FAA CONTINUES TO IGNORE WARNINGS ON STAFFING AT MIAMI CENTER
- Details
- Published: July 18, 2013
Insufficient Staffing, More “Open Watches” Add to Safety Concerns
MIAMI, FL– Last week, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) management at Miami Center sent a brief memo to the Automated Computer Specialist unit notifying staff that their schedules were to be changed and shifts cut effective immediately. The memo gave no explanation of how these changes would be implemented and management did not follow up with employees, leaving them with many unanswered questions.
The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS, AFL-CIO), the union representing the automated computer specialists, is deeply concerned with the potential safety impact of such seemingly arbitrary changes.
“Clearly, FAA management in Miami has failed to effectively communicate with its employees about staffing and scheduling changes that directly impact the safety of air travel in and out of the airport,” said Dave Spero, PASS Region II vice president. “Adding more ‘open watches’ and causing confusion among employees who are in charge of such important safety equipment can only have a negative impact on air safety.”
The situation in Miami is just another example of FAA staffing cuts taking place at airports across the country. “Open watches,” times when technical equipment is left unattended even though the FAA regulations require employees to be on duty, are on the rise, resulting in a growing number of system crashes, malfunctions and other technical problems.
“It is totally unacceptable for the FAA to leave vital safety equipment unattended,” said Tom Brantley, national president of PASS. “The safety of air travel is too important to pinch pennies by cutting such important staff. Together with members of Congress, we have been warning the FAA about the dangers of short staffing at this facility for well over a year. And still the FAA is blatantly disregarding our warnings by slashing staffing and coverage at one of the nation’s busiest facilities. Why should we wait for a disaster to happen before the FAA finally takes action?”
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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.