ATCFreqs

One of the things that’s so frustrating about working as an air traffic controller for the FAA is the organization we work for.

The job itself can be very satisfying:  that is if you like the job and you’re any good at it.  Air traffic control can be demanding and includes a lot of responsibility as well as work autonomy; controllers work independently with only general supervision almost exclusively.

But a lot of those who don’t like doing air traffic control or weren’t good at it apply to become FAA managers.  It’s the Peter Principle at work.  And therein lies a large part of what ails the FAA.

There aren’t a lot of prerequisite skills in order to qualify to …

Everyone makes mistakes.  But it’s intolerable to see a situation where FAA managers don’t “practice what they preach” or worse yet believe they are above the standards they set for everyone else.  After all these are the people that are supposed to be leading the organization.  In the case of Northwest 188 they certainly didn’t lead by example.

The situation with Northwest 188 not being in contact with air traffic control snowballed in large part because of the failure of a few FAA managers to follow procedures.

Keep in mind these are the same FAA managers who mandate procedures and checklists for air traffic controllers.  These are the same managers who mandate that all verbal air traffic exchanges, as well …

The pilots of the Northwest flight that weren’t paying attention and overflew their destination on October 21st are now claiming that the air traffic controllers are ultimately at fault for the incident because they:

“…did not comply with the requirements of the air traffic control manual and other relevant orders, rules, procedures, policies and practices with respect to Northwest Flight 188, nor coordinate effectively with Northwest dispatch, and such failure was a causal or contributing factor in the incident”

This claim was made in an appeal to the FAA, who revoked their licenses (pilot certificates) as a result of the incident.

The pilots are clearly grasping at straws in this appeal and who can blame them?  Without flight …

I just had another long talk with my FAA supervisor that once again highlighted how little the FAA is committed to safety and improving the air traffic system.

We started talking about some relatively new procedures that have resulted in a lot of confusion and resulting operational errors and deviations (air traffic system errors).  An operational error is when two or more airplanes get too close, and a deviation is when an aircraft enters another controller’s protected airspace illegally.

The air traffic system has a lot of potential for human error (it’s a fact that there are human beings in the system making critical decisions and human beings make mistakes).  However, the redundancy built into the system (usually) is intended …

Air traffic controllers for the Federal Aviation Administration have been working under imposed work rules since Labor Day of 2006 after failing to come to a contract agreement.

This year the Obama Administration forced the FAA and the air traffic controllers’ union, NATCA, back to the bargaining table to resolve the dispute.  The contract articles they were unable to agree upon were eventually sent to a panel of arbitrators, who made their decision regarding those items.

(This isn’t really new news, and some other websites have already discussed these issues, but I figured I’d add my two cents as well…)

Here is the introduction from that decision in August of 2009 (including my highlighted sections):

OPINION OF THE PANEL
INTRODUCTION…