DOT IG RECOMMENDS FURTHER CONSOLIDATIONS

This is an excerpt from the Department of Transportation Inspector General�s Report semi-annual report from December 7th. Courtesy of Tim Maynard, Kenai AFSS

FAA Operational and Supportability Implementation (OASIS)

We estimated cost savings of nearly $500 million over a 7-year period if FAA were to consolidate automated flight service stations now while a new computer system known as "OASIS" is in the early stages of deployment. The savings could be allocated to other agency missions that have become more critical in light of the events of September 11.

We found that consolidating the 61 automated flight service stations is possible without sacrificing safety or service; since:

1. users now have access to on-line flight services;

2. FAA has already consolidated over 315 flight service stations into the current 61 without harming safety or service;

3. FAA studies conclude that 61 sites are not necessary to meet current and future demand for flight services; and

4. users do not object to consolidation, provided that automated technologies, such as OASIS, are in place to maintain existing levels of service.

FAA�s automated flight service stations provide general aviation pilots with information and services, such as preflight and in-flight weather briefings, assistance in flight planning, notices to aviators, and emergency assistance.

    CHIEF NEGOTIATOR�S CORNER

Bill Dolan, NAATS Chief Negotiator -- [email protected]

Why Negotiate?

The question has been raised by some members as to why we, NAATS, are negotiating with the agency and coming to agreement with the Agency on issues when they are not honoring previous agreements. Why are we singing MOUs that don�t have any apparent benefit to the bargaining unit?

Specific Questions Being:

"Why don�t we use these issues as pressure points to force the Agency to come to agreement on the contract or pay or stopping A-76"?

The simple answer is "we can�t."

"Why do we sign a CRU-X, Facility Security Risk Management (FSRM), or an A-76 MOU when the Agency refuses to implement a negotiated contract?"

Once again a simple answer, "because we must follow the contract and the law"

"Why don�t we insist the Agency agree to our demands to implement the negotiated work rules that have been tentatively agreed upon and honor the agreement?"

They disagree as to their responsibility to implement at this stage of the negotiations. This is the subject of a ULP and must be decided by the FLRA.

While I understand and share your frustration, we don�t have a lot of choice in the matter. We must follow both the law and our contract. Article 9 of the contract specifies the procedure which must be followed. This procedure states that the Agency notifies us of a proposed change in working conditions. We then have a specified timeframe in which to respond with either a request for a briefing followed by negotiations or we may choose to skip the briefing and enter directly into negotiations. Both parties then exchange proposals and continue until agreement is reached or one of the parties declares an impasse. If an agreement is reached, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed. If impasse is declared by either party, a third party (the FLRA) will determine the outcome and once again we have a binding and enforceable decision on the issue.

If, as suggested by some of our members, NAATS should refuse to agree to any MOUs until the Agency addresses our major issues regarding pay, contract, and/or A-76, the following would occur in accordance with the law and our contract:

1. The Agency would notify us of a proposed change in working conditions. NAATS then refuses to negotiate for the reasons stated above (or any reason).

2. After the time limits were satisfied as outlined in Article 9, the Agency could implement their change as proposed without any further consideration of the impact to you, the bargaining unit member, or the Union�s position.

Now I know that many of you already understand this, however, I need to make sure that those out in the field becoming frustrated at what appears to be acquiescence to management realize that we need to pick our battles. It does us absolutely no good to refuse to participate. While I may be able to slow the process by writing complex and detailed proposals, eventually an end must come to the process resulting in an MOU.

The best course in the world on negotiating skills would not prepare you for dealing in this realm unless you also had knowledge of what the law allows -- what is or is not negotiable. If you do not research the legal decisions surrounding the Federal Sector negotiations process and learn how to write proposals which can withstand the negotiability determinations process, you lose! It is difficult to understand. What may seem fair and equitable, what may seem realistic and reasonable will, if not properly worded, be nonnegotiable. And even if it is negotiable, you still must have an argument to convince the Agency that it is in their interest to agree.

You have all heard it a hundred times before; the laws ruling the game are not fair! Congress never intended them to be fair. But they are the guidelines ruling the only game in town.

Don�t get sucked into the "they got it, so I should get it too" philosophy. Case law holds that what is negotiated by one union does not necessarily entitle another to the same. If you are going to get it you had better have something to convince the Agency that it is in their interest to agree to the same with you.

Hope to see you in San Antonio.

   LIAISON UPDATES

AFSSVS Report

Steve Glowacki, NAATS Technical Representative

It�s official. As of January 17th, the current AFSSVS procurement has been cancelled. The AFSSVS Program is still ongoing and continues to drive the AND 320 Product Team to develop a technical resolution (another procurement) to address the Mission Need #320, AFSSVS issues. In all likelihood, any new effort will probably combine our needs with the Terminal effort which faces a similar need for a voice switch replacement. Again, this is in the high level stages at this time (end of January) and speculative in nature. I can say specifically, that I�ve asked what is the impact to us in the short term and have been told that the recent changes in the procurement won�t impact NAATS� involvement and membership on the Product Team. It�s been pointed out that, now even more, it�s important to have us here to assist in including our "lessons learned" from the previous procurement. [FYI: AND-300 and the 320 Product Team have consistently sought Union buy-in (in the acquisition and technical processes) and appear to want to continue with this approach.]

I�ve expressed at my level in both ARA and ATP that if management wishes to address the Offloading in any kind of technical detail at our level, that discussions need to be generated at the higher levels with NAATS. (e.g. Business decisions first need to be made before detailed technical discussions can be conducted.) Everyone that I work with expressed agreement of this, however there appears to be either a break somewhere up the chain of command to make the suggestion, or the "10th floor" is not ready to engage. Either way, it�s status quo for me on the technical front, as I continue to limit my technical discussions and recommendations related to this issue.

On a personal note, I think that it�s important that the Bargaining Unit NOT see this as a nail-in-the-coffin for the FSS option. The acquisition side of the house, although affected by FAA politics, doesn�t consume it as one of their primary food groups. Well, at least not as much as other areas within the FAA. Tying this recent decision to the A76 effort is natural, and to a limited degree true, however blaming the procurement cancellation on it would be inaccurate from what I�ve seen. I believe that business and corporate politics (between the FAA and outside vendors) had more to do with it than anything. The rest was secondary.

ARS Report

Jim Perkins, ARS Liaison -- [email protected]

The Continuing Saga of NSTS

For the past several months Scott and I, with the assistance of Air Traffic Plans and Procedures (ATP-300 and ATP-400) have been going head to head with certain members of the product team over procedural issues regarding acknowledgment and non-acknowledgment of NOTAMs. It appears that the battle may finally be resolved. The issue boiled down to who would receive any non-acknowledgement messages. Our position, along with ATP, has been that whatever AFSS that originates a NOTAM is the station that is responsible for making sure it is acknowledged by the appropriate ATCT or ARTCC. Other members of the team wanted TRACONs that had airspace, which was covered by more than one AFSS, to be responsible to only one station. It was felt that one station should not be responsible for another�s traffic. At a recent Executive Oversight Meeting, ATP-1 turned over a letter to the program officials stating what current AFSS Procedures and Requirements were and that there was no intention to change how we are currently doing business, other than to automate the process. And it appears that they finally got the message.

In another sign of progress, ATP-1 has informed the software programmers that he is tired of all the delays and pushbacks involving the software and that they are to give this program the highest priority. We subsequently received a commitment from the programmers that they would have everything in place for Operational Capability Testing (OCT) in mid February. Currently we are planning for testing the week of Feb 17th.

With all that being said we have still not received the Article 9 briefing from the project office. It has been schedule several times (only to be canceled) because certain members of the team kept changing their positions. We are currently scheduled for the latest attempt at an Article 9 briefing on February 4th. Hopefully with the pressure from the " "higher ups" it may finally happen.

Stay tuned, as the saga will continue.

AFSS IIDS

On the IIDS (Integrated Information Display System) front, not much new to report. The program team is continuing to collect input on what people would like to see included on this display and how current systems (IDS4 and ACE-IDS) could be improved. Mostly we�ve heard they need to be more "user friendly" in regards to ease of movement between different screens. We have 2 more visits scheduled at this time and then will begin compiling the results.

ARU Report

Art Finnegan, ARU Liaison --[email protected]

In my last newsletter article (January 2003) I provided a list of programs, and a brief explanation of each, that the ARU (Weather) Liaison is currently involved with. My intention is to provide an update to any of those programs when applicable, in subsequent newsletter articles beginning with this one. If anyone has any questions or comments regarding any of these programs I encourage them to contact me at (202) 385-7687 or e-mail: [email protected].

Reorganization: from ARU400 to ATB460

Joe Anderson, Manager ATB-460 announced that the Agency has made decisions regarding reorganization of ARU/ATB but would not be at liberty to discuss those decisions until the unions have been briefed. An informational briefing to NAATS on the reorganization of ARU/ATB is pending.

GFA --Graphical Area Forecast

The National Weather Service initiated effort to convert the Area Forecast from text to graphics will continue sometime in March at the next meeting of Friends and Partners of Aviation Weather. Meanwhile, the Agency�s attempt to have flight service personnel participate in a preliminary test of the concept has been delayed due to insufficient funding. I suspect that the Agency does not mind any delays in this program because it is so incomplete at this point. In a briefing to NAATS on 19 Dec., the Agency agreed to fund one specialist from each region plus an additional specialist from Hawaii and Puerto Rico to travel to the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City to participate in the test. Volunteers from the field will be solicited by NAATS for participation in this test when the time comes.

WARP --Weather and Radar Processor

NAATS will select a new representative to the WARP Program soon. Minor problems continue to accompany the system especially at the Command Center. The timing of the information arriving at the server for processing is askew. Both MCI and World-Com are working to correct that.

WARP is scheduled to undergo a transformation soon and become the Global Weather Information System (GWIS). Not much information regarding the change is available yet. Preliminary reports indicate however, that this will be a reacquisition and that the Agency is seeking to gain proprietary rights to the software in the process.

ITWS - Integrated Terminal Weather System

Funding for further development and deployment of the ITWS was assured recently. This came mainly as Agency reaction to sudden press inquiries about an IG report that was critical of the system. It seems the Agency was trying to deploy an inferior product in a not so logical fashion. The IG offered suggestions to include prioritization of installation schedule, incorporate planned enhancements at an earlier stage so as to produce a more complete product, and revise cost estimates.

In a related matter there is talk of combining the Collaborative Convective Forecast Product (CCFP) into the ITWS.

The newest versions of the ITWS are currently in various stages of installation, testing, and use in Atlanta, Miami, Kansas City, and Houston. The New York area ITWS will be coming soon.

SAWS --Stand Alone Weather System

Revision B of the SAWS specification was issued in December 2002. The spec. was issued and did not include the wind gust algorithm that both NATCA/NAATS insists on. The Agency maintains that the wind gust issue remains under study.

An enhanced SAWS display was recently developed. An evaluation of the enhanced SAWS display will be conducted at BED soon. A NAATS representative will participate in the BED evaluation. An informational briefing to NAATS on the SAWS project is pending.

JAWS - Juneau Airport Wind System

The Agency has decided to continue operating the JAWS system under a test national airspace change proposal (Test NCP) status for the next two years rather than commission a system which is less than complete (see IG report on ITWS). During that time they will develop and refine the algorithm, complete the specification for the doppler wind profilers, coordinate a plan with Air Traffic and Airway Facilities, and determine the final displays and alert for the JAWS system.

A meeting to finalize the Initial Requirements Document for JAWS is being held in Washington, D.C. January 14-16 2003. At least three representatives from Flight Service (two from Alaska) are participating.

Uniform Tactical Weather Radar Descriptions

The Agency�s User Needs Analysis Board is set to recommend standardized precipitation level terminology for all weather radar products. The proposal (terminology only) is for six levels of precipitation Light, Moderate, and Heavy (with Heavy having four levels: Heavy, Heavy 4, Heavy 5, and Heavy 6).

An informational briefing to NAATS on Uniform Tactical Weather Radar Descriptions is pending.

ATP Report

Scott Malon, ATP Liaison -- [email protected]

RAAS/RAIS/LAAS

Identified as a means for Flight Service to provide a "value-added" service to the General Aviation community, the Remote Airport Advisory Service (RAAS) / Remote Airport Information Service (RAIS) / Local Airport Advisory Service (LAAS) program entered our manuals (7110.10, AIM) in August 2002. This, after careful planning and field-testing, accomplished by headquarters personnel, NAATS controllers, as well as representatives from AOPA. One of the few recommendations out of the GA Summit / FSS Renaissance to be followed up on, AFSSs nationally were asked to identify airports within their flight plan areas that were suitable for the new service.

