NATCA

Labor Day 2019 – Why We Celebrate Here in the States

September 2, 2019 by Robert Mark

Today is Labor Day in the U.S., a day when we celebrate the hard-working men and women union members who actually do the work to create goods and services. Their efforts seldom win the praise of CEOs or Dow Jones, but they are necessary none-the-less.

The first Monday in September is “Labor Day” in the United States. For many, the holiday symbolizes the end of Summer, but it is really intended to celebrate the American worker. The exact origin of Labor Day is the subject of some dispute, but it seems to have been originally proposed in 1882. Over the following years, a number of states celebrated Labor Day.

Finally, in 1894, the U.S. Congress passed legislation creating Labor Day as a national holiday.

In the recording below, originally published in 2010, Rob Mark talks about the history of Labor Day and his own role in labor unions, including the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike, the rise of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), and the Airline Pilots Association (APA).

Click here to listen: Airplane Geeks Episode 212.5 – Labor Day

August 3, 1981 – PATCO Strike Remembered 38 Years Later

August 3, 2019 by Robert Mark

Ed note: It was 38 years ago today that the U.S. aviation system was turned upside down out. What have we learned in those decades since? Many controllers today are again working 10-hour days six days a week.

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I remember the morning of August 3, 1981, vividly as I turned on the TV to find news stories of air traffic controller members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization-PATCO-marching with picket signs at the base of the tower at Chicago O’Hare and other airports all over the nation. They’d simply run out of patience with their employer the FAA and took matters into their own hands.

Many of the people I saw on TV were friends. Most lost their jobs later that week when they refused President Reagan’s ultimatum, “Return to work or you will be fired.” Few ever returned to air traffic control again, in fact.

There’s little point today in talking about how the strike could have or should have been handled. PATCO stuck its neck out and lost. It’s done, it’s over.

What is interesting about our nation’s air traffic control system today nearly three decades later is how little the agency that runs the system – the FAA – seems to have learned from their own mistakes of that era.

H.R. 636 Will Help Fix ATC Staffing, I Hope

July 8, 2016 by Robert Mark

I’d like to interrupt your afternoon for just a minute before you head out the door for the weekend. Congress is expected to vote next week on another FAA funding extension – H.R. 636 – and the industry’s hoping it’s all thumbs up … but not just because a majority vote will keep the agency’s lights on until October 2017. Passage of H.R. 636 will also help the FAA fix a staffing crisis it created all by itself a few years ago, even though the agency hiring system in place at the time worked just fine. A quick review of the problem.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) last week detailed how passage might affect the hiring crisis the FAA created in December 2013.

“The number of fully certified controllers working today is at a 27-year low, a crisis made worse by FAA’s inability to meet its own hiring goals in each of the last seven years. NATCA believes FAA must take a holistic, collaborative approach to resolving these staffing concerns. If passed, the extension as drafted would streamline the hiring process by allowing experienced controllers to be hired quickly; military veterans and graduates of schools in FAA’s Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) would also be hired more expeditiously. CTI graduates and veterans would be considered in a separate pool from the general public. The extension would also increase the maximum entry age for a controller with 52 weeks experience to 35 years of age, another provision we applaud. Similar language sponsored by Reps. Carlos Curbelo and Sean Patrick Maloney in H.R. 5292 has received strong bipartisan support, with 237 co-sponsors.”

Of course there are other significant industry reasons Congress needs to pass the FAA extension as the NBAA‘s president Ed Bolen added.

“This extension is also important because of what it includes, and what it leaves out. For example, we are pleased that the bill reflects some key general aviation priorities, such as the inclusion of third-class medical reform for pilots of small aircraft, and provisions focused on the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the airspace. Equally important, the bill does not include risky proposals for creating a privatized air traffic control system, funded through new user fees. Clearly, our community’s tremendous mobilization against ATC privatization funded by user fees has made a difference.”

That means it’s time to hit the NBAA’s list and tell your Representatives to say “Yes” to H.R. 636 and say “No,” by the way to H.R. 4441, the proposal to privatize ATC and pay for it with user fees. It took just two minutes of my time to send a letter. BTW, the letter’s function offers you a chance to customize the content, so be sure and add this sentence … “Passing H.R. 636 will also help fix the ATC staffing crisis the FAA created by changing its hiring standards in December 2013.”

You’re now free to return to goofing off the rest of the weekend. Thanks.

Rob Mark, Publisher

Time to Give ATC an “Atta Boy”

November 4, 2014 by Robert Mark

Jetwhine

Time to Give ATC an "Atta Boy"

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Dear Reader / Listeners – You now have the option to listen to the Aviation Minute podcast or read the text below. If you receive Jetwhine via e-mail, you can click here to listen as well.

Time to Give ATC an “Atta Boy”

Most aviation stories only seem to find their way on to the desks of those of us who devour industry news or consider themselves true aviation geeks, except when it’s about an accident, especially one involving an airliner. Those stories can remain in the public eye for weeks or even months.

In late September though, a local Chicagoland story made it to the front pages … and it had absolutely nothing to do with an accident. September 26^th was the day a deranged Harris Corp employee — a guy I won’t dignify by mentioning his name — contracted to work for the FAA at Chicago’s massive enroute ATC center in Aurora Illinois reported for work in the early morning hours and went right to his mischief. Shortly after reporting for work about 5 am, he ignited a fire that demanded the building be evacuated. Unfortunately, in addition to lots of center radio frequencies going dead, the fire also destroyed much of the enroute ATC system radar and radio infrastructure. That meant hundreds of airplanes and thousands of people sat on the ground around the nation eventually while the FAA tried to figure out what to do next.

Surprising to many people, me included actually, the FAA brought center traffic back at ZAU, the center’s identifier … slowly at first by sending hundreds of controllers to nearby terminal radar facilities like O’Hare, Rockford, South Bend, Milwaukee and dozens of others. They also sent another few hundred people to adjoining centers like Minneapolis, Kansas City, Cleveland and Indianapolis where traffic was kept moving … slowly.

No doubt the cost to the airlines for the delays and cancellations was massive as was the inconveniencing of hundreds of thousands of airline and business aviation passengers. But it all worked … and it all worked safely.

I think it’s time to recognize the men and women of the FAA, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists and everyone else who worked around the clock to restore ATC service in a mere two weeks.

To all of the FAA controllers and PASS technicians and yes, probably even a few managers who probably haven’t heard it yet, thank you. Thank you for getting air traffic moving again in Chicago and around the country. And thank you for working without a safety net or even a plan for the most part.

If you find yourself flying through Chicago Center’s airspace one of these days, or those adjoining centers that lent a hand to make this work too, be sure and say “Nice job fixing that ZAU mess guys. We appreciate what you did.”

I’m Rob Mark. See you next time.

Today is Labor Day

September 2, 2013 by Robert Mark

Having been deeply involved with two major unions in my life … the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO) and finally for a short while, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), my father and grandfather both would surely turn over in their graves if I let Labor Day pass without sharing my two cents about what it means to me.

Of course I do realize that support for labor these days means I’ve indeed become a dinosaur. I’m thinking I kind of like that T-Rex guy though …

For those of you with an interest in the old days and a look at how we arrived where we are today, especially in the airline industry, allow me to point you to the radio segment I produced last year for the Geeks. It’s as relevant today as a year ago. Airplane Geeks Episode 212.5 — Labor Day.

Or if you prefer to read, here’s a link to a quick to some thoughts about why Labor Day should still be important to us here in the states.

Rob Mark