Proposed Spokane Airspace Change and Temporary Metering Procedure Clarification

None of these changes to Spokane are official until briefed and is subject to change.  But, I wanted to put this up for discussion.  Spokane Approach is requesting more airspace around COE.  The last proposal I saw would give them roughly 5 more miles around COE and a few miles to the north and east southeast.  We’re looking at a few minor LOA changes to include the GPS approach into SZT simular to how the LOC-A into SZT is today, and changing the prop/carp altitude from the north on or near V112 to 11,000 instead of 9,000 due the the new proposed boarder in higher terrain.  Personally I don’t see any major issues with giving Spokane a little more airspace around COE.  Other than the LOA changes listed above does anyone see any concerns that need to be addressed with Spokane Approach getting a few more miles of airspace?  

Also, I wanted to clarify a few things with the temporary metering procedure.  The intent of the procedure is to reduce the readback errors and lengthy check on for the A-Area until a workgroup is able to address the safety concerns listed above.  If the temporary/interim procedure isn’t working you can terminate it and we’ll go back to the old procedure until the workgroup comes out with something.  

James Darlington

New Changes to C Area 2018 Schedule

For 2018 we will be bidding 37 lines instead of 36 lines due to some recent additions.  The only major change from 36 lines to 37 lines is the addition of a straight 8 Monday through Friday line.  I've attached a link to the schedule below.  Also, at the bottom of the schedule is the 8 hour shifts for both CWS lines (line 34 and 35) to be converted to a non compressed work week.  If there any any questions please feel free to let me know.  

2018 C Area Line 37 Schedule

James Darlington

2018 C AREA GUIDES

Below are the links to guides and shift start times for next year.  There are 5 different forms due to having peak and off peak guides throughout the year.  The basic gist is peak and off peak Monday through Friday day and swing stay the same as in 2017.  Weekend day and swing off peak stay the same as in 2017.  Saturday day peak increased by 1, Saturday swing no change year round.  Sunday day and swing peak increased by 1.  The biggest reason for the increase in guides is the increased traffic we've seen on certain weekend shifts in the summer.  Please feel free to let me know if there are any questions regarding these guide changes.  As far as when we're going to bid I'm hoping we'll be able to start by next week.

2018 C Area M-F off peak

2018 C Area M-F peak

2018 C Area Weekend off peak

2018 C Area Saturday peak

2018 C Area Sunday Peak

James Darlington

2018 C Area Schedule

C Area,

Below I've posted a link to next years schedule.  I don't foresee any changes but until we bid everything is subject to change.  The main differences from last year is we're bidding 36 lines and we were able to add an additional CWS (4 10s) line for a total of two.  We're still finalizing the core and ancillery shift start time sheets but the basics we can expect is the same start times as this year.  Also, we can expect the same peak and off peak guides we had this year for Monday through Friday plus higher guides on Saturday Day, Sunday Day, and Sunday Swing during peak traffic season due to increased traffic.  Once the sheets are finalized I'll post them for everyone to see.  

2018 C Area 36 Line Schedule  

James Darlington

Temporary Rep Again...

C-Area,

I will be out of the country from June 3rd to June 12th.  While I'm gone Chaz will be the temporary rep.  Please direct any issues or questions that can't wait till I get back to him.  I most likely won't have any phone services while I'm gone but I'm hoping to be able to access my email and/or facebook messanger in the evenings if anyone needs to contact me.  

Temporary Rep

I will out out of town from May 18th till May 25th, while I'm gone Chaz will be the temporary rep.  Please direct any issues or questions that can't wait till I get back to him.  I will have my phone with me if anyone needs to reach me I just may not be able to reply till later that day or the next.

James Darlington 

New C Area Scheduler

Moving forward CW will be the C Area NATCA Scheduler with BD as the alternate.  If there are any schedule related questions feel free to ask CW, BD, or myself.  

James Darlington

Remaining Leave Slots

After the bid process was concluded the area ended up with 27 renaming leave slots for 2017.  We were not able to add them to any day where 3 slots were already taken/bid.  Starting with the first available day in June a slot was added until 27 slots were filled for the year.  The dates where a slot was added are as follows.

