The Federal Aviation Administration is sparring with air
traffic controls over a new contract as the agency tries
to reduce costs and transform its operations in the face
of a declining aviation trust fund.
The agency says fundamental changes are needed to the
contract — established in 1998 and extended through
September — in order for it to afford new systems
inspectors while hashing out a compensation package
for the 13,000 controllers that on average made
$165,000 in 2005 including salary, premium pay and
benefits.
“We cannot afford an agreement like 1998 that saddled
the FAA with excessive costs, archaic work rules, and
restrictions on our ability to modernize the system,”
said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey in a statement
issued July 13.
The president of the National Air Traffic Controllers
Association, John Carr, responded July 20 by criticizing
the agency for waging a “highly coordinated media
assault” and for making “misleading statements” about
controller compensation, saying the FAA’s figures are
inflated according to standard benefits and fail to
take into consideration the amount of overtime worked
by some controllers who are too few in number.
“Instead of investing in modernization the FAA has
shunned cooperation with air traffic controllers,
shutting down important safety programs and making
vital decisions without the input of the men and women
who know the air traffic control system best,” said Carr.
