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Post by chachiman on Mar 14, 2013 10:16:03 GMT -5
Answer to first question is that I have read many reliable articles online about airports privatizing operations. It is a very hard thing to do, but it can be done. All around the world, there are many airports that have various things that have been privatized from government control and even some whole airports have been privatized in their operations. There is only one airport though in all of the U.S. that is totaly privately-owned and funded and that airport is in Branson, Missouri. Do they employ any weather observers? And the answer to that question is no! I am just exploring the possiblity of just making our operations here private. I believe if we got enough of the general public interested in what we do in support of general and commercial aviation here, we may just be able to do something that might be unpresedented. I am in the processe of writing a letter and drawing up a proposal to my mayor and I am also going to send one to my former mayor who just so happens to be a Senator in Washington and see what can be done to save the 6 jobs here at my airport.
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Post by chachiman on Mar 14, 2013 10:17:40 GMT -5
But, this is all barring an order from FAA Headquarters that all ATC must take over control of weather operations.
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Post by wedthered on Mar 16, 2013 15:08:19 GMT -5
Let me ask a stupid question. If the closing of the CWO offices were hitting PATCO in the pocket harder than anybody, don't you think they would do everything in their power to stop it? "In their power" is the key. I'm not sure what they can or cannot do, but I would venture a guess that they are going to do everything they can. Wouldn't you? They sky isn't falling yet, so I'm not going to panic and ring PATCO's phone off the hook or flood their email boxes. Just saying.......
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Post by minus273 on Mar 16, 2013 16:28:16 GMT -5
If PATCO was alive and pulsating someone from PATCO would be gathering total ASOS costs and perhaps making arguments that keeping weather observers might be cheaper than keeping ASOS while providing better observations.
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Post by stardustwx on Mar 18, 2013 15:00:28 GMT -5
In 2006, PATCO had all sites gather all information they could to the inaccuracies of ASOS. We documented every ASOS obs vs. reall conditions. We also compiled outages, etc. so PATCO could give the info the their "lobbyist(s)" to stop the program from folding at that time. It worked and we stayed operational with few sites being downgraded in service levels. My point is, patco already has all this information plus some and we're still hearing the FAA wants to eliminate the program. The only difference is this time they can hide behind the "cost cutting" reason and that they are being "forced" to cut back.
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Post by Admin on Mar 18, 2013 20:37:13 GMT -5
One would certainly think PATCO would be doing all they can do. This is after all a significant part of their revenue. I doubt there's much they can do though. I don't think they have the clout that some of the larger unions have.
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Post by stardustwx on Mar 18, 2013 20:46:21 GMT -5
One would certainly think PATCO would be doing all they can do. This is after all a significant part of their revenue. I doubt there's much they can do though. I don't think they have the clout that some of the larger unions have. Ya, I agree and they'll lose a lot more money if the contract towers close. Guess that's where their focus is.  |
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Post by Admin on Mar 18, 2013 21:21:51 GMT -5
I think the towers they represent are a fairly small portion of their business. The weather is pretty big but I think besides what's on their web site they also represent a lot of local work in various sites that really has nothing to do with aviation. Now givien that they represent only a couple dozen towers or so they'll probably not have much more say than any of us individually would. I think there would be equal chance of Kenny what's his name with the Local 100 back in the day having an impact on this. Just my opinion though. And for those of you that remeber Kenny the odds are exactly zero.
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Post by stardustwx on Mar 19, 2013 15:18:02 GMT -5
The weather is pretty big but I think besides what'sI think there would be equal chance of Kenny what's his name with the Local 100 back in the day having an impact on this. Just my opinion though. And for those of you that remeber Kenny the odds are exactly zero. Oh man, I remember dealing with local 100. We went to nlrb to get them decertified. They NEVER returned calls, etc. They were way worse than PATCO. That being said, even though they may have fewer towers than weather sites, they may still make more $ over all if those controllers get paid more per hour. Who knows. We pay dues and therefore should be fought for. IMO |
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Post by hokiefan on Mar 21, 2013 18:03:19 GMT -5
Anyone hear from our fearless union leader over the past few days? Newman, what did you do with Jerry?
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Post by weatherorknot on Mar 21, 2013 20:40:22 GMT -5
In case you guys have forgotten what PATCO stands for, let me remind you...Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. Don't see anything about weather in there. Weather is nothing more than beer money for them.
As far as ULU Local 100, in dealing with them since 2001 I have had no problems with them. David Capasso their lead counsel texts me with in a day or two from when I contact him. He allows local steward leadership to negotiate their contracts. If things do get out of hand he arranges conference calls with all parties to get a deal done.
I don't know who posed it a while back, but they stated a union is only as good as the strength in it's membership.
Since my dealings with ULU Local 100 our site as a whole (wage and H/W) is 19% over DOL wage determination, receives 10% night shift diff for all, 25% Sunday pay for all, 6 personal days, 11 holidays, vacations 2 wks at 1 yr, 3 at 5, 4 at 10, and 5 at 20 prorated for part timers.
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Post by hokiefan on Mar 21, 2013 21:06:49 GMT -5
PATCO WEATHER FACILITIES
Alaska Weather Services
Petersburg, Alaska
CJ Rogers Aviation Inc.
Oakland Upper Air, CA
Condor Reliability Services
Austin, TX
Corpus Christi, TX
Del Rio, TX
Fresno-Yosemite, CA
G.W. Bush Intercontinental Houston, TX
Harrisburg, PA
Houston Hobby, TX
Newark, NJ
Oakland, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Providence, RI
Sacramento International Airport, CA
San Antonio, TX
San Francisco, CA
Control Systems Research, Inc.