6-4

6-7

6-8

6-9

6-14

7-9

7-30

8-6

8-16

9-12

9-17

9-20

9-21

9-24

9-25

9-26

9-27

9-28

9-29

9-30

10-1

10-2

10-3

10-4

10-10

10-11

10-31

What does this mean for me?  Basically if you are the first web schedule request for any of the dates above it is considered a pre-approved leave opportunity per Article 24 Section 12 of the Contract.  Keep in mind the request has to be made 30 days prior to publication for it to be pre-approved.

Article 24 section 12

"Any remaining pre-approved leave opportunities that were not selected during the bidding process will remain available until thirty (30) days prior to the posting of the watch schedule and shall be approved in the order in which they are received."

If there are any questions please feel free to contact me.

James Darlington

Heads up on shift change requests

Heads up on change requests

Slate Book Article 32 Section 5

“The posted watch schedule is defined as assignment of employees to specific shifts.  The posted watch schedule shall be posted twenty-eight (28) days in advanced.  Assignments of individual employees to the posted watch schedule are not considered changes to the BWS.”

With that said if the schedule gets published before the 28 days (Saturday 11:59:59pm or earlier) in the interest of fairness any request made (other than auto requests, and annual requests) before the 28 days (Saturday night Sunday morning at 12:00 midnight) will be deleted and you will need to submit your request again (Saturday night Sunday morning at 12:00 midnight) or later.

As an example shift change requests for Pay Period 11 can’t be made until April 2nd and any shift change request made prior to April 2nd for Pay Period 11 will be deleted. 

If there are any questions please feel free to contact me.

James Darlington

2017 OT MOU

If you haven't noticed the 2017 OT MOU is in cedar.  In order to have OT scheduled appropriately we need to have a yes list and a no list.  Once you've had a chance to read the MOU in cedar please let BD or myself know if you want to be on the yes list or the no list.  As a heads up this MOU is different than in the past and if there are any questions regarding the MOU please feel free to call or text me.  Thanks

James Darlington 

Recurring Shift Swap and AWS Request

Just a quick update on the recurring shift swap and AWS request forms for 2017.  Unfortunately they will be pushed back till pay period 4.  With that said for pay period 3 you can of course still put in a web schedule request to swap with someone specifically for the time being.  Once all the negotiations are done we'll let everyone involved know.  Thanks in advanced for everyone's patients.  

James Darlington

Temporary Rep

C-Area,

I will be out of the country from December 1st to December 6th.  While I'm gone Chaz will be the temporary rep.  Please direct any issues or questions that can't wait till I get back to him.  I most likely won't have any phone services while I'm gone but I'm hoping to be able to access my email in the evenings if anyone needs to contact me.  

Also, we're still working on the recurring shift swap and aws request froms and I'll have more of an update regarding what could or couldn't get approved after I get back.  I'm hoping to be able to transition to the new schedule in 2017 with the requests that could be approved at the same time.  However, there is still a chance the request approval could get pushed back a pay period.  Thanks in advanced for everyone's patience.  

James Darlington

James.Darlington@natca.net

Recurring Shift Swap and AWS Request

If you have a request for shift swaps, AWS, and/or want to "dream" into a specific schedule please use the form linked below.  Due to staffing I don't see us being able to truly "dream" into a specific shift unless someone else wants the shift you are vacating and you go to a shift another employee is vacating (in other words a swap with someone specifically).  With that said still make a "dream" request if you have one and we'll look at it.  For example, if two people want to swap an 8 for a 1330 but the employee with the 1330 has a 16 the previous day they can't work an 8 because of fatigue rules.  We'll look at the schedule/guides and negotiate with management so the employee in that example gets a 9 instead of the 8 in order to facilitate the swap if requested that way.  Another option could be for the employee wanting the earlier shift to request a 9 AWS 7 at the same time as the swap request to meet fatigue rules while still swapping.  If you have multiple requests that you are unsure which one can be approved fill out multiple sheets, label them as your number 1 choice, number 2 choice, etc and staple them together.  When you have completed your request form please put it in the NATCA box by the employee’s mail boxes before close of business on Sunday November 27th 2016.  The plan is to transition to the 2017 BWS with the swaps/AWS completed by pay period 3, but if there are any unforeseen issues the swaps/AWS requests could get pushed back.  If you have any questions contact me.

