AIR SAFETY IS A NATIONAL PRIORITY, NOT A POLITICAL FOOTBALL, UNION TELLS CONGRESS
- Details
- Published: July 18, 2013
WASHINGTON, DC – Reports that the House Aviation Subcommittee will consider transferring air traffic control to the military at hearings next month brought a quick response from the union representing the systems specialists responsible for the safety of the National Airspace System today.
“America’s armed services are there to respond to threats to our national security,” said Tom Brantley, president of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS), “and they seem to be pretty occupied these days fulfilling their mission. To suggest injecting these dedicated men and women into the middle of a political food fight is just an attempt to divert attention from the real issue at hand – selling certification of the air traffic control system to private interests.”
At issue is a congressional conference committee report on the FAA reauthorization bill, filed just prior to Congress’ August recess. PASS officials note that the report disregarded language in the Senate version of the bill that included bipartisan efforts to prohibit privatization of the air traffic control system’s workforce, including the systems specialists. Instead, the conference committee yielded to White House pressure and opened the door to privatizing the important functions performed by systems specialists.
“The fact that people’s lives are at stake everyday as they travel through our national airspace seems to be getting lost in the drive to impose a privatization ideology,” Brantley said. “PASS hopes that Congress will continue to work to pass an FAA reauthorization bill that protects the safety of the entire air traffic control system. Aviation safety is a national priority and should not become a political football.”
###
PASS represents more than 11,000 employees of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense who install, maintain, support and certify air traffic control and national defense equipment, inspect and oversee the commercial and general aviation industries, develop flight procedures and perform quality analyses of the aviation systems. For more information, visit the PASS website at www.passnational.org.