AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL WEB LOG
ATC fact and opinion
In the U.S., Flight Service has just been privatized. The existing 58 stations will be reduced to 20, and staffing will be cut accordingly. Here's an [URL=http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/02/03/news/casper/e11b67db6d7878ef87256f9d000ef63a.txt]article[/URL] that covers the situation.
This change has left many employees with a difficult choice: find a different job within government to save federal pension benefits (for which they have paid over the years) or change over to the new company, Lockheed Martin.
A similar situation occured with the towers that were "contracted out" in the '90s. In that case, however, the FAA (perhaps because of a strong NATCA) made rather generous offers to transfer controllers to other FAA facilities. Although Ms. Blakely, the Administrator, has ruled out further privatization this fiscal year, it is inevitable that more facilities will be privatized in the future.
There are those who support these changes, citing rather large government savings. There are those opposed who say that safety is compromised. My opinion is that it is a symptom of the overall decline in the U.S. economic picture: the country can no longer afford to lavish resources on "the safest ATC system in the world." The new saying will become, "A pretty darned good ATC system, don't ya think?"
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