Class In Session

The FAA is out making the world safer for airplanes, democracy and contractors again. In a move that I can only describe as bizarre, the FAA has increased the number of colleges in its Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) program. All the small colleges that have been accepted into this program are (of course) in their local newspapers trumpeting the news. Take, for example, this article from The Muncie Free Press

FAA Expands Air Traffic Education Program

”Of the 1,815 new controllers hired in fiscal year 2007 — a number exceeding the target set in the agency’s controller workforce plan — approximately 800 were graduates of CTI schools. Graduation does not guarantee acceptance to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, but those accepted are allowed to skip the initial, five-week basic training in air traffic control. “

See if you can follow along now. The FAA hired more trainees than their (rebaselined) plan called for, less than half of which came from a CTI school, and in trade for 2 to 4 years of your life (and money) the FAA will let you skip 5 weeks of training. Where can I sign up for that deal ? (Obscure pun alert -- “Deal” is a bad word to air traffic controllers.)

One of the new places you can sign up for the FAA’s “deal” is Middle Georgia College. I don’t know much about MGC except for the fact that it is in Cochran, GA. Cochran is a fine little Georgia town a little south of Macon. I passed through it once about 35 years ago around midnight. (Don’t ask.) There’s not much to see in Cochran around midnight. Of course, the “aviation campus” is in Eastman, GA. I’m not sure I’ve ever been to Eastman. Surely I have. I’ve been in Georgia most of my life. I lived in Macon. My grandparents lived on a farm outside of Dexter. Surely I’ve been to Eastman. If I ever was, I can’t remember it. So, I looked it up on a map. Eastman is about 15 miles south-southwest of Dexter. Pretty much, that is precisely, right smack-dab in the middle of Nowhere.

Please don’t get the idea that I’m trying to pick on Middle Georgia College or the fine folks of Eastman, GA. I’m not. And as a sign of my sincerity I’ll make them an offer. I’ll drive down there and speak to a class on the ATC subject of their choosing -- for free. (Offer limited to the non-gnat season.)

I fully support the idea of government funding to further education and to help build economic prosperity in rural communities. What I don’t support is the FAA trying to suck young kids into an ex-career under false pretenses.

The FAA took me -- right off the street -- and trained me to be an air traffic controller. They even paid me (and well) while I was going to school. I made a good living. It was a tough career, but in the end, it worked out well for me. That isn’t the career that is being offered to young people today.

The FAA cut starting salaries by 30%. They haven’t been paying for room and board out at the Academy (as they did for my generation) and some of the kids out there are living in poverty. They’ve also started hiring people “off the street.” The FAA has made candidates pay for their schooling (the CTI schools) for several years but now -- because they’re so short of controllers -- they’re taking people in as trainees that haven’t been to the CTI schools.

Just today I learned that the FAA will once again start paying per diem -- room and board -- to their students at the Academy in Oklahoma City. They aren’t doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. They’re doing it because people are turning down the FAA’s job offers left and right. You can read the story at ”The FAA Follies”. But if you’re thinking about becoming a controller, you need to read the comments section.

Per diem is nice. The job still comes with a 30% pay cut and the imposed work rules. You’ll want to think long and hard before you decide to go to college for it. The way I see it, the only reason for more CTI schools is so the FAA can privatize ATC. Privatizing the training -- getting students to pay for it -- is just the start. My career was a tough career...but it least it was a career.

Don Brown
October 31, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 31

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 31, 1994: An American Eagle commuter flight crashed near Roselawn, Ind., with the loss of all 68 persons aboard. The aircraft, an Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72, had been in a holding pattern due to weather delays at Chicago. In a report issued on Jul 9, 1996, the National Transportation Safety Board cited the probable cause as a loss of control due to icing, the manufacturer’s failure to provide information on the icing hazard to the aircraft, and French aviation authorities’ failure to ensure its airworthiness under icing conditions. Deficiencies in FAA oversight were listed as contributory causes.

Following the accident, meanwhile, FAA took a variety of steps to reduce hazards to ATR aircraft and, on Dec 9, 1994, prohibited flight by models 72 or 42 into known or forecast icing conditions. On Jan 11, 1995, FAA eased this ban, subject to certain requirements, to apply only to freezing rain and freezing drizzle. The agency also required the installation of improved deicing boots on the aircraft by June 1995. Subsequent FAA actions on the broader issue of combating icing included the issuance on May 2, 1996, of 18 new airworthiness directives affecting pilots of 29 different aircraft types. (See May 28, 1992, and Dec 13, 1994.) “

Don Brown
October 31, 2007

Headline News ?

