Our values
Posted by Paul Cox on November 11th, 2009
Another post with the FAA’s mission statement values on it:
- Safety is our passion. We are the world leaders in aerospace safety.
- Quality is our trademark. We serve our country, our stakeholders, our customers, and each other.
- Integrity is our character. We do the right thing, even when no one is looking.
- People are our strength. We treat people as we want to be treated.
Rumor has it that a very high-level meeting will be taking place in the FAA in the next few days. In this meeting, which will apparently include folks like Rick Day (Senior VP in the ATO for Operations), Rick Ducharme (acting Vice President for En Route and Oceanic Services), and other bigwig mucky mucks, they’re going to be discussing ERAM.
Gentlemen, here’s a note from the field: It doesn’t work. The program needs to be either severely revamped, or junked.
The FAA is like any other big organization, only it’s less healthy than many. Our upper level leaders don’t hear the truth nearly often enough and when they do, it’s sugar-coated in layers of doubletalk.
If “safety is our passion”, there’s no way we’ll press onward with ERAM. It’s basically failed almost every operational test it’s been given in the field. There are problems with the most basic functions (tracking, controllers’ displays, human factors and usability, data processing, you name it) of the program.
If “quality is our trademark”, we would stop trying this thing on live traffic immediately. Every time we’ve done so (yes, we’ve used something we know doesn’t work well on live air traffic) it’s ultimately failed and we rolled back to the HOST computer system. We KNOW that the program has things that we have to work around; indeed, the various en route center controllers have had multiple rounds of ERAM “refresher” training where each time the instructors tell us about things that don’t work right with the program and they keep giving us the work-arounds.
If “integrity is our character” and we do the right thing whether someone’s watching or not, then we shouldn’t allow political considerations to enter into the discussion. (I know, I’m hopelessly naive.) It shouldn’t matter whether or not Congress will tear us a new one; doing the right thing means we should quit putting the lives of the flying public at risk with a program that keeps failing.
If “people are our strength” and the FAA seriously wants to treat people as they should be treated, as we all want to be treated ourselves, then I hope the leaders of the FAA wake up and actually seriously LISTEN to the people in the field. They should start soliciting direct input from the controllers at Salt Lake Center and ask them about whether or not to continue pressing on with ERAM. (After all, wouldn’t you want to be consulted directly about things that you deal with every day?) They should actively seek out the union’s input and give NATCA a seat at the decision-making table (after all, wouldn’t you want your representatives as involved in this kind of decision instead of shut out?)
ERAM doesn’t work. I’ve said here before that we have to have it; well, I’m to the point of changing my mind. We’ll still see something like it, or possibly a very revamped version of it, but for now the reality is that what we have doesn’t work.
The new versions of the datablocks was a stupid idea; the clutter on the scopes in dense airspace (like approach controls) is said to be unworkable. Making a controller do two entries to drop a datablock from their screen was a crappy idea. The tracking of aircraft doesn’t work; ERAM continues to jump tracks across sectors, to track airplanes that aren’t there, to misidentify aircraft, and to fail to keep up with aircraft that are turning rapidly.
In the effort to build in lots of new neato-gee-whiz functionality, they’ve trashed the more simple things in the program that are a requirement to work. Rather than simply putting today’s system into and onto a new, more robust framework, they tried to make a big leap forward at the same time- a tactic that has failed nearly every time the FAA has tried it. (Remember test a little, build a little? That worked.)
Rather than truly learning from the lessons of the past, we’re ignoring them because of political ideology. The Bush Administration’s policy said that contracting things out and letting a for-profit corporation create our computer system would work better, even though in the past what the FAA learned is that it’s easier and better for the agency to develop its own automation systems.
It turns out that it’s easier and quicker to teach some air traffic controllers how to program and think like software developers than it is to teach programmers how to think like air traffic controllers. (This makes logical sense; there’s only 14,000 actual air traffic controllers in the United States, but there’s almost two million software engineers, computer programmers, and computer analysts in the nation.)
We learned that lesson over the years and had it reinforced with things like ISSS, but our agency leaders let the political appointees override them in the past few years. Now the FAA is in a spot where we pay others to develop our stuff… and it doesn’t work.
It’s time to get back to business, time to return to what we know how to do. It’s time to put ERAM onto a serious moratorium and either rebuild it almost completely (so it WORKS this time) or just junk it. And it’s time we get this stuff back into the hands of the aviation professionals, the hard-working and motivated people in the Federal Aviation Administration.
Hopefully our values are still something that these muckymucks think about once in a while.