With this background, it appears that less than four months was all it took for ATP-300 to forget all about the root reasons why this service enhancement was created to begin with. Some months ago, the Spectrum Management (frequency use) folks decided that stripping the national FSS advisory frequency 123.6/.65 from our facilities and reassigning them to ATC facilities would be of little to no concern for us.

The impact is this. Apparently, AFSSs will now have to request a discrete frequency, with a funding delay of 2-5 years. Additionally, pilots will have to learn 100s of different frequencies nationally, as opposed to the industry standard of 123.6 that exists today. Sadly, a preliminary investigation into this debacle indicates that no one below the Division Manager level had any knowledge of this sell-out. AOPA has been briefed, and I am awaiting their position on the matter. Additionally, I have initiated discussion with ATP-1 on returning these frequencies to the AFSS domain.

SUAISE2

Update item(s)

• The follow-up CHI effort has been rescheduled for the 3rd week of February. This visit should begin to finalize the software for optimum usability by our Option, dependent upon the committed efforts of the support contractor tasked with programming the necessary changes.

• Connectivity testing is planned at DCA AFSS. This effort does not effect our work environment, nor is it testing the actual SUAISE2 program. The test will simply identify any issues (i.e. telecom) that may need to be addressed prior to national deployment of equipment.

ATX Report

Beth Gerrits, ATX Liaison [email protected]

What Does ATX Do?

I was asked once again last week what ATX does and I replied as usual that it is Air Traffic Resource Management. That didn�t mean anything to me when I first heard it either. So I will break it down a little more. ATX-100 covers training at the academy and in the field. If you have taken a CBI course they developed it. ATX-200 is field support and handles medical issues, EAP issues, the CATTS program for traffic count, and more. ATX-300 is resource management and that covers developing staffing standards, allocation of staff, hiring and monitoring the numbers of personnel in Air Traffic. This also includes the budget process. ATX-400 does planning, information, and analysis as relates to air traffic. The stuff in the Administrator�s Fact Book comes from them. Cru-X (the sign on/off program) falls within their realm at the moment. And ATX-500 is the labor management relations area. They negotiate MOU�s, process requests for and post travel for the tech reps and liaisons, advise the unions of changes as required by the various contracts as in Article 9 of the NAATS contract.

Staffing MOU Signed

The staffing MOU has been signed at the national level allocating new hires to the regions. By the time you read this the regional directors have negotiated the placement of those new employees within the regions. Every month I send a copy of the current staffing to your directors. Ask to see it sometime.

The Academy is also reallocating the training slots to match the new staffing numbers. The Academy is the single controlling factor for how many people can be hired into the FSS option. The FAA maintains that adding another shift is cost prohibitive and will not do so at this time. There are 7 classes scheduled this fiscal year with a capacity of 14 in each class. That comes to 98 for those that are mathematically challenged. The second class of fiscal year 2003 started Jan. 8 and contained 11. The next class starts Feb. 14. I will continue to keep you updated on the progress of the classes.

Nothing New on FFP

The Familiarization Flight Program (remember FAM is now a Federal Air Marshall) has no new information. The security issues have been settled with the testing and approval of a secure database to confirm our identities at check-in. The final security release must come from the TSA and they have not done it yet. There is some discussion of who will maintain the database but no decisions have been made yet. The paperwork and process will remain unchanged.

Retirees & Reassignments

Among the many numbers that are processed around me in ATX are the numbers of those in FSS that retired or resigned from Jan. 1-3 of 2003. There were 35 that left us early this year. That number includes managers, staff, and controllers. Best wishes to them in their future endeavors.

FSOSC Report

Tim DeGrazio & Patsy Rowe FSOSC Liaisons

Background

A little background; shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks the Harris Corporation tried to automate a graphical TFR system as an add-on for the OASIS program. They concluded that, at that time, less than 70% of the current TFRs could be automatically depicted. The reasons given included complexity of areas described, non-uniformity of the area descriptions, areas with exclusions, mis-formatted TFRs, and inconsistency of TFRs. They concluded that manual intervention by people familiar with NOTAMs would be required and it was not cost-effective for them to pursue it.

Later other groups, such as Bureau of Land Management and DUATS, created websites, which avoided the accuracy problem by publishing only those areas that could be easily depicted or by ignoring accuracy in the representation.

The FSOSC was created by a joint workgroup of labor and management as a means to provide the oversight of FSS Controllers in the TFR NOTAM creation chain. Although we have been unable to get any equipment sent to the field (more on that later) we continue to suggest corrections on every TFR that is mis-formatted, misleading, or does not follow published procedures.

The workgroup suggested that every TFR NOTAM be sent to the FSOSC for review prior to publishing. We have never been able to get ATP-200 (who issue the presidential TFR NOTAMs) or the ARTCCs (who issue region specific TFR NOTAMs) to comply with notifying us. ATA-400 (who issue nationally-originated TFR NOTAMs) were routing their NOTAMs through us for several months, until they got tired of having the NOTAMs that they issued corrected and returned to them by the FSOSC. Don�t get me wrong; we are not tactless or confrontational. We simply corrected their mistakes and included copies of the manuals that showed why they were wrong. I don�t know what vexed them more; the fact that they make so many errors or that they were being corrected by "lowly GS-12 FSS Controllers." We are having discussions with ATA on our own and through ATP to attempt to correct this problem.

We continue to evaluate every TFR that is published. Our evaluations are being forwarded up the chain and many of them do result in corrected NOTAMS being issued. Be assured we are compiling lists of erroneous TFRs, which will be presented to higher authorities when the situation arises.

Equipment Issues

On the issue of equipment for the field; although the Administrator has said a Graphical TFR system will be available to the pilot by Feb �03 the FSOSC has received no word that funding is being made available for deployment of the TFR Operations Display System (TODS) project.

Possible causes:

1. Jeff Griffin was the driving force behind this program for the FAA and his replacement does not feel the urgency surrounding this issue that we do. With Jeff�s retirement we have lost one of our strongest management allies.

2. The entire management of the FAA seems to have adopted a �wait and see� attitude with anything related to FSS. This is probably because of their perception that, due to A76, FSS is going the way of the Dodo bird and will soon be extinct.

3. They believe that if they delay long enough the pressure from the user groups will force us to accept the DUATS web-based Graphical TFR solution despite its numerous errors and poor performance.

4. They have the misguided perception that all TFRs can actually be charted on paper charts. (This has already begun with P40 and P46 charted on the sectionals, although we are still issuing the printed TFR)

5. They have no desire to provide any service to the flying public.

Possible solutions:

1. Force the FAA to commit the funds to field this program. (No, I don�t have any better idea than you do on how we can force the FAA to do anything, but if you have a suggestion please send it in.)

2. Sell the TODS program as a solution for FSS only. This would alleviate the user groups� complaint that the system won�t be entirely free to them because they would need a charting program for it to plot TFRs on.

3. Create a basic charting program that can be downloaded by any pilot free of charge. This has the advantage of good PR for the agency.

4. Scrap the entire program and start at square one. Although I seriously doubt the FAA would reopen the TFR issue on its own.

5. Continue to fight in the trenches day-to-day to keep management accountable for their actions/inactions.

6. Continue to correct the FAA�s misleading propaganda to the user groups.

7. Continue to evaluate other graphical TFR charting programs in the hopes of finding "a better mousetrap."

We are continuing to employ the solutions outlined in steps 5, 6, and 7 and we are trying to enact number 1. If you have any suggestions please call the FSOSC at (202) 267-3726/3739.

   A76 UPDATE

Kate Breen, A76 Representative -- [email protected]

Welcome to 2003, let�s hope it�s better to all of us than 2002! I don�t have a lot of information for you today, but I�ll pass along a couple of things.

First, I had a communications team meeting yesterday and the main focus is getting A-76 Binders to the facilities, a web page, and frequently asked questions out to you all.

A-76 Binders - Will have all information to date on the A-76 process to include any of the work done already, frequently asked questions, and at least monthly updates from the communications team. Each AFSS facility including Alaska will receive two binders (master and copy for the floor) and the FSSs in Alaska will receive one each. I am really hoping that management will keep the binders on the floor up to date and current with anything the communications team sends out, however, I will also send a message out when there is an update to make sure you get it on the floor. I know that some management is great and I apologize if I hurt anyone�s feelings, but I also know some management couldn�t care less because they have one foot out the door already. So to ensure the bargaining unit members NAATS represents gets all the information, I will let you know when there is an update. The status of the binders currently is that the master is pretty much put together, just waiting on funding to get the rest of them done, that same ol' common theme again.

Web Page

Will have just about all the information the binders have in them and some links to more information if you would like to learn more about the A-76 process. That should be up for testing by the end of this week, the down side however for right now it is going to be on the intranet only. Hopefully after testing and getting it up and running for good it will be on the internet. Looking at sometime by the end of January.

Frequently Asked Questions

Those were also just about finalized and will be sent out separately if the binder and web site is not ready yet. The goal of the team is to get as much information out to the field as possible to include management and bargaining unit members. The one problem with the questions, is that most of the answers will probably change on the process questions if and when the new A-76 circular becomes final. So hang in there these will be a work in progress, but there is some good information in there from human resources that will help answer some of your questions.

PWS Team

The Performance Work Statement (PWS) team was looking at a kick off meeting the week of January 20th, but that will not happen now because of that same ol� theme.....funding. I�ll let you know more on that as it unfolds. The lead on the PWS team Steve Hopkins, will put out some information on how the PWS team is going to start off, nothing cast in stone yet, just some pre-planning information. What they are basically looking at is sending the PWS team out to four regions at first to gather information, coming back to DC to get input from user groups, and then going out to the other four regions to validate and gather more information. This is just the very tip of the iceberg and is in very rough draft at this point so if something changes, don't say well "Kate told me." Steve will give all of us more information next week on what exactly they are looking at, I�m simply trying to keep you informed and also start you thinking about a person in your facility that could work with the PWS team when they come to your region. That person will have to articulate anything you do at your facility, including anything that is done exclusive to your facility. Again this is just the very beginning of the process and will probably change as it moves along.

Things You Can Do

Some things I want from you! See this is a two way street here and I've been giving you as much information as I can, now it's your turn!! Start brainstorming at your facility and get it on paper everything you do so you don't miss anything. Next, if you have any suggestions on the MEO, send them to me, I'm keeping a file and will copy them and give them to the BOD and MEO team. Next, I need you all to start looking for any FAA orders, documents, etc. that might state something to the effect "The FAA provides air movement data to the Department of Defense in support of the Air Sovereignty and Homeland Defense Missions." This is a line taken from an AF N6000.192 talking about DVFR flight rules. Thanks to Dennis Detrow in ABQ! I need anything you can find that tells how we support the Air Sovereignty and Homeland Defense Missions. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seems to be hanging their hat on the category of the inherently governmental definition: "the exercise of sovereign government authority..." I did start working on pulling the definition of inherently governmental apart line by line out of the draft circular, but I could also use documentation to back it up. Just to give you some ideas, this is what I had started, it is not finished yet so take it with a grain of salt. I added it to the bottom of the update incase you don't want to be bothered reading it! When you send anything to me, please put in the subject line whether it has to do with the MEO or inherently governmental so it will be easier for me to file and separate. Send everything to my email [email protected] and thanks in advance for the help!

Inherently Governmental

The best way for me to show how we are "inherently governmental" is to take the definition line by line, see what you think!

An inherently governmental activity is an activity that is so intimately related to public interest as to mandate performance by government personnel.

Any one of the activities we do on a daily basis are intimately related to the public interest:

• Pilot Weather Briefings -- Keeping pilots and their passengers out of bad weather, any temporary flight restrictions that could lead to them being shot down.

• Emergency Services -- If a pilot is lost or disoriented, flight service controllers are the ones to help locate and get them to safety. In some areas where there are several large airports in close proximity, one lost pilot in the wrong place at the wrong time can be disastrous.

• Search and Rescue -- When a pilot files a flight plan for the intended route of flight and is late reaching the destination, we immediately start searching for them and don�t stop until we have located the aircraft and it�s occupants.

These activities require the exercise of substantial official discretion in the application of government authority and/or in making decisions for the government.

