D Area Update

1.  D-side Briefings -

There is apparently some kind of QA audit going on regarding briefings from the D-side when "going to one."  They are trying to see if they are taking place, and whether or not they are recorded when they do take place.  The supervisors have apparently been told to keep an eye on this and keep track of all the briefings they see.  I'm told no names are being attached to these, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

2.  Training Priority -

You might have heard something about a trainee's second and fourth days being their priority days.  This is coming from Don, and here is how I understand it.  On days where there are multiple trainees and not enough OJTI's to train them, priority will be given to those trainees on their second or fourth day of the week.  This eliminates having the supervisors having to pick and choose who gets trained on a specific day when all the trainees can't be trained.  The goal remains to train every trainee every day, but on those days when we can't, this is supposed to help the supervisors know who should be trained.  Don says that this won't affect annual leave, i.e. if it is a trainee's second day, they shouldn't deny your leave solely based on needing to train them that day.  Look for new training plans to have some sort of explanation of this second and fourth day rule in them.

I've told Don that it sounds fine on the surface, lets see how it goes and possibly revisit it if we find some snags.  Let me know if this second and fourth day thing causes any problems so I can fix it.

3.  Radar Map Changes -

Al has been working on cleaning up our map a little bit, and also helping clear up how we should be vectoring at LMT and ACV.

He is tying all of the military fixes to one button (currently named the LMT TACAN 32 button) so that when you hit that button, you will see all the fixes relating to high approaches, and vectoring for final.  This way you don't have to always have them displayed as we currently have it.  He is also putting together cheat sheets for each approach at LMT that shows different fixes on the approach, and what altitudes you should be vectoring them at.  Look for these changes to happen sometime at the end of this month.  I've attached a sheet that Al put together, listing all of the changes specifically.

4.  Another Radar Map Change -

There is an idea to remove the vectoring "tick marks" and approach gate at ACV and have them tied to either a DIK button and/or a map button.  The rationale is that it will clean up the scope and you can pull it up when you need it rather than having it constantly displayed.  If it goes on the DIK, it would be tied to the button that pulls up the MIA lines and altitudes.

Any thoughts on this idea?  Sound good or leave them constantly displayed?

5.  Parking Decals -

Don't forget we have to get new parking decals.  Our week to visit the guard shack starts Sunday May 3rd.  I've attached a flyer that explains what you need to do.

6.  Schedule Ideas -

If anybody has any ideas for next year's schedule, let me hear them.  I've already had Drew approach me with one idea, and I'll propose that to you guys as we get closer to schedule building and negotiation.  For now, if you have an idea, run it by me and I can run it by the area.

That's everything for now.  Let me know if you have feedback on any of the items above!

Chico

The D Area Latest

1.  JN -

Fred has retired as most everyone knows by now.  Thank you for being an awesome coworker Fred.  Congrats on your retirement!

Fred retired a little earlier than expected, so we had to move Kimberly to cover his mid.  Fortunately Kimberly wasn't affected too much as she was able to stay on Tue/Wed.  Drew moved onto Mon/Tues in Fred's place.

2.  Other Schedule Stuff -

We will be losing Gallo shortly, so the weekday day shifts will take a hit there.  We will also be losing Dave soon as well.  As of now, there are no plans to fill their lines.  We simply don't have the bodies.  So, we'll just be going ahead without them and doing our best to cover.  I do know that when Dave goes, there will be a 16 shift that will have to be rotated around the Mon/Tues crew on Wednesday nights.

Looking ahead to next year (I know it's only April, a lot can change) it looks like we'll be bidding 31 lines with potentially two R-side trainees close to certified.  For reference, we bid 34 this year.

3.  Even More Schedule Stuff -

Look for the schedule to get pretty thin as we move into summer.  Be prepared to be short and to have a tough time getting leave.  Now, with that being said, if you notice anything weird about your schedule or your requests, and you can't get your supervisor to fix it or look at it, let me know so that I can look into it.  I had one thing brought up to me a few weeks ago that the supervisors missed.  I don't check the schedule all the time to make sure everything is being done correctly, so the only way I'll know if something is wrong is if you let me know.

4.  LMT trips -

I'm hearing word from Renee Peavey that there is the potential for some trips to LMT.  The Air Force has told management that they want the trips to be incentives for people that are doing good work here.  They are also wanting to remind us that these trips are a privilege not a right, and that a ride on an F15 is not guaranteed if you go down there.  Somebody there at the Air Force didn't appreciate the attitudes of some of the last group that went down there apparently.  (I'm not sure who they are talking about, and was surprised to hear that).

I don't know when the trips are scheduled yet, but they think there might be one in June and might be one in September.  Matt and Garret were already owed a trip to LMT from Troy Gascoyne but that trip fell through, so I know they are on the list.  I think other people will be chosen to go based on which days the trip is, who can get off the schedule, and who has not been before.

5.  New Students on the Floor -

We have two new D-side trainees that have just made it through the DYSIM.  Christina Phorimavong (former military controller at Pope Field) will be going to Wed/Thurs and Jason Cruz (former controller at PAE) will be going to Fri/Sat.  Give them a high five if you see them.

