Monday, July 6, 2009

How Deceitful FAA Head Randy Babbitt Sandbagged Controllers, On The Hazardous Memphis Air-Traffic Re-Alignment

National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Stop The FAA’s Ill-Advised Realignment Plan

Dear John Tormey,

The FAA is prepared to split MEM tower/TRACON in a few short days. We need you to take action to stop this ill-advised plan! The FAA has neither consulted or collaborated with NATCA or any stakeholders on any realignment projects. The FAA’s process for moving ahead with these projects, or determining their viability, is random and secretive. NATCA’s response to these and all realignment efforts is to get the FAA to stop work on these projects until all realignments can be run through a consistent, transparent process that includes all stakeholders, ensures safety and integrity of the system, and actually provides any claimed cost savings. Realignment will eventually affect nearly every facility around the country. If you work in a smaller combined tower/TRACON, your facility will eventually be looked at for realignment. If you work in a combined TRACON, the FAA will most likely look to pay you by specialty rather than by facility traffic count. If you work in a center, the FAA has already discussed pay-by-area where, again, you will be payed by your area traffic count rather than facility traffic count. Please take action to get the FAA to stop the split of MEM!
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Administrator Randy Babbitt
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Stop Air Traffic Facility and Service Realignments

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

I am writing to you today because I am concerned that the FAA has failed to take the necessary safety measures when considering realigning air traffic control services.

I am very concerned that the FAA has repeatedly failed to release a comprehensive plan for the realignments being sought and that the stakeholders are being excluded from these critical changes to the National Airspace System.

We can all agree that increased transparency and stakeholder involvement will ensure that taxpayer monies are not wasted and that the safety of the flying public is not jeopardized.

I agree with the 277 members of the United States House of Representatives that passed H.R. 915 and the 159 members of the Congress that have signed letters urging the FAA to postpone its realignment plans (including efforts to separate radar and tower air traffic services at several major airports) until Congress and the administration can enact a comprehensive reauthorization o f the FAA. This reauthorization would include a review process to help realignments better serve their stated purpose: to provide operational benefits to users, enhance system modernization, increase safety and provide cost savings.

I ask that you immediately postpone the proposed June 7th, 2009 realignment of Memphis Air Traffic Control Tower and TRACON, the proposed move of West Palm Beach TRACON to Miami International Airport and commit to develop a comprehensive plan in collaboration with NATCA controllers to reverse the splitting of air traffic services at Orlando International Airport.

As an Administrator that values employee input, I am asking that you postpone the split of Memphis and the other above-mentioned realignments until you have had time to properly consult the workforce to ensure that this move is truly in the best interest of the flying public.

Sincerely,

John Tormey

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What’s At Stake:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been making unilateral decisions to realign air traffic facilities and services without a comprehensive, transparent plan. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) needs your help to stop the FAA’s ill-advised realignment efforts. The FAA needs to halt all realignment projects until a thorough review of each project can be conducted. This review needs to ensure that all stakeholders are a part of the process, that the project is fiscally responsible, that workers rights are protected, and we have ensured that any realignment effort does not jeopardize safety. Until a consistent, transparent realignment review process is in place, the FAA will continue to push forward with their realignment plans. The FAA’s current method does not ensure cost savings, safety of the system, or take into consideration the impact to the user or on the affected community.

Campaign Expiration Date:
June 10, 2009

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Brothers and Sisters,

Your response to the Memphis campaign has been tremendous and effective. Thank you.

ADMINISTRATOR BABBITT HAS ASKED US TO HALT THE EMAILS while we work on a schedule for discussions about the realignments.

We are not stopping this campaign. We are temporarily suspending it to see if a settlement can be reached.

Again, thank you for your assistance and solidarity.

I will keep everyone informed. Please give this email wide distribution.

Jerry Nash
NATCA Legislative Committee
Union Proud
352.205.5327

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
------ End of Forwarded Message


MEM PICKETING TO PROTEST FAA’S REALIGNMENT DEBACLE: Communications and Public Affairs Specialist Alex Caldwell went to Memphis this week to assist with media and PR efforts surrounding our successful picketing effort to protest the FAA’s rushed, foolish and unsafe attempt to deconsolidate the facility on June 7. Similar to our great event in Orlando in January, NATCA members came out in full force and it made for a great made-for-TV news event to show why this is a bad idea. Only glitch: The FAA got wind of our press strategy, which was to be a Wednesday press conference, and decided to do its own interviews on Tuesday. But Alex scrambled and worked with MEM Fac Rep John Wallin and Southern Region Legislative Rep Jerry Nash, along with NATCAvist Mitch Herrick and secured fair press coverage in which we were given a chance to provide our side. Reporters even asked us what questions to ask the FAA manager giving the press conference!

One of the best press clips was this AP story:

HEADLINE: Memphis Airport Control Tower Duties Realigned
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration announced a realignment Tuesday of the duties and training for air-traffic controllers at Memphis, despite objections from the controllers union that the changes will lessen airport safety.

The FAA and controllers union have frequently been at odds over the years on safety and staffing issues.

