FSSs Outsourced as well? Thanks GW

[HawkerF/O]

Well, I guess outsourcing good American technical jobs was not enough for the current Administration. I remember being a student pilot learning to fly and how the guys at the FSSs really looked out for the Student pilot and showed so much patience explaining why I should stay home in order to live to fly another day or sharing in my excitement when they told me the WX was going to cooperate and I was going to get to go flying. But never mind all that, you geniuses keep on and send 'ol GW a thank you note for giving it to these guys on the chin. And don't write back and try to sell us on how he had nothing to do with this, as a decision like this is made at the highest levels. Furthermore, that song and dance about the current briefers having the 1st right of refusal is just that, something to refuse. We all know how mergers/outsourcing works; pay cuts, the concessions that you have to make just by losing your status as a Federal Employee, and since they are consolidating, most, yes most FSS employees will have to pack up and move their families in the next 2 years. I like Bush, I really do. I think he is a straight shooter for the most part, and most of the time does what he believes is the right thing to do, and there is a lot to be said about someone like that. With that said, his economic policies and utter disregard and disrespect towards labor (Yes, that includes all you Blue Collar pilots) and the working man truly disgusts me. I wonder how many Briefers now regret their decision to vote for GW? Some people have to learn the hard way, as I am sure most of you GW apologist will in the next few years. One last thing, writing to tell me that a pilot is not a blue collar job is just a waste of your time. Ford Motor’s Assembly Line workers (that’s a Blue collar job too!) easily pull down 100K annually after 2 or 3 years. So next time you are stomping around the aircraft at 5am doing your pre-flight in the blowing wind/rain/snow because Mr. Gotbucks called and said get it out of bed because he forgot to tell you he wanted to be in Vegas by 9am so he could have breakfast with his lady friend, remember just how White Collar that job of yours is. So to the guys/gals over at the FSSs, so long old friend.


http://www.faa.gov/apa/pr/pr.cfm?id=1922

Lockheed Martin Selected As FSS Provider
[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]The FAA announced Tuesday that Lockheed Martin will provide services now offered by the agency’s 58 automated flight service stations in the continental U.S. The five-year, $1.9 billion contract–which has five option years–could save the FAA $2.2 billion if the options are taken. The agency decided to look at outsourcing FSS functions to reduce its current $500 million annual cost by at least 22 percent. The other bidders for the contract included a partnership between the FAA’s current weather briefers and Harris; Computer Sciences, the provider of DUATS; Northrop Grumman; and Raytheon. While the FAA’s schedule calls for a six-to nine-month phase-in period starting in October and then a 36-month transition period, there also is an appeal period for the losing bidders to contest the FAA’s decision. Current FAA briefers will have a right of first refusal for jobs with the new contractor, but the agency plans to incrementally consolidate the 58 current FSSs down to 20 between April next year and March 2007. The FSS award to Lockheed Martin follows last week’s selection of the company to lead a team to supply what started life as the AgustaWestland EH-101 as the new Presidential helicopter.
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[groundpointsix]

Outsourcing? In a sense I suppose. The jobs will presumably still be staffed by americans. Will some specialists lose their jobs? Maybe. But if they have rights of first refusal, it's a choice they made. AOPA (whose views I generally support on matters GA, even if they do send me 40 renewel notices every year) seems to think that this will be better for pilots. The goal is to have every call answered (by a person) within 5 seconds or something. That is certainly an improvement over the times I call to get a briefing at 7am when there's only one guy doing everything and there's 10 other pilots trying to do the same thing I'm doing. Will it work? Maybe, but I'm optimistic.

 

[SND]

The jobs aren't being outsourced, they are being eliminated. A savings of over 2 billion in 10 years doesn't seem like a savings if they are eliminating more than half of the stations. How will services be made better if there are less stations which means less personel. Once again the american public is sold a bill of goods with fancy numbers while more jobs are lost. Log on to the ATO's website, FSS stations are the beginning, towers are next then maybe even centers. User fee's are around the corner for GA.

