ZJX Facility Admin Policy
Table of Updates
| Date | Revision | Items Revised |
|---|---|---|
| 3 February 2023 | A | Re-Release |
| 10 February 2023 | B | Updated List of VATUSA and ZJX ARTCC Staff |
| 30 May 2023 | C | Updated Visiting Controller Requirements PRIOR to acceptance |
Information
Purpose:
This document establishes the formal rules, regulations, procedures, and guidelines which govern all members operating within the Virtual Jacksonville ARTCC (ZJX). This document is considered a supplement to any VATSIM and VATSIM United States (VATUSA) policies, procedures, and documents. This document cancels all previous publications and policies and remains in effect until canceled VATSIM, VATUSA, or a subsequent publication of the administrative policy. This document's updates and modifications are published after the appropriate approval process and announcement to the Virtual Jacksonville ARTCC. The ATM, DATM, or their designee(s) will complete all updates and changes to this document.
Distribution:
This order is distributed to all Jacksonville ARTCC personnel.
Organization
VATSIM
|
VATNA
|
VATUSA
|
| Air Traffic Manager- JAX_ATM- Matt Bromback | Deputy Air Traffic Manager- JAX_DATM- Connor O'Brien | Training Administrator - JAX_TA- Damien Lunior |
| Event Coordinator- JAX_EC- Owen Bliss | Facility Engineer- JAX_FE- Howard Snider | Webmaster- Samuel Valencia |
Organization
| Air Traffic Manager | |
| Deputy Air Traffic Manager Event Coordinator(1) ::Event Team Facility Engineer(1) ::Facility Team Webmaster(1) ::Web Team |
Training Administrator Instructor(INS) Mentors (MTR) Mentors in Training(2) |
(1)These positions may have assistants.
(2)Mentors in Training are not staff members but do report to the Training Administrator.
Staff Positions/Responsibility
Responsibility
Operating and directing all ZJX Staff meetings
Coordinating with Senior Staff members for all ARTCC events and activities.
Approve the selection/hiring of all ARTCC staff.
Reviewing and approving all Jacksonville SOPs, procedures, letters of agreement, and other policies.
Negotiates on behalf of the Jacksonville ARTCC on all inter-facility/division procedures/documents/policies.
Member of the VATUSA Air Traffic Managers Board.
Maintain an active online presence.
Requirements
C1 rating or above.
No significant disciplinary record and no history of unprofessional behavior.
Be a home controller at the time of appointment.
Be in good standing on the VATSIM network.
Appointment
The ATM shall be appointed by the VATUSA Division Director or their appointee.
Reporting Responsibility
The ATM serves at the discretion of the VATUSA Division Director.
Responsibility
Attends all ZJX Staff meetings
Responsible for overview of all members behavior, retention and termination.
Responsible for the notificate/interviewing of all ZJX Staff except Senior Staff and Training Staff.
Approving all visiting/transfer/LOA applications.
Serves as acting Air Traffic Manager in the absence of the Air Traffic Manager.
Maintain an active online presence.
Requirements
C1 rating or above.
No significant disciplinary record and no history of unprofessional behavior.
Be a home controller at the time of appointment.
Be in good standing on the VATSIM network.
Appointment
The DATM shall be appointed by the Jacksonville Air Traffic Manager or their appointee with the approval of the VATUSA Division Director or their appointee.
Reporting Responsibility
The DATM serves at the discretion of the Air Traffic Manager.
Responsibility
Attends all ZJX Staff meetings
Responsible for overview, development, and implementation of all training programs and materials.
Approving all mentor applications upon completion of the mentor in training program.
Nominating and managing all instructors, mentors, and mentors in training.
Serves as acting Air Traffic Manager in the absence of the Air Traffic Manager and the Deputy Air Traffic Manager.
Maintain an active online presence.
Requirements
I1 rating or above.
No significant disciplinary record and no history of unprofessional behavior.
Be a home controller at the time of appointment.
Be in good standing on the VATSIM network.