Air-traffic controllers at Memphis are now trained to work in both the airport’s tower and its companion radar center. Beginning June 7, those jobs will be split, and the controllers will be permanently assigned to either one or the other.

Splitting the jobs, the FAA says, means the controllers will be trained to handle fewer duties and the amount of time it takes for new controllers to become fully certified will be greatly reduced. The FAA is facing a shortage of controllers nationwide and has drawn criticism from members of Congress and the transportation department’s inspector general for having too many controllers on the job without full certification.

NATIONWIDE, ABOUT A FOURTH OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ARE STILL IN TRAINING AND NEED ON-THE-JOB SUPERVISION.

The Memphis airport has 45 fully certified controllers and needs at least 60, the FAA says. With the job realignment, 17 controllers now listed as in training will become fully certified to work in either the tower or the radar center.

Splitting the operations of airport towers and radar centers is not new. More than 20 of the busiest airports in the country, including those in Atlanta and Chicago, already operate that way.
“This split was subjected to a very rigorous safety analysis before we started down this path”, said Michael Baker, the FAA’s assistant air traffic manager at Memphis.

But the National Air Traffic Controllers Association opposes the realignment, arguing that controllers in the tower and those in the radar room work as a team, so having them cross-trained is essential.

FAA radar centers called TRACONs, for Terminal Radar Approach Control, direct aircraft for landings and takeoffs up to 50 miles from their airports. Towers handle planes when they’re within five miles of an airport or on the ground.

The job splits between the Memphis tower and it companion TRACON were scheduled in January but were delayed, primarily because of questions raised by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., the FAA said. Cohen said then that the FAA plans needed more study. Calls by The Associated Press to his Washington office were not immediately returned. Jason Arnold, an air-traffic controller and union legislative coordinator, said the Memphis split is being pushed through without any coordination with the controllers union.

“THE FAA IS JUST TRYING TO STEAMROLL THIS”, Arnold said as he joined other controllers staging an informational picket at the airport’s main passenger entrance. Nationwide, 138 air-traffic control facilities have combined tower and radar centers like the one in Memphis. The FAA has looked at splitting such operations at other cities, including Cleveland, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C. In the past, the nation’s air traffic controllers and the FAA have disagreed about several issues, including whether enough qualified people were guiding air traffic or how safe the air space was.

Realignment: This week the FAA went forward with their ill-advised proposal and split the tower and TRACON at Memphis International Airport. The impact of this unfortunate decision goes far beyond the controllers at Memphis, as the FAA continues pushing Bush-era consolidation policies. Facilities in Ohio, Nevada, Michigan, Colorado, Idaho, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Arkansas all continue to face the threat of facility and service realignments. The Government Affairs Department continues to work with the Senators from each of these states to have language incorporated into the Senate’s FAA Reauthorization bill to prevent the agency from moving forward without transparency, accountability, and vital input from stakeholders - especially NATCA.

Government Affairs Department also continues to work closely with NATCA activists Mitch Herrick and Don Chapman on collecting information on realignment initiatives that have already happened, some of which happened in the distant past. FacReps at terminal facilities where TRACON and tower operations are conducted at separate facilities should have received an email from our office containing a link to a very brief survey aimed at pointing us in the right direction. We’d like to remind you to please fill out this survey if you have not already done so. If you have not received the initial email or have any questions, please contact Genna at gteitelbaum@natcadc.org


REALIGNMENT PROJECT: As a reminder, the Government Affairs Department continues to work closely with NATCA activists Mitch Herrick and Don Chapman on collecting information on realignment initiatives that have already happened, some of which happened in the distant past. FacReps at terminal facilities where TRACON and tower operations are conducted at separate facilities should have received an email from our office containing a link to a very brief survey aimed at pointing us in the right direction. We’d like to remind you to please fill out this survey if you have not already done so. If you have not received the initial email or have any questions, please contact Genna Teitelbaum at
gteitelbaum@natcadc.org


MORE PROBLEMS AT MEMPHIS AS A RESULT OF THE FAA’S RUSH TO SPLIT THE FACILITY: On Friday, we issued a press release exposing the instant staffing problem the FAA created with its highly controversial and rushed split of the facility on June 7. Read more here:
http://www.natca.org/mediacenter/press-release-detail.aspx?id=615

Realignment of FAA Facilities and Services

NATCA SUPPORTS language in FAA Reauthorization to create working groups to review and evaluate FAA facility and service realignments.

NATCA SUPPORTS a temporary postponement of ALL realignment efforts until Congress has passed a comprehensive FAA Reauthorization bill.


COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
OTHER MEMPHIS PRESS CLIPS:
WMCT-TV
http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=10349326

Memphis Commercial Appeal
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/may/13/air-traffic-controllers-to-shift/?partner=RSS


NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION (NATCA)
http://www.natca.org/
http://www.natca.org/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2009
CONTACT: Doug Church, 301-346-8245

FAA REJECTS CONCERNS FROM CONGRESS, NATCA; SPLITS MEMPHIS AIR TRAFFIC FACILITY

WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration last Sunday moved forward with a rushed plan to split the tower and radar control functions at Memphis International Airport, advancing a controversial management agenda and rejecting a torrent of concern from Congress and air traffic controllers who continue to urge the agency to delay this and future facility realignments until a process is put in place that is fact-based, transparent and includes all stakeholders.

