Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association
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<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
The History of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong><br />
by Paul McElroy<br />
All rights reserved.<br />
Copyright © 2002 by <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>.<br />
Cover art copyright © 2002 by <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>.<br />
Aeronautical charts courtesy of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Aeronautical Charting Office of <strong>the</strong> U.S.<br />
Department of Transportation.<br />
Memorabilia courtesy of Mike Palumbo.<br />
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by<br />
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any<br />
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>.<br />
For information address:<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong><br />
1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW<br />
Washington, D.C. 20005<br />
www.natca.org<br />
PRINTING HISTORY<br />
Hardcover edition / First printing: September 2002<br />
Int e r I o r d e s I g n b y Amy mcel r o y, JA pph I r e In c.<br />
co v e r d e s I g n b y sh e r r y st I n s o n, th e prI n t e d Im A g e<br />
Ind e x b y dA n co n n o l l y, Wo r d f o r Wo r d bo o k se r v Ic e s<br />
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA<br />
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents<br />
Author’s Note 1<br />
Introduction 2<br />
Chapter 1 10<br />
Chapter 2 30<br />
Chapter 3 44<br />
Chapter 4 92<br />
Chapter 5 124<br />
Chapter 6 172<br />
Chapter 7 220<br />
NATCA at a Glance 234<br />
The NATCA Family 236<br />
Glossary 250<br />
Bibliography 252<br />
Index 253
To <strong>the</strong> men and women of <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>,<br />
whose ceaseless efforts help keep <strong>the</strong> world’s<br />
largest, most complex, and safest aviation system aloft.
Author’s Note<br />
During <strong>the</strong> mid-1980s, a visionary<br />
group of air traffic controllers<br />
sought to augment <strong>the</strong>ir words on<br />
<strong>the</strong> airwaves with a critically needed<br />
voice in <strong>the</strong> workplace. Ignoring personal considerations<br />
and threats to <strong>the</strong>ir careers, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
courageously embarked on a mission that blossomed<br />
into <strong>the</strong> influential and respected labor<br />
organization called NATCA.<br />
I’ve been privileged to discover <strong>the</strong>ir spirit<br />
and dedication, and glimpse corners of <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
profession that remain hidden to <strong>the</strong> world at<br />
large. What you hold in your hands represents<br />
<strong>the</strong> story of <strong>the</strong> first fifteen years of this vibrant<br />
union.<br />
Over <strong>the</strong> course of nine months, I digested<br />
reams of archives and traveled 50,000 miles to<br />
interview some 175 people. Even as NATCA<br />
committed generous resources to produce a<br />
high-quality work, it entrusted an outside observer<br />
to document its history while giving me<br />
<strong>the</strong> freedom to do so with honesty and balance.<br />
Necessarily, this book consists of a series<br />
of snapshots recording <strong>the</strong> dreams and deeds<br />
of a cast of thousands. I’m frustrated by space<br />
limitations that prevent me from mentioning<br />
<strong>the</strong> untold activists—and <strong>the</strong>ir families—who<br />
selflessly strive to ensure <strong>the</strong> safety of nearly<br />
two million air travelers a day and improve<br />
working conditions for some 20,000 federal<br />
employees. That I could not recognize <strong>the</strong>m all<br />
by name in no way diminishes <strong>the</strong>ir contributions,<br />
which command my lasting admiration.<br />
To <strong>the</strong> scores who graciously and patiently<br />
assisted me throughout this project, I offer my<br />
heartfelt appreciation.<br />
With apologies for not being able to acknowledge<br />
everyone individually, Atlanta<br />
Center controller Don Brown and Howie Barte<br />
from Providence Tower/TRACON deserve a<br />
very special thanks. They had <strong>the</strong> foresight<br />
to conceive of this project two years ago. They<br />
also played a key role, along with eight o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
union members who reviewed <strong>the</strong> manuscript,<br />
in making this book as comprehensive and accurate<br />
as possible.<br />
NATCA’s story is far from over. Each day<br />
forms unwritten chapters. May <strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
honor those now and in <strong>the</strong> union’s past, and<br />
inspire <strong>the</strong> legions yet to carry on <strong>the</strong> dream.<br />
P.M. / June 2002
“<br />
You can’t organize<br />
happy people.<br />
— Axiom among labor organizers<br />
NATCA headquarters: In 2000, <strong>the</strong> union<br />
moved into its own seven-story building<br />
on <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn edge of downtown Washington,<br />
D.C. The national office is known<br />
as <strong>the</strong> Barry Krasner Building in honor of<br />
NATCA’s second president. / Japphire
Introduction<br />
Union Rising<br />
Sitting amid <strong>the</strong> darkness of Washington Center in Leesburg, Virginia,<br />
an air traffic controller spoke incessantly into <strong>the</strong> tiny microphone of<br />
his headset. His accent revealed <strong>the</strong> soft twang of <strong>the</strong> West Virginian<br />
hills, but his strong, confident voice cut through <strong>the</strong> air like <strong>the</strong> boom of a<br />
howitzer.<br />
Despite his cocky demeanor, his restless eyes<br />
darted repeatedly across <strong>the</strong> radarscope before him,<br />
its round screen lit up like a pinball machine in <strong>the</strong><br />
dazzling throes of a bonus round. Twenty-two green<br />
blips flashed and danced on <strong>the</strong> glass while two stacks<br />
of airplanes pirouetted in unison over Woodstown in<br />
southwestern New Jersey and Yardley, Pennsylvania,<br />
near Philadelphia. The aerial ballet formed <strong>the</strong> swirling<br />
headwaters of a river that streamed nor<strong>the</strong>ast<br />
across his scope—and through his mind—before<br />
flowing on to New York’s LaGuardia <strong>Air</strong>port.<br />
Jerry Tierney’s hands were full on this day in<br />
1984. Besides <strong>the</strong> rush of planes, he was grappling<br />
with <strong>the</strong> aftershocks of a cataclysmic strike that<br />
wiped out three-quarters of <strong>the</strong> air traffic control<br />
work force in August 1981. Chronic low staffing<br />
frequently forced controllers to juggle more than<br />
one portion of airspace at a time. Tierney was riding<br />
herd over <strong>the</strong> Woodstown and Dupont sectors. Like<br />
many of his brethren, he was also toiling through yet<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r grueling six-day workweek.<br />
Sporting a bushy head of dark brown hair,<br />
neatly cropped above <strong>the</strong> ears, and wearing his usual<br />
button-down shirt and slacks, <strong>the</strong> medium-built<br />
Tierney had earned a well-deserved reputation as one<br />
of Washington Center’s finest controllers. Colleagues<br />
respected his honest, sincere attitude and strong<br />
work ethic, and <strong>the</strong>y cheered his zero tolerance for<br />
nonsensical edicts from management.<br />
In his largely unseen world, where professionals<br />
balance <strong>the</strong> science of physics with <strong>the</strong> art<br />
of choreography, a thin line separates chaos from<br />
Courtesy of Jerry Tierney<br />
Jerry Tierney: Now retired, <strong>the</strong> West<br />
Virginia native began his air traffic control<br />
career in 1968 at Washington Center.
4<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Inside Washington Center: The overnight<br />
solitude of this area gives way to frenetic<br />
activity after daybreak. The M-1 control<br />
room that Jerry Tierney and his colleagues<br />
worked in was replaced by this remodeled<br />
version during <strong>the</strong> late 1990s. / Paul Williams<br />
control. Good controllers know <strong>the</strong>ir limits. They<br />
can sense when one more plane will propel <strong>the</strong>m<br />
into <strong>the</strong> abyss and scatter <strong>the</strong>ir concentration like a<br />
collapsing house of cards. Tierney had been pushing<br />
tin for sixteen years and could tell he was nearing <strong>the</strong><br />
edge of <strong>the</strong> precipice. There was nowhere else to stack<br />
planes in <strong>the</strong> north while <strong>the</strong>y waited for <strong>the</strong>ir turn<br />
to land. He called ano<strong>the</strong>r controller at <strong>the</strong> center to<br />
briefly shut off <strong>the</strong> relentless streams from Maryland<br />
and Virginia in <strong>the</strong> south.<br />
Seated behind him, a supervisor snapped to<br />
attention and leaned forward. “We’ve got to get <strong>the</strong>m<br />
in,” he said.<br />
“I’m not taking <strong>the</strong>m,” Tierney responded, his<br />
eyes raking over <strong>the</strong> scope as he plotted his next several<br />
moves.<br />
The supervisor’s voice grew edgy. “You have to<br />
accept those aircraft.”<br />
Under pressure from Congress and <strong>the</strong> airlines,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Federal Aviation Administration was publicly<br />
proclaiming that <strong>the</strong> air traffic system had fully<br />
recovered from <strong>the</strong> strike. After enduring a period<br />
of cutbacks, <strong>the</strong> airlines published thicker timetables<br />
month by month, testing <strong>the</strong> limits of a largely inexperienced<br />
work force only half as big as in 1981. This<br />
was where <strong>the</strong> rubber met <strong>the</strong> runway.
“No,” Tierney said firmly. “I can’t.”<br />
“Why not?”<br />
“Because it’s not safe. I know how many aircraft<br />
I can handle.”<br />
Preoccupied with<br />
<strong>the</strong> twenty-two targets<br />
hopping across his scope,<br />
Tierney did not notice <strong>the</strong><br />
supervisor slide over to<br />
<strong>the</strong> keyboard at <strong>the</strong> data<br />
position next to him. His<br />
superior typed <strong>the</strong> computer<br />
ID codes for two or<br />
three more planes from<br />
<strong>the</strong> south and pressed<br />
ENTER after each number,<br />
transferring responsibility<br />
for <strong>the</strong>m to Tierney.<br />
One by one, <strong>the</strong> pilots<br />
checked in on his radio<br />
frequency.<br />
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Tierney<br />
exclaimed, “Hey, why am I talking to <strong>the</strong>se guys?” 1<br />
Fortunately, no near misses occurred.<br />
Incidents like this, although more serious than<br />
most at <strong>the</strong> time, typified <strong>the</strong> tumultuous culture of<br />
an air traffic system staggering back to its feet after a<br />
reeling blow. The Reagan administration’s dismissal<br />
of more than 11,000 federal employees—who broke<br />
<strong>the</strong> law by walking off <strong>the</strong> job—ranks as one of <strong>the</strong><br />
most regrettable chapters in aviation history. Careers,<br />
families, even a few lives were lost in a complex<br />
showdown of egos, greed, and legitimate air safety<br />
and workplace issues.<br />
For those who stayed on <strong>the</strong> job and <strong>the</strong> le-<br />
gions of replacement controllers who joined <strong>the</strong>m,<br />
an unfortunate sequel awaited. More than half <strong>the</strong><br />
world’s air traffic flew in <strong>the</strong> United States, creating<br />
an immense challenge for <strong>the</strong> FAA to restore its decimated<br />
work force.<br />
Aside from <strong>the</strong><br />
sheer numbers of people<br />
involved, time pressures<br />
“<br />
weighed heavily on <strong>the</strong><br />
system. New controllers<br />
typically spent several<br />
months at <strong>the</strong> FAA Academy<br />
in Oklahoma City,<br />
followed by two or more<br />
years of on-<strong>the</strong>-job training<br />
before <strong>the</strong>y were considered<br />
fully qualified.<br />
Even <strong>the</strong>n, <strong>the</strong> seasoning<br />
process had barely<br />
begun.<br />
But adversity also<br />
presented a singular possibility.<br />
“The FAA had a golden<br />
opportunity to treat<br />
<strong>the</strong> new group of controllers<br />
well and never<br />
have to face organization,”<br />
says Alexander<br />
“Doc” Cullison, former<br />
president of <strong>the</strong><br />
Marine Engineers<br />
Beneficial <strong>Association</strong>,<br />
a labor union that<br />
has supported air traffic<br />
controllers. “They had a<br />
The FAA had a golden<br />
opportunity to treat <strong>the</strong><br />
new group of controllers<br />
well and never have to face<br />
organization.<br />
— Alexander “Doc” Cullison,<br />
former president of <strong>the</strong><br />
Marine Engineers Beneficial <strong>Association</strong><br />
Introduction: Union Rising<br />
Alexander “Doc” Cullison: A marine<br />
engineer who became a union representative<br />
for MEBA, Cullison helped to organize<br />
controllers in 1986-87. / NATCA archives<br />
5
6<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Ed Mullin: A longtime tower controller<br />
at Dallas Love Field and an early NATCA<br />
activist, Mullin faced special challenges in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Southwest, where strong anti-union<br />
attitudes are prevalent. / NATCA archives<br />
malleable, optimistic work force that <strong>the</strong>y could have<br />
done anything in <strong>the</strong> world with if <strong>the</strong>y had treated<br />
<strong>the</strong>m properly.”<br />
It was not to be.<br />
During a brief honeymoon, managers<br />
and rank and file worked side by side in a<br />
heroic effort to keep <strong>the</strong> traffic moving.<br />
The harmony was short-lived, however,<br />
with an agency that could not<br />
shake off its past habits.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> turbulence subsided<br />
for <strong>the</strong> transition force, too many<br />
autocratic managers reverted to<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir former roles. <strong>Controllers</strong>’<br />
complaints about excessive time on<br />
position, inadequate staffing, hasty<br />
training, and unreliable equipment<br />
were, for <strong>the</strong> most part, dismissed as<br />
whining. Suggestions on operational procedures<br />
and new equipment were rarely solicited and<br />
usually ignored. Yelling, intimidation, and a fundamental<br />
lack of respect became commonplace. Once<br />
again, managers relegated <strong>the</strong> front-line crew to <strong>the</strong><br />
status of hired hands ra<strong>the</strong>r than acknowledging<br />
<strong>the</strong>m as partners in providing air safety.<br />
By refusing to accept any responsibility for<br />
conditions that led to <strong>the</strong> strike and allowing <strong>the</strong><br />
same problems to fester, <strong>the</strong> agency sowed new seeds<br />
of discontent that inevitably blossomed into ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
union.<br />
Howie Barte, a founder of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>, notes that many people<br />
were involved in <strong>the</strong> grass-roots effort to form <strong>the</strong><br />
new organization. But, he adds, “No one could hold a<br />
candle to <strong>the</strong> best organizer we ever had—<strong>the</strong> FAA.”<br />
NATCA Takes Flight<br />
On <strong>the</strong> morning of May 6, 1987, a single-engine<br />
plane towing a white banner with black lettering<br />
droned above <strong>the</strong> vast Dallas Metroplex.<br />
The cryptic inscription on <strong>the</strong> banner—<br />
“Vote NATCA”—left many who saw it<br />
scratching <strong>the</strong>ir heads. But its intended<br />
audience understood <strong>the</strong> message<br />
and stood proud. Ballots had just<br />
been mailed across <strong>the</strong> country to<br />
more than 12,500 controllers, who<br />
would decide whe<strong>the</strong>r to officially<br />
sanction a labor organization that<br />
had been in <strong>the</strong> making for more<br />
than three years.<br />
At Love Field in Dallas, <strong>the</strong> control<br />
tower manager expressed astonishment<br />
as he peered through binoculars at <strong>the</strong><br />
streaming pennant. Standing nearby in <strong>the</strong> cramped<br />
glassed-in cab, where water leaked through <strong>the</strong> ceiling<br />
tiles when it rained, controller Ed Mullin could<br />
not resist chuckling. As a regional representative for<br />
<strong>the</strong> fledgling group, Mullin had devised <strong>the</strong> banner<br />
ploy to boost voter turnout in <strong>the</strong> decidedly antiunion<br />
state of Texas. If controllers saw <strong>the</strong>ir name in<br />
lights, so to speak, <strong>the</strong> recognition might convince<br />
<strong>the</strong>m that NATCA had a chance to succeed. A satisfied<br />
smile played on Mullin’s lips while he watched<br />
<strong>the</strong> plane disappear to <strong>the</strong> south for a pass over Redbird<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port.<br />
The hour-long flight also called for appearances<br />