Appointment
The TA shall be appointed by the Air Traffic Manager or their appointee with the approval of the VATUSA Deputy Director Training Services or their appointee.
Reporting Responsibility
The TA serves at the discretion of the Air Traffic Manager and under the review of the VATUSA Deputy Director Training Services.
Responsibility
Attends all ZJX Staff meetings
Responsible for overview, development, and implementation of all ARTCC events and materials.
Conducting event briefings from all events the Jacksonville ARTCC services (Within ARTCC or supporting).
Serves as liaison for both virtual airlines and neighboring ARTCC/Divisions.
Market the Jacksonville ARTCC events upon all social media, VATUSA, and VATSIM boards.
Maintain an active online presence.
Requirements
S3 Rating or above.
Knowledge of event organization and management.
No significant disciplinary record and no history of unprofessional behavior.
Be a home controller at the time of appointment
Be in good standing on the VATSIM network.
Able to use powerpoint, MS paint, and other software.
Appointment
The EC shall be appointed by the Deputy Air Traffic Manager or their appointee with the approval of the Air Traffic Manager.
Reporting Responsibility
The EC serves at the discretion of the Deputy Air Traffic Manager.
Responsibility
Attends all ZJX Staff meetings
Responsible for overview, development, and implementation of all ARTCC facility materials and files for controller clients.
Responsible for overview, development, and implementation of all ARTCC ATCT/TRACON facility standard operating procedures upon approval from the Training Administrator and Deputy Air Traffic Controller.
Coordinating with adjacent ARTCCs as required for ATCT/TRACON SOPs, LOAs, and frequencies.
Maintain an active online presence.
Requirements
S3 Rating or above.
Knowledge of event organization and management.
No significant disciplinary record and no history of unprofessional behavior.
Be a home controller at the time of appointment
Be in good standing on the VATSIM network.
Appointment
The FE shall be appointed by the Deputy Air Traffic Manager or their appointee with the approval of the Air Traffic Manager.
Reporting Responsibility
The FE serves at the discretion of the Deputy Air Traffic Manager.
Responsibility
Attends all ZJX Staff meetings
Responsible for overview, development, and implementation of all ARTCC websites, emails and discord.
Maintain an active online presence.
Requirements
S2 Rating or above.
Thorough knowledge of all django, javascript, html, python, and usage of APIs.
No disciplinary record and no history of unprofessional behavior.
Be a home controller at the time of appointment
Be in good standing on the VATSIM network.
Appointment
The WM shall be appointed by the Deputy Air Traffic Manager or their appointee with the approval of the Air Traffic Manager.
Reporting Responsibility
The WM serves at the discretion of the Deputy Air Traffic Manager.
Staff Teams
The FE, WM, and EC may appoint members as team members.
All team members report to their appropriate team head (FE, WM, EC)
Membership to a team does not denote that the member is a staff member unless approved by the Air Traffic Manager.
Team members may be removed at any time by their appropriate team head with the approval of the Senior Staff.
Vacancy Appointment/Hiring
Upon notification of a vacancy, the Deputy Air Traffic Manager or in the absence of the Deputy Air Traffic Manager, the Air Traffic Manager shall post the vacancy and its requirements in the ZJX Discord and VATUSA website.
A selection committee shall be created by the Deputy Air Traffic Manager. It shall contain A Staff Member (Other than the DATM or ATM), A ZJX Home Controller (Non-Staff), A ZJX Visiting Controller (Non-Staff)
Applications shall be sent to the DATM at datm@zjxartcc.org.
Application deadline shall be no less than 15 days from the date of posting and no-longer than 30 days. If after 30 days a candidate for the position has not been chosen the position shall be reposted via the ZJX Discord and the VATUSA Website.
The selection committee shall be present for all interviews. The DATM shall lead the interview process.
The selection committee will present to the ATM the recommendation from the interview. The ATM with consultation with the DATM and TA will choose to accept the recommendation or decline it.
All selections are subject to review by VATUSA HQ.
Membership
All Controllers at the Jacksonville ARTCC must maintain a working email address connected to their VATSIM account.
