Wall Street Journal reporter reaching out for interviews

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reporter417

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Hi, my name is Chris Kuo, and I'm a reporter with The Wall Street Journal. I'm working on a story about the challenges that ATCs face and the difficulties FAA has dealt with regarding recruitment and retention of controllers. I'm hoping to hear from current and former ATCs about their experiences, including around the recent shutdown. If you are in the workforce or if you retired or quit recently (this year or past few years), I want to hear from you. What were the challenges you faced as a controller? What can the FAA do to improve its ability to recruit new controllers and retain current ones?

I'm hoping this spotlights the challenges that ATCs face and helps alleviate some of those difficulties.

Here's a bit more about me: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-kuo.

You can message here or email me at [email protected].

Many thanks.

Chris
 
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reporter417 said:
Hi, my name is Chris Kuo, and I'm a reporter with The Wall Street Journal. I'm working on a story about the challenges that ATCs face and the difficulties FAA has dealt with regarding recruitment and retention of controllers. I'm hoping to hear from current and former ATCs about their experiences, including around the recent shutdown. If you are in the workforce or if you retired or quit recently (this year or past few years), I want to hear from you. What were the challenges you faced as a controller? What can the FAA do to improve its ability to recruit new controllers and retain current ones?

Here's a bit more about me: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-kuo.

You can message here or email me at [email protected].

Many thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...
Part of the problem with retention is we aren't getting paid what we should be getting paid right now. Chronically understaffed facilities in expensive areas (like the never-ending issues with N90) by law can't be paid what our existing pay scales say we should get, and it would take Congress changing laws (or executive pay scales) to allow it. We could get a 100% raise and many experienced controllers in large facilities would get no raise at all. This post goes in to it in great detail-

P

Thread 'ATC Staffing Stability- Reform Proposals from a Veteran Controller'

I've emailed versions of the following to our new Adminstrator, previous acting Administrator, Sec Duffy (emails used- [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] (old), [email protected] and [email protected] (guessing on the last two)). They've probably disappeared in to the ether, but it's worth a shot. Feel free to do the same, and reach out with relevant versions to your Congressional reps/Senators.
Also feel free to link this to any other ATC related sites.

If we can get enough traction, this is how we can fix pay...
  • Like
 
reporter417 said:
Thanks for your comment. I'm at The Wall Street Journal, and Emily is at the New York Times, so we're not colleagues. I'm sorry that you or others had an unpleasant experience with her.
Click to expand...
A colleague works in the same profession. Anybody who speaks to you will assume you will publish their name, and personal hobbies. If you want to write an article, parse the forums. The FAA does not support controllers in any way. NATCA does not support controllers in any way. We're constantly lied to and told to make do with broken equipment, and lack of response from traffic management. Only a select few facilities receive any flow metering and the rest get shit on.

The agency won't even provide basic workplace accommodations without us begging them for months or stealing them from another facility.

All the information is out there on the forums. Do a little research, something your profession forgot how to do.
 
reporter417 said:
Thanks for your comment. I'm at The Wall Street Journal, and Emily is at the New York Times, so we're not colleagues. I'm sorry that you or others had an unpleasant experience with her.
Click to expand...
You're all colleagues ya dork

reporter417 said:
Hi, my name is Chris Kuo, and I'm a reporter with The Wall Street Journal. I'm working on a story about the challenges that ATCs face and the difficulties FAA has dealt with regarding recruitment and retention of controllers. I'm hoping to hear from current and former ATCs about their experiences, including around the recent shutdown. If you are in the workforce or if you retired or quit recently (this year or past few years), I want to hear from you. What were the challenges you faced as a controller? What can the FAA do to improve its ability to recruit new controllers and retain current ones?

I'm hoping this spotlights the challenges that ATCs face and helps alleviate some of those difficulties.

Here's a bit more about me: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-kuo.

You can message here or email me at [email protected].

Many thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...
How about try telling everyone up front what the scope of your article is.

I'm so tired of reporters reaching out to simply get a quote from a controller to use which in turn will end up with us getting fired. Not a single one of you wants to do actual investigating journalism and find out what the issues actually are. If that was the case then you'd get a bunch of controllers to tell all. But you already have a narrative to fit, don't know what you're talking about and don't care to understand our career and issues, and you just want us to risk our jobs for your shit story.

Get lost
 
reporter417 said:
Hi, my name is Chris Kuo, and I'm a reporter with The Wall Street Journal. I'm working on a story about the challenges that ATCs face and the difficulties FAA has dealt with regarding recruitment and retention of controllers. I'm hoping to hear from current and former ATCs about their experiences, including around the recent shutdown. If you are in the workforce or if you retired or quit recently (this year or past few years), I want to hear from you. What were the challenges you faced as a controller? What can the FAA do to improve its ability to recruit new controllers and retain current ones?

I'm hoping this spotlights the challenges that ATCs face and helps alleviate some of those difficulties.

Here's a bit more about me: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-kuo.

You can message here or email me at [email protected].

Many thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...
If America wants to have the best NAS in the world it should have the highest paid controllers in the world.
 
reporter417 said:
Hi, my name is Chris Kuo, and I'm a reporter with The Wall Street Journal. I'm working on a story about the challenges that ATCs face and the difficulties FAA has dealt with regarding recruitment and retention of controllers. I'm hoping to hear from current and former ATCs about their experiences, including around the recent shutdown. If you are in the workforce or if you retired or quit recently (this year or past few years), I want to hear from you. What were the challenges you faced as a controller? What can the FAA do to improve its ability to recruit new controllers and retain current ones?

