How far out have you negotiated your start date?--tier 2

Periculant

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So I've been offered a position at a contract tower half way across the country and after waiting for 15 months for the FAA I am considering taking the position. If the FAA were to tell me Id have an answer in 3 months or 6 months Id wait for that answer but the FAA just baits you along for 1 month at a time and you basically know with a Tier 2 that you are going to be waiting between 3 months to 3 years.....MAYBE. So I don't wanna move half way across the country and be offered a position by the FAA a week later and move half way across the country again.

So after completion of the Tier 2 I will be required to complete another drug test and then have a FOL as far as I know... Does anyone have insight on how long one can drag out that process so I can at least spend a year at this contract facility before moving again?

The FAA wants you to sit around and rot for YEARS for a position and hop to ready to go when they offer a FOL it would seem. So i'm curious if anyone has had any luck making the FAA wait.
 
Nah dog.

They're gonna say choose a start date. If it doesn't work for you, they'll work within reason (a couple weeks).

Why would you sit on an FCT job for year with an offer from the FAA? That makes no sense.
 
First off, have you done your tier 2 appointment? If so, what bid are you from?

If you haven’t done your tier 2 appointment but have been sent to their office. Chances are it’s 2-3 months to get contacted, then about four months after you’ll clear.

You can do your tier 2 appointment wherever you will be. You don’t have to stay stationary, they have doctors all over.
 
It took me 9 months to get into my tier 2 appointment which was complete on March 15 so based off that timeline Id hear back no later then 15 July.

I am From the March 2018 Bid
 
Dude you really need to relax. There’s people from 2016 still waiting for their appointment. I get that you don’t wanna put your life on hold. However, if that’s the case you probably should have withdrawn as soon as you were tier 2 notified.

To even consider moving your family across country when you could get contacted for a drug test in less than a few weeks is asinine to say the least.
 
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I think this guy is right, I think he should take it as like was mentioned it could be another two years. Most people don’t understand just how bad aviation medicine and HR sucks. If he gets picked up in a month, then negotiate the latest start date within reason and move again. Yes, you are burning a few thousand buck to move again but over the course of a career where the average person will make about $4 Million, after a year or two in will you notice or care?
 
The thing is they won’t just be like “yeah cool let’s do a year.”

If he gets emailed to set up a drug test next month the turnaround is a few days. He could be contacted by HR with an academy date as soon as end of July as it stands now.

So he agrees and moves by the time that email comes. Then what? They won’t wait a year and probably not more than a month or so from whatever the original date offered is.

If you’re that interested in risking it I’d call HR and propose it to your rep. Not hope that they’ll be nice. It’s the government and the FAA. They have staffing needs.
 
I was tier 2 from the 2016 bid and i'm finally heading out to academy next week. I took my tier 2 in September 2018 and didn't get clearance till May 2019 . They wanted to have me go to academy that weekend that I received clearance and I told the no, because of financial reasons and my family as well. HR was able to push it back like a month and change. The family is staying behind here in Florida while I go to OKC. It does not make sense to break our lease move to OKC for a few months and then move again. Once I get assigned a facility we will only have a month left on our lease so then we will move.
 
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