above Addison <strong>Air</strong>port, Fort Worth Meacham<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port, <strong>the</strong> perimeter of Dallas-Fort Worth <strong>Air</strong>port,<br />
Fort Worth Center, and <strong>the</strong> FAA Regional Office
south of DFW. Although wea<strong>the</strong>r precluded flying<br />
over a few of <strong>the</strong> destinations, <strong>the</strong> banner scored a hit<br />
with controllers.<br />
Five weeks later, <strong>the</strong>ir sentiments were quantified<br />
when <strong>the</strong> government tallied ballots from 86<br />
percent of <strong>the</strong> work force.<br />
Seventy percent approved<br />
NATCA as <strong>the</strong>ir exclusive<br />
bargaining agent. The new<br />
union, formed while President<br />
Reagan still occupied<br />
<strong>the</strong> White House, allowed<br />
air traffic controllers to<br />
reclaim <strong>the</strong>ir voice in <strong>the</strong><br />
workplace and provided<br />
organized labor with a<br />
much-needed comeback<br />
victory.<br />
John Leyden, <strong>the</strong><br />
long time president of <strong>the</strong><br />
Professional <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Organization<br />
who was ousted in a coup before <strong>the</strong> strike, believes<br />
<strong>the</strong> achievement is a testament to <strong>the</strong> FAA and labor<br />
in general. “If you could have a union—like <strong>the</strong><br />
phoenix—rebuilt, it was a great sign for <strong>the</strong> need for<br />
unions,” he says.<br />
A Walk in <strong>the</strong> Woods<br />
Eleven years later, in early July 1998, four<br />
people ga<strong>the</strong>red around a table in a Montréal hotel<br />
conference room. NATCA President Michael McNally<br />
and his predecessor, Barry Krasner, sat on one side.<br />
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Tony Herman,<br />
a high-powered Washington, D.C., attorney, faced<br />
“<br />
If you could have a union—<br />
like <strong>the</strong> phoenix—rebuilt, it<br />
was a great sign for <strong>the</strong> need<br />
for unions.<br />
<strong>the</strong>m on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side.<br />
The 20-minute meeting, aimed at closing <strong>the</strong><br />
deal on <strong>the</strong> union’s third contract with <strong>the</strong> agency,<br />
represented <strong>the</strong> culmination of a momentous journey.<br />
The groundwork for this ga<strong>the</strong>ring included eighteen<br />
months of bargaining<br />
preparations and talks, an<br />
exhaustive seven-year project<br />
to reclassify all air traffic<br />
— Former PATCO President<br />
John Leyden<br />
control facility rankings and<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir accompanying salary<br />
scales, and a concerted<br />
legislative effort by <strong>the</strong><br />
union that enabled NATCA<br />
and <strong>the</strong> FAA to abandon<br />
<strong>the</strong> traditional government<br />
compensation schedule and<br />
negotiate pay.<br />
This crowning achievement<br />
would shortly put <strong>the</strong><br />
federal-sector union and its employer in <strong>the</strong> ranks of<br />
a very select group that included such agencies as <strong>the</strong><br />
U.S. Postal Service and Federal Deposit Insurance<br />
Corporation.<br />
At issue this morning was <strong>the</strong> amount of money<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA would pay 15,000 controllers under <strong>the</strong> new<br />
facility classification system. McNally and Herman<br />
haggled over millions of dollars while Krasner and<br />
Garvey observed in silence. Finally, Herman offered<br />
$200 million.<br />
The two NATCA negotiators briefly consulted<br />
before McNally turned to <strong>the</strong> administrator and said,<br />
“You’ve got a deal, Jane.”<br />
NATCA’s five-year contract with <strong>the</strong> agency resulted<br />
in substantial pay raises for controllers. More<br />
Introduction: Union Rising<br />
7
8<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA archives<br />
Signing on <strong>the</strong> dotted line: NATCA President Michael McNally and FAA<br />
Administrator Jane Garvey formally seal <strong>the</strong> 1998 contract. The agreement<br />
marked <strong>the</strong> first time <strong>the</strong> union and its employer negotiated wages.<br />
* The ranking is from 1999 figures based on<br />
information from <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO, Almanac of<br />
Federal PACs, Federal Election Commission,<br />
and union-sponsored Web sites.<br />
significantly, it was <strong>the</strong> first time <strong>the</strong>y were compensated<br />
for <strong>the</strong> complexity of <strong>the</strong>ir work—not just<br />
simple traffic counts—while o<strong>the</strong>r provisions bound<br />
<strong>the</strong>m ever more tightly as partners with <strong>the</strong> FAA to<br />
ensure air safety and boost productivity.<br />
“We had to change <strong>the</strong> relationship between<br />
management and labor in order to meet <strong>the</strong> challenges,”<br />
Garvey says. Acknowledging that some<br />
trust issues still need to<br />
be resolved in light of<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency’s difficult history<br />
with its controller<br />
work force, she adds, “On<br />
balance, <strong>the</strong>re are more<br />
places where <strong>the</strong> relationship<br />
is more positive than<br />
negative.”<br />
The 1998 contract<br />
also represented ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
highlight in <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
relatively short but noteworthy<br />
history.<br />
Earlier in <strong>the</strong> year,<br />
<strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO granted<br />
NATCA a direct charter.<br />
The powerful labor<br />
organization preferred<br />
to consolidate its vast array<br />
of affiliates and had<br />
reserved this honor for a<br />
mere handful since NATCA was certified. The union<br />
cherished <strong>the</strong> recognition, vindicating <strong>the</strong> oncetarnished<br />
reputation of controllers in <strong>the</strong> house of<br />
organized labor.<br />
Founded on <strong>the</strong> premise of gaining a voice in<br />
<strong>the</strong> workplace, NATCA has evolved into what controllers<br />
like to think of as a white-collar union that<br />
shuns strong-arm tactics. Top officers enjoy regular<br />
access to <strong>the</strong> agency’s administrator—a hard-won<br />
victory that finally ensures <strong>the</strong> union’s issues are<br />
clearly communicated to <strong>the</strong> upper echelon. And<br />
while equipment and procedures historically have<br />
been implemented with little or no controller input,<br />
twenty-nine union liaisons and technical representatives<br />
now work full time—virtually all of <strong>the</strong>m at<br />
agency headquarters—on about sixty-five projects.<br />
NATCA’s role extends beyond <strong>the</strong> aviation community<br />
and <strong>the</strong> nation’s borders. Members contribute<br />
about $1 million every election cycle to a Political<br />
Action Committee fund—<strong>the</strong> second-highest average<br />
per member of all union PACs—that is passed along<br />
to both sides of <strong>the</strong> aisle on Capitol Hill. * One of its<br />
former <strong>National</strong> Executive Board members serves as<br />
deputy president of <strong>the</strong> International Federation of<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong>’ <strong>Association</strong>s, an influential<br />
body that deals with <strong>the</strong> profession’s issues on a<br />
global level. Two o<strong>the</strong>r union members serve on IF-<br />
ATCA committees.<br />
Taking its charge of organizing <strong>the</strong> unorganized<br />
seriously, NATCA has affiliated nineteen new<br />
bargaining units beyond its controller ranks and now<br />
represents about 20,000 FAA workers—including engineers<br />
and architects, computer specialists, inspectors,<br />
nurses, staff support personnel, and o<strong>the</strong>rs—as<br />
well as some controllers in <strong>the</strong> Defense Department<br />
and at towers run by private companies. Seventy-five<br />
percent of represented workers are union members<br />
(including 82 percent of FAA controllers), an exceedingly<br />
high level in <strong>the</strong> federal sector.<br />
At its core, a thousand or more dedicated
activists serve as facility representatives, on local<br />
executive boards, regional and national committees,<br />
and in numerous o<strong>the</strong>r capacities to guide NATCA<br />
on aviation and workplace safety issues, legislative<br />
affairs, finance, communications, constitutional matters,<br />
and such.<br />
“It is on <strong>the</strong>ir shoulders that we have built our<br />
successes,” Executive Vice President Ruth Marlin says.<br />
NATCA’s first national president and executive<br />
vice president walked into a largely empty office,<br />
hired staff members, bought furnishings and fax<br />
machines, and launched <strong>the</strong> union into flight. As <strong>the</strong><br />
organization grew, its leadership evolved, too. Each<br />
subsequent administration adroitly adapted to <strong>the</strong><br />
times and carried NATCA forward.<br />
In 2000, <strong>the</strong> union moved into its own seven-<br />
floor headquarters in Washington. The spacious<br />
building is a far cry from <strong>the</strong> cramped quarters it had<br />
leased across town at <strong>the</strong> offices of <strong>the</strong> Marine Engineers<br />
Beneficial <strong>Association</strong> in 1987. Working conditions<br />
<strong>the</strong>re were so tight that NATCA’s director of<br />
labor relations conducted business from a converted<br />
closet in <strong>the</strong> president’s office.<br />
While NATCA rose from <strong>the</strong> ashes of its predecessor,<br />
<strong>the</strong> new union has charted its own course<br />
and achieved unique successes. Even so, both organizations<br />
trace <strong>the</strong>ir roots to very similar motivations<br />
and ideals.<br />
1. Related by Jerry Tierney and Paul Williams during interviews in February<br />
2002 and March 2001, respectively.<br />
Introduction: Union Rising<br />
9
“<br />
We forget all those<br />
who died before us.<br />
— Former President<br />
Barry Krasner<br />
Era of automation: Center controllers<br />
hunched over flattop radarscopes to monitor<br />
aircraft circa 1970. Flight information<br />
appeared next to each target, thanks to<br />
a long-awaited computer modernization<br />
under way by <strong>the</strong> FAA. / NATCA archives
Chapter 1<br />
ATC Comes of Age<br />
The sun would rise in several more hours over Chicago. Rooftops across<br />
<strong>the</strong> slumbering city belched plumes of smoke into <strong>the</strong> dark, frigid air.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> Northwest Side, solitary cars occasionally whooshed past <strong>the</strong><br />
cylindrical glass towers of <strong>the</strong> Hyatt Regency O’Hare, ruffling <strong>the</strong> pre-dawn<br />
stillness.<br />
But inside <strong>the</strong> hotel on this morning of January<br />
8, 1980, a feverish atmosphere rippled through <strong>the</strong><br />
expansive atrium lobby like waves shimmering off a<br />
runway baking in <strong>the</strong> summer heat. A few hundred<br />
controllers—key activists of <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Organization—anxiously milled<br />
about waiting to hear <strong>the</strong> outcome of a meeting that<br />
could radically change <strong>the</strong> course of <strong>the</strong>ir union.<br />
In a nearby conference room, PATCO Executive<br />
Board members had been wrangling interminably<br />
through <strong>the</strong> night. John F. Leyden, <strong>the</strong> stocky,<br />
Irish-American president of PATCO, debated with<br />
longtime Executive Vice President Robert E. Poli, <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s director of operations, and all but one of its<br />
seven regional vice presidents.<br />
Leyden’s tenure stretched back for a decade.<br />
Many controllers respected his vision, knowledge,<br />
and sophistication. They credited<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir second president with transforming<br />
PATCO from a disjointed organization<br />
that was deeply in debt into a<br />
powerful, highly visible union.<br />
During Leyden’s reign, PAT-<br />
CO had blazed a trail for <strong>the</strong> profession.<br />
Using slowdowns, sickouts,<br />
and hard-nosed bargaining,<br />
it won many benefits, some of which<br />
NATCA would have to fight to regain<br />
after <strong>the</strong> strike: a negotiated contract;<br />
higher pay at certain busy facilities; early<br />
re tirement and a second-career training program;<br />
cockpit jump seat privileges that enabled controllers<br />
John Leyden: The distinguished PATCO<br />
president led <strong>the</strong> union’s fight to achieve<br />
many gains for controllers. / NATCA archives
12<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
* Early retirement and <strong>the</strong> second-career<br />
training program were embodied in law and<br />
remained in force after <strong>the</strong> strike. However,<br />
Congress canceled funding for <strong>the</strong> secondcareer<br />
program and has never restored it.<br />
1980<br />
8<br />
Jan.<br />
to observe pilot procedures; controller representation<br />
in <strong>National</strong> Transportation Safety Board accident<br />
investigations; and creation of a program in which<br />
controllers (and pilots) could report errors without<br />
penalty to help solve common mistakes. *<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r goals, however, had eluded PATCO’s<br />
grasp: higher pay for all controllers; a shorter workweek;<br />
better staffing and equipment. Since 1978, an<br />
increasingly vocal chorus of union members—led by<br />
a cadre of brawny and rebellious activists known as<br />
“<strong>the</strong> choirboys”—had grown weary of <strong>the</strong> slowdowns<br />
and sickouts. Believing that only a strike would lead<br />
<strong>the</strong>m to more contract gains, <strong>the</strong>y dismissed Leyden<br />
as a dove afraid to take that final step. Poli was seen<br />
as <strong>the</strong> decisive hawk willing to go to <strong>the</strong> mat against<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
Now, during <strong>the</strong> board meeting at <strong>the</strong> Hyatt,<br />
unhappiness boiled over. Leyden’s detractors leveled<br />
a litany of accusations at him. He was too conservative.<br />
He’d lost touch with <strong>the</strong> membership and<br />
seemed aloof. He lived in a Florida condominium<br />
bought with union money. He flew around <strong>the</strong> country<br />
in a Gulfstream jet.<br />
Leyden bristled over <strong>the</strong> allegations. The union<br />
was like his family, so <strong>the</strong>ir barbs stung deeply. The<br />
condo and Gulfstream were figments of <strong>the</strong>ir imagination,<br />
he snapped, his accent betraying a childhood<br />
in Queens. Sure, he piloted a twin Beech or King <strong>Air</strong><br />
to union functions periodically, but <strong>the</strong> rental planes<br />
In a dramatic coup, <strong>the</strong> Executive Board of <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> Organization ousts union President John Leyden and replaces<br />
him with Executive Vice President Robert Poli. Leyden’s reign spanned ten<br />
saved PATCO money. And Poli or o<strong>the</strong>r board members<br />
always accompanied him on <strong>the</strong> trips.<br />
Leyden gazed at <strong>the</strong> strapping, bearded Poli—<br />
Caesar appraising Brutus. A few days earlier, Poli had<br />
appeared in Leyden’s office at PATCO headquarters<br />
to say he intended to run against him for president<br />
in <strong>the</strong> election that spring. Previously, Poli had never<br />
expressed interest in higher office, and <strong>the</strong> two men<br />
exchanged harsh words. A shocked Leyden later discovered<br />
that Poli had quietly cultivated support from<br />
many board members and <strong>the</strong> choirboys.<br />
“Why didn’t you say anything about this beforehand?”<br />
Leyden asked now.<br />
Citing <strong>the</strong> alleged transgressions, Poli responded<br />
that he could no longer work for Leyden. It<br />
was why he wanted to be president. He abruptly announced<br />
his resignation and left <strong>the</strong> room. Later, Poli<br />
would tell The New York Times that his dispute with<br />
Leyden was “a difference in philosophy. I guess I’m<br />
more a militant than he is.” 1<br />
The board members pressed Leyden to explain<br />
his differences with Poli. Leyden refused, saying only<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y were personal issues beyond <strong>the</strong> board’s<br />
purview. However, he acknowledged that he planned<br />
to make some personnel changes in <strong>the</strong> national and<br />
regional offices based on a consultant’s study conducted<br />
at his behest. Finally, he cautioned <strong>the</strong>m that<br />
<strong>the</strong> divisiveness was factionalizing <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
“The best thing that can happen is to have<br />
years and was founded on a <strong>the</strong>me of collaboration with <strong>the</strong> FAA. Poli appealed<br />
to more militant union members who had become dissatisfied with<br />
Leyden’s perceived inability to improve <strong>the</strong>ir working conditions.