I’m increasingly dismayed by what I see on CNN’s Headline News. Back when I was a controller, I could rarely watch the regular evening news and was grateful that Headline News Network (renamed Headline News) came along so I could catch the news whenever I had some time.

I guess those days are gone too. The channel is still on the air but nobody is home. This was just a random 30 minutes I picked out this afternoon.

Grading parents -- should schools tell parents how well they’re doing ?
Halloween Costumes Too Sexy ?
Britney Spears’ new album (more excuses for sexy costumes)
Blackwater story -- tease...
Commercials
Blackwater Immunity ? (Does every headline have a question mark now ?)
Guests walking out on interviews -- tease...
America’s Favorite Cities (Don’t ask me. A CNN infomercial I think)
Commercial
Britney Spears again -- custody battle
The President of France walks out of an interview
Report Says Texas Issues Too Many Reports
High school Cheerleader steps in front of banner and gets trampled when the football team busts through the banner
Commercial

Well, there’s 30 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. You can be assured, I don’t watch Glen Beck, Nancy Grace or Showbiz Tonight. And I won’t watch Fox News. Thank heavens for The Daily Show. How sad is that ? A comedian with a fake news program does a better job of covering the news than the news channels ? I just set my video recorder to start taping the BBC news.

Who would have ever thought you’d miss the days of Bill Tush and the Weather Dog ?

Don Brown
October 30, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 30

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 30, 1955: The first commercial flights began at the new O’Hare Field, Chicago International Airport, which had been under construction since 1949. The facility was named for Lt. Commander Edward H. O’Hare, who won the Medal of Honor as a naval aviator in World War II. Subsequent years saw major improvements at the site, and the expanded Chicago-O’Hare International Airport was dedicated on Mar 23, 1963.“

Don Brown
October 30, 2007

No News Isn’t Good

I find it odd -- if not downright disturbing -- that I had to find a news story about the human side of America’s sub-prime loan mess on the BBC’s web page. Why not an American media outlet ? Read this story and see what I mean. Oh and while you’re there, you might want to spend some time reading the related stories listed on the right side of the web page. The one entitled “Credit woes ‘need private action’” got my attention.

American Nightmare

” The result is a city blighted by house repossessions - with one in six households in Cleveland have faced eviction proceedings since 2000. Due to a glut of houses on the property market, house prices have crashed. Banks can no longer sell the properties on and they are left derelict and deserted.“

Why haven’t I read something similar is the U.S. papers ? I try to keep up. I don’t have any researchers or a staff but I do have the internet. I plugged in “sub prime” into Google News this morning and didn’t find anything like the BBC story. What I did find was interesting.

Sorted by date, the story’s countries of origin were:

Canada
Canada
Spain
Canada
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
United Kingdom
France
United Kingdom
Hong Kong
Japan

I’m not sure how much this says about Google and how much it says about the story. I did notice that the blame remains the same throughout the world though. This is a crisis made in the good old U.S of A. I suspect our unregulated financial industry isn’t going to win us any more friends than our war of choice did.

Everyone in the system - the brokers, the lenders, the investment appraisers - took their cut and the returns were good. But, as it turns out, so were the risks.

"We found the smoking gun, and everyone's fingerprints were on it," says Mark Seifert, director of ESOP, a local poverty action group.

There’s one other story on the BBC’s web page that you might want to read.

Financial crises: Lessons from history

That’s another thing we Americans’ don’t do very well -- remember history.

Don Brown
October 30, 2007

D.E.S.

Depression Era Syndrome. You’ve probably met someone with this affliction. I’ve known several. They lived through the Great Depression and it left a permanent mark on them. They can’t throw anything away without trying to fix it first, they don’t waste anything and they never have enough money squirreled away “just in case.”

Today, October 29th, was “Black Tuesday” in 1929. After suffering a tremendous loss on “Black Thursday”, October 24, and then enjoying a slight recovery -- the bottom fell out of the stock market on Tuesday. The market didn’t regain the ground it lost for 25 years -- until 1954.