6.  Whirlyball -

NATCA is looking to host a solidarity event this fall.  They are planning a trip to Edmonds to play some Whirlyball.  Right now they are trying to gauge interest in an event like this.  Take a second and fill out this survey if you are interested:

http://www.powr.io/plugins/ survey/view?id=1075948&mode= page

I did it and it only takes a second.

That's the latest,

Chico

Couple Things

1. Archie League Awards -

Troy Harrison has sent out an email about this already, but just wanted to remind everyone that Mark, Matt, and Al will be receiving their Archie League awards tomorrow night.  The award ceremony starts at 7pm.  You can stream the event live at this address:  http://www.natca.org/news.aspx?zone=Top%20News&nID=9312#n9312

2.  27 Day Rule (28, depending how you count it) - 

I've had more than one of you mention this rule to me in the past few weeks, so I thought I would just send out a reminder one more time.  Shift change requests will only be considered if they are within 27 days of the first day of that pay period.  If you make a request prior to 27 days before the first day of the pay period, it may be considered invalid and skipped over.  Now, I highlighted the word "may" because it seems like most supervisors don't enforce it.  However, just know that they may decide to and your request would then go to the bottom.

Basically, if you count back four weeks from the start of a pay period, that is the first day you can make a request for that pay period.  Here is an example:

Pay period 9 is coming up, beginning on Sunday, April 5th.  All shift change requests for that entire pay period can be entered beginning Sunday March 8th at 12:00 AM.  

3.  Round Three Bidding....

This is trudging along...  I take part/most of the blame because I haven't kept a close eye on this or pushed anybody to bid, but we're almost done!  Let's try and grind the rest of that out.

4.  Sentry Eagle - 

Most of you may have heard this already, but Sentry Eagle is scheduled for this summer.  So, be on the lookout for a lot of planes pointed at LMT.

That's all I have for now,

Chico

Two Quick Notes

1. Archie League Award -

ZSE has it's first ever Archie League Award, and it is courtesy of the D Area!  Mark Haechler (R-side), Matt Dippe (D-side), and Al Passero (third set of eyes and ears), helped get a plane to LMT after picking up some ice and having trouble climbing.  They will be recognized at this year's Communicating for Safety conference in March.  So, give these guys a high five if you see them.

2.  Eastbound EUG/Northbound MFR Aircraft continued...

If you go to our brand new website (natca-zse.com) and go to B area updates (reminder, the password is zse), you will find a post talking about interim altitudes and then a string of comments from B area controllers about it.  All areas are invited to participate in the discussion, so if you have concerns or an opinion you would like to share, you can do it there.  Here is the link to the post:  http://www.natca-zse.com/new-blog-1/2015/1/13/interim-altitude-throughout-zse#comments-outer-wrapper=

Chico

D Area Update

Happy New Year D Area!  Here's some of the latest info...

1.  Leave Bidding - 

We are still grinding out the bidding.  Round three is very near, you can bid the remaining days you will earn this year.  Here's the current status:

2015 PTL ALL AREAS.xlsx

2.  New ZSE Natca Website - 

Devin Carlisto of the C area made a website for our local Natca.  It is www.natca-zse.com.  (You can also get there by typing natcazse.com, zsenatca.com, or zse-natca.com).  On that page you will be able to find links to different forms, links to the D area updates, as well as other area updates, and much more.  You can also submit your MAC address so that you can use the wifi at work.  Click on the Wifi link to do that.  The wifi will be blocking people that haven't submitted their MAC addresses soon.  This is to make sure that the wifi is only utilized by Natca and PASS members.

Some areas of the website are password protected, and the password is zse.  It is password protected so that only Natca members are able to see the content.

3.  Oceanic Data Blocks - 

I'm hearing rumors that the way we handle our oceanic traffic could be changing soon.  I know that right now there are many different ways that we all handle the oceanic guys, but they may try to standardize it soon.  They might start having us keep datablocks on everyone until they cross the OCB.  Right now, its just rumors, but its something to think about.

4.  Northbound MFR departures and Eastbound EUG departures climbing to high - 

The local safety council (LSC) is looking into our northbound MFR departures that are climbing to FL 240 or FL 260 etc.  The B area can never be sure what the aircraft is actually doing, since sector 36 is pointing them out to 15.  I've told Renee Peavey that this happens very few times throughout the day and hasn't caused any dangerous situations that I'm aware of.  I do however understand the B area's confusion on the way we handle those guys.  The LSC is going to get back to me with their ideas on how to better handle this (if any change at all), and we'll go from there.

The LSC is also looking into eastbound EUG departures coming from sector 6, 5, or 46 to sector 13.  They were wondering if there was any confusion there, and I said that I wasn't aware of any.  If you see it is coming from 6 or 5, you know they are stopped at FL 230 and you may have to do a point out to 46 and/or 14.  If you see it coming from 46, you know the aircraft is already climbing to whatever is in the datablock.  If there is some confusion out there that I'm not aware of, let me know and I can take it back to the LSC.

5.  Monster Trucks - 

Natca Reloaded is doing an event coming up soon at the Tacoma Dome.  It is a monster truck show and Natca will cover your ticket.  Additional tickets are $12.  You can sign up on the bulletin board in the hallway by the control room.  I attached the flyer with some more information.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or ideas,

Chico