Houston TRACON - I90

SOCOM Junior Member

3 miles separation is easy.....anyone can do that

Spacee Rookie Houston, TX

You have to use 5 miles and are paid less. I think I'll stick with my level 12

Spacee Rookie Houston, TX

Does Daisetta think we only need 3 miles behind a heavy? That might explain the 5 miles decreasing feed I've been getting lately...

SOCOM Junior Member

yeah which is what sucks. we're just as busy as other level 12's yet stuck at 11. lame.

but, i'm glad i deal with new orleans approach and not you guys....

Spacee Rookie Houston, TX

What are you talking about? We are awesome! I like some of you center peeps too... there is just so much disconnect between center an approach. Some controllers (on both sides) are bitter and not willing to work with each other... so we all get a bad rep.

Procedural wise, we have very little say in anything. If you ever ask why a dumb procedure is the way it is, the only answer we get is "This is what THEY wanted" but no one ever explains who THEY is...

SOCOM Junior Member

so much disconnect ??? not what i hear at the center. i hear you guys are assholes. if one guys looks like he's not doing 250 at the boundary you want us to spin him. like i said, glad i don't work in lufkin and i work with MSY approach - they can handle whatever. granted there's old bastards in both areas that are so set in their ways and just bitter.

beezee Rookie

an I90 supervisor named scott is the one that always gets mad at us

i hope you aren't him. lol

Spacee Rookie Houston, TX

I don't work Lufkin either, I work the B sector (Daisetta, Trios, Gulf, Freeport). All our arrivals come in at 280 or slowing to 280. The only time I won't take a handoff is if you're setting me up for a deal... or if you try to hand off a plane 10,000 feet too high. It's sad when a center sector gives me a plane that I have to point out to the next center sector because they're still not in our airspace yet... The more we try to help out the center, the more we get burned.

Example - Bolos sector apreqs a plane direct DOCCC to join the Columbia1, I say approved. Plane comes in at 22,000 descending instead of level at 12,000 at the boundary... I didn't delete the freaking altitude restriction! Now I have to dive beneath and miss a bunch of departures climbing to 16,000 cause I was nice and didn't make the center spin him. Now I'm busting my ass, South departures airspace, and risking my ticket to help out someone who didn't follow the procedure.... NOT worth it

Spacee Rookie Houston, TX

Ha, no I am not him, or a him for that matter. He does have longer hair then me though... He's big on following the procedures and for good reason. He's close to retirement and is done taking crap. The longer you work, the more you get screwed over. Then you learn and don't take it anymore.

Spacee Rookie Houston, TX

Lufkin/Gomer is the sector that keeps calling deviations on Departure north for not clearing planes to join the departure. One controller realized right after he switched the plane to center that he hadn't cleared him to a fix (he was on tower assigned heading which was only a few degrees off the departure). He called the center immediately after, plane still in our approach airspace... the center controller said he knew and then filed a deviation on him. That's a asshole.... don't you think?