Federal Aviation Administration employees represented by one of its unions are about to receive a financial bonus and additional telework protections, if a tentative labor agreement becomes finalized.

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), which represents about 11,000 FAA employees, told its members last week that the union reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the FAA, after more than two years of negotiations.

PASS National President Dave Spero, in a video message last Tuesday, said the agency and the union started contract negotiations in January 2022.

“It goes without saying that this was an arduous process that ebbed and flowed,” Spero said.

PASS represents mostly FAA aviation safety inspectors and technicians.

If PASS members vote to accept the contract, the FAA will conduct a legal review to ensure the contract is consistent with federal labor relations statute.

“We expect that part of the process to go smoothly,” Spero said.

PASS is planning to hold town halls with employees and expects to complete the ratification process by Labor Day.

Spero said PASS changed “scores” of articles in the collective bargaining agreement during the two years of negotiations — and also added new articles and combined existing ones.

Among the highlights, bargaining unit members will receive a $5,000 bonus as a lump sum that will be paid once the contract is ratified and put into effect. PASS members, Spero said, will remain under the Federal Aviation General Schedule (FG) pay system.

The tentative contract would also allow PASS members to sell back accrued sick leave for 40% of its value upon retirement.

The FAA, in an email to employees sent last week, said its tentative agreement with PASS “reflects the parties’ hard work in balancing the FAA’s mission needs while recognizing the dedication of the workforce and their unwavering commitment to our agency’s mission.”

The agency said the new agreement, once ratified by PASS membership, will apply to bargaining unit employees within the agency’s Flight Standards and Aircraft Certification organizations.

“This is the first step towards having a new 5-year CBA between the FAA and PASS for [Aviation Safety] bargaining unit employees,” the agency wrote. “The next steps will include educating employees on the substance of the agreement, followed by the PASS ratification process whereby dues-paying members will vote on it. This will be followed by the agency completing the statutory agency head review.”

Telework protections

Spero said the tentative bargaining agreement also strengthens telework protections, and “builds upon the processes and standards that exist in the current collective bargaining agreement.”

“While we cannot guarantee a specific number of telework days for anyone, we feel the language is more detailed on what the agency needs to show, if it intends to deny a requested telework agreement,” he said.

FAA’s baseline for employees to work in the office is about four days per two-week pay period. The agency implemented that policy in January, after getting pushback on an earlier proposal to require more in-person work.

The FAA previously announced its employees would return to the office at least three days per week — or six days per pay period — starting on Oct. 9, 2023 — but scrapped those plans.

In a Nov. 28, 2023, email sent to all employees, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, Deputy Administrator Katie Thomson and more than a dozen senior executives stated the new policy reflects focus groups with FAA managers and talks with union officials.

“While some advocated for increased on-site presence to foster consistent and meaningful collaboration, others stated that leveraging current workplace flexibilities will enhance workforce recruitment,” the email states. “All agreed that building and maintaining a high-performing workforce of dedicated employees and having FAA continue to be a great place to work remain our top priorities.”

The agency said four days in the office per pay period is a baseline for its workforce, but the agency is giving frontline managers the discretion to set their own in-office expectations for their employees.

Spero told Federal News Network in January 2024 that the union’s collective bargaining agreement requires telework requests to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and that any decision must be based on business needs.

Spero told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation subcommittee last month that the FAA is facing shortages of air traffic controllers and technicians, which can result in longer equipment outages and more flight delays.

“Having fewer technicians than needed can result in inadequate shift coverage. This means we do not have the right person available to resolve a crisis when it occurs,” Spero told lawmakers.

Spero said the FAA is also using an “insufficient” staffing model for its aviation safety inspector workforce.

“With the aviation safety inspectors, I told Congress, ‘Look, the staffing model that they currently have is inadequate. And we’re not able to nail down exactly how many inspectors we need and where we need them in various locations across the country,’” Spero told the Federal Drive with Tom Temin in a recent interview. “In the air traffic organization, which we spent a lot of time on, I told them, ‘Look, the technician workforce has no workforce plan. You have no idea how many folks you need and where you need them right now.’”

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