completely new leadership,” he said reluctantly. With<br />
that, Leyden announced he was stepping down, too,<br />
an action he hadn’t contemplated before <strong>the</strong> meeting.<br />
Angry, frustrated and hurt, he walked out and rode<br />
a glassed-in elevator up to his room. He grabbed his<br />
bag and began to pack.<br />
Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong><br />
board voted 6-1 to accept<br />
his resignation, closing<br />
<strong>the</strong> curtain on an era and<br />
steering PATCO toward<br />
labor infamy. Eastern<br />
Region Vice President<br />
George Kerr stood alone<br />
in supporting Leyden.<br />
“To this day, I still wonder<br />
if <strong>the</strong>y really thought<br />
about it and understood<br />
<strong>the</strong> implications,” Kerr<br />
says. “We all had our fellow<br />
travelers and our loyalists and our politics.”<br />
Several minutes later, Kerr knocked on <strong>the</strong><br />
door to Leyden’s room. A pained expression was<br />
etched on Kerr’s face. Poli had returned to <strong>the</strong> meeting<br />
and withdrawn his resignation at <strong>the</strong> board’s<br />
urging, he said.<br />
“Go back and pull yours.”<br />
Leyden refused. “When I say something, that’s<br />
it. My word is my bond.”<br />
15<br />
Apr.<br />
“<br />
That was <strong>the</strong> end of it. My<br />
organization was my life. I<br />
was a basket case for months<br />
afterward.<br />
In a few more minutes Leyden heard ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
knock. PATCO General Counsel William Peer stood<br />
in <strong>the</strong> doorway this time. The resignations had been<br />
orchestrated so that Poli could take over, Peer told<br />
him. “You got sandbagged.”<br />
Wayne Preston,<br />
head of <strong>the</strong> local at Chicago<br />
Center, showed up<br />
next and pleaded with<br />
— Former PATCO President<br />
John Leyden<br />
PATCO distributes an “educational package” to its members that outlines<br />
how to establish communication networks and committees on security,<br />
welfare, and picketing. Information also includes advice on financial prepa-<br />
Leyden not to walk away.<br />
The ousted president<br />
struggled over <strong>the</strong><br />
fate of <strong>the</strong> union he’d devoted<br />
much of his adult<br />
life to, but he remained<br />
steadfast.<br />
“When I’m gone,<br />
I’m gone,” he said.<br />
The Executive Board<br />
named Poli interim presi-<br />
dent and <strong>the</strong> membership elected him to a three-year<br />
term in April 1980.<br />
Poli and <strong>the</strong> board offered Leyden <strong>the</strong> salaried<br />
position of president emeritus but he declined.<br />
Instead, he spent several difficult weeks at PATCO<br />
headquarters in Washington, D.C., tying up loose<br />
ends.<br />
“That was <strong>the</strong> end of it,” he says. “My organization<br />
was my life. I was a basket case for months afterward.” 2<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
rations in case of lost wages during a job action, and how union locals can<br />
arrange bond and o<strong>the</strong>r legal services. Many in <strong>the</strong> FAA consider this a<br />
strike plan.<br />
13
John F.<br />
Leyden<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: XL<br />
Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
HOm e t O w n : Queens, New York<br />
sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Mary / John, Carol Ann<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Avid handicapper<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Golf<br />
Retired<br />
2001 — Pre s e n t<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: ZNY Center<br />
John F. Leyden, a fa<strong>the</strong>r of organized labor in air<br />
traffic control, learned about <strong>the</strong> profession as an<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Force radio and radar operator in Korea. When<br />
he became a civilian controller at New York Center<br />
in early 1959, <strong>the</strong> World War II-vintage radarscopes<br />
failed regularly, testing his ability to “put<br />
<strong>the</strong> scrambled egg back toge<strong>the</strong>r again” by instantly<br />
recalling <strong>the</strong> positions of all his planes.<br />
Leyden’s interest in a union stemmed from a<br />
desire that would later prove to be all too familiar<br />
to NATCA organizers. “You were not supposed to<br />
have a voice,” he says. “You were supposed to follow<br />
blindly what [management] told you to do.”<br />
He became president of <strong>the</strong> New York Center<br />
local and was elected president of <strong>the</strong> Professional<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Organization in 1970. During<br />
his ten-year reign, PATCO achieved many gains<br />
in benefits and working conditions for controllers.<br />
Progress sometimes came from slowdowns and<br />
sickouts that landed Leyden in court, but <strong>the</strong> law<br />
could be kind.<br />
To avoid arrest stemming from a job action,<br />
he temporarily resided in a Long Island hotel.<br />
The ploy failed. Federal marshals burst into his<br />
room one evening, surprising several visitors and<br />
Leyden, his face la<strong>the</strong>red with shaving cream.<br />
He nervously identified himself using <strong>the</strong> name<br />
of ano<strong>the</strong>r controller standing nearby. Seemingly<br />
satisfied, <strong>the</strong> marshals left.<br />
Pr e v i o u s PATCo Po s iT i o n s / AC h i e v e m e n T s<br />
<strong>National</strong> president 1970-80<br />
FAA Employee of <strong>the</strong> Year 1969<br />
New York Center local president<br />
hir e d<br />
1959<br />
Two years later, an airline security official at<br />
Kennedy <strong>Air</strong>port approached Leyden, who recognized<br />
<strong>the</strong> former agent.<br />
“If you thought you fooled me that night<br />
when I broke into <strong>the</strong> room and had <strong>the</strong> warrant<br />
for you, we knew who you were,” <strong>the</strong> man said.<br />
“But I also knew you had to go to court <strong>the</strong> next<br />
day for <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r thing.”<br />
Leyden nodded gratefully. The o<strong>the</strong>r thing<br />
was an adoption hearing for one of two children<br />
that he and his wife, Mary, raised. They now have<br />
three grandchildren. The oldest was born a dwarf.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> past seven years, Leyden has organized a<br />
golf tournament for <strong>the</strong> Little People’s Research<br />
Fund, raising $750,000, and also serves as chairman<br />
of <strong>the</strong> board for <strong>the</strong> charity.<br />
After his ouster from PATCO in 1980,<br />
Leyden worked as director of <strong>the</strong> Public Employee<br />
Department of <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO until 1998. Before<br />
retiring, he spent two years as chairman of <strong>the</strong><br />
Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee in <strong>the</strong><br />
Office of Personnel Management, which sets pay<br />
scales for blue-collar government workers.<br />
Leyden has also stood by NATCA’s side<br />
throughout its evolution: organizing, lobbying<br />
MEBA to underwrite <strong>the</strong> new union, helping draft<br />
its constitution, lending contract guidance, and<br />
supporting its successful bid for direct affiliation to<br />
<strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO.
Emerging from <strong>the</strong> Dark Ages<br />
Leyden and Poli held diametrically opposing<br />
views on <strong>the</strong> union’s path to success, but <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
driven by identical goals. Those same strong sentiments<br />
had stirred controllers for decades and created<br />
a cohesive sense of purpose that prompted Leyden,<br />
Poli, and <strong>the</strong>ir colleagues to seek <strong>the</strong> protection of a<br />
union. The motivation was so powerful that it survived<br />
PATCO’s subsequent dismemberment and fueled<br />
a second organizing effort a mere two years later<br />
among a predominantly different work force.<br />
Leyden had served in <strong>the</strong> military before entering<br />
<strong>the</strong> private sector, a typical career path for many<br />
controllers in his day. After <strong>the</strong> Federal Aviation<br />
Agency hired him in early 1959, he received basic<br />
training at <strong>the</strong> FAA Academy in Oklahoma City and<br />
<strong>the</strong>n settled in at New York Center, located in Hangar<br />
11 at Idlewild <strong>Air</strong>port (now Kennedy).<br />
Federal-sector unions did not exist yet. Leyden<br />
and his Hangar 11 crew even worked some sectors<br />
without <strong>the</strong> benefit of flattop radarscopes, let alone<br />
computerized flight information.<br />
Instead, <strong>the</strong>y used small plastic “shrimp<br />
boats”—so named because of <strong>the</strong>ir resemblance<br />
to fishing vessels—which contained slips of paper<br />
about each flight. <strong>Controllers</strong> pushed <strong>the</strong> shrimp<br />
boats on <strong>the</strong> scopes as <strong>the</strong> targets for <strong>the</strong>ir planes<br />
inched across <strong>the</strong> glass. Coordination with approach<br />
1980<br />
15<br />
Aug.<br />
controllers was handled by telephone.<br />
They separated traffic by 1,000 feet vertically<br />
and relied on pilot time estimates for arriving at<br />
navigational fixes to maintain lateral distances of<br />
10 minutes, an inefficiency that translated into<br />
more than ten times <strong>the</strong> horizontal spacing used<br />
today. The reliance on estimates also led to frequent<br />
separation errors.<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
<strong>National</strong> Archives<br />
Pushing plastic: Washington Center controllers in 1955 monitored aircraft with surplus radarscopes built for Navy<br />
battleships in World War II. They identified each target using a plastic “shrimp boat” that contained flight information.<br />
PATCO controllers stage a one-day slowdown at O’Hare International<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port that causes 616 delays of thirty minutes or more and costs <strong>the</strong> airlines<br />
more than $1 million in wasted fuel. The slowdown follows <strong>the</strong> FAA’s<br />
15<br />
refusal to pay O’Hare controllers an annual tax-free bonus of $7,500 and<br />
upgrade <strong>the</strong> tower to Level V. All o<strong>the</strong>r control towers are classified as<br />
Level IV. The agency calls <strong>the</strong> O’Hare demand “non-negotiable.”
16<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
* <strong>Controllers</strong> refer to operational errors, which<br />
involve loss of required separation between<br />
aircraft, as “deals.”<br />
1980<br />
20<br />
Oct.<br />
<strong>National</strong> Archives<br />
Big Blue: The prototype of <strong>the</strong> IBM 9020 computer, which provided real-time flight<br />
data information on radarscopes, was installed at Jacksonville Center in 1967.<br />
“You had one or two ‘deals’ on almost every<br />
single watch,” Leyden recalls. * For <strong>the</strong> most part,<br />
managers and pilots looked <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r way.<br />
Shortly before Leyden arrived at <strong>the</strong> center,<br />
BOAC (now British <strong>Air</strong>ways) began flying <strong>the</strong> de<br />
Havilland Comet between London and New York in<br />
October 1958. Days later, Pan American World <strong>Air</strong>ways<br />
inaugurated Boeing 707 service across <strong>the</strong> Atlantic<br />
to Paris. In December, <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>lines started<br />
operating <strong>the</strong> Douglas DC-8 between New York and<br />
Miami. The commercial jet age had dawned.<br />
Yet Leyden and his brethren dwelled in <strong>the</strong><br />
Dark Ages of air traffic control. The system was<br />
stagnating from two decades of neglect, largely<br />
Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan writes to PATCO President<br />
Robert Poli, stating that, if elected, he will work to ensure<br />
adequate staffing and new equipment for controllers.<br />
23<br />
Oct.<br />
due to inadequate congressional funding<br />
and bureaucratic infighting within<br />
<strong>the</strong> Commerce Department, which had<br />
governed <strong>the</strong> former Civil Aeronautics<br />
Administration.<br />
Many changes loomed, however,<br />
spurred in part by two highly publicized<br />
midair collisions, over <strong>the</strong> Grand Canyon<br />
in 1956 and New York City in 1960.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> heels of <strong>the</strong> first accident,<br />
Democratic Senators Mike Monroney from<br />
Oklahoma and Warren Magnuson from<br />
Washington spent two years shepherding<br />
a bill through Congress to create <strong>the</strong><br />
Federal Aviation Agency, predecessor to<br />
today’s FAA. The new organization, run by a Cabinetlevel<br />
administrator, opened its doors in late 1958. It was<br />
charged with taking over development and operation of<br />
<strong>the</strong> air traffic control system from <strong>the</strong> CAA, regulating<br />
aviation safety, and promoting air travel.<br />
The New York collision helped to expedite<br />
equipment modernization. Shortly after his inauguration<br />
in 1961, President Kennedy issued an executive<br />
order that led to a task force called Project Beacon.<br />
Based on nearly a year of study, <strong>the</strong> panel echoed<br />
controller sentiment for upgrading radar equipment<br />
so that all flights nationwide could be monitored continuously<br />
from takeoff to landing.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> time, vast chunks of U.S. airspace re-<br />
PATCO’s Executive Board publicly endorses Reagan and charges<br />
that President Jimmy Carter is ignoring serious safety problems<br />
that are jeopardizing <strong>the</strong> nation’s ATC system.
mained invisible to controllers.<br />
Project Beacon also urged development of a<br />
computerized system to display aircraft identifications,<br />
altitudes, and airspeeds directly on radarscopes—eliminating<br />
<strong>the</strong> need for shrimp boats. Ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
computer system would automatically print out<br />
13<br />
The back room (above): Sperry Univac Corporation<br />
developed a system for TRACONs, similar to computers<br />
at centers, that displayed flight information from<br />
aircraft transponders on radarscopes. / Japphire<br />
Nov.<br />
The front line (right): <strong>Controllers</strong> used <strong>the</strong> system,<br />
called ARTS, for more than three decades. A new system<br />
known as STARS is replacing ARTS. / <strong>National</strong> Archives<br />
The Federal Register publishes a 23-page contingency plan drafted by<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA outlining how it would respond to a potential air traffic controller<br />
strike. Among o<strong>the</strong>r things, <strong>the</strong> plan would forbid commercial flights<br />
flight strips and continuously distribute information<br />
to controllers for better coordination.<br />
The task force envisioned one common system.<br />
However, en route centers handle high-speed,<br />
high-altitude traffic over a broad area while terminal<br />
environments deal with a mix of planes converging<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
shorter than 500 miles. In August 1981, <strong>the</strong> agency develops a different<br />
plan to deal with <strong>the</strong> strike.<br />
17
18<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
President Kennedy<br />
issued an executive<br />
order in 1962 granting<br />
federal employees <strong>the</strong><br />
right to form unions.<br />
* TRACON is an acronym for Terminal Radar<br />
Approach Control. In <strong>the</strong>se dark, windowless<br />
radar rooms, controllers sequence planes for<br />
landing before handing <strong>the</strong>m off to airport<br />
towers. They also guide planes shortly after<br />
takeoff until controllers at en route centers<br />
assume responsibility.<br />
1981<br />
10<br />
Jan.<br />
around airports. To accommodate <strong>the</strong>se diverse needs,<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA worked with Sperry Univac Corporation to<br />
develop <strong>the</strong> Automated Radar Terminal System—<br />
ARTS—that accepted information from a single radar<br />
site for its approach control facilities. The prototype<br />
was installed at Atlanta TRACON in 1965. *<br />
Two years later, <strong>the</strong> agency implemented a different<br />
system at Jacksonville Center in Florida. Run<br />
by IBM’s 9020 computer, this one was capable of<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>ring data from multiple radar sites. The software<br />
contained more than 475,000 instructions, relatively<br />
small by today’s standards but larger than any o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
program of its time. The complexity created<br />
a coding nightmare.<br />
David Thomas, <strong>the</strong>n-deputy administrator<br />
of <strong>the</strong> FAA, recalled that one frustrated<br />
IBM worker “complained that all <strong>the</strong> aircraft<br />
flew at different speeds, and if we could only<br />
get <strong>the</strong>m to fly at <strong>the</strong> same velocity <strong>the</strong> programming<br />
difficulties could be overcome.” 3<br />
Eventually, <strong>the</strong> problems were largely<br />
solved. All twenty centers across <strong>the</strong> continental<br />
United States and sixty-three TRACONs were using<br />
<strong>the</strong> computerized systems by 1975.<br />
About <strong>the</strong> time Project Beacon released its recommendations,<br />
Kennedy issued ano<strong>the</strong>r executive<br />
order in January 1962 granting federal employees <strong>the</strong><br />
right to form unions. His action elated government<br />
workers. Their counterparts in <strong>the</strong> private sector had<br />
New York TRACON becomes operational in Westbury, Long Island.<br />
The facility replaces <strong>the</strong> “Common IFR Room” at Kennedy International<br />
enjoyed similar rights under <strong>the</strong> Wagner Act and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r national and state labor laws for more than a<br />
quarter century. Kennedy’s order and a subsequent<br />
one signed by President Nixon were codified into law<br />
when Congress passed <strong>the</strong> Civil Service Reform Act<br />
of 1978.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> beginning, two provisions were key:<br />
Federal-sector strikes were illegal and unions could<br />
not force individuals to join—a concept known as an<br />
“open shop.”<br />
Before Kennedy’s edict, <strong>the</strong> sole option for<br />
controllers seeking a voice on issues was <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> Control <strong>Association</strong>. Formed in<br />
1956, this professional group welcomed<br />
members from all segments of <strong>the</strong> aviation<br />
industry. Instructors at <strong>the</strong> FAA Academy<br />
encouraged trainees to join and some<br />
even implied that those who didn’t risked<br />
washing out. But ATCA lacked <strong>the</strong> legal<br />
authority to represent workers. Many<br />
controllers also discovered that managers<br />
dominated <strong>the</strong> group’s elected offices and<br />
delegate ranks at conventions, setting a decidedly<br />
anti-union tone.<br />
Kennedy’s mandate gave <strong>the</strong> rank and file new<br />
choices. Soon afterward, under <strong>the</strong> auspices of <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Association</strong> of Government Employees and<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Association</strong> of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Specialists, facility-based<br />
locals representing about 5,000 control-<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port. Serving Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark airports, it is slated to<br />
assume operations for several smaller airports.