• After the tragedies of 9/11/01 Flight Service Controllers were exercising official discretion in applying the regulations set by the National Security Council and the Secretary of Transportation when the National Airspace System was shut down and when the re-opening of the National Airspace System began happening incrementally. It was the Controllers of Flight Service who were and still are exercising official discretion in the application of government authority. During the days following 9/11 the Controllers in Flight Service handled 3 to 5 times the normal number of contacts with some times contradicting information put out by the government authority, therefore having to exercise discretion in the application of government authority. The Controllers in Flight Service exercised their official discretion at the urging of the FAA and others when the Notices to Airmen ended with contact Flight Service for further details and Flight Service Controllers were given no more detail than the pilots. It is that professionalism and knowledge base that keeps the pilots and general public safe and secure day in and day out.

Inherently governmental activities normally fall into two categories: the exercise of sovereign government authority or the establishment of procedures and processes related to the oversight of monetary transactions or entitlements.

• Let�s talk about the exercise of sovereign government authority, if the Flight Service option was contracted out, would the contractor be willing to close down the National Airspace at the risk of losing money? Would the contractor be willing to take on added responsibilities at no cost when the government needed them to cover another catastrophic event? Does the Flight Service Option oversee monetary transactions, no we don�t. Does the Flight Service Option being the professional government employees we are, help the government exercise it�s sovereign authority, yes we do on a daily basis.

An inherently governmental activity involves:

a. Binding the United States to take or not to take some action by contract, policy, regulation, authorization, order, or otherwise.

• If a Flight Service Controller should fail to notify customs/immigration when a pilot comes into this country, the United States can fine and jail the pilot and confiscate their aircraft. This along with keeping pilots out of any restricted airspace whether it is military or presidential temporary flight restrictions could cause the United States to take action. Would a contractor hire not only the number but also the caliber of professional people needed to make sure the United States does not have to take action in cases like these?

b. Determining, protecting, and advancing economic, political, territorial, property, or other interests by military or diplomatic action, civil or criminal judicial proceedings, contract management, or otherwise.

• Wow what a mouthful! Does Flight Service help protect the people and territory of the United States, yes day in and day out. The work the Flight Service Controller does with customs, immigration, law enforcement, drug enforcement agency, and the military is invaluable in protecting this country and it�s citizens. Whether it�s identifying a suspicious aircraft or pilot from the identification number a pilot may give and not only contacting and forwarding the information on to law enforcement officials, but assisting the law enforcement agency in whatever manner they request.

• After 9/11/01 the military had to start moving people and planes all over the world, it was the Flight Service Controller that assisted the military in flight planning, filing international flight plans, and sending any messages through to base ops as needed.

• It�s the Flight Service Controllers that assist helicopters in the gulf of Mexico get to and from the oil rigs not only on a daily basis, but when the oil rigs need to be evacuated the Flight Service Controllers are there without question. Think of the economic impact if there were delays in getting people on and off the rigs.

c. Significantly affecting the life, liberty, or property of private persons.

• This is what the Flight Service Controller does every single day of their life, through pilot weather briefings, in-flight services, search and rescue services, assisting the military, assisting law enforcement, assisting drug enforcement agencies, and just stepping up to the plate every time they�re asked to.

• Whether it was jumping in after the PATCO strike in the 1980s or handling the situation after 9/11, the work done by these professionals does affect the life, liberty, or property of private persons every day.

d. Exerting ultimate control over the acquisition, use, or disposition of property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the United States, including the establishment of policies or procedures for the collection, control, or disbursement of appropriated and other federal funds.

• You have us here, we don�t buy or throw away property, nor does the government let us spend the money the way we need to!

   OASIS UPDATE

Jeff Barnes, OASIS National Representative, [email protected]

01/28/03 - It�s been longer than normal since my last update and I apologize for that. I have been involved with family and friends over the Holidays, trying to get some "fresh air" away from FAA Headquarters and the OASIS Program. So now the batteries are recharged and it's time to dive back in. Of course I haven�t been totally idle during my time off -- I can never withdraw that completely. So here�s what's been happening since my last update...

My bigger headaches in OASIS tend to all stem from the same source (as do most headaches in government I�m sure) and that is money. I got two pieces of information that caused us great concern with regards to the money OASIS is (isn�t) getting in the future.

$1.89 Million Budget Cut

The first I�ve already told you about. The OASIS budget request for FY2004 has been cut by 1.89 million dollars. This is not out of line with cuts taken by other programs, and is in fact less of a cut than a lot of programs took. However, the concern was language that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) included with their pass-back that indicated due to the uncertainties around the A-76 they wanted no further deployment of OASIS systems in FY2004. The cut we could deal with. No further deployments is a major issue for us though. What we already knew is that ATS did not support this language (they may have written a rebuttal, but I haven�t seen it). We told AOPA about this, but I never got feedback on any action they may have taken. The latest information I have came to me from the OASIS program office (The money people). They have said that their interpretation of the OMB language is such that they plan no stoppage of the deployment of OASIS in FY2004. As far as I know that�s a pretty liberal interpretation of what I though was pretty clear language, and I have communicated that. The program office will be presenting all this to FAA Management at the Major Acquisition Review scheduled for February 6. Their intent is to make sure they have the support of upper level management in this interpretation so they can proceed forward. I will be at the review to make sure we get what we need out of it. A clear understanding that deployment will continue in FY2004.

However, the cut does have an impact on deployment. Due to the cut the current plan is to deploy to 12 sites in FY2004 rather than the original 24. While a slowdown in deployment sucks in general, it does have some positives for us also. It gives us a bit of wiggle room to make sure we can complete the primary development and problem solutions by the 25th site as is required by our MOU. This also reduces the impact on early sites due to reduced need for National Training Cadre instructors. By the time we do go to two sites per month we will have a broad enough base of sites we can draw experienced instructors from that it will lessen the impact to facilities they have to be drawn from. At two sites per month with a 90 day training time we would need coverage for nine sites at a time. So there is a bit of a silver lining to this cloud for us.

What The ??!!

The other budget-related news I got was that the Functional Working Group (FWG) had met. Their purpose as far as I can tell is to work with OMB to project budgetary needs out to the relatively distant future. I heard about this by hearing that the program office had been directed to do an impact statement answering the OASIS budget projection for FY2006. In that projection the FWG cut OASIS by 11.1 million dollars. Their stated reason for doing so was that the current 61 AFSSs would be consolidated to 3 AFSSs by then, making the budgetary needs for the program much smaller. Needless to say I went ballistic when I got this. I wanted to know who had made such a determination of the outcome of the A-76 prior to it even being underway significantly, and I pointed out that this appeared to be a predetermined decision by the FAA on what the outcome of the A-76 would be. I pointed out that this appeared to me to be a violation of the rules of A-76 and that I saw this as something that could be used as evidence against the FAA if we needed to go to court. Wally talked to Steve Brown who said he had heard nothing about this, and I talked about it to Charlie Keegan (ARA-1, head of research and acquisitions) who told me he did not support it and that he is very aware of the A-76 process and understands the long time frames that will be necessary to complete it. He also told me he doesn�t support making changes to any programs based on speculation about A-76. The upshot of this is that I learned this morning that Jim Scott, the new Manager of ARU-300 (Home of OASIS and where I work) asked the FWG Lead about this and he apparently threw his hands in the air saying that they had heard from a lot of people on this and that it had been thrown out and the projection returned to what it had been previously. In thinking on this further I believe I figured out where they got their number, as flawed as it is. Since Alaska is exempt from the A-76 it means that there are three AFSSs that are not included. I believe the assumption they were working from is that Flight Service would be contracted out so that there would only be the three Alaskan AFSSs left. Of course we know there's all kinds of flaws in this reasoning, but it is attractive to management that are trying to find ways to project lower budgets in the future so they can meet overall reduced budget numbers. OASIS was a nice juicy target that could be easily victimized. I think they were completely unprepared for our response and our willingness to pursue this at levels above their heads for resolution.

Unfortunately, Headquarters is every bit as much a rumor mill as the field. The one huge difference is that while rumors spread around the field and make controllers� lives miserable, that�s pretty much all the impact they have. Rumors at Headquarters can be misused to have very real impacts to things that affect our ability to do our job as well as it can be done. This is where I cultivate my ulcer crop, and with A-76 I�m working on a bumper crop. Case in point is the decision above...the information I got couldn�t/wouldn�t attribute a source of the information that there would only be three AFSSs. But even though it couldn�t be attributed, it could certainly be used against us. Sometimes I have to question the basic capacity for rational thought here, and then I pray that it�s not in any way contagious, because I like to actually use my brain occasionally.

Lack of Budget Becoming Critical

In the nearer term the lack of a budget is becoming a critical issue for OASIS. To this point the program office has been doing their magic with the money to keep OASIS going, but a key component is money from the Ops budget. That�s the money that pays for the equipment and support of the equipment that has already been deployed. Under a Continuing Resolution there is no budget as such and therefore no Ops budget. So the program office has been shuffling money to continue to pay for their obligations, but that money is just about gone. If we don�t get a budget soon (like in the next 30 days or so) OASIS will face cuts in other areas to fund the missing Ops portion. This could be a slowdown or stoppage of FY2003 OASIS deployment, console deployment, OASIS development, etc. A real impact to the program that would likely cause a ripple into the future.

Continuing to Chug Forward

Training continues at St. Louis, training has begun at Riverside, and will be getting underway at Albuquerque soon. New software is operational at Seattle and Anderson and I haven�t heard any screaming (yet). So we continue to chug forward in spite of all the little (big and huge) roadbumps that get scattered in front of us. We did have a problem with two FDC NOTAMs not showing up in the new software in Anderson. That investigation is still ongoing, but signs point toward it being a WMSCR problem, not ours. Yet another reason we need to be getting NOTAM data direct from CNS, bypassing WMSCR. I just wish we could bypass WMSCR entirely. But I think it would take a genie-level miracle for that to happen and I just used my last wish up yesterday on the fame and fortune thing. (Any time now I expect to be making these -- make that I expect my personal assistant to be making these reports from my private island in the Caribbean. If only the real world was as nice as the one I live in inside my head.)

   NAATS Business Meeting

Four Points Sheraton
Bethesda, MD
January 14, 2003-January 17, 2003
 

DAY ONE-January 14, 2003

9:00 am -- Call To Order

All Directors present except O�Connell.

Accommodations
A couple of no shows we may get charged for the rooms.

O�Connell joins meeting.

Taking of the Minutes
Hoover would like to see a Director who takes the minutes have their minutes take precedence over any other individual�s minutes. Discussion and decision to send the minutes out for comment with all comments forwarded to members of the BOD for approval. If necessary to resolve differences time frames will be extended.

Working Schedule for meeting - Plan to work every evening to get through the agenda, with the possible exception being Thursday night.

President�s Report
Pay and Work Rule Negotiations Status

Pay
Pike talked to FAA last week; Parties will sit down and start talking again in the next week or two. Discussion regarding filing additional ULPs. Problem is there is no basis for successful prosecution of ULP. Additionally FAA can be anticipated to react by refusing to meet at all until ULP is resolved, possibly taking an additional 6 months or so. Lawsuits are similar concern, we will monitor closely but won�t file until we have a sound legal basis for doing so; to act otherwise is counterproductive to our goals. Discussion on need to provide education to membership on what a ULP actually is and how the dynamics work. Possible ULP training at the April convention.

ULP on cost offsets and work rules, there has been no discussion with the FLRA yet. There was supposed to be a telcon last week but due to illness it had to be postponed until January 23.

Work Rules
The FAA is saying work rules are part of pay, no change in status. ULP will be discussed with FLRA later this month.

Congressional Activity
Still working the Hill, now that they are back in session. Pike has been working to find non-traditional help on this issue. He does not have a proposal yet to present to the BOD, but hopes to have something within next two weeks. There are some opportunities out there and he is trying to get someone to take the task of killing the A76.

Senior FAA Relations
Pike will be following up with more meetings with AOA-1 and ATS-1 on A76 and pay. Both have indicated a willingness to work with NAATS.

External Union Relations
Those also remain positive. Pike spoke with Ruth Marlin (NATCA EVP) last week about working together on contracting out in the FAA. Meeting coming up in February with the other FAA unions, one of the discussions will be on joint picketing and to sensitize the other unions on the urgency to act now.

ARS Liaison Selection
Pike recommended Steve Pollock from MKL. Discussion, Jaffe would like to put this off for a month so they can solicit from the members again, he feels we need more volunteers to chose from. Hoover thinks we should make the decision now at this meeting. Terry agrees. In favor-Baker, Holmes, Terry, Comisky, O�Connell, Hoover, Stafford, Mounts. Abstained -- Jaffe. Recommendation approved 8-0-1.

