A area update: About last week’s ATC-0 event at NUW

NUW ATC-0

So I picked quite a week to be on annual leave during the five-day NUW ATC-0 event.

To every single person that worked during those five days, thank you. Thanks for your professionalism, skill, and teamwork in working situations that we shouldn’t have to be working.

We’ve obviously experienced a rash of these events in the past year.

I have been engaging with management to try and get specific information about what’s being done on the TELCO side to create actual redundancy so that these things stop occurring so frequently.

And work on the NUW CWG continues. If you have input or thoughts on how we can more safely operate the airspace in the future, please let Derek Adams or Matt Coughlin know.

Should you ever find yourself in the hot seat of working NUW’s airspace in the future, please know that as your rep I will 100.00-percent support any decision you make to limit operations if you need to do so to keep the operation safe. 

VIP movement

As you’ve probably heard in the news, the Seattle area is scheduled to have a VIP movement this weekend. One of my complaints about these events is that we’re not properly briefed before we plug in and work them.

The airspace office has been creating a briefing package for affected personnel, and I discussed with Barry the importance of making sure that we’re actually given time to review it before we plug in. Take whatever time you need to familiarize yourself with the operation before you assume a sector, and don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have any.

SOP draft

Sweet Chatty worked extensively (with the help of sweet Kuma Nakada) to create an A area SOP, which will combine various documents related to each of our sectors. A draft copy of the SOP is on the floor. Please take a moment to review it when you’re able and give Matt any feedback that you have.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Oh hi

Good afternoon, everybody. I have a bunch of items today. In no particular order:

A area LSC reps

After being a bedrock of the LSC over the past few years, Kelly Schielke is stepping down so as to give other people a chance to be involved.

Sweet M’Lynda will be representing us on the LSC in her stead. Sweet Kevin Thomson is our other area LSC rep.

As you observe both good and bad safety-related issues in our operation, please take them to those two. I believe the LSC can and does make a big impact when people take the time to bring safety-related concerns to them.

YVR handoffs

I want to relay information about one of the quirks of CAATS to you all: Canada’s version of ERAM doesn’t build held-TOC messages like ERAM does. This means that anytime that they initiate a handoff on an airplane equipped with CPDLC, their system generates a TOC message as soon as we accept the handoff.

I had wondered why YVR sometimes waits until airplanes are near their boundary before they initiate the handoff, which can be problematic if you’re working 3/12 and you’re busy. The reason is that if they initiate a handoff and we accept it, their system immediately ships them to us.

I have asked whether this will be fixed at some point, and I was told we don’t know if Canada will change their functionality.

In the meantime, I want to give everyone a heads up: If you see a limited heading your way and it is a CPDLC-equipped plane, the Canadian controllers may not initiate the handoff until near the boundary.

(Separately, I’ve fielded a few complaints of them being slow to initiate handoffs of non-CPDLC airplanes, and I intend to address this with them in the near future.)

Staffing

Every time that I sit down with management, we discuss our staffing and the fact that we don’t currently have enough CPCs in our area. We’ll raise our guides for the summer beginning on June 2, and we’ll be in the same situation that we’ve been in over the past four years, which is to say: We won’t be able to staff to those guides because we don’t have enough bodies. When I think about that simple fact – and I think about it all the time – I feel exasperated, frustrated, and angry that the agency hasn’t done more to get us to a healthier place.

We have collaboratively agreed to not schedule people for overtime in conjunction with annual leave over the past few years, and I currently have no plans to agree to change that approach.

But it’s less than ideal to start out a summer day knowing that at best we’ll be minus-1 and need to have seven or eight positions open during our peak times of the day. It’s beyond unacceptable that the agency hasn’t allocated enough resources for us to be able to staff to our guides – to the number of bodies that we all agree we need to safely conduct the operation – over the course of four years.

I have tried to tell anyone who would listen that we need help – to no avail. We thankfully have a large number of trainees now, and mathematically the odds are in our favor that we’ll get to a better place at some point in the future. But we’re not going to be there this year and possibly not next year.

One of the things I am most proud of representing the A area is the fact that no matter what happens, we get the job done. I expect us to continue making things work because that’s who we are. We take care of each other. We care about each other.  But I do feel like – and I’ve expressed this sentiment to management – that we get punished for making it work.

