AZO

[MJ]

AZO
Kalamazoo Tower
Level:	8
Type:	Tower and Approach Control
Facility Info
Address:	5400 Aviation Dr, Portage, MI 49002
Phone:	269-459-3350
Hours:	0530-0000
Region:	Central
District	Chicago
MMAC Travel Days	2

Pay

CPC

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D3

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D2

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D1

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AG

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Locality

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CIP

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COLA

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Differential

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Staffing

CPC Total

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CPC Target

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% of Target

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CPC-Trainee %

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Trainee Total

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Training Time (years)

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Success %

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NCEPT

Category

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Gains (Nat'l Avg)

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Gains (Target)

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Releases

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Projections

% to Target

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Inbounds

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Outbounds

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Losses

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National Averages

Current CPC % to Target

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Projected CPC % to Target

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Updated --/--/----

Contents

• Operational Info
• Facility Level History
• External Links
• Local Area
• External Links

Operational Info​

Facility Level History​

Old Level	New Level	Effective Date
7	8	5/9/2021
6	7	9/1/2019

External Links​

Chart​

A/FD​

LiveATC​

Local Area​

External Links​

Cost of Living​

Schools​

About the City​

 

[Trenchbeast]

Anyone know the current situation with Kalamazoo? Ive read the Section 804 recommendation for merging the other Michigan approach controls and I'm confused exactly what the setup is out here and what the future will be like for this facility.

 

[Move78]

Anyone know the current situation with Kalamazoo? Ive read the Section 804 recommendation for merging the other Michigan approach controls and I'm confused exactly what the setup is out here and what the future will be like for this facility.

It's going to be an 8 up/down with tons of slow radar sectors

 

[corn4ahead]

It's going to be an 8 up/down with tons of slow radar sectors

This.

AZO tower is very slow generally. LAN doesn't have a whole lot going on. AZO App has Western Michigan U flight school which can get busy occasionally with practice approaches to AZO/BTL and what not. GRR will have the bulk of the commercial traffic for the new facility. MKG/FNT/MBS all are some of the slower tracons in the country. MKG I can get occasionally busy during OSHKOSH week I hear.

 

[GMX]

Since AZO is a 6 right now, it will start as a 6 when they first start moving facilities over. They want to move MKG and GRR in Jan/Feb 2019 with LAN/MBS/FNT a couple months after. The cutover date for the latter was March 19 but the engineers have pushed it back to like May 12 already. If it gets delayed more, they will have to make it in the Fall because they cannot accomplish it in the summer.

The eventual facility level is not part of the MOU in any way, is non-negotiable, and NATCA neither agreed nor disagreed; the level is only set by traffic count validation. SO, NATCA did get the FAA to consider a new updated look at the traffic count with NATCAs CountOps people...not to "force" a level but to have accurate data to make the most informed decision for facility level. They said the FAA won't commit to a hard number because right now it's estimated. There is no TCI number but they said it "should" fall into lvl 8 easily.

When it becomes Great Lakes TRACON it will be a "new" facility and a full year of traffic data will not exist, so they will use 3 months per Appendix A of the contract: In circumstances where a facility meets all criteria for upgrade, EXCEPT that a full year of data does not exist, a validation may still take place. If it is determined that the missing data would have a de minimis impact on the calculation of the TCI, the validation will be conducted as though a full year of data exists.

 

[GMX]

If anyone's interested the total TRACON operations from 2017 are as follows:

GRR: 101,077
LAN: 87,364
AZO: 76,113
FNT: 52,053
MBS: 45,300
MKG: 43,926

 

[Trenchbeast]

Since AZO is a 6 right now, it will start as a 6 when they first start moving facilities over. They want to move MKG and GRR in Jan/Feb 2019 with LAN/MBS/FNT a couple months after. The cutover date for the latter was March 19 but the engineers have pushed it back to like May 12 already. If it gets delayed more, they will have to make it in the Fall because they cannot accomplish it in the summer.

