Posted on 04/22/2011 8:58:23 AM PDT by KeyLargo
ATC blunders spur calls for broad FAA reform
Posted: April 22nd, 2011 08:56 AM CDT
MICHAEL COLLINS, Scripps Howard News Service A series of embarrassing blunders involving an air traffic controllers at airports across the country may have put the Federal Aviation Administration on the spot, but U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. thinks the revelations point to a much bigger problem.
Federal personnel policies make it extremely difficult to fire problem employees, the Knoxville, Tenn., Republican said. They desperately need to be changed, he thinks.
"There are too many protections for most federal workers," Duncan said. "It's too hard to get rid of lazy, incompetent people."
As chairman of a U.S. House subcommittee that oversees the federal work force, Duncan already has announced plans to overhaul the federal civil service system this year. He said reports of air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job, including at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, could give some momentum to that effort.
(Excerpt) Read more at airportbusiness.com ...
They need a Union.
The solution is simple and obvious; also painful.
These people have a very high opinion of themselves. If most of them have ethical issues about work, the honest controllers can be cowed into inaction when the majority become unprofessional and incompetent.
The solution is to have a set of black boxes in each control tower or room. Keep the video records for 90 days, inaccessible in any way to the workers.
Messing with the cameras and microphones, even "accidentally," is grounds for instant dismissal without appeal. The live feeds may or nmay not be monitored 24 hours a day in a different facility. zuit! better yet, have the feed visible live at several locations of every airport.
Have the videos reviewed at random by retired serious adults with no job related issues of incompetence or unprofessionalism.
Problem solved.
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