I share all of this with you in the spirit of letting you know where we’re at. If you have suggestions or ideas for what could be done to get us out of the hole we’re in sooner, I am and will faithfully remain all ears

Sick leave

With it being basically impossible to get spot leave over the coming months, using sick leave will remain the only way to guarantee yourself off the schedule. When you need to use sick leave, I strongly suggest not discussing your usage on the floor.

Paystubs

One of our members kindly advised me that on a recent paystub, they were issued two hours of credit instead of two hours of overtime. I strongly suggest that you continue to check each of your paystubs for accuracy when they come out.

Certifications

Congrats to Derek Harris for getting certified on D3/12. I’m very excited for you to get back upstairs for R school.

Congrats to Taylor Choate for getting certified on D2/32. Keep being you.

And congrats to Aaron McMorran for getting certified on R2/32. I have said this many times, and it bears repeating: Hearing AJ’s voice talking to airplanes in the A area is the best thing that’s happened to our morale in years.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

YVR delays

The following sentence may surprise you: The Vancouver metering delays passed from Canada’s TMU to us may or may not be wanted/needed by YVR arrival.

All of these delays come from a national TMU facility in Canada. From discussing this with several parties, I believe that one person is responsible for issuing delays to airplanes from many airports. Resultantly, those delays often don’t get issued in a timely manner.

When you’re working Sector 12 (alone or combined) and you’re really busy, it can be infuriating to receive big delays for airplanes that are already inside of your sector.

I have been working with management for awhile to try and get these delays issued sooner. What we came up with is that we told Canada’s TMU that if they issue YVR delays to airplanes who are already inside of Sector 12, we may or may accommodate the delay (workload-permitting).

However, management never communicated this to the workforce. I asked Barry when we met recently if I could just go ahead and share this with you, and he said that would be great.

So here I am.

If we’re sitting on 3/12 with nothing to do and the supe/CIC walks over to us with YVR delays for airplanes we’re currently talking to, I expect us to meet those times. If YVR Arrival calls and asks us to delay airplanes, I expect us to accommodate them to the maximum extent possible. But if we’re busy and we get handed TMU delays on airplanes that are already inside of our sector, I expect us to use our best judgment. If we don’t have time to meet the delay, we don’t have time. Canada has been advised that we may or may not be able to accommodate their delay request if they don’t give it to us promptly.

C area metering

We recently agreed to make permanent the metering trials that we’ve been conducting with the C area — i.e., if there’s a delay, they issue 250 kts, and if there isn’t, they don’t.

We also agreed to conduct a trial period of allowing the C area to issue a PD descent to FL260 if the airplane doesn’t have a delay and doesn’t need to be sequenced with other airplanes who do have delays.

I feel strongly that we shouldn’t be pushing airplanes down unnecessarily. That being said, we agreed to do a trial rather than make this a permanent change so that we can see it on the floor and ensure there are no unintended consequences.

Once this trial period begins, please let me or A area airspace rep Mathew Coughlin know if you observe problems or otherwise have concerns.

Route channelization order

Our route channelization order will be updated later this spring. Chatty and I have several items that we plan to update, but if you have input on anything you’d like to see changed, please advise me or him.

New certification

Congrats to Cody Edwards for getting certified on D1/31!

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: How schedule requests are being addressed

Schedule requests being addressed

Article 32 of the contract states that shift-change requests “shall normally be approved/disapproved within two hours of when the request was made.” Similarly, Article 34 of the contract states: “Leave requests for future shifts shall be approved/disapproved subject to staffing and workload within two hours of when the request was made.”

The whole point of having those time limits in the contract is to ensure that the agency can’t just sit on requests and refuse to approve them because conditions could change later.

Practically in our area, many of our requests have taken a lot longer than two hours to be approved. Supes have left requests in pending status for a number of reasons, most notably because they generally prefer to approve/deny requests that pertain to their upcoming shifts, if able.

Recently, we have had a new supe come to the area who wants to follow Article 32 and 34 to the letter. They are regularly logging into Web Schedule and addressing every pending request (and by “addressing,” I mean they’re just clicking the “deny” button on almost all of them).

As your rep, I am definitely not going to tell them to violate the contract. I want them to comply with the contract in everything that we do.

But I do want to raise awareness about this issue. If you see that a request that you made has been denied, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t get what you want. It just means that, at a minimum, a supe has logged into Web Schedules and has complied with the contract. They may or may not have put much thought into it.

When you make a request and see that it’s been denied, I highly suggest looking at who the supe is scheduled to be for the shift in question, and then ask them to re-look at it.

