National Association of Air Traffic Specialists

Aviation Safety is Our Business

Bulletin #3

From

Don McLennan

In the last bulletin, I left you with an understanding that the Agency wanted to "cost" out the potential increases of any new compensation talks with NAATS. This was in order to have a preliminary understanding of what the cost would be to turn on a new pay system within our bargaining unit.

What was of particular importance to the Agency was their ability to determine a "model" of costing that would provide answers to those specific questions of what costs could be identified on a case by case basis. For example, if we tabulated everyone in our bargaining unit into a computer program the Agency would then be able to extract the data they felt they needed, to be able to show particular pay categories. An example of the above would be how much does it cost the Agency, on a per person basis, to pay to an individual in our bargaining unit a specific premium pay? Another way of asking the question would be what is the average night pay, overtime pay, Sunday pay, (hopefully to included CIC pay + OJTI pay) etc. to fulfill the Agency’s goals, on a per persons basis in our bargaining unit?

Once this is accomplished, the Agency would then want to develop a "root" figure of what it is that finally results in the Agency’s costs. Let’s say, for instance, that an employee within our bargaining unit result in an extended cost to the FAA 0f 42.87% of PC & B. This cost factor would then be used by everyone participating in the budget process to cost out what it cost the FAA to fund one NAATS member. That is to say, the total cost of paying one of our "average" bargaining unit members is a predetermined fixed cost that the FAA can then optimize to see what are the effects of hiring new employees versus giving cost raises to those existing employees based on their productivity.

Finally, the Agency proposed, in the ultimate sense of fairness and egalitarianism that whatever your FG Grade was within the old federal pay system, you should move to a new, updated; and, lateral pay system within the new ATC System. What this would derive for the Agency is a way of costing out all of the premium pays based on an as per person basis. This would be important to NAATS because it is in our special interests to provide for our bargaining unit members the most beneficial and rewording compensation system that helps both the Agency and us.

Until next time, when I bring you up-to-date on "Cost-Modeling", your comments are always welcome. 

Back to Bulletin List.

Walter W. Pike, President

This page was last updated on 26 June, 2000