I was resisting posting here, hoping this thread would simply fade away. But seeing as it has attracted attention, I feel compelled to add my 2 cents.

Yes, your brother and the others like him got a bad deal. But with all due respect, he and they do have options. They can go back to being sups and controllers - there are positions available - and get the pay raise they want. Increased staffing at centers and TRACONS by people already qualified would certainly improve air safety more than an increase in salary would for people in staff positions.

The FAA academy no longer trains most new recruits. While it used to be that all new hires went to Oklahoma City for three months of pass/fail training, the FAA has figured out it saves the taxpayers money by having the training privatized. Most new hires now come out of a college program in Minnesota and never see the FAA academy. There is little danger of not being able to train ATCs due to lack of filling staff postions at the academy.

Yes, some of the regional and headquarters staff positions may require ATC training, but many are glorified secretarial positions, requiring people to review paperwork that has already been completed at the facility level, that come with six-figure salaries.

The amount of pay the controllers and supervisors receive has a lot to do with working around the clock and the stress of working traffic. People in staff positions have none of that. Supervisors and controllers make more than staff people for the same reasons software engineers make more than quality assurance people. Quality assuarance people know engineering job, but they're not actually doing it.

One point that's been made many times is that staff people were happy with their pay before controllers got a raise. Why are they unhappy now? They didn't get a pay cut.

As for the number of bidders to the academy ... 22 bids for five positions is far better than the couple of bidders that New York center received for a bid that's been open for three or four years (and is still open).

Mr Nice: The positions the letter refers to are non-union.


[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 10-10-2000).]