Narrative:

While working the d-side for 08/09 sectors; there were numerous re-routes on west bound traffic adding additional volume to the sector. There was weather throughout the sector with aircraft deviating. There were IFR clearances going in and out of the satellite airports in the sector (ogs; mss; cycc). Two sets of fighter jets showed up requesting to use the viper-all airspace with aircraft already in the airspace. During this time; I looked up at the traffic situational display (tsd) and noticed that the sector was red for the current and subsequent two blocks (45minutes). Traffic management unit (tmu) had not done anything to reduce this red-sector and we were getting more saturated. The acl (access control list) was more than a page long and usually a 60-70% full acl is a sign (and accurate gauge) that the sector is busy or getting very busy. Aircraft X called with a request for something that I had never heard of before; a ct flight; I advised aircraft Y that I did not know what that was and was too busy to deal with it. I then told the controller in charge that it would be wise to split out sector 08 to reduce some of the volume and complexity. This did not happen; we were never offered the option to split out sector 08. The sector remained at an unsafe level of business and complexity and the radar controller admitted it was too busy but was reluctant to spin any inbound aircraft. Tmu and management should show some concern for safety and the operation and protect the sectors by putting in appropriate traffic management initiatives to reduce complexity and volume. Sectors should be split as necessary ahead of time.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Boston Center Controller reported traffic saturation due to weather with additional requests from military aircraft.

Narrative: While working the D-side for 08/09 Sectors; there were numerous re-routes on west bound traffic adding additional volume to the sector. There was weather throughout the sector with aircraft deviating. There were IFR clearances going in and out of the satellite airports in the sector (OGS; MSS; CYCC). Two sets of fighter jets showed up requesting to use the VIPER-ALL airspace with aircraft already in the airspace. During this time; I looked up at the Traffic Situational Display (TSD) and noticed that the sector was red for the current and subsequent two blocks (45minutes). Traffic Management Unit (TMU) had not done anything to reduce this red-sector and we were getting more saturated. The ACL (Access Control List) was more than a page long and usually a 60-70% full ACL is a sign (and accurate gauge) that the sector is busy or getting very busy. Aircraft X called with a request for something that I had never heard of before; a CT flight; I advised Aircraft Y that I did not know what that was and was too busy to deal with it. I then told the CIC that it would be wise to split out Sector 08 to reduce some of the volume and complexity. This did not happen; we were never offered the option to split out Sector 08. The sector remained at an unsafe level of business and complexity and the Radar Controller admitted it was too busy but was reluctant to spin any inbound aircraft. TMU and Management should show some concern for safety and the operation and protect the sectors by putting in appropriate Traffic Management Initiatives to reduce complexity and volume. Sectors should be split as necessary ahead of time.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.