ATP Liaison Selection
Pike not prepared to make that recommendation today, would like to move it to Wednesday�s agenda.

Finance Committee Selection
All BOD in favor of Marc Lackman�s recommendations, Tammy Curry and Kathy Lemke.

Drug/Alcohol Representative
Colquitt is now the representative, she will be unable to attend this meeting because of illness.

Karrass Training Slots (10)
O�Connell has the 10 slots, he hasn�t used them yet. He would like to talk to Karrass directly to book the slots, but does not need all 10 slots. NAATS HQ needs to get Jack the contact name and number. Comisky would like to divide the slots, the regions pay for the seats, not National funded except for Director attendance. Decision - O�Connell to use 9 and Stafford will use the other one for himself.

Strategic Help Discussion
A former regional NATCA VP who did a lot of work for them on the NATCA pay proposal has been in touch w/Pike. He offered his services; they had lunch and talked about how he could help NAATS out. Pike is not prepared to make a proposal at this time. Jaffe thinks this person would be able to help us in some planning down the road, possibly on the MEO or PWS. Maybe look at this issue again at the April meeting and have him come in to speak to the BOD at the meeting in San Antonio. Hoover would like to see if we have a need for the person first before traveling.

A motion was made, seconded and discussed to bring the former NATCA VP to our April meeting. Motion passed 6-3 with Hoover, O�Connell and Terry voting no.

Administrator�s Report

NAATS Headquarters Staffing
Administrative staff at the office is doing a great job. Administrator gave the BOD copies of possible savings with a potential for this year of over $7,000.00.

Office Status (computers/fax/phone/etc.)
A motion was made, seconded and discussed regarding updating the NAATS office, not to exceed $8000. Motion passed 5-4 with Hoover, Terry, O�Connell, Baker voting no.

Budget
After all of the bank statements came in, it appears that the we came in under budget by roughly $50,000.00 mainly due to an increase in membership dues. This is commendable considering we had extra expenses associated with A-76. The plan to read adjust some of the money to get higher interest rates will be done at the beginning of March.

Administrator�s Stipend
Request for $500/month, reduced from previous BOD decision of $2200/month subsistence.

POINT OF ORDER -- Hoover -- improper discussion for this meeting. Pike agrees and rules that this should be discussed during the 4th quarter meeting. Jaffe appeals the Chair�s ruling, Seconded by Holmes. Discussion. Those in favor of overturning the Chair ruling Baker, Jaffe, Holmes, Comisky, O�Connell, Stafford, Mounts. Opposed- Terry, Hoover. Chair ruling is overturned and item will be discussed.

Issue is discussed.

MOTION- Mr. Hoover -- "I move that the proposal to award the office administrator a $500.00 stipend a month be taken to the general membership for a vote." No second received, motion fails.

MOTION- Jaffe- "Due to change in circumstances and in an effort to save the union money lower subsistence from $2200.00 to $500.00 a month until such time as circumstances change or are overcome by events." Second-Holmes. Discussion. Those in favor-Baker, Holmes, Jaffe, Terry, Comisky, O�Connell, Stafford, Mounts.
Opposed-Hoover. Motion passes 8-1.


Chief Negotiator�s Report
MOUs signed -- Staffing, A-76, facility security and management, ASOS/Dewpoint Sensor, CRU-X, PMS.

Changes to the government Charge Card MOU, still holding until Agency gets more information to Dolan.

CRU-X
Test facilities are to be selected with the regional counterparts. NAATS National rep and regional focal points all need to be named. Until the FAA installs the dedicated servers you should not be using CRU-X. The National Representative should be named right away, the Regional Representatives can be given to the region. Further discussion tabled.

PMS
Need to name (3) representatives to the PMS work group. Possibly looking at one regional director and two members to form the group. Hoover suggests Comisky head the team. Comisky agrees and will be the Regional Director on this workgroup. He will name the other two members subject to BOD approval.


Tech/Liaison Reports
Glowacki -- Voice Switch. The Agency may be canceling the voice switch and coming out with a new program. The way Hoover sees it, if NAATS embraces the new procurement that increases the cost of the MEO. Glowacki is looking for a policy on off loading, for technical solutions. Pike thinks this should be a higher level discussion w/FAA and not a Voice Switch issue. Decision that proper procedure is for ARA to notify ATS-1 to talk to NAATS about these issues.

Scott Malon -- ATP.
The SUA/ISE chi team should meet again the third week of February. They are going to put equipment into DCA to test the connectivity only. Once the software is complete, they will send two people per facility out to OKC for a day of training. The agency will not make full deployment by the end of FY03 as indicated in the MOU.

NOTAMS- NSTS. Multi-Domain program, keeps the program in FSS/TWR/Tracon computers. It would save FSS from calling the affected TWR/TRACON unless the controllers in the other options don�t answer the alarm. There should be some testing this summer. The OCT will be at the tech center mid-February, training will be talked about at that meeting. Disagreements between NAATS and NATCA. NATCA does not want to receive more than one phone call after the alarm.

OASIS-There is a survey going around for facrep/management signatures to ask if they are happy about the console placements in accordance with the MOU.

LAA/RAIS- The frequencies that were dedicated to Flight Service have been taken away and given to approach. AOPA agreed with this. Could be a 5 year delay in getting any new frequencies.

Flight Plans- Lat/Longs is an on going discussion.

ADDS- Had lost funding, but has been reinvigorated so some testing and discussion may ensue.

Jim Perkins -- ARS.
NSTS cont�d, most of the problems we have been having are in ARU-200. Every time they get something fixed in the program ARU-200 shoots it down and makes them re-work issues.

Graphical Area Forecast - Will the FAA computers be compatible with this, OASIS yes the others no. It�s one of the things slowing the program down. Management will be looking for a rep from every region, to include facilities in SJU and HNL to come into the Tech Center for CHI work, sometime in March.

OASIS/DUATS - integration, with budget cuts things have slowed.

Linda Sterling -- FTI.
Linda took over from Nancy Batye on the FTI program. FTI is in phase I and it shouldn�t affect us until phase II. Trying to hook it up with the OASIS waterfall, Linda has not seen any schedule on it yet.

Tim DeGrazio/Patsy Rowe -- FSOSC.
Not much new going on with the FSOSC, they are continuing to identify discrepancies between lat/long and vor radial distances. They each have their own space finally. They have also not seen any funding or projection for the program being installed in the field. FSOSC problems are being addressed by Dolan.

Beth Gerrits -- ATX.
We are losing slots at the academy.

FAM program-still no changes, coordination still with TSA.


Open Topics

BOD Meeting Locations
Hoover would like to see a BOD meeting in SO region. There are normally 2 in DC, 1 at the national convention and 1 west of the Mississippi. The BOD will visit this gain next year to try to have a meeting in Southern Region.

Copyright Laws on NAATS News articles
Hoover has seen a lot of reproduced articles and is concerned that we may not have the rights to publish these. Has anyone checked into the copy right law? Pike will talk to Eli about it to make sure we aren�t infringing on any copyright laws. Hoover notes there is still a problem with the newsletter coming out late.

Quarterly Financial Reports
Hoover had a problem with how we were doing imprest funds reports, but will deal with it.

National Picketing Day
Stafford would like to see a national day of picketing. Pike will address it when he meets with the other unions in February. Are the folks in the field getting the flyers to the FBO out, Directors may want to check with Facreps to see what�s been done. Hoover feels the better way is to talk to the pilots directly such as at FBOs. Malon agrees. Embry Riddle is now teaching DUATS, we need to get out to the flight schools also. Malon would like to get out to some town hall meetings to push flight service. Maybe have our contractors use their network to push flight service and ask for someone from flight service to brief pilots.

National to develop some kind of power point or other briefing on A-76 to get out to the pilots. More of a operation rain check kind of thing. Puffer/Dibble have already done some, we�ll check them out.

AFL/CIO affiliation
Stafford was impressed with the help AFL/CIO gave to their picketing efforts with PASS in San Diego. Discussion on AFL/CIO benefits, pros/cons. O�Connell feels we could get some good training from them. EdWitkin from AFL TTD will go into more detail with BOD on Thursday.

CISM
Mounts wants to know where we are with the CISM program. Holmes will get back to him after she checks with Paul Chilbert.

April �03 General Membership Meeting
Jaffe gave all the information to Eli for the newsletter and it�s on the web. Discussion on training to be scheduled for this meeting. Directors need to get out to the FacReps to push the meeting.

Contract Training
Hoover would like to see some new contract training. Discussion. Decision to be made within the next few weeks.

ATP Liaison Recommendation -- Pike recommends Dennis Carmen from ENA. Discussion. Holmes would like to see continuity continue in ATP. We�ll have two different people arriving at the same time. Dolan would like to see the continuity of Perkins staying for ATP to keep the programs moving. Hoover would not like to see the 2nd year for Perkins, it might appear to look like favoritism. Comisky has concerns about the entire liaison program. Question called. Those in favor (Stafford, O�Connell, Baker, Hoover, Mounts, Comisky. Opposed Holmes, Terry. Jaffe abstains. Recommendation is approved.

DAY TWO -- January 15, 2003

Open Topics Cont�d
FSDPS Staffing- Some FSDPS staffing situations are critical with retirements looming and the deployment of OASIS. Pike to contact Alvin Robinson and ask him to send the BOD a report.

New Contract Training- Discussion regarding logistics and feasibility of conducting the training. The week of March 10th (Mon-Thrs) is suggested for consideration for the first training session. Location-Orlando, Ft. Worth as a back up. Second location suggested is Reno, with Ft. Worth again as a back up. Date-week of March 17th (Mon-Thrs), Begin the two week process to see if training is feasible.

Drug and Alcohol Briefing
Not a lot of new information. Why doesn�t the FAA administer the program the same in every region? According to ATX every state is different on requirements. We have to look at the national and alcohol standards. Magellan runs the assessments and also runs the program for people who need help, isn�t that a conflict of interest. The person making the assessment should not make any profit from sending someone into rehab. You can appeal the decision of a doctor. Alaska has a current problem where a member�s medical has been pulled for 5 months now and the FAA is dragging their feet to get it back. The information for the Drug and Alcohol list comes from CPMIS. Next year to ask for Dr. Lomangeno and the EAP Frank Pirhalla to come to the meeting to answer any questions.

Staffing Standard Briefing
ATX provided the briefing. A study done on the AWS done about 8-9 years ago was more or less a wash on affects to the schedule in flight service. The current staffing standard is outdated. The job maybe getting done currently with staffing the way it is, but hardly any training can be accomplished, airport visits have just about stopped, pilot training/meetings are almost non-existent, and annual leave is hard to get. The staffing standard should be updated every 5 years and this standard is 10 years old, there is no money to send people out to collect data to do a new standard. The count twice a month is taken on the 10th and the 20th of the month. The staffing standard should be done over again with OASIS, it was started, but halted because of money.

ARU Liaison Briefing
Art Finnegan handed out an update and list of projects. ARU will be turning in the ATB through reorganization. NAATS will need to name 11 representatives to test the graphical area forecast in Atlantic City, one from each region and one from San Juan and Honolulu. Due to funding the project is on hold, a meeting may happen in March some time. Need to name a representative to WARP also. Holmes will talk to the members at the Command Center. WARP will become the Global Weather Information System (GWIS). The agency may combine the Collaborative Convective Forecast Product (CCFP) into the Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS). The agency is finalizing the initial requirements document on Juneau Airport Wind System (JAWS) this week in Washington DC.

Constitutional Amendments -- Discussion around the need for a constitutional change. The BOD went through the changes to the constitution as presented by the constitution committee and the committee will present the modified constitution again after changes.

A-76
Breen briefed the BOD on the upcoming kick off meeting of the PWS team tentatively scheduled for the week of Jan 27th. The team will go out on initial visits to regional offices to start some workshops and data collection, they have funding to go to the 8 regions and another meeting into DC at this point. They got the funding from somewhere in the FAA Administrators budget, she has told the people on the A-76 groups that she intends to see this through. The PWS team received binders with information surrounding the process. There was discussion around the need for regional A-76 reps and also facility A-76 reps, we need both. There was initial talk about advertising, picketing, strategies, those topics will be picked up again in the morning to let people sleep on the ideas presented. The PWS team will be sent for a one day training session put on by the A-76 institute to help them understand the process. The communications team will get the binders out to the facilities in the next couple of weeks, and the web page should be up and running by the end of next week.

DAY THREE -- January 16, 2003

A76
Ms. Breen would like to know if her reports are easy to read and understand and if they need to be done differently. No problems noted.