The move was the second such split of a major U.S. airport control facility this year in which the FAA completely disregarded the concerns of a bipartisan coalition of Congressional members and air traffic controllers who see the split as driven by power-hungry FAA management looking to put a band-aid on a gaping wound of staffing shortages, training problems and the pursuit of cost savings yet to be identified or proven. In January, the FAA split Orlando’s tower and radar functions -- citing understaffing as the primary reason -- thus reducing the margin of safety, degrading the efficiency of the operation and depriving new trainees of having the critical experience of knowing how the entire operation at a major airport works.

NATCA President Patrick Forrey said the FAA’s decision to ignore Congress and NATCA’s pleas for a moratorium on realigning facilities until a common sense approach to the issue can be developed only increases the urgency with which Congress must act to pass a final FAA bill to hold the FAA accountable on this important safety and operational issue. Last month, the House passed its version of the FAA reauthorization bill that does just that.

“The FAA is moving forward on ad hoc air traffic control facility and service realignment efforts without a comprehensive review procedure to determine whether the realignment provides an operational benefit to users, increases safety and efficiency, and/or saves the taxpayer money”, Forrey said. “FAA Reauthorization is needed to provide that review procedure and compel the agency to subject all current realignment efforts to this needed layer of oversight, accountability and transparency. Just as with technological development, realignment efforts completed in a collaborative environment will ensure benefits are realized rather than squandered”.

Added Victor Santore, who represents controllers in both Memphis and Orlando in his role as NATCA’s Southern Regional Vice President: “The FAA defied the wishes of over 150 members of Congress and severed operations at the Memphis air traffic control facility. FAA management officials consider themselves accountable to no one. Administrator (Randy) Babbitt should be able to bring accountability back to the FAA and we hope to meet with him soon on this issue”.

The FAA is plowing ahead with more facility realignment plans, including those in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio, unless the FAA listens to Congress’ overwhelming opposition to this plan.
###
------ End of Forwarded Message
REALIGNMENT: The Government Affairs staff has met with Congressional offices in the states of Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and South Carolina as part of our effort to put an end to consolidation efforts that are underway in those states. We are also making major improvements to the realignment wiki, making the site more comprehensive, easier to navigate, and a more accessible and useful tool for realignment activists to obtain and share information with one another.


NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION (NATCA)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2009
CONTACTS: Doug Church, 301-346-8245

AS MEMPHIS CONTROLLERS PROTEST FAA SPLIT FACILITY PLAN, NATCA FIGHTS FOR SAFETY ON CAPITOL HILL, URGING PASSAGE OF FAA BILL

WASHINGTON – At the same time as air traffic controllers picketed Wednesday afternoon outside the terminal at Memphis International Airport to protest the FAA’s rushed and flawed decision to split radar operations from the tower next month, NATCA President Patrick Forrey told the Senate Aviation Subcommittee that an FAA Reauthorization bill is urgently needed to establish a process for reviewing such realignments of FAA facilities and create a collaborative relationship between the FAA and NATCA to work on these types of important safety issues.

The FAA, testified Forrey, is “moving forward on ad hoc air traffic control facility and service realignment efforts without a comprehensive review procedure to determine whether the realignment provides an operational benefit to users, increases safety and efficiency, and/or saves the taxpayer money. FAA Reauthorization is needed to provide that review procedure and compel the Agency to subject all current realignment efforts to this needed layer of oversight, accountability and transparency. Just as with technological development, realignment efforts completed in a collaborative environment will ensure benefits are realized rather than squandered”.

Forrey made it clear that NATCA remains completely committed to the safety and efficiency of the NAS and recognizes technology has the potential to improve safety, expand capacity, and increase efficiency. Therefore, he said, NATCA supports the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). But, he added, “NATCA believes that the ultimate success of NextGen is dependent upon collaboration between the union and the FAA. Currently, the FAA is prohibiting any meaningful level of collaboration with NATCA, allowing key NextGen modernization projects, airspace redesign and changes to air traffic control procedures to move forward despite serious outstanding flaws and unmitigated safety risks. The Department of Transportation Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office have both testified before Congress that stakeholder involvement prevents cost overruns and prevents project delays”.

As an example, Forrey cited the FAA’s troubled ERAM (En Route Automation Modernization) program. ERAM is the replacement of the Host computer system that is the backbone of the regional en route centers and their ability to communicate not only with aircraft but with surrounding FAA facilities. The essence of safe, efficient air traffic control is the smooth transfer of the control of flights as they move to their destinations. However, said Forrey, while NATCA supports ERAM as a good concept and necessary for the future of air traffic control, the FAA has proceeded thus far without NATCA involvement and, thus, has encountered problems and NATCA “confidence is low in the product in its current state”.

