okie
New Member
Posts: 28
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Post by okie on Mar 19, 2013 14:07:38 GMT -5
Quoting from: www.contracttower.org/ctaannual/USCTAAR07.pdf"In other news, he said FAA is considering consolidating the contract tower program and the contract weather program into one branch because the two units share resources." (Pg. 17 of the .pdf) That was back in 2007, which I am guessing is how the Contract Tower and Weather Group came to be. So, if I am reading this correctly, the fate of the CWO program is directly related to whatever they decide about the Contract Towers, given the current sequestration requirements. If more of the Towers are kept open, then our jobs are gone. If the CWO program is kept safe, then the Towers must necessarily take the hit. Since more people will be directly affected by the closures of the Towers, and current sequestration law dictates an across the board cut to the cwtg, then cutting our meager 50 million dollar budget would go a long way in minimizing the direct impact of sequestration to the largest number of people. Best case scenerio, for us then, would be some sort of congressional compromise that would either end sequestration or else grant more flexibility with respect to how the cuts are to be implemented. Otherwise, our jobs are almost certainly the ones to be cut. Honestly, I am not sure what frustrates me more: that my job may very well be gone in a few months, or that I had to figure all this out on my own, months after the fact. I mean, why can't the FAA and PATCO be more forthcoming about all this? Hardly anyone wants to lose their jobs, but couldn't they treat us a little more like adults by keeping us in the know about the situation at hand? One would think that we all mangage our own household budgets fairly well and can comprehend what it means to prioritize things within various categories. Is a little bit of respect really too much to ask for? |
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Post by coldlover on Mar 19, 2013 14:13:09 GMT -5
Okie, I agree with every thing you said and I believe there must be some sensible people in the FAA who also agree. Let's hope so. Majority of elected carrying a briefcase and wearing a suit representing the common Joe in DC has no clue. Problem is that the public see's someone carrying a briefcase or wearing a suit ,, think they really have a clue. It's all a big show. 95% of those things voted on ,, the voters really have no clue. All about being voted in again, (job security). |
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Post by alstein on Mar 19, 2013 14:30:20 GMT -5
If the program is $50 mil and a separate program, I think they'd have to cut about $5mil.
Those 14 towers that are shutting down+ lower contract bids overall+ elimination of admin hours , that might do it if they're being sensible.
Question is if they're being sensible. If they believe they are getting the haircut and there's nothing they can do- they might be sensible. If they think they can scare the government into getting full funding, they might try to can us and follow through on the threat.
If they are desperate to save the controllers, we will be less important- either now or they'll find a way to lump us into another pot to cut us more.
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okie
New Member
Posts: 28
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Post by okie on Mar 19, 2013 14:45:58 GMT -5
From what I can tell, the contract tower program and the contract weather program are now consolidated into one program, the ctwg. If that be the case, then more towers can be saved at the expense of the cwo, or conversely, the cwo can be saved at the expense of more towers. With everyone trying to save their hometown tower, it is not difficult to see the cwo program being sacrificed to placate the greatest number of people, thus our only real hope is for congressional intervention, allowing the FAA to make more cuts OUTSIDE of the ctwg, assuming that I am interpreting all this correctly of course.
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Post by tornado on Mar 20, 2013 8:26:25 GMT -5
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Post by alwayswx on Mar 20, 2013 9:17:03 GMT -5
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Post by skylar on Mar 23, 2013 7:42:43 GMT -5
Guys, I am concerned because it appears the FAA is ignoring public safety in their decision process. However, consider this, the closing of the ATC towers announced yesterday increases the work load of the FAA controllers located at the A and B sites, they will have to extend ATC services to include areas previously controlled by the closed towers, they supposedly will have hours reduced by 20% and they are under a hiring freeze, to require these guys to take on weather observation duties is totally STUPID but the FAA decision process appears to be STUPID!
