Late Again

You will probably see several different versions of this entry on the internet. It’s just too good (and too easy) to pass up.

The FAA -- in all it’s misguided glory -- has pulled another harebrained idea out of it’s magical-thinking hat. They’ve gone and purchased a bunch of 50-inch plasma TV monitors to pipe their propaganda straight into the air traffic control facilities around the country. They thought it was such a good idea that they even gave it some splashy coverage on their web site. I’d point you to the web site but after a couple of minutes worth of searching, I can’t find it. Typical FAA. I guess the url on the poster is for their intranet. That would be the intranet most controllers don’t visit. Here, see for yourself.



I don’t know how that poster will hit non-controllers but trust me when I tell you, the controllers took one look at it and started mocking it as only controllers can. Look, nobody is saying controllers are easy people to manage. I suspect we’re like any other group of bright people that possess a valuable and exceedingly rare skill. We’re different. And we can be difficult. You would think that would make the FAA very careful about how they communicate with controllers.

But no, the FAA continues to add insult to injury. The FAA tells controllers that it can’t afford a decent contract, freezes their pay, cuts the pay of trainees and then they spare no expense to buy a store-full of plasmas for propaganda purposes. I won’t venture a guess as to how much money that cost the taxpayers. It was probably over budget but I know it was 24 years behind schedule.

Don Brown
February 12, 2008

P.S. I finally found the web site. Thank goodness the “I love dealing with drug smugglers” banner across the top is no longer displayed. Would I kid you ?