Coming to a Close

The dispute between the National Air Traffic Controllers and the Federal Aviation Administration over the failed 2006 contract negotiations was the first story I covered for Government Executive, so it was interesting to see the story come almost, if not entirely, full-circle yesterday with the announcement of an agreement between the two parties, which will be ratified by NATCA members and subject to final review by the agency. The story's not quite over yet, but it does seem like a dynamic I've covered for three years is finally moving on to a new phase.

The story's also interesting because part of the agreement was mediated. The panel of mediators was chaired by Jane Garvey, who headed the FAA before Marion Blakey, who imposed the infamous pay and work rules on the controllers, did. And to a certain extent, the mediators' decision (we have the full set of documents up here) is Garvey's chance to pronounce judgement on her successor. And did she ever. The decision calls Blakey's pay rules "unprecedented draconian reductions in compensation, bordering on the unconscionable," and calls the working conditions "remarkably traumatic." It's very stark.

But I imagine I'm still going to have a story to cover. The mediators noted that the relationship between the union and the agency wouldn't agree on everything automatically. They're already disagreeing on whether it was appropriate for the agency to suspend an air traffic controller who was on duty during the Hudson copter crash. I don't think this is the kind of incident that's going to bring the bad old days back, or anything. But I think it's a sign that NATCA and the FAA have a ways to go before they fully understand each other. And I'll be writing about it as they figure out what's next.