Media
Discussion on various types of media we might use to get our A76 message out to the public.

Discussion on membership lobbying. Pike favors bringing in a group of people to target specific members of congress before the FAA briefs the hill. Leadership of the authorization committees , appropriators, and some one who would offer up legislation. Pike will get a list of representatives who we need to target on the hill and then we�ll match membership constituents up to bring for visits.

Holmes will look into the AOPA fly-in to see about setting up a temporary flight service station. She will also look into what needs to be done for the AOPA convention in Philadelphia this fall.

A-76 training will be done at the convention.

John Barrass Questions and Answers
A discussion was held with our A76 contractor help.

Executive Session

A-76 Cont�d
Hoover briefed BOD on PWS team discussion w/our contractor. Hoover will be PWS Team Lead. PWS team will prepare an article for membership.

Motion to adjourn Hoover, Second O�Connell. Motion passes 8-0, Comisky absent.

   WEATHER TO GO-- DOWN MEMORY LANE

Gregory McGann, RDU AFSS

In the January 2003 issue of AOPA Pilot magazine, the column License To Learn by Rod Machado discusses self-briefing using weather charts and the area forecast. It was a nice trip down Memory Lane, but it makes me wonder if Mr. Machado has had any training since ground school. Most of his advice on weather products is either sadly out of date or very over optimistic as to the accuracy of the charts.

The most troubling statement is this: "Consider [AIRMETs, SIGMETs, and convective SIGMETs] as temporary modifications and amendments to any area forecast." This may have been the case fifteen years ago but all flight precautions were stripped from the area forecasts and were completely independent by the mid to late 1980�s. While these products are amended and updated as necessary, they are not part of, or related to, the area forecast but are part of the group of advisories which also includes Severe Weather Watches, Tornado Watches, and Center Weather Advisories.

Furthermore, the area forecast will never, ever, forecast IFR conditions. Don�t ask me why, but they don�t. As I write this every TAF in eastern Pennsylvania is forecasting OVC004 and 3/4SM in snow and fog, but the area forecast predicts nothing less than one thousand and three. They leave the IFR forecast for the AIRMET and apparently no one sees anything contradictory in this.

Mr. Machado goes on to discuss prog. charts, or WAG charts (Wild Ass Guess) as they are known in Flight Service, but he makes a common error when he assumes that a 12-hour prog. chart covers a 12-hour period. It has been at least eight or ten years since the names of these charts became as anachronistic as a 7-11 store. At one time "7-11" described the hours the store was open, but long ago most of these became 24-hour operations, although the name didn�t change to 24-7. It�s the same way with prog. charts. The problem concerns the issue time versus the valid time. Like the 7-11 store, the names for these charts were not picked at random but were meant to identify the forecast period. When we received the paper charts from the National Weather Service over the old DIFAX system the chart names matched the valid times. For example, the 12-Hour Surface Prog was issued at 0600Z and valid at 1800Z -- twelve hours. The new products, like the Kavouras products they replaced, do not cover the obvious time period. Below are the issue times versus valid times for these products at the current time (0100Z.)

As this table illustrates, the 12-hour chart is not really a 12-hour chart but a 6 or 8-hour chart. The 48-hour chart doesn�t cover 48 hours, but 40. On average, we are dropping 4-6 hours on the 12 and 24-hour charts and 8 hours on the 36 and 48-hour charts.

This creates operational problems other than just the misleading chart names. For example, in the evening a large percentage of pilots call for outlook briefings for the morning, with most of these calls after the new TAFs come out at 00Z. In the past, we would get new 12 and 24-hour charts at 00Z as well, which gave us a forecast for 1200 and 0000Z. This allowed us to brief pilots on expected areas of IFR and MVFR conditions in the early morning due to fog. With the new charts, we have a 24-hour chart, which is actually valid for 18 hours, that covers the 1200Z time period only until the new charts come out at 00Z. The new "12" and "24" hour charts are valid at 0600Z (1 a.m. EST) and 1800Z (1 pm EST) and we have no chart for the morning at the time when most of the pilots are calling for this information. How many pilots do you think know this?

One good point the article does make is that prog charts forecast thunderstorms, although his reasoning for why this is a good thing differs from mine. Having the prog charts forecast thunderstorms is very useful when you consider that the TAFS no longer do. Remember that as of two years ago, if the chance of thunderstorms at the station in the first six hours of the forecast period is less than 50% they are not allowed to include any chance at all of thunderstorms. That�s why you sometimes see a PROB40 for afternoon thunderstorms in the 12Z TAF, but it disappears from the 18Z TAF, even when the thunderstorms are occurring. This is explained in the WSOM D31, but how many pilots have read that?

Mr. Machado then turns to the weather depiction chart. Yes, this is a good tool for getting an overall picture of the weather, but by no means should be used for a go/no-go decision unless the decision is no-go. The data for this chart are obtained from METAR reports, which are taken by ASOS machines, and remember, according to ATB 98-1, "the ASOS visibility sensor reports visibility approximately twice what the human eye perceives -- if an ASOS observation reports a 4 mile visibility, you can expect a report of around 2 miles by a human observer." (Italics theirs.) This means that the areas of MVFR on the chart could very well be IFR. How many pilots have ever read ATB 98-1?

The article closes with the ominous news that the FAA is preparing to allow web sites receiving the FAA�s stamp of approval to provide legal weather briefings. We�ve all seen the increase in weather related problems and accidents since the inception of DUATS, and this can only mean more bad news for aviation in general. It has nothing to do with the knowledge or intelligence of GA pilots, but it does have everything to do with experience. A grizzled old USAir captain once asked me how long it took me to become comfortable briefing pilots. I thought about it and decided it had taken about a year, although the learning process never really stops.

"That�s the problem with DUATS," he replied. "Experience. I�m a professional pilot and I fly almost every day. If I brief myself for each flight you will still do more briefings in a week than I�ll do in a year, and more in a year than I will in my flying career, and it took you a year to get comfortable doing it. A weekend VFR pilot would be even worse -- you do more in a day than he will in many years. You just cannot achieve the required level of competence without experience. After all, we give someone a pilot�s license after 40 hours, but he needs years of flying before he sits where I�m sitting."

Amen -- and that covers just about anything, not just weather and flying. I asked my cousin, a doctor, how long it would have taken him to gain competence if he only saw one or two patients a week, and he said it would be impossible to ever become competent. I asked my brother, an attorney, how long it would take him if he had only spent an hour or two a month in court, and he said the same thing. It is the experience that comes from briefing pilots six to eight hours a day, day in and day out, for year after year that simply cannot be duplicated with web sites and fancy graphics, and the growing bureaucracy and political correctness in the system tend to offset the technological advances, making it even harder to extract relevant data from the system.

As experienced pilot briefers, we can catch the mistakes made by the automated systems fairly easily, but we see these errors every day. How many pilots know the definition of PRESFR/PRESRR and can catch the error when the ASOS reports it incorrectly, as it does on a daily basis? How many pilots know the difference between variable wind conditions and a wind shift and can recognize when the ASOS confuses the two, again on a regular basis? How many pilots recognize what is actually happing when you see a reports of OVC008 2SM BR, and in remarks, SFC VSBY 4, backwards from the usual pattern? There is currently a UCR in the system for five distinct errors in the ASOS software and I wonder how many pilots recognize these when they encounter them?

Hopefully, someone will open their eyes to the crisis looming over general aviation in this country before it�s too late and I find myself standing around with other ex-FSS controllers saying: "I told you so." 

   UPDATED BENEFITS INFORMATION FOR MILITARY RESERVISTS AVAILABLE

FedNews Online, Jan. 22, 2003

The Department of Labor recently unveiled updated information to help Reserve and National Guard units preparing to be deployed understand their rights to pension and health benefits coverage available through private sector employers.

Frequently Asked Questions for Reservists Being Called to Active Duty provides basic information about how retirement benefits of reservists are protected during service to our country. It also describes the rights of family members to maintain health coverage, including the right to keep coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act-known as COBRA continuation coverage-as well as the various health benefits options available to family members.

A copy of the questions and answers can be obtained on the department�s website, www.dol.gov/pwb. The public also may call with questions through a toll-free number at 1-866-275-7922 or electronically at www.askpwba.dol.gov.

   AIR TRAFFIC PROCEDURES ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Terri Michel, NAATS Representative

ATPAC 110 was held the week of January 13th, 2003 in Orlando, Florida. We reviewed and approved the minutes of our last meeting. No new safety items were introduced. We continued to discuss and approve items to be included in our guidelines.

ACTION COMPLETE

Three Areas of Concern (AOC) have been closed and action recommended by ATPAC is complete.

1. A Document Change Proposal (DCP) has been published amending paragraph 4-4-11 in the AIM to clarify the speed adjustment requirements, or lack thereof, in Class B airspace.

2. ATPAC requested further risk assessment and analysis by the FAA to better establish separation criteria for arriving aircraft and aircraft using intersecting runways. This issue has become part of the Operational Error Prevention Study (OEP).

3. Emergency Radar Approach Procedures are a concern because many facilities have terminated published procedures and training on procedures is no longer being taught at the academy. A workgroup that includes the FAA Air Traffic Procedures Office, NATCA and others has been formed to address this problem.

PENDING DOCUMENT CHANGE PROPOSALS

Seven DCPs are in process. The subjects are: gate holding, combining positions, taxi instructions, pilot deviation notifications, correcting AIM and FARs for spelling and typing errors, correcting AIM and FARs for conflict regarding language to taxi clear of a runway and correcting paragraph 4-4-9 in the AIM to delete Class B Airspace.

PIREPS AND NOTAMS

No updates were provided on these items. They have been deferred until the April meeting. This meeting will be back in D.C. We usually get more information there simply due to logistics.

Seventeen other areas of concern are pending and the committee will expect an update at the April meeting.
One new area of concern was identified. Phraseology in clearances supporting Flight Management Systems is confusing. FAA issued a GENOT to amend FAA Order 7110.65 concerning this issue. Some feel the GENOT further confuses the issue. ATPAC has assigned a small workgroup to research this and provide an update in the next meeting.

We toured the new tower in Orlando. It became operational in September 2002. The old tower cab will eventually go to Lakeland and the concrete will be used to build and artificial reef.

Please contact me with concerns or questions at [email protected] or [email protected].

   FedNews & FedWeek

CHANGES NEEDED IN PROPOSED REVISION TO CIRCULAR A-76, SAYS WALKER

FedNews Online, Jan. 22, 2003

Comptroller General David Walker sent a letter Jan. 16 to Mitch Daniels, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, containing concerns over proposed changes to OMB Circular A-76, which prescribes policies and procedures agencies must use when considering the transfer of commercial activities between the public and private sectors.

Walker recognized that the proposed revision is in many ways consistent with the sourcing principles and recommendations adopted by the Commercial Activities Panel in its April 2002 report; however, he stated that there are several areas where the proposal is not consistent with these standards. Specifically, these inconsistencies include:

• The absence of a link between sourcing policy and agency missions

• Unnecessarily complicated source selection procedures

• Unrealistic time frames to complete competition process (12 months) and for source selection (four months)

• Insufficient guidance on calculating savings that accrue from A-76 competitions

Walker also said the proposed revision would expand the list of permissible direct conversions to include activities performed by up to 50 employees based on a "business case analysis." This analysis,  he stated, is basically the same as the streamlined cost comparisons currently permitted for activities involving up to 65 positions. "Changing the characterization of the process from a streamlined cost comparison to a business case direct conversion sends an unfortunate signal that the administration is attempting to increase the number of direct conversions," Walker said.

Incorporating changes recommended in the letter to these areas would make the revised Circular A-76 more consistent with the principles and advice of the CAP, stated Walker.

The correspondence, GAO-03-391R, is available online at http://www.gao.gov/.

