Date: 201403
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: ZLA.ARTCC, CA
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: Large Transport
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Climb
Airspace: Class A ZLA
ATC / advisory: Center ZLA
Second aircraft: Medium Large Transport
Reporter organization: Government
Reporter function: Enroute
Reporter qualification: Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Human factors: Communication Breakdown; Confusion
Anomaly: ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Air Traffic Control
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance
Contributing factors: Procedure
Primary problem: Procedure

Narrative: SCT Newport Sector owns airspace up to 130 around LAX. ZLA Sector 21/22 owns 140-FL230 above this airspace. The LOA between SCT and ZLA allows SCT to climb to 170 into ZLA airspace upon radar contact from ZLA provided that SCT Newport Sector gives ZLA Sector 21/22 5 miles in trail and increasing or APREQS a stack. Today while I was working 21/22 I had taken a hand off on Aircraft X a LAX departure on the KARVR Departure climbing to 170 and also on AIRCRAFT Y; a LAX departure on the Holtz Departure climbing to 170. Newport shipped Aircraft X to me out of 109 with Aircraft Y at 105. The expectation is that SCT is using degrees divergence or visual or altitude until shipping these aircraft to 21/22. I climbed Aircraft X to FL230 with the expectation that SCT was either climbing reference vacated altitudes or using degree divergence. Aircraft Y started to out climb Aircraft X and overtake Aircraft X. I had a bubble up on Aircraft X and Aircraft Y was inside but I still was not talking to him. I called SCT Newport to get control for turns to turn Aircraft X to a 120 heading about a 20-30 degree turn to the right so that the Aircraft Y on about a 080 heading could go behind. The SCT controller approved and so I turned out Aircraft X to 120 heading. As Aircraft X was climbing out of 130; I see Aircraft Y now climb above Aircraft X to 137 and I tell the Supervisor that Newport is again breaking the LOA. Aircraft Y is inside the bubble of Aircraft X and now higher and I am still not talking to Aircraft Y. Aircraft Y then checks on climb out of 150 while still in the bubble with Aircraft X. At no point in time did SCT provide ZLA with adequate spacing as per the LOA (5 miles in trail and increasing). This was the third time this happened today with the 21/22 Sector only being open for about 2.5 hours. The prior 2 incidents was with the Controller I relieved. This happens on a regular basis and ZLA is left to guess what SCT is doing. Questions like 'are they going to ship me the high aircraft or the low one' run through our minds all the time. And most of the time they ship the low aircraft! This is completely unsafe and should not be allowed to happen. But because it has been like this for so long everyone seems like that is the norm and just deals with it. In the mean time ZLA is constantly filling out reports. To completely avoid this situation from ever happening 1 of 2 things should happen.1. SCT only climbs to 130; the top of their airspace like in any other sector in ZLA. This allows ZLA to ENSURE and not GUESS what separation is being used.2. SCT takes the airspace up to 170 and ZLA will own FL180 to FL230.




Synopsis: Reporter states an unsafe situation where another facility is not following the LOA and is causing operational errors.