Posted on 04/24/2013 5:26:47 PM PDT by mdittmar
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Mike Perrone, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO (PASS), which represents over 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees, including systems specialists and aviation safety inspectors, released the following statement regarding the continued furloughing of FAA employees:
"The furloughing of FAA employees is having an impact on the aviation system and the flying public is noticing. Systems specialists, aviation safety inspectors, aeronautical specialists, examiners and thousands of other FAA employees work behind the scenes to ensure that planes take off and land on time, equipment is restored, and planes are safe to fly. These employees are being furloughed-they are being forced off the job at least one day every two weeks.
"Pilots cannot safely operate their aircraft if navigational or communications equipment is not operating properly. Systems and airplanes cannot be returned to service if maintenance is not done and the work adequately inspected. If the employees who perform this critical work are not available because they have been furloughed, minor equipment outages or inconveniences can turn into hours of delays.
"The employees who are responsible for this work are a 24/7 workforce for a reason. A problem can arise at any time and, if not addressed quickly, the impact to air travel will last for hours. PASS is already learning of outages of backup systems related to instrument landing systems, radar, backup power, runway/approach lighting systems, remote communications systems, weather sensors and data distribution systems. The issues with these systems and equipment will not be corrected due to budget or personnel shortfalls. In other words, if there is a problem with the primary systems or equipment, there will be no redundancy to ensure continued air traffic operations. The strength of the FAA has always been in its redundancy-making sure there is backup in case something fails.
"If flights are ready to be directed and a plane poised for takeoff, the systems and equipment must be up and running. We get the planes in the air; we make sure the equipment is working so pilots and air traffic controllers can direct your flight; we are there behind the scenes every step of the way. Systems specialists, aviation safety inspectors and other vital FAA employees are critical to the efficiency of the system and should not be furloughed."
well it’s the Obama Admin that’s running the show , so are they borrowing less money
Fellow FReepers...the ill-informed get their news from social media. Post to Facebook, Twitter, etc that these delays are a deliberate act of the Obama Administration because Republicans cut $44 billion out of a $3.8 trillion budget.....less than 1%.
This is punishment for not agreeing to higher taxes. A Chicago thug’s extortion racket.
The H with all of them. I was going to stay home anyway.
If things are so bad for the AFL-CIO Professional Aviation Safety Specialists,maybe they should go on strike;)
"And meanwhile, if you look at the Dept of Transportation’s website, one of the top stories recently was to announce a nearly $500 million grant program that will be focused on “making communities more livable and sustainable.” WTF?!?! They’ve also announced a “Women in Transportation History Online Exhibit.”
"So, you know, we have that. You might not be able to make it to your destination on time, and you might be stuck in airports for hours, but at least you can check out an exhibit on women in transportation history. PRIORITIES."
“The furloughing of FAA employees is having an impact on the aviation system and the flying public is noticing.”
Which is EXACTLY what they want to happen.
In the most visible and painful way possible, then blame REPUBLICANS for it.
And the media is playing right along with it.
Meanwhile, total cuts to the FAA’s fleet of Executive transport aircraft? ZERO....
"Ponder this logic, if that's the right word: The sequester cuts about $637 million from the FAA, which is less than 4% of its $15.9 billion 2012 budget, and it limits the agency to what it spent in 2010. The White House decided to translate this 4% cut that it has the legal discretion to avoid into a 10% cut for air traffic controllers. Though controllers will be furloughed for one of every 10 working days, four of every 10 flights won't arrive on time."
The union mentioned here is PASS, Professional Airspace Systems Specialists. The contract forbids strike and the penalty for strike is dismissal. I used to be a member. I almost resigned when PASS told me to vote for John the traitor Kerry. There are a lot of liberals in charge so I put in my time and retired. Good riddance. Bill Klitton cut the budget 10% with less effect on the flying public.
Ah,thanks.
So,I guess we could say that they want to keep their jobs,but make those who pay their saleries and fly miserable.
Plus, doesn't each and every flyer pay for those services in the extra price which is over and above the ticket price?
If we are actually paying extra on every leg (airport) of our trip but Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi (who has her own plane) and Barry Soerto Obama, is telling us that our trips must be delayed because of the so-called "sequester" which didn't cut one red cent out of FAA's billions but just didn't raise it as much as they were "supposed to get," yet they are keeping our money AND refusing us service!!!!
I'd say it's time for another trip, this time to Washington, to tell them whom they work for and fire them if they refuse!
I was stuck 4 hours in Cleveland yesterday, on a delay United Airlines flight. The flight attendant made sure to tell us the delay was 100% the FAA fault. Bad thing is it cost UA $10 per person in meal vouchers, for something they had no control over.
The they you refer to is the union bosses. There is a bit of a Military culture and patriotism among the workers that they will do their jobs. The Union leaders are in the pocket of politics and will say what they are told to say about seecastration.
I guess the polling data says that business travelers vote overwhelmingly Republican.
Excellent point. The flying public pays for this directly. There were 730 million people who flew a US based carrier last year. The FAA budget is in the $15 billion area. This amounts to about $20 per ticket. The whole system should be privatized, using ticket taxes to cover it. And I bet the FAA could monetize in other ways too.
I know.
This is what is called "Baseline Budgeting!" This is what the taxpaying public does NOT understand.
When Congress or the President speaks of "cuts" or cutting this or that budget item, what they mean is spending less than the 10% they had projected to spend, namely the 10% extra that government employees had expected to get!
That's not how you make your budget, is it?
You start at zero and then figure what you need to cut back on, you don't automatically add 10% extra on every item, then cut back and claim that you've "slashed and burned through your budget!"
That is why, if every program, even those that are duplicates and triplicates (some as many as 35 times as many) programs only got what the rest of the taxpayers get each and every year, the budget would balance within time, without cutting anything at all!
And when they did strike, as I recall, Reagan kept the planes flying . . . unlike the crap we’re seeing from this Admin with the impact to flying aircraft.
Flight activity during the PATCO strike in the 1980’s was severely reduced. Slots in and out of airports were limited to a fraction of their normal capacity. During the first few days of the strike, I made a killing in my charter business because the weather was good and I needed very little in the way of air traffic control services. Then the weather turned bad and I had no income for several days.
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