Turning Down an Offer (*Gasp!*)

bridget1814 Junior Member Seattle

Hi guys and gals,

I have a question. I applied PUBNAT8, and am starting CTI school in the Spring (Scheduled to take me 4 quarters). My question is this; I'm 22 and my fiance and I live in Washington state and would like to stay in the area (namely, the Seattle or Portland area). He is a fireman and only commutes to work once per week, so we can live anywhere within about a 4 hour radius. However, if I were to put Washington and Oregon on my geographical preferences and I get selected somewhere in Southern Oregon, what would happen if I deny that facility?

Would I go back into the pool and still be eligible to be selected for another facility, or how does that work??? What happens to you when you deny an offer for a facility??? Thanks!

DXatc1941 Newcomer

I am not totally sure what happens when you deny a facility, however a friend of mine who is VRA was selected for Moses Lake Washington, and denied it, and it took him a year to get a class date and then on to his next facility at the Tri Cities. Both are up down facilities, Moses Lake i believe is level 6 and Tri Cities is level 7 or 8. If you want to go somewhere, call around to those facilities and ask them to put you on their list, maybe they have room, maybe they dont.

JP13 Senior Member momoville

From what i've seen on this forum, if you deny an offer (espically ots) you might not get another, or it can take a long time.

duranme Trusted Contributor San Diego (SCT)

Not smart imo, letting an offer go by the wayside may mean waiting another year or two, or not getting hired at all. With the current state of hiring in the faa, your best bet is to take what's given to you and ultimately transfer 7yrs down the road...

nja0423 Junior Member

ask liandrajade. she turned down an offer, if i remember correctly, through the pubnat system and dont think she has been offered another.(but i hope im wrong) PM her and ask her shes always willin to help with info.

Green_Between Junior Member socal

When you deny an offer, you don't get placed back in the pool, you would have to reapply under a different announcement for further consideration.

Even when hiring was at its peak, you were very lucky if you got selected again after turning down an offer.With the way things seem to be slowing down in the hiring process: backlog of people waiting for OKC dates, and more competition for fewer spots, I definitely wouldn't turn down an offer if you wanted the job. I know that there are other matters to consider and that everyone's situation is different, but turning down an offer means starting all over again.

If you can swing it, I would accept an offer from the FAA, then see if you can transfer either before OKC or once you get to your facility. There are no guarantees, but you have a much better chance at transferring than you do of receiving another offer after turning one down.

duranme Trusted Contributor San Diego (SCT)

Or start a new life with your fiance wherever the faa sends you and have him transfer for you, his transfer would be much easier than yours

Echo_Whiskey Junior Member

Take the job! Once your CPC you can start requesting a transfer from what I understand. Or request a different facility when you get to OKC. It's rare that a request gets granted but worth a shot. In the meantime just hope you get selected for a facility in the area you want.

luna75 I am THE Pocket Ninja farmingdale ny

i got three words for you............

DONT DO IT!!!!!

i've been a part of stuckmic since jan 2008 when the public announcements came out{this site was sold, a new owner took over and this is the result you see today}

now my situation is drastically different from yours and while I still stand by decision to not accept ZDC, if i didnt have the complications i did, i would have jumped on anything and went anywhere.

you are only engaged, you are not married, i am assuming you have no children etc.

lets run down the list of issues that i had that I had to take into consideration:

1-Im an OTS with no previous aviation/atc experience and got offered a level 12 facility. odds were already stacked against me in terms of potential to wash out, not that i don think i could do it, im talking strictly numbers and percentages.

2-I just got married, just bought a house, i had 2 kids at the time. my husband is with the NYPD, he has my stepson that we cannot take with us to virginia, no way would i be able to sell my house after just buying it, especially with how fast the market crapped... so if i had accepted ZDC, i would have been working in leesburg va and COMMUTING BACK TO NY. I would be paying rent on an apt and paying a mortgage and would have left my husband and kids behind.

3-financially, it was NOT going to work, even if i had accepted and dealt with flying up to Ny on my days off....ummm where was i going to stay during the week while i was working?? gotta rent an apt or pay a hotel, still had to help my husband pay the mortgage, ok gotta get back to ny, so that means driving or booking a plane/train/bus ticket, that costs money.....yeah i would be at a level 12 facility but D1 pay IS NOT going to cover everything that needed to be handled.

4-no one is superman and can do what i was going to and NOT have it affect training at some point. once again, level 12 is level 12 and lets be realistic, trying to focus on training but worrying about whats going on at home, how am i paying the bills etc....i knew i would be shooting myself in the foot to take an offer in another state and try to go back and forth...granted VA by plane isnt far but to have to pay for a plane ticket, or to drive up on my days for only a few hours to be with my family before i had to go back....suicidal and not realistic....

not to be harsh, but you are in pubnat 8, no guarantees pubnat 8 is going to be reviewed anytime soon, even with your cti recommendation, facts are showing that hiring is going to slow down for a bit before it picks up again...do not put all your eggs in one basket.

I have applied to every single announcement from 1-8, i got offered ZDC under pubnat 1, declined it and HAVE NOT GOTTEN AN OFFER EVER AGAIN.

I have made every single referral list since and nothing....DO NOT TRY to tempt the fates and decline an offer, especially if you do not have the complications i did...

DanielEtvs Trusted Member hank krakowskis

if you turn down an offer then you really don't want the job. the vast majority of controllers had to relocate for at least their first facility. do whats best for your life but dont complain if you never get another offer, which i assume you wouldnt with how hiring is these days.