Shoot The Breeze

[atc12bsthrowaway]

How's the schedule at your country club? Or really any one at a big house tracon, please chime in. Is there an option to work straight night shifts? Like 3-11 everyday?

Normal rattler lines at mine, 3pm,1pm,7am, 5:45am, 10pm, rdo/ot, rdo/ot. No cool n90 one week of swings/days schedule and no all mid lines etc.

 

[HenryTheAce]

How's the schedule at your country club? Or really any one at a big house tracon, please chime in. Is there an option to work straight night shifts? Like 3-11 everyday?

No option to work straight mids/days/eves without shift swapping and having an agreement with another controller. If you have a mid line you’ll have 2 night shifts, 2 days, and the mid…. If you don’t have a mid line you’re pretty much guaranteed 3 night shifts and 2 day shifts and whatever OT you’re assigned on either RDO

 

[Acquired Taste]

Covid schedule was 5/5 straight days or eves.
We’re back to a Normal rattler but we have some AWS type lines. I’m on a 4/10 5/8 schedule 3 days off every other week.
But you work with enough people if you wanted mostly days or swings you can usually horse trade it.
Best way to crush the rattler is 2 eves 1 mid day 1 day then a day or mid

Gotcha, ideally I'd love straight eves. I thought I wanted the 4/10s life but this is year 2 of working them (year 1 got interrupted by covid) and they're not as cool as I thought. The perks are great (3 rdos, more ot, 10 hr holidays, etc) but I feel like there's no time for anything other than work during those days. Working 10 hrs and sleeping for 9ish, plus the commute and getting ready and eating and there just ain't much free time left.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

Gotcha, ideally I'd love straight eves. I thought I wanted the 4/10s life but this is year 2 of working them (year 1 got interrupted by covid) and they're not as cool as I thought. The perks are great (3 rdos, more ot, 10 hr holidays, etc) but I feel like there's no time for anything other than work during those days. Working 10 hrs and sleeping for 9ish, plus the commute and getting ready and eating and there just ain't much free time left.

I just did straight eves during pretty much the entirety of covid (1 week of am shifts). I dunno if I'd like it at all on 5/2.

I loved not having to set an alarm, but I wasn't productive at all on my work days aside from a little light housework before my shifts, or hanging out with the kiddo while my wife handled grocery runs or appointments or whatever. I was playing catch up from the week on my 5 off. With a couple day shifts during the week I feel like I can get a head start on weekend projects on my day shifts, or actually do things in the evenings besides "whelp it's 9 or 10 pm, lemme chill for a few hours and drink some beers". It's nice getting the yard work etc done on my Thurs/Fri and knowing the weekend can be used for other stuff, not to mention I get to actually see my kid for more than a couple hrs a day during the week.

Im also not at all a morning person so your mileage may vary. I certainly have a love/hate with the 2 or 3 swings/2 or 3 days schedule, but it's nice getting a few lazy mornings and still being able to get things done and save my weekend for fun stuff.

 

[Boxer]

Can the ATM mandate we use headsets over handsets?

I know someone at BWI and they said you're at a core 30 airport, quit your bitching and put on your headset.

Honestly sounds grievable

An Air traffic controller complaining about wearing a headset??? I hear they make an adapter that fits the consoles at McDonald's drive thrus. Might be a better line of work for you.

 

[Spaceforce]

An Air traffic controller complaining about wearing a headset??? I hear they make an adapter that fits the consoles at McDonald's drive thrus. Might be a better line of work for you.

We all controllers. And we are ALWAYS GONNA COMPLAIN!

 

[CF]

Anyone ever gone through the process of getting paid for being skipped on the OT list? 99% sure I was and am going to talk to the ATM when I get back. Is this something they normally are cool about or am I going to have to file a grievance?

 

[Mike Kilo]

Anyone ever gone through the process of getting paid for being skipped on the OT list? 99% sure I was and am going to talk to the ATM when I get back. Is this something they normally are cool about or am I going to have to file a grievance?

You’ll probably have to file just for the paperwork. It’s pretty easy and straight forward and I’m sure they will be cool about it. I had an opportunity a while back but didn’t pursue because it was a BUE that skipped me. Kinda hard to blame management there imo.

