Hiring Bid Experienced Bid: FAA-ATO-19-ATCEXP-60073

[TheFullMonty]

What rank would you equate level 5 pay to?

Gs12 at 85k to a 5 would be a good bit lol.. think I’d be at the lowest or highest d band.

 

[squawkIFR]

Gs12 at 85k to a 5 would be a good bit lol.. think I’d be at the lowest or highest d band.

I think gs11 is more in line with level 5

 

[squawkIFR]

If your feelings were hurt about the major league analogy, how are you a controller? All we do is give each other sh*t and act like every facility’s traffic is Chicago, NY, ATL, etc. Let’s take the analogy further and add minor league’s top three classes. There, now everyone gets to play pro ball.

I get why some may be disappointed with a list of 4-7s when prior bids would have produce lists of 8-12s. My first time around I had three 12s and two 11s: C90, N90, A80, PCT, and HCF. I’m certain my AF experience of 140k ops per year didn’t equate to that. It doesn’t hurt to get your foot in the door and establish your seniority date before the next guy. There’s no right or wrong choice though, your life.

Yeah idk man I was just kidding. I don’t really care.

Edit: and I’m so appreciative to be hired and I’m not turning down my level 5. I’m not really too money driven.

 

[boots]

Do you not keep your pay from DoD to FAA?

 

[mAiTaInVFRaToRbElOw]

You seemed to care quite a bit but okay, idc.

Apparently you’re not allowed to say that any FAA facility is easy and the easiest FAA facility is harder than the hardest military facility.

They are probably just afraid of washing out because they are trash Air Force “controllers”. Am I right? Every Air Force controller that I’ve seen go FAA is now flipping burgers at McDonald’s. I don’t even know why they have “prior experiences” bids.

Nah man. If you’re an Air Force controller forget about it. If you’re army then no need to even apply.

You’re in the presence of major league controllers here. You better keep that rhetoric to a minimum if you want to make it to the big leagues. Rookie.

 

[squawkIFR]

You seemed to care quite a bit but okay, idc.

Well I did kind of go on about it because to be frank there are many Air Force rapcons that are equal in complexity and traffic count to that of level 6 and level 7 Tracons. Mine being one of them. So for somebody to say that we are “minor league” simply because we are Air Force is simply garbage. And really I don’t care I thought I’d just be a SmartAss about it. I’ll keep my head down wherever I go and always be receptive, be thankful to make the transition. I can definitely understand somebody turning down a list and I don’t think that makes them a pre Madonna because of it. They have every right to turn it down for whatever reason. Maybe cost of living is too much, or they don’t like the cold. Who knows?

 

[mAiTaInVFRaToRbElOw]

All valid, but I meant there are minor league FAA facilities too.

 

[Chris0209]

Get well soon.

Same here man I guess we don’t count ?

 

[Morgan_Freeman_But_Not]

Same here man I guess we don’t count ?

+1 on the profile pic

 

[Chris0209]

Well I did kind of go on about it because to be frank there are many Air Force rapcons that are equal in complexity and traffic count to that of level 6 and level 7 Tracons. Mine being one of them. So for somebody to say that we are “minor league” simply because we are Air Force is simply garbage. And really I don’t care I thought I’d just be a SmartAss about it. I’ll keep my head down wherever I go and always be receptive, be thankful to make the transition. I can definitely understand somebody turning down a list and I don’t think that makes them a pre Madonna because of it. They have every right to turn it down for whatever reason. Maybe cost of living is too much, or they don’t like the cold. Who knows?

Dude I agree 100% with you. Everyone is entitled to turn down if they feel like it. Honestly for me cost of living does play a major role in my decision.

 

[SugarFoot1]

What rank would you equate level 5 pay to?

Rank like military rank or GS level?

 

[squawkIFR]

Rank like military rank or GS level?

Mikitary

 

[SugarFoot1]

Mikitary

Tough to say really. So many factors to compare but I would say a level 5 is like SSgt pay probavly

 

[Dolan]

Man, for those of you who haven’t worked gen av traffic before, prepare to get humbled by a few Cessna’s and a Cherokee. I’m not even kidding. Lol The Mooney is gonna come blow your pattern up!

You gotta get creative and figure out how to fly the plane yourself. A lot of them are trainees. I’m lucky that I’m cutting my teeth a semi busy contract tower.

I look next door at the FAA Level 6 and they are absolutely getting their shit pushed in. Then I look at the military class D I got my first CTO and they’re not doing shiiiitttt. It’s bizarro world.

I can't help but wonder where you work. How come they don't fly over to your airport and push your shit in? lol

 

[KevH]

Tough to say really. So many factors to compare but I would say a level 5 is like SSgt pay probavly

Agreed. There is a pretty large pay structure difference between the military and FAA which makes it difficult to calculate an exact comparison. Individual tax situation, location, and your shifts in the FAA are going to play a big difference. I'd say for most of the US level 5 CPC pay is roughly equivalent to E5 pay like Sugarfoot posted. Medium cost of living it probably better equates to E4. High cost of living: E3. Stupid high cost of living (i.e. Palo Alto or Manhattan): E2 or maybe even E1 towards the bottom of the CPC band. That's net pay not gross, and is also assuming the military member is in the same locality as the FAA employee and living off base. The military pay structure with its tax-exempt allowances is more advantageous in higher cost of living areas.

Again though, So many different factors come into play that it really is hard to directly compare. My old level 5 net pay was very close to E4 net pay for the area, after adding back in Roth TSP contributions.

 

[GO]

Just throwing it out there, you are not always trapped forever. If you can’t make a move due to family or finances or whatever then so be it cause that’s your life circumstances but for me I showed up to my level 5 first facility, certified, got off probation and left for a level 12 all within about a 21 month timeframe. I lucked out on a cheap cost of living place and being military I jumped straight to D3 the day I walked into my facility (no D1 or D2 there). Best of luck y’all, I hope it all works out for you & yours

 

[TheFullMonty]

Do you not keep your pay from DoD to FAA?

There is a save pay thing but I haven’t looked into it much.

 

[mAiTaInVFRaToRbElOw]

There is a save pay thing but I haven’t looked into it much.

Per the CBA:
New Entrant: A new entrant will retain his/her current federal pay up to the maximum of the Developmental-3 pay band.

So basically your GS basic pay plus the facility’s locality up to the D3 max.

 

[PrisonMike]

I can't help but wonder where you work. How come they don't fly over to your airport and push your shit in? lol

I work at OXR, CMA is to the East, and NTD is to the Southeast. CMA gets more traffic than us because they have superior FBOs, self serve fuel, and tons of parking. They’ve been getting busier too since SMO is starting to close down. A lot of the pilots out of there are moving their planes to CMA.

 

[Miri]

6/9...really 6/10

Were you given one option as report date?