And on the supe side, I have discussed this with Barry and asked his supes to be more proactive in re-looking at requests that they may mistakenly believe have been closely looked at.

Certifications

It’s been a minute since this happened, but congrats to Anthony Greer and Derek Harris for getting certified on D2/32. Keep at it, gentemen.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Upcoming Art. 5 opportunities

Hello, everyone.

Art. 5 volunteers

Because of how many trainees we have (and thank God we have them), we’ll need instructors in the lab for most of the year. I have previously solicited for Art. 5 volunteers for three upcoming classes, and the agency is requesting volunteers for two more classes it has on the books:

• A D-side lab April 15-June 21

• An R-side lab June 24-Aug. 2

Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering for either of these.

Jessi is certified

Congrats to Jessi for getting certified and becoming our latest CPC!! Let’s fucking go.

DISCO at 100

I had a conversation recently with a YYJ approach controller about us giving airplanes the crossing restriction of DISCO at 100. I’ve seen some of our controllers issuing that to airplanes from the east so that they can duck below departing YVR traffic. If YYJ is landing Runway 9, that restriction works pretty well — for us and for them. However, if YYJ is landing 27, assigning DISCO at 100 has led to some instances of planes being too high.

Why?

The airplanes want to get down on the short leg and, if we ship them promptly to YYJ, will usually be lower than 100 by the time they get to DISCO. However, if we assign them DISCO at 100 and the pilots program it in, they end up being higher than YYJ wants them to be.

My takeaway: If it’s Runway 27 and an airplane is inbound from the east, I would anticipate them wanting to get down on their own and not needing to assign a crossing restriction — and then take action if needed to resolve any traffic situations.

S46 LOA

I hope to sit with the rep at S46 in the new future to review our procedures. I feel like our operation works pretty well overall, but there are a few things I want to tweak in our LOA. If you have suggestions of things you’d like to see changed, please let me or sweet Matt Coughlin know what they are.

A Area reps remain the same

With the 2024 year upon us, our local E-board has been updated. However, all of our A area people remain the same:

Rep: Dan

Alternate: Derek Adams

Scheduling: Damien

Airspace/procedures: Matt Coughlin

Training: Kevin Thomson

Pro standards: M’Lynda

LSC: Kelly and Kevin Thomson

I really appreciate — and feel thankful to — each of these people for all that they do for our area and facility.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Bid book opening Dec. 19

Dearest A Area controllers,

You can start making spot-leave requests for the 2024 year in Web Scheduler starting on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 10 p.m. local time.

Any requests made before then for leave on or after Jan. 28, 2024 will be deleted.

For our trainees: Your annual-leave bidding is ongoing. I hope that we’ll have it complete by Dec. 19. However, in the event that it isn’t and you want to make a spot-leave request for a day that you intend to bid later on, feel free to put in the request beginning at this time. If you then bid a date that you also have a spot-leave request for, Damien will convert the spot-leave request into a bid-leave request.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Secret Santa and bidding update

Good afternoon, everybody.

Secret Santa

M’Lynda, as she has sweetly done for a long time, is helping to facilitate our annual Secret Santa gift exchange in the A area. The deadline to sign up to participate is tomorrow.

If you’re interested in participating, please throw your initials on the sign-up sheet, which is located by our headset box, before then. If you won’t be in the building between now and then and want to participate, please let me or M’lynda know and we’ll add you to the list.

Trainees are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Bidding update

Damien and I met with management yesterday to adjudicate our 2024 AWS requests and finalize our schedule.

You can see the final schedule by clicking on this link.

Given all of the contentious discussions we had beforehand about AWS requests, I believed there was a wide range of possible outcomes. Overall, we got more AWS requests approved that I feared we would — but I did walk away wishing we could’ve gotten more done. I am glad that we were able to preserve the process we have, which helps both us and management.

They were more conservative with protecting the changeover portion of the shift than previous years, which resulted in fewer requests being approved.

If you have any specific questions about why your request didn’t get approved if it didn’t get approved, let me know and I’ll go through it with you.

Management told me to pass along to you that if you do want to work an AWS and didn’t get yours approved, you’re free to put in any 7- and 9-hour request each week and ask a supe to address it on a case-by-base basis.

New A area controllers

I waited for this person to get to ZSE and physically be in the A area before I said anything, but I want to offer a huge welcome to Aaron McMorran. I feel like we won the lottery that we get to have him in our area.

