Subject: [NEXTEL-1] "Fly out Fridays?"

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 00:59:37 -0400

I shared your e-mail  with the sources who provided the information.
They supplied me with some additional information to support their original
e-mail.

See below-

Laura Smith wrote:
>
> Marcel:
>
> I'm sorry but I worked at the FCC for 8 years -- many of those as a
> supervisor -- and I am totally unfamiliar with this term.  Just to
> confirm that things hadn't changed in the last 5 years since I left
> the Commission, I checked with my husband who is the Acting Chief of
> his Division and he too is totally unfamiliar with this term -- and
> the circumstances you describe surrounding it.

No need to be sorry, "Fly Out Friday" is the term used by the "Worker Bees"
(Admin., etc.) at the FCC not just WTB.
I did not expect you or your husband to know this. That is one of the reasons why
I'm sharing this with everyone. Stranger thing have happened  (i.e. FCC/GAO paying
rent for a nextel BDA at FCC HQ). I was surprised when I found out also. I don't
think you understand the true meaning of "Fly Out Friday"  Here is the history
behind it as explained to me;

The term originally was coined back in 1990's
by a FCC staffer after FCC Personnel would
"Fly Out Friday" to meetings and conventions.
Staffers would often  take time off on Fridays
after working extra hours durning the week.
Sometimes (but not always) this will coincide
with their bosses who were out of town.

My source provided me with one example of an Office Chief who took numerous trips
that commenced on a Friday.

The following excerpts from FCC's Office Chief Roy Stewart's travel log. ALL of
these trips taken started on a Friday; Williamsburg VA-5/9/1997, Traverse City
MI-7/25/1997, Omaha NE-8/15/1997, Bellaire MI-7/24/1998, Hershey PA -5/7/1999,
Biloxi MS -6/11/1999,  Boothbay Harbor ME-9/17/1999, Stowe VT -5/19/2000,Orange
Beach AL -5/11/2001, San Diego CA -6/22/2001. I also verified the logs of several
other FCC personnel and many of them seem to follow a similar pattern.

Not every trip starts on a Friday but after reviewing all the data it does support
the given meaning.

> If staff at the FCC wish to leave early on a Friday afternoon -- they
> turn a leave slip to their supervisor.

There is room for manipulation;

From the "Office of Inspector General" (OIG) ........

"OIG initiated an investigation into allegations that two employees conspired to
submit false and/or fraudulent time and attendance records. The specific
allegations
included allegations that one of the employees fraudulently accrued
credit hours and failed to properly record used leave, and the other as timekeeper

fraudulently approved the accrual and failed to properly record used leave,
resulting in
one of the employees using more leave than had been accrued and the agency having
paid for that erroneous leave."

I'm sure this was all a "Misunderstanding" (hahaha) and no one was penalized but
it does happen.

I'm sure you are aware of the more serious offences at the FCC. The Office of
Inspector General found
employees within an FCC Bureau were operating gambling pools using official time
and resources. The investigation corroborated the allegations and the matter was
referred to management for administrative action against the employees. Just as
with any business there are going to be "Bad Apples", being  familiar with all
prohibited practices that occur within the FCC is a task too big for FCC Legal
Counsel , Acting Chiefs, Commissioners and even OIG.

>  Unless an emergency has
> arisen, the supervisor will grant that leave and the staffer will
> leave at the desired time.

True, sometimes...

No one just arbitrarily leaves for the day;

"Some staffers leave early Fridays so
the can get a jump on traffic and travel plans, after working extra hours durning
the
week to make up for any lost time by doing so"

> So, your statement is completely inaccurate -- people at the FCC DO
> NOT "sneak" out on Friday afternoons.

My statement IS accurate according to "Office of Inspector General".
Where did I say they "sneak" out?

> More importantly, many of them work long and hard hours with little compensation
-- and
> stay late not only on Fridays but on every other day of the week as
> well.

Yes, many make under $40k and get small incremental raises.

> And, just to clear something up, the staff at the FCC are some of the
> most hard working and dedicated folks I have ever had the privilege
> of working with.

I have never heard an ill word or comment from the
> WTB team working on the 800 MHz proceeding, despite this being a
> complex, convoluted mess.

You will never hear it directly from them that is why some
use 3rd parties to vent their long term frustration. They want to get
the message out but they need their jobs. The Office of Inspector General
would be on them like Nextel on free spectrum if they commented publicly.

>Make no mistake, Michael Wilhelm and his
> team are some of the most consummate professionals to ever work at
> the FCC -- so please do not imply, infer or intimate that the WTB
> team is unhappy or dissatisfied because of this proceeding and that
> they are complaining to you.

Thinking they don't complain
is short-sighted.

Please re-read my orig. message:

"Staff meetings, roundtables, tons of paper work are frowned upon on Fridays
according to two staffers who complained today."

This applies to MANY proceedings that occur on a "Fly Out Friday."

>I do not know who you heard from,

As I have said many times if I don't have at least two sources to
confirm it I don't post it.

>but the WTB team drafting this item are some of the best engineers and
> attorneys at the FCC and have always behaved as the professionals
> that they are.

Do you really believe that?