Narrative:

I assumed the r-side at sector 70 (tbd). A tracker and a d-side were in place at the sector. The volume of traffic was too high for a traditional briefing to be given; so I plugged in and monitored the sector for about 5 minutes. After I took control; the previous r-side remained plugged in for about 5 minutes to ensure a safe transition. There was a significant line of weather (heavy to extreme precipitation depicted) from 10 miles north of jepeg intersection; extending north for about 200 miles; tops reported above FL410. Almost every aircraft requested a deviation clearance to fly south of the precipitation. Overflight aircraft normally routed over the airspace north of lch were routed through the sector 70; turning on course near jepeg intersection. Iah terminal arrivals normally routed over the das VOR area (txmex and rokit arrivals) were entering sector 70 from north of btr (sectors 42 and 81) on headings; joining the wolde arrival at jepeg intersection; and being sequenced with wolde arrivals entering sector 70 from the east (sectors 37; 65; and 24). Aircraft departing iah terminal normally routed out the cleep gate (north and northeast bound) were departing eastbound through the trios gate; along with the traffic normally routed out the trios gate; all deviating south of course and entering the sector 70 near jepeg intersection. The map value for the sector is 18; there were between 20 and 30 tracks in the sector for the majority of time I was working the sector. For some time; neither my tracker nor my d-side were cpcs (certified professional controllers); and the d-side's only certification is that d-side. I brought the relative newness of these two controllers to the attention of the flm (front line manager); whose response was; 'the tracker is not a rookie!' the volume of traffic over such a small area (vicinity of jepeg) caused significant data block overlap; possible airspace deviations in and out of sectors 70; 23; and 68; created an unsafe situation; and resulted in worse than normal service. I told the flm that I believed the volume and complexity created a hazardous situation. I am not aware of any changes that were made to manage the sector volume or complexity after I advised the flm of my concerns. Myself and the cpc working sector 23 asked the flm to either allow us to take the iah arrivals over the clmba arrival or to close the trios gate and allow those departures to depart southbound; out over vuh VOR (this happens often; and there are pre-loaded routes in the system to allow for it). The fix was the iah arrivals were to be routed over the KABOY1 arrival. The 'fix' added to my workload; requiring that I issue the new arrival to iah arrivals; and only moved the arrival string six (6) miles south. About 30-45 minutes later; the departures were routed over vuh and the confluence of traffic near jepeg subsided. The high volume and complexity continued until I was relieved from the sector. Recommendation; after my session; and a short break; I headed to tmu (traffic management unit) to ask a few questions. My main question was who/when the decision to close trios was finally made. The response was; 'we wanted to push it (the departures out trios) as long as we could; the meteorologist said the weather wasn't supposed to build south of lch. I made the call to leave trios open. You don't have the big picture; and don't know how much push back we get from other facilities. We did a lot for your sector that you aren't aware of.' I feel there needs to be much more communication; flexibility; and collaboration between the flm; tmu; and the controllers. Controllers need to be involved in the decision making process; since they will be the people actually working the traffic. In this case; an easy fix would have been to call tmu/approach and tell them that starting now; all iah departures out trios gate will enter ZHU on a southeasterly heading; and ZHU will issue further routing; aircraft still at the gate will beissued the new routing by the tower. Additionally; assigning seasoned cpcs to the extremely busy sectors and the newer controllers to the slower/less complex sectors would have made a significant positive impact.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZHU controller chronicled a very busy/complex traffic period at Sector 70 when weather impacted routings and minimal experience controllers were assigned as D-Side controllers; the reporter questioning the role of Traffic Management and supervisory oversight during the traffic period.

Narrative: I assumed the R-Side at Sector 70 (TBD). A tracker and a D-Side were in place at the sector. The volume of traffic was too high for a traditional briefing to be given; so I plugged in and monitored the sector for about 5 minutes. After I took control; the previous R-Side remained plugged in for about 5 minutes to ensure a safe transition. There was a significant line of weather (heavy to extreme precipitation depicted) from 10 miles north of JEPEG Intersection; extending north for about 200 miles; tops reported above FL410. Almost every aircraft requested a deviation clearance to fly south of the precipitation. Overflight aircraft normally routed over the airspace north of LCH were routed through the Sector 70; turning on course near JEPEG Intersection. IAH terminal arrivals normally routed over the DAS VOR area (TXMEX and ROKIT arrivals) were entering Sector 70 from north of BTR (Sectors 42 and 81) on headings; joining the WOLDE arrival at JEPEG Intersection; and being sequenced with WOLDE arrivals entering Sector 70 from the east (Sectors 37; 65; and 24). Aircraft departing IAH terminal normally routed out the CLEEP gate (north and northeast bound) were departing eastbound through the TRIOS gate; along with the traffic normally routed out the TRIOS gate; all deviating south of course and entering the Sector 70 near JEPEG Intersection. The MAP value for the sector is 18; there were between 20 and 30 tracks in the sector for the majority of time I was working the sector. For some time; neither my tracker nor my D-Side were CPCs (Certified Professional Controllers); and the D-Side's only certification is that D-Side. I brought the relative newness of these two controllers to the attention of the FLM (Front Line Manager); whose response was; 'the tracker is not a rookie!' The volume of traffic over such a small area (vicinity of JEPEG) caused significant data block overlap; possible airspace deviations in and out of Sectors 70; 23; and 68; created an unsafe situation; and resulted in worse than normal service. I told the FLM that I believed the volume and complexity created a hazardous situation. I am not aware of any changes that were made to manage the sector volume or complexity after I advised the FLM of my concerns. Myself and the CPC working Sector 23 asked the FLM to either allow us to take the IAH arrivals over the CLMBA arrival or to close the TRIOS gate and allow those departures to depart southbound; out over VUH VOR (this happens often; and there are pre-loaded routes in the system to allow for it). The fix was the IAH arrivals were to be routed over the KABOY1 arrival. The 'fix' added to my workload; requiring that I issue the new arrival to IAH arrivals; and only moved the arrival string six (6) miles south. About 30-45 minutes later; the departures were routed over VUH and the confluence of traffic near JEPEG subsided. The high volume and complexity continued until I was relieved from the sector. Recommendation; after my session; and a short break; I headed to TMU (Traffic Management Unit) to ask a few questions. My main question was who/when the decision to close TRIOS was finally made. The response was; 'We wanted to push it (the departures out TRIOS) as long as we could; the meteorologist said the weather wasn't supposed to build south of LCH. I made the call to leave TRIOS open. You don't have the big picture; and don't know how much push back we get from other facilities. We did a lot for your sector that you aren't aware of.' I feel there needs to be much more communication; flexibility; and collaboration between the FLM; TMU; and the controllers. Controllers need to be involved in the decision making process; since they will be the people actually working the traffic. In this case; an easy fix would have been to call TMU/Approach and tell them that starting now; all IAH departures out TRIOS gate will enter ZHU on a southeasterly heading; and ZHU will issue further routing; aircraft still at the gate will beissued the new routing by the Tower. Additionally; assigning seasoned CPCs to the extremely busy sectors and the newer controllers to the slower/less complex sectors would have made a significant positive impact.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.