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06/NOV/2024 Newark Tracon was affected by a massive radio failure that shut down all their Tracon frequencies leaving all aircraft flying on their own and unable to communicate with any of the Newark Tracon controllers. The airspace was closed and flights experienced lengthy delays or diverts. RAW UNEDITED VERSIONS ATC RADAR [N90] (EWR Final)ATC RADAR [N90] (LGA Departure)ATC RADAR [N90] (EMPYR)

At Washington Reagan National Airport in late March, a sleeping controller failed to respond to two airliners seeking to land shortly after midnight. The resulting publicity broke the silence on a long festering problem between the FAA and the air controllers’ union MATCA. And that is there has been a culture of sleeping on the job. It is banned by long existent regulations, but ignored by the controllers especially on the midnight shift. This is now the battle for control of the “shop floor.”... "It has been an open secret in the FAA dating to at least the early 1990s...

A can of Hormel chili. A piece of pumpkin pie. These are the kinds of deadly items Transportation Security Administration screeners have seized from air-traffic controllers at Denver International Airport. Need a definition of bureaucratic insanity? First, the Federal Aviation Administration refuses to let controllers leave the DIA control tower to eat lunch. Then, because of rules restricting liquids and gels on airplanes, the TSA confiscates parts of lunches that some controllers try to bring through security checkpoints. Not all lunch items are seized, a TSA spokeswoman assured me - just stuff like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cans of...

Not what some Republicans in Congress are poised to do with air-traffic controllers. When President Ronald Reagan fired those striking air-traffic controllers in 1981, he refused to let union members impose unreasonable demands on the federal government. In that case, 13,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) had illegally walked off the job. Next week, however, in stark contrast to Reagan, Congress is poised to surrender to PATCO’s successor union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), by refusing to let a final employment-terms offer from the Federal Aviation Administration take effect. In 1996, the Clinton administration...

NATCA Says Membership May Opt for early retirement.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) have been engaged in contract negotiations since July 2005. The FAA is currently seeking to unilaterally impose a contract on the air traffic controllers, gutting basic principles of fairness and good faith bargaining... An imposition would further deepen the air traffic controller staffing crisis. "The bi-partisan FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006”, would ensure fairness and accountability by creating a three-step process... More info at Fair FAA

6/03/05 Daily News Clippings New York Times "FAA Says Controllers Abuse Overtime" Washington Post "FAA Faults Air Traffic Controllers; N.Y. Workers Accused of Abusing Overtime and Sick Leave" Associated Press State & Local Wire "FAA, after studying NY facility, disputes claims of threats to air safety made by traffic controllers union" Newsday (New York) "Report says air safety threatened" ABC-7 (New York) "Air Traffic Controllers Under Fire" Aviation Daily "FAA Finds Controller Overtime Abuse in NY, No Staff Shortage" Air Transport World "FAA blasts controller union over 'inefficient and wasteful practices'" PR Newswire (FAA Release) "FAA Investigation Into New York...

WASHINGTON -- Control towers at some airports could go dark between midnight and 5 a.m. under a cost-cutting plan the government is considering. The air traffic controllers' union says the move would compromise safety. Lawmakers worry it could lead to service reductions in their states. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Wednesday that if the Federal Aviation Administration closes the tower in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the early morning hours, it "would be the most stupid suggestion I've ever heard from the bureaucracy."

BUSH ADMINISTRATION ERRORS AGAIN IN LEAVING MAC LABOR SEAT COLD 10/25/2004 WASHINGTON – In a stinging, backhanded slap to the face of transportation labor just eight days before the presidential election, the Bush Administration has appointed three new members to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Management Advisory Council (MAC) while once again deliberately leaving the seat for a union representative vacant. The council advises the FAA on policy, budget and regulations. It was established by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 1996 and consists of 18 members who serve three-year terms. The president appoints 10 members and five more are appointed by...

This morning, John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controller Association, delivered a speech to the Chicago Kent College of Law on the subject of labor relations under the Bush Administration. Also in attendance were representatives from Office of Personnel Management and NTEU. Below is the text of the speech. Your comments are requested and appreciated.***************************************** Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished panelists and guests, good morning. My name is John Carr, and I am President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. My union represents over 15,000 air traffic controllers and five thousand other aviation safety critical positions at the...