“ERAM testing has yielded more than 40,000 problem reports, over 100 of which are considered to be Initial Operating Capability (IOC) critical, meaning they must be resolved prior to deploying the system for use with live traffic”, Forrey said. “Earlier this year, officials on the ERAM team disclosed that ERAM had yet to remain stable and functional for a full 24 hours of continuous operational testing, and when it was field tested earlier this month, the test failed miserably. Additionally, air traffic controllers have come across significant problems with the human interface of ERAM as they found the new formats cumbersome, confusing, and difficult to navigate.

“NATCA is very concerned about the risk to the NAS if ERAM is implemented before these problems are comprehensively addressed. Short-term, piecemeal fixes or workarounds are unacceptable. ERAM must be deployed only when the technology is stable and fully functional because failure of ERAM, particularly during peak traffic hours, would create extreme confusion and put the safety of the flying public at risk”.

To read Forrey’s full written testimony, please click here:
http://www.natca.org/assets/Documents/mediacenter/PatSenateTestimonyFAAReauthorization.pdf


NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION (NATCA)
http://www.natca.org/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2009
CONTACT: Victor Santore, NATCA Southern Regional Vice President, 516-398-6572

FAA CREATES AN INSTANT STAFFING PROBLEM WITH UNWISE SPLIT OF MEMPHIS TOWER/RADAR FACILITY

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Federal Aviation Administration’s highly controversial rush to split the tower and radar control functions at Memphis International Airport last week has created an immediate staffing shortage. The FAA is now seeking to fill six new controller positions at the Memphis TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control). The agency’s official vacancy announcement – which was posted three days after the split – can be found here:
http://jobs.faa.gov/announcement_detail.asp?vac_id=115539

NATCA believes the staffing shortage is further proof why the FAA’s realignment of the facility – a precursor to closing much needed radar facilities across the Mid and Deep South regions and moving those operations to Memphis – was both unwise and unnecessary.

The move also justifies the concern of over 150 members of Congress nationwide who have registered their opposition to the FAA’s realignment agenda until there is a common sense approach in place; namely a review procedure that compels the FAA to subject all current realignment efforts to a much needed layer of oversight, accountability and transparency. The House FAA Reauthorization bill, passed last month, does just that. NATCA is supporting passage of a final FAA bill this year.

“We look forward to briefing (FAA) Administrator Randy Babbitt on the folly of splitting the air traffic control functions at Memphis and to assist him in returning accountability to the FAA”, said NATCA Southern Regional Vice President Victor Santore. “NATCA continues to offer to work on realignment issues with the FAA once a legitimate process is adopted. Through true collaboration, taxpayer dollars could be saved without compromising safety”.

The split of Memphis’ facility also has ramifications for the efficiency of the airport’s operations. It takes a certain amount of controllers in order for the FAA to safely run simultaneous instrument landing system approaches into the airport for the big daily Federal Express inbound push. But the staffing is now so strained in the TRACON that even one controller who is sick and can’t work means the FAA has to wastefully spend money on overtime to bring in relief help. Additionally, in an episode last Thursday, short staffing forced local management to use two supervisors to work traffic instead of experienced front-line controllers.

Similar problems are occurring at Orlando International Airport, where the FAA rushed to split the tower and functions in January, using an admitted crisis of short staffing to justify the action. The FAA claimed the split would improve efficiency and reduce training times. However, Orlando radar controllers are still working six-day work weeks and 10-hour days – spending thousands of taxpayer dollars in overtime – with little if any improvement in sight.
###


NATCA Complaining About FAA Plan to Split Memphis Air Traffic Facility
NATCA v FAA... Again

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?printable=1&ContentBlockID=36d980c2-1277-4454-91aa-f20158fc47d0”\l“d#d

It’s been a few days since we heard that NATCA wasn’t happy about something and wouldn’t you know that the party that they’re STILL most unhappy with happens to have the initials ‘F.A.A.’

What a surprise (grin).

This time, the villain is an FAA plan to split the tower and radar control functions at Memphis International Airport, which NATCA claims, ‘advanc(es) a controversial management agenda and reject(s) a torrent of concern from Congress and air traffic controllers who continue to urge the agency to delay this and future facility realignments until a process is put in place that is fact-based, transparent and includes all stakeholders.

NATCA alleges that the move was ‘the second such split of a major US airport control facility this year in which the FAA completely disregarded the concerns of a bipartisan coalition of Congressional members and air traffic controllers who see the split as driven by power-hungry FAA management looking to put a band-aid on a gaping wound of staffing shortages, training problems and the pursuit of cost savings yet to be identified or proven. In January, the FAA split Orlando’s tower and radar functions -- citing understaffing as the primary reason -- thus reducing the margin of safety, degrading the efficiency of the operation and depriving new trainees of having the critical experience of knowing how the entire operation at a major airport works.’

NATCA President Patrick Forrey (pictured below) said the FAA’s decision to ignore Congress and NATCA’s pleas for a moratorium on realigning facilities until a common sense approach to the issue can be developed only increases the urgency with which Congress must act to pass a final FAA bill to hold the FAA accountable on this important safety and operational issue. Last month, the House passed its version of the FAA reauthorization bill that does just that.