Billings, MT (BIL)
Chicago, IL (MDW)
Chicago-O’Hare Airport
Eugene, OR
Honolulu, HA
Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
Ontario, CA (ONT)
Otis ANGB-Falmouth, MA
Navy Fallon, NV
Navy Jacksonville, FL
Navy Key West, FL - Forecasters
Navy Kingsville/Corpus Christi, TX - Forecasters
Navy Lemoore, CA
Navy Mayport, FL - Forecasters
Navy Meridian, MS - Forecasters
Navy Pensacola, FL - Forecasters
Navy Whidby, WA - Forecasters
Navy Whiting, FL - Forecasters
Pease ANGB-Portsmouth, NH
Portland, OR (PDX)
Rockford, IL
San Diego, CA
Santa Ana/Orange County, CA
Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA
Van Nuys, CA
Data Monitor Systems, Inc.
Dobbins ARB, GA
Grissom ARB, IN
Diversified Management, Inc.
Juneau, Alaska
HX5, LLC
Pease ARB, NH
Harris Enterprises
Bangor, ME
Grand Forks, ND
IBEX
Anchorage, Alaska
Bettles, Alask
Fort Yukon, Alaska
Gulkana, Alaska
Wrangell, Alaska
Interim Solutions for Government (ISG)
Adams Field-Little Rock, AR
Amarillo, TX
Centennial, CO (APA)
Dallas-Love, TX (DAL)
Denver International, CO (DIA)
Dallas Ft. Worth International, TX (DFW)
Huntsville, AL (HSV)
New Orleans, LA
Tallahassee, FL (TLH)
Tulsa, OK (TUL)
Midwest Weather
Alliance Field, TX (AFW)
Atlanta Hartsfield, GA (ATL)
Chattanooga-Lovell, TN (CHA)
Denver, CO (DEN)
Ft. Lauderdale, FL (FLL)
Jacksonville, FL (JAX)
Lubbock, TX (LBB)
Memphis, TN (MEM)
Miami, FL
Oklahoma City, OK (OKC)
Phoenix-Sky Harbor, AZ (KPHX)
Tampa, FL
TriCity Airport, TN (TRI)
Pacific Weather
Albany, NY (ALB)
Baltimore, MD (BWT)
Buffalo, NY
Daytona Beach, FL (DAB)
Dead Horse, AK
Hancock-Syracuse, NY (SYR)
Islip, NY
JFK, NY
LaGuardia, NY
Mobile, AL
Orlando, FL
Palm Beach, FL
Pontiac, MI
San Diego-Upper Air, CA
San Juan, PR (LMM)
Savannah, GA
Wichita, KS
RNR Technologies, Inc.
Dane-Madison, WI
Milwaukee, WI
Rockhill Group
Charleston AFB, SC
Charlotte, NC
El Paso, TX
McCarran-Las Vegas, NV
Washington, DC
Speed Aviation
Reno, NV
Vero Tech
Akron-Canton, OH (CAK)
Bradley, CT
Burlington, VT
Cincinnati-NKY (CVG)
Cleveland, OH (CLE)
Columbus, OH (CMH)
Knoxville, TN
Louisville, KY (SDF)
Manchester, NH
Nashville, TN (BNA)
Norfolk, VA
Portland, ME (PWM)
Richmond, VA (RIC)
Roanoke, VA
Youngstown, OH
Weather One
Des Moines, IA
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
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Post by hokiefan on Mar 21, 2013 21:07:57 GMT -5
PATCO ATC FACILITIES
CI2
Gwinnett, GA
St. Croix, VI
Dynamic Science Inc. (DSI)
Cape Cod, MA
Gabreski, NY (Maintenance Technicians)
Martinsburg, WV
Martinsburg, WV (Maintenance Techs)
Quonset, RI
Rickenbacker
Stanley County, NC (Electronic Techs)
Midwest Air
Burke LakeFront-Cleveland, OH (BKL)
Carbon Dale, IL (MDH)
Cuyahoga, OH (CGF)
Gabreski, NY
Groton-NewLondon, CT (GON)
Hagerstown, MD (HGR)
Hutchinson, KS (HUT)
Lunken, OH (LUK)
Martha’s Vineyard, MA (MVY)
New Haven, CT (HVN)
Williamsport, PA (IPT)
RVA
Albert Whitted, FL
Arlington, TX
Boca Raton, FL
Cecil Field, FL
Craig, FL
Grand Prairie, TX
Hickory, NC
Hilton Head, SC
Key West, FL
Lawton, OK
Naples, FL
New Smyrna, FL
Stuart, FL
Titusville, FL
Wiley Post, OK
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Post by hokiefan on Mar 21, 2013 21:08:48 GMT -5
Seems like they are heavily weighted in favor of the CWO program.
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Post by fu on Mar 22, 2013 7:27:00 GMT -5
In case you guys have forgotten what PATCO stands for, let me remind you...Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. Don't see anything about weather in there. Weather is nothing more than beer money for them. As far as ULU Local 100, in dealing with them since 2001 I have had no problems with them. David Capasso their lead counsel texts me with in a day or two from when I contact him. He allows local steward leadership to negotiate their contracts. If things do get out of hand he arranges conference calls with all parties to get a deal done. Has Local 100 made a statement yet? How many CWO's do they represent now? |
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