Rhino
08-24-2007, 08:31 AM
The union story:
SIX OPERATIONAL ERRORS IN SIX DAYS AT MEMPHIS CENTER ALARMS CONTROLLERS, HIGHLIGHTS LINK BETWEEN UNDERSTAFFING AND SAFETY AND PROMPTS FAA TO SEND INVESTIGATIVE TEAM TO FACILITY
08/21/2007
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Six operational errors occurred at the busy but understaffed Memphis Air Route Traffic Control center between Aug. 12-17, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to announce it was sending in a special investigative team to the facility – known as a “Tiger Team” – to look into the safety problems.
An operational error is defined as two aircraft coming closer than FAA minimum separation rules allow. Three of the errors occurred in one area of the airspace that Memphis Center controllers work. Of these, one was an arriving flight into Memphis and the other an arriving flight into Little Rock, Ark. Training of new developmental controllers was involved in two of the other three errors....
...Memphis Center was authorized by the FAA to have 354 controllers on staff for a safe staffing level before the agency imposed work and pay rules on NATCA one year ago and announced an unjustified, drastic reduction in the authorized number of controllers because it was unable to ever reach 354. Currently, there are 249 fully certified controllers staffing six areas 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These same controllers are also responsible for the on-the-job training for the 63 trainees currently working to achieve their certified professional controller (CPC) status....http://www.natca.org/mediacenter/press-release-detail.aspx?id=450
Sounds dangerous .....until you hear the rest of the story.
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown told AVweb that the "authorized staffing" numbers cited by NATCA are out of date. "We have new staffing ranges, and 244 to 298 is the staffing range for that facility," she said. Also, many of the trainees, though they are not fully certified on all sectors, are certified on some. "They can work traffic," Brown said. "They are part of the controller staffing." Brown said that all operational errors are investigated to find out what happened and what corrective actions are needed. "But we have no indication the errors at Memphis were related to staffing levels," she said.http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Controller_Errors_At_Memphis_Raise_Concerns_195985-1.html
Another reason I don't trust unions.
SIX OPERATIONAL ERRORS IN SIX DAYS AT MEMPHIS CENTER ALARMS CONTROLLERS, HIGHLIGHTS LINK BETWEEN UNDERSTAFFING AND SAFETY AND PROMPTS FAA TO SEND INVESTIGATIVE TEAM TO FACILITY
08/21/2007
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Six operational errors occurred at the busy but understaffed Memphis Air Route Traffic Control center between Aug. 12-17, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to announce it was sending in a special investigative team to the facility – known as a “Tiger Team” – to look into the safety problems.
An operational error is defined as two aircraft coming closer than FAA minimum separation rules allow. Three of the errors occurred in one area of the airspace that Memphis Center controllers work. Of these, one was an arriving flight into Memphis and the other an arriving flight into Little Rock, Ark. Training of new developmental controllers was involved in two of the other three errors....
...Memphis Center was authorized by the FAA to have 354 controllers on staff for a safe staffing level before the agency imposed work and pay rules on NATCA one year ago and announced an unjustified, drastic reduction in the authorized number of controllers because it was unable to ever reach 354. Currently, there are 249 fully certified controllers staffing six areas 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These same controllers are also responsible for the on-the-job training for the 63 trainees currently working to achieve their certified professional controller (CPC) status....http://www.natca.org/mediacenter/press-release-detail.aspx?id=450
Sounds dangerous .....until you hear the rest of the story.
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown told AVweb that the "authorized staffing" numbers cited by NATCA are out of date. "We have new staffing ranges, and 244 to 298 is the staffing range for that facility," she said. Also, many of the trainees, though they are not fully certified on all sectors, are certified on some. "They can work traffic," Brown said. "They are part of the controller staffing." Brown said that all operational errors are investigated to find out what happened and what corrective actions are needed. "But we have no indication the errors at Memphis were related to staffing levels," she said.http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Controller_Errors_At_Memphis_Raise_Concerns_195985-1.html
Another reason I don't trust unions.