”The FAA is moving forward on ad hoc air traffic control facility and service realignment efforts without a comprehensive review procedure to determine whether the realignment provides an operational benefit to users, increases safety and efficiency, and/or saves the taxpayer money”, Forrey said.

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?printable=1&ContentBlockID=36d980c2-1277-4454-91aa-f20158fc47d0”\l“d#d”
FAA Reauthorization is needed to provide that review procedure and compel the agency to subject all current realignment efforts to this needed layer of oversight, accountability and transparency. Just as with technological development, realignment efforts completed in a collaborative environment will ensure benefits are realized rather than squandered”.

Added Victor Santore, who represents controllers in both Memphis and Orlando in his role as NATCA’s Southern Regional Vice President: “The FAA defied the wishes of over 150 members of Congress and severed operations at the Memphis air traffic control facility. FAA management officials consider themselves accountable to no one. Administrator (Randy) Babbitt should be able to bring accountability back to the FAA and we hope to meet with him soon on this issue”.

According to NATCA’s current beef, the FAA is plowing ahead with more facility realignment plans, including those in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio, unless the FAA listens to Congress’ ‘overwhelming opposition’ to this plan.

NATCA NATIONAL OFFICE WEEK IN REVIEW
FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 28, 2009

RESPONDING TO FAA OVER THE MEM SPLIT DEBACLE

On Friday, I sent a rebuttal to Steven Osterdahl, the FAA’s VP for Terminal Services, regarding the MEM split. Osterdahl was asked by Administrator Babbitt to reply to my original June 3 letter which asked the administrator to stop the split. As we know, the FAA went ahead with the split on June 7 despite so much controversy, bipartisan Congressional opposition and mounting distrust of the FAA’s motives and failure to work in the collaborative manner expected of this new administration.

I found Osterdahl’s rebuttal to be deeply troubling on many levels. Not only did he have his facts wrong about staffing and overtime, but he even claimed that stopping the split would have been “overly disruptive to our employees”. My rebuttal to Osterdahl:

----------------------------------------------------------------
June 26, 2009

Mr. Steven M. Osterdahl
Vice President, Terminal Services
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20591

Dear Mr. Osterdahl,

I appreciate your prompt reply to the deep concerns I reported to Administrator Babbitt regarding the FAA’s ill-advised decision to split the tower and radar functions at Memphis International Airport. Unfortunately, your response disappointingly suggests that the FAA is not yet prepared to work on matters of significance and mutual interest in a collaborative and cooperative manner.

Let me begin by saying that I respectfully disagree with you that stopping the MEM split would have been “overly disruptive to our employees”. In fact, stopping the MEM split would have been universally welcomed by the air traffic controllers at MEM. While the plan would unquestionably have been unpopular with local FAA management, your frontline controllers would have appreciated knowing that their concerns were being addressed by the top echelons of the FAA.

Your suggestion that the split “increased facility staffing” is both misleading and disingenuous, as evidenced by the fact that the FAA issued an official vacancy announcement the day following the split indicating an immediate need for six new controller positions. The immediate staffing shortage you created with the split has indeed left controllers working significant overtime, with one controller’s maternity leave actually leaving the facility with no options to avoid a staffing disruption.

You state that today there is 56 hours scheduled in the “new” TRACON. But the upcoming schedules show 96 hours scheduled for PP14. Though you are correct in stating that “17 developmentals became fully certified in the tower” on June 7, we both know that was the result of a paperwork shuffle and not because of any special proficiencies that were bestowed upon them that morning.

I was pleased to read your statement that “this Administration fully supports a transparent, continuous, and defined facility realignment process, whereby affected stakeholders work together and collaboratively with the FAA and Congress”. Unfortunately, a magnificent opportunity for the FAA to patch up its relationship with the controller workforce and its union was squandered by splitting the facility without utilizing such an inclusive process. If your stated desire is to work collaboratively, then the employees at Memphis should be treated with the same level of courtesy as the facilities that follow.

We certainly hope that meaningful and productive collaboration between the FAA and NATCA will begin soon. Without it, the success of NextGen will be put into grave jeopardy. But it is NATCA’s belief that the FAA’s long obsession with empty rhetoric needs to start being replaced with action very soon. Over 150 Members of Congress agree that a collaborative approach on realignment is needed and have also expressed support for the implementation of such an inclusive process before moving forward. In fact, the House of Representatives has passed legislation twice in the past 20 months to create such a process to avoid the types of ill-advised decisions that have led to the split of tower and radar air traffic control operations at Orlando and Memphis over the past six months.

No one understands better the challenges that face the FAA, including the need to modernize our air traffic control system, than the men and women of NATCA. We take great pride in the work that we do, and I take great pride in representing such a highly-skilled and professional workforce that remains committed to the continued safe and efficient operation of the National Airspace System. It is for precisely this reason that our membership is so disappointed that the FAA continues to make critical decisions in a bureaucratic vacuum with little-to-no meaningful input from the workforce. Our collective fear is that that go-it-alone approach will continue and the consequences will be felt throughout the National Airspace System.

