Jim Mannion – 3/27/06

This page was last updated on March 27, 2006.

FAA story lost in shuffle; Jim Mannion; Beaver County Times; March 27, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In these days of stories such as Iraq, some things tend to get lost in the shuffle.

“I am alluding to the negotiations of the FAA with our country’s air traffic controllers.

“There is a bill in the U.S. Senate authored by Sen. Barak Obama, D-Ill., called the FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006. In this bill, Obama, asks that if an impasse is called, the FAA cannot turn its problems over to Congress and instead go to arbitration.”

[RWC] Here’s a clear sign this bill is probably not in the best interests of the controllers and/or the country. Every labor union management website I visited that mentioned the bill supported it.

“The FAA wants to create a two-tier system starting new controllers at 30-35 percent less pay than they would normally get, even though they start out at a much lower pay scale.

“By hiring new controllers - 7,000 will be needed in the next 9 years - at their normal rate of pay the FAA will save approximately $543.5 million over the next 5 years.”

[RWC] I can’t vouch for Mr. Mannion’s “facts.” I did a quick Google search and came up empty. Given the factual flaws in his previous two letters (here and here), I believe it’s prudent to hold his facts suspect unless you can find independent verification from a credible source.

“In times of problems, such as 9/11, controllers handled and grounded more than 4,500 aircraft safely. Do you value your flight safety? If so, just imagine what worrying about pay cuts and work-related problems do to the concentration of our controllers.”

[RWC] Boo hoo! Besides, Mr. Mannion never claimed existing controllers were going to have their pay cut. He’s got a crappy argument, but he could at least keep his story straight.

As a reminder, we got the bogus “flight safety” argument way back when President Reagan fired the illegally striking controllers.

“Please contact your representatives in the House and Senate and let them know your feelings in this matter.

“In an aside, the Community College of Beaver County has the second highest rated air traffic control school in the country.”

[RWC] I wonder what Mr. Mannion’s interest is in this issue.