I'm hoping this spotlights the challenges that ATCs face and helps alleviate some of those difficulties.

Here's a bit more about me: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-kuo.

You can message here or email me at [email protected].

Many thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...
One of the biggest problems in getting new people in is the hire process and sometimes the lack of communication. Some people will be in the hiring process for years over something minor.
 
reporter417 said:
Hi, my name is Chris Kuo, and I'm a reporter with The Wall Street Journal. I'm working on a story about the challenges that ATCs face and the difficulties FAA has dealt with regarding recruitment and retention of controllers. I'm hoping to hear from current and former ATCs about their experiences, including around the recent shutdown. If you are in the workforce or if you retired or quit recently (this year or past few years), I want to hear from you. What were the challenges you faced as a controller? What can the FAA do to improve its ability to recruit new controllers and retain current ones?

I'm hoping this spotlights the challenges that ATCs face and helps alleviate some of those difficulties.

Here's a bit more about me: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-kuo.

You can message here or email me at [email protected].

Many thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...
Significant part of the current shortage is due to hiring practices during Obama admin. which shifted from skill based system to one that favored applicants based based on race, which led to eliminating more qualified ATC applicants. This led to ongoing legal challenges, stating that moving away from merit based criteria compromised public safety and contributed to eventual shortages. The goal was to increase the diversity of the ATC workforce.
 
Motodog said:
Significant part of the current shortage is due to hiring practices during Obama admin. which shifted from skill based system to one that favored applicants based based on race, which led to eliminating more qualified ATC applicants. This led to ongoing legal challenges, stating that moving away from merit based criteria compromised public safety and contributed to eventual shortages. The goal was to increase the diversity of the ATC workforce.
Click to expand...
While the Obama era hiring practices were not good I'd say that it didn't contribute too heavily to staffing shortages as there were still plenty of people that made it through and the academy still had roughly the same washout rate.

What did contribute heavily to the staffing shortages during that time was I want to say there was a hiring freeze for quite awhile around 2014/15 time frame and then the BioQ came along when they started up again.

Could be wrong about a total freeze but that's what I'm remembering
 
Gauff said:
While the Obama era hiring practices were not good I'd say that it didn't contribute too heavily to staffing shortages as there were still plenty of people that made it through and the academy still had roughly the same washout rate.

What did contribute heavily to the staffing shortages during that time was I want to say there was a hiring freeze for quite awhile around 2014/15 time frame and then the BioQ came along when they started up again.

Could be wrong about a total freeze but that's what I'm remembering
Click to expand...
The Obama era hiring practices resulted in 10% less people certifying at their facility because they dropped the scores to be qualified and well qualified. They knew it would result in less certifications but did it anyways for diversity. It’s in black and white in the 2012 barrier analysis.

With Goal of 2000 hires a year since 2015, let’s say 1500 pass each year that’s 150 per year who don’t certify at their facility. Over 10 years Thats now 1500 would be controllers who took slots away from better scoring candidates but were diverse and lower scoring. At this point every body we have /don’t have counts
 
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Bandit117 said:
The Obama era hiring practices resulted in 10% people certifying at their facility because they dropped the scores to be qualified and well qualified. They knew it would result in less certifications but did it anyways for diversity. It’s in black and white in the 2012 barrier analysis.
Click to expand...
I am very aware of the hiring practices at that time as I was trying to get in around then and was having trouble meeting the criteria of the BioQ.

Now if it's true that only 10% failed at their facility then we would also have to admit that the academy is a sham and is not an indicator one way or another in terms of ones ability to succeed at their facility. At which point we should just make it pass/pass then.

I'm not disagreeing with your point overall though
 
Feel free to reach out from a controller who left the country
reporter417 said:
Hi, my name is Chris Kuo, and I'm a reporter with The Wall Street Journal. I'm working on a story about the challenges that ATCs face and the difficulties FAA has dealt with regarding recruitment and retention of controllers. I'm hoping to hear from current and former ATCs about their experiences, including around the recent shutdown. If you are in the workforce or if you retired or quit recently (this year or past few years), I want to hear from you. What were the challenges you faced as a controller? What can the FAA do to improve its ability to recruit new controllers and retain current ones?

I'm hoping this spotlights the challenges that ATCs face and helps alleviate some of those difficulties.

Here's a bit more about me: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-kuo.

You can message here or email me at [email protected].

Many thanks.

Chris
Click to expand...
 
Gauff said:
I am very aware of the hiring practices at that time as I was trying to get in around then and was having trouble meeting the criteria of the BioQ.

Now if it's true that only 10% failed at their facility then we would also have to admit that the academy is a sham and is not an indicator one way or another in terms of ones ability to succeed at their facility. At which point we should just make it pass/pass then.

I'm not disagreeing with your point overall though
Click to expand...
All I can say is that being well qualified on the Atsat was found to have a positive correlation with certifying at your facility once you passed the academy, that was also in the barrier analysis. They explain it and then try to justify why lowering the bar for entry and having less certifications is a good thing. I’m just sharing what an official faa document says
 

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