People now will talk endlessly about who was to blame for the Great Depression. For years and years in was considered that unregulated speculation caused the stock market crash which led to the Great Depression. Economist Milton Friedman rewrote the history books (for some) and blamed the government’s response to the stock market crash for causing the Great Depression.

I feel strongly about much of this period in our history and will argue endlessly with the best of them. We talk as if our arguments or economic policies or history are important. Somehow, the thing that is most important gets lost in the arguments. The People.



Florence Thompson didn’t care about which economist was right or which was wrong. She didn’t care about history. She couldn’t afford to care. She just wanted to feed her kids. She was 32 years old in this picture and she had 7 kids depending on her.

Hunger has a way of focusing the mind on what is truly important. And evidently, it will leave a mark on a person that will last a lifetime.

If you know someone with DES try to be tolerant and understanding. They know something that -- fortunately -- you and I don’t know. Let’s hope we never do.

Don Brown
October 29, 2007

Raiding the Cookie Jar -- Again

They’ve done it again. The Bush Administration staged a fake news conference and got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. The fact that it was FEMA that got caught just makes the story bittersweet.

FEMA blasted for 'news' conference

”The news conference looked like a success in the Bush administration's effort this week to demonstrate it could respond competently to a disaster.

On Friday, however, the agency admitted that the softball questions were posed by FEMA employees, not reporters.”

The best part, though -- the very best part -- was this line:

” "It is not a practice that we would employ here at the White House," said Press Secretary Dana Perino,... “

Sure they wouldn’t. I don’t think I’m the only one that will remember Jeff Gannon.

Don Brown
October 27, 2007

Hope in Haggard

I’ve had this feeling in the last few months that the worm has finally turned -- America is sick of this right-wing, neo-conservative ideology that has taken over their government. Obviously, something changed in the last election. Democrats picked up enough seats (barely) to regain control of the Congress. But still, it didn’t seem like a genuine change of heart.

My favorite columnist, Paul Krugman, has started using the term “populist” a lot.

”Last week’s populist wave, among other things, vindicates the populist direction that Al Gore took in the closing months of the 2000 campaign. But will this wave be reflected in the actual direction of the Democratic Party?”

But Paul Krugman isn’t exactly the figure you’d come up with when thinking of the term “populist.” American isn’t populated by economists from New Jersey. So imagine my surprise (and delight) when I read this article in Time magazine.

Does Merle Haggard Speak for America?

”But Haggard's greatest complaint is a matter of pride--and pride, in his hardscrabble past and his country, has always been his favorite song. "The thing that gets under my skin most about George W. is his intention to install fear in people," he said, after walking me down a hallway lined with gold and platinum records. "This is America. We're proud. We're not afraid of a bunch of terrorists. But this government is all about terror alerts and scaring us at airports. We're changing the Constitution out of fear. We spend all our time looking up each other's dresses. Fear's the only issue the Republican Party has. Vote for them, or the terrorists will win. That's not what Reagan was about. I hate to think about our soldiers over in Iraq fighting for a country that's slipping away.“”

I’m not trying to hold Merle up as some kind of role model -- I don’t even think Merle tries to hold himself up as a role model -- but he’s about as “real” as a famous person can be in America. And he does have an uncanny ability to tap into America’s heart. If Merle is writing songs for Hillary Clinton, something has definitely changed in America. Here’s hoping that Haggard is onto something.

Don Brown
October 27, 2007

Government Inc.

I’m going to go out on a limb and recommend a blog I’ve just discovered. It’s called Government Inc. and it’s written by Robert O’Harrow Jr. at The Washington Post.

As I said, I’ve just discovered the blog but what I’ve seen so far got my attention. I’m betting things like these snippets will interest you.

” $31.5 billion, the 2006 revenue of Lockheed Martin, the government's No. 1 number one federal contractor. It's worth noting that the figure is more than 40 countries' gross domestic product.”

“They argue that government is becoming overly dependent on contractors.”

“They want government to operate more like a business,...“

That’s all just from the “welcome” page. Browse around and see what you think.