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

By Mike Causey, FEDweek, January 22, 2003

Lobbyists representing federal workers and retirees must cringe when people like me (or you) predict they are going to have an "easy" year in Congress. We usually base those predictions -- which aren�t always right -- on the fact that some Representative or Senator, known as a friend-of-feds, gets an important committee assignment. It follows, we think, that because Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., is chairman of the new chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, all the legislation you�ve dreamed of will be passed into law. Or that the presence of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., on the key-to-feds Senate Governmental Affairs committee means this will be a banner year. Lieberman, who was chairman briefly last year, is highly regarded by most federal and postal unions. But having friends in high places -- we all ought to know -- doesn�t mean anything. Except that you have friends (or think you have friends) in high places. You can�t always take that to the bank, or translate it into support, action, or votes. Especially where politicians are concerned. In recent Homeland Security hearings in the Senate, Lieberman made numerous references to "bureaucratic resistance" and "bureaucratic turf" wars. And the failure of the CIA and the FBI to "connect the dots" (a favorite phrase of Washington politicians and media types). Lieberman, who�s considered a champion of feds (at least by some) sounded like a much tougher, conservative politician. Now that he's again a national figure -- as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination -- he may get tougher. Feds have good friends in high places in Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, of the Appropriations Committee, and John Warner, R-Va., who heads Armed Services. On the House side they have bipartisan clout with Reps. Steny Hoyer. D-Md., in the Democratic leadership and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., to round up GOP support. But having friends in high places doesn�t mean this will be an easy year for federal or postal workers, or retirees. Thinking that creates a false sense of security (like "we�ve got it made") and does a disservice to the federal, postal and retiree lobbyists who still have to do the grunt work. Having overly great expectations is always a mistake. And it could lead us to a major connect-the-dots exercise at the end of this year. 

   LETTER FROM SENATOR TOM DASCHLE

This is the text of Senator Daschle�s letter to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, dated Jan. 16, 2003.

Dear Administrator Blakey:

For nearly as long as I have served in Congress, the FAA, has been working to consolidate and modernize its national network of flight service stations. As a pilot and a legislator from a state that has been directly affected, I have followed these changes with interest and occasionally intervened to ensure South Dakota experiences no degradation of safety or air service. Recently, two new concerns have come to my attention: the prospect of further consolidation, possibly leading to termination of our state's last remaining station, and a Bush Administration initiative to consider whether the government could cut spending by hiring a low-cost vendor to provide flight services.

My concern with consolidation is that it may leave pilots no possibility for human assistance while flying over one of our country's larger states. Already, the FAA has closed four flight service stations in South Dakota, and I am concerned that closure of our last station, located in Huron, would leave pilots too isolated from vital assistance in the form of weather updates, emergency assistance, and notices to airmen. The scale of South Dakota is sometimes difficult to grasp for those living on the East Coast, but I offer a few reference points. Our land area exceed the combined size of the six New England states and is about equal to the total area of Virginia, West Virginia, arid Maryland. In addition, Great Plains weather conditions are notorious for their extremes and rapid changes. A key function of flight service stations, as delineated in the FAA Flight Service Manual, is to provide pilots with weather briefings. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, 697 fatal flight accidents in the United States from 1995 to 2000 were weather-related. Furthermore, while pilots can obtain automated weather information, the majority of pilots in areas such as South Dakota would rather talk to someone in the area in person.

Our nation could also be adversely affected by efforts to turn over flight services to the lowest bidder. The FAA took the initial step in this process in August, launching a review of whether spending could be reduced by offering private vendors the opportunity to submit bids for low-cost provision of flight services. Although this process, known as an A-76 review, is scheduled to be finished in late 2004, I understand that the Bush Administration is pursuing government-wide plans to accelerate such reviews. I worry that this particular review is being undertaken - and accelerated - at the behest of those with a political agenda, rather than those who best appreciate the needs of the aviation community. Just last summer, the aviation community received an important caution about privatization and cost-cutting. Some observers believe that the underlying cause of a deadly mid-air collision was inadequate staffing and investment in equipment at Switzerland's privatized air-traffic control company. When it comes to aviation, I think you will agree that flight safety should, take precedence over political ideology or cost.

Please provide me with a report on FAA discussions about further consolidation of flight service stations. In addition, I ask you to apprise me of developments related to the ongoing A-76 review, including your evaluation methods and any preliminary findings. I hope you will agree that keeping our skies safe, assisting with emergencies, and disseminating information to pilots is a function best performed by the FAA itself, with a South Dakota station.

With best wishes. I am

Sincerely,
/S/
Tom Daschle
United States Senator

   NAATS ANNUAL MEETING
 

Will be held
April 23-24, 2003
(Board of Directors Meeting April 21-22)
at the
ST. ANTHONY HOTEL
San Antonio, TX
Room Rates:
Single or Double - $119
Triple - $129
Quadruple - $139

The hotel is holding 25 of their special rooms with 2 queen
beds and 2 full baths for NAATS. These double rooms are HUGE.

For Reservations Call: 210-227-4392*

Special Rate Deadline: March 31, 2003

*Refer to the NAATS Annual Convention when making your reservation
to get the NAATS special rate. 

  BUSH BACKS 2 PERCENT RAISE; SEEKS PERFORMANCE PAY FUND

By Tanya N. Ballard, GovExec.com, Jan. 26, 2003

The Bush administration plans to give federal employees a 2 percent across-the-board pay raise in 2004, and create a new $500 million fund agencies can use to raise the salaries of high performers, Office of Personnel Management officials announced.

The president�s 2004 budget proposal, scheduled for release Feb. 3, includes a proposal for a 2 percent across-the-board civil service pay raise next year, less than the 2.7 percent across-the-board raise set under the formula that is supposed to be used to determine annual civilian pay increases.

The president also will propose a change in law to create a $500 million Human Capital Performance Fund, to be used by agencies for performance-based raises in 2004. These would be permanent salary increases that also increase employees� pensions and their agencies' Thrift Savings Plan contributions.

"We have an old, outdated, antiquated system that gives everybody the same amount of money every year," OPM Director Kay Coles James said Friday. "Instead of rewarding longevity, the government needs to reward performance. When we have federal employees talking about my pay increase rather than the pay increase, then I think we will have succeeded."

OPM would administer the performance fund and agencies would be required to submit plans to OPM detailing how they planned to use money from the fund to reward excellent performance and improve agency results. According to the Office of Management and Budget, agencies could use fund money to reward employees for performing extra duties, suggesting ideas that save the agency money or taking on managerial responsibilities.

The money could also be used for recruiting and retaining employees with specialized skills. Such employees would include engineers, nurses and pharmacists, OMB said.

The Bush administration has shown a penchant for performance-based pay measures, modeling its 2002 Freedom to Manage initiative around flexible pay systems and linking employee compensation more closely to job performance. Pay-for-performance measures have picked up momentum in the past few weeks. Newly appointed House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-VA, has said performance pay is one of his top priorities. Critics of performance-based pay structures say the federal appraisal system used with them is flawed, and fear managers will be too subjective in the evaluation process.

OPM�s James and Mark Everson, deputy director for management at OMB, said the performance fund would require a cultural shift at agencies that are unaccustomed to tying pay to performance. While agencies will be required to submit a plan to OPM on how they will award performance-based raises, James said agencies would be given a lot of leeway in how they do it.

"We think this is going to foster a lot of creativity," James said.

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley said performance-based pay should not come at the expense of raises for all federal employees.

"Where is this $500 million coming from?" Kelley asked. "Would the pay raise have been 2.5 percent or 3 percent if they didn�t create this fund? I asked this question and was told no, but I don�t know how they ever will be able to show me that, and if this is coming at the expense of the General Schedule pay raise for 2004, I think that would be inappropriate."

Kelley said NTEU has proposed funds similar to the Human Capital Performance Fund in the past that focused on recruiting and retention.

"We�ve talked about the need to provide a fund like this and give money to the agencies for programs that are well-established, like student loan repayment programs and child care subsidies, none of which appear to be covered by this fund," Kelley said. "This reminded me that we�re still waiting for the report on how much money was paid to political appointees for bonuses."

Officials at the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, said they would fight the proposed changes and any move by the administration to overhaul the civil service system.

"This will be a big slush fund for political appointees and managers who work for them, to reward one another. We don�t think rank-and-file employees will see a dime of this money," said Jacqueline Simon, public policy director for AFGE. "It�s just a continuation of what we�ve experienced as a war on federal employees, trying to privatize our jobs, trying to destroy the civil service system, trying to destroy the merit system that the civil service is based on, all with this sort of nice sounding rhetoric -- pay-for-performance."

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-MD, a long-time champion of federal employees, said the performance pay fund is fine if it�s implemented in an environment where the salaries of federal employees are in line with those of private-sector workers.

"The proposal is made in lieu of doing what is fair to federal employees and what the law requires," Hoyer said. "It shortchanges all federal employees, and frankly it shortchanges those who are performing outstandingly by giving them an adjustment, but not giving them an adjustment on a salary that is comparable to those of their private sector counterparts," he added. "I don�t mind the $500 million being added on to pay Michael Jordan-type federal employees to recognize their outstanding federal performance, but you need to pay the rest of the performers who are making your team work a fair wage."

The government already has a system for raising top performers� base pay. Managers can grant their employees quality step increases, which are bumps up the steps of the General Schedule ahead of the normal tenure-based step increases. Federal managers often complain that requirements to justify quality step increases makes them hard to give out. In 2000, managers awarded 61,551 quality step increases, with an average value of $811. The total cost of quality step increases that year was $49.9 million.

  OPINION

The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the authors and in no way reflects the position of the Union or its elected or appointed officials or liaisons.

THE EMPEROR�S NEW CLOTHES

(A Play in Two Acts)

Robert Erlick, HHR AFSS

Act I

ATA-1: "Hey, here�s what seems to be an important new NOTAM and publication concerning Disney. Why don�t we put out a local NOTAM in the affected areas, too?"

Subordinate #1: "What a great idea! Why didn�t I think of that?!"

Subordinate #2: "It�s a master plan!"

Act II

Regional Level ATM: "Whoa...here�s a hot issue direct from ATA-1. It�s totally wrong and against all rules and regulations, but ATA-1 wants it. Who are we to tell her she�s wrong?"

Regional Level Subordinate: "I couldn�t agree more! Let�s have ALL AFSS�s in the whole region carry it as a local NOTAM. That will make ATA-1 look even better in her decision."

Flight Service Puke: "What the #@% is this! This so called NOTAM is already published in 2 places, and they want us to put it out as a local NOTAM in an area that�s not even in our flight plan area????? Who made this dumb-!@# decision?

* * * *

Ok, the above reworking of the famous story needs a bit of explaining. Here in the AWP region (and also in the ASO region) we received a message that started from ATA-1. It said that there was going to be a new published NOTAM in the class II book and in the AFD. She stated that the appropriate facilities were to issue local NOTAM in the same wording as the notice that was PUBLISHED in the AFD. "Pilots are requested to avoid overflying the Disney attraction areas below 3,000 AGL. See Airport/Facility Directory"

It seems that the region (don�t ask me who) then decided that each AFSS was to carry this bogus local NOTAM, not just the AFSS that has Disney in it�s flight plan area. We then got a directive to issue this NOTAM that goes against numerous rules and regulations, thus bypassing our job function as listed in 7930.2H 1-3-1c.

I was the person at the "NOTAM position" when this directive came in, and I immediately said that it was not a valid NOTAM, and that I wouldn�t issue it. After a 10 minute discussion with the ATM, I was basically ordered to do it. So, what�s the big deal?

Well, the whole point of our already overburdened and overloaded NOTAM system is to let airmen know important information that is not published. In fact, as soon as you open the handbook (7930.2H), the first section 1-1-1 ends with "The NOTAM system is not intended to be used to advertise data already published or charted." We then see in section 1-2-3, "Prior to issuing a NOTAM on any NOTAM criteria data, check all appropriate charts and publications to assure the information does not duplicate or fall within published data. Do not issue a NOTAM on information that duplicates or falls within published data."

OK, I can hear you all asking what constitutes published data? Section 4-4-3b states, "NOTAM�s shall remain current until the data is published in one or more of the following:" Of course, number 1 is the AFD...but we have to move down to number 5 for the CLASS II publication. As I read through the rest of the 7930.2H (an exciting read, by the way), I could find no provision for anyone from HQ or the region bypassing these basic rules and regulations for the proper issuance and canceling of NOTAMS. Can anyone explain why we have to carry this NOTAM?

What we have here could be one of a few possibilities. It may be as in my example above. ATA-1 really didn�t know the appropriate rules and regulations, and no one is willing to stand up and say that she�s wrong. This isn�t hard to believe. When I served as ARR/ARX liaison to NAATS in HQ, I saw subordinates being forced to change presentations to superiors when they planned on showing something was going wrong with a project. Everyone is afraid to correct anyone above them.

Another possibility is that of supreme power. ATA-1 may not care that it�s wrong. "Do it because I say so!" "I want it done, and you�ll do it!" Either of these explanations is unacceptable. We can not operate as an agency with this type of thinking. It is situations like these that should be shown to the A-76 Squad to show the real solution is to privatize Headquarters, not the people in the field!

