I wonder if some union guy was able to slip that into the FAA Alert message= .=0A=0A=0ADid Staff Woes Stall Laguardia Flights?=0AAir Traffic Controllers= Say FAA Halted Flights Because of 'Staffing'=0ABy KRISTINA WONG=0AJuly 20,= 2008=97 =0AWhen all flights scheduled to fly into New York's Laguardia Air= port=0Awere postponed for more than an hour Friday evening, to most travele= rs=0Ait might have seemed like business as usual. =0ABut according to the a= ir traffic controllers union, the delays=0Awere the result of an advisory i= ssued by the Federal Aviation=0AAdministration because of understaffing in = the control towers. =0ANational Air Traffic Controllers Association spokesm= an Doug=0AChurch said the FAA issued an advisory Friday afternoon to airpor= ts and=0Aairport management facilities nationwide that prevented all flight= s=0Afrom landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York from 7:40 p.m. to 8:45=0A= p.m., due to understaffing of air traffic controllers at the New York=0ATer= minal Radar Approach Control, which oversees all air traffic into=0ANew Yor= k airports and is staffed by the FAA. =0AThe advisory can be found on the F= AA's Web site. =0ADean Iacopelli, air traffic controller and NATCA represen= tative=0Aat the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control, emailed ABC News = a=0Acopy of an "Airport Status Information" notice he obtained also from=0A= the FAA Web site on Friday. =0AIt read: "Due to OTHER / STAFFING, there is = a Traffic=0AManagement Program in effect for traffic arriving La Guardia Ai= rport,=0ANew York, NY (LGA)." =0AFAA communications director Lynn Tierney s= aid she was not aware=0Aof any such advisory or delay due to staffing issue= s, but that she=0Awould double check. She said, however, she was aware of a= ground delay=0Adue to other reasons -- one in Newark due to "wind," which = she said=0Adelayed Republican presidential contender John McCain's plane fr= om=0AMichigan, and another one due to "traffic" at the John F. Kennedy=0AIn= ternational Airport in New York. =0AArlene Salac, FAA spokeswoman for all e= astern air traffic, said=0Athat "all delays we experienced were because of = weather and volume" --=0Anot because of inadequate staffing. =0ASalac confi= rmed that one air traffic controller scheduled to=0Awork Friday evening at = Laguardia called in sick, bringing the number of=0Acontrollers working that= shift to eight. She said eight to 10 air=0Atraffic controllers are typical= ly on duty at a time. =0AHowever, FAA spokeswoman Marcia Adams later told= =0AABCNews.com that there were several advisories sent out Friday for the= =0ANew York region. =0A"One was for staffing, and the others were for weath= er and other factors," Adams said. =0AWhen asked what "staffing" meant, she= said there were "multiple=0Aissues -- weather, thunderstorms in the New Yo= rk region" and that "not=0Aeverything was attributed to staffing." =0AAdams= said occasionally there are "sick calls" and that there=0Ais nothing unusu= al about it, saying "the FAA plans and adjusts for it."=0AShe said the FAA = was currently carrying out an "analysis and=0Aevaluation" to see if the adv= isory related to "staffing" resulted in=0Aany delays. =0ANATCA representati= ves point to the delays Friday as one of the=0Aconsequences of what they sa= y are problems in the FAA, which they say=0Ais pushing out experienced air = traffic controllers and hiring new=0Ainexperienced and unqualified recruits= . =0A"This has been a chronic problem that's flared up on several=0Aoccasio= ns where they don't have anyone else to call in on overtime, and=0Athey jus= t have to end up slowing the system down for safety," Church=0Asaid. =0ANea= rly Three Decades of Labor Disputes=0AThe FAA and NATCA have been in a bitt= er contract fight since 2006,=0Awhen the FAA imposed new labor and pay rule= s on the controllers. =0AAccording to Iacopelli, the new rules cut air traf= fic=0Acontrollers' pay and encourage seasoned air traffic controllers to=0A= retire. For example, he said, under the current rules, air traffic=0Acontro= llers are not eligible for any federal pay raises. Yet, if they=0Aretire, t= hey receive increases. This is a problem, he said, since it=0Aleaves fewer = experienced controllers to train new recruits. =0AThe dispute extends to Co= ngress, where Iacopelli said NATCA is=0Aworking to pass S.R. 1300, which wo= uld reopen FAA-union negotiations. =0ABut the battle goes back even further= , to 1981, when President=0AReagan fired all air traffic controllers after = the PATCO strike,=0ATierney said. =0AAround 1998, she said, the union negot= iated a favorable=0Acontract that air traffic controllers worked under unti= l 2006, when the=0AFAA imposed the new rules. =0AAs many of the air traffic= controllers who worked under those=0Aterms approach the retirement age of = 56, the FAA has been trying to=0Achange the terms of that contract and recr= uit and train new=0Acontrollers. The FAA has said it expects to replace nea= rly its entire=0Aworkforce over the next 10 years. =0ANATCA says those new = hiring and recruitment practices, such as=0Athose that target high school s= tudents, are irresponsible and put air=0Atravelers at risk. =0A"They're rec= ruiting out of high schools -- you no longer need a=0Acollege degree. ... Y= ou're sitting in a room with people who took a=0Atest in the back of a mobi= le home," Iacopelli said. "These are people=0Awith no work experience, who = don't even know what it's like to have a=0Ajob." =0ABut Tierney said the un= ion was trying to scare people into=0Athinking the FAA's oversight and mana= gement of air traffic controllers=0Awas broken and that its staffing practi= ces presented national security=0Arisks, to use that to negotiate a new con= tract. =0A"What they're [complaining] about is they're saying we're=0Asendi= ng all these new kids to the facilities. No new kid who's not=0Atrained jus= t goes into a facility," Tierney said.=0ACopyright =A9 2008 ABC News Intern= et Ventures <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".