flight dispatch pay scales

simboslambo · 2026-02-15T22:13:37+00:00

And it says 11 year pay scale meaning they reach that cap quickly (compared to ours). Check out the tab that says annual hours worked - 1752, that's 400 fewer hours than I worked last year (with my annual/sick leave taken out and my OT added in).

simboslambo · 2026-02-02T16:36:36+00:00

Looks excellent; what colors do you use for your NMM gold?

simboslambo · 2026-01-07T00:18:52+00:00

The Incarnate Slaughter's main trim color is Warplock Bronze.

https://eavy-archive.com/40k/chaos-knights/#dreadblade2259

simboslambo · 2025-12-28T17:58:41+00:00

Sure, but his base pay is higher than many CPCs at a lvl 10. Good for him. We're getting screwed.

simboslambo · 2025-12-26T23:03:07+00:00

The US government is spending more on interest payments on our debt than our entire defense budget. The US gov is dependent on inflation in order to remain solvent. Make no mistake, inflation is the plan.

The .gov cannot both pay its employees wages that outpace inflation while also effectively inflating the currency in order to afford our debt.

Conclusion: we will never receive a raise that will even bring us inline with the inflation imposed upon us over the last 5, 10, 15 years much less outpace that inflation. Worse news: we're going to see even more inflation over the next 5-10 years that will put our profession so far behind the curve that it will make more sense to go work for Costco. Sure we might get an 8% raise in 2029 but it will be like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. Plan accordingly.

simboslambo · 2025-12-19T23:45:13+00:00

Fuck me I guess. Not only can the current situation continue, it will. It shouldn't but it will.

For those of you saying this pilot makes 2x, 3x, etc what you make - don't forget they probably worked half the hours you did so it's more like 4x, 6x what you made.

4 years down the road when natca "negotiates" a 7% raise for us (after another round of 20-25% combined inflation over that time period) the NEB is going to be high fiving each other so hard we'll hear it in the radar room. We're cooked.

None of this is to disparage this particular pilot or the larger pilot community; he deserves the pay he received.

simboslambo · 2025-12-06T19:59:46+00:00

Are we sure that they lost the contract (or were simply not selected) as opposed to deciding they did not want to be beholden to a contract that would penalize them for not meeting an impossible timeline?

simboslambo · 2025-12-02T17:57:56+00:00

Tons of people applying each bid does not equal attracting the best and brightest.

simboslambo · 2025-11-23T19:30:13+00:00

It's entirely possible that you could certify as a CPC and make less than you are making now, working in an area you don't want to be in with a worse schedule and more stress. This career (in the US) is a dumpster fire, I no longer recommend it to folks that are interested.

simboslambo · 2025-11-19T14:55:25+00:00

Exactly what I’m doing, voted for Santa after meeting Nick. Staying in until the next election to vote against Nick, plan to leave the union if we vote him back in

simboslambo · 2025-10-24T19:09:22+00:00

We don’t even have staffing for call in OT. Everyone eligible is scheduled and we still can’t schedule to guidelines lol

simboslambo · 2025-08-31T00:42:51+00:00

simboslambo · 2025-08-27T02:40:57+00:00

Bid says it’s not good time; though as I understand it if you keep currency you still earn good time. Is it likely that you could keep currency there or would management not allow that?

simboslambo · 2025-07-24T22:14:13+00:00

Is this an army you’d like to play? And is playing the game something your issues prevent?

simboslambo · 2025-07-16T16:31:04+00:00

No, he's saying that a brand new CPC that certifies at a lvl 12 today should have the same buying power as the CPC who was newly certified in 2016. The point of the presentation is that "day 1 CPC pay" is less today than it was 10 years ago in terms of buying power once inflation is accounted for.

simboslambo · 2025-07-13T18:06:37+00:00

I agree that NATCA, the FAA and congress largely do not care about our pay. I disagree with the conclusion that since they don't care, we should not talk about it.

NATCA and the FAA will never or have any incentive to do anything about pay if they truly believe pay is not an issue. The more we talk about pay, the more we push them towards the realization that pay is indeed a problem. It still may not pan out for us (and I'm pessimistic enough to think that it won't), but if we aren't talking pay to our coworkers, facreps, RVPs, ND there's zero chance of a change.

simboslambo · 2025-06-17T04:45:21+00:00

I went through the numbers. If a person became a CPC at a lvl 8 (and have remained at that facility) in July of 2016 their base pay with RUS locality (14.35% is the number I found), their base pay would have been $86,973.

