I meant to comment when this blog originally appeared back in March. Unfortunately it's still true:

My weiner hurts.

XXXOOO,

JTB

Has any other FAA employee had their pay cut 30% the last 3yrs ??

Has any other FAA employee had their pay frozen the last 3yrs ??

Has any other Federal employee had their pay cut 30% the last 3yrs ??

Has any other Federal employee had their pay frozen the last 3yrs ??

If it was really about the cost structure & the budgets of the FAA/ATO then
why has no other group ( management ?!? ) shared in the sacrifice ???????

The pay disparity between CPCs & FLMs is egregious & needs to be addressed !!

a GS-14 at ZHU in 1998 made $69,000 – 90,000

a GS-15 at ZHU in 1998 made $81,000 – 106,000

a GS-14 in Houston 2009 earns $107,000 – 139,000

a GS-15 in Houston 2009 earns $126,000 – 153,000

national base AT-11 pay band is $71500 – 102800

a newly certified CPC at ZHU currently starts at $92,000

the top of the CPC band is $132000

adjusted for inflation a new CPC makes less than one did 11yrs ago

$69,000 in 1998 dollars adjusted for inflation to 2009 is about $95,600
(that’s a fairly conservative 3% estimate)

a newly minted FLM at ZHU starts at $158,000-160,000

the top of the FLM pay is $177,000

$81,000 in 1998 dollars adjusted for inflation to 2009 is about $112,200

that’s about a 72% – 92% pay disparity from a new CPC to a FLM

even at the top of the band it’s a 26% difference

When in the 42 history of the FAA has a first line operations supervisor
ever made 75% more than a controller ?????

are FLMs 74-92% more productive than CPCs ??

are FLMs 74-92% more efficient than CPCs ??

are FLMs 74-92% more essential to the mission of the ATO than CPCs ??

Where in the private sector does a first line manager make 72-92% more than
the employees he/she supervises ??

Often when I come in to work Sunday mornings at 7am there’s 3 FLMs at
the sups desk “supervising” 7-10 CPCs

that’s $480-530k managing 7-10 people !!

Where in the private sector are the staffing ratios like that ???

It may be an uphill battle in the current economic environment but
NATCA needs to bring this issue front & center to the FAA an do their best
to rectify the pay issue !!!

http://www.opm.gov/oca/98tables/GSANNUAL/HTML/HOU.htm

http://www.opm.gov/oca/98tables/GSANNUAL/INDEX.HTM

https://employees.faa.gov/employee_services/pay_perf/pay/media/ATSPP_pay_bands_with_locality.xls

http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/html/hou.asp

Now if we can just get a bunch more like him and empower them to speak up when things are going sour, we might get somewhere in this FAA.

If you think a couple of whiners requires a room full of FLMs (with their corresponding salaries) to manage I have to completely disagree with you. There are high-maintenance people at every level of the FAA (yes, FLMs, OMs, and ATMs too). The majority of people come in and do an INCREDIBLE job controlling the aircraft in the NAS and you never hear a cross word from them. When’s the last time you vented to your OM?

If someone has something negative to say, my recommendation would be for you to listen to it. It is your job to help solve problems for the people you work with (for that which is in your power to solve). The person has something that is important to them (even if it is not important to you) and who knows, it may be an issue/idea that can have wide-spread impact.

I know that labeling someone a “whiner” and just moving on requires a lot less work, but hey, at 177K I think the taxpayers deserve your max effort every minute of your workday.

1. Tube sandwich.
2. Beef and Pork by-products.
3. Weinie.
4. hotdawg.
5. Linc trainer for a “flamer”
6. Help me out…?