The Administrator has agreed to petition the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to hear our pay dispute and make a recommended settlement. This is much more like the course that traditional negotiations follow and is the one preferred by Chairman Young and his staff. Since binding arbitration from the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) is not considered an option because of the '96 appropriations language, the recommendation is just that - a recommendation - but I believe both parties recognize and agree that it will provide the basis for an agreement. Again, since it is a recommendation it will be subject to BOD approval as well as membership ratification. Many details remain to be worked out, including the timetables, but this is the first step toward resolving the impasse. Again, we are working with the FMCS so the recent firings at the FSIP have no bearing on this matter. All of this will be discussed at the NAATS BOD meeting next week. I'll keep you advised of the details as they develop.

I visited DEN, SEA and BOI this week to meet with the members and take their input. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to exchange views and I appreciated all the hospitality.

It appears likely that FAM trips will be authorized again beginning February 1 although I haven't been able to confirm this with AT-1 or 2 yet.

I've included an OASIS Update from National Representative Jeff Barnes.

Wally Pike

 

01/10/02 - I hope your Holiday Season was safe and wonderful. The OASIS Human Factors Team returned to its work this week with a meeting at Harris Corporation. We worked with the Harris engineers to make sure that they understood what we perceived various problems to be, and they worked with us to make sure that their proposed solutions to other problems met our needs and expectations. We are working on problems that will be scheduled for the St. Louis In Service Decision primarily, but some of what we worked on might be seen at the 10th site ISD. We won't know until Harris can take everything and schedule it to get the maximum use out of their resources.

We got our first look at the Anderson software and at first glance it looks like another significant improvement in OASIS capabilities. The Human Factors Team will test it next week at the Tech Center, followed by the NAS Operational Test and Evaluation Team in early February also at the Tech Center with the last round of testing scheduled to take place at AND AFSS in March. We plan to wring this system out and find any problems that are in it early enough that they can be evaluated and resolved as quickly as possible. We already know of a few problems that appear to be minor from our first look. We'll test those areas thoroughly at the Tech Center next week and write Program Trouble Reports as appropriate.

The Human Factors Team's next two meetings are planned to be held at AFSS's unless events force a change in location. Tentatively the Team has selected FTW AFSS as our January meeting site so that a few of our members who have never seen SUA/ISE can see it in use, and in February RAL AFSS. Both of these are tentative and depend on the facilities being able to support us meeting there. Whenever we meet in an AFSS we will plan to demonstrate OASIS using our remote connection capability to the system at the Tech Center. I hope to be on hand to run a couple demos at the ASO quarterly in BNA AFSS in February, and Arnie Holmes from the Human Factors Team and IPT AFSS has been doing demos at facilities in AEA. I also plan to have a full remote workstation set up at the NAATS National Meeting for the Human Factors Team members to give demos.

It seems amazing to us on the Human Factors Team, but we can actually start to perceive a time when we won't have to be meeting continually to work on problems in OASIS. When the frequency of our meetings die down I will push for Team members to continue traveling to AFSS's to demonstrate OASIS. I feel it is vital for you to see what is coming your way before it actually gets dumped into your facility. This is especially true for those of you who saw it back when it was scary to think of having to do your job on it. I am proud of the work that the Human Factors Team has put into making this sway back nag into a sturdy horse...now they are working to turn it from that workhorse into a thoroughbred, and I have every confidence they will succeed.

Fraternally,
Jeff Barnes
National OASIS Rep

I�m working with ALR today on the wording for the joint FMCS request for a recommended resolution to our pay impasse. Once the wording is finalized we�ll post it on the website. Please remember, the language of this request is merely to get the FMCS to agree to make a recommendation and not to argue the case. The plan is to present the issue and all the facts at the hearing itself. Items that we plan to present are the pay percentage increase, retroactivity and staffing. These are the actual pay issues at impasse. A simple way to look at it is to call these the "what" of the pay issue.

Prior to the hearing we will be completing negotiations on the remaining work rules at impasse as well as the pay rules. The pay rules those matters that tell us how to implement the pay (OSI, SCI, etc.). These constitute the "how" of the pay issue. The NAATS team membership for this purpose is ANM Director Don McLennan, EA Director Donna Holmes, SW Director Mark Jaffe and NE Director Kurt Comisky.

Both the "what" and the "how" of the pay issue are subject to BOD approval and membership ratification. Expect a letter from me next week with more details about this process.

The BOD meeting was held this week. In keeping with our policy we will have minutes distributed to the website by January 25. I was again pleased by how the Board completed the business of our organization.

Wally Pike

The joint letter, requesting a recommendation to resolve the pay impasse from the FMCS Director, has been signed and mailed. A copy has been send to NAATS Webmaster John Dibble for posting. 

Expect an update from NAATS NM Director Don McLennan regarding the progress on the pay rules/work rules negotiations this week. Our hope is to resolve these as soon as possible but care must be taken to address all of our concerns. This may take a few meetings. 

As I�ve indicated before, once the above group completes its work we will conduct the hearing. I�ve asked SO Regional Director Dave Hoover to join WP Regional Director Mike Stafford and Legal Counsel Arthur Fox in helping me with our presentation. Dave has agreed so our hearing team is now complete. 

On Tuesday I met with Chairman Don Young and his staff. We discussed the FMCS recommendation request and the Chairman expressed his satisfaction that this is the right course. I advised him that we were committed and that I felt the Administrator would likewise implement any recommendation. I told him I would be back to see him, however, if there was a FAA hesitancy to do so. He responded that, if the FAA refused to implement this recommendation, he would legislate it this year. We agreed to stay in touch as we work through this process. 

I also invited Chairman Young to speak at our national meeting in April. He advised that he would be delighted but Congress is in session that week. We agreed to talk more on this. 

I met with AT-1 Bill Peacock on Monday.  

• There is no hiring freeze in FSS and we agreed to maintain current staffing until a pay agreement is reached.  

• The national recognition for your efforts since September 11 (time-off awards) has been authorized to the regions in the increments discussed earlier (0-20 hours, additional for exemplary service). This time is in addition to the previous award entitlements. The division managers and our Regional Directors will address any problems within regions and cross regional issues will be resolved nationally.   