We believe NATCA’s active involvement will only help you and the agency rise to meet the challenges that affect all of us with an interest in the safety and efficiency of our nation’s air transportation system. We hope that you will heed our advice and postpone the agency’s realignment plans until NATCA and Congress can complete work on creating the process your agency admits that it needs.

If you truly “appreciate the knowledge and insight the workforce brings to any plan the agency intends to implement”, as you state in your response letter, then surely you will do more to seek the knowledge and insight of the workforce by fostering a closer and more collaborative relationship with NATCA. We look forward to the day when the wording in these letters from FAA to NATCA is backed up with positive action. Until then, it’s unfortunately just talk. So please understand if we view your response as a most unfortunate step backwards.

Sincerely,

Paul Rinaldi
Executive Vice President
National Air Traffic Controllers Association

cc:
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt


Brothers and Sisters,

This morning we launched a new grassroots campaign to stop the FAA’s unilateral poor decision making on facility realignments.

With your help we can make sure that realignments are done with a comprehensive plan in place and the stakeholders are involved in the planning and successful implementation.

You should have received an email asking for your help. If you didn’t please go to http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/MEMsplit
and complete this very easy 2 minute email.

It is important that your voice is heard and that Administrator Babbitt knows that if he wants to start a collaborative relationship with the employees of the FAA and NATCA that he can stop the split in Memphis.

Without your help the FAA will split Memphis on June 7th. Please don’t delay. Send this email now.

Thank you for your help.


Memphis Daily News: Memphis Airport Control Tower Duties Realigned

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration announced a realignment Tuesday of the duties and training for air-traffic controllers at Memphis, despite objections from the controllers union that the changes
will lessen airport safety.

The FAA and controllers union have frequently been at odds over the years on safety and staffing issues.

Air-traffic controllers at Memphis are now trained to work in both the airport’s tower and its companion radar center. Beginning June 7, those jobs will be split, and the controllers will be permanently assigned to either
one or the other.

Splitting the jobs, the FAA says, means the controllers will be trained to handle fewer duties and the amount of time it takes for new controllers to become fully certified will be greatly reduced.

The FAA is facing a shortage of controllers nationwide and has drawn criticism from members of Congress and the transportation department’s inspector general for having too many controllers on the job without full
certification.

Nationwide, about a fourth of air traffic controllers are still in training and need on-the-job supervision.

The Memphis airport has 45 fully certified controllers and needs at least 60, the FAA says. With the job realignment, 17 controllers now listed as in training will become fully certified to work in either the tower or the radar center.

Splitting the operations of airport towers and radar centers is not new. More than 20 of the busiest airports in the country, including those in Atlanta and Chicago, already operate that way.

“This split was subjected to a very rigorous safety analysis before we started down this path”, said Michael Baker, the FAA’s assistant air traffic manager at Memphis.

But the National Air Traffic Controllers Association opposes the realignment, arguing that controllers in the tower and those in the radar room work as a team, so having them cross-trained is essential.

FAA radar centers called TRACONs, for Terminal Radar Approach Control, direct aircraft for landings and takeoffs up to 50 miles from their airports. Towers handle planes when they’re within five miles of an airport
or on the ground.

The job splits between the Memphis tower and it companion TRACON were scheduled in January but were delayed, primarily because of questions raised by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., the FAA said.

Cohen said then that the FAA plans needed more study. Calls by The Associated Press to his Washington office were not immediately returned.

Jason Arnold, an air-traffic controller and union legislative coordinator, said the Memphis split is being pushed through without any coordination with the controllers union.

“The FAA is just trying to steamroll this”, Arnold said as he joined other controllers staging an informational picket at the airport’s main passenger entrance.

Nationwide, 138 air-traffic control facilities have combined tower and radar centers like the one in Memphis. The FAA has looked at splitting such operations at other cities, including Cleveland, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C.

In the past, the nation’s air traffic controllers and the FAA have disagreed about several issues, including whether enough qualified people were guiding air traffic or how safe the air space was.


KSLA-TV: Memphis Controllers On The Picket Line

MEMPHIS, TN (KSLA) -Memphis, Tennessee holds the distinction of being the worldwide hub for FedEx, as well as a major flight center for the newly merged Northwest/Delta Air Lines.

But this week vital transport team members are on the picket lines.

For the next couple of day’s air traffic controllers at Memphis International will march out front as part of an informational picket.

Union leaders say the recent FAA changes will also mean new duties.

The Memphis training scheme will allow controllers to be crossed-trained to work at the airport tower, as well as a nearby companion radar center.

In the past controller either worked in one place or the other.

With the new job realignment controllers say new recruits will be undertrained and stuck working either in the tower or at the adjoining building.


Memphis Commercial Appeal: Air Traffic Control Work Will Be Split Between Memphis Tower, Radar Room
Link to article and photo:
http://tinyurl.com/qaldcu
By Wayne Risher, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it will forge ahead June 7 with a union-opposed shuffling of air traffic controllers at Memphis International Airport.