We’re also getting two additional new D-sides. The first one, Bryan Murphy, arrived this week. The second one arrives next week. Please go upstairs and introduce yourselves to them when you can.

Article 5 volunteers

Now that we’ve bid and know our schedules for 2024, I’m again here to solicit for Article 5 volunteers. We’ll need several over the course of the coming year. The ones with firm dates right now:

• A lab for a transferring CPC Jan. 22-Feb. 2.

• A lab for a stage-3 student and a transferring CPC, Feb. 5-April 5

•A lab for a transferring supe Feb. 12-March 7.

A couple of people have reached out previously, but please let me know if you’re interested in these specific three ones.

Other upcoming volunteer work

Our 2024 A area refresher is scheduled for this coming March (ironic considering we just finished with refresher). I need to find/cajole/convince/beg two people to teach it. Please let me know if you’re interested in being one of these people.

It seems ironic because we’re currently doing IST, but we’ll have another round of IST April 21-May 4. If you’re interested in volunteering for the cadre to teach it, please let me know. The cadre is behind taught Jan. 30-31 and Feb. 1-2 (you’d pick one of those two classes).

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Touching base about bidding

Good evening, everybody. Our 2024 bidding for CPCs is finally and mercifully underway. As we near the halfway point of Round 1, I want to touch base about a few things.

First, blank AWS forms — the so-called dream sheets — will be placed in the area shortly (and you can access the form by clicking on this link). Because of how long we got delayed, the turnaround time for these forms will be shorter than usual. Forms must be returned by Thursday, Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. to be considered.

I have had a host of conversations with management about our AWS process, as some members of management want to eliminate AWS schedules. I have been promised by Mr. Kayner that he will sit down with us and discuss them. My hope is that we will be able to have at least some of our AWS requests approved, but I do want to temper people’s expectations — particularly when it comes to getting 7- and 9-hour days. Damien, Derek and I will continue to advocate as strongly as we can for the continuance of our AWS process and hope that at some point we can successfully explain to management that 7+9 is the same as 8+8 (which has been remarkably difficult).

I am headed off to sunny Cabo tomorrow morning morning for a quick getaway with my sweet wife (I definitely didn’t anticipate us being in the middle of bidding when we booked this trip). As always, I am here if you have any concerns or issues, but my response time will be slower than usual. Should you have any issues with bidding that require immediate attention, please reach out to Damien.

My hope is for us to complete Round 1 bidding over the weekend. Damien and Derek are tentatively scheduled to meet with management early next week — likely on Monday — to conduct the reduction in leave slots that happens before Round 2. We will then load back up bidding and keep working as quickly as possible.

For our trainees: We will sit down with management next week and develop the lines that will be available to you and bid as soon as that’s complete.

For trainees who have not bid before (and there are many of you): I will try to chat with all of you before we begin bidding to make sure you understand how everything works. Please, please let me know if you have questions at any point.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Our 2024 guides and schedule have been agreed upon

Dearest A area controllers,

Our 2024 guides and basic-watch schedule have been agreed upon with management. We are still waiting for facility-wide negotiations to be completed before we’re able to bid.

We agreed with management to raise our 2024 guides for four weeks out of the year (we’ll extend our summer guides by two pay periods in the fall). The rest of our guides will remain the same. We expended a lot of effort and energy to keep what we have (and need) and add much-needed coverage in September, and I feel thankful to have those negotiations complete. I really, really appreciate all of the effort and expertise that both Damien and Derek Adams provided throughout this process.

As for our basic watch schedule, I’ve attached it for your review. A few notes:

• The 630 shift listed below will be a 630 during the summer months and a 7 during our off-peak months. Management was adamant about getting rid of it altogether when we began negotiations. The compromise was to let us have it during the summer when we’re likely to need to have three positions open between 5:30-6 a.m., and to move it back by 30 minutes over the rest of the year.

• We agreed to add a 9 shift each day. We did this because it does significantly help our coverage in the afternoon. Having said that, it’s likely that people who don’t actually want a 9 will bid a line that has a 9 in it. I have had sooo many conversations with management about AWS lines and dream sheets, including yesterday afternoon. While I am very concerned about us potentially losing them at some point in the future, management has told me that they’re open to going through the process for this year. I pointed out to management that, in agreeing to add a 9 shift, we need to continue to have our dream-sheet process so that the people who are actually interested in a 9 shift can get one (among all of the other shift changes that people are interested in).

