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LIAISON AND FAMILIARIZATION TRAINING
Section 1. All bargaining unit members who are
certified on a minimum of two operational positions are eligible to
participate in the national standardized familiarization training program.
When a specialist achieves eligibility, he/she is not again required to meet
this provision.
Section 2. The national standardized program shall include standards
and procedures pertaining to familiarization flying in air carriers, military
aircraft and private aircraft. (Air Carrier includes any commercial, air taxi,
or commuter flights under Title 14 CFR Parts 121, 135, or 298.) No facility or
regional office of the Employer shall add, delete, or in any way alter the
standardized familiarization program. Both Parties recognize the desirability
of familiarization flying as a training program and that it is intended solely
to acquaint control personnel with the cockpit environment and to enable them
to observe the operation of the air traffic system first hand.
Section 3. The Parties recognize that cockpit familiarization training
in air carriers involves internal regulations and procedures of individual air
carriers. Matters beyond the purview of the Employer include, but are not
limited to, number of trips per air carrier per year, dress code in the
cockpit, eligibility for participation and procedures for application to
participate. The Parties recognize that any air carrier may suspend or abridge
their participation in the familiarization program at any time and that the
Employer has no authority to direct the conduct of the program by individual
air carriers.
Section 4. The Parties recognize that military and private operators
specify their own internal regulations and procedures governing flight
familiarization by employees and that such regulations and procedures are
beyond the purview of the Employer to alter. In cases where the states
procedures are less restrictive than the Employer�s requirements for
employees� participation, the Employer�s requirements shall apply.
Section 5. If an employee is assigned duties at the outbound
destination as part of the familiarization training, the employee shall be
placed in official travel status and paid per diem except for those activities
contained in Section 12. Both Parties recognize that the standard government
travel regulations require that employees be placed on official travel status
when assigned duties at the destination, and further, that budgetary
limitations govern the approval of familiarization training involving
assignment of official duties.
Section 6. All familiarization training shall be conducted on duty
time. The Employer may approve familiarization training in conjunction with
approved leave days and regular days off in any combination.
Section 7. Prior to familiarization training, any eligible employee may
request to substitute duty time for his/her approved annual leave for the
purpose of this Article. If an employee has approved leave, he/she may
exchange regular days off for such leave days provided the change does not
result in overtime or violation of the basic workweek. An employee shall have
the right to change days off for familiarization training in accordance with
Article 34, Watch Schedules, Section 34-03 of the NAATS/FAA Agreement dated
July 16, 1993.
Section 8. The national standardized program shall include provisions
for one foreign overseas flight per calendar year for those employees assigned
to facilities that work international departures and/or oceanic airspace,
unless further restricted by the carrier. Employees eligible under this
Article may also travel to overseas domestic locations, but such training will
not be considered as foreign overseas travel. For the purposes of this
Agreement, training flights to Canada and Mexico shall be considered overseas
domestic.
Section 9. Use of different air carriers or the same air carrier for
different segments on the same familiarization training flight is authorized.
Section 10. Each employee shall be limited to not more than one
familiarization trip per air carrier per calendar year, except when a carrier
has indicated it will allow more than one trip per year. Participation in the
familiarization training program is limited to not more than six trips per
calendar year, no more than two of which may be to the same destination
airport. One of the six trips per year may be an international trip for
eligible participants. Familiarization training may be approved even though
overtime is being used in the facility, provided the overtime is not
specifically scheduled to cover for the individual taking the trip. Normally,
previously approved training should not be canceled to prevent/reduce the use
of overtime in the facility.
Section 11. The Employer shall guarantee each eligible employee two
familiarization training trips per calendar year, at the request of the
employee. Such guaranteed trips must be requested of the supervisor, no less
than 45 days in advance of the scheduled trip. Given the fact that the
operational environment is the number one priority, the Parties agree that it
may be difficult to approve multiple trips for the same day(s). Therefore, at
the local level, the Parties will meet to develop procedures to ensure that
multiple requests for the same day(s) will be honored to the greatest extent
possible. The overtime guidance contained in Section 10 is applicable.
Section 12. Eligible specialists may commute a reasonable distance to
make use of the allowable trips authorized under Section 10 of this Article.
Such commuting trips shall be at no expense to the government. Flight time is
the time of departure to the time of arrival at the final destination. For
flight times three hours or greater, the employee shall be considered in a
duty status for eight hours. For flight times less than three hours, the
approving official shall account for the remaining duty time by ensuring that
prearranged training is accomplished by one or more of the following.
a. Observe the operation of the airport air traffic
control facility.
b. Observe the carrier�s dispatcher operation.
c. Observe other local FAA operations (i.e. FSS, FSDO, SMO, etc).
Approved leave may be used as part of the duty day. For the
purposes of this section, travel and per diem shall not be authorized.
Section 13. All familiarization trip requests must be submitted to the
facility sufficiently in advance to permit three administrative days for
internal processing. This is in addition to the advance notice required by the
air carrier and time for mailing.
Section 14. Familiarization flights are on-the-job training and shall
be counted as hours toward the minimum yearly proficiency requirement.
Training objectives shall be identified by the approving official at the time
the training request is approved. A familiarization training report shall be
submitted by the specialist in accordance with the program directive. An
employee traveling on such a flight on his/her regularly assigned duty day
receives the same premium pay he/she would have received had he/she worked
his/her regular shift.
Section 15. All familiarization training shall be subject to the
approval of the Employer. Such approval will be governed by the operational
and staffing requirements of the facility.
Section 16. Annually, the Parties will meet to ensure adequate
tracking, adherence to policy/procedures, review program security, and make
recommendations for improvements. Program changes may be made by mutual
agreement.
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