 

[chawbein]

You can do all the FSS operations for the whole country from a bunker 300 feet underneath BumbleScrew, GA. You can automate alot of what the FSS does, as well as use some communications technology i.e. (high speed WAN, or even phone lines) to make all the data that is available to a local FSS available to some central point. Why should you pay a couple of guys in North Dakota to sit on their asses and handle 10 calls a day when you can have two guys handle North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, etc... and be busy all day. Do you get the idea?

 

[OrphicSeth]

You can do all the FSS operations for the whole country from a bunker 300 feet underneath BumbleScrew, GA. You can automate alot of what the FSS does, as well as use some communications technology i.e. (high speed WAN, or even phone lines) to make all the data that is available to a local FSS available to some central point. Why should you pay a couple of guys in North Dakota to sit on their asses and handle 10 calls a day when you can have two guys handle North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, etc... and be busy all day. Do you get the idea?

I see your points, but disagree.

There is a lot to be said about local knowledge from the briefers, especially in areas where weather can change rapidly or be very different in short distances. Briefers who have been working an area for years can really offer great pointers and advice about the weather and what to expect.

Automation is a great idea, but sometimes impractical, especially at remote strips and very rural FBO's. Heck, I live in a densely populated area that's not too bad off and several of my co-workers cannot get any sort of high-speed internet service. To boot, phone-line data links would be agonizingly slow. I know of several FBO's that might be able to afford one phone line for WX Brief access, but that's it. Imagine the delays on a Saturday morning when the locals line up for a briefing. At my current job, any sort of data link/internet connection is out of the question 100%, there is no room and most importantly, no money to do it... and we are relatively successful as far as our business goes.

Consolidation in the upper-Mid West as you described might work, but in the Northeast, or other very busy regions, consolidation would only slow the system down if they merged and cut jobs from the FSS stations.

The idea of having radio calls answered within 5 sec. with services provided within 15 seconds is ludicrous. Jobs will be cut, and this completely unecessary time limit will only shorten your briefing. On snotty days, I appreciate being able to get a nice accurate WX picture. Sometimes when they're busy I have a tough enough time asking for WX details to the west of my location to get an idea of what is coming... I can only imagine how much more difficult it will be when they have to cut me off to get to someone else under the time limit with less people working.

I have always had great experiences with FSS's. I wish them all the best of luck, and hope that we can keep this system running to provide and gather information that is critical to flight safety... rather than running the system to satisfy numbers in a proposal.

 

[FlyFlyFly]

Go Whine Somewhere Else

Discuss the merits of FSS, fine, make it a political discussion, take it somewhere else. Could the moderators make a call on this?

 

[2000flyer]

Hey, I used to live near BumbleScrew, GA!

I remember when there was an FSS office at nearly every "larger" airport. While it was great being able to walk into an FSS station and talk to the briefer, this was before the internet and weather service providers (WSI, Meteorlogic, etc). I remember all the whining when they went to regional FSS stations.

We'll still get our weather. We'll get it from qualified personnel. Many of those will probably be former FAA FSS personnel.

2000Flyer

 

[groundpointsix]

The idea of having radio calls answered within 5 sec. with services provided within 15 seconds is ludicrous.

I think you're reading that wrong. I don't think anyone expects your service to have been provided in its entirety within 15 seconds. I think what it means is that the briefer will have the information you asked for and begin providing it within 15 seconds. So they answer your initial call within 5, and instead of telling you to standby for a couple minutes while they deal with someone else, they're giving you your briefing or filing your flight plan within the next 10 seconds. But hey, I've been wrong before.

 

[GVFlyer]

Times change...things change. At one time you had to call the FSS to open and close your IFR flight plans. I spent 25 minutes on hold this week with the Leesburg FSS trying to file a flight plan to get out of Dulles - I'm ready for a change.

GV

 

[400A]

Hawker F/O

I bet Hawker F/O's Capt. goes home with a splitting headache every single day!!!

Take a MIDOL Dude!

In case you have forgotten, the president does not just wave a majic wand and make things happen. The Congress and Senate approve it as well.

I think you should run for president, you seem to have all the answers.