The Bleeding Edge

I and several other people in BlogLand have been trying to inform our readers of the horrors occurring in the FAA. You might think “horror” is too strong a word. Well, I want you to read an article from The Washington Post and see for yourself if the word fits. Here’s a selected statement to put you in the correct frame of mind.

”While the forum participants agreed they need to better inform students about opportunities in government and help them pay for their educations, Stier said the university leaders also think the government has to speed up hiring and become more competitive with the private sector. “

(emphasis added)

You’ve got to ask yourself, “Is cutting trainee’s pay 30% any way to become more competitive ?” Air traffic controllers do important work. Real important. But I can’t look dispassionately at the profession. I don’t want to look dispassionately at it.

I can look at the rest of government a little less passionately. The Press is starting to look at the future of government service. This isn’t the first story I’ve seen on the subject and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Because controllers can retire earlier (actually they’re forced out) than their other counterparts in government, the controllers are on the leading edge of this retirement wave. You’ve got to wonder, if this is how our leaders respond to a small portion of the government bleeding workers, how are they going to handle things with civil service really starts to hemorrhage ?

See what you think. Compare today’s reality in the FAA with the what is waiting in the future. Read the article.

Graduating to Public Service

Don Brown
November 13, 2007