• The FAM program resumption may slip past February 1. All carriers have signed on but the security order requires waivers for the jumpseat. This is being worked through legal but may not be accomplished by today. Air Traffic will keep me advised. No other problems were noted. 

 Last Friday I visited BNA AFSS and met with SO Regional Coordinator Tom Forte, FacRep Mike Ramsey and the membership. Many good questions were asked and discussed with a number of good suggestions. Later that evening I attended the retirement dinner for BNA Manager Richard Post, who by all accounts is one of the best air traffic managers around. I got to know him during work rule negotiations and soon realized that he was an extremely positive influence. I thoroughly enjoyed both experiences. 

Workload permitting, I plan to attend the FacRep training scheduled February 26-28. Then I go to CXO March 13, FTW March 14 and PIE March 28. I�ll be in Alaska April 30, May 1-2 to meet with the members there. July 31 I�m at HHR and August 1 at SAN. I�m trying to visit as many facilities and talk to as many members as I have invitations. If you�re interested in a meeting please contact your Regional Director. 

Following is an update from OASIS National Representative Jeff Barnes. As a result of the last BOD meeting you will be receiving bi-weekly reports from our liaisons, tech reps, Chief Negotiator and GA Summit Representative.  

Wally Pike 

01/31/02 - The latest round of testing is complete on the new OASIS software. The OASIS Human Factors Team spent three days testing the system using both formal test procedures and ad hoc tests done at the discretion of the team members. When we left the Tech Center 18 Program Trouble Reports (PTRs) had been written. Most of these were written on the new functionality that is present in this software. They will be analyzed and documented by the test organization at the Tech Center and presented for disposition. If it is determined that the problem is in the scope of what is on contract it will be taken on as a Harris PTR. Otherwise it will be brought to the Human Factors Team for determination of priority and disposition. The next round of testing is starting soon. Next week the NAS Operational Test and Evaluation (NOTE) will be done at the Tech Center. It consists of members of the original NOTE Team and an equal number of controllers and management from AND AFSS. They will be testing for four days. This will not only be another test opportunity, but it will give them all a chance to work together and get comfortable. This is important because at the end of February into early March the final test will happen at AND AFSS. The same team will be doing the testing there with a strong emphasis on simulating position operation rather than just testing specific bits of OASIS functionality. The goal is to see the big picture of how OASIS helps/hinders the controllers in their real world duties. I have second hand word that the training that has begun in AND AFSS is going well. It's very early in the process, but everyone is watching this training closely because it's much nearer to being the final product that will be taught at the rest of the facilities. This will also give us more information to make better decisions regarding the national training plan and the training cadre concept. I'm sure Donna Holmes will have more to say on that subject as it gets more well defined. I thank a lot of people here, and deservedly so. I want to thank someone not normally thanked in a union article. My ATM Richard Post recently retired. I want to thank him for keeping the reigns on me very loose, giving me the latitude to do my job as effectively as possible. He has to own a little piece of any success I have had as the OASIS Representative because of the trust he and by his example BNA has had in me to do my best here. The union lost a strong management advocate with his retirement.

Fraternally,
Jeff Barnes
National OASIS Representative

#20, February 22, 2002 

No decision yet from the FMCS Director on whether he will hear the pay dispute and make his recommendation for resolution. As soon as I hear something I�ll update everyone.

The pay/work rules negotiations were held this week. Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan will brief on our progress in that forum.

I will see Don Young again on March 6. No word yet on whether he�ll be able to speak at our national meeting. Congress is scheduled to be in session that week so it�s doubtful he can join us.

Our congressional testimony to the Aviation Subcommittee is due on March 29. We plan to address staffing, equipment, the PBO, ATO and, of course, compensation.

The agenda for our national meeting in April has been given to the FAA. Facility management should be able to act on leave requests to attend this meeting.

Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan and I met with AT-1 Bill Peacock and AT-2 Jeff Griffith this afternoon. Items discussed:

• FSOSC - Our members in the FSOSC will finalize their report on March 14. A decision about the future structure of the FSOSC will then be made.
• FAMS - No estimate on when this will return. Progress is being made but the airline industry has concerns about cockpit access to controllers and deadheading pilots.
• OEX Initial Training Classes - Despite rumors we still have AT-1 commitment on training 98 this fiscal year.
• All regional Air Traffic Division Managers have been briefed on the time off award (0-20 hours).
• A discussion was held concerning a national staffing number but no agreement was reached. We'll continue to talk.

Staffing will be an item in the meetings I have with ATS-1 Steve Brown and Administrator Garvey next month.

Wally Pike

The following is an OASIS update from National Representative Jeff Barnes.

This week I got the opportunity to return to my home facility BNA and give demos of OASIS to the people there along with the folks who came for the ASO quarterly on Wednesday. The demos were well received.

Over the time I have been involved with the program I have noticed a change in the people who have seen our demos. At first the demos were met with skepticism occasionally bordering on hostility, and rightly so given the state of OASIS at the time. However, as time has gone by and OASIS has changed due in large part to the efforts of the Human Factors Team I have seen reactions soften to neutrality and now I'm seeing a further change to genuine interest with a lot of specialists even looking forward to using OASIS. Arnie Holmes has been able to demo OASIS at Eastern Region facilities recently and he has had much the same response as I have. This is good, because despite what rumors you may have heard about funding, OASIS is coming. In fact, the only uncertainty that bears on this right now is that we still don't have a signed MOU for the phased deployment. When the MOU has been finalized and signed the deployment of OASIS will be a sure thing.

I mentioned funding above... As I reported before the OMB pass back budget cut OASIS funding in FY 2003. We are going to fight the cut, as is the Agency. The Agency already wrote a non-concur that I shared with you previously. Now the Agency has finally sent a non-concur to the Inspector General's report that called for further consolidation of Flight Service. I have gotten a copy of that and will share it with you in a future update. If the cut does remain it will likely impact schedule for deployment and system development, pushing them both further down the calendar, but not canceling either one. The pass back cut is actually counterproductive to promoting consolidation because one of the keys for consolidation in the report is OASIS and the cut will delay OASIS. I will be returning to headquarters next week and meeting with the program office to get feedback on specific expected results of such a cutback so that we can present hard facts on the impact in the OASIS section of NAATS testimony to Congress on the 2003 budget. I plan to share the information I get with AOPA to enlist whatever aid they can give us to ensure that full funding is restored by Congress.