• I am very interested in eventually adopting an idea that the D area has implemented for bidding our BWS. The idea is that you would choose a crew, then select your shifts based on what was available. For example, if you bid first, you could choose whether you get a 1530 or 15 on your first day. If you bid last on a crew, you get whatever shifts remain. At one point recently, I strongly leaned toward adopting this method for this year. However, in thinking it over, I have decided to wait because we’re already so far behind in bidding and this new method will take longer. Using it would slow us down — we’d basically have to bid the BWS first, and then do the first round of annual leave afterward. Because of how late we already are in bidding, I don’t want to slow us down any more than we have to. Because I’ve been told that we will be able to do dream sheets this year, I’m comfortable waiting until next year when we hopefully have more time to bid to make that change.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-8603-3821

p.s. Congrats to Derek Harris for getting certified on D1/31!

A area update: It’s been awhile since we talked

Happy Halloween to one and all! It’s been awhile since I last sent out a proper A area update, and a lot has been going on in the meantime.

DA shirt order

I’m putting this at the top so everyone sees it. If you haven’t yet ordered your TPFB shirt that DA is making , you have until Friday, Nov. 3 to do so. Here is the link to put your order in: TPFB shirt order form.

Schedule negotiations

Damien and I sat down with management last Friday to discuss the 2024 A area schedule and associated area negotiations. At the conclusion of the meeting, management advised us that they would like to do one final review on their end before agreeing.

That being said, I feel very confident that our area negotiations are very close to being complete and that we will be able to formally agree once the facility-wide negotiations are done.

Whidbey ATC-zero CWG

We have been working with management to create a collobarative work group to review all of our policies, equipment, tools, and procedures for when Whidbey Approach goes ATC-0. We have obviously had a rash of outages recently, and I feel incredibly proud of all the work that our controllers put in while Whidbey was offline.

That being said, these recent outages have illuminated the fact that we need to make some changes to make the operation safer going forward.

Derek Adams and Matt Coughlin will represent us on this CWG. If you have suggestions for changes we can make to our ATC-zero procedures, please let me or them know.

Certification

Congrats to Mike Sampson for completing the training program and becoming our most recent CPC!!

New trainees

We recently added two new D-side trainees to the A area. Their names are Jared Davis and Jim Wang. Please go and say hi to them in the training department when you’re able.

I am waiting for it to become official — ie, I see it on the wall upstairs in the training department — but I anticipate another addition to our area in the very near future.

Check your paystubs

With Lori Olsen no longer doing all of our time-and-attendance, I’ve heard of multiple instances of people having issues with their paystubs. In particular, multiple OT assignments got inadvertently left off people’s pay.

Resultantly, I highly suggest checking your paystubs for accuracy when they come out.

Article 5s

We will need multiple Article 5 volunteers to help facilitate labs during the next year. The first one is scheduled to be between Feb. 1-March 29.

Obviously, since we haven’t bid yet, it’s difficult for anyone to know whether they’re interested in volunteering at this point.

However, since the first class is inching closer, I want to mention it now to give people a heads’ up. I will send out another message to remind everyone once we’ve bid and then sort something out based on who volunteers.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

Order a TPFB T-shirt

This isn’t NATCA-affiliated, but in the spirit of getting the word out: Sweet Derek Adams has decided to make an incredible T-shirt inspired by a tattoo on his hand, and he’s putting together a group order if you’re interested in purchasing one. To learn more about the T-shirt and to get add yourself on the list, click on the following link: TPFB shirt order.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update:

YVR reroutes

Recently, Canada’s traffic management has been requesting — and the command center has been approving — CYVR, CYYJ, CYXX, and CYCD arrivals being rerouted out of their airspace and into ours because of their staffing.

If you’ve worked when this happens, you know how much of a pain it is. Sector 12 can become a DYSIM problem.

Nav Canada will be requesting these routes intermittently over the rest of the summer. With that in mind, I participated in a meeting last week with various parties to discuss mitigation strategies for these reroutes.

The Canadian TMU representative said that he anticipates there being a lot fewer planes rerouted into our airspace when these reroutes happen in the future (he claimed the volume would be approximately 50% of what it has been). But even 50% feels like it would have an enormous impact on our operations. Resultantly I’ll be continuing to explore options with TMU and the C area to deconflict our normal sector 12 airplanes with these other ones, assuming that the Command Center continues to approve the reroutes.

