Town Hall

[32andBelow]

They already decided against that? Are they gonna give everyone in the building a Starbucks gift card so you dont have to drink lead coffee any more?

You guys are getting coffee?

 

[DankVectorz]

I'm legitimately curious, how did you end up at N90?

when I applied in 2013 it was the “pick 2 states” method. I picked NC and NY got assigned N90. No lists back then, either take it or leave it. Then when I was training the err mou came out and been stuck ever since. Should have withdrawn from training and gone somewhere else like a dozen of the other trainees did when word of it dropped.

 

[semperfly]

I would love to hear from an old timer about what it was like controlling in the 80s and 90s when it came to the training environment, newly certified controllers trying to move immediately, and all the other things being talked about here. I remember when it was a bitch to get picked up by the FAA around 2005-2012ish. Now it seems like they're hiring non stop and can't keep people like they used to. I notice a lot more often now that young controllers are totally cool with quitting after a couple of years. Again I'd love to hear from some of the old heads about what it was like and also their theories about why its like it is now.

 

[MJ]

"we're not the problem, you are" is what he's saying. This isn't any new info really, for as long as I've been around the goal has been ~85-90%.

I remember when it was a bitch to get picked up by the FAA around 2005-2012ish

that was the peak hiring period...

 

[DankVectorz]

I remember when it was a bitch to get picked up by the FAA around 2005-2012ish

lol what? That was the easiest time in history to get hired. Hell in the early 2000’s they were giving prior experience controllers a $20k hiring bonus

 

[semperfly]

Not what I remember. We have multiple bids a year now. There was definitely a period a few years back where getting in was much harder.

 

[MJ]

Not what I remember. We have multiple bids a year now. There was definitely a period a few years back where getting in was much harder.

There were PUBNAT bids (?) every 3 months for years and mass onboarding sessions. 20k sign on bonuses for prior exp applicants ended in Oct 2010.

 

[AB19]

You guys are getting coffee?

Imagine having fracking water instead

We have been constantly training. Our trainees were getting 12+ hours per week before the training mandate. The problem isn't training, it's the piss poor trainees we had been sent recently. Also, when we do certify someone, they immediately talk about putting paperwork in somewhere. Now I have to compete against that individual to get out, after busting my ass training them.

Things are different now but before the training order I averaged less than 15 hours a month

 

[semperfly]

There were PUBNAT bids (?) every 3 months for years and mass onboarding sessions. 20k sign on bonuses for prior exp applicants ended in Oct 2010.

Damn I didn't realize that. Well aside from what I said about the hiring seeming more difficult back then (mainly because I didn't get hired).. what are your theories about the other stuff I mentioned?

 

[GulfBravoPapa]

People have always quit and will always quit. This job and this lifestyle is not for everyone. Sure (most) everyone knows when they sign up it is going to be shift work and they're going to miss out on holidays/birthdays/soccer games etc... But until you really live it maybe you don't fully understand it. Maybe a controller was single when they were hired and first started but now they're married with young kids and their spouse is pissed their missing Halloween for the third year in a row... Life happens.

 

[PushingTin]

n90 will ever be staffed to 85% ?

….because the target # is absurdly fraudulent. We need 98034793273247348 CPCS! We are .000001 % staffed! pay us!

 

[DankVectorz]

….because the target # is absurdly fraudulent. We need 98034793273247348 CPCS! We are .000001 % staffed! pay us!

ah yes that’s why we only had 4 people for the whole EWR area on Sunday night. Def just trying to scam so we can get 90 min breaks and free overtime so we can keep sucking down that Covanta cancer air!

 

[CF]

Keep seeing people talk about that. Do they have an incinerator near by?

 

[Phillyman2633]

keep sucking down that Covanta cancer air!

 

[DankVectorz]

Keep seeing people talk about that. Do they have an incinerator near by?

yes. It abuts the parking lot. Supposedly it’s just steam coming out of the stacks but when the wind blows it directly into the parking lot (aka winter) it leaves a filmy residue on your car. Sometimes you can’t even see out of your windows it leaves so much grime. In the summer sometimes you’ll be walking and it will feel like it’s drizzling but the sun is shining and not a cloud in the sky. It’s the steam from the covanta plant falling on you. Back in the 90’s or early 2000’s they had a filter issue and wound up paying for new paint jobs for everyone’s cars.

also there’s this:

Redirect Notice

and they just shut off the water supply to the cafeteria coffee maker and some water fountains because they tested too high for lead.

 

[Phillyman2633]

and they just shut off the water supply to the cafeteria coffee maker and some water fountains because they tested too high for lead.

One of the Port Authority plumbers came up to fix the sink a few months ago and said "I hope you're not drinking or washing your dishes with this water, this water is not potable" and then OSHA showed up a week later and half of the brainwashed jackasses I work with started saying shit like "Who is the asshole who called OSHA, you should be happy with what you have" and then management threatened to take away the bottled water. Gotta love it.

 

[DankVectorz]

One of the Port Authority plumbers came up to fix the sink a few months ago and said "I hope you're not drinking or washing your dishes with this water, this water is not potable" and then OSHA showed up a week later and half of the brainwashed jackasses I work with started saying shit like "Who is the asshole who called OSHA, you should be happy with what you have" and then management threatened to take away the bottled water. Gotta love it.

basically all water on Long Island is toxic.

Report: Long Island Has Most Contaminated Drinking Water In New York

According to a New York Public Interest Research Group analysis of EPA data, Long Island has the most contaminted drinking water in the state.NYPIRG’s…

www.wshu.org

 

[MJ]

Damn I didn't realize that. Well aside from what I said about the hiring seeming more difficult back then (mainly because I didn't get hired).. what are your theories about the other stuff I mentioned?

They don’t breakdown the attrition stats enough (at least publicly) to get an exact handle on people quitting, but there doesn’t seem to be a meaningful change over the last several years with the info that is put out. Anecdotally, I know several people who’ve quit, so it seems strange.

One thing that changed for certain is the number of hardships. I’m guessing the number of withdrawals has gone up too, which may be a reason that terminations seem to be on the rise vs reassignment.

As for training, times have gone down and (I think) success rates have gone up. The target time is within the FAAs goals so them complaining about training is a red herring imo.

 

[Electricfence]

They don’t breakdown the attrition stats enough (at least publicly) to get an exact handle on people quitting, but there doesn’t seem to be a meaningful change over the last several years with the info that is put out. Anecdotally, I know several people who’ve quit, so it seems strange.

One thing that changed for certain is the number of hardships. I’m guessing the number of withdrawals has gone up too, which may be a reason that terminations seem to be on the rise vs reassignment.

As for training, times have gone down and (I think) success rates have gone up. The target time is within the FAAs goals so them complaining about training is a red herring imo.

do you have access to actual hardships numbers? Withdraw numbers? Termination numbers? Reassignment numbers?

 

[MJ]

do you have access to actual hardships numbers? Withdraw numbers? Termination numbers? Reassignment numbers?

some are from this Controller Workforce Plan