lers formed in New York, Washington, Minneapolis,<br />
at LAX <strong>Air</strong>port and Los Angeles Center in Palmdale,<br />
and elsewhere.<br />
A Union is Born<br />
The local unions exercised little power, limited<br />
by <strong>the</strong>ir size, relative isolation, and an agency loath<br />
to take <strong>the</strong>m seriously. <strong>Controllers</strong> continued to eat<br />
lunch on position much of <strong>the</strong> time. If someone needed<br />
to visit <strong>the</strong> restroom and no one was available to<br />
step in, ano<strong>the</strong>r controller worked two positions during<br />
<strong>the</strong> interim. Guaranteed breaks were unheard of.<br />
Unless supervisors authorized time off, controllers<br />
guided planes continuously throughout <strong>the</strong> day—in<br />
white shirts and black ties, dark dress slacks, and<br />
lea<strong>the</strong>r shoes.<br />
Two aspects of <strong>the</strong> FAA’s culture exacerbated<br />
discontent over <strong>the</strong>se conditions.<br />
At towers, TRACONs and centers, large and<br />
small, many managers ruled with a militaristic, command-control<br />
style. They largely ignored <strong>the</strong> partnership<br />
role that controllers could play in developing<br />
operational procedures, improving equipment, and<br />
generally ensuring air safety.<br />
“We were lectured to ra<strong>the</strong>r than consulted<br />
with,” says Dave Landry, who spent most of his career<br />
at a small tower in Lebanon, New Hampshire.<br />
“The people who made <strong>the</strong> rules never pushed tin.”<br />
23<br />
Jan.<br />
Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis takes over from Neil E. Goldschmidt,<br />
who resigned after eighteen months in office when Ronald Reagan<br />
was inaugurated as president on January 20, 1981. Lewis, a business<br />
Overbearing managers sometimes dwelled on<br />
seemingly inconsequential issues, such as <strong>the</strong> dress<br />
code, which could lead to regrettable outcomes. An<br />
Oakland Center controller reported for work one day<br />
in 1968 wearing a pastel yellow shirt. Managers told<br />
him to go home, change into a white one, and put on<br />
a different pair of lea<strong>the</strong>r shoes.<br />
“These shoes cost more than <strong>the</strong> suit you’re<br />
wearing,” retorted <strong>the</strong> controller, who believed his<br />
attire was appropriately professional.<br />
“That’s it,” <strong>the</strong> manager shot back. “You’re fired<br />
for insubordination.” 4<br />
Without an established grievance procedure,<br />
<strong>the</strong> controller had little recourse and never retrieved<br />
his job.<br />
“It was <strong>the</strong> reason I got involved,” says Domenic<br />
Torchia, who went on to serve as a PATCO<br />
regional vice president, was fired in <strong>the</strong> strike, and<br />
joined NATCA after <strong>the</strong> agency rehired him in <strong>the</strong><br />
late 1990s.<br />
A second cultural aspect also affected working<br />
conditions. The doors to many facilities revolved<br />
every year or two with new managers who were<br />
working <strong>the</strong>ir way up <strong>the</strong> hierarchy. Too often, career<br />
motivations overshadowed a facility’s long-term<br />
interests, allowing many problems to fester. Fred Gilbert<br />
encountered that philosophy when he started at<br />
Chicago Center in 1970.<br />
“There was no interest in what controllers’<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
management specialist from Philadelphia, ran unsuccessfully for governor<br />
of Pennsylvania in 1974. He later became deputy chairman of <strong>the</strong> Republican<br />
<strong>National</strong> Committee.<br />
19
20<br />
1981<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
2<br />
Feb.<br />
needs were. It was all in personal needs as far as careers,”<br />
he says. “The most enjoyable times were when<br />
we were without a manager.”<br />
Fifteen years later, <strong>the</strong> same issues would<br />
motivate Landry, Gilbert, and many o<strong>the</strong>rs to form<br />
NATCA, and offer persuasive arguments for attracting<br />
widespread interest in <strong>the</strong> new union.<br />
Back in 1967, frustration<br />
finally led to action.<br />
O’Hare Tower/TRACON<br />
controllers were exhausted<br />
from working manda-<br />
tory overtime and angry<br />
that premium pay was<br />
based on a lower scale,<br />
meaning <strong>the</strong>y earned less<br />
than normal for <strong>the</strong> extra<br />
hours.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> FAA denied<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir request for a special<br />
raise, <strong>the</strong> controllers staged<br />
a work-to-rule slowdown<br />
by strictly adhering to legal separation standards,<br />
which <strong>the</strong>y often winked at with management’s tacit<br />
approval to minimize traffic backups. Chicago’s central<br />
location and its status as an airline hub caused<br />
delays to radiate nationwide.<br />
Chastened, <strong>the</strong> FAA granted <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
three step-increases on <strong>the</strong> government’s GS—Gen-<br />
The FAA commissions <strong>the</strong> first Direct Access Radar Channel at Salt Lake<br />
Center. Ray<strong>the</strong>on Company developed DARC as a backup system to<br />
eral Schedule—pay scale, equal to a $1,100 annual<br />
raise. To stave off requests at o<strong>the</strong>r facilities, <strong>the</strong><br />
agency maintained that only O’Hare merited <strong>the</strong> extra<br />
money because of Chicago’s high cost of living, its<br />
staff shortage, and difficulty in attracting transfers.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> elsewhere objected to <strong>the</strong> distinction.<br />
They argued for a comprehensive policy change<br />
that became a battle cry<br />
for PATCO and NATCA<br />
over <strong>the</strong> next thirty years.<br />
Namely, that compensation<br />
should be based<br />
“<br />
on complexity of operations<br />
and not merely <strong>the</strong><br />
number of takeoffs and<br />
landings.<br />
Atlanta and Chicago<br />
controllers jointly<br />
crafted a formula to reclassify<br />
all facilities and<br />
sought signatures from<br />
a majority of <strong>the</strong> work<br />
force to pressure <strong>the</strong> FAA into upgrading salaries<br />
across <strong>the</strong> board—a plan <strong>the</strong>y dubbed “Operation<br />
Snowman.”<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> petition drive fizzled, <strong>the</strong> effort<br />
ignited a desire to create a national group to represent<br />
controllers’ interests. In <strong>the</strong> fall of 1967, two<br />
NAGE local presidents—Jack Maher at New York<br />
We were lectured to ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than consulted with. The<br />
people who made <strong>the</strong> rules<br />
never pushed tin.<br />
— Lebanon Tower controller Dave Landry<br />
be used during failures and scheduled maintenance of <strong>the</strong> primary radar<br />
system.
Center and Mike Rock at LaGuardia Tower—formed<br />
<strong>the</strong> Metropolitan <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>, which also<br />
included Kennedy and Newark towers.<br />
Quickly realizing that NAGE could not provide<br />
enough support to help <strong>the</strong>m expand, Maher<br />
and Rock looked for a public personality who might<br />
champion <strong>the</strong>ir cause. They were ecstatic when <strong>the</strong><br />
flamboyant, well-known attorney F. Lee Bailey, a private<br />
pilot, agreed to head <strong>the</strong>ir budding group.<br />
More than 700 people from twenty-two states<br />
attended <strong>the</strong> first meeting of <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Organization on January 11, 1968.<br />
Bailey brought <strong>the</strong> cheering crowd to its feet eleven<br />
times by endorsing <strong>the</strong>ir concerns and pledging to<br />
highlight <strong>the</strong>m before Congress and <strong>the</strong> news media.<br />
Within a month, more than 4,000 controllers joined<br />
PATCO, submitting <strong>the</strong>ir dues voluntarily since <strong>the</strong><br />
agency had no provision to collect <strong>the</strong> money by payroll<br />
deduction.<br />
‘Sicking’ It Out<br />
Born at <strong>the</strong> end of a decade plagued by civil<br />
unrest and a divisive war, PATCO’s rough and tumble<br />
character was shaped by <strong>the</strong> times as much as<br />
its close-knit, fervent membership. Before PATCO<br />
was barely two years old, it scraped through ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
work-to-rule slowdown and two sickouts with<br />
mixed results.<br />
15<br />
Mar.<br />
The three-year labor agreement between PATCO and <strong>the</strong> FAA lapses.<br />
All provisions remain in force until a new agreement is negotiated, except<br />
immunity under NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System. This program,<br />
Following a nationwide slowdown in <strong>the</strong> summer<br />
of 1968, unprecedented talks with <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
enabled jubilant PATCO members to claim a Triple<br />
Crown victory that fall.<br />
The FAA upgraded pay scales in Atlanta, Chicago,<br />
Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington.<br />
Thanks to a law passed by Congress, controllers began<br />
earning time-and-a-half<br />
at <strong>the</strong>ir regular pay<br />
grade for overtime.<br />
Capitol Hill also<br />
appropriated<br />
$14 million in<br />
new money to<br />
permit <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
to dust off its<br />
training facility,<br />
which had been<br />
closed for seven years,<br />
and hire 1,000 controllers<br />
over <strong>the</strong> next few years.<br />
Two subsequent job actions, however, showered<br />
trouble on <strong>the</strong> growing union.<br />
On June 17, 1969, television host Johnny Carson<br />
invited Bailey on his program to talk about air<br />
traffic control problems. Confusion plagued an accompanying<br />
sickout aimed at pressuring <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
into fur<strong>the</strong>r concessions and only 477 controllers<br />
took part.<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
which former FAA Administrator Langhorne M. Bond unilaterally canceled<br />
for controllers in 1980, enabled <strong>the</strong>m to report mistakes without <strong>the</strong> risk<br />
of penalty in an attempt to solve common problems.<br />
21
22<br />
1981<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
22<br />
Apr.<br />
To PATCO’s dismay, <strong>the</strong> agency disavowed<br />
an immunity deal that Bailey brokered with Transportation<br />
Secretary John Volpe and suspended <strong>the</strong><br />
participants.<br />
The following spring, <strong>the</strong> agency issued transfer<br />
orders to four controller activists in Baton Rouge,<br />
Louisiana. PATCO worried<br />
that o<strong>the</strong>r involuntary<br />
moves would wreck<br />
<strong>the</strong> union and announced<br />
its intention to stage ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
sickout. For <strong>the</strong> second<br />
time, Bailey declined<br />
to insist on signatures to<br />
document a four-point<br />
deal he negotiated with<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA. Once again,<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency reneged on<br />
<strong>the</strong> gentlemen’s agreement. Outraged, nearly 3,300<br />
controllers—about one in four—called in sick over<br />
twenty days starting on March 25, 1970.<br />
The FAA responded by withholding paychecks<br />
and serving subpoenas on all <strong>the</strong> participants. Although<br />
federal courts ordered <strong>the</strong> controllers back<br />
to work under judicial protection, <strong>the</strong> FAA later suspended<br />
many of <strong>the</strong>m and fired 114 that it identified<br />
as leaders.<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r public-sector job action in March 1970<br />
ended far differently. About 152,000 postal workers<br />
FAA Administrator J. Lynn Helms takes over from Langhorne M. Bond,<br />
who resigned after nearly four years in office when Ronald Reagan was<br />
inaugurated as president. Helms served as an instructor and test pilot in<br />
“<br />
I want all those people put<br />
back to work.<br />
walked out for eight days. The illegal strikers won<br />
amnesty, and Congress passed <strong>the</strong> Postal Reorganization<br />
Act, which enabled <strong>the</strong> new, quasi-governmental<br />
U.S. Postal Service to negotiate substantial pay raises<br />
with its unions.<br />
The disparity left a lasting impression on John<br />
Leyden, who was among<br />
<strong>the</strong> “ill” controllers. Thereafter,<br />
he contended, “The<br />
only illegal strike is <strong>the</strong><br />
— President Nixon<br />
one that’s lost.”<br />
From <strong>the</strong> Doghouse<br />
to <strong>the</strong> White House<br />
One month after<br />
<strong>the</strong> sickout, Leyden flew<br />
to Las Vegas to attend<br />
PATCO’s third national convention. He was dissatisfied<br />
with F. Lee Bailey’s leadership and unhappy<br />
about <strong>the</strong> recent setbacks his union had suffered.<br />
Many of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r 200 delegates felt <strong>the</strong> same way<br />
and elected Leyden to succeed Jimmy Hays as <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
new president.<br />
Leyden wasted no time trying to rebuild <strong>the</strong><br />
organization. He persuaded convention delegates to<br />
revise <strong>the</strong> constitution and transform PATCO from a<br />
corporate orientation run by attorneys, which Bailey<br />
had established, to a union structure that put power<br />
<strong>the</strong> Marines during World War II. He later held top executive positions at<br />
Bendix Corporation, <strong>the</strong> Norden Division of United <strong>Air</strong>craft, and Piper<br />
<strong>Air</strong>craft Corporation. He was General Aviation Man of <strong>the</strong> Year in 1978.
exclusively in <strong>the</strong> hands of controllers. At an emotional<br />
meeting two months later, <strong>the</strong> Executive Board<br />
agreed with Leyden’s recommendation to ask for<br />
Bailey’s resignation.<br />
Finances presented ano<strong>the</strong>r serious issue, but<br />
help was at hand. Various<br />
unions had been courting<br />
PATCO, including one of<br />
<strong>the</strong> oldest—<strong>the</strong> powerful<br />
Marine Engineers<br />
Beneficial <strong>Association</strong>,<br />
an AFL-CIO affiliate<br />
with 10,000 members<br />
that was founded in<br />
1875. MEBA offered <strong>the</strong><br />
controllers money, influential<br />
political contacts,<br />
and office space around<br />
<strong>the</strong> country. In a vote of <strong>the</strong> membership, 92 percent<br />
approved affiliating with MEBA.<br />
PATCO’s new relationship soon paid off<br />
handsomely.<br />
For twenty years, MEBA’s longshoremen had<br />
refused to handle Russian ships and cargo. President<br />
Nixon now sought to change <strong>the</strong>ir position so <strong>the</strong><br />
Soviet Union could receive badly needed U.S. wheat.<br />
MEBA President Jesse Calhoon suggested that Leyden<br />
use <strong>the</strong> issue as a bargaining chip to win reinstatement<br />
of <strong>the</strong> 114 controllers dismissed in <strong>the</strong> 1970 sickout.<br />
“<br />
If <strong>the</strong>y [<strong>the</strong> FAA] do not come<br />
to <strong>the</strong>ir senses, I vow to you<br />
that <strong>the</strong> skies will be silent.<br />
Leyden brokered <strong>the</strong> deal in a phone call to <strong>the</strong><br />
White House. After explaining that <strong>the</strong> fired controllers<br />
were “all good people” who should get <strong>the</strong>ir jobs<br />
back, he said, “Mr. Calhoon has had discussion with<br />
you on an issue of vital importance.” The message<br />
was clear. During a brief<br />
meeting late one evening<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Oval Office, Leyden<br />
joined Nixon, top aides<br />
H.R. “Bob” Haldeman<br />
— PATCO President Robert Poli<br />
Apr. May<br />
28<br />
PATCO representatives walk out of contract talks with <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
after thirty-seven bargaining sessions. Union demands for a 32hour<br />
workweek and separate pay scale meet stiff resistance.<br />
23<br />
and John Ehrlichman,<br />
a White House counsel,<br />
and representatives from<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA and Transportation<br />
Department.<br />
“I want all those<br />
people put back to work,”<br />
Nixon said simply before<br />
leaving <strong>the</strong> room.<br />
The men from <strong>the</strong> FAA and Transportation<br />
Department filed out, too, while Leyden stayed behind.<br />
The White House counsel turned to him and<br />
advised: “Now just remember, John. If you have any<br />
problems, if this doesn’t work <strong>the</strong> way we’ve agreed<br />
here today, you call me and let me know.”<br />
Leyden thanked him and walked out into <strong>the</strong><br />
hallway. The voices of <strong>the</strong> two transportation officials,<br />
who were far<strong>the</strong>r ahead, echoed down <strong>the</strong><br />
corridor. “That crazy bastard thinks he’s going to get<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
At its annual convention in New Orleans, PATCO sets June 22<br />
as <strong>the</strong> deadline for agreeing on a new contract with <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
23<br />
Courtesy of Dave Landry<br />
PATCO pin: Choirboys, who led <strong>the</strong> call for<br />
a strike, wore this distinctive trinket.
24<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1978 PATCO contract: Ten years later,<br />
NATCA would rely on parts of its predecessor’s<br />
last agreement with <strong>the</strong> FAA as a<br />
foundation for new bargaining talks.<br />
1981<br />
22<br />
June<br />
<strong>the</strong>m all back to work,” one said.<br />
“If you have a problem with that, let’s go back<br />
in <strong>the</strong>re now,” Leyden shouted.<br />
He watched with glee as <strong>the</strong>y scurried away.<br />
Although no public announcement was made, all of<br />
<strong>the</strong> fired controllers were gradually reinstated.<br />
Decade of Progress<br />
By September 1972, PATCO was<br />
back on solid footing and had gained official<br />
recognition as a trade union representing<br />
all controllers—not just its members.<br />
That same year, PATCO successfully<br />
lobbied for congressional passage of its Second-Career<br />
Retirement Bill. This landmark<br />
law established <strong>the</strong> precedent that controllers<br />
experienced more debilitating stress than o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
workers. On that basis, Congress stipulated<br />
<strong>the</strong>y could retire on half <strong>the</strong>ir base salary at age<br />
50 with twenty years of service or at any age<br />
with twenty-five years of service. The law also<br />
enabled controllers who could no longer work because<br />
of physical or psychological reasons to collect<br />
full salary and benefits for two years while <strong>the</strong>y<br />
received vocational retraining.<br />
Leyden considers this “one of <strong>the</strong> crowning<br />
achievements of my term in office,” despite his disappointment<br />
that Congress later canceled funding for<br />
Telephone polling of union halls across <strong>the</strong> nation conducted in <strong>the</strong> early<br />
hours of <strong>the</strong> morning indicates that less than 80 percent of PATCO<br />
controllers have voted to strike. About 5 a.m. Eastern time, Robert Poli<br />
<strong>the</strong> retraining program.<br />
The union racked up o<strong>the</strong>r gains throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> decade and signed its second contract with <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA in 1978. One notable provision included an annual<br />
overseas familiarization trip (FAM trips enable<br />
controllers to observe pilots from <strong>the</strong> cockpit jump<br />
seat). But when <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Transport <strong>Association</strong> told<br />
Leyden it wouldn’t honor <strong>the</strong> FAM<br />
provision, he called for ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
slowdown.<br />
He viewed it as a matter<br />
of principle. “If <strong>the</strong>y’re going<br />
to make that clause invalid,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n that opens up <strong>the</strong> whole<br />
contract and everything else is<br />
subject to review and change.<br />
This was my mistake,” Leyden<br />
acknowledges now.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> in New<br />
York, Chicago, and elsewhere,<br />
who were more interested<br />
in financial gains,<br />
offered only lukewarm support<br />
for two-day slowdowns in May and<br />
June.<br />
Leyden’s second key error stemmed from a proactive<br />
move that backfired. Realizing that ano<strong>the</strong>r job<br />
action would have to entail a strike, he reviewed o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
public walkouts. Borrowing an idea from a teach-<br />
tentatively agrees to <strong>the</strong> FAA’s “final” contract offer from Transportation<br />
Secretary Drew Lewis, despite knowing <strong>the</strong>re is little union support for its<br />
provisions.
ers’ strike in St. Louis, he formed a special group<br />
of controllers who could be counted<br />
on to deliver <strong>the</strong> vote. These “choirboys,”<br />
chosen by local and regional<br />
vice presidents, operated with <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
own budget administered by Robert<br />
Poli, a Cleveland Center controller<br />
who’d been elected executive vice<br />
president in 1973.<br />
Over time, <strong>the</strong> choirboys<br />
“pretty much ran around uncontrolled,”<br />
recalls George Kerr, <strong>the</strong><br />
Eastern Region vice president.<br />
Leyden agrees that <strong>the</strong> renegade<br />
group “led to my downfall.”<br />
‘The Skies will be Silent’<br />
Talk of a strike ga<strong>the</strong>red<br />
momentum with <strong>the</strong><br />
advent of <strong>the</strong> choirboys.<br />
Many were Vietnam veterans.<br />
Treated poorly when<br />
<strong>the</strong>y came home after <strong>the</strong><br />
war and fed up with <strong>the</strong> FAA’s militaristic<br />
management style, <strong>the</strong>y were spoiling for a fight.<br />
“It was like <strong>the</strong> proverbial locomotive on <strong>the</strong><br />
track,” Kerr says. “Once you get a head of steam up<br />
23<br />
June<br />
The FAA announces it will proceed with testing and deploying <strong>the</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
Alert/Collision Avoidance System. The basic version of <strong>the</strong> computerized<br />
equipment, installed onboard airplanes, would work in conjunction with<br />
and you get her pointed in a direction, <strong>the</strong> object now<br />
becomes how do we stop it?”<br />
Not everyone was<br />
onboard <strong>the</strong><br />
train. A sizable<br />
segment<br />
of <strong>the</strong> work<br />
force took seriously<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir<br />
signed oath not<br />
to strike. Many<br />
controllers also<br />
thought <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
re latively well off.<br />
More money and<br />
a shorter workweek<br />
sounded appealing,<br />
but <strong>the</strong>y believed <strong>the</strong><br />
public wouldn’t sympathize<br />
with such demands<br />
while inflation<br />
raged at an average of<br />
14.7 percent throughout<br />
1980.<br />
However, o<strong>the</strong>rs in<br />
PATCO believed <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
invincible. Part of <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
confidence stemmed from a letter written in October<br />
1980 by presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. Among<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
25<br />
A politician’s promise: While campaigning<br />
for president in 1980, Ronald Reagan<br />
vowed to support air traffic controllers.<br />
<strong>the</strong> air traffic control radar beacon system to alert pilots to nearby traffic.<br />
Advanced versions would tell pilots to climb or descend in a coordinated<br />
maneuver to avoid each o<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> event of potential collisions.
26<br />
1981<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
28<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r things, Reagan stated, “You can rest assured that<br />
if I am elected president, I will take whatever steps<br />
are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers<br />
with <strong>the</strong> most modern equipment available and to<br />
adjust staff levels and workdays so that <strong>the</strong>y are commensurate<br />
with achieving<br />
a maximum degree of<br />
public safety.”<br />
Armed with this<br />
apparent support, Poli<br />
and his contract team<br />
started negotiations with<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA in February<br />
1981 demanding three<br />
key items (along with<br />
ninety-three o<strong>the</strong>rs): an<br />
across-<strong>the</strong>-board annual<br />
raise of $10,000, plus<br />
sem iannual<br />
cost-of-living<br />
raises<br />
1½ times <strong>the</strong> rate of inflation; a 32-hour<br />
workweek (controllers elsewhere in <strong>the</strong><br />
world labored 29 to 38 hours a week); and<br />
retirement after twenty years at 75 percent<br />
of base salary.<br />
When contract talks continued with<br />
little progress, Poli turned up <strong>the</strong> heat at PAT-<br />
CO’s national convention in May by announc-<br />
June July<br />
The FAA commissions <strong>the</strong> twentieth DARC system at Minneapolis<br />
Center.<br />
“<br />
It was like <strong>the</strong> proverbial<br />
locomotive on <strong>the</strong> track. Once<br />
you get a head of steam up,<br />
how do we stop it?<br />
ing a strike deadline of June 22. “If <strong>the</strong>y [<strong>the</strong> FAA] do<br />
not come to <strong>the</strong>ir senses, I vow to you that <strong>the</strong> skies<br />
will be silent,” he declared to a thunderous standing<br />
ovation. 5<br />
Three hours before <strong>the</strong> threatened walkout,<br />
Transportation Secretary<br />
Drew Lewis made<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA’s final $40 million<br />
offer. It included<br />
a $4,000 pay increase<br />
— George Kerr,<br />
former PATCO Eastern Region VP<br />
2<br />
(equal to 11.4 percent,<br />
although 4.8 percent represented<br />
a raise that all<br />
federal workers would receive)<br />
and overtime when<br />
controllers worked more<br />
than 36 hours a week.<br />
Having just been<br />
informed that PATCO’s<br />
membership strike vote<br />
fell short of <strong>the</strong> required<br />
80 percent, Poli accepted <strong>the</strong> offer. But after vocal<br />
arguing, <strong>the</strong> union’s Executive Board recommended<br />
that <strong>the</strong> membership turn down <strong>the</strong> proposal. Local<br />
presidents asked controllers for <strong>the</strong>ir vote in public,<br />
an intimidation tactic that helped overcome some reluctance<br />
and boosted <strong>the</strong> rejection rate to 95 percent.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> Reagan administration steadfastly opposed<br />
fur<strong>the</strong>r concessions, Poli declared a second strike<br />
PATCO’s Executive Board unanimously recommends that controllers<br />
turn down <strong>the</strong> FAA’s “final” offer. The board believes<br />
<strong>the</strong> level of militancy will never be higher to achieve its goals.
deadline of August 3, 1981.<br />
The night before, controllers showed up at<br />
union halls across <strong>the</strong> nation for a head count. Doors<br />
were sometimes locked to guard against those whose<br />
second thoughts might prompt <strong>the</strong>m to leave,<br />
helping to ensure a paper-thin strike authorization<br />
of 80.5 percent. Several<br />
hours later, at 7 o’clock on that<br />
fateful Monday morning, nearly<br />
13,000 controllers—about 79<br />
percent of <strong>the</strong> work force—<br />
honored <strong>the</strong> picket line. 6<br />
Former MEBA President<br />
Doc Cullison believes that<br />
PATCO’s vocal “chest-pounding<br />
stage” drove <strong>the</strong> FAA to intensively<br />
prepare for <strong>the</strong> strike. “The<br />
FAA almost felt challenged. Bring it on,”<br />
he says. “Both of <strong>the</strong>m had loaded pistols and <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
ready to go.”<br />
Agency staff specialists working with airline<br />
representatives created a contingency plan called<br />
“Flow Control 50.” Half <strong>the</strong> peak-hour flights at<br />
twenty-two major airports were abolished, alleviating<br />
traffic rushes. En route centers increased horizontal<br />
spacing between aircraft from <strong>the</strong> normal 10 miles to<br />
as much as 100 miles. Even so, airlines flew about 65<br />
percent of <strong>the</strong>ir normal schedules on that first day.<br />
While <strong>the</strong> effect of <strong>the</strong> walkout was significant, <strong>the</strong><br />
29<br />
July<br />
PATCO announces that more than 95 percent of its members rejected <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA’s proposed agreement by a vote of 13,495 to 616. <strong>Controllers</strong> voted<br />
publicly ra<strong>the</strong>r than by secret mail-in ballot.<br />
skies were far from silent as Poli had predicted.<br />
Instrument flights were prohibited for smaller<br />
private planes. The FAA required o<strong>the</strong>r general aviation<br />
pilots to reserve flight plans on a first-come,<br />
first-served basis until <strong>the</strong> end of 1983. No pilots<br />
could enter airspace around major<br />
airports, known as Terminal Control<br />
Areas, unless <strong>the</strong>y were flying<br />
under instrument flight rules.<br />
Eighty small control towers<br />
were closed and twenty-seven<br />
remained shuttered two years<br />
later. The agency began contracting<br />
with private firms to<br />
operate many of <strong>the</strong>m, leading<br />
to a longstanding battle with<br />
NATCA.<br />
Four hours into <strong>the</strong> walkout, President<br />
Reagan appeared in <strong>the</strong> Rose Garden and ordered<br />
<strong>the</strong> strikers to return to <strong>the</strong>ir jobs within two<br />
days or face dismissal. Federal judges moved swiftly<br />
to impound PATCO’s $3.5 million strike fund and<br />
impose fines of $100,000 an hour for defying an injunction<br />
against job actions, which arose from <strong>the</strong><br />
1970 sickout.<br />
About 875 controllers—whom strikers disdainfully<br />
called “sprinters”—reported back to <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
facilities within Reagan’s deadline. The remaining<br />
picketers, accounting for three-quarters of <strong>the</strong> work<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
27<br />
Gary Eads: PATCO’s last president, elected<br />
in January 1982, took over a decertified<br />
union facing bankruptcy. Six months later,<br />
he announced: “It is over for PATCO. The<br />
union is gone.” / NATCA archives
28<br />
1981<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
31<br />
July<br />
What’s in a Name?<br />
Robert Poli announces PATCO will go on strike August 3 unless its demands<br />
are met. Eleventh-hour talks begin between <strong>the</strong> union and <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
Japphire<br />
�<br />
Built on <strong>the</strong> mudflats of <strong>the</strong> Potomac River,<br />
two miles south of The Mall, Washington<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>port memorialized <strong>the</strong> nation’s<br />
first president.<br />
In 1998, to <strong>the</strong> outrage of controllers<br />
across <strong>the</strong> country, Congress passed a law<br />
renaming <strong>the</strong> airport in honor of <strong>the</strong> president<br />
responsible for firing more than 11,000 of<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir brethren.<br />
Speaking against <strong>the</strong> proposal while<br />
lawmakers were considering <strong>the</strong> action, former<br />
NATCA Executive Vice President Randy<br />
Schwitz said: “To name a major U.S. airport<br />
after Reagan would be a slap in <strong>the</strong> face to<br />
today’s controllers and <strong>the</strong> many thousands<br />
terminated still on <strong>the</strong> street waiting to be rehired<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Federal Aviation Administration.<br />
I’d ra<strong>the</strong>r have a hot poker in my eye than<br />
have an airport named after him.”<br />
To this day, many controllers refuse to<br />
call DCA by its new name.
