(The TTD issued the following statement on July 25.)
Privatizes air traffic control, lets foreign carriers raid U.S. markets
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was issued today by Sonny Hall, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, in reaction to yesterday’s late-night meeting of House and Senate conferees to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization legislation.
“With virtually no debate or on-the-record votes, Republican leaders of the House and Senate cut a deal on an aviation bill that launches the Administration s campaign to privatize air traffic control. This legislation also opens the door for foreign airlines to raid U.S. markets. Since the final details of this conference report remain shrouded in secrecy, this bill could be even worse.
“We have worked diligently with both parties to do what is right for passengers, the economy, and for workers. But this bill jeopardizes safety and abandons the needs of workers. If the legislation remains in its current form, we will urge Congress to vote against it.
“The move to privatize our air traffic control system is a risky experiment that ignores the disastrous experiences around the globe. In England, near-misses and delays have soared and the private company has needed a costly government bailout to keep going. In Canada, airline passengers have had to pick up the tab on cost over-runs, and controllers are struggling with staff reductions and long shifts that cause fatigue and threaten safety.
“What makes this move to privatize even more outrageous is that both the House and the Senate recently voted overwhelmingly to protect, to varying degrees, the air traffic control system from privatization. It appears to us that the White House and congressional leaders went under the radar screen with this back-room deal.
“This ill-conceived bill also weakens the already struggling U.S. airline industry through a special interest arrangement allowing foreign cargo airlines to service, for the first time, point-to-point markets within the U.S. It defies logic for Congress and this Administration to embrace a dramatic weakening of cabotage law at the expense of an already fragile U.S. aviation industry and its workers.
“Congress should either fix this terribly flawed bill or defeat it. ”
TTD represents 35 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org