All Controllers are encouraged to maintain an account on the ZJX Discord server.
All Controllers shall actively review messages found on the ZJX website and email.
Approved activity is any of the activities below on the VATSIM network that can be quantitatively tracked that are for the benefit or use of the Jacksonville ARTCC. Examples
- Log an active controlling session on the VATUSA network at a Jacksonville ARTCC position.
- Conducting a training session as a member of the Jacksonville ARTCC Training Staff to a Jacksonville ARTCC controller.
- Attending a training session with a Jacksonville ARTCC Training Staff Member.
- A quarter is defined as every 3 months, starting in January of each year. I.E Quarter one is January, February, March.
Note: Discord time and observation time on the network are not considered approved activity for tracking purposes.
Description: A controller assigned to the VATUSA division whose primary facility is Jacksonville.
Requirements: Three (3) hours of approved activity per quarter. If visiting another ARTCC, required to log more than half of their VATSIM network controlling time per month at a Jacksonville ARTCC position.
Description: A controller assigned to the VATUSA division whose primary facility is not Jacksonville.
Application: Please submit a visiting request to via the website.
Requirements for Transfer:
- No OBS Controllers can be visiting controllers
- All NON-VATUSA Visitors must submit a letter of recommendation from the respective Division director stating your current training status and training information and their endorsement.
- All visitors' requests shall be reviewed by the DATM and are subject to be denied or refused, for reasons pursuant to the VATSIM and VATUSA Transfer and Visiting Controllers policy.
Requirements: Three (3) hours of approved activity per quarter. Required to log more than half of their VATSIM network controlling time per month at their home facility. Controllers who log more time at the Jacksonville ARTCC versus their home facility will be asked to transfer to the ARTCC.
SOP Requirements: Applicants are required to pass all competency and SOP exams prior to acceptance into the ARTCC. The VATUSA or ZJX Training Website will host all written SOP exams. Applicants who fail any portion of these assessments will be notified via email and rejected as visiting controllers. Applicants may reapply as a visitor 90 days after the last attempt. Visiting controller applicants will be denied without notice for the
repeated failure of the airspace exams or failing to complete the exams within 15 days of acceptance into the ARTCC.
Controllers wishing to transfer to ZJX from another VATUSA facility shall complete their request via the VATUSA website.
Controllers wishing to transfer to ZJX from outside the VATUSA must first transfer to VATUSA using a region transfer from the VATSIM website.
The ZJX Senior Staff reserves the right to deny or refuse any transfer controllers request for transfer that does not adhere to the VATSIM and VATUSA Visiting and Transfer Policy.
Eligibility for an LOA: Active Controller at the time of the request. No active training or training request.
Leave of absence (LOA) request shall be sent via email to the Deputy Air Traffic Manager at DATM@zjxartcc.org. LOAs request shall state the following: Name, CID, Requested LOA time, Reason
Note: Reasons shall be of extraordinary nature (I didn't have time is not an appropriate reason.)
LOAs will not be approved for less than 30 days or longer than 90 days. Only one LOA shall be approved in a calendar year. Members of the Military entering deployment shall be granted LOAs up to 6 months.
Controllers who do not meet the outlined controller requirements are subject to termination as a controller. The Controller will receive no notice for inactivity
Terminated within 30 days: The approving staff member will award the Controller's major certifications.
Terminated over thirty days but less than 90 days: The member of the training staff will complete an observation with the controller. Upon successful completion of the observation session, controller will be reissued all Tier 1 and Tier 2 certifications.
Terminated over 90 days: Controllers are required to complete refresher training for Tier 1 and Tier 2 certs.
Conflict Resolution
Name Calling
Swearing
Disturbing the peace
Blatant violation of any SOP/LOAs of the Jacksonville ARTCC.
Missing an event or leaving an event early without relief (Non-Emergency)
Any conduct that goes against the following codes of conduct or administrative procedures.
Abuse of the violation and report procedures.