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Post by tornado on Mar 23, 2013 11:42:14 GMT -5
the closing of the ATC towers announced yesterday increases the work load of the FAA controllers located at the A and B sites, they will have to extend ATC services to include areas previously controlled by the closed towers, they supposedly will have hours reduced by 20% and they are under a hiring freeze, to require these guys to take on weather observation duties... Not to mention that some of those controllers who would normally be at radar facilities controlling untowered airports, will be on furlough- thus increasing the workload of the controllers who do remain on duty. |
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Post by tornado on Mar 25, 2013 12:25:27 GMT -5
This ticks me off.  These are the same people who were dancing in the streets on 9-11! From a Fox News story: As federal agencies scramble to avert or delay sequester-tied furloughs, the Obama administration continues to spend millions of dollars on foreign aid to the Palestinians – and seek millions more, despite past efforts by Congress to freeze the money. The State Department confirmed this month the administration has moved forward with $500 million in aid, and is trying to secure another $200 million from Congress. Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says the aid is important, because an “economically viable Palestinian Authority” would help regional peace and security. Read more: www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/25/administration-moves-500m-in-palestinian-aid-as-agencies-scramble-to-delay-1823258958/#ixzz2OZbqld7n |
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Post by stardustwx on Mar 25, 2013 15:07:55 GMT -5
This ticks me off. These are the same people who were dancing in the streets on 9-11! From a Fox News story: As federal agencies scramble to avert or delay sequester-tied furloughs, the Obama administration continues to spend millions of dollars on foreign aid to the Palestinians – and seek millions more, despite past efforts by Congress to freeze the money. The State Department confirmed this month the administration has moved forward with $500 million in aid, and is trying to secure another $200 million from Congress. Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says the aid is important, because an “economically viable Palestinian Authority” would help regional peace and security. Status quo....no money for necessary stuff. Right Read more: www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/25/administration-moves-500m-in-palestinian-aid-as-agencies-scramble-to-delay-1823258958/#ixzz2OZbqld7n |
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Post by snowspinner on Mar 26, 2013 9:05:56 GMT -5
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Post by tornado on Mar 26, 2013 10:06:40 GMT -5
This morning, our airport went low IFR due to fog. After the controller-in-charge: 1) made sure the beacon was on 2) made sure the generators were on 3) asked city ops to do a category I/II light check 4) called nearby towers letting them know the field was now IFR 5) took phone calls from airline dispatch offices asking how bad the fog was 6) made sure the ILS critical area was protected, and was on the ATIS ...I heard him remark, "Man, there sure is a lot of extra work when we get fog!" Imagine if they had to take the weather obs too.  |
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Post by fzraman on Mar 26, 2013 11:26:38 GMT -5
The circle the wagons FAA crowd at HQ has never been noted for being financially astute. They are goal oriented save their jobs and put everyone else on the chopping block despite the cost. How much will it cost them to shut down operations of those 149 towers? Just revising publications and apchs, closing out contracts, assigning controllers at centers to pick up the workloads etc. Who's responsible for securing empty towers and dismantling the towers in question and what will that cost? Places like FDK where a new tower was just opened last year; not even a year old! How many laws will the bypass to meet their goals? Small business and Veterans set aside contracts etc. I think it's safe to say the FAA will spend a ton of money for "every dollar" they supposedly save, and those that spend that money will be promoted for their efforts.
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Post by tornado on Mar 28, 2013 15:21:35 GMT -5
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Post by fu on Apr 5, 2013 8:53:11 GMT -5
Goolsbee: March jobs numbers a ‘punch to the gut,’ cites sequester
Posted by Aaron Blake on April 5, 2013 at 9:34 am
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Austan Goolsbee, the former chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said Friday that the just-released jobs report is a “punch to the gut” and suggested that the tepid number of new jobs added in March is a result of the sequester cuts.
“Look: We all over-shot it,” Goolsbee said on CNBC, referring to the projections of much higher job gains. “This is a punch to the gut. This is not a good number. And I think now you’re going to interestingly start seeing a lot of discussion about maybe the sequester’s a bigger deal than people thought it was.”
The jobs report showed the unemployment rate dropping a bit, to 7.6 percent. But the number of jobs created — 88,000 — was far less than expected, and a big reason the unemployment rate fell is because nearly half a million people dropped out of the workforce.
The March report comes just one month after a report hailed as one of the strongest in years, with 268,000 jobs created.
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These are the same people who were dancing in the streets on 9-11! From a Fox News story:
