NAATS HEADQUARTERS EMAIL UPDATE

Volume 3, #85

August 1, 2003

There are several rumors circulating in the field regarding what has happened with FAA Reauthorization (HR2115). I�ll use this update to explain what is factual and where we stand as of today.

On Thursday, July 24, about 6pm the conference met briefly, for the first and only time. Previously Don Young and John McCain had negotiated the conference report language. Congressman Oberstar offered the Lautenberg amendment to revise the report language but failed on a voice vote. The conferees then left for a series of votes in both chambers without voting on the conference report but staff members later collected enough signatures to seal the deal.

Don Young has stated that he is sympathetic to our cause but that the conferees� hands were tied by the veto threat and that the other provisions in the four-year bill were too important to risk. The Federal Services Impasse Panel language was also deleted.

The conference report must now go back to both the Senate and House floors. The House is in recess until September 3 and the Senate will recess after today. We still have considerable Senate support on both sides of the aisle and, for the past week, we have been meeting with Senators and their staffs to attempt a compromise but so far that has failed. I�ve had several meetings with Senator Lautenberg and his staff and they have informed Senate leadership of a filibuster if the bill is brought to the Senate floor in its present form. Best guess is that the Senate will wait until it returns on September 2 to address HR2115.

A meeting between the FAA unions is scheduled for next week to discuss strategy. None of the unions are happy with this report since it goes further to allow privatization than either chamber�s bill.

A copy of the pertinent part of the report follows:

SEC. 230. PROHIBITION ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL PRIVATIZATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.-Until October 1, 2007, the Secretary of Transportation may not authorize the transfer of the air traffic separation and control functions operated by the Federal Aviation Administration on the date of enactment of this Act to a private entity or to a public entity other than the United State Government.

(b) LIMITATION.-Subsection (a) shall not apply-

(1) to a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control tower operated under the contract tower program on the date of enactment of this Act;

(2) to any expansion of that program through new construction under subtitle VII of title 49, United States Code; or

(3) to a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control tower (other than towers in Alaska) identified in the Report of the Department of Transportation Inspector General dated April 12, 2000, and designated "Contract Towers: Observations on the Federal Aviation Administration�s Study of Expanding the Program".

This fight is far from over. During the August recess we will continue to work this issue from here but it is extremely important that you also contact your Congressional representatives and describe the bill�s deficiencies. The idea is to revise the bill or defeat it. Some talking points are listed below:

1. Emphasize safety and national security and how that will be compromised if a vendor attempts to provide our services. TFRs, especially presidential, are good examples.
2. We have mailed CD copies of the FOD flight save, with a cover letter, to all 535 congressional offices. Ask them to listen to this as a compelling example of our service.
3. We are air traffic controllers too, by law and not FAA edict. Our functions are just as essential to aviation safety.
4. Contracting out FSS must result in fewer facilities with reduced staffing. A vendor will have a completely different motivation in providing aviation services (cost driven).
5. No congressional approval is required for the FAA to contract out our services at the conclusion of the A76 process. In fact, the FAA does not even intend to brief most of Congress.
6. There is bipartisan congressional support to protect our workforce (re: June 12 Senate vote). No one reasonably expects President Bush to veto this bill if it includes protection for air traffic controllers.

No doubt you will come up with additional examples that can be used. Don�t confuse your message by discussing other concerns (pay, staffing). Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

The House Appropriations Committee has approved HR 2989 which includes the FAA 04 appropriations. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and General Government had yet to produce its version. The House is slated to take up HR 2989 when it returns from the August 2003 recess.

Wally Pike