For those of you who will be able to attend the National Meeting the plan right now is to have two hours for OASIS. I plan one hour for a demonstration to be given to the meeting by projecting our laptop remote workstation onto a large screen with a hookup into the Tech Center OASIS, then the remainder of the time for a report on the program and questions and answers. As in the past I will have whichever OASIS people who are able to be there up on the podium with me. I will also be inviting the Program Manager from the FAA to attend so he can listen and answer any questions you might want to hear answered from the Agency perspective.

#21, March 6, 2002

I�ve just talked with AT-2 Jeff Griffith and Air Traffic has decided to allow walk-in pilots at our facilities beginning tomorrow.

I�ve talked with NAATS Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan and he has advised me that, after some discussion with management, the agreement is to procedurally handle the matter the same as in the past. This means that our controllers are not responsible for checking pilot credentials for security purposes.

I�ve had a number of meetings this week with some still to happen. Expect a HQ update either Friday or Saturday.

Wally Pike

#21a, March 9, 2002

No response yet from the FMCS Director regarding the joint request for a hearing to resolve the pay dispute. It appears that the joint letter we mailed the last of January was caught up in the irradiated mail and never arrived. They asked that I fax over another copy but the Director is on travel and I wasn�t able to talk with him. I expect an answer from him at any time.

Last week I attended the FacRep training aboard the cruise ship. I was very impressed by the both the work ethic of the attendees as well as the quality of the training. I appreciated the opportunity to talk with all there and my compliments to Directors Donna Holmes, Dave Hoover, Mark Jaffe and Jack O�Connell for their organizational efforts.

I met with ATS-1 Steve Brown this week. We agreed to work toward a staffing agreement and I received his assurances that any future ATO structure will include FSS in Air Traffic.

I talked with Chairman Don Young and his staff this week. They asked that I keep them informed of our progress in resolving the pay issues. I�ve also talked with Senators Graham (FL), Nelson (FL) and Clinton (NY) this week. I�ll continue to coordinate with all as we work through the upcoming appropriations hearings.

GA Summit Rep Ward Simpson and I met with three AOPA representatives this afternoon: Government and Technical Affairs Senior VP Andy Cebula, Air Traffic Services VP Melissa Bailey and Legislative Affairs VP Julia Krauss. We discussed your efforts since September 11, the OIG report on consolidation and OASIS and future technology. We agreed that we share a number of interests and will continue to work together in the future.

I have two meetings scheduled this month with Administrator Garvey. The first is our business meeting on March 21. The second meeting is March 22 and includes the union presidents for a discussion on the ATO. I�ll report the details of these meetings in a future update.

ATS-2 Jeff Griffith has agreed to speak at our national meeting. He has also helped to resolve some of our contractual/bargaining problems in the regions concerning budgetary overtime. Our national position is that budgetary constraints on overtime have no effect on our contractual/bargaining rights. We reserve all rights to negotiate any changes and all contract provisions remain in place.

Wally Pike



The following is from EA Regional Director Donna Holmes:

Constitutional Amendments

At the last BOD meeting it was decided that our constitution needs clarification in many areas. We have formed a Constitutional workgroup consisting of Ward Simpson, Don McLennan, Mike Terry, Dana Colquitt, Donna Holmes and Kate Breen. At this time we would like to solicit input from any member that would like to see a clarification or changes in our constitution. Input should include the Article number and proposed change or clarification language. Input can be e-mailed to [email protected]. This is your opportunity to make necessary changes, please take the time to review our constitution.


The last day to book rooms for the National General Membership Meeting (April 17th, and 18th) at the Monte Carlo, is March 31st. Please book your rooms as soon as possible. Room rate is $85.00 a night. Telephone number for reservations is 800-311-8999 or 702-730-7000.

#22, March 19, 2002

Nothing new on the pay impasse. The pay/work rules teams will meet again next week. Look for an update from Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan.

The national meeting in LAS is fast approaching. Two items of note:

1. We have reached agreement with the FAA regarding the unused Article 4 training time allocations from last October. That time can now be applied to calendar year �02.
2. The BOD authorized the National Office to reimburse FacReps, or their designees, up to $200.00 for travel purposes to attend.

We�re continuing to meet with various congressional members and their staffs. This week it�s Rothman, Pascrell, Clinton, Johnson and Landrieu, with Nickels and Santorum possible. Our goal is to keep them updated on all of our issues.

My business meeting with Administrator Garvey has been rescheduled to March 27. The Administrator�s meeting with the union presidents to discuss the ATO is still on for March 22.

Last week I met with the members at CXO and FTW AFSSs. As always, I enjoyed the discussions and the chance to meet face-to-face with the membership. Facreps Dana Colquitt and Kirk Leander are obviously doing good jobs. My thanks to SW Regional Director Mark Jaffe and Regional Coordinator Dana Colquitt for inviting me.

Please note that I am not currently on ccmail. Until logistical problems are resolved the only sure way to reach me via email is at.

Wally Pike

#23, March 21, 2002

I had a very cordial discussion with Richard Barnes, FMCS Director yesterday afternoon. He apologized for the delay but he�s been on travel and the mail system in DC isn�t back to normal yet. He enthusiastically agreed to conduct the hearing and make a recommendation to resolve our pay dispute.

The FAA management chief negotiator and I will meet with Mr. Barnes sometime in the next few weeks to discuss some of the hearing details. The hearing date will be scheduled once the pay/work rules negotiations are complete.

It�s been a very busy week congressionally with a number of statements of support for the resolution of the pay impasse. I�ll continue to meet with members on both sides of the aisle to also keep them advised of our staffing and equipment problems. I�ve delayed scheduling the next meeting with Don Young until we have a better idea of timetables and any potential problems.

I�ve talked with NAATS Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan and emphasized that, while everyone is understandably anxious to schedule the hearing, I want Bill and his team to take the time they need to address our concerns. We�ll have a better feel for things after they complete their session next week.

As important as pay is, it isn�t the only issue we have. Tomorrow afternoon the union president will meet with the Administrator to discuss the ATO. Obviously we have a number of questions and our hope is that she will answer all of them.

Two representatives from the GAO interviewed me yesterday. The topic was the FAA since personnel reform and whether the FAA has taken advantage of their opportunities. I think you know the tone of my response.

