NATCA Going Down in Flames

Jay Honeck wrote:
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Unbelievable! They're actually going to fight against their employer
for dictating what they must wear to work... Apparently their right to
look like bums in a professional setting has been violated, and the
union is going on the offensive!

I thought it was strange as well Jay, that a profession that considers
itself a very "professional" occupation (and is paid commensurately
with other professionals) dressed so shabbily. I know when I took a
tour of the STL TRACON I was surprised at how unprofessional some of
the controllers looked. It certainly didn't look like I was visiting a
place of business.

It was strange too, in that I was touring as part of an OPERATION
RAINCHECK event. Which for those who may not know is sort of an open
house for ATC.

Speaking of Operation Raincheck. At Oshkosh I asked at the NATCA tent
why we don't see more of these types of events. The answer came back
as with everything else in the aviation world, "funding". Then later
when I got home, I got to thinking about it, why is funding an issue?
On the event I went to, there were around 5 or 6 controllers there for
questions, and leading whatever discussion topic was being discussed.
There was some refreshments, but nothing of any real cost (probably
less than $1 a head),the building and equipment is already running,
obviously, so its not like they had to turn the lights on for the day
for us. Then I realized where the costs were. It was because the
controllers were getting PAID to be there with us (anybody that knows
different please correct my conclusion!)

I don't know why they would require that. I would think you would be
able to get enough volunteers to put such an event on at least once a
quarter, or probably once a month. Especially considering that by
having the dialouge with us the consumer, they could "educate" us
further in how things would be best run in our area.

For example, I was able to learn by talking with them (at least with
the approach controllers I talked to), that they HATE the "full" callup
for practice approaches, and prefer a "VFR request" followed by
position, etc.

I can't imagine this wasn't worth some amount of time on their part. I
know if I got a chance to educate my customers about things that they
could do that would improve my working experience, I would be happy to
volunteer that time.

I'm sure its a union rule that they can't volunteer their time like
that.

The dress code issue isn't about dress code. It's about a power
struggle between the union and the FAA. Each side wants to demonstrate
the power they have.

As the consumer, I'd like to be able to assume that the person on the
other end of the radio presents themselves professionally.

As an aside, it may have been in the same article, but I read recently
that the other rule the FAA put in place that has the union up in arms
is "no naps" while on breaks... Oh, and they have to stay at the
facility.....