  FEDERAL EMPLOYEE NEWS

Brought to you by FedWeek.com

Davis Named to Key Chairmanship

Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA, who represents a district with a substantial federal employee population and who has taken pro-employee positions on many civil service issues, has been named chairman of the House Government Reform committee, the panel that handles issues involving employee benefits, working conditions and personnel policies. Davis had been chairman of the committee�s subcommittee on technology and procurement policy and has sponsored measures to increase the pay caps applying to senior executives and to make retirees eligible for the "premium conversion" arrangement in which active employees may pay their Federal Employees Health Benefits program premiums with pre-tax money. Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, previously was named chair of the Senate�s counterpart Governmental Affairs Committee.

Davis Backs Pay for Performance

The new chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA, has said he favors a greater link between federal employee pay and performance measures, saying that highly performing workers should get "sweeteners" including bonuses and promotions. Davis added that he recognizes that pay for performance is controversial in the federal government because of concerns about the fairness of employee ratings and about a lack of money to reward top performers; federal unions have raised those concerns when pay for performance has been discussed in the past and the American Federation of Government Employees has signaled that it will raise them again in any new pay reform effort. Davis said managers should be held accountable for how they evaluate employees and that improved performance can more than pay the cost of rewarding such performance. Davis also advocates giving the executive branch new authority to reorganize agencies and said he plans oversight of the government�s contracting-out policies.

Subcommittee Assignments Shaping Up

Some changes are upcoming in the leadership of the congressional panels that handle civil service policies and spending levels, with House civil service subcommittee Rep. David Weldon, R-FL, giving up that seat to take a position on the Appropriations Committee. Weldon, a physician, had focused mainly on Federal Employees Health Benefits program issues and the concept of creating a cafeteria-style federal benefits program since taking over in mid-2001 after the resignation from Congress of the former chairman, Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-FL Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-VA, a second-term member with a scant record on civil service issues-although she has served on a federal technology and procurement subcommittee-is in line to take over the position. Rep. Ernest Istook, R-OK, will remain head of the Treasury-Postal appropriations subcommittee, the panel that writes the spending bills covering federal benefit programs and general government operations.

Changes in Senate Also Coming

On the Senate side, the leading advocate of civil service reform in recent years, Sen. George Voinovich, R-OH, is set to take over the Governmental Affairs Committee�s government management subcommittee; that subcommittee might also absorb some of the civil service oversight duties of the federal services subcommittee. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-CO, is in line to take over the Senate Treasury-Postal appropriations subcommittee.

Unionization Barred at TSA

The Transportation Security Administration has determined not to allow its passenger screeners to unionize, citing national security grounds. The question of unionization has been a hotly debated one since TSA was created more than a year ago under a law giving the agency greater leeway in many of its personnel practices, compared with most other federal agencies. TSA is to become part of the Department of Homeland Security when that department becomes operative; the law creating DHS overrode some provisions of the TSA�s enabling law, such as a provision that would have denied standard whistleblower protections to TSA employees. The American Federation of Government Employees has been working to organize screeners and has filed petitions for elections to create bargaining units at several large airports. AFGE is challenging the agency's determination in federal district court.

Another Civil Service Reform Proposal Issued

A high-profile commission led by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker has issued a report calling for numerous broad-ranging civil service reforms, a follow-up to a similar report issued more than a decade ago that laid the groundwork for higher salaries for senior federal executives, among other changes. The commission, like numerous other similar bodies in recent years, recommended greater flexibilities in personnel management systems, simplified and accelerated hiring processes, linking employee pay to current market conditions by abolishing the general schedule system and putting a greater emphasis on pay for performance. Other proposals include: reducing the number of political appointees, dividing the Senior Executive Service into separate corps of managers versus professional and technical experts, reducing financial disclosure requirements on employees, and raising salaries of appointees and other high-level employees. The commission is not a formal government body but its views likely will be taken seriously by both the executive branch and Congress, since its members include many leading experts on civil service matters.

Agency Reorganizations Backed

The Volcker Commission -- formally, the National Commission on the Public Service -- report said the government is "hamstrung by organizations and personnel systems developed decades ago" and that the government "is a layered jumble of organizations with muddled public missions." It recommended reorganizing the government into a "limited number of mission-related executive departments," in effect calling for mergers of agencies that share closely related missions, to be accomplished by new presidential authority to recommend a package of changes that would be put to a straight congressional up-or-down vote.

Union Reaction is Harsh

The two largest federal unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union, reacted harshly to the Volcker Commission's report, particularly its proposals to give management greater leeway over setting salaries and rewarding performance. AFGE said the proposals risk corruption and the takeovers of federal jobs by contractors with few controls, while NTEU criticized the proposal to increase pay at high levels as damaging to morale of other employees and termed the idea to merge agencies premature before the results of the Department of Homeland Security merger are known.

Mileage Rates Decreasing Slightly

Mileage reimbursement rates for federal employees using their own automobiles or other vehicles are decreasing slightly, retroactive to January 1. The rates for the calendar year, as set by the General Services Administration, are: 36 cents per mile if no government owned vehicle is available; 28.5 cents per mile if a government vehicle is available; 10 cents per mile if committed to use a government owned vehicle; 27.5 cents per mile if using a motorcycle and 95.5 cents per mile if using a privately owned airplane. The most widely-watched rate, the 36 cents per mile rate, is down a half-cent per mile from the 2002 rate.

No Promises on New TSP Computer System

The Thrift Savings Plan still is making no promises regarding when it will make its long-stalled new computer system operative. Until the new system is up and running, the program remains a monthly valued system, meaning that accounts are tabulated only at the end of each month and transactions such as inter-fund transfers can occur only monthly, not daily as is the standard in mutual funds and in private sector 401(k) retirement savings plans. The "daily valuation" feature is one of the most eagerly anticipated changes linked to that system, since it will allow transactions as often as every business day for inter-fund transfers and loans and withdrawals. The new system also will bring several changes in loan and withdrawal policies, including the option to take partial withdrawals and to mix and match withdrawal options.

Regional Supplements

ALASKA REGION

Alan Baker, Director and Phil Brown, Coordinator

Fairbanks AFSS
Once again it is time to start preparing to open the ORT FSS for the season. It appears that ORT will open May 1st again this year and be staffed with four flight service controllers. This will entail another volunteer solicitation and FacRep election. In addition to the seasonal ORT traffic, this year�s team will be dealing with continuous construction as Alaska DOT resurfaces the ORT runway. Our last major earthquake totally destroyed the ORT runway a few months ago and DOT left it as a gravel strip for the winter. This in itself was quite an accomplishment considering the devastation. Fairbanks AFSS management will be administering the ATC exam at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks this month. Twenty-four candidates are expected to undergo the testing process. This of course may all be moot as the entire Alaska region is only allotted four new hire slots as per our MOU. The new OASIS consoles will be installed at FAI next month.

Juneau AFSS
Our brothers and sisters at the Juneau AFSS continue to keep Alaska on the cutting edge of technology. I am very pleased to announce that JNU will probably be the very first AFSS in the country to have a LLWS Alert system installed at their facility. Thanks to the continued combined effort of Guylan Roberts and John Newell, JAWS is becoming a reality. John and Guylan presented a strong NAATS / Flight Service presence at a recent JAWS meeting in Washington D.C. They lobbied very hard to ensure future Fight Service involvement in JAWS. While it is impossible to predict the future with 100% accuracy, the JNU flying public is already benefiting from this cutting edge technology and considers it a very import piece of equipment.

Other News
The new "NAATS Alaska" logo has been widely accepted by our Alaskan membership. By now, everyone should have also received the new NAATS Alaska buttons. Please contact your FacRep if you have not.
Many of you have heard of the movement afoot to change Alaska from COLA to locality pay. We will be conducting Q&A sessions on this topic at the facilities in the very near future.

WARNING
CORPORATE GREED ENDANGERS ALASKA AVIATION!

The enroute low altitude navigational charts were revised on January 23, 2003. NAATS Alaska (the Union representing Alaska�s Flight Service Stations) has noticed that V317, V362, A10 and A15 have been changed dramatically or eliminated completely. Further research has revealed that NAVCANADA could no longer afford to maintain the McInnes Island NDB (MS) just south of Bella Bella, between ANN and SEA along the coast. So�they have shut it off!

We fear these changes to Alaska�s airways will increase the possibility of pilot deviations and operational errors!

This financial decision by NAVCANADA has increased the flight planning confusion factor in Alaska exponentially. NAATS Alaska encourages all pilots and controllers to closely examine the old enroute "L1" chart and compare it to the new chart that went into effect on January 23, 2003. Note that there are now two V317-V307s!

This dilemma is due to Canadian ATC being run by the lowest bidder.

NAVCANADA has based a safety related decision on their financial bottom line, regardless of the possible adverse affects on the aviation community. Your federal government would have you believe that NAVCANADA is the definitive example of successfully privatized flight service stations. Moreover, your federal government is trying to privatize America�s flight service stations right now via their "A-76" initiative. Don�t allow this same degradation of our national airspace system because a private contractor can not meet their financial bottom line!

Which should come first... corporate greed or aviation safety?

Tell your Senators and Congressman to stop A-76 now!

CENTRAL REGION

Michael Terry, Director and Jerry Van Vacter, Coordinator

Congressman Boswell�s Visit
Congressman Boswell flew into Fort Dodge on January 3rd to visit the facility. Paula Wisniewski, Jerry VanVacter and Scott Green meet with him for about an hour talking about the A76 study and some other items. He is very interested in the study and is totally against privatization of the AFSS. Take a look at the pictures from his visit on our regional web site.

Upcoming Meetings
The next quarterly meeting will be in Kansas City on March 6th and 7th. We have the LMR meeting on Feb 19th and will also be discussing the agenda. If you have anything you want brought up, pass it along to your FacRep.

Plan on attending the membership meeting on April 23rd and 24th in San Antonio. Jerry and I plan on having an evening out with the central region members. The NAATS web page has more information plus some pictures of the motel. We hope to see you there.

New NAATS Members
Welcome to the union, Pam Anderson, Rick Balinski, Steve Cherry, John Coughlin and Roger Jaeger. Thanks for joining.

Selections & Vacancies
Congratulations to Kathy Lemke for being selected to national finance committee. Bill Kerr got selected for a 6 month detail to the ROC starting on Jan. 27th.

Pam Anderson volunteered to be the NAATS Regional A-76 representative. If you have any ideas / questions, give her an email at [email protected].

We need regional representatives for CISD and Drug and Alcohol. If you are interested give Jerry or I a call.
We would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on the new regional site. Take a look at http://www.naatscentral.org and give us a call or email.

EASTERN REGION

GREAT LAKES REGION

PRINCETON AFSS NEWS

Judy Brandes, FacRep

WAY TO GO GUYS!

On September 29, 2002 3 hardworking PNM FPL's took the day off from briefing pilots to run the Twin Cities Marathon. (Left to right) Paul Cording (PZ), Curt Crane (CQ), and Pat Henning (PJ) all started and finished the grueling 26.2 mile run/walk. It's hard to believe they were able to put smiles on their faces to have their picture taken after such a long and exhausting day. About 1 week later Paul Cording left PNM AFSS and transferred to CDC AFSS. He must not like Minnesota and its marathons.

NEW ENGLAND REGION

NORTHWEST MOUNTAIN REGION

DENVER AFSS LOCAL NEWS

John Dibble, FacRep

Greetings from the Mile High City!
15 degrees outside but 104 in the hot tub!! Mmmmmmmm. Time for a union meeting?

The Continuing Saga -- Working Issues with Management
Well, I think I�ve figured out the sick leave semantics. Now I just have to educate the controllers to ask for excess sick leave. (FAAH 2730.8 Para 402) It seems management is hung up on "accrued" sick leave and excludes advanced or excess.

The FLRA agent will be in to investigate our ULP in March -- Failure to negotiate in good faith. It�s always tough switching oars in mid-stream whether it be the FacRep or the ATM. I think we will get things ironed out before to long.

NAATS WebPage
Getting ready to add a members-only section to the NAATS WebPage, and will decide at the BOD meeting in San Antonio how to distribute passwords. My preference would be through FacReps!

The NAATS.org re-mailer has not been working for a while, so if you have been sending mail to the Directors/FacReps using the naats.org addresses and haven�t received a reply; they may not have got it. I have the Directors� and President�s mail set up to forward again, but not the FacReps�, Coordinators� or Liaisons.