Wally Pike

 #24, March 22, 2002

Following are two OASIS Updates from NAATS National OASIS Representative Jeff Barnes.

OASIS Update

03/05/02 - You'd think that the Flight Service branch of Air Traffic (ATP-300) at headquarters would have a good grasp of OASIS considering it's the primary piece of new equipment on the verge of coming on line for flight service controllers nationwide. It's what I've thought, and sadly, it's wrong.

What brought this about was having Alice Haines (SEA FacRep and member of the OASIS Human Factors Team) ask me to read a paragraph in the most recent Air Traffic Bulletin (December 2001). It is embedded in an article entitled "ATC Services for Hearing Impaired Pilots." This article was written by ATP-320 (no further credit is given in the article). It imparts a lot of pertinent information, but contains a huge error regarding OASIS.

The second half of the third paragraph from the end of the article is :

"...however, the new Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) will have an interactive briefing capability, which will improve direct access to the weather briefer's interpretations by hearing impaired pilots. Once OASIS is functional, a controller and pilot will be able to utilize the instant messaging capability that comes with Microsoft products."

This sets a grossly false expectation for OASIS. To this point our energy has been focused on making OASIS suitable for the controllers, with little thought given to how the controllers will conduct an interactive briefing in the future. Interactive briefings will certainly be addressed in the future, but that time is not here yet. Aside from functionality issues we are just now beginning the effort to reevaluate the inclusion of DUATS into OASIS. The NAATS position is yes, DUATS must continue to be included in OASIS in the future as has been the plan all along. The FAA wants to look at the plan again to make sure it's still viable, and we are participating in that effort.

However, that effort will not include any consideration of how interactive briefings will work. So, there are no plans right now to address the subject. I talked to some of the people involved in OASIS and the only reference any of them could give me to instant messaging was an idea that goes back to when the OASIS contract was originally bid out.

Clearly ATP is completely out of touch with what is going on in OASIS. Obviously we want interactive briefing capability in OASIS, but my vision of it goes beyond what is presented in the article, and it's something that hasn't been seriously considered beyond some idle brainstorming. We have to prioritize the problems we address in OASIS. First we need to make it the best we can for the controllers, then we need to integrate DUATS into it. Then will be the time to put our hands around interactive briefing. In the meantime it's misleading and irresponsible to report on nonexistent capabilities in an official air traffic publication that is required reading for all controllers.

03/21/02 - The OASIS Human Factors Team is meeting in RAL AFSS this week. We have been giving demos to the facility personnel and people from other AFSS's in the area who have been able to come. The demos have gone very well, and I want to thank the people of RAL AFSS for their hospitality, as I would like to thank the people of the other AFSS's we have met at for theirs. Our next meeting will be in early May in STL if they can support it, and then June in BTV. The positive response we are getting now from demos has led us to decide that the OASIS should be demoed at all AFSS's. We will be working to make sure that every facility gets a visit, if not by the whole Human Factors Team for their meeting with demos, then by a human Factors Team member who will come for a couple days to run demos for the facility. As we firm up our plans we will coordinate with FacReps and Directors and managers to ensure we come at an appropriate time.

As you know, OASIS is facing a 5 million dollar budget cut in the OMB budget request to Congress for FY2003. We are fighting this through testimony along with the FAA, Harris, and AOPA. However, the Program Office for OASIS is planning the program's FY2003 activities around the cut. It is going to slow things down in both deployment and development unfortunately. You can expect to see only one site deployed per month in FY2003. There will be no funding beyond the first 12 sites until the program gets FY2004 money. At this point, even if the 5 million is restored we would not likely see anymore sites installed, although we would see extra development and less of a lag getting to the 13th site. The reason for this is that the OASIS program was baselined for the acquisition of OASIS only. Since then we have added the console purchase, which is funded by the OASIS program, but which was not part of the last baseline budget of the program. In addition, the changes dictated to OASIS by the Human Factors Team have been substantially more than was originally budgeted for by the program. OASIS has funded these activities creatively, but it's all coming due now. This will necessitate that the program be rebaselined this summer to increase the funding requests through the remainder of the program to cover extra costs of consoles and development. However, that rebaselining will not be reflected in the OASIS budget request until FY2004 assuming it's accepted by the Joint Resources Council (JRC - a group made up of high level FAA executives that decide on acquisition program funding and timelines).

So the upshot of all this is that we can expect to see only 12 sites installed in FY2003. There is a bit of a silver lining to this though. It gives us some time to make sure our training is right and that our cadre training concept is a good one and that the trainers are comfortable with the material before we get into a more intense installation schedule. This also gives us some extra breathing space in system development. The Human Factors Team doesn't want you to end up looking at a wall of monitors four feet high in front of you. We want to minimize the pieces of glass you have to look at to do your job. This means that we want to integrate as much as we can into OASIS. So SUA/ISE will initially come to you in a stand-alonem system, but we plan to integrate that functionality into OASIS so we can do away with the extra piece of equipment, also thereby making the function available at all positions. We want to do the same with other systems that we hear are being developed for Fight Service. However, development takes time, and this delay will give us extra time to get some of these functions incorporated into OASIS before it's deployed, so we don't have to hope for Pre-Planned Product Improvement (P3I) money to get put into OASIS.

Just because the installations have been cut in half in FY2003 doesn't necessarily mean that the final installations will be pushed back. Part of the installation plan has always been to move to 3 sites per month at some point. That can be started sooner in the waterfall to ensure the final
installations don't slip. 

Fraternally,
Jeff Barnes

#25, March 28, 2002

The union presidents met with AOA-1 Jane Garvey, ADA-1 Monte Belger, ATS-1 Steve Brown and ALR-1 Ray Thoman last Friday to discuss the new ATO. Customer bases and metrics will drive the whole organization, with specific ones for FSS (flight information services), terminal and enroute (service delivery), oceanic, navigation (AF) and support services. I received assurances from both the Administrator and Deputy Administrator that there�s nothing significant in this structure other than the difference in customer bases and metrics. The FSS measurements are call delay, number of service actions and customer survey; they are open to different measurements if we have a better idea. In response to my questions about staffing affecting these measurements, I was assured that this is merely raw data that can actually be used to argue for increased staffing.

