Flight controllers contract & Flight 93 movie

[hedgehog]

The FAA is trying to stick it to the flight controllers again by cutting their pay in the current contract negotiations. (I guess George is channeling Uncle Ronnie again). I've seen ads by the controllers saying this amounts to a cut back since many will retire without being replaced. Assuming that the movie portrays the flight controllers as already being stretched to the limit, do you think this will have any effect on how the public views the current negotiations. Will it at least bring the negotiations to people's attention?

[libnnc]

1. well since you mentioned it...

www.fairfaa.com
1-877-FAIR-FAA

Remember the PATCO strike? That atmosphere is happening again. Except this time, it's
illegal for Air Traffic Controllers to walk the picket line.

Here's the scoop; the FAA and the Air Traffic Controller's union (NATCA)
have been in contract negotiations for the past year. NATCA offered a
very generous contract proposal, conceding everything from pay-band
freezes to giving up night differential and Sunday pay. The numbers
flesh out to around $94,000 worth of pay and benefit decreases per
controller over the next 5 years.
Those concessions weren't good enough for the FAA and they
walked away from the bargaining table.

Basically it's 1981 all over again. But this time, controllers have NO
recourse at all. If congress doesn't compel the FAA to return to the
negotiations process in the next 60 days, the FAA can impose its
crippling and unfair contract on an unwilling labor force.

Basically for us, it means my spouse gets no raise for moving up to
Charlotte after working so hard to get there (and no raises at all for
the rest of her career). But what's worse, what it means for YOU the
traveler is losing a professional, highly experienced work force. Less
eyes on the skies. All those controllers who got hired right after the
PATCO strike are eligible to retire THIS YEAR. That's one in four of
15,000 controllers--gone without being replaced. The FAA has made no
plans to compensate for those who are on their way to retirement. And
with this unfair contract, who will want to stay?

What can you do? Contact your Congresscritters and tell them to support
Senate bill S.2201 and House Resolution HR 4755. Or go to www.fairfaa.com or call 1-877-FAIR-FAA for
other details and information.

It's not just about money and benefits, it's about SAFETY and the power
of collective bargaining in this country. I've listened to the FAA. I've
listened to NATCA. I believe NATCA.

[Jigarotta]

2. when Reagan fired all those ATCs...

did that have any direct effect on general air safety? I'm sure it did, couldn't be otherwise, but want to know if there have been any official followups or studies to support something that should be obvious.

[hedgehog]

3. I'm not certain about an official invstigation but

my memory is that that strike was as concerned over the controllers' demand for updated equipment as anything else. They were fired and I'm not certain that the computers have been updated to this day.


In other words, your kid's play station may well be 20 -30 years newer than the computer system used to guide your jet. Do you think your kid would settle for a 20 year old play station?

[libnnc]

4. re: outdated equipment...scary, ain't it?

Of course it depends on which facility you're talking about. I know when my partner took me for a tour of the Greensboro, NC tower (where she used to work before her "promotion" to Charlotte) it was like stepping into a time warp. Much of their equipment at GSO was from the late '70s, some even older than that.