The Senior Staff reserves the right to remove or suspend, for no longer than 72 hours, anyone from discord for any of the above violations without the reporting requirement. The actions of the senior staff member of removing or suspending is not subject to review and shall be noted in the offending controller VATUSA log.
Report the complaint/situation to the ZJX ARTCC staff at staff@zjxartcc.org.
The following shall be required: Your Name and CID, Offender's Name, Date and Time of the incident, Any proof of the incident, Which violating activity was committed (quoting the exact phrase), Any other important documentation.
It is highly recommended that the offended member remove themself from the situation.
Upon receipt of a complaint, the DATM will assign two (2) members of the staff or team member and one non–staff/team member to review the evidence presented. The DATM will oversee the board and is a non-voting member. If the offender is a Staff member, they cannot be assigned to the review board. If the offender is the DATM, another member of the senior staff will be appointed to be over-see. The review board will review the evidence presented and state a recommendation to the Deputy Air Traffic Manager. The Deputy Air Traffic Manager, the Training Administrator and the Air Traffic Manager will review the recommendation and state to approve or send back for revisement. If the DATM or ATM are the offender, the overseeing staff member will present the recommendations to the appropriate VATUSA team member also. Upon approval of the recommendation and approval by the appropriate VATUSA team member obtained if required, the action will be commenced. All actions will be reported in the controllers VATUSA record.
Loss of Jacksonville ARTCC Discord privileges for no more than 90 days. Loss of Jacksonville ARTCC Event privileges for no more than 90 days. Referral to another Air Traffic manager, the VATUSA Division Conflict Resolution Manager, or the VATSIM Vice President of Conflict Resolution for further resolution.
General Policies
All Virtual Jacksonville ARTCC members must maintain a working email address for communication. The email address provided to the Jacksonville ARTCC must be the same as the one used for VATSIM and VATUSA profiles. We strongly discourage using legacy email addresses such as AOL or Hotmail as these tend to be rejected by our server and flag emails for ZJX. Any member or visitor controlling the Jacksonville ARTCC airspace on the VATSIM network is strongly encouraged to use discord to allow for better coordination with other controllers.
Member Conduct
Members and visitors must comply with VATSIM's Code of Conduct at all times while holding a membership with the Jacksonville ARTCC. In addition to the Code of Conduct, members must comply with the additional policies below. The Jacksonville ARTCC Discord server and website use is a privilege, not a right. Violation of any policies via these means of communication will result in
disciplinary action.
Discord Server
Manners: All users shall always be courteous. No rude behavior, rude comments, or vulgar language is allowed.There is to be no harassment or abuse of any kind.
Nicknames: All members and visitors must use their first and last names. Examples: James Jones. Changing nicknames, claiming certifications you have not earned, or using
aliases is not allowed. Members of the ARTCC staff shall include the initials of their position after their name. Example: Steven Champ | AFE
Discussion Topics
Politics, religion, and other potentially contentious topics are permitted. Still, if any member or visitor asks you to change topics, you must comply or move your discussion to another channel.
Live Streaming
Live streaming your online-controlling session is permitted and encouraged under the following conditions: Everyone in the same discord channel as the live streaming person must have given explicit approval to be recorded or streamed. No private or sensitive information shall be seen or heard. The Controller shall be subject to the ZJX Code of Conduct. If the Controller is advertising their stream in their controller info, everything said or shown during the live stream is also subject to VATSIM CoC, including any conversation had with the stream chat, on discord, etc. Should any ZJX Senior Staff member determine that the stream is violating the ZJX Live Streaming Conditions, the staff member may require the termination of the live stream and/or deletion of any archival footage. The member is required to comply with the staff members' requests.
Events
Position Signup: All controllers shall sign up for event staffing via the events calendar under the events tab of the ZJX website. The events coordinator or their representative will release the initial position assignments no later than 24 hours prior to the start of the event. Changes to the initial position assignments can be made at the discretion of the controller in charge (CIC) up to the start of the event. Controllers unable to attend an event they signed up for shall withdraw from the position via the website no later than 24 hours prior to the start of the event. If a controller needs to withdraw within 24 hours of the start of the event, the controller is required to contact (email, discord, etc) the event coordinator with the request and the reason for the late withdrawal.