The Administrator emphasized that the metrics argue against privatization. No decisions have been made on flow charts or management positions. Plans are for this forum to hold continuing meetings approximately every two weeks and for full union involvement.

I believe it is critical that we stay involved during this transformation. There are challenges ahead but also opportunities. I�ll pass along more information as it becomes available.

EA Regional Director Donna Holmes, SW Regional Director Mark Jaffe and I met with Administrator Garvey again yesterday. There has been no AOA-1 response to the DOT IG report on FSS consolidation; there's a feeling that current technology is a significant barrier.

There hasn't been a decision made on whether an A76 contracting out study will be done. There's no push for this from the FAA but if either consolidation or contracting out become serious considerations we'll be informed and involved at the earliest stages.

We also discussed the ATO and the pros and cons of FSS having its own business unit. Bottom line - for now there are more advantages but as I said above, we need to stay fully engaged as we work through this change.

Earlier this week I submitted out congressional testimony to the Aviation Subcommittee (copy on the web page). Chairman Rogers is again not allowing personal testimony unless he specifically requests it.

Wally Pike

03/21/02 - The OASIS Human Factors Team is meeting in RAL AFSS this week. We have been giving demos to the facility personnel and people from other AFSS's in the area who have been able to come. The demos have gone very well, and I want to thank the people of RAL AFSS for their hospitality, as I would like to thank the people of the other AFSS's we have met at for theirs. Our next meeting will be in early May in STL if they can support it, and then June in BTV. The positive response we are getting now from demos has led us to decide that the OASIS should be demoed at all AFSS's. We will be working to make sure that every facility gets a visit, if not by the whole Human Factors Team for their meeting with demos, then by a human Factors Team member who will come for a couple days to run demos for the facility. As we firm up our plans we will coordinate with FacReps and Directors and managers to ensure we come at an appropriate time.

As you know, OASIS is facing a 5 million dollar budget cut in the OMB budget request to Congress for FY2003. We are fighting this through testimony along with the FAA, Harris, and AOPA. However, the Program Office for OASIS is planning the program's FY2003 activities around the cut. It is going to slow things down in both deployment and development unfortunately. You can expect to see only one site deployed per month in FY2003. There will be no funding beyond the first 12 sites until the program gets FY2004 money. At this point, even if the 5 million is restored we would not likely see anymore sites installed, although we would see extra development and less of a lag getting to the 13th site. The reason for this is that the OASIS program was baselined for the acquisition of OASIS only. Since then we have added the console purchase, which is funded by the OASIS program, but which was not part of the last baseline budget of the program. In addition, the changes dictated to OASIS by the Human Factors Team have been substantially more than was originally budgeted for by the program. OASIS has funded these activities creatively, but it's all coming due now. This will necessitate that the program be rebaselined this summer to increase the funding requests through the remainder of the program to cover extra costs of consoles and development. However, that rebaselining will not be reflected in the OASIS budget request until FY2004 assuming it's accepted by the Joint Resources Council (JRC - a group made up of high level FAA executives that decide on acquisition program funding and timelines).

So the upshot of all this is that we can expect to see only 12 sites installed in FY2003. There is a bit of a silver lining to this though. It gives us some time to make sure our training is right and that our cadre training concept is a good one and that the trainers are comfortable with the material before we get into a more intense installation schedule. This also gives us some extra breathing space in system development. The Human Factors Team doesn't want you to end up looking at a wall of monitors four feet high in front of you. We want to minimize the pieces of glass you have to look at to do your job. This means that we want to integrate as much as we can into OASIS. So SUA/ISE will initially come to you in a stand-alone system, but we plan to integrate that functionality into OASIS so we can do away with the extra piece of equipment, also thereby making the function available at all positions. We want to do the same with other systems that we hear are being developed for Fight Service. However, development takes time, and this delay will give us extra time to get some of these functions incorporated into OASIS before it's deployed, so we don't have to hope for Pre-Planned Product Improvement (P3I) money to get put into OASIS.

Just because the installations have been cut in half in FY2003 doesn't necessarily mean that the final installations will be pushed back. Part of the installation plan has always been to move to 3 sites per month at some point. That can be started sooner in the waterfall to ensure the final
installations don't slip. 

Fraternally,
Jeff Barnes
 

#26, April 5, 2002

Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan has sent an update to the RegCos for distribution on the bargaining session last week. The work rule TAUs are posted on our web page and the Parties appear to be close to an agreement on the remaining pay rules. Their next meeting is scheduled for the first part of May.

The management Chief Negotiator and I are waiting on confirmation of a meeting with FMCS Director Richard Barnes. This is a preliminary conference to discuss the upcoming hearing on our pay impasse. My guess is that the hearing itself will now be held sometime in May.

I'm continuing to work the staffing issues with AT-1 Bill Peacock (who will be a speaker at our national meeting later this month). Our next meeting is April 11 and I plan to discuss that staffing standard, shortages and agency hiring procedures.

You may hear about a hiring freeze in ATS. We've been advised that this freeze does not apply to us since operational personnel are excluded. I'll follow-up on this to avoid any misunderstandings.

Latest on the ATO: on hold until the Administrator receives approval from OST to bring aboard an "acting" Chief Operating Officer (COO). If that doesn't happen then we can't move forward until the permanent COO is hired, probably sometime after the end of the Administrator's term (August 5).

Regardless of the pay impasse, staffing and equipment issues congressional relations and educating our representatives to our issues is an ongoing process. I've discussed our issues with staffers from three offices (Bono, Clinton, Solis) this week and I'm scheduling personal meetings with those congressional representatives. I plan to meet with Don Young sometime during the next two weeks to keep him updated on our progress on the pay impasse.

SO Regional Director Dave Hoover and I attended a membership meeting at PIE AFSS last week. As always, I appreciated the opportunity to discuss our issues and get feedback and suggestions. My thanks to FacRep Richard Anderson for his invitation and hospitality.

Wally Pike

The following is an OASIS Update from OASIS National Representative Jeff Barnes.

04/04/02 - This week I attended my first meeting of the group that will determine whether DUATS will be integrated into OASIS or will remain as it is today with vendors providing the service (Scott Malon, our ATP liaison, covered the kickoff meeting for me). Our position of course is that
integration is not only desirable, but is essential for future enhancements to the service we provide to the pilots. Unfortunately right now we are pretty much alone in that opinion.