force, were fired. Most appealed <strong>the</strong>ir dismissal to <strong>the</strong><br />
Merit Systems Protection Board, but only 440 were<br />
reinstated during <strong>the</strong> next two-and-a-half years. 7<br />
When <strong>the</strong> dust finally settled, more than 11,000<br />
workers no longer had a career in air traffic control.<br />
The Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified<br />
<strong>the</strong> 13-year-old PATCO on October 17. For <strong>the</strong><br />
first time, a union representing U.S. government<br />
workers had been stripped of its legal standing.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> last day of 1981, Poli resigned, persuaded<br />
by o<strong>the</strong>r board members that <strong>the</strong> union could<br />
not move forward until he stepped aside. According<br />
to PATCO members who kept in touch, Poli later ran<br />
several car dealerships along <strong>the</strong> East Coast. Executive<br />
Vice President Robert Meyer also quit. Central<br />
Region Vice President Gary Eads and Western Region<br />
VP Domenic Torchia were elected president and vice<br />
3<br />
Aug.<br />
1. Fuerbringer, Jonathan. 1981. Militant controller chief: Robert Edmond Poli.<br />
The New York Times. 4 August, late city final edition.<br />
2. Much of <strong>the</strong> material about <strong>the</strong> January 1980 PATCO meeting is based on<br />
interviews with John Leyden and George Kerr in September and November<br />
2001, respectively.<br />
3. Garonzik, Joseph. 1986. Aviation’s Indispensable Partner Turns 50. U.S. Department<br />
of Transportation.<br />
4. Related by Domenic Torchia during an interview in July 2001.<br />
5. 1981. <strong>Air</strong> traffic controllers set a June 22 strike deadline. The New York Times.<br />
24 May.<br />
6. PATCO figures.<br />
7. Transportation Department figures.<br />
The walkout starts at 7 a.m. Eastern time. Nearly 13,000 controllers—<br />
about 79 percent of <strong>the</strong> work force—honor <strong>the</strong> picket line. President Reagan<br />
announces <strong>the</strong> controllers must return to <strong>the</strong>ir jobs within forty-eight<br />
president, respectively.<br />
They took over a mortally wounded organization.<br />
Stripped of its charter and facing claims of<br />
about $40 million, <strong>the</strong> union filed for bankruptcy on<br />
July 2, 1982. “It is over for PATCO,” Eads told reporters.<br />
“The union is gone.” 8<br />
8. Shifrin, Carole. 1982. PATCO goes bankrupt 11 months after strike. The<br />
Washington Post. 3 July, final edition.<br />
Chapter 1: ATC Comes of Age<br />
hours or <strong>the</strong>y’ll be fired. Supervisors, staff specialists, and military controllers<br />
step in to help handle traffic. Even so, airlines cancel more than 6,000<br />
flights. A federal court impounds PATCO’s $3.5 million strike fund.<br />
29
“ We did not<br />
rebuild <strong>the</strong> system.<br />
We re-staffed it.<br />
— Anonymous air traffic controller<br />
Fallout from <strong>the</strong> strike: The FAA hired<br />
thousands of controllers throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1980s, yet understaffing persistently<br />
plagued Washington Center. / NATCA archives
Chapter 2<br />
Opportunity Lost<br />
As <strong>the</strong> clock ticked toward seven on <strong>the</strong> morning of <strong>the</strong> strike, John<br />
Gilbert drove along <strong>the</strong> two-lane road approaching Albuquerque<br />
Center. Across <strong>the</strong> street, a group of picketers huddled in front of a<br />
vast expanse of land dotted with gray sagebrush. They recognized Gilbert’s<br />
truck—a classic, cherry red 1966 Chevy pickup—and began waving at him.<br />
Gilbert noticed several members of his crew,<br />
including <strong>the</strong> secretary and treasurer of <strong>the</strong> PATCO<br />
local. Friendly shouts drifted through his open driver’s<br />
side window.<br />
“You’re on <strong>the</strong> wrong side,” <strong>the</strong>y hollered.<br />
“Come over with us. It’s not too late.”<br />
Gilbert glanced at <strong>the</strong>m and <strong>the</strong>n resolutely<br />
turned right to head past a guard shack toward <strong>the</strong><br />
center’s parking lot.<br />
Sixteen months earlier, <strong>the</strong> tall, slender Houston<br />
native had left a low-paying job selling telephone<br />
gear to join <strong>the</strong> FAA as a controller. He later discovered<br />
<strong>the</strong> center’s switching equipment was so antiquated<br />
that it no longer appeared in <strong>the</strong> catalogs he’d<br />
used at <strong>the</strong> phone company.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less, Gilbert was happy to have a ca-<br />
reer with potential. He believed <strong>the</strong> strikers were demanding<br />
too much. Still certifying as a journeyman<br />
controller, he was too new to fully understand <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
frustrations. That would come later.<br />
Several weeks earlier, his crewmates<br />
had asked him whe<strong>the</strong>r he<br />
planned to join <strong>the</strong> picket line. “Hypo<strong>the</strong>tically,”<br />
Gilbert asked, “say we<br />
all walk and <strong>the</strong> FAA says: ‘Okay,<br />
we concede to your demands. You<br />
can all go back to work—except <strong>the</strong><br />
trainees.’ What <strong>the</strong>n? Will you stay<br />
out with us?”<br />
“Let me think about it,” one of<br />
<strong>the</strong>m said. Many journeymen controllers held<br />
developmentals at arm’s length until <strong>the</strong>y certified<br />
Driving on: John Gilbert began working at<br />
Albuquerque Center in 1980 and steered<br />
clear of <strong>the</strong> strike. / Courtesy of John Gilbert
32<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
John Gilbert: A colleague awarded <strong>the</strong><br />
young controller a gold star for working<br />
on August 3, 1981. Gilbert, who later<br />
transferred to Houston, still wears <strong>the</strong><br />
star on his ID badge. / Courtesy of John Gilbert<br />
1981<br />
5<br />
Aug.<br />
because <strong>the</strong> washout rate was so high. As a trainee,<br />
Gilbert was not yet part of <strong>the</strong> inner circle.<br />
“If you’ve got to stop and think about it, that’s<br />
answer enough for me,” Gilbert replied. “So much for<br />
solidarity. I’m not striking with you guys.”<br />
They threatened to make his life miserable<br />
when <strong>the</strong> walkout ended, but Gilbert shrugged it off.<br />
“Misery is a two-way street,” he retorted.<br />
Leaving his car, Gilbert ambled inside <strong>the</strong> facility<br />
under <strong>the</strong> watchful eyes of his colleagues and<br />
friends standing in <strong>the</strong> New Mexico heat across <strong>the</strong><br />
street. His supervisor, Chuck Tuberville, one of <strong>the</strong><br />
few people on his crew to show up, greeted him. Sally<br />
Lane, a fellow controller, had just finished <strong>the</strong> midnight<br />
shift. She sauntered up to Gilbert holding a card<br />
of gold stars, peeled one off, and stuck it on <strong>the</strong> ID<br />
badge dangling from his neck.<br />
“This is your gold<br />
star,” Lane said. “It’s <strong>the</strong><br />
only thing you’re going<br />
to get out of <strong>the</strong><br />
agency for coming in<br />
to work.”<br />
Gilbert chuckled<br />
and gazed around<br />
<strong>the</strong> control room.<br />
Only a few sectors<br />
were open. <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
were joined by supervisors<br />
About 875 controllers return to work. More than 11,000 lose <strong>the</strong>ir jobs.<br />
The ranks of journeymen and developmental controllers drop 74 percent.<br />
The FAA institutes “Flow Control 50,” which requires <strong>the</strong> airlines to<br />
and staff specialists, some of<br />
whom had untangled<br />
head set cords<br />
that morning for<br />
<strong>the</strong> first time in<br />
several years and<br />
looked nervous facing<br />
<strong>the</strong> scopes again.<br />
Normally, <strong>the</strong>y’d be<br />
required to train and<br />
re-certify after such a<br />
lengthy absence. But<br />
today’s unique event<br />
forced <strong>the</strong>m to jump<br />
back in cold.<br />
I r o n i c a l l y ,<br />
Gilbert realized he was better qualified to control<br />
airplanes than many o<strong>the</strong>rs present. He wished he<br />
could help, but he wasn’t authorized to work without<br />
an instructor. Having nothing else to do, he teased<br />
Tuberville about handling <strong>the</strong> traffic.<br />
The Honeymoon<br />
Nearly 3,400 controllers reported for duty that<br />
August 3 rd and in <strong>the</strong> following days, augmented by<br />
roughly 500 military controllers and <strong>the</strong> 875 FAA<br />
workers who returned within Reagan’s 48-hour<br />
deadline. They encountered similar scenes.<br />
cancel about half of <strong>the</strong>ir peak-hour flights at twenty-two major airports.<br />
In-trail restrictions increase to as much as 100 miles. IFR flights are prohibited<br />
for general aviation planes weighing 12,500 pounds or less.
Picketers congregated on <strong>the</strong> driveway of <strong>the</strong><br />
fire station across <strong>the</strong> street from Chicago Center in<br />
suburban Aurora, Illinois, shouting at co-workers<br />
and running out to kick <strong>the</strong> tires of <strong>the</strong>ir cars. At<br />
Houston Center, some 140 strikers yelled and waved<br />
signs while clustered along <strong>the</strong> grassy median of busy<br />
JFK Boulevard in front of <strong>the</strong> facility. At Salt Lake<br />
Center, managers stood on <strong>the</strong> roof, peered through<br />
binoculars, and wrote down picketers’ names.<br />
The tension outside yielded to different, yet<br />
equally charged, emotions inside. Some strikebreakers<br />
fretted about dealing with <strong>the</strong>ir colleagues<br />
when <strong>the</strong>y came back. O<strong>the</strong>rs were glad to be rid of<br />
<strong>the</strong>m—even if only temporarily. The stress during<br />
<strong>the</strong> preceding months, fueled by peer pressure and<br />
uncertainty, had swelled like a volcano on <strong>the</strong> verge<br />
of eruption.<br />
Yet, <strong>the</strong> strike resulted in one very pleasant<br />
consequence for those on <strong>the</strong> job. As never before,<br />
controllers, managers, staff specialists, and <strong>Air</strong>ways<br />
Facilities technicians set aside antagonism, pettiness,<br />
and class distinctions. Instead, <strong>the</strong>y banded toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
with a sorely needed esprit de corps to keep <strong>the</strong> traffic<br />
moving.<br />
“For <strong>the</strong> first week, people were just operating<br />
on guts,” says Howie Barte, a controller at Quonset<br />
TRACON, south of Providence, Rhode Island. “It was<br />
<strong>the</strong> Alamo and we were loving it.”<br />
Initially, traffic was relatively light, leading one<br />
4<br />
Sep.<br />
The FAA announces it will hire about 1,500 temporary workers, including<br />
furloughed airline pilots, to serve as flight data assistants and perform<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r controller support functions.<br />
wag to declare: “We’re going to have one-state separation<br />
between airplanes.”<br />
To handle <strong>the</strong> gradual resumption of flights,<br />
bosses turned pragmatic and abandoned cumbersome<br />
operating procedures. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than haranguing<br />
controllers about phraseology errors, managers did<br />
whatever <strong>the</strong>y could to help, even ordering in food.<br />
Indeed, coffee and snacks were verboten in control<br />
rooms before <strong>the</strong> strike. Now <strong>the</strong>y were a necessity.<br />
The only breaks <strong>the</strong> skeletal work force enjoyed were<br />
dashes to <strong>the</strong> restroom. O<strong>the</strong>r rules were relaxed and<br />
Chapter 2: Opportunity Lost<br />
Japphire<br />
Houston Center: Nearly all of <strong>the</strong> FAA’s en route centers were built from <strong>the</strong> same cookie-cutter blueprint. The agency<br />
opted for a different design at its Houston facility, however, due to <strong>the</strong> influence of Lady Bird Johnson.<br />
33
34<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Fred Gilbert: The Chicago Center veteran<br />
organized a conference for controllers<br />
from all of <strong>the</strong> FAA’s en route centers<br />
some eighteen months after <strong>the</strong> strike.<br />
However, agency managers pressured him<br />
to cancel <strong>the</strong> event. / Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
1981<br />
30<br />
Sep.<br />
compliments from managers flowed freely.<br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> gradually resumed as summer faded<br />
into fall. Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> strikers’ hopes of getting<br />
rehired waned and <strong>the</strong>ir resentment mounted toward<br />
those still wearing headsets. Picketers grew more vocal<br />
and telephoned threats to controllers’ homes. Cars<br />
were splattered with paint and tires were slashed.<br />
Onetime friends wordlessly walked away when <strong>the</strong>y<br />
saw each o<strong>the</strong>r at supermarkets and shopping malls,<br />
a bitterness that lingered for years.<br />
“The division of loyalty was huge,” recalls<br />
Barte, who burned his PATCO membership card in<br />
an ashtray in <strong>the</strong> TRACON a week after <strong>the</strong> strike. “If<br />
you were in, you hated PATCO. If you were out, you<br />
hated <strong>the</strong> people who were in.”<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> embraced <strong>the</strong> challenge of <strong>the</strong><br />
job itself, however, and relished <strong>the</strong>ir honeymoon<br />
with management. Joe O’Brien, a lanky<br />
former Navy controller who started at New<br />
York TRACON in February 1982, has fond<br />
memories of <strong>the</strong> period and his decision to<br />
enter <strong>the</strong> profession. “It was <strong>the</strong> best thing I<br />
ever did in my life,” he says.<br />
Energetic and all of 22, O’Brien joined about<br />
fifty o<strong>the</strong>r controllers in a facility built for 200. They<br />
had to keep planes separated by <strong>the</strong> legal minimums,<br />
of course, but exercised some latitude in doing so.<br />
Gulping coffee and smoking cigarettes, screaming<br />
and cursing at each o<strong>the</strong>r to coordinate traffic, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
During <strong>the</strong> preceding year, <strong>the</strong> FAA has added two key capabilities to<br />
equipment at <strong>the</strong> nation’s twenty-one en route centers: minimum safe<br />
altitude warning, already in use at TRACONs; and arrival metering, which<br />
somehow got it done. “It was like <strong>the</strong> Wild West,”<br />
he says.<br />
Far<strong>the</strong>r east on Long Island from O’Brien, Michael<br />
McNally enjoyed <strong>the</strong> same sense of exhilaration<br />
on <strong>the</strong> scopes at New York Center. “I was young. I was<br />
cocky. I was on <strong>the</strong> top of my game,” he says. “They<br />
wanted us to become tin junkies and that’s what we<br />
became. We kept running, running, running.”<br />
It would take awhile for O’Brien, McNally, and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs to recognize <strong>the</strong> negative long-term effects of<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir frenetic pace. Much sooner, <strong>the</strong>ir post-strike rapport<br />
with management would turn sour, like blissful<br />
newlyweds lapsing into an abusive<br />
marriage.<br />
One morning about<br />
six months after <strong>the</strong><br />
walkout, Fred Gilbert<br />
strolled into Chicago<br />
Center and passed <strong>the</strong><br />
cafeteria on his way<br />
to <strong>the</strong> control room.<br />
Darkness shrouded<br />
<strong>the</strong> food line, as it had<br />
since August 3 rd . Diners<br />
used to fight for seats; <strong>the</strong>se days,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y occupied a mere handful of tables at lunchtime.<br />
Gilbert’s foot steps echoed along <strong>the</strong> largely deserted<br />
halls. Inside <strong>the</strong> control room, <strong>the</strong> formerly vibrant,<br />
noisy atmosphere had softened to a hush, much like<br />
provides controllers with computerized advisories to help manage traffic<br />
flows into major airports.