Don Brown
October 25, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 24

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 24, 1978: President Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 allowing immediate fare reductions of up to 70 percent without CAB approval, and the automatic entry of new airlines into routes not protected by other air carriers. CAB's authority over fares, routes, and mergers was to be phased out entirely before 1983, and, unless Congress acted, CAB itself would shut down by Jan 1, 1985. The prospective abolition of CAB brought to a culmination the work of Chairman Alfred E. Kahn at that agency (see Jun 10, 1977). Moreover, by Oct 1978, the major emphasis of deregulation had changed from an ideological campaign against government regulation to a key element in the President's effort to curb inflation. This was highlighted by the President's appointment of Kahn as head of his anti-inflation program, which was announced on this date.

This day also ended the week-long vigil of twenty-two airline representatives who had lined up outside CAB headquarters to submit first-come-first-serve applications for dormant airline routes under the terms of the new act. By the end of the year, CAB had awarded 248 new airline routes to these applicants. Smaller communities, from which the airlines might wish to shift their operations, were guaranteed essential air services for 10 years under the act, with a government subsidy if necessary. Along with the subsidies for smaller-city service, the act provided for the inclusion of commuter airlines in the FAA equipment loan guarantee program and in uniform methods for establishing joint fares between air carriers. It also authorized the use of larger aircraft by commuter airlines. These special provisions for commuter airlines boosted their already-booming growth rates, and led to important new FAA regulations later in 1978 (see Dec 1, 1978).

The Airline Deregulation Act also revived the aircraft loan guaranty program (see Sep 7, 1977), raising the total amount that could be guaranteed for any eligible participant from $30 million to $100 million, expanding the eligible participants to include charter air carriers, commuter air carriers, and intrastate air carriers, and extending the term of eligible loans to 15 years. Congress withdrew authority for the program in 1983, however, and FAA ceased issuing new loan guarantees after Jun 30 of that year. Over its life, the program had guaranteed 106 loans totaling $900 million. Twelve airlines had defaulted on 23 of the loans for a loss of $182 million, but FAA had been able to recover $132 million. “

As much as I admire President Carter, I think this was a major policy mistake. This summer’s record airline delays were just the latest manifestation of the cost associated with this legislation. Laid off employees, lost pensions and bankruptcies galore. I don’t think the price of a “cheap” airline ticket was worth the cost to our society.

Don Brown
October 24, 2007

All the News

If you read the papers, you’ll notice there’s an explosion of press coverage about air traffic controllers and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The big one was the Associated Press story on Monday:

Air Controller Retirements Surge

It made the front page of many papers. It even made the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Well, just barely. One sentence. Not to worry though. The Wall Street Journal hasn’t completely lost their monied minds. They “balanced” it with an editorial bashing unions.

This might be a good place for you to pause and reflect on who would be telling you that we’re running out of air traffic controllers if there wasn’t a union.

Pause over. Moving on. Tuesday’s story is NASA’s suppression of a safety study. It’s hard to know what it’s about (it’s being suppressed) but it was bad enough that NASA feared it might have a negative impact on the airline’s financial health. I guess the airlines don’t need any more bad news.

We’ll have to wait and see if anyone picks up NATCA’s press release and runs with it.

Total Number of Experienced Controllers Nationally Reaches 15-Year Low 

Who knows ? Somebody might even make the connection between that headline and this headline.

Airline Delays Worsen, Complaints Rise

Who knows ? Somebody might actually look at whole ball of wax and see the link between staffing, delays and safety.

Speaking of safety (and moving off the front pages), Don Brown’s friends are a-moldering in the bays of the control room at Atlanta Center -- still.

Congressmen speak out on FAA mold problem

You might think I’d be happy about all this press coverage on air traffic control. Not really. Air traffic control is one of those areas where the less you hear about it the better things are -- usually. And the reverse is true too. The more you hear, the worse things are.

The Looney Tunes are in charge of the FAA and now Bush wants to make Bobby’s promotion permanent. Lord help us all.

Bush, Blakey and Bobby have made the FAA the poster child for the “Business is Better” crowd. They don’t like government, they’re not the least bit interested in making it work and it shows. The damage is done and the only way to keep it from getting worse is to stop doing what they’ve been doing. Bobby won’t fix anything, he’ll just keep breaking it.

The equation is simple: Less and less experienced controllers plus more and more airplanes equals a disaster. The cost to our country has already been enormous (you do remember this summer’s delays, right ?) and it will continue to climb. The only question left is if taxpayers will have to pay with their lives.