The announcement drew protests from members of National Air Traffic Controllers Association locals, who warned that the arrangement may not be as safe as current staffing methods.

FAA officials said they expect safety to improve when controllers are split between the Memphis Tower and an adjoining radar room, rather than continuing to work in both operations. The split will affect 62 controllers, with about 31 permanently assigned to each unit.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said split duties are the norm at most large, metropolitan airports.

“This is what’s been done at virtually every airport in the country. This is the standard nationwide”, she said.

Mike Baker, FAA acting manager at the airport, said the agency believes controllers will get better at their jobs by specializing in fewer tasks. Trainees will achieve full certification faster, helping the FAA to ease a chronic manpower shortage and reduce overtime worked by controllers.

But union members, picketing outside the main terminal, suggested the changes would put more responsibility on less- seasoned air traffic controllers.

The union will hold a news conference at noon today to respond to the FAA announcement. Union officials are hoping for another political intervention, like the five-month delay secured in January by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis.

The union believes cross-training makes controllers better at jobs that involve frequent interactions between the tower and radar room, said John Wallin, president of the Memphis Tower’s local.

Added Mitch Herrick, a NATCA official from Miami: “We want them to have the most well-rounded experience they can possibly have”.

Will a split facility be as safe?

“For a normal operation, yes”, said Wallin. “But what happens in the not-so-normal operation we see every six to nine months? If they’re up there without an experienced controller, how are they going to handle it? Right now, they don’t have the experience to deal with the unusual”.

Said Baker: “This split was subjected to a very rigorous safety analysis before we started down this path. The review concluded that splitting the facilities will actually increase the margin of safety for flights at Memphis and surrounding airports”.

Currently, a controller-in-training must master tower and radar room functions before becoming a certified professional controller, with corresponding pay. The tower and radar room combined have 45 fully certified controllers and 17 trainees, Baker said.

After the split, the trainees will immediately be upgraded to full certification, because they’re already trained for either the tower (16 of them) or the radar room (1), Baker said.

The FAA proposal isn’t related to an April 29 incident in which a controller’s error led to a reported near collision between two commercial airliners at 32,000 feet above Bowling Green, Ky. The controller worked in a separate FAA facility in Memphis.

Memphis has the 23rd busiest tower and terminal radar control in the country and, because of FedEx’s night-time operations, the busiest midnight shift.
Wayne Risher: 529-2874


FAA In Memphis

The FAA proposes to divide 62 air traffic controllers between two airport-based facilities:

Memphis Tower, which directs traffic within 5-mile radius of airport at altitudes under 2,000 feet

Memphis Terminal Radar Control (also known as radar room or TRACON), which covers airspace within 40 miles and under 16,000 feet, excluding tower jurisdiction.

The FAA proposal has nothing to do with a third facility, Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center, where more than 300 controllers and controllers-in-training direct mainly high-altitude traffic in a seven-state area.


WMC-TV: Airport Tower Duties Realigned Despite Objections
Video:
http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=10349326

By Lori Brown

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - Federal officials are changing the duties and the training for air-traffic controllers at the Memphis airport, despite objections from the controllers’ union.

The Federal Aviation Administration initially planned to impose job realignments at the Memphis airport in January but held off amid complaints that the agency was moving too fast. The FAA said Tuesday that the job changes will take effect next month.

“This was about proficiency and improved safety”, said Mike Baker, the acting manager of the FAA’s Memphis Airport Traffic Control.

The FAA says they want controllers to be a master of either the tower or the radar room, rather than a jack of both trades. Air-traffic controllers at Memphis are now trained to work in their airport tower as well as its companion radar center. But with the job realignment, they’ll either work in one or the other.

“The review concluded the split will increase the margin of safety for flights at Memphis and surrounding airports”, Baker said.

Veteran controller Mitch Herrick disagrees.

“There are controllers working in the tower in Memphis right now who are certified in that tower who have never worked the most complex operation that this tower offers”, said Herrick, of the Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The union says that means the amount of training a controller needs for full certification will decrease.

“I’d hate to see the miracle on the Mississippi take place without an experienced controller to talk to that pilot”, Herrick said.

The only problem with that argument - New York was one of the first regions in the country to separate those who work in the tower from those who in the radar room. The change happened in the 1960’s.

The FAA says Memphis is one of the last five major airports in the nation to make the change.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


WHNT: FAA Realigns Air-Traffic Controller Duties In Memphis Despite Union Objections
By Associated Press
2:10 PM CDT, May 12, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Federal officials are changing the duties and the training for air-traffic controllers at the Memphis airport, despite objections from the controllers’ union.

The Federal Aviation Administration initially planned to impose job realignments at the Memphis airport in January but held off amid complaints that the agency was moving too fast. The FAA said Tuesday that the job changes will take effect next month.

Air-traffic controllers at Memphis are now trained to work in their airport tower as well as its companion radar center. But with the job realignment, they’ll either work in one or the other.