The eventual facility level is not part of the MOU in any way, is non-negotiable, and NATCA neither agreed nor disagreed; the level is only set by traffic count validation. SO, NATCA did get the FAA to consider a new updated look at the traffic count with NATCAs CountOps people...not to "force" a level but to have accurate data to make the most informed decision for facility level. They said the FAA won't commit to a hard number because right now it's estimated. There is no TCI number but they said it "should" fall into lvl 8 easily.

When it becomes Great Lakes TRACON it will be a "new" facility and a full year of traffic data will not exist, so they will use 3 months per Appendix A of the contract: In circumstances where a facility meets all criteria for upgrade, EXCEPT that a full year of data does not exist, a validation may still take place. If it is determined that the missing data would have a de minimis impact on the calculation of the TCI, the validation will be conducted as though a full year of data exists.

Once the merger happens fully will it still be an updown facility correct?

I'm asking because we heard that our tower academy list might have a significant amount of AZO slots.

 

[GMX]

It will be an up/down but not everyone will work all positions. The plan is for a west wall and an east wall (of scopes).

West works radar for AZO, GRR, MKG, and AZO Tower.

East works radar for FNT, also GRR, LAN, and MBS. Also LAN is 24 hours so that side works a mid and the other side doesn't.

That could be problematic for leave and other things I imagine.

In short, it'll technically be an up/down but only for some...

 

[Logical_Mongoose]

Does anyone have an update on AZO in regards to 804 progress and/or level change?

 

[Morgan_Freeman_But_Not]

Does anyone have an update on AZO in regards to 804 progress and/or level change?

The 804 is all complete. They’re doing a 12 month snapshot of their traffic to determine what level they will be.

 

[FightingIrish2012]

Splitting that up/down into two areas was a bit of a scam, it’s not like Philly or Miami tower. I get it’s a lot of airspace but all of those TRACONs were very low volume other then GRR. And the tower is not too busy either.

 

[PushingTin]

Splitting that up/down into two areas was a bit of a scam, it’s not like Philly or Miami tower. I get it’s a lot of airspace but all of those TRACONs were very low volume other then GRR. And the tower is not too busy either.

ARB is a better facility, with an amazing facrep!

 

[GMX]

Splitting that up/down into two areas was a bit of a scam, it’s not like Philly or Miami tower. I get it’s a lot of airspace but all of those TRACONs were very low volume other then GRR. And the tower is not too busy either.

GRR had 20.69% more radar operations than LAN (#2 behind GRR) in 2018. Their tower did way more than the other towers though.

AZO ended up not having a mid for the east wall.

With 6 radar airspaces and 1 tower, no one would be able to maintain currency on all 7 so that's why they each got 4 (GRR being the overlap on both walls). It's still kind of weird.

 

[FoggyWindow]

Does anyone have an update on AZO in regards to 804 progress and/or level change?

Last I'd heard it was looking like it was gonna be an 8. Any idea if that's true? I'm from GRR originally so this would be a good way to get back near home.

 

[FoggyWindow]

Last I'd heard it was looking like it was gonna be an 8. Any idea if that's true? I'm from GRR originally so this would be a good way to get back near home.

?????

 

[GMX]

Still a 6. People getting antsy (understandably so) for the upgrade but it's "taking longer than planned". Some people ended up not qualifying for the PCS money too but had already sold houses and moved!

 

[PushingTin]

Some people ended up not qualifying for the PCS money too but had already sold houses and moved!

Holy shit. Based on a 50 mile rule? Eek. That's a big deal. I hope they weren't misled by someone in a position of authority

 

[FightingIrish2012]

Holy shit. Based on a 50 mile rule? Eek. That's a big deal. I hope they weren't misled by someone in a position of authority

They audit the PCS moves really hard for 804 relocations, it’s hard to scam that and if you do good chance it eventually gets discovered and you will be paying that back with interest.

 

[McLovin]

AZO hit level 7 numbers in September. On track to hit 8 numbers by January. It should level out right in the middle of the 8 band. Still getting paid level 6 until the Validation Team takes any action...