If that happens, the Free Marketeers will be waiting in the wings with the “solution” -- their privatization plans. If there are any truth-in-advertising laws left (they won’t obey those either) they’ll have to put a sign over the smoking crater -- “Mission Accomplished.”

FAA History Lesson -- October 23

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 23, 1972: Effective this date, FAA tightened the safety operating standards for large airplanes, and for turbine-powered airplanes with more than one engine, in private carriage. The new requirements included: survival and radio equipment for extended overwater operations; provisions regarding minimum altitudes; passenger briefings; a fuel reserve of 30 minutes for Visual Flight Rules operations; icing equipment; a flight engineer and a second-in-command pilot on certain airplanes; a flight attendant on an airplane with over 19 passengers on board; and an aircraft inspection program. The new rule was part of a series of actions following an accident on Oct 2, 1970 (see that date and Jan 3, 1973.)“

In case you have forgotten already, on October 2, 1970, the aircraft carrying the Wichita State University football team crashed. That was shortly followed by another crash involving the Marshall University football team in West Virginia.

It’s driving me nuts because I can’t find a book I read that involved these two crashes. It was written by someone that was a couple of steps down from the FAA Administrator. He’d been working on tightening up the regulations governing charter flights (and being ignored) when these two crashes occurred. If I remember correctly, he got canned for putting a sandwich on his expense voucher or some such nonsense. If that rings any bells with anybody (the book, not how the FAA acts when they’re caught with their pants down) drop me a note.

Don Brown
October 23, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 22

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 22, 1962: President Kennedy made a national broadcast on the Cuban missile crisis and U.S. "quarantine" of Cuba. On the previous day, FAA had set up a temporary air traffic control tower at Key West about 5 hours after receiving a request for this action to assist military operations. During the crisis, the Miami air route traffic control center became a focal control point for air operations to support preparedness. The center also administered a special regulation, placed in effect on Oct 24, banning civil flights over the southern two-thirds of Florida and adjacent waters without a flight plan or functioning navigational equipment and two-way radio.“

Food for thought. If the military found itself facing such a situation today, could the FAA respond ? Could the military ? How about a contractor ?

Don Brown
October 22, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 20

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 20, 1972: The Federal Labor Relations Council certified PATCO as the sole bargaining unit for air traffic controllers. (See Feb 7, 1972, and Mar 17, 1973.)“

”Oct 20, 1980: Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan wrote to PATCO president Robert E. Poli, saying: "You can rest assured that if I am elected President, I will take whatever steps are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers with the most modern equipment available and to adjust staff levels and work days so that they are commensurate with achieving a maximum degree of public safety." On Oct 23, the PATCO executive board endorsed Reagan for President. At the same time, the union charged President Carter with ignoring serious safety problems that jeopardized the nation's air traffic control system. (See Aug 15, 1980, and Dec 15, 1980.)“

It’s amazing how many people don’t know that PATCO endorsed the guy that fired them.

Don Brown
October 20, 2007

At The Flick

Now Showing at The Main Bang theater:

Night of the Living Republicans

If I had John Carr’s sense of humor, I’d be dangerous. After you’ve watched the show, be sure to click on the ChipIn! button, found on the top-left side of his blog.

You’ve got to admit, for a guy that is getting sued, John manages to carry on with an extraordinary wit. He’ll probably carry on without your help but why should he have to ? Donate the cost of a movie ticket. Or popcorn. Or peanuts. The message is more important than the money. Yours and his. Come on folks. Get The Flick.

Don Brown
October 20, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 19

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 19, 1981: FAA placed a General Aviation Reservation (GAR) plan in effect, because the number of private aircraft flying in the sytem increased substantially after the controllers' strike. General aviation pilots who wished to fly under air traffic control were required to make reservations under a quota based on the percentage of flights that aircraft in their category had flown prior to the PATCO strike of Aug 3, 1981 (see that date). The restriction became necessary as non-airline pilots, some of whom had refrained from using the air traffic control system at the strike's beginning, began to increase operations. After two weeks under the GAR plan, FAA announced that the number of private aircraft flying in the system had been reduced to approximately the pre-strike level, and that the plan had helped to cut delays for both airline and private flights. (See Dec 31, 1983.)“

Maybe it’s just me, but this entry seems to lead people astray right from the start. The General Aviation Reservation plan wasn’t because there were too many airplanes -- it was because there was a lack of controllers. I’d also argue with the use of “refrained.” If you go back and check the entry from August 3rd -- the day of the PATCO strike...

