Unions oppose structural change at FAA

Seven labor organizations that represent Federal Aviation Administration employees sent a letter to leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure expressing their strong opposition to any proposal to restructure or privatize the agency.

"As representatives of the employees who ensure the safety and efficiency of the world’s largest aviation system, we ask for your support in ensuring that all FAA employees remain employees of the federal government, " the leaders of those groups wrote.

The April 22 letter was signed by the presidents of the American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, Professional Association of Aeronautical Center Employees, National Federation of Federal Employees, Laborers’ International Union of North America, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, and National Association of Government Employees.

"There is no debate that sequestration, operating under multiple continuing resolutions and the recent government shutdown resulted in negative impacts that resonated nationwide," the letter stated. "However, we do not agree that a massive change to the FAA’s structure is the solution to the funding problem. Instead, we urge lawmakers to develop a plan that addresses the FAA’s need for stable funding free of the threat of sequestration."

"In addition, we do not believe that the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) should be separated from the other lines of business within the FAA because the ATO is inextricably intertwined with the agency’s other functional divisions," the unions wrote. "The FAA must remain one cohesive unit in order to allow all FAA employees to continue working together for the benefit of the world’s foremost aviation system."

The leader of another FAA union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, earlier in the week in a speech before a Washington, D.C., aviation club, took a different stand, opening the door to the idea of considering some structural change at the agency as long as it supported stable funding and did not attempt to make a profit from traffic control.