AOPA does not want the integration. Their position is that competing vendors ensure continued upgrading of services to the pilots. An integrated DUATS does not have competition to drive development, and it would be solely under the control of the FAA, an organization with a history of not upgrading equipment once it has been deployed. This viewpoint is certainly understandable, but our OASIS MOU will put an agreement into place that would substantially mitigate the risk of stagnation in OASIS.

First is that OASIS will always have its own separate budgetary line item in the FAA budget throughout its life cycle. It will never disappear into the noise of the general FAA budget to languish, forgotten because it's "just a Flight Service system."

Second is that the FAA agrees that they will not reprogram any money from the OASIS budget without agreement from NAATS. This means that if some other program is overspending they can't move money over to it from OASIS without our cooperation.

The MOU hasn't been signed yet, but it will be prior to AND AFSS beginning live operations on OASIS. However, these two items have already been agreed to by the Agency. When the MOU does get signed you will get copies in your facilities to read for yourself, and we will also provide more rationale for you.

In actuality I see that this presents an opportunity for NAATS and AOPA to work together as we never have before. It will be in both our interests to see that Congress provides a continuing funding stream for improvements to OASIS through its life in Flight Service. Also, improvements to DUATS will generally mean improvements to the controllers also, so we all benefit.

There is one other key benefit. That is the interactive briefing. We have all thought about being able to perform an interactive briefing with our customers at one time or another. It has been a goal since the days of Model 2. In order to develop a true interactive briefing DUATS will HAVE to be integrated with OASIS. That is the only way to ensure that pilot and controller are looking at exactly the same thing and that the controller will be able to control the briefing for both. I cannot foresee any way this could be accomplished with vendors due to different proprietary systems, software, and data presentations, and two or more vendors would be even worse.

While this kind of interactivity is not going to be available to us immediately, without integration it will never be available, and I think this would be a disservice to the pilot, and backward thinking rather than planning for the future. It's our job to think beyond the present and accommodate possibility in our planning for the future. Stagnation in our job is our enemy.

03/21/02 - The OASIS Human Factors Team is meeting in RAL AFSS this week. We have been giving demos to the facility personnel and people from other AFSS's in the area who have been able to come. The demos have gone very well, and I want to thank the people of RAL AFSS for their hospitality, as I would like to thank the people of the other AFSS's we have met at for theirs. Our next meeting will be in early May in STL if they can support it, and then June in BTV. The positive response we are getting now from demos has led us to decide that the OASIS should be demoed at all AFSS's. We will be working to make sure that every facility gets a visit, if not by the whole Human Factors Team for their meeting with demos, then by a human Factors Team member who will come for a couple days to run demos for the facility. As we firm up our plans we will coordinate with FacReps and Directors and managers to ensure we come at an appropriate time.

As you know, OASIS is facing a 5 million dollar budget cut in the OMB budget request to Congress for FY2003. We are fighting this through testimony along with the FAA, Harris, and AOPA. However, the Program Office for OASIS is planning the program's FY2003 activities around the cut. It is going to slow things down in both deployment and development unfortunately. You can expect to see only one site deployed per month in FY2003. There will be no funding beyond the first 12 sites until the program gets FY2004 money. At this point, even if the 5 million is restored we would not likely see anymore sites installed, although we would see extra development and less of a lag getting to the 13th site. The reason for this is that the OASIS program was baselined for the acquisition of OASIS only. Since then we have added the console purchase, which is funded by the OASIS program, but which was not part of the last baseline budget of the program. In addition, the changes dictated to OASIS by the Human Factors Team have been substantially more than was originally budgeted for by the program. OASIS has funded these activities creatively, but it's all coming due now. This will necessitate that the program be rebaselined this summer to increase the funding requests through the remainder of the program to cover extra costs of consoles and development. However, that rebaselining will not be reflected in the OASIS budget request until FY2004 assuming it's accepted by the Joint Resources Council (JRC - a group made up of high level FAA executives that decide on acquisition program funding and timelines).

So the upshot of all this is that we can expect to see only 12 sites installed in FY2003. There is a bit of a silver lining to this though. It gives us some time to make sure our training is right and that our cadre training concept is a good one and that the trainers are comfortable with the material before we get into a more intense installation schedule. This also gives us some extra breathing space in system development. The Human Factors Team doesn't want you to end up looking at a wall of monitors four feet high in front of you. We want to minimize the pieces of glass you have to look at to do your job. This means that we want to integrate as much as we can into OASIS. So SUA/ISE will initially come to you in a stand-alone system, but we plan to integrate that functionality into OASIS so we can do away with the extra piece of equipment, also thereby making the function available at all positions. We want to do the same with other systems that we hear are being developed for Fight Service. However, development takes time, and this delay will give us extra time to get some of these functions incorporated into OASIS before it's deployed, so we don't have to hope for Pre-Planned Product Improvement (P3I) money to get put into OASIS.

Just because the installations have been cut in half in FY2003 doesn't necessarily mean that the final installations will be pushed back. Part of the installation plan has always been to move to 3 sites per month at some point. That can be started sooner in the waterfall to ensure the final
installations don't slip. 

Fraternally,
Jeff Barnes

#27, April 12, 2002

No further information on the preliminary meeting with FMCS Director Richard Barnes. He is unavailable today but will return my call on Monday.

SO Regional Director Dave Hoover and SO Regional Coordinator Tom Forte are compiling some data for the hearing concerning LAS/AAS. Your input is needed and appreciated.

It would also be useful if you would forward NAATS Headquarters with any information on flight assists. The FAA does a poor job of compiling this data. It can be used at the hearing to substantiate some of our services that directly affect aviation safety.

I met with AT-1 Bill Peacock yesterday. The following items were discussed:

• We are exempt from the current ATS hiring freeze.
• There are problems in ATX regarding how new hires are counted and credited. This directly affects the AT-1 commitment to hire 98 new FSS air traffic controllers in �02. AT-1 will correct this.
• Some of the regions are doing a poor job of new hires. We have examples where facilities are 15 or more short staffed in air traffic controllers but the regions show an overstaffing balance. This is created, of course, by the fact that we�re lumped in with staff and management in the other than controller work force. This emphasizes the continuing need for our own staffing number of just FSS air traffic controllers. I�ll continue to work this issue with AT-1, ATS-1 and ALR-1.