The union says that means the amount of training a controller needs for full certification will decrease.


Associated Press: Novice Air Controller Blamed For Close Call In Ky.
By WOODY BAIRD

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A “significant error” by an air traffic controller in Memphis put two airliners too close together over Kentucky last week, leading both to take evasive maneuvers and one pilot to file a near mid-air collision report, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The American Airlines jet and smaller Pinnacle Airlines commuter plane were both around 32,000 feet when they got within a mile of each other above Bowling Green, Ky., causing emergency warning systems in both planes to activate.

Such planes can travel a mile in 15 to 20 seconds, said the leader of an air traffic controllers’ union. FAA safety rules required that the planes be least five miles apart.

“It’s very seriously close”, said Ron Carpenter, Memphis president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The incident occurred April 29 as American Flight 395 from Boston to Dallas, with 122 passengers, was in a holding pattern over Kentucky and Pinnacle Flight 2594, with 43 passengers, was headed to Birmingham, Ala., from Detroit.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Tuesday that the cause of the incident was still under investigation, but the controller has been decertified and ordered to undergo retraining. The American pilot filed a near mid-air collision report with the FAA, Bergen said, which was optional.

“That was strictly at his or her discretion”, Bergen said.

The FAA has classified the incident as an operational error, “but it was a significant error”, Bergen said.

Carpenter blamed the error on the inexperience of an air traffic controller still in training and on short staffing of the Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center, which monitors high-altitude flights within a 250-mile radius. Carpenter’s union and the FAA have long been at odds over a shortage of certified controllers nationwide.

The controller involved in the incident was certified on the radar position he was working, but hadn’t completed further training for full certification, Bergen said.

Carpenter said the controller, who was working an overtime shift, was rerouting a third plane that was also in a holding pattern when he noticed on a radar screen that the American and Pinnacle flights were headed toward
each other.

He told both planes to turn and directed the Pinnacle flight to descend, but the American flight descended, too, on a computerized voice command from the plane’s collision avoidance system. The controller then directed the Pinnacle pilot to descend faster and told the American flight to get back up to 32,000 feet, Carpenter said.

“His lack of experience helped create this situation”, Carpenter said.

The FAA has been criticized by members of Congress and the Transportation Department’s inspector general for a shortage of fully certified controllers at airports around the country. Of the 320 controllers at the Memphis center, 75 lack full certification, Carpenter said.

The center is one of 20 such FAA facilities around the country that handle flights between airports.

Scott Erickson, a Pinnacle representative of the Air Line Pilots Association, said the Pinnacle pilot was startled by how quickly the incident developed.

“It happened faster than anyone would ever like”, Erickson said.


Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Air Traffic Controller Eyed In Close Call
By Wane Risher, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an air traffic control error that led to a close call for two planes at 32,000 feet above Bowling Green, Ky., last month.

The FAA decertified a Memphis-based controller after the incident involving American Airlines Flight 395 and Pinnacle Airlines Flight 2594 at 9:05 p.m. April 29, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

The American flight, traveling from Boston to Dallas, came within about a mile of the Pinnacle plane, headed to Birmingham from Detroit. That violated a requirement that planes be at least 5 miles apart laterally and 1,000 feet vertically. Planes can travel a mile in 15 to 20 seconds.

Trouble was averted when emergency warning systems became activated in both planes and the pilots took evasive actions.

The incident touched off an exchange about staffing at the Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center, where controllers direct high-altitude air traffic in a seven-state area.

National Air Traffic Controllers Association union local president Ron Carpenter said the center has a shortage of seasoned controllers. One-fifth of the controllers are still in training and aren’t certified in all aspects of the center’s operation.

Bergen emphasized that the controller, while still training for other tasks, was certified for the job in question. The controller will have to undergo additional training before directing aircraft again.

She said the FAA has established a staffing range for the Memphis center of 246 to 300 controllers. It has 247 fully certified controllers and 60 in training.

“For the center itself, (the error) is a very unusual situation, although we’ve been talking for two years about the decrease in staffing and that something like this might happen”, Carpenter said. “This guy was not fully certified and they’re bringing him in to work overtime, and the reason they’re bringing him in is the staffing situation at the Memphis center”.

Bergen said the FAA classified the incident as significant, but not the most serious type of error.


WSMV: Air Traffic Controller Decertified
Planes Get Within One Mile Of Each Other Over Bowling Green, Ky.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A Tennessee air traffic controller has been decertified after a major mistake put two planes too close to each other over Kentucky last week.

A jet and a smaller commuter plane were both around 32,000 feet when they got within a mile of each other above Bowling Green, Ky., causing emergency warning systems in both planes to activate.

The incident happened April 29 as American Airlines Flight 395 from Boston to Dallas was in a holding pattern over Kentucky. At the time, Pinnacle Flight 2594 was headed to Alabama from Detroit.

The Federal Aviation Administration blames the error on short staffing at Memphis’ air traffic control center and the inexperience of an air traffic controller.

The air traffic controller has been decertified and ordered to be trained again.
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