a midnight shift. Less than half <strong>the</strong> normal complement<br />
of controllers sat along <strong>the</strong> four rows of radarscopes.<br />
So few workers remained that several coffee<br />
funds had dwindled into one. The solitary pot was<br />
located in an outer office of <strong>the</strong> administrative wing<br />
on <strong>the</strong> second floor. Though not a coffee drinker, Gilbert<br />
listened in disbelief as an astonished colleague<br />
told him about a sign that had appeared overnight<br />
next to <strong>the</strong> pot. From now on, <strong>the</strong> coffee was for<br />
managers only.<br />
The honeymoon was over.<br />
Power Plays<br />
From Anchorage to<br />
Miami, controllers faced <strong>the</strong><br />
same rude awakening during<br />
<strong>the</strong> next few years. Many supervisors,<br />
who wielded little<br />
real authority yet were pressured<br />
from above to restore<br />
<strong>the</strong> system to normal, flexed<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir muscles where <strong>the</strong>y could.<br />
Unilaterally, <strong>the</strong>y adjusted work<br />
schedules and granted or denied<br />
leave on <strong>the</strong> basis of personal relationships.<br />
Operating procedures<br />
and work rules were changed by<br />
1<br />
Oct.<br />
FAA operations are reduced from eleven regions to nine. Western and<br />
Pacific-Asia regions consolidate into a new Western-Pacific Region, with<br />
headquarters in Los Angeles. Rocky Mountain and Northwest regions<br />
fiat, often with little apparent planning and virtually<br />
no controller input.<br />
At Denver Center, four areas were being expanded<br />
into five. One key change occurred overnight.<br />
Mike Fellows arrived for work <strong>the</strong> next day and saw a<br />
line drawn with a grease pencil across his scope that<br />
split one sector into two. “We weren’t briefed on <strong>the</strong><br />
frequency, what <strong>the</strong> procedures were, nothing,” Fellows<br />
says. “They just said, ‘plug in.’ ” Such incidents<br />
fueled worries about safety.<br />
Some managers solicited comment and <strong>the</strong>n ignored<br />
it. The facility chief at Quonset TRACON<br />
posted a notice about a proposal to revert to<br />
unwieldy operating procedures put in place<br />
years earlier. The announcement included<br />
“yes” and “no” columns. No checkmarks appeared<br />
in <strong>the</strong> “yes” column, yet <strong>the</strong> plan was<br />
implemented anyway.<br />
“It was like somebody flipped a<br />
switch,” Atlanta Center controller Don<br />
Brown remembers. The attitude became:<br />
“ ‘Okay, we don’t need you anymore. We<br />
won.’ And <strong>the</strong>y went back to managing.”<br />
In <strong>the</strong> absence of a union contract,<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA published a 30-page “Handbook<br />
for <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Employees in Centers<br />
and Towers.” Commonly referred to<br />
as <strong>the</strong> Green Book, <strong>the</strong> manual spelled<br />
out scheduling and disciplinary proce-<br />
Chapter 2: Opportunity Lost<br />
consolidate into <strong>the</strong> Northwest Mountain Region, with headquarters in<br />
Renton, Washington. The states of North and South Dakota are reassigned<br />
from Rocky Mountain to Great Lakes Region.<br />
35<br />
The Green Book: FAA managers and controllers<br />
created this 30-page guide, which<br />
was used in <strong>the</strong> absence of a collective<br />
bargaining agreement after <strong>the</strong> strike.
36<br />
1981<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
2<br />
Oct.<br />
dures and <strong>the</strong> like. Although four controllers were<br />
involved in creating <strong>the</strong> guide, some disparagingly<br />
referred to it as “management’s rights and controllers’<br />
responsibilities.”<br />
Once again, <strong>the</strong> dress code became a bone of<br />
contention. The Green<br />
Book left <strong>the</strong> policy up<br />
to <strong>the</strong> discretion of facility<br />
managers, many of<br />
whom held firm to <strong>the</strong><br />
agency’s traditional IBMstyle<br />
uniform.<br />
In Monroe, Louisiana,<br />
a graduate fresh<br />
from <strong>the</strong> FAA Academy<br />
named Phil Barbarello<br />
showed up for his first<br />
day of work without a<br />
belt. He was sent home<br />
to find one. Three Atlanta<br />
Center controllers<br />
arrived at <strong>the</strong> facility<br />
one hot July day wearing<br />
officially sanctioned sandals but no socks, which<br />
were required. They, too, were ordered home on<br />
administrative leave (which is not deducted from an<br />
employee’s allotment of annual leave).<br />
“Instead of working,” says Lee Riley, “I was at<br />
home sitting in <strong>the</strong> sun on <strong>the</strong> porch getting paid by<br />
The FAA awards a $10 million contract to <strong>the</strong> University of Oklahoma to<br />
provide certified instructors to <strong>the</strong> FAA Academy to help <strong>the</strong> agency train<br />
new controllers.<br />
<strong>the</strong> federal government because some idiot is worried<br />
about whe<strong>the</strong>r I have socks on—in a place where <strong>the</strong><br />
public doesn’t even show up.”<br />
Inevitably, hostilities resurfaced. Yelling at controllers<br />
and trainees became part of <strong>the</strong> culture. The<br />
contentious environment<br />
affected <strong>the</strong> ability of<br />
some developmentals to<br />
learn critical job skills.<br />
Craig Guensch<br />
“<br />
arrived at Minneapolis<br />
Tower six months after<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike, and survived<br />
as <strong>the</strong> only one of his<br />
group of five from <strong>the</strong><br />
academy to certify as<br />
a journeyman. Each<br />
month, four or five<br />
more graduates arrived<br />
and usually just one<br />
checked out. Guensch<br />
credits his success to an<br />
understanding supervisor<br />
named Nick Conom, who led by example ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than shouting. When Guensch transferred to Miami<br />
Tower three years later, he walked into an even more<br />
rancorous atmosphere.<br />
“I saw a supervisor take a strip holder and<br />
throw it across <strong>the</strong> tower off <strong>the</strong> window because<br />
Instead of working, I was at<br />
home sitting in <strong>the</strong> sun on<br />
<strong>the</strong> porch getting paid by <strong>the</strong><br />
federal government because<br />
some idiot is worried about<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r I have socks on.<br />
— Atlanta Center controller Lee Riley
somebody taxied an airplane down <strong>the</strong> wrong taxiway,”<br />
says Guensch, who is now <strong>the</strong> NATCA local<br />
vice president at <strong>the</strong> FAA Command Center in Herndon,<br />
Virginia. “I’ve seen <strong>the</strong>m throw chairs across <strong>the</strong><br />
room and push controllers across <strong>the</strong> room in <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
chairs because <strong>the</strong>y were in <strong>the</strong> way.”<br />
While filling out <strong>the</strong> sign-off log, Miami controllers<br />
would mutter with relief, “I made it through<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r one with my ticket intact.”<br />
Two weeks after <strong>the</strong> strike, Transportation<br />
Secretary Drew Lewis appointed an independent<br />
task force to study labor-management relations in <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA. President Lawrence M. Jones of The Coleman<br />
Company, a manufacturer of camping and outdoor<br />
recreation products, headed <strong>the</strong> three-member panel.<br />
In March 1982, <strong>the</strong> Jones Committee released a detailed<br />
report documenting what controllers already<br />
knew. Despite <strong>the</strong> massive upheaval of <strong>the</strong> walkout,<br />
little had changed.<br />
“Morale of most employees at all levels in <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA is poor,” <strong>the</strong> report stated. The committee attributed<br />
this to incompetent and poorly trained managers.<br />
Noting that autocratic supervisors made controllers<br />
believe <strong>the</strong> agency did not care about <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>the</strong><br />
145-page report warned of recurring problems with<br />
employee relations.<br />
Lewis conceded <strong>the</strong> situation had been deteriorating<br />
for years, but told reporters he saw no “immediate<br />
solution.” However, he vowed to “begin as<br />
17<br />
Oct.<br />
soon as possible <strong>the</strong> job of improving <strong>the</strong> working<br />
environment.” 1<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> summarized <strong>the</strong> issue more succinctly<br />
with a frequent refrain: “They fired <strong>the</strong> wrong<br />
half of <strong>the</strong> work force.”<br />
Boot Camp<br />
AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland tells Robert Poli and John Leyden that<br />
<strong>the</strong> Reagan administration will allow striking controllers to return to work<br />
if PATCO calls off <strong>the</strong> walkout and its leadership acknowledges respon-<br />
Craig Guensch was part of <strong>the</strong> “new breed,”<br />
one of thousands of controllers hired to rebuild <strong>the</strong><br />
system. The FAA allowed a lucky few with military<br />
experience and <strong>the</strong> right entrance exam scores to<br />
report directly to a tower, radar room, or center.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> vast majority of new-hires formed <strong>the</strong>ir first<br />
impression of <strong>the</strong> agency during several months of<br />
intensive, boot camp-like training at <strong>the</strong> revitalized<br />
FAA Academy, which is part of <strong>the</strong> Mike Monroney<br />
Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City.<br />
Among those in <strong>the</strong> first class, which began<br />
one week after <strong>the</strong> strike, was a friendly, soft-spoken<br />
man named John Tune. Growing up on a farm in<br />
sou<strong>the</strong>rn Missouri, two miles from his grandparents,<br />
Tune was drawn by <strong>the</strong> open horizon and developed<br />
an interest in aviation. After high school, he enlisted<br />
in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force for six years with <strong>the</strong> understanding<br />
that he could become an air traffic controller.<br />
“I didn’t entirely know what an air traffic controller<br />
was back <strong>the</strong>n. I’d just heard descriptions from<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r people,” Tune says, echoing a lack of knowledge<br />
Chapter 2: Opportunity Lost<br />
37<br />
In March 1982, <strong>the</strong><br />
Jones Committee<br />
released a detailed<br />
report documenting<br />
continued laborrelations<br />
problems<br />
within <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
The report cited<br />
incompetent and<br />
poorly trained<br />
managers.<br />
sibility. Some PATCO members dispute <strong>the</strong> deal’s au<strong>the</strong>nticity. Five days<br />
later, PATCO’s Executive Board votes 7-2 to reject <strong>the</strong> terms, insisting any<br />
agreement should also include <strong>the</strong> resignation of FAA chief J. Lynn Helms.
38<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
John Tune: After working as as a controller<br />
in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force, <strong>the</strong> Missouri native<br />
underwent FAA training in <strong>the</strong> first class at<br />
<strong>the</strong> academy after <strong>the</strong> strike. / NATCA archives<br />
1981<br />
22<br />
Oct.<br />
common to newcomers in <strong>the</strong> profession.<br />
Tune was overwhelmed by <strong>the</strong> unfamiliar<br />
equipment and terminology when he first walked into<br />
<strong>the</strong> control tower at Dyess <strong>Air</strong> Force Base in Abilene,<br />
Texas. Fortunately, he was paired with a patient<br />
supervisor, six months from<br />
retirement.<br />
“If you want to be a controller<br />
and have questions, I’ll<br />
be happy to answer <strong>the</strong>m,”<br />
<strong>the</strong> supervisor said. “But I’m<br />
not going to motivate you to<br />
do <strong>the</strong> job. That’s something<br />
you have to do yourself.”<br />
Tune took <strong>the</strong> advice<br />
to heart, hit <strong>the</strong> books, and<br />
peppered his supervisor with<br />
queries. He became adept at<br />
working T-37s, T-38s, and numerous<br />
B-52 training missions before moving on to Keesler<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Meanwhile, he<br />
applied to <strong>the</strong> FAA to get a head start on joining <strong>the</strong><br />
agency when he went back to civilian life since it often<br />
took months or even years before job openings<br />
occurred.<br />
The FAA wasn’t hiring when Tune left <strong>the</strong> service<br />
in September 1980, so he returned to sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Missouri and busied himself driving forklifts at a<br />
lumber mill, working on <strong>the</strong> mill equipment, and<br />
The FLRA decertifies PATCO, and <strong>the</strong> union files suit to appeal <strong>the</strong> action.<br />
On December 3, Anthony “Skip” Skirlick from Los Angeles Center<br />
testifies before <strong>the</strong> U.S. Court of Appeals. He agrees <strong>the</strong> government has<br />
fixing semi-trailer trucks while he waited for <strong>the</strong><br />
call. He could barely contain his excitement when<br />
<strong>the</strong> phone rang late in <strong>the</strong> afternoon of August 5 th ,<br />
Reagan’s deadline.<br />
“It was a goal,” Tune says, “and I’d worked for<br />
peanuts long enough.”<br />
But <strong>the</strong> strike concerned him. Although Tune<br />
didn’t know much about unions, he understood<br />
that crossing a picket line could be dangerous.<br />
He called his former supervisor in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force,<br />
who was now working for <strong>the</strong> FAA, and several<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r buddies in <strong>the</strong> agency. “Don’t worry<br />
about it,” <strong>the</strong>y told him. “They won’t fire us all.<br />
Go ahead and take <strong>the</strong> job.”<br />
Tune and his wife, Faye, drove to <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
Regional Office in Kansas City for an orientation<br />
session on Friday. Then <strong>the</strong>y returned home to<br />
pick up <strong>the</strong>ir 2½-year-old son and some belongings<br />
before heading west to Oklahoma City. Armed with<br />
a list of apartments that <strong>the</strong> Regional Office had supplied,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y quickly found a place to live.<br />
On Tuesday, August 11, Tune arrived at <strong>the</strong><br />
academy feeling apprehensive. He didn’t know what<br />
to expect as he walked past numerous television news<br />
cameras and into a large auditorium filled with about<br />
sixty people. Among <strong>the</strong>m was Tom Rucker, whom<br />
Tune now describes as “probably <strong>the</strong> best controller<br />
I’ve ever known.” During opening remarks, <strong>the</strong> man<br />
at <strong>the</strong> podium asked everyone in <strong>the</strong> audience with<br />
a legal right to fire <strong>the</strong> strikers, but argues that it serves no purpose to<br />
disband a union still numbering several thousand members who are active<br />
controllers. However, <strong>the</strong> court rules in favor of <strong>the</strong> FLRA in June 1982.