“...General aviation flights operated under the severest restrictions. Aircraft with a gross takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds or less were prohibited from flying under instrument flight rules; moreover, aircraft flying under visual flight rules were prohibited from entering terminal control areas. Other general aviation aircraft were served, as conditons permitted, on a first-come-first-served basis. (See Jul 2, 1981, and Sep 4, 1981.)”

A lack of controllers. Hmmm...I wonder why that sounds familiar ?

Don Brown
October 19, 2007

More On Mold

Aviation News Network has a story on their site about the mold at Atlanta Center also. You’ll appreciate this quote from the contractor.

”Denney says the mold poses a hazard to his company's employees, too... and the FAA failed to tell the company about it when Peachtree was hired to remove duct work at the center.”

I believe this would be an appropriate time to provide a quote from the FAA’s Mission Statement.

”Our Values

Safety is our passion. We're world leaders in aerospace safety.

Quality is our trademark. We serve our country, our customers, and each other.

Integrity is our character. We do the right thing, even if no one is looking.

People are our strength. We treat each other as we want to be treated.”

I received a nice letter from a reader the other day, thanking me for staying on the “high road.” As I replied, sometimes, it sure is difficult.

Don Brown
October 18, 2007

Odds and Ends in the Future

There are a couple of odd aviation stories in the news today. You might want to check them out for a glimpse of the future.

Safety Fears on No-Pilot Airplanes by Matthew Wald at The New York Times. Mr. Wald is (as far as I know) the only full-time aviation reporter at a newspaper in the entire country. I can’t say as I’ve been able to follow his coverage closely over the years but he has been there for years.

The next story is from GovernmentExecutive.com.

Labor union blasts FAA's new navigation approach

I haven’t quite got a handle on what is really going on here. The FAA can talk about replacing radars all they want but it isn’t going to happen and everybody in air traffic control (and the military) knows it. They might use ADS-B and GPS for ATC purposes but radar will still be used for national security purposes.

I think the real story is about privatization (on the sly) but I haven’t got a real handle on it so I (obviously) can’t explain it (yet.) Something is going on. And it bothers me. I’ll figure it out sooner or later.

Don Brown
October 17, 2007

The Smell of Rot

You may have noticed from the October 15th FAA History post that my old place of employment (emphasis on old), Atlanta Center, is entering its 47th year in the same building. You might think that would explain the current mold problem but it doesn’t. The air traffic control operation was actually moved into a new control room (that was attached to the old building) about two decades ago.

When we moved out of the old control room, it was sealed off. It was full of asbestos. There’s nothing like the sight of continuous-air-monitoring pumps and a closet full of respirators (both of which the union had to fight for) to instill confidence in your highly skilled, safety-critical workforce. In that I was the safety rep for Atlanta Center, I had several opportunities to peek behind the curtain and see the filth in the nooks and crannies of the old control room. The dust on the wiring behind the radar scopes was literally an inch thick.

When we moved into the new control room, we were assured that they’d never let the new control room become dirty like the previous one. Sure.

What I find interesting about the current situation is the fact that the contractor walked off the job. As I understand it, one company came in to “abate” the asbestos (that means remove it or seal it up -- in place) and then a different contractor came in to remodel and rebuild. They’re the guys mentioned in the news (here’s the latest story) that walked off the job when the mold problem was discovered.

Asbestos is some nasty stuff. You can get a quick read on it at Wikipedia. You might be surprised how long the health problems have been known. What I find most interesting is that the construction contractors were willing to deal with the “abated” asbestos but drew the line at dealing with the mold. And it wasn’t the workers mind you -- it was the company that pulled the plug.

In that I’m married to a Yankee I know how confusing the perceptions behind this issue can be. She still thinks unions have some power in the workplace. That was the world in which she grew up. Unions never had that kind of power down here. Now, they hardly have any power at all.

It will be interesting to see how much power a U.S. Congressman has. In case you didn’t read the story at the link I supplied, the entire Georgia Congressional delegation signed a letter of concern to the FAA about the working conditions at Atlanta Center. Start your stop watch. See how long it takes the FAA to do something constructive.

