The FAA Follies

So yesterday we discussed how the FLM/CIC position is filled. The FAA’s stance on this is that they need to have FLMs in that position of overseeing the operation as much as possible, and I pointed out how if that’s the case they need to pay controllers extra for when they take on the responsibility of CIC.

The 10% differential that CICs got paid when they were in that role went away with the FAA’s imposition of the White Book. This meant that from the FAA’s point of view, they might just as well use controllers in that role as much as possible, because it doesn’t cost them anything extra.

This is unfair from the controllers’ point of view, because our staffing requirements for a given area (or tower, etc) are based on how many *control* positions are typically open and working and needed, and don’t count the CIC position.

The CIC position is something we should only be doing occasionally, and in general it should be up to the FLMs to staff that position.

Unfortunately, the FAA’s policy is such that they wind up abusing their controller workforce greatly.

In some facilities, since there’s so few people, any time the FLM is gone they must use a CIC to cover. That means that the FLM and the controllers are effectively one workforce.

Additionally, since they’re small, they can only allot a single slot for vacation leave per day. As soon as any controller takes the vacation leave slot for that day, that’s it; there’s no more leave slots available.

So you’d think that, in a fair and just FAA, it’d be simple- the FLM’s vacation leave slots would be bid along with the controllers, with everyone taking a turn, right?

Sadly, the FAA is not fair and just. The FAA, put bluntly, doesn’t give a damn about its workforce; the FAA managers instead protect their own. Their attitude is “screw you, we got ours.”

In at least one facility, the way it’s done is that the FLM puts in his first vacation request… then his second vacation request… time off for Oshkosh in case he or a controller gets selected for that… time off for any National Guard training dates (of controllers) he’s aware of… any special event weekends at that airport he knows of… and any other days that he wants off.

So basically, by being a FLM, this guy gets to schedule whatever days off he wants. If he were a controller, he’d be #5 out of 8 in the workforce in terms of seniority, but instead he gets to jump past people for who literally have twice as long in the FAA when it comes to getting vacation time.

Screw you, we got ours.

So say you’re number 4 on the seniority list in that facility. By the time you get to bid your FIRST two weeks of vacation leave, you’ve already seen this FLM cherrypick any days off he wanted from the entire year. Then your fellow controllers who are #1, 2, and 3 all pick from what’s left for their first two weeks, and finally you get your chance.

By this point, at least 6 and as many as 10 or 12 weeks of the year are gone in terms of vacation. It’d be one thing if it were just the fellow controllers; at least that’s fair, because they only get to pick two weeks at a shot and they only got to do their first round of bidding.

But some FLM, who has less time in the FAA overall, winds up getting to pick whatever he wants, simply because he’s management.

As if the fact that management didn’t take a pay cut and management didn’t see their pay scales lowered and management continues to get annual inflation increases and management continued to get step increases and management generally took all the money weren’t enough, they’re also screwing their workforce when it comes to time off.

There are multiple facilities in the nation where this happens, for that matter.

I have to admit that it’s somewhat surprising to me that the FAA is #214 out of 216 federal agencies to work for.

I’m surprised we’re not dead last.