Tue, Mar 04, 2008
Quick Response, Professionalism Can't Be Outsourced, Says
Union
One week ago Tuesday, a
major power outage swept across south Florida... but the loss of
normal power did not impact air traffic in the area due to the work
performed everyday by dedicated Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) employees, said the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists,
AFL-CIO (PASS), the union that represents FAA technicians.
PASS said the work performed by FAA technicians behind the
scenes helped to ensure that the FAA facilities in the area moved
to backup power and the outage did not affect area air traffic.
"The professionalism of these employees and their commitment to
making sure systems and equipment are maintained properly is the
reason that Miami air traffic did not experience significant
issues," said PASS National Vice President Mike Perrone.
When the power outage was reported, FAA technicians quickly
assessed the situation. While facilities had switched to backup
power, technicians did notice some minor issues, which if left
unattended could have resulted in a major mechanical failure. But
the smooth transition to auxiliary power meant towers in the area
and Miami Center were able to continue operations uninterrupted,
PASS states, and there was no loss of communication with
aircraft.
PASS emphasizes Miami Center is maintained by employees trained
and certified by the FAA to have knowledge of the equipment and
systems that make up the National Airspace System. Despite repeated
examples of the expertise of these federal employees throughout the
country, however, PASS claims the FAA continues to search for new
ways to contract out as much of this work as possible.
"The example in Miami shows how smoothly things can run if FAA
employees are on hand to attend to the issue," said Perrone. "These
employees understand how everything fits together within the NAS
and how their work impacts the entire system. As opposed to private
contractors who focus on just one piece of equipment, FAA
technicians feel a strong sense of ownership over the entire
process.
"The reliability and efficiency of these systems is vital to
safe air travel and cannot be compromised by turning it over to
contractors," continued Perrone. "It is critical that this work
remain in the hands of dedicated FAA technicians, whose number one
mission is to ensure the safety of the flying public."
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