military training to raise <strong>the</strong>ir hand.<br />
“You’ll probably make it,” he announced somberly.<br />
“The rest of you, good luck. You might be able<br />
to get recycled.”<br />
Subsequent classes heard a variation on <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>me. “Turn to your left. Turn to your right,” <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were told. “By <strong>the</strong> time<br />
we’re done, one of you<br />
won’t be here.”<br />
Typically, stu-<br />
dents watched at least<br />
half of <strong>the</strong>ir colleagues<br />
wash out. While some<br />
trainees viewed <strong>the</strong><br />
academy’s curriculum<br />
as unrealistic, <strong>the</strong> need<br />
for rigorous standards<br />
was understandable. As<br />
former academy Deputy<br />
Superintendent Doug<br />
Murphy once explained:<br />
“A controller has to make<br />
thousands of life-anddeath<br />
decisions. The only thing we require is that he<br />
make <strong>the</strong> right decision every time.” 2<br />
The strike added a less obvious hurdle for <strong>the</strong><br />
new-hires. After dividing into several classes, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
faced instructors who were strong strike supporters.<br />
Many trainers were PATCO members who had<br />
9<br />
Dec.<br />
taken temporary leave from <strong>the</strong> boards to work at <strong>the</strong><br />
academy. Looking askance at <strong>the</strong> new breed, several<br />
intimated that <strong>the</strong> training would be very difficult. In<br />
one class, nine of <strong>the</strong> ten students failed to graduate.<br />
There was little time to worry about it.<br />
During <strong>the</strong>ir first week, Rucker and o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
students destined for en<br />
route centers immersed<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves in <strong>the</strong> formidable<br />
task of studying a<br />
“<br />
map called Aero Center,<br />
which <strong>the</strong>y would be<br />
required to draw from<br />
memory. Depicting a<br />
fictitious center, <strong>the</strong> map<br />
included twenty-one<br />
named intersections, sixteen<br />
airways, and more<br />
than 300 radio frequencies,<br />
altitudes, compass<br />
bearings, and mileages.<br />
Copies of <strong>the</strong> map were<br />
plastered across <strong>the</strong> walls<br />
of apartments, on bedroom ceilings, doors, refrigerators,<br />
even in <strong>the</strong> laundry room of one complex.<br />
Those who survived <strong>the</strong> map challenge<br />
sweated through several more weeks of classroom<br />
instruction. Every night except Saturday, <strong>the</strong>y studied<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r at someone’s apartment. After a pass/fail<br />
A controller has to make<br />
thousands of life-and-death<br />
decisions. The only thing we<br />
require is that he make <strong>the</strong><br />
right decision every time.<br />
— Former FAA Academy<br />
Deputy Superintendent Doug Murphy<br />
President Reagan rescinds an order banning fired controllers from seeking<br />
federal work for three years. However, <strong>the</strong>y are still barred from returning<br />
to <strong>the</strong> FAA. Many controllers who subsequently apply for jobs in o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
Chapter 2: Opportunity Lost<br />
government agencies and at overseas air traffic control facilities claim <strong>the</strong>y<br />
have been blacklisted because it’s nearly impossible to get hired.<br />
39
40<br />
1981<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
31<br />
Dec.<br />
exam, <strong>the</strong> lucky survivors moved on to simulated<br />
non-radar problems.<br />
In an unadorned lab, lined with masonry walls<br />
and checkered green linoleum, <strong>the</strong>y were tested<br />
on <strong>the</strong>ir ability to think in three dimensions. The<br />
room also contained several<br />
chalkboards and two<br />
rows of beige consoles.<br />
Each console included<br />
a microphone, several<br />
intercom switches, and<br />
a rack for flight strips.<br />
Students sitting along<br />
one row practiced being<br />
controllers while <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r row acted as pilots,<br />
following a detailed<br />
script to simulate various<br />
flights. Some trainees<br />
were so intimidated that <strong>the</strong>y simply quit.<br />
Looming at <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> grueling course was<br />
a two-hour, 100-question exam. Only those who<br />
scored at least seventy out of a possible 100 for all of<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir work in <strong>the</strong> program would graduate.<br />
“You’d dream about airplanes and crossing<br />
restrictions all night long,” recalls Don Brown, who<br />
entered <strong>the</strong> academy in November 1981. His half-apack-a-day<br />
smoking habit billowed to three packs<br />
by graduation. Ironically, he encountered problems<br />
Robert Poli reluctantly resigns as president of PATCO after a late-evening<br />
conference call among PATCO leaders. They maintain that <strong>the</strong> administration<br />
will not alter its stance toward <strong>the</strong> union until its leadership changes.<br />
even with a background in aviation. Brown knew airplanes<br />
like <strong>the</strong> back of his hand, having been a “ramp<br />
rat” since age 16 at <strong>the</strong> airport in Spartanburg, South<br />
Carolina. Yet he failed <strong>the</strong> aircraft identification test<br />
because <strong>the</strong> agency mislabeled <strong>the</strong> planes.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> trainees<br />
weren’t studying,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y blew off steam at<br />
parties in each o<strong>the</strong>r’s<br />
apartments and at local<br />
“<br />
hangouts. A favorite was<br />
Chi Chi’s, which served<br />
gargantuan margaritas<br />
in fish bowls and sold<br />
three drinks for <strong>the</strong> price<br />
of one during happy<br />
hour. Waiters at Molly<br />
Murphy’s dressed in odd<br />
clo<strong>the</strong>s, purposely acted<br />
rude, and lay across <strong>the</strong> table while taking customers’<br />
orders. Salad bar patrons stepped up to a low-slung<br />
Jaguar XKE with holes cut into <strong>the</strong> hood to accommodate<br />
bowls of lettuce and garnishes. Many students<br />
also frequented <strong>the</strong> Red Dog Saloon, renowned<br />
for <strong>the</strong> best indoor motorcycle parking in <strong>the</strong> state.<br />
Customers were warned that anyone without a firearm<br />
would be issued one at <strong>the</strong> door.<br />
“It was a life of excess,” says one trainee. The<br />
pressure cooker atmosphere also encouraged a cul-<br />
You’d dream about airplanes<br />
and crossing restrictions all<br />
night long.<br />
— Atlanta Center controller Don Brown<br />
Vice President Robert Meyer steps down, as well. In a close election <strong>the</strong><br />
next day, Central Region Vice President Gary Eads succeeds Poli and<br />
Western Region VP Domenic Torchia is elected executive vice president.
ture of easy morals. “No one was married <strong>the</strong>re, not<br />
even married couples,” says ano<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
The trainees felt a close-knit camaraderie that<br />
spilled over into John Tune’s family life. When Halloween<br />
rolled around, he and his wife felt uncomfortable<br />
dressing up <strong>the</strong>ir young son as a trick-or-treater<br />
and taking him to strangers’ houses. Not wanting <strong>the</strong><br />
tot to miss one of <strong>the</strong> little pleasures of childhood,<br />
several trainees stopped by <strong>the</strong> Tune apartment wearing<br />
masks and bearing bags of candy. Their home<br />
overflowed again on Thanksgiving, when fellow<br />
students watched football, drank beer, and enjoyed a<br />
holiday feast that Faye Tune prepared.<br />
After taking <strong>the</strong> final exam in early December<br />
1981, hopeful trainees spent an anxious night awaiting<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir scores, which were posted on a board <strong>the</strong><br />
next day. Tom Rucker was <strong>the</strong> only one of his class of<br />
ten to graduate.<br />
For many who survived <strong>the</strong> boot camp, <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
joy was often cut short when <strong>the</strong> realities of <strong>the</strong> job<br />
sank in after arriving at <strong>the</strong>ir assigned facility.<br />
Tune received a cordial reception at Wichita<br />
Tower, but Rucker confronted his biggest test yet. The<br />
day he reported to Kansas City Center, he learned <strong>the</strong><br />
facility hadn’t checked out a trainee in six years and<br />
was told <strong>the</strong>y didn’t plan to start with him. Rucker<br />
viewed <strong>the</strong> odds as a challenge. He certified eighteen<br />
months later.<br />
Graduates watched many of <strong>the</strong>ir academy<br />
31<br />
Dec.<br />
The FLRA certifies <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways Systems Specialists to represent<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA’s electronics technicians.<br />
brethren wash out for no apparent reason o<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
personality conflicts with journeymen controllers<br />
and FAA managers. Some endured what amounted<br />
to an initiation rite.<br />
“I’ll let you make coffee for a week and <strong>the</strong>n<br />
we’ll see if you can put a headset on straight,”<br />
John Carr’s trainer told him at Kansas City Tower/<br />
TRACON.<br />
“If coffee is part of <strong>the</strong> job, you can just wash<br />
my ass out right now,” Carr responded with his usual<br />
forthrightness.<br />
The peeved instructor replied, “I’m not going to<br />
tell <strong>the</strong> supervisor, but I’ll make you a project that I<br />
can wash out myself.”<br />
Carr, who’d spent two years as a Navy controller<br />
in Corpus Christi, Texas, and ano<strong>the</strong>r two on <strong>the</strong><br />
USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier, checked out with<br />
relative ease.<br />
Lack of staffing sometimes resulted in hasty<br />
training, particularly at control towers and TRA-<br />
CONs. <strong>Controllers</strong> who certified on a position—many<br />
referred to this as a “pencil whipping”—immediately<br />
began training o<strong>the</strong>rs. Some struggled as traffic volumes<br />
continued to mount. In a follow-up report issued<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Jones Committee in November 1984, one<br />
controller noted: “We’re moving <strong>the</strong>m up too fast.<br />
Usually, a check ride is taken in average traffic. That’s<br />
what <strong>the</strong>y’re qualified for—average traffic.”<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> FAA publicly maintained that<br />
Chapter 2: Opportunity Lost<br />
41<br />
Lack of staffing<br />
sometimes resulted<br />
in hasty training.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> who<br />
certified on a position<br />
immediately began<br />
training o<strong>the</strong>rs.
42<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Sign of <strong>the</strong> times: This warning is posted<br />
at all FAA centers, towers, and TRA-<br />
CONs. After <strong>the</strong> September 11, 2001,<br />
terrorist attacks, <strong>the</strong> agency has been<br />
improving security at its facilities. / Japphire<br />
1982<br />
28<br />
Jan.<br />
<strong>the</strong> skies had never been safer, <strong>the</strong> agency reported<br />
589 near midair collisions during 1984, a 64 percent<br />
increase over 1981. While rookies poured out<br />
of <strong>the</strong> academy’s doors and spent several years earning<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir stripes, near misses climbed ano<strong>the</strong>r 80<br />
percent to a peak of 1,058 in 1987 before declining<br />
steadily <strong>the</strong>reafter. Despite <strong>the</strong> soaring number of<br />
close calls, however, no major accidents occurred<br />
that involved controller error.<br />
Seeds of Discontent<br />
In an effort to improve its relations with employees,<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA formed groups of managers and<br />
controllers in early 1982 to address<br />
local issues. With <strong>the</strong> right<br />
people, <strong>the</strong>se Facility Advisory<br />
Boards and Human Relations<br />
Councils—known as FABs and<br />
HRCs—could give controllers<br />
a voice and effect real change.<br />
Too often, however, <strong>the</strong>y focused<br />
on inconsequential concerns<br />
and management ignored <strong>the</strong><br />
committee’s recommendations.<br />
As a result, <strong>the</strong> initiative proved<br />
largely futile and piled on ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
frustration for controllers.<br />
A supervisor named Fred-<br />
The FAA announces <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>space System Plan, which outlines<br />
a twenty-year blueprint. Key elements include: Replacing <strong>the</strong> aging and<br />
unreliable IBM 9020 mainframe computers and developing “sector suites”<br />
die Fisher ran <strong>the</strong> FAB in Lincoln, Nebraska. <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
would submit suggestions for consideration,<br />
yet he’d typically hand <strong>the</strong>m right back, asserting<br />
<strong>the</strong>y wouldn’t go anyplace. Dan Brandt, a husky Midwesterner<br />
who spent 8½ years in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force before<br />
joining <strong>the</strong> FAA after <strong>the</strong> strike, objected one day.<br />
“Wait a minute,” he said. “Isn’t this a group<br />
decision?”<br />
“I’m chairman of <strong>the</strong> board,” Fisher replied<br />
crisply. “If I say it doesn’t go, it doesn’t go.”<br />
Controller Fred Gilbert served as <strong>the</strong> FAB<br />
chairman at Chicago Center. “We took <strong>the</strong> order at<br />
face value,” he says, and became proactive on airspace,<br />
personnel, and o<strong>the</strong>r issues. During monthly<br />
telephone conferences among all<br />
four centers in <strong>the</strong> Great Lakes<br />
Region, Gilbert and his colleagues<br />
realized <strong>the</strong>y faced <strong>the</strong><br />
same problems. They quickly realized<br />
that a meeting of all center<br />
FABs made sense.<br />
Gilbert crafted a questionnaire<br />
to query controllers about<br />
work issues and whe<strong>the</strong>r a national<br />
meeting should be held.<br />
The FABs from all twenty-four<br />
centers and center-approach<br />
controls—CERAPs—from Guam<br />
to Puerto Rico responded with a<br />
at <strong>the</strong> agency’s en route centers; consolidating facilities; implementing<br />
Mode S transponders, which ultimately will enable e-mail communications<br />
between controllers and pilots; and installing Doppler wea<strong>the</strong>r radar.
esounding yes, although two indicated <strong>the</strong>y could<br />
not afford <strong>the</strong> trip.<br />
Knowing that it could take several years for <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA to fund such a ga<strong>the</strong>ring, Gilbert planned an affair<br />
for <strong>the</strong> spring of 1983 that would be economical<br />
enough for controllers to pay <strong>the</strong>ir own way. Then<br />
he approached management to ask for <strong>the</strong>ir input.<br />
The facility chief, acting on orders from <strong>the</strong> Regional<br />
Office, summoned Gilbert soon after and told him<br />
to kill <strong>the</strong> meeting. O<strong>the</strong>r managers also browbeat<br />
Gilbert and intimidated members of <strong>the</strong> Chicago<br />
Center FAB. Gilbert finally capitulated and canceled<br />
<strong>the</strong> event.<br />
Later that summer, Gilbert was asked to testify<br />
at a congressional hearing on controller stress. The<br />
FAA’s notoriety extended beyond <strong>the</strong> Jones Committee<br />
report, and Capitol Hill continued to monitor <strong>the</strong><br />
industry. Gilbert appeared with half a dozen o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
controllers and managers. Obviously prepped in<br />
advance, committee members asked him a series of<br />
pointed questions about <strong>the</strong> canceled FAB conference.<br />
One congressman wanted to know whe<strong>the</strong>r management’s<br />
intimidation had been stressful.<br />
“For <strong>the</strong> rest of my life, this will define what<br />
stress is,” Gilbert replied.<br />
The agency gradually phased out FABs by 1990.<br />
2<br />
July<br />
PATCO files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. President Gary Eads says <strong>the</strong> union<br />
has $5 million in assets but owes $40 million, including $33.4 million to<br />
airlines for violating a 1970 injunction against striking.<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA had signed <strong>the</strong>ir first contract<br />
by this time, and <strong>the</strong> committees were in violation of<br />
Articles 7 and 48, which concerned negotiations over<br />
changes in <strong>the</strong> workplace.<br />
“The opportunity was here to improve <strong>the</strong> situation<br />
tremendously and <strong>the</strong> opportunity was lost,”<br />
says Jack Crouse, a Washington Center controller<br />
who chose not to strike and later helped lead <strong>the</strong> effort<br />
to form a new union at <strong>the</strong> facility. “The FAA did<br />
not take advantage of it.”<br />
Instead, <strong>the</strong> agency turned a deaf ear to complaints<br />
from its work force and a blind eye to <strong>the</strong><br />
Jones Committee reports and General Accounting<br />
Office studies that documented <strong>the</strong> FAA’s abysmal<br />
employee-management relations. Staggering under<br />
<strong>the</strong> weight of so many autocratic managers, <strong>the</strong><br />
agency found itself incapable of significant change.<br />
Just as <strong>the</strong> PATCO strike had evolved into a fait accompli,<br />
so, too, did <strong>the</strong>se new seeds of discontent inevitably<br />
blossom into <strong>the</strong> desire for regaining union<br />
representation.<br />
1. 1982. Incompetent management found to be a factor in low morale among<br />
controllers. Daily Labor Reporter. 17 March (No. 52).<br />
2. Chiles, Jim. 1990. The rigors of air traffic control school. Smithsonian Magazine.<br />
January.<br />
Chapter 2: Opportunity Lost<br />
43
“ We wanted a<br />
greater voice<br />
because we knew<br />
what happened<br />
when we didn’t<br />
have one.<br />
— President John Carr<br />
Day of reckoning: NATCA provisional<br />
regional reps and o<strong>the</strong>rs listen to national<br />
organizer John Thornton, right, on June 11,<br />
1987, when <strong>the</strong> FLRA tallied votes that resulted<br />
in union certification. / NATCA archives
Chapter 3<br />
A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
The day shift had ended at Washington Center, a squat, oblong building<br />
clad in red brick and white corrugated metal siding on <strong>the</strong> outskirts<br />
of Leesburg, Virginia. Many of <strong>the</strong> controllers trudging across<br />
<strong>the</strong> parking lot were exhausted. Washington Center handles traffic over eight<br />
states, including <strong>the</strong> congested New York-D.C. corridor.<br />
Since 1981, <strong>the</strong> number of flights had increased<br />
20 percent to an average of 6,000 a day, yet<br />
<strong>the</strong> ranks of radar controllers had rebounded to only<br />
about half <strong>the</strong>ir pre-strike levels. On this afternoon in<br />
<strong>the</strong> fall of 1983, twelve to fifteen controllers chose not<br />
to go directly home. Alerted by word of mouth to a<br />
special meeting, <strong>the</strong>y ga<strong>the</strong>red around a large conference<br />
table in a training room on <strong>the</strong> second floor of<br />
<strong>the</strong> facility. Many of <strong>the</strong>m, including a well-liked man<br />
named Rick Jones, were veterans who had stayed on<br />
<strong>the</strong> job in 1981.<br />
Jones stood up and began talking about a new<br />
program <strong>the</strong> FAA planned to implement