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Air Controllers, FAA Begin Talks

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 20--"The FAA is trying to create a smoke screen instead of sitting down in good faith with the union."

Kevin Peterson, local president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association

Contract negotiations between the Federal Aviation Administration and the air traffic controllers union got off to a bumpy start on Tuesday.

Talks began in Chicago amid public bickering between leaders from both sides. Meanwhile, an FAA official addressed the agency's issues at the FAA Central Region headquarters downtown.

Sue Engelhardt, executive director of the FAA's human resources programs and policies, said contract negotiations provided an opportunity for the FAA to reduce the number of flight delays, ensure safety, reduce airport congestion and develop new air traffic technology.

Escalating labor costs, she said, stand in the way of reaching those goals.

"The FAA cannot afford an agreement like the one made in 1998 that saddled the agency with excessive costs, outdated work rules and restrictions on our ability to modernize the system," Engelhardt said.

Engelhardt was one of several top FAA officials who addressed the media nationwide on Tuesday. Her remarks echoed those made last week by FAA chief Marion Blakey, who said that air traffic controllers were making more than commercial pilots, police officers and firefighters.

The air traffic controllers' contract expired Sept. 30, 2003, but was extended for two years with minor changes.

The negotiations are not expected to affect the nation's airports, including Kansas City International Airport and Wheeler Downtown Airport, where federal air traffic controllers staff the control towers.

Although the infamous 1981 air traffic controller strike is on the minds of many FAA officials and controllers, both sides said a strike or some type of job action was unlikely.

Few are expecting the negotiations to go smoothly.

"The FAA is trying to create a smoke screen instead of sitting down in good faith with the union," said Kevin Peterson, local president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents controllers.

"It is sending people to all of these places and personally attacking the men and women who safeguard the skies. All of the time and resources could have been spent working on an agreement."

Engelhardt said that since 1998, payroll expenses for air traffic controllers had risen $1 billion, representing a 68 percent increase. The average controller's yearly wage has jumped from $95,400 to $165,400, she said. More than 1,300 controllers will make more than $200,000.

Engelhardt, who said she made $135,000 a year, added that the average salaries of the 420 air traffic controllers locally were comparable to the national average.

Peterson said salaries had risen dramatically because the FAA had failed to fill vacancies.

"We have 1,000 less controllers than we did seven years ago," he said. "We have fewer eyes watching the skies, and air traffic has grown."

Peterson said the salaries cited by the FAA were inflated because they included health insurance and benefits. He said the salaries were well deserved because of the high-stress duties of the job.

John Carr, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association president, also criticized the FAA for holding the nationwide news conferences.

"The stakes are simply too high for the FAA to engage in the sort of public grandstanding we're seeing today," Carr said. "Air traffic controllers are asking the FAA to stop the political fighting and work with us to ensure the goal we can all agree on -- the continued safety of the flying public."

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Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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