If you work a Sector 12 session with these reroutes and feel like it was difficult to manage, please let me know so that I can forward that data to TMU.

2024 schedule negotiations

Damien and I will be sitting down with management in the not-too-distant future to negotiate our 2024 BWS schedule. If you have suggestions or proposed changes to our schedule, please forward them to me or Damien.

Area refresher

Our A area refresher will be held Nov. 13-17, and we need volunteers to help teach it. You’d be given time off the floor to prepare the PowerPoint presentation, as well as to help develop the DYSIM problem in collaboration with our SGET SME, Mr. Matthew Simpson.

Please advise me if you’re interested.

IST cadre volunteers

ZSE is soliciting volunteers facility-wide to help with the next round of IST training. As with other recent rounds of IST, I have again advised management that I don’t believe we should be forced into providing volunteers from the A area, considering how dire our staffing is.

That being said, if someone is interested in volunteering, management will try to accommodate the request.

The cadre training will be held Sept. 12-13 or Sept. 14-15 (you get to pick which two-day block you’d want to attend). Let me know if you’re interested in volunteering.

Certifications

Congrats to Jared Fenton for becoming ZSE’s newest CPC! I’m excited to have him complete the training program and become one of us.

And congrats to Tucker Enzien for getting certified on D1/31.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: PP15 schedule will be published 1 day late

Due to a last-minute change, we collaboratively agreed to publish the pay-period 15 schedule one day late. This was done to allow Damien, who does a spectacular job of taking care of our schedule, to make necessary revisions to PP15.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A Area update: Reminders about new S46 LOA

S46 speed reductions

Starting at midnight, the new S46 LOA finally goes into effect. With it, S46 will have control to slow arrival airplanes up to 40 kts.

We agreed to this after the 3-mile area had been expanded to pretty much everywhere  — significantly lessening our exposure of having a loss of separation — and I feel confident in how it will work on the floor.

Like us, they have a big board that shows all the arrivals, and it’s highly unlikely — for their own sake — that they’re going to slam the brakes on the first aircraft in a long sequence.

That being said, when we negotiated this change with them, we told them that we will not ship them the front airplane until they’ve taken radar on the aircraft behind them.

They want to talk to inbound aircraft — and requested a note in there about us shipping them within 40 miles of SEA — but we made clear to them that, if they want to talk to the airplanes, they have to take the handoff on the front plane and next plane before they get to talk to the first one.

When I’m working long sequences going forward, I intend to wait to ship them the first one until they’ve taken the second one. Then I’ll wait to ship them the second one until they’ve taken the third one, etc.

PAE north flow

Previously in a north flow, the LOA instructed us to hand off Sector 31 PAE arrivals to SSP, and it noted that S46 would accomplish the internal coordination. That part of the LOA has been eliminated. Accordingly, if you have someone on the DEVYN arrival, you’ll still hand them off to SSP, as the aircraft will enter that sector first. However, if an aircraft is direct to PAE from the east, you’ll hand them off SSE instead. If they’re VFR, you could hand them off to SSP, SSE, or SSA — depending on how they enter S46 airspace.

BFI/RNT north-flow procedures remain the same — we hand them off SSA and SSA will accomplish internal coordination.

Let me know about any problems

A lot of thought and collaboration went into the new LOA — thanks again to Derek Adams for representing us so well in the CWG — but considering the number of changes, there may be unintended consequences. If you run into problems, please forward them to Matt Coughlin, our airspace rep, or myself. 

Microwave moved

Our microwave in the area recently got moved because it was blocking an electrical panel. Please do not move it back to its former location.

Weather deviations

On Monday evening, our facility experienced some pretty crazy weather deviations. I was here on OT, and I just wanted to say how proud I felt to be a Seattle Center air traffic controller. Our people did an incredible job of safely working airplanes through some really complex traffic situations.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Opening, closing and combining sectors

Opening, closing and combining positions

As we head into the busier time of the year, I want to share a few thoughts about how we open, close and combine positions in the area.

Most of our opening and closing happens naturally, depending on our traffic. One of the best things about the A area is that we take care of each other — if someone’s just gotten off position and walks past a busy Sector 3, we plug in and help if that person needs help. I love that about our area and want that culture to continue.

I am not a fan of staffing chairs to staff chairs.

As we continue to operate in times of 6-day workweeks and being short almost all the time, I feel concerned that our line of opening, closing and combining has drifted. I do not want us to combine sectors or not utilize a D-side because we’re short on a particular shift.