November 11th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I’m not sure what the answer is but I’m guessing Day and Ducharme don’t either.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Rest assured, the players at the table will defend the indefensible. Not exactly a news flash, but,,,these people are concerned about golden parachutes and lining the pockets of contractors (their future employers) with CA$H than doing what’s right and safe by us and the flying public.
The last thing the FAA leaders want are controllers selected by NATCA at the table where decisions are made. The truth hurts the bottom line.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Just the fact that Day and Ducharme have the those titles after their names shows that the FAA has not changed. That compounded by the fact that the FAA would even think to ask for their input into anything ATC related after how they F_cked up the system over the last three years shows that the FAA will never change. I am eligible now and will be around for a few more years doing the minimum and taking back what was stolen from me during those last three years. F-them all!!!
November 12th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Currently at the 20 enroute centers within the continental US, there are 88 Automation Specialists. Of that, 26 of us are 2152′s. This number used to be a lot higher. When a vacancy is filled it’s cheaper to fill it from the ranks of the non-controllers. We all know the FAA is trying to run like a business and cheaper labor is better labor. But guess what, we are represented by NATCA and have been since the Carr Administration. The FAA has never asked us about ERAM, but neither has NATCA. The FAA wants us to do our jobs and keep quiet. NATCA appears to not want to have to deal with us. Our membership numbers have dropped and we cost them money. We were the first to have a contract imposed. Our contract expired in September. We have heard nothing from anybody about a new one. ERAM is a piece of crap. We know it and have for a long time. Some have tried to tell both the FAA and NATCA. Neither want to listen.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:31 am
the FFA dosent care about safety, only the APPERANCE of safety.always been always will be.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I’m scheduled for 8-11 fallback training at ZAB since I’m a CIC. I asked whether this entailed nonradar traning or not… Management didn’t think my comment was all that funny.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:39 am
All 20 FAST offices knew a year or more ago that ERAM has big problems and no the FAA did not listen to a word we said. The FAA made a decision in 1998 that 2152′s did not matter in automation, that was the only field office of 2152′s that did not get the MSS pay raise. Think about how fun it is to sit side by side with people doing the same work but they make 30K more than you do. Since then why would any 2152 take an automation job? We joined NATCA, and the response was “that pay raise was not for you.” We were the first group to receive the “imposed contract” from the FAA and we still have it. Now we have gone from 100% 2152′s to about 30%, that number is going down, and why would any of us join NATCA? The FAST office can only work with what Lockheed has given them, no more and we have been totally ignored throughout the entire process. This shows that once again the FAA has no clue how to use it’s own resources to it’s advantage. Oh and here is a clue, ERAM failed a lot of test before you even got to try it operationally.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I’m a FAST member and a 2152. I’m one of those individuals who would like to see ERAM work,so I would still have a job. But I’m also a member of NATCA, which wants to scrap the whole thing. Given the choice of the two,I’ll keep working.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:29 am
It’s good to see that you Automation folks see whats actually happening. A lot of us folks still working the boards have realized natca’s true colors and we have moved on and took our money with us. I’ve increased my TSP savings with my saved money that use to go to the boys club (natca) and I’m working for myself and my family.
You have obviously made your mind up now go to personnel and fill out the paperwork.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I don’t think NATCA wants ERAM to fail…they, and we, want it to work as advertised not have to use a boatload of workarounds because the agency is too arrogant to get input from the actual uaers.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:25 am
There was a reason that Rick Day’s official name at ZKC was Rick “DEAL” a Day! Checked out a very short time and had multiple deals to the point that the upper management had to hide him from traffic….hence the rise to his current position! Like always the FAA will promote incompetence, award those in management that abuse employees, and pad their friends pockets at the contractor that they will be employed by after they retire. God forbid that you would want the highly skilled professional work force to have input or opinions on the development of new equipment.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I’m having a hard time believing that ANYONE thinks that the bunch of misfits that have been running this agency for the last five years or so is ever going to change. It is such an entrenched, corrupt culture. The changeover in power to the completely inept has been stunning. And I haven’t seen any action from your new administrator to change that direction. This is the same agency that this past June wanted to send me home to change because I wore jeans to work. Which I might understand, after all we were still under the white book, except that this magnificent day was the day I was RETIRING!!!! You guys are SOOOOO screwed! And just keep this in mind, the guy in charge is NEVER EVER going to hire someone smarter than him. A progressive spiral right into the ground.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I agree with the Automation guys. They need to be at the table, bigtime, ASAP. I’m a controller, but without FAA automation guys, this thing will never work. I’m surprised NATCA hasn’t involved them more. I mean, if they’re in NATCA what’s the hold up? Maybe the new leadership will fix that. Maybe.