I hope you’ll take a few moments to reflect on the “checks and balances” and the potential for abuse in the way this system -- your government -- is set up. The same government that would shut down any “business” that was operated in this manner continues to operate Atlanta Center (and it’s not the only facility with this problem.) You might wonder, where is OSHA in all this ? Check the newspaper article. Do you see any mention of OSHA ? I know where they are. I used to be the union’s safety rep, remember ? You wouldn’t believe the answer if I told you. I’m one of those bad union guys. Find out the truth for yourself. Ask your Congressman why OSHA is missing in action.

The contractor’s workers didn’t walk off the job. It wasn’t the workers and it wasn’t the union that shut down the job site. Come to think of it, it wasn’t OSHA either. It was the employer -- the contractor. I guess trial lawyers are still feared even if unions aren’t. And while you’re on that thought, who do you think will be left holding the bag if the FAA is successfully sued ? That’s right, you, the taxpayer will be.

In the mean time, the controllers and other employees of the FAA just have to sit there and take it. I know you’re just hoping they don’t have to sneeze or cough when they need to turn your airplane but I’m hoping you’ll look beyond that. I’m hoping you have a sense of fairness, justice and just a little compassion for your employees. Don’t expect that out of the FAA. According to my sources, they’re still counseling controllers about using too much sick leave. No, I’m not kidding. If you get sick in a “sick” building you can get a letter in your employment file that can help get you fired. I think we’ve already covered the part about going on strike.

Tell me, which part of our government is supposed to help these people -- our employees and fellow citizens ? Is the “We the People” part of our government broken too ? We won’t let them go on strike. We won’t let them stage a job action to call attention to their plight. We won’t even let them call in sick without threatening to fire them. What will we do besides letting them sit there and rot ?

Contact information:

The President of the United States of America

The United States Senate

The United States House of Representatives


Don Brown
October 17, 2007

Sympathy for the Devil

It is occasionally useful to put yourself in the shoes of someone else and try to walk a mile. Let’s try these shoes on for size.

Imagine you’re 25 years old and you decided to become an air traffic controller. The PATCO strike in 1981 occurred before you were born. What do you suppose you learned about the strike while growing up ? Anything ? Would it even be mentioned in the history books in high school or college ? If you went to one of the Collegiate Training initiative (CTI) schools I suppose it might. Otherwise, I doubt it. I wonder what the typical 25 year old thought of PATCO before they became a controller ? Before they themselves had to learn to walk in someone else’s shoes.

Imagine being a teenager growing up during the “Republican Revolution” with Newt Gingrich laying all the country’s problems at the feet of the Democrats. A job made all too easy with Bill Clinton hamstrung by his own personal weaknesses. As soon as that nightmare is over, here comes George W. Bush, riding into Washington with his white hat on. There’s a new sheriff in town and he’s going to bring back all the “values” that we American’s admire. Truth, justice and The American (Ronald-Reagan-is-a-saint) Way.

What must that 25 year old controller be thinking now ? Loaded down with a mountain of debt from the CTI school, working next to others that didn’t even have to go to school, making a lot less than promised, possibly working a second (or third) job to make ends meet and working under the compassionate conservatism known as Imposed Work Rules.

What must they be thinking ?

My bet is that -- right about now -- they’re thinking that somebody lied to them. Somebody lied about how much they’d be earning. Somebody lied to them about what the job requirements were -- you have to go to a CTI school (but you don’t.) And that “somebody” wasn’t PATCO.

As a matter of fact, I’d bet more than a few of them are looking anew at the history of PATCO and what can be learned from it. The first thing that they’ll find is that PATCO wasn’t the devil that Saint Ronald made them out to be. The next thing that they’ll learn is that PATCO’s plight started out much like their own: Poor pay, excessive overtime and an oppressive and deceitful management. Sympathy for the devil will follow shortly thereafter.

There is some great quality that remains undefined in my mind about America. Some call it a yearning for freedom -- for lack of a better analysis or a better term. I once read it described as a national short-term memory. Once we’re proved wrong we, as a nation, move on and forget about it. We tend to amend our ways but we don’t beat ourselves up about it. That was back then. This is now. We’re better now. Let’s move on. A national willingness to forgive ourselves of our transgressions, if you will.

I wish to add to that line of thought. Americans refuse to be oppressors, even if we are. If you’re the oppressed, America will root for you, even if it means rooting against ourselves. But first, you must truly be oppressed. And then recognized.

