Man this thread has gotten off topic... but to contribute, from
my post here a while ago the, the law the FAA has to follow (not OPM regulation, LAW!) is
49 USC 44506(f)(1). Trying to translate that section into English, they give preference to applicants in this order:
- A. Prior-experience FAA, DOD, or FCT controllers.
- B(ii)."Pool 1" OTS applicants. "Pool 1" is defined as either:
- CTI grads
- Veterans eligible for VRA pursuant to 38 USC 4214
- "Eligible veterans" (as defined at 38 USC 4211) with military-related aviation experience
- "Preference eligible veterans" (as defined at 5 USC 2108)
- B(iii). "Pool 2" OTS applicants. "Pool 2" is defined as applicants who apply under a bid "recruiting from all United States citizens."
- C. Special applicants who apply to a special bid for a specific radar facility that runs at least 1M annual ops and is located within a Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of more than 15M people as of July 2016.
....there is exactly one facility that meets the definition for
C, and it's N90.
So as written, the only way for them to have a location-specific Pool 2 bid for a specific facility is if the facility is N90, unless the law changes. It doesn't actually say that they can't have a bid for a specific non-N90 facility for only Pool 1 applicants, so that might be an interesting path to explore. They can also lobby Congress to change the law.