This is also an issue for Capitol Hill.

NAATS Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan has completed negotiations on the OASIS and FSOSC MOU. This will be posted on our website.

Looks like a great national meeting next week. The guest room number indicates a large turnout.

Wally Pike

#28, April 24, 2002

By all accounts the NAATS National Meeting last week was a big success. The turnout was excellent and everyone seemed to enjoy the agenda which included AT-1 Bill Peacock discussing the new ATO, budget and FSS staffing. Thanks to Administrator Ward Simpson for making the hotel and meeting arrangements and to SW Regional Coordinator Dana Colquitt for scheduling the hospitality room. Thanks also to Scott Malon and Ward for conducting the training, which was very well received.

We held the BOD meeting on Monday and Tuesday prior to the membership meeting. It was also a very productive meeting with all the organizational business being addressed. In accordance with BOD policy, the meeting minutes will be sent to our Webmaster John Dibble Friday for posting on our website. A heads up, the BOD has decided that next year�s National Meeting will be held in San Antonio the week of April 21. Later this year (�02) we�ll conduct a national training meeting in the DFW area the week of October 7.

The preliminary meeting with the FMCS Director will be held May 16. The purpose of this meeting is not to conduct the hearing on pay resolution but to verify the ground rules. My expectation is that we will finish the remainder of the pay rules in May and conduct the actual hearing shortly thereafter.

I�m scheduling my next meeting with Chairman Young for sometime after the May 16 meeting above. I�ll keep him, as well as other key congressional representatives, advised of our progress.

I�ll be in Alaska meeting with the members from April 25 to May 2. I don�t expect anything to change during this timeframe but I�ll stay in touch with NAATS Headquarters just in case.

Wally Pike
 

#29, April 30, 2002

Nothing new on pay. The pay rules negotiating team is still scheduled to meet the week of May 6 and my expectation is that they should wrap up the remaining pay rules. As I've mentioned previously the preliminary meeting with the FMCS Directors will be May 16. If the pay rules are completed then we could schedule the hearing date while we're conducting the preliminary meeting.

For the past six days I've been visiting with the members in Alaska and explaining the pay impasse status. All of the meetings have been very productive and I want to thank AK Regional Director Alan Baker, AK Regional Coordinator Marc Lackman, HubRep Steve Larson, FacReps Dwight Kramer, Phil Brown and Guylan Roberts for all their help in scheduling the events. I also want to thank all the AK members for their participation and hospitality.

Tonight and tomorrow I'm in ANC attending functions at the Professional Women Controllers (PWC) National Conference. Next week I'll be participating in the National Labor Relations Council (NLRC) meeting in DC. This is the old national partnership group that includes the Deputy Administrator, various Associate/Assistant Administrators and the FAA unions.

I have a meeting on May 22 with ATS-1 Steve Brown to discuss a national staffing agreement. At our National Meeting a few weeks ago, the membership did a great job of communicating our concerns on this subject to AT-1 Bill Peacock. I'm scheduling a meeting with him as soon as our calendars allow.

In a previous update I mentioned being interviewed by representatives of the General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress. The GAO would now like to interview bargaining unit members at some select locations around the country. The idea is to get your feelings on FAA Personnel Reform, Model Work Environment, etc. I encourage you to participate in these interviews if you get the chance. FAA management is not involved; this is strictly for congressional purposes.

NAATS ARU Liaison Kerryaine Mazziotti has rotated back to the field after doing a great job for us the past year. Jim Perkins is onboard to ensure we don't miss anything. Pedro Munoz-Morillo will also be returning to the field after a very productive year as our ARS Liaison. He will be replaced by Art Finnegan (BDR AFSS). My thanks to all for all their work on behalf of the membership.

Wally Pike

The following is an OASIS Update from NAATS National OASIS Representative Jeff Barnes.

04/29/02 - At the national meeting in Las Vegas I found out that rumors are rife regarding what is going to happen as a result of the anticipated 5 million dollar budget cut in FY 2003. I need to dispel rumors that have cropped up from various sources...

First and foremost...at this point there has been no adjustment to the OASIS waterfall. That can only be done by the OASIS Human Factors Team, and the subject has not yet been raised in the team. What this means is that NO changes have been made to the waterfall at this point. None, nada, zip. It remains as was originally decided upon by the team.

The Human Factors Team will be addressing the waterfall at our meeting next week in St. Louis. One thing we will be asked to sign off on is the installation of only 12 stations in FY2003. That will likely be agreed to since there will be literally no money to do any more than that. Beyond that we will be talking about the situation with the 12th station, CXO. Rumors and speculation have run rampant regarding what's up with their installation. Again, at this point no decision has been considered or made by the team. Ideally we would like to leave the installations exactly as they are in the current waterfall (with FY2003 installations slowed). Some ideas on how to do that have been floated and will be investigated in depth by the team when we take up the subject next week. I feel that if the team has to move CXO that it will be done with the least amount of disruption to the schedule that we can accommodate. The Human Factors Team worked hard to create the waterfall as it stands now and would be very reluctant to make changes to it. However, if a change is needed it will be thoroughly worked out to minimize impact.

While we were in Las Vegas a hardware Technical Exchange Meeting (TEM) took place at Harris. Hardware issues were discussed and Harris showed some of the things they were investigating as possible improvements. Unfortunately no one from NAATS could be there, but I got reports of what was shown and a couple items were pretty interesting. The first is possibly using 19 inch flat panel displays in place of the 21 inch CRT monitors. This would be a tremendous benefit to AF because the flat panels are light and easily movable by a single person. The 21 inch monitors require 2 people to lift and move them due to weight and bulk. Plans are underway for the Human Factors Lab at the Tech Center to do an analysis of the usability of the flat panels. This is needed because the viewable part of the screen is .8 inch smaller than that of the 21 inch monitor. .8 inch does not seem significant, but we want to do it right and evaluate formally in the proper human factors way. Tentative plans are to do the evaluation at the end of May at the Tech Center so that the results will be known soon enough to enable the flat panels to be part of the STL installation if they're determined to be appropriate.

