth; they’ve made a mess of it all…from negotiations to implementation.

Too bad they’re too arrogant to admit they’ve made a mess of the NAS. It’s not just the employees of the FAA who suffer, but the ultimately the flying public.