(The following column by David Polino appeared on the Buffalo News website on May 11, 2011.)
BUFFALO, N.Y. — 4-3-8-7-1. Those numbers won’t mean much to most people, but to many air traffic controllers, they jump off the page. Especially for the controllers, like me, who were fired in 1981 after the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike, and probably for many current and retired controllers as well. The numbers represent the weekly schedule we were using in 1981 when 85 percent of us walked off the job most of us loved.
Here is what they mean. In each five-day workweek, our schedule at the Buffalo air traffic facility consisted of one 4 p. m. to midnight shift, followed the next day by a 3 p. m. to 11 p. m. shift, followed the next morning by an 8 a. m. to 4 p. m. shift. The next day was a 7 a. m. to 3 p. m. shift, followed that same night, only nine hours later, by a midnight to 8 a.m. shift. Many news stories report similar schedules in place today.
When I listen to the outrage expressed by FAA officials over exhausted controllers sleeping, I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. The FAA was saving money at the obvious expense of its employees and the flying public. The same regulatory philosophy may have contributed to the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407. These controllers have not been “caught.” Their bosses have.
So the next time you hear some jowly politician blame your 401(k) problems on public servants, remember that 4-3-8-7-1 schedule — and find out what the actual professionals are experiencing instead of accepting what bumbling administrators are saying.
Full story: Buffalo News