PATCO-pre-Poli made tremendous gains for air traffic controllers. They didn’t happen overnight. NATCA regained any ground lost to Saint Ronald in the PATCO strike and made a few gains of their own. NATCA’s successes didn’t happen overnight either. But they were moving forward, right up until the reign of King George.

It’s hard to understand the Bush Administration’s attack on government employees outside of an ideological framework. Perhaps that is the reason so many in America still don’t understand what is happening to their government. I’m not sure that President Bush has an ideological framework so much as the people behind the throne do. They aren’t really interested in explaining their motivations (at least not in public) and President Bush really isn’t the man to explain anybody’s ideology -- much less his own.

Regardless, this too shall pass. To hasten that day and prepare for the future, I’d recommend looking at the examples of the past. If you still think it is only the victors that write history, you haven’t been paying attention. The victors might have been the only ones that could afford to write the books, once upon a time, but that is no longer the case. Magazines are even cheaper. Blogs are free.

I don’t think a college-educated crowd with the internet, email, text- messaging and YouTube will have much trouble finding new and creative techniques -- legal techniques -- to make their point. One thing I’m certain of -- they won’t suffer the role of the oppressed silently.

Don Brown
October 16, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 15

It’s a busy, busy day in FAA history. There should be something here for everyone.


From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 15-21, 1950: During this seven-day period, CAA put into operation the first omnirange (VOR) airways (see Calendar Year 1947). Although 271 omniranges had already been commissioned in different parts of the United States, this marked the initial designation of a chain of these ranges as a controlled airway. The new routes, approximately 4,380 miles long, linked such major terminals as Kansas City, Denver, Albuquerque, El Paso, Omaha, and Oklahoma City. (Jun 1, 1952.) During fiscal year 1951, CAA began enhancing the VOR airways with distance measuring equipment (DME) to assist in low visibility approaches. “

” Oct 15, 1962: An experiment testing FAA's capability to provide air traffic control service to interceptor aircraft of the Air Force's Air Defense Command (ADC) during military operations got underway in FAA's Central Region. The experiment was born of the need to end a situation in which two organizations--FAA, controlling civil aircraft, and ADC, controlling its interceptor aircraft--were directing aircraft movements in the same airspace at the same time. This need, which had caused concern for some time, was intensified by the implementation of the area positive control program (see Oct 15, 1960-Mar 1, 1961). In the test, ADC's pilots received air traffic control service from FAA controllers for scramble, flight en route to target, and recovery; for actual intercept, they were handed off to ADC intercept directors. The test ended successfully on Apr 6, 1963, and pending formalization of the program, FAA continued providing services as during the test period. (See Sep 9, 1963.) “

” Oct 15, 1965: FAA established a comprehensive new air traffic controller health program. The previous practice had been to examine only terminal controllers, under standards originally designed for airman certification. Under the new program, every controller and flight service specialist would receive an annual physical examination, including a chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, audiogram, measurement of intraocular tension, and psychological screening. Psychophysiological data generated by these examinations would be used to formulate administrative policies on selection, employment, and retirement. “

”Oct 9, 1960: FAA commissioned the Oakland air traffic control center's new building, followed by the Atlanta center's new building on Oct 15. “


Don Brown
October 15, 2007

FAA History Lesson -- October 14

Another “2 for 1” today.


From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Oct 14, 1947: Maj. Charles E. Yeager, USAF, piloting the Bell X-l rocket-propelled research aircraft at Muroc, Calif., became the first pilot to exceed the speed of sound in level flight. “

” Oct 14, 1971: FAA completed lowering the base of area positive control from 24,000 to 18,000 feet over the entire contiguous 48 States with the lowering of the base over the southeastern United States. The base had previously been lowered over the northeastern and north central United States on Nov 9, 1967; the northwestern and northern tier states on May 27, 1971; the west central states on Jul 22, 1971; and the central and southwestern states on Aug 19, 1971.

The action meant that all aircraft flying between 18,000 and 60,000 feet over the contiguous United States would receive separation services under direct FAA air traffic control. The agency had considered the measure for a number of years, since the increasing closure speeds of aircraft reduced the time available for pilots operating under Visual Flight Rules to detect potential collisions and take evasive action. (See Nov 9, 1967.) “


Don Brown
October 14, 2007