PASS Brothers & Sisters:
As this unprecedented national emergency continues, I want to thank all of you for your dedication to your work and to the mission of the agency. But we continue to work with the FAA for more consistent messaging. They are getting better with timely and transparent information that would protect you and your families, but we still continue to push for more.
Many of you may have heard from your regional vice presidents yesterday about a conference call we had with Technical Operation Services, ATO leadership. This is a positive development and we will be holding such calls daily as long as this crisis continues. As such, we had another call today.
One of the major takeaways is that local public health authorities have different perspectives and approaches to COVID 19 events. This is adding to much of the confusion. I expressed as much in an interview with Politico, which was posted last night. This remains a challenge that we are working with the FAA to remedy.
There are efforts to include the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine to address the inconsistent quarantine guidance being issued in different service areas. It is hoped that will bring about clarity to allow employees to protect themselves and their families. As a national issue, testing for COVID-19 also continues to be problematic due to the limitations of local health officials, the number of screening sites and the number of actual tests available. PASS will continue to push the FAA to provide clear guidance on this matter.
Issues of concern:
Telework. This is being stressed at all levels and the agency wants frontline managers to maximize telework. Here is the telework directive from Jeff Planty, Vice President of Technical Operatons, to all service area directors. All administrative personnel should be moved to telework immediately. This was also stressed on the Flight Standards Leadership Board call last week. The agency should be maximizing telework as per the administrator’s message on March 19. Here is additional information on telework and social distancing.
Maintenance Moratorium. A two-week maintenance moratorium has been issued. Also a Maintenance Alert was issued to deal with non-federal facility maintenance to allow for managers to defer/delay maintenance if staffing is not available.
Training. The only class for tech ops still being conducted in Oklahoma City is En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) and that may be shuttered as well. All training has been suspended for AVS and here is the latest update on training for Flight Standards employees.
Workplace Exposure. A manager’s checklist has been issued and distributed with protocols on how to proceed when there is possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace and who should be notified if that occurs. If there is exposure in your workplace and this guidance is not followed, please notify your regional vice president immediately.
Cleanliness of Facilities. Cleaning and disinfecting to medical standards is underway at facilities where exposure has occurred. There have been different approaches to this based on local contractors. The FAA is working on global cleaning contracts to avoid the challenges of working with local contractors. The union also raised the concerns you have brought to our attention about access to sanitary facilities for those who have been told to report to a nonstandard location. We are also addressing concerns about what cleaning supplies are available to employees for their personal use and to wipe down their work locations.
Shelter in Place. Local and state governments are starting to impose ‘stay at home’ or ‘shelter in place’ orders. Attorney General William Barr issued guidance yesterday to all U.S. attorneys to work with local officials on this matter. As this is a fluid situation, although the FAA is working to clarify with the appropriate local or state authorities, PASS recommends that you follow local law enforcement guidance if you are not allowed to proceed to work and immediately contact your frontline manager if you are turned back from your destination. Copy your PASS reps/regional vice president if this occurs.
Excused Absences: PASS was told that the agency considers a manager’s direction for an employee to stay home to be the same as being ordered by a public health agency and the employee granted an excused absence. Please contact your regional vice president immediately if this protocol is not followed.
Communication from Frontline Managers. We raised the issue that there needs to be better communication between frontline managers and employees. Management at higher levels needs to provide guidance while also allowing local managers and union representatives to discuss how to handle the unique circumstances that may be evident at individual offices/facilities.
Finally, we have also entered into discussions about how to prepare for a potential air traffic control system shutdown should that serious decision be made. Such a decision would have to be made at the highest levels of government. This has been brought more into focus this afternoon with the temporary ground stops declared for New York and Philadelphia. Your role, should that happen, will be vitally important.
PASS has been putting the pressure on the agency to take more immediate action through these phone calls, media interviews and most importantly, through the on-the-ground reports and concerns that you have been submitting to PASS. Not only are these directed to your regional vice presidents and the PASS safety team, I read every one and our legal team uses them in discussions with FAA labor relations. Your personal information is not shared outside of PASS.
Your health and safety, and that of your family, is the number one priority for PASS. Please reach out your local reps, your regional vice presidents and the national office if you need assistance.
In solidarity,
Mike Perrone
National President
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