 If you’re debating whether to ask for a split or a D-side and you’re on the fence about doing so, I suggest that you err on the side of asking for the extra body.

I am concerned that we are getting taken advantage of the fact that we inherently want to make things work when our staffing is tight, and I want to make sure that we capture an accurate snapshot of what bodies we need to safely and expeditiously work the airspace that we work.

I have not observed this or heard of this, but if you ever run into an instance of asking for a D-side or split and are denied, please let me know.

Your macros could be affected

I have heard a lot of varying dates for the release of the next major ERAM update, from as early as June to later in the year. The new update will include the capability of automated handoffs with Vancouver Centre. This will be stupendous.

Matt Coughlin, my area airspace rep and your area airspace rep, asked me to advise you that your macros may need to be updated in conjunction with this change.

Some of our YVR identifiers for CPDLC will be changing as part of the ERAM build (making it so that they match the two-letter sector names that are in the LOA). Resultantly, you’ll want to double-check all of your YVR-related macros when the new build comes online.

Brian Spencer retiring from ZSE

I received this message from Amanda Crumbley, the C area rep, who asked that I pass it along to you all:

Brian Spencer is retiring June 30!  It would be a fun surprise for him if we could get as many people as we could to wear a shirt that says "SIERRA ECHO" on it during his last couple weeks of work.  If you would like to participate,  please fill out this form.  It will say SIERRA ECHO on the front and will cost $10/shirt.  Please pay CY via PayPal crumbley37@gmail.com or leave $10 in the envelope in my headset box in the C area.  The order will close 5/1 and I will deliver shirts as soon as they are in.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks!

-Amanda

New trainees

We are getting two additional academy graduates in the A area. Their names are Zoe Martin and Noelle Walas. Zoe arrived last week, and Noelle will be arriving later this week. Please go and introduce yourselves to them.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A are Update: CIC class is upcoming

CIC class

ZSE will be holding a one-day CIC class on May 8. During my time as rep, my standpoint about our controllers becoming CICs is that I don’t want to send anyone to the class against their will — provided that we have other CIC options across our various crews.

That being said, if you’re a CPC and you’re interested in becoming a CIC, please let me know.

Certifications

Congratulations to our newest A area CPC, Zach Nelson, who finished training last week!!

Congrats to Jessi Dias for getting certified on R2/32 and to Jared Fenton for getting R1/31.

New trainees

We received two more Academy graduates this past week. Their names are Taylor Choate and Cody Edwards. Please go upstairs to the training department and introduce yourselves when able.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

Another Article 5 solicitation

I received word from the agency that they will be holding a three-person R-side class between Aug. 21-Oct. 20 and need an Article 5 volunteer to provide instruction in the lab. That person will be instructing in the TTL Monday through Friday each week to accommodate the class.

Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering.

Horse collars

Now that we have had the new radar scopes for a while, I would like to eliminate the paper horse collars and only use the electronic ones. The B and D areas only use the electronic ones, and the C area only has a couple of the paper ones.

Before we get rid of our paper copies, though, I want to get feedback from the area. Please let me know if you would like to keep them or get rid of them.

An expectation that everyone trains

I have had conversations with Russ about the way that we go about selecting OJTIs and what our expectations as an area are for training. I would like us to get to a place where the expectation is that everyone should be available as an OJTI, rather than selectively only choosing some people as an OJTI. I think making that change will be more fair to everyone in the area.

Once someone has gone through the course, we will assign them training and see if they are a good fit with a specific student. If they are, they’ll train them. If they’re not, we’ll wait until we believe they are a good fit with another student in the future.

In all of this, making sure that we line up all of our trainees with the best possible fit will continue to be paramount to me.

Because of how absurdly short we are, we can’t send everyone to the next OJTI course. However, if you’re not currently an OJTI, expect to go to a training class as our staffing permits.

Certification

Congrats to Zack Reeves for getting certified on D3/12!

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Farewell to Ron

Bon voyage to Ron

After more than 21 years as an A area controller at Seattle ARTCC, Ron Warness is leaving the A area to become a staff-support specialist at Seattle TRACON.

Thanks to Ron for all of his contributions to our area over the years. His last shift is on Friday (tomorrow). If you’re around, make sure you tell him goodbye. He’s scheduled to work a 1330B overtime shift (one last OT for the road).

