Congress....FAA......NATCA.....sound familiar?

In a recent article (these pieces from the St. Louis Post Dispatch) on NATCA and the FAA :
The union estimates that one-quarter of the work force would retire next year under the new contract and that by 2008 more than half - 7,300 controllers - would quit, leaving remaining workers the air traffic control system understaffed. It takes three to five years to fully train new controllers, Rosenthal said, and the two-tier pay system would lower the caliber of future hires.

My view......See ya.
Talk about a threat.
The FAA has the chance to pick up the FSS folks they SCREWED. Let them (CURRENT CONTROLLERS) retire. We'll step right in. Did it during the PATCO strike, along with military controllers. The world didn't stop revolving.

A NATCA spokesman then goes on to say...

..... that because of complex formulas involving different locations around the country and varying volumes of air traffic, 97 percent of controllers would see no raise in base pay. As a result, their pensions will be diminished if they continue to work, he said. Moreover, controllers' average salary without benefits is presently $113,000 and already declining as senior employees leave, according to the union.


Diminished Pensions.........imagine that. Over 75 % of FSS controllers L O S T their E N T I R E pension. Stop bitchin. Do your job. Lockheed Martin is watching you!

Give us a break already......your starting to sound like PETA.

Oh yea....and try to stay awake on position.

Former NATCA supporter.

(Edited 6/2/06)

Recipe for disaster...

Due to staffing shortfalls, Flight Service stations across the nation are being forced to work with one flight service specialist on the midnight shift (and possible evening shifts also in the near future). For sake of argument, lets say 34 "closing" facilities are short staffed.(Its most likely more than that, but I'll assume 34 for now) Follow along for this recipe for a "Soup Sandwich":

Take 34 flight service specialists working the midnight shift solo, add 2 (minimum) short three minute bio breaks, mix in a few small mandatory HIWAS updates, (Convective SIGMETs, a UUA pilot report), fold in the occasional equipment outage where the specialist has to go in the communications room for a reset, and finally top it off with a snow storm event. Let simmer for eight hours, serve hot...

Viola'.......disaster.

Depending on how long the HIWAS broadcasts are and how long the "Bio" breaks are, this recipe adds up to well over 200 minutes of a vacant operations floor. Thats about THREE AND ONE HALF HOURS of unmanned Inflight radios.

I wonder how Phil Boyer from AOPA would react to this "equal or better service"? I wonder if the FAA even realizes its happening??? I wonder if it was in the original presentation provided to Mr. Boyer?

So pilots....next time you call XXX Flight service between the hours of, say...10PM and 5AM, and you get silence......hello?!......hello?!.....


Unknown Briefer

Stay Tuned.....