What is a hardship transfer exactly?

h4xit Senior Member Seattle

Hi guys -

Both my girlfriend and I are planning on becoming air traffic controllers. Since it seems extremely unlikely that we would both get the same facility, is there any way we can file some sort of hardship due to us being separated? Or are we just stuck until we certify and then hope we can transfer?

Thanks in advance!

ware230 Trusted Contributor IL Enroute CA

I doubt you would be able to prove hardship without marriage and/or a child... That's a pretty standard requirement.

MJ0730 Senior Member

article 99 section 2
Transfer requests under verified hardship conditions shall be classified in one of the following three categories (in order of priority):

The medical condition of the employee, the employee's spouse, or dependent children residing in the employee's household requires a geographical move from the employee's present duty station assignment to a geographical area deemed necessary to improve or maintain the health or receive health services.
Transfer of an employee to another geographical area, when the employee or employee's spouse is the primary caretaker of a dependent parent, or the medical condition of the parent requires the employee or employee's spouse to relocate. Not all situations of separation from parents will be considered a hardship.
Transfer of an employee in case of an estranged family (divorce) where dependent children are involved and the transfer of an employee to a different geographical area would allow the employee to maintain contact with his or her children. Not all situations of separation from children will be considered a hardship. In order to be considered, the geographical separation from the children must have been involuntary. Factors that should be considered are the length of time of separation, the age, and health of the children.
All relevant factors shall be considered for each condition, but a minimum shall include:

whether the employee previously used this issue as a hardship.
other unique circumstances.
the distance and ease of commute.
In order to effectively comply with the intent of the definition of a geographic area, employees must provide a list of all facilities and/or cities that will meet the needs of their specific hardship. Placement is allowed in the same, lower, or up to three (3) ATC facility levels above their current ATC facility level.

BadPassportPhoto Senior Member ZTL

Other advice you may not want to hear. Don't base life-changing future career choices on just a girlfriend. I speak from experience.

GBurgNupe Rookie Cedar Rapids, IA

You gotta want this job for yourself....unless youre married, it probably wont happened.

Radium Epic Member

Plus ur gonna break up anyway when one of u bangs a coworker after getting drunk at a natca event.

It's so common its gonna be added to the .65

h4xit Senior Member Seattle

Alright, thanks guys. Not quite the news I was hoping for, but maybe an ERR or something will be able to help us out down the road.

foxtrotlimaalpha6 Senior Member USA

what exactly does ERR stand for and what are the details about those as well I'm curious?

Genot Senior Member A Dark Dark Room

Employee Relocation Request.

BadPassportPhoto Senior Member ZTL

Just googled "err air traffic" and this was the first link:

Employee Relocation Request - ERR