 

[CF]

You’ll probably have to file just for the paperwork. It’s pretty easy and straight forward and I’m sure they will be cool about it. I had an opportunity a while back but didn’t pursue because it was a BUE that skipped me. Kinda hard to blame management there imo.

That’s happened to me and I didn’t because a natca person fucked it up but this was for sure a supe that was calling people.

 

[JNev]

I know someone at BWI and they said you're at a core 30 airport, quit your bitching and put on your headset.


An Air traffic controller complaining about wearing a headset??? I hear they make an adapter that fits the consoles at McDonald's drive thrus. Might be a better line of work for you.

That’s cool, I know a lot of people at BWI and they think it’s a sad show of micromanaging power, but they can have their opinion and I can too! Isn’t America great?

Besides, of all the “distractions” in the tower, does ANYONE really believe the pilots voices are the problem? I mean come on now…
Tell KL I said hi though!

 

[CF]

That’s cool, I know a lot of people at BWI and they think it’s a sad show of micromanaging power, but they can have their opinion and I can too! Isn’t America great?

Besides, of all the “distractions” in the tower, does ANYONE really believe the pilots voices are the problem? I mean come on now…

To me it’s more of a “pick your battles” thing. Sure you can fight the ATM on this and piss them off so then they put it in writing or you can just humor them for a couple months then they forget about it and you go back to the way you were doing it before.

plus if they put it in writing now it lives on after they leave.

 

[JNev]

To me it’s more of a “pick your battles” thing. Sure you can fight the ATM on this and piss them off so then they put it in writing or you can just humor them for a couple months then they forget about it and you go back to the way you were doing it before.

plus if they put it in writing now it lives on after they leave.

That’s an excellent point. Veteran ATC thinking right there. I think the headset is mildly annoying and unnecessary to me the majority of the time but really it’s the pettiness to enforce something like that which bothers me more than anything. This is the FAA though so I shouldn’t be surprised I know.

 

[Boxer]

That’s cool, I know a lot of people at BWI and they think it’s a sad show of micromanaging power, but they can have their opinion and I can too! Isn’t America great?

Besides, of all the “distractions” in the tower, does ANYONE really believe the pilots voices are the problem? I mean come on now…
Tell KL I said hi though!

You can't bitch until you're fully certified. Don't make your name so obvious moron.

 

[JNev]

You can't bitch until you're fully certified. Don't make your name so obvious moron.

No one there would wash me out because I was mildly upset we had to use headsets ? What a spineless clown you are hiding behind your private profile

This definitely fits the dinosaur mentality that no one has any value until they reach some arbitrary threshold. Hopefully you’re long gone from the agency and especially training

I don’t need to hide my name, I stand behind any and everything I post on here ?‍♂️

 

[32andBelow]

You guys are complaining about wearing headset at your job at a call center? Lmao.

 

[JNev]

You guys are complaining about wearing headset at your job at a call center? Lmao.

My previous facility they were literally never worn on position outside of training sessions and then during COVID they were never worn either once I transferred. I can understand they have a time and place but when I’m talking to 10-15 guys in an hour the handset is completely adequate
Also, like I said earlier, it’s probably more so just being obnoxiously micromanaged than the headsets themselves

 

[AB19]

You can't bitch until you're fully certified. Don't make your name so obvious moron.

You sound like a ?

 

[32andBelow]

My previous facility they were literally never worn on position outside of training sessions and then during COVID they were never worn either once I transferred. I can understand they have a time and place but when I’m talking to 10-15 guys in an hour the handset is completely adequate
Also, like I said earlier, it’s probably more so just being obnoxiously micromanaged than the headsets themselves

Maybe it’s different in the tower. Ours is pretty standard that you use it between like 8am and 8pm. I think it’s even in the SOP

 

[CF]

Maybe it’s different in the tower. Ours is pretty standard that you use it between like 8am and 8pm. I think it’s even in the SOP

Makes since in a radar room. You have 4+ people all working within earshot of each other, could get kind of annoying. Guessing you can also hear stuff going on in other areas too.

 

[Boxer]

You sound like a ?