Recognition:
I have been remiss in not mentioning the efforts of Darrell Mounts since he has been Acting ANM Regional Director. He has been burning the candle at both ends (and, I think, in the middle to sometimes), trying to get into the swing of things and not miss a beat on the regional level. I think he has done a terrific job in the net, and has the support of all of the FacReps in the region.

He has also been very active on behalf of the option. We will be meeting with the Colorado Pilots Association in February, and with Senator Campbell�s office as soon as they get back to us with a schedule.

A message For Each Of Us:
The agency may not be concerned about the pilots, but we are!

Aviation Safety is Our Business & Our Business is NOT For Sale

SOUTHERN REGION

SOUTHWEST REGION

Mark Jaffe, Director & Dana Colquitt, Coordinator

Let�s talk about communication. Does NAATS have a good communication system? Yes. Could it be better? Of course. Can you help? Certainly. I have been to six BOD meetings, as a director, and have yet to hear this BOD say, "We better not tell the members that." Occasionally, there will some information that, if made public prematurely, would hurt our battle against the FAA on Pay, A-76, etc. In these isolated cases, the information is disseminated to the bargaining unit at the appropriate time.

Every time I go to work at the AFSS or talk to a NAATS member on the phone, people ask, "What�s new?" Most of the time, the correct answer is, nothing. That's not because there is some secret plot that I can't tell you about. It�s because issues like A-76, pay, and contract negotiations move so slowly that most of time, there have been no new developments since the last time I talked to you. I will sometimes forget some detail but normally, I will spill my guts and tell you everything I know about whatever you ask about. Now, you may have to prompt me because I have so much going on at the regional and national levels, but if you ask me questions about a specific subject then you are fixing to hear just about everything that I know about that subject.

I�m telling you that for two reasons. ONE, I get frustrated when I hear people saying that there is a conspiracy and Wally and/or the BOD are withholding information. TWO, I want you to call and ask questions, if you have them. That's the best way for me to get the word out about what�s going on.

When you elected me, I promised to keep you informed about union business. For general issues, I try to use forums like this one to let everyone know what�s happening. However, there are many questions that I CAN NOT anticipate and include in these kinds of articles. That is the time that I would like you to pick up the phone and call and ask whatever question is on your mind. I�ll answer as honestly as I can and give you all the information that I have.

REGIONAL NEWS
I have asked each FacRep for a SME (Subject Matter Expert) from each facility to help with A-76. Their job would be to assist the regional A-76 rep and the PWS team. The SMEs main job will be to list every duty and job facet for that facility. Find what makes your AFSS unique. I talked Dennis about this and he came up with a very good idea. He felt that this should be more of a facility project with the SME being the focal point for each AFSS. I would like to see each facility compile a list of duties with the input of several FPLs. This will be a much more complete picture of the work being performed by that AFSS. I other words, get everyone's input and ideas.

By the time you read this, we should have pay meetings scheduled. We will know more about the FAA's attitude on pay after the first couple of meetings. I'll let you know something on pay as soon as I know.

On the work rules, no news. I�m writing this at the end on January and FLRA has barely started an investigation on the ULPs that we filed in November. This is a slow process so be patient.

We signed a MOU on academy slots and SW Region went from zero to 7 slots. I'll sit down with the region and negotiate where to put our new hires for the year.

Don�t forget the FacRep training on the new contract coming up in March and if you haven�t made your reservations for the convention in San Antonio, hurry up. Time is running out.
 

WESTERN-PACIFIC REGION

Mike Stafford, Director and Bob Stanco, Coordinator

PAY
Wally was approached by AT-1 to start pay negotiations again in a couple of weeks. These will be high level only discussions, with just a couple of people on each team. I believe this sudden movement is a result of the letter from Congressman Young�s office, and I am hopeful the FAA will have a reasonable offer for us in line with the FMCS suggestions.

CONTRACT
The ULP is still in the hands of the FLRA, but we may able to have some discussions with Management about the work rules nonetheless. We can always pull the ULP if we could bundle a deal on the Pay and Work Rules implementation.

CRU-X
We need a Regional CRU-X Representative. Preferably this would be someone from one of our stations that already have the system and has some experience with it. We will also need a local CRU-X rep at each Facility. I would like all FacReps to solicit volunteers for these jobs and keep me posted. The CRU-X LDR MOU is signed, but we don�t even have the National Rep in place yet, and obviously the equipment isn�t in place except for a couple of stations in our Region, so it looks like it will be a while.

AFL-CIO AFFILIATION
I brought this subject to the BOD agenda, but due to time constraints (for A76) we were unable to get to it. Wally will be talking to their National Rep and we will revisit the issue ASAP.

AOPA
We have developed some new ideas to target the GA pilot, specifically AOPA and Phil Boyer. Mr. Boyer, as you know has been buying into the FAA�s explanation of A76 as a "modernization" effort vs. a contracting out effort. We know this is not correct and we intend to make sure that all pilots know it as well. Mr. Boyer�s strong support at this time would be invaluable, as we all know what kind of influence he wields in DC. It is imperative that we don�t get discouraged and let this A76 process affect our job performance. Now is the time for us to be extra nice to those GA pilots who depend on us, and vice versa.

A-76
Wally has been working the Congressional side of the A76 issue heavily, and hopefully we may have some good news on this soon. I know it makes a lot of people unhappy about the lack of detail in that statement, but the problem we have been having is that when it leaks out about who we contact, the FAA can go right to that person and feed them a bunch of BS to try to turn their opinion around.

The National MEO and PWS teams have been selected from numerous volunteers. Wally will be filling you in on the details on that. Our Regional Rep will be Mike Puffer, SAN FacRep. He will serve as a conduit to the PWS National team in to provide them with any information on our AFSSs that they may need. The Performance Work Statement will start officially on 1/27/03, will take quite a while to compile, and will require a lot of work from those in the field as well. This is where we list all the tasks that are performed by us in the Flight Service Option. We will also need Facility A76 Reps as well. The requirements for this are that you be a high energy person who is extremely knowledgeable in all of your local job elements, especially the unique jobs that may be performed at your Facility that are not performed at others, The PWS already has a handle on the tasks that are generic to all Facilities, what they need is a list of the tasks that are unique to your Facility. This would include, but not be limited to:

• LOAs

• Unique services such as Customs interfacing, NORAD notifications, and other trans-border and international tasks.

• Airport Advisory

• Taking over Freqs at night for ATC Facilities

• Services to Balloon and Glider pilots

• DF

• Any unique equipment (SUA/IS, etc)

• PJE

• Your station�s SIAs and Position checklists, and other unique Facility requirements.

There are many more, but I think you get the idea what they need. Your Management and Staff people should be able to assist you in this task, and hopefully they will help willingly. The PWS team will need documentation on each task. The reason we need all this info is that each job element that we can include in our lists of duties becomes something that a contractor will have to put a price on. Each extra item becomes something they have to include in their bid. We are hopefully looking at a 2000 page document when finished. I would like all FacReps to start soliciting for your local A76 Rep job, and give a lot of thought to it. We will need to start compiling this info soon.

PICKETING
When Wally has his meeting with NATCA and PASS in February, we will be setting up a combined National Picket Day at all major Airports in the US. We believe this will garner National media attention, and hopefully put even more pressure on Congress and the FAA to act to stop this study.

This is about all I have for now. I will be contacting each FacRep for further discussions this week. Remember - we need VOLUNTEERS. Get involved in any way you feel you can contribute. Derailing A-76 cannot be done by your National Reps and FacReps alone.

OAKLAND AFSS NEWS

Jim Blaine, FacRep

Here are the basic items of difficulty we encountered at OAK during OASIS Console installation. (Remember Jeff Barnes is very accessible, and will assist with any problems one may have with the consoles.)

Problem 1
During the site survey we requested the phones be placed with some on the left and most on the right. At that time we were told that it was set in stone that they had to be on the left per national OASIS Console agreement. This was a LIE, but unfortunately we accepted their word and left it at that. When the consoles were installed the plated were predrilled to place the phone as far to the left as possible. As we had decided to use the "lowboy" supervisor consoles for Preflight (per a controller survey we took), that put the phone very far to the left, which made the position difficult to work for some of our smaller stature controllers. We complained and were told there was nothing that could be done.

Carl Danner, a lead working on the project and a really great guy, appreciated our problem and re-drilled and placed the phones as close to center as possible, while plugging up all the old holes. That was the best he could do, short of relocating some of the phones to the right side. Carl is great at resolving problems. I called Jeff Barnes about this and he looked into it and told me the MOU for the consoles only mentions some equipment placement for Inflight consoles. Equipment placement for all other consoles it to be NEGOTIATED with the facility. If they tell you otherwise they are LYING. Call Jeff Barnes and he will get on them. Make sure it is done right the first time!

Our phones are all on the left and in usual FSS manner we have all worked around it. We have been told they will place the phones in the correct places, and we have sent them specific diagrams of where the phones should be. Installation was completed 8 months ago and we have no word as to when, if ever this correction work will be done.

Problem 2
If you have requested sound walls they have feet not wheels and can be a pain to pull in and out, especially if they don�t put cords out of the way in the consoles and you have to drag the sound walls over them. I also had a supervisor attempt to have the sound walls permanently placed! Carl Danner recently came back for finish work and he put wheels on all of them, and now they slide in and out very easily.

Problem 3
The keyboard adjustment trays have bad bolts and wear out fairly rapidly. Carl Danner found some better made bolts and those are installed to replace any that strip now. This is what you get going for the lowest bidder!

Problem 4
The company that made the ballasts for the light fixtures went out of business, and we had an inordinate number of ballasts fail in the first 6 months after installation. It took a while, but as far as I know they have found replacement ballasts that will work. For a while they took ballasts out of positions not in use to fix the ones burned out.

Problem 5
I am sorry we installed lowboy consoles. They do provide great visibility across operations, but they also allow sound to travel. Unfortunately, we have several controllers who almost yell when they brief and work the radios. We have a radio on the floor, and before you could work a position away form it, if it distracted you, now you can hear it, albeit quietly, just about everywhere on the floor when it is on. Also the lowboys only leave one panel for installation of additional monitors/screens. With ACE/IDS and SUA/ISE, one day if they are at all positions we will have to put one screen on top of the consoles, as there will be no other room in the console. The credenzas provided to replace the library are not very useful and we have two for every console we have, so they are all over the place.

A Word to the Wise
The only advice I have is MAKE SURE THEY DO THE JOB RIGHT THE FIRST TIME! They wanted us to sign off on the job, when there was no agreement as to who would service the consoles for replacing worn ballasts, etc. The representatives from ANI-900 and OAK AIFSS refused to do so until we had a commitment to make sure some entity took care of the problems. They push and push to get the project signed off, so they are free to go their merry way. MAKE SURE your facility is covered for any future repairs that may be needed. Attend all the meetings and take notes and keep them in your files.

HAWTHORNE AFSS NEWS

Scott Morrissy, FacRep

Auf Wiedersein
Lori Collins departs the fix outbound for the Command Center during the first week of February. We�ll miss her and her twins, Alexis and Allison. We all wish them the best in their new home in Virginia.

Training: 1 Done, 3 Training, 1 Studying
Frank Cortez (FC) is our newest FPL, though that doesn�t mean training is over for him. But there�s no rest for the weary, he�s already started training on the desk for his CIC certification. David Graham (DG) and Victor Morales (VM) are now duking it out for Inflight time. Alicia Davila (AD) passed her NWS check ride on Monday and is now fully certified to brief. She�s hard at work to certify in Broadcast soon. Melanie Liden (LN) has arrived from OAK and is currently working on Area Knowledge.

Going to Active Duty
Mark Smith (MC) is waiting for the 72-hour notice that he�s been called up for duty with the Marine Corps. The duty won�t be overseas; he�ll go to replace an active duty Marine air traffic controller from Miramar NAS who gets shipped out as part of the war on terrorism. Once that happens MC will once again become Master Sergeant Smith, USMC for anywhere from 6 months to a year.

Facility A-76 Rep.
Eli Morrissy (LE) has accepted the position of Facility A-76 Representative. We�re not sure of her exact responsibilities yet.

Just Call Him "Grandpa"
Time marches on for all of us. ATM Mike Lammes and his wife are celebrating the arrival of their first grandchild, Isabella, born to his stepson and daughter-in-law. Congratulations to the proud parents and the doting grandparents.

NAATS News Editorial Policy

Nothing that is inflammatory or scurrilous, libelous, attacks members by name or which contains words or phrases that are in poor taste and likely to be unnecessarily offensive, should be printed in the NAATS News or Regional Supplements. Individual(s) views expressed in the newsletter do not necessarily reflect the position of the Union.