Shift Swap and AWS Request Form

James Darlington

New 2017 C Area Schedule

Due to recent changes in bidding for 2017 we had to create a new schedule.  The major change being we're now bidding 33 lines.  The line added is a 4 10 hour line with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday RDOs.  Regarding the 4 10 hour line the last day will be moved from a swing shift to a day shift once line 34 is added.  Incase anyone is curious line 34 is projected to be a normal rotation Sunday Monday line.  Also, after talking with a number of people in area the 2 reverse lines will remain the same as previously posted.  The link for the new schedule is below and there are a few other minor changes that you will see.  If there are any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.

New 2017 C Area Schedule

James Darlington

2017 C Area Schedule and Guides

C Area,

Links are below for the 2017 schedule and guides.  The schedule is still subject to change until we actually bid but I'm not anticipating any changes.  Once we start bidding we'll make everything available online like we did last year.  The basic gist on the guides is that due to increased traffic the guides Monday through Friday were increased by 1 on the day and swing during peak times of the year.  The mid and weekend guides will remain the same as they did this year.  The dates for peak and off peak guides are in the links below.  If there are any questions let me know. 

Schedule

Peak Guides

Off Peak Guides

Weekend Guides

Moving forward NATCA will be more involved with building the schedule.  In the past BD has done this for the C Area, and since he'll eventually retire I'd like to give others the opportunity to learn about scheduling before he leaves.  We're currently looking for alternates for scheduling and if anyone is interested please let me know by the end of this October.

James Darlington

904-347-3065

James.Darlington@natca.net

Temporary Rep

C-Area,

I will be attending the Natca Convention and on leave from 8-29-16 to 9-5-16, during this week Chaz Cowan will be the temporary area rep.  Still feel free to contact me while I'm gone for anything that can wait till I get back, for anything more immediate please contact Chaz.  

As for schedules next year, the current plan is to have the guides and BWS negotiated after I get back and then to potentially start bidding in October.  If there are any further questions or concerns with next years guides/schedule feel free to contact me.

James Darlington

Bidding

Many of you have heard of issues with the beginning of the bid process. The issue revolved around how many BWS Lines to bid. The bid book hit the floor with 29. After the first bid was made it became clear that some were planning to bid with the knowledge that Line 30 would be added soon after we transitioned. In order to set clearer expectations and since the bid was stalled while we waited for a return from RDOs, we met with the front office to look at the future year. In the end we decided it would be best to bid a 30 Line schedule and effectively start the process over. Since we were stalled at the third person this should have little affect on our time line.

In order to expedite the bid process, one of the reps may call you on your off time to solicit your bid. I encourage you to do so if you wish. We will try to keep the Bid Books updated online as much as possible. It can be found at natca-zse.com/bid or by clicking the link below.

If the bid is complete by January 28th we will Transition to the new schedule beginning March 6th. If after the cutoff, March 20th.

Thanks for your patience and happy bidding!

Schedule Update & Vacation Notification

I will be out of town on Wednesday the 13th till Thursday the 21st.  While I'm gone Devin will be the C Area Rep and will handle the bidding process until I get back.  With that said still feel free to call, text, or email me if there's something I can help with.  Also, as a reminder if anyone is going to be out of town for more than 2 days while we are bidding please forward your proxy and contact info to Devin until I get back.  Here's a copy of the 29 line BWS we plan on bidding sometime next week. The lines first to be added are also included and are labeled line 30* and 31* .  In case there is any confusion, if you are interested in a line with an ‘8 or 9’, you may choose either shift for the remainder of the year.

New Rep Contact Info

As I’m sure many of you are aware I will be your new C-Area Rep.  I’m looking forward to this opportunity and wanted to make sure everyone has my contact information.  Please feel free to call, text, email me anytime you have a question and/or issue.

James Darlington

904-347-3065

James.Darlington@natca.net

Contact C Area Rep

1615 Shifts are Kaput

Glenn has agreed to eliminate the 1615 shift for the rest of the year. We will still be bidding the shift in next years schedule in case it is needed but that will be determined at the time.

All shifts outside 7 days should be taken out for you and reverted to a 16. If you have one inside 7 days or have one that was missed outside 7, please make a request to have it moved to a normal 16.