Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 19
Troubleshooting; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Air Traffic Control Separated Traffic; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance
Airspace Structure; Company Policy; Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors; Procedure; Weather
I was working the Traffic Management position.  I saw that we were going to have a couple of hours of high volume in the Center; as is normal on a day shift.  I received a briefing from my fellow Traffic Management Coordinator (TMC) in which he relayed that the Central Weather Service Unit (CWSU) had informed him we could expect to lose the East Coast routings through the state of Florida by XA:00Z.  The Atlantic Routes; which normally service much of our volume between the Northeast and South Florida were closed due to weather.  Sealord was planning to activate all airspace to FL500 and the Joint Air Traffic Operations Command Center (JATOCC) was planning to activate W470 to FL600.  This would mean we would be left with one hole through which we would be forced to route all aircraft.  I called the Severe Weather line at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) and voiced my concerns and that I thought our best option would be to put an Airspace Flow Program in place to slow the volume through ZJX due to the lack of available airspace and the increased complexity caused by the weather.  I was told we didn't need that because there was not enough volume.  The weather built up; much as anticipated.  Planes were deviating all over the sky.  I received a phone call from Severe Weather wanting to put out a playbook routing for ATL landing traffic in response to my request to ZMA via the National Traffic Management Log (NTML) to route all aircraft on the HOBTT Arrival to keep them off of the east coast.  I told them that at this point it was better to handle it tactically and reiterated that if they had helped me slow the volume on the East Coast earlier; we wouldn't have to ask ZMA to reroute aircraft.  This was disregarded.  To my understanding; the East Area got absolutely overwhelmed and had sectors so inundated with aircraft that they were almost out of control.  We also have repeated issues with ZTL either refusing to comply with requests they have accepted or flat out refusing to accept them at all and arguing with us.  Lately they have begun to send retaliatory restrictions that they don't actually need in response to our requests to tuck aircraft due to tunnel procedures necessitated by severe weather.I would recommend that the FAA and ATCSCC realize that the traffic flowing through ZJX has increased drastically and our Controllers are consistently working Level 12 traffic day in and day out.  We have severe weather literally every day between May and October which shuts off routings.  Most days; unless it is a holiday; military airspace is active on both sides of our airspace; making much of our airspace unusable. Many days we are unable to split sectors off or provide a radar associate or tracker to assist the controllers.  Every single time we call the ATCSCC for assistance we are denied.  It is a rare occasion that an Airspace Flow Program (AFP) or structured routing is actually issued to help us as we attempt to funnel over 100 aircraft per hour through holes in thunderstorms and active military airspace.  We are seeing increasing reports of severe turbulence as we force aircraft full of people through small holes in between severe weather cells. Our facility has been subject to numerous Corrective Action Plans regarding severe weather events as a result of us sending them through severe weather.  Controllers are expected to call depicted weather to each and every aircraft; and are reprimanded when they are unable to; however their workload is completely absurd at this point and when we try to help slow the volume to provide them with more time for additional duties beyond separating the aircraft deviating to avoid weather we are denied!  Sealord calls their airspace active to FL500 early most days and keeps it active until well into the evening; as do the military squadrons who utilize the warning and restricted areas on the Gulf Coast.  As a TMC I am forced to watch sectors become saturated to the point Controllers are overwhelmed after I have initiated the Traffic Management Initiative (TMIs) at my disposal to slow it.  This situation in unacceptable and has to change.  I have been a Controller for XX years; X of those as a TMC; and I have never seen it so bad.  People are working this intense traffic 6 days a week every week; often 10 hours a day; and they are burned out.  They don't have any more to give and the system is failing them as they continue to work under adverse conditions to maintain the world's safest and most efficient system that the FAA and NATCA are so proud of.
Jacksonville Center Traffic Management Coordinator reported asking the Command Center for help and was denied.  This resulted in the East Area getting overwhelmed and sectors becoming so inundated with aircraft that they were almost out of control.