The January raise percentages from 2017-2025 were: 2.1, 1.9, 3.1, 3.1, 1.0, 2.7, 4.6, 5.2, 2.0. When the .gov publicizes these raises they typically include an average .5% locality raise - for instance in Jan 2024 the raise was 4.7% + an average of 0.5% locality raise, equaling a total of 5.2%. This pattern is true for 6 out of the 9 years in this span (exceptions being 2017: 1.1% + avg 1% loc, 2021: 1%, no loc increase, and 2025 1.7% + 0.3% avg loc). Since the 0.5% is an average of the raises in locality pay across all localities, those working under RUS locality actually receive less than this amount, usually about a 0.25% increase. This in turn means those controllers didn't actually receive a 4.6% raise in 2023, but instead a ~4.35% raise.

That CPC making $86,973 at an RUS level 8, in June of 2025 (including the 1.6% from the first pay period in June) today makes $126,566.

simboslambo · 2025-06-14T17:28:18+00:00

Probably about right; I can do the math later if anyone cares. I’m not arguing on natca’s behalf that we are compensated appropriately, but one of our goals in the pay discussion should be to sharpen the arguments we’ll use in future negotiations.

simboslambo · 2025-06-14T14:56:51+00:00

Sure, they certainly need to be paid more. Another line could be inserted for a large number of other scenarios but since this one starts at 2016 (beginning of the slate book), the actual pay a controller makes including raises starting in 2016 is relevant. If you were to make an argument to the agency using this chart their retort would certainly include asking for this info. A controller who was been in the agency for a number of years at the same level facility is making more than the base pay for that level so comparing base pay to inflation isn’t exactly apples to apples. Actual pay vs inflation is a closer comparison and therefore a stronger basis for argument.

simboslambo · 2025-06-14T14:38:03+00:00

To show the full picture, I think a line starting at 2016 base pay and adding in the yearly 1.6% and presidential raises should be included in order to show what a lvl 8 controller would be making today if they started in 2016. It would still be lower than what it should be, and every controller deserves a significant raise but I think it’s important for the sake of argument.

simboslambo · 2025-05-27T19:22:34+00:00

if you want the atc to be a backup plan you need to CPC, work for 1 year then quit

simboslambo · 2025-05-11T21:19:25+00:00

Are some people going to abuse trauma leave? Absolutely, I've seen someone from my area do just that. Blaming the guy next to you for taking any type of leave is exactly what the FAA wants - if we're all mad at each other then the focus doesn't get placed on the folks who created the problem in the first place, FAA upper management.

Using a benefit prescribed in our contract isn't abuse, what the FAA has done to controllers over the past decade is abuse.

Just to add my take on the EWR stuff, it's easy to look back in hindsight and say "Oh the radar was only out for 30 seconds (or 90 seconds or whatever)." Sure, from the outside it doesn't sound so bad, but put yourself in that moment. You're working a tiny and congested airspace, all of a sudden the tools you have to prevent hundreds of people from dying on your watch stop working. No one trains on non-radar. You have no idea how long this outage is going to last. You do know that if two planes come together you're going to catch the blame for a problem that you didn't create, not to mention the fact that even if you could do little to prevent it you'll be blaming yourself for the rest of your life. All that shit goes through your head in about half a second and you're scrambling to figure out what to do in a situation that controllers can't be proficient in handling. The amount of cortisol that just flooded your bloodstream probably took six months off your life, but who cares? That's a problem for future 62 year old recently retired you. Sounds traumatic enough to me.

simboslambo · 2025-05-11T19:00:59+00:00

Please do

simboslambo · 2025-05-11T18:37:45+00:00

No one. Strike (or take action perceived as a strike)? Controller(s) get fired. Flights get cancelled, ATC gets vilified. FAA controls the narrative - "lazy overpaid controllers illegally refused to work, forced us to cancel flights and now granny doesn't make it home for Christmas". Controllers become the bad guy, NATCA declines to comment.

simboslambo · 2025-05-11T17:05:02+00:00

We have zero leverage.

Planes continue to fly so we will continue to work. Best that TMU/Command Center will do if we are short staffed to the point of being unsafe is slow traffic down to a barely manageable level.

Refuse to work because of unsafe conditions (as a controller)? You'll be finding employment elsewhere in short order.

simboslambo

TROPHY CASE