Maybe the FAA will issue a no-bid contract to Marion and her Merry Minions to come back and fix what they screwed up?
November 13th, 2009 at 5:22 am
Say it ain’t so! Do you mean to tell us that this piece in FAA Today is not factual? Maybe some day the FAA will tell the truth, even if it makes a program look bad. I’m not holding my breath.
ERAM Full-Time Ops Moves Closer
Aviation Daily reports the FAA is preparing
to begin full-time operation of its new en
route air traffic control system — a crucial
technology for its NextGen modernization
effort — at the Salt Lake City Air Route
Traffic Control Center. The agency
recently completed the longest operational
trial to date on its en route automation
modernization system, which will eventually
control traffic at all en route centers. The
live run of 22 hours, 27 minutes began at
4 a.m. on Oct. 31. Salt Lake City is the
first center to use ERAM operationally.
The latest successful trial followed several
shorter operational runs of around six hours.
The FAA’s next step is to switch ERAM on
continuously at Salt Lake City. Meanwhile,
ERAM is also being used operationally at the
Seattle en route center, which is the second
site in the ERAM deployment. A few short
trials have been conducted so far at Seattle,
and the FAA is planning runs of up to 24
hours during the next 10 days.
I guess if you read between the lines this does not actually say that ERAM works, just that it runs. Big deal.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:36 am
I used to read your bits everday, now only monthly,or so. Kinda like TV Soaps….viewer/reader can regain the storyline real quick. I wont begin to use all the letter named programs the FAA has used in the past…Nay, change that. The lettered name programs CONTRACTORS have used thru their lacky , the FAA….to “umproved ” the system. In every case that I was involved in, and there were a “few” from 1970, it was a GREEN college kid with new skills/ieads/dreams turned loose on a field that he/she had no friggen idea , beyond binary numbers, how to navigate. ATCS was, as today, called in to test what they had done. Suggestion. Do like a good of us did in the “old days”…keep a box of PIPs / Shrimpboats in yer locker. Yeah, I know , now I need to explain those two items. Maybe next month.
)
Keep green between…..
November 14th, 2009 at 6:38 am
ooops ! insert “improve”
November 15th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Instead of stating ERAM doesn’t work, tell us why it doesn’t work. Give us specifics. I have seen it tested three times now with little to no change in the overall system performance. It may have a few burps, but so does the current system. You can’t drive the Pinto forever and keep whining about the the new model(s). How about being proactive in resolving any issues, offer your suggestions for improvements. Help the programmers out, key the mike and speak up.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Mike, what “burps” does the current system have? I’ve never seen it crash since the “new” host computer came on line. How the hell am I or any controller supposed to offer programing advice to professionals? It’s not our job to write the code. We just want it to work before the faa signs off on it and spreads the kudos and bonuses around to all concerned (or not concerned at all).
November 15th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
One of the main problems ERAM has is with external interfaces. Flight plans will fail to pass, and UTMs are buggy. A big complaint I heard about the last run was the sheer volume of strips being printed at the terminals. By using trajectory modeling instead of HOST posting points,a LOT more strips are going to be generated. The good news is,it appears the ‘wobble” of tracks has been fixed.
November 17th, 2009 at 8:37 am
•Safety is our passion. We are the world leaders in aerospace safety.
•Quality is our trademark. We serve our country, our stakeholders, our customers, and each other.
•Integrity is our character. We do the right thing, even when no one is looking.
People are our strength. We treat people as we want to be treated.
Management by slogan as practiced by the Bush leftover Krakowski. Listening to the 180 Krak has done on labor relations (NATCA) since Obama/Babbitt took over is enough to make one dizzy…hey Hank, pull back on the stick and make the houses smaller.
And by the way, finishing 214 out of 216 in an employee survey/best places to work, isn’t treating your “people” well, it’s treating them like dirt.
Customers ? I guess we are still running it “like a business” in Krak’s mind. And don’t kid yourselves, career FAA mgmt is doing two things, either setting up their post FAA contractor jobs and/or lying in the weeds waiting for the next Republican WH and Congress to do another Bush Blakey two step on NATCA’s face.
I won’t be around to see it. Staying just long enough past eligibility to earn back some of what Bush Blakey stole from me in future pension earnings.
August 12th, 2010 at 11:24 am
being a computer programmer myself makes me very proud of my job-`~