YKM landers

A few of you kindly brought to my attention the fact that YKM landers have not been descending in a timely manor since Spokane TRACON took over the Yakima sector. I reached out to their rep and requested that they descend the airplanes to 100 when we ship them over. She was very receptive to this request and said she will pass it along to their controllers.

Conversely, she asked me to convey to you all that they’re still working on figuring out their new airspace, and she requested patience from us while that is happening. They got less than 10 hours on each sector before becoming certified on them, so they’re definitely still getting their feet wet.

New A area personnel

Welcome to Zach Rush, a transferring CPC from Chinook, who becomes the third Zach in the area (phonetically speaking). He was previously a trainee in the B area.

And welcome to Derek Harris and Anthony Greer, who are both academy graduates.

Please go upstairs when you’re able and introduce yourself to them.

Article 5 solicitations

With these additions, we will need an Article 5 volunteer — or volunteers — to train them in their respective labs. Zach Rush’s lab will be June 6-20, with the new D-side lab to follow June 21-Aug. 18. 

Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering to instruct for one or both of these time blocks.

IST cadre volunteers

Our semiannual IST training is upcoming, and the training department is requesting cadre volunteers. The cadre class will be March 14-15 or March 16-17 (you would get to choose which two-day block you’d like). The actual IST training will take place between April 23 and May 6.

Given how destitute our staffing is, I am very reluctant to offer up anyone from our area to teach IST (especially if no one is interested). However, if you are interested in teaching the class, please let me know and we will try to see whether our staffing would allow you off the schedule for the required time.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: Getting out of OT if you're going to be out of town

Article 38 reminder

As our area continues to get pummeled by unwanted overtime assignments, I wanted to remind everyone about a provision tucked into our contract. Section 4 of Article 38 (overtime) states:

An employee shall be relieved of an overtime assignment when, in the judgment of the agency:

a. The health or efficiency of the employee may be impaired; or

b. personal circumstances make it impossible for the employee to perform the overtime duty.

Part B seldomly gets used at ZSE, but I want to remind you all that you are entitled to get out of a specific overtime shift if you have something on your calendar that prevents you from being at work (i.e., you’re going to be out of town). In this event, I would advise your supe after you’ve been assigned the OT shift that you have personal circumstances preventing you from working it. You may need to provide them with a copy of airline tickets or hotel receipts.

This video by Natca Northwest Mountain has more info about this.

Please let me know if you utilize this provision of the contract and get any pushback from management.

S46 LOA being finalized

Derek Adams put in a ton of work on our behalf to negotiate the new S46 LOA. Those negotiations are mostly complete, and airspace is working to finalize the new letter.

Once airspace is finished with their work, the LOA gets sent off to the region for final approval. After that happens, the workforce will be briefed on the changes and the LOA will go into effect in conjunction with a chart change. Airspace told me yesterday that they estimate that will happen sometime in the spring.

The kids are growing up (and my how we need them to)

Since my last update, several of our trainees have received certifications.

Mike Draper got certified on R3/12, becoming our newest CPC. Zach Nelson got certified on R1/31. Jared Fenton and Mike Sampson both got certified on R2/32.

Luke Bradley got certified on D1/31. Kyle Moore got certified on D2/32. Zack Reeves got certified on D1/31. And – last but not least – Tucker Enzien got certified on D2/32.

Congratulations to all of you. Keep going. We need you. Really bad.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821

A area update: 2023 bidding complete

Bidding complete

Damien and I sat down with management to adjudicate AWS requests on Thursday, and our 2023 bidding process is now complete. We were able to approve at least something for all but three of the controllers who submitted requests. Click here to see the finalized 2023 lines for CPCs.

Bid book opening on Wednesday

Damien has been working to enter all of the 2023 leave into Web Schedules, and you can enter spot-leave requests online beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 10 p.m. PT.

Overtime preference

During the bidding process, we requested that everyone submit their 2023 OT preference via a link on bidATC. I will be taking those responses in the near future and tabulating them on a sheet that I’ll place by our headset boxes.

Once that list is there, please double-check that your preference is what you entered. If you didn’t enter anything on bidATC, please note your preference on that list.

If we don’t receive anything, your OT preference will remain the same as it currently is.

As a reminder, your 2023 OT preference will go into effect beginning on Jan. 1. Overtime will be assigned for the 2023 pay periods that are contractually required to be published before Jan. 1 using the current OT preference list.

If you want your OT preference to change before Jan.1, let a member of management know.

In solidarity,

Dan Rasmussen

801-860-3821