Requirements: Controllers signing up must be certified for the position they are signing up for. Anticipated certification will not count as actual certification. Controllers with a Solo Endorsement may signup for an supporting (non-artcc) event. Prior permission must be obtained from the Event Coordinator and the Training Administrator.
OTS/Checkouts: OTS/Checkouts may be allowed but are not recommended during events. The OTS/Checkout must be approved by the Training Administrator and the Events Coordinator. All VATUSA requirements apply for the OTS/Checkout candidate and the instructor/mentor.
Disciplinary Action:
Failure to show up or cancel before 24 hours.
a. First Offense: Written warning.
b. Second Offense: Unable to sign up for an event for 14 days.
c. Third Offense: Required approval of the Event Coordinator and the Air Traffic Manager prior to signing up for an event
Online Behavior
Controller Callsigns: Observers on the VATSIM network, who are members of the Jacksonville ARTCC, shall sign-on using the following format: a. ZJX_XX_OBS where "XX" is the assigned operating initials. The Jacksonville ARTCC website automatically gives operating initials.
Jacksonville ARTCC Staff:
a. ZJX_ATM for the Jacksonville ARTCC Air Traffic Manager.
b. ZJX_DATM for the Jacksonville ARTCC Deputy Air Traffic Manager.
c. ZJX_TA for the Jacksonville ARTCC Training Administrator.
d. ZJX_ATA for the Jacksonville ARTCC Assistant Training Administrator.
e. ZJX_EC for the Jacksonville ARTCC Event Coordinator.
f. ZJX_AEC for the Jacksonville ARTCC Assistant Event Coordinator.
g. ZJX_FE for the Jacksonville ARTCC Facility Engineer.
h. ZJX_AFE for the Jacksonville ARTCC Assistance Facility Engineer.
i. ZJX_TMU for the Jacksonville ARTCC TMU. Only to be used during ZJX events, VATUSA events, or when authorizedby the Jacksonville Air Traffic Manager.
Note: The ZJX Webmaster shall use their appropriate normal facility observer callsign.
Jacksonville ARTCC Training Staff
ZJX_XX_MTR for Mentors where "XX" are the assigned operating initials.
ZJX_XX_INS for Instructors where "XX" are the assigned operating initials.
Operational Position Call Signs
Operational position call signs are found in the facility's standard operating procedures. As directed by the VATSIM Code of Conduct (CoC), the operation callsign is the
last three letters of the ICAO code.
Improper Use of Callsign
Improper use of a callsign is grounds for disconnection, supervisor notification, or disciplinary action.
Radar Client Usage
CRC is the preferred radar clients in ZJX. Controllers are responsible for setting up and understanding the requirements to use their preferred software. A controller shall not modify the official Jacksonville ARTCC facility files. Permission always has to be obtained to use sector data for other purposes. Do not distribute your modifications to other controllers.
VATSIM directs that controllers set their radar visibility range as follows:
a. Observer- 300nm or less
b. Clearance Delivery or Ground- 20nm or less
c. Tower- 50nm or less
d. Departure/Approach- 150nm or less.
e. Center- 250nm to 400nm, as needed.
Controller Feedback
No home controller or visiting controller shall leave feedback for another member of Jacksonville ARTCC through the online feedback form. The feedback form is only for pilots who are not members of ZJX. Jacksonville ARTCC member should not solicit positive or negative feedback for him or herself or any other ZJX controller. The only allowed means of encouraging pilots to leave feedback for Jacksonville ARTCC controllers is by including a link to the Jacksonville ARTCC website in their controller information.
Note: If a pilot requests a link for feedback while the Controller is on frequency, the Controller can send the link by either typing the website name or using the ".fb" alias command.
Credit
This document utilizes the writing of several sources. Credit to the following documents:
● New York ARTCC Regulations and Policies
● Honolulu Control Facility Operating Guidelines
● Minneapolis ARTCC Administrative Manual
● Houston ARTCC Administrative Manual