PASS at the NW Aviation Trade Show
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- Published: February 25, 2016
By Monika Warner, Chapter WA3 President/PR Committee Chair/Region III Assistant
This past weekend, I joined my Chapter WA3 brothers and sisters to continue speaking out against privatization of the air traffic control system while volunteering at the NW Aviation Conference & Trade Show in Puyallup, Wash. This annual gathering draws 10,000 aviation enthusiasts across the industry, including product manufacturing, flight schools, airports, chamber of commerce, commercial and general aviation pilots, repair centers, military recruiters, federal workers, aviation special interest groups, and more! This is a tight community.
Visitors to the PASS booth were nearly unanimous in their opinion that privatization of the air traffic control (ATC) system is a BAD idea, as recently proposed by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) in the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act (H.R.4441). We all agree that minor changes are needed to the fix the funding but that does not warrant a full-scale attack on the workforce whose primary role is aviation safety. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) have stated that Congress themselves are to blame for the furloughs, government shutdown and continuing resolutions that have resulted in stop-and-go installations and delayed modernization projects. In spite of these obstacles, modernization IS happening at a pace consistent with the real-time risk assessment necessary. Fixing the funding should not mean that we disregard the financial investment taxpayers have already made into this country’s aviation system.
During the event, the PASS team was able to inform booth visitors that the ATC privatization effort as proposed in H.R.4441 involves attacking jobs under the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) workforce umbrella, includingtechnicians, controllers, engineers, and support personnel whose daily efforts keep aircraft moving safely through the nation’s skies and ensuring ground communication is in place for operations and emergency response. The jobs being targeted under the AIRR Act may total as many as 35,000 according to the FAA organizational description. Unlike other “contracting out” proposals, over 60 percent of the FAA is up for grabs under this model. Concerned users of these critical ATO services include workers in both commercial and private aviation, military, and homeland security. Throughout the weekend, the Washington Chapter gathered six pages of pledges of support from aviation members of AOPA, EAA, Delta, ALPA, 99s, TWO, NBAA, passengers, LM-AFSS former employees, PASS, NATCA, NavCanada users, and U.S. taxpayers.
In Chapter WA3, we know that privatization of the most complex yet safest aviation system in the world would be bad for employees, bad for passengers, bad for operations, bad for modernization, and bad for aviation safety. We will not sit by in silence while aviation safety and labor rights are put up for grabs and voted away under the damaging language of H.R.4441.
The PASS members volunteering for the public relations event were Monika Warner, Tony Jilek, and Tony Tix, Kerry Mayfield, Jeffery Turnberg and Stan Godek. It was great also to see family members joining in the cause and supporting the fight to protect our air traffic control system!
Pictured: Chapter WA3 members Stan Godek, Monika Warner and Kerry Mayfield at the NW Aviation Conference and Trade Show.