Oh Please! Many countries, including Canada, have successfully privatized their air traffic control services. I don't see planes dropping out of the skies. The controllers are going to be the same professionals they are now regardless of who they work for. Mark -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Roger James Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 6:11 PM To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU Subject: Senators fight privatization of air traffic controllers Senators fight privatization of air traffic controllers WASHINGTON (AP) =97 Twenty-six Democratic senators told President Bush=20 Tuesday they will oppose any attempt to transfer responsibility for air=20 traffic control to the private sector. The senators signed a letter to Bush= =20 that calls air traffic control "a quintessentially governmental function."= =20 The administration has not proposed privatizing air controllers, but it has= =20 indicated an interest in the idea. About 100 controllers in town for a=20 meeting of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association joined Sen.=20 Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who wrote and circulated the letter. "We're here= =20 to send a message that the safety of our skies should not be put in the=20 hands of the lowest bidder," Lautenberg said. He said the idea of=20 privatizing air traffic controllers "is like turning over the Army to=20 private hands, and seeing if you can get them to work overtime on the=20 weekends." All commercial airports have government controllers, although=20 many small, private airports use private companies to run their air traffic= =20 control towers. Former President Bill Clinton signed an executive order in 2000 calling air= =20 traffic service "an inherently governmental function." Last year, Bush=20 amended that order by deleting those four words.The FAA notified the=20 controllers that their jobs would be reclassified as "commercial."=20 Controllers said the change means the government could hire a private=20 company to take over air traffic control.They continue to press their case= =20 despite assurances from Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey that=20 her agency will not turn their roles over the private sector."These (air=20 traffic control) functions are not subject to competition and will not be=20 contracted out," she wrote in a December letter to controllers.FAA=20 spokesman Greg Martin said the agency reconsidered the proper=20 classification for the controllers under instructions by the White House=20 Office of Management and Budget. Martin added that the air controllers have= =20 been classified as a type of commercial activity "so critical ... that they= =20 are not subject to competition or contracting out." The letter from Lautenberg and 25 of his colleagues acknowledges that the=20 reclassification does not necessarily mean air traffic control will be=20 turned over to private companies. But the senators say the move "sets up a= =20 slippery slope that could eventually lead to privatization." Bush's=20 proposed budget for the current fiscal year called for improving management= =20 and coordination of air traffic services. It said that if those goals were= =20 not realized, the administration would look at "other options, including=20 partial privatization and franchise operation of components of the air=20 traffic system." And in November, the White House proposed making it easier= =20 to turn over as many as 850,000 federal jobs to the private sector. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.dbombo.net/muddyangels/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt ********************************************************* --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.449 / Virus Database: 251 - Release Date: 1/27/2003 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.449 / Virus Database: 251 - Release Date: 1/27/2003