The other thing was a thumbprint reader. This would eliminate the need for remembering passwords and such in OASIS. All you would do is sit at a position, put your thumb on the scanner. It would identify you and log on the workstation without asking for username or password. Apparently the unit Harris is looking at looks at more than just the prints, because it can be supposedly be used even if you have cuts or scratches on your thumb. I am eager to hear more about this as it is something I've advocated for OASIS for well over a year now.

I got more good news today. The OAWS (I'm drawing a blank right now on what the acronym stands for) is the method by which we will be able to recover missing service A data if an OASIS goes down. The concept is that there will be one at SEA and one at AND. They will store 13 hours of data (since weather data is updated at least every 12 hours if not more often) that can be accessed by OASIS at any facility in case they have an outage. There will be a utility available to the supervisor to do a download with settable parameters. So if your OASIS was down for 90 minutes you could request a download of the last two hours of service A traffic. If it was down for a day you could request the last thirteen hours (this would be enough to ensure you have a complete weather database). This is done through the FSDPS today on M1FC, and a full reload can take upwards of a couple hours. When the OAWS was initially designed it was estimated that a full download would take approximately 40 minutes, a nice improvement on 2 hours. Harris is doing some testing on the OAWS which is operational there right now and what they are finding is that in actuality a full download is taking about 10 minutes to complete. This is much better than we anticipated, and I'm told that Harris is looking into ways to even further reduce that.

Fraternally,
Jeff Barnes

#30, May 13, 2002

The negotiations on the pay rules were not completed last week. Chief Negotiator Bill Dolan will provide an update for your information. In the interim, he reports that the areas of dispute are not many but they are significant. He has asked that I elevate the issues to the necessary level to complete these negotiations. I began that process last week and I expect to resolve this within the next week or so.

Our preliminary meeting with FMCS Director Richard Barnes will be held on Thursday, May 16.

The FAA unions met last week to discuss the Aviation Labor Coalition (ALC). At our meeting next November we will try to get all the union presidents to attend so that we can finally sign the charter. Please remember, this is not an affiliation or merger, it�s an agreement by the unions to work together on items of mutual concern.

The FAA Labor Management Council also met last week. One of the items discussed is the new performance management system (PMS). More work needs to be done on this but it�s a pretty good product. Thanks to our representative on the development workgroup, NE Regional Coordinator Tom Halligan. ADA-1 Monte Belger announced his retirement, effective August 2.

Secretary Mineta wants to implement a DOT LMR Board similar to the FAA one above consisting of the various union presidents and agency heads. I indicated my willingness to attend. Next step is for the union presidents to meet and discuss a charter.

ACR-1 Fanny Rivera briefed the union presidents on the Dispute Resolution Institute (DRI). This is an additional tool that can be used to resolve disagreement but it does not replace any administrative remedies. The union presidents will continue to work with ACR and try to reach an agreement.

My scheduled trips for membership meetings are as follows:

FOD July 11, HHR July 31, SAN August 1. I�m also coordinating a swing through the GL Region with Director Jack O�Connell (probably in June) and a trip to MIV with Director Donna Holmes.

The NAATS Finance Committee was at NAATS HQ last week. I want to thank John Wesselhoft (PIE), Bob Roose (PIE) and Mark Bunker (GRB) for all their work. John is completing his fifth year as our Treasurer and he�s worked very hard on our behalf. Again, our thanks for his and the team�s efforts.

Please note that this is a solicitation of membership interest in serving at NAATS Treasurer. The Treasurer:

• Is recommended by the president and approved by the BOD,
• Serves as Chairman of the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee makes annual budget recommendations to the BOD,
• Attends the fall BOD meeting to explain Finance Committee recommendations and discuss the NAATS budget,
• Has a budget for committee meetings to determine budget recommendations,
• Receives a $225/month stipend.
• Recommends the remaining two committee members for BOD approval.

If you are interested in serving as NAATS Treasurer please send NAATS HQ your name and a short resume. I�m also soliciting interest the members serving as liaisons or on national work groups. If you�re interested, please send us a brief resume. If we already have your name, an updated resume would be helpful.

You may have heard about legislation to correct specific FAA pay inequalities. This is basically the same legislation we saw last year and is working through the same congressional offices. I�m meeting next week with one of the co-sponsors, Congressman Kanjorski (D-PA), later this week.

I�ll next see Don Young on May 21.

Wally Pike

Following is an OASIS Update from NAATS National Representative Jeff Barnes.

05/08/02 - The Human Factors Team is meeting this week at STL AFSS doing demos for STL and COU personnel in addition to our regular business. The demos have gone very well and I would like to thank the personnel from both facilities who have taken the time to attend them.

I have heard reports that are disturbing. What I have found is that misleading information has been given out by the console site survey teams regarding placement of equipment in the consoles. At several facilities they have strongly discouraged any equipment placement outside their "standard" that they bring with them, and at at least one (OAK) they said that no changes could be made, period. They have cited Human Factors Team decisions to support this statement. That is completely wrong.

The Human Factors Team has discussed equipment placement, and what has been decided is that on the standard preflight console all the equipment has to be mounted to the left side. This is to accommodate the size of the anticipated Touch Entry Display that will come with the AFSS Voice Switch when it eventually gets deployed. This is the only console where the Team has placed any constraints. It was discussed by the Team and decided that we could not anticipate local needs and equipment, therefore the placement of equipment in all the other console types would be at the discretion of the facility.

Of course this is something that some in the program would just as soon be talked about quietly and with the greatest reluctance because it means extra work to produce the cutouts in the panels if they aren't all done the same way. It's my understanding that Evans has been very supportive of this, but we all know that there are people who are hesitant to let decisions be made at the local level.

If you are going through site survey, or if you have gone through site survey, and have been told that you have no choice in equipment placement the FacRep should tell management and the console folks they are wrong and you want to discuss the equipment placement in your consoles. If they continue to tell you no get in touch with me and we will work the issue from the national level. This might not get a quick correction if your console acquisition has passed the point where the panels are actually cut by Evans, but we can at least identify facilities that could be retrofit candidates if they were misled. Action beyond that would have to wait until the OASIS program has money again which would likely stretch out to FY2004, but at least we would be
on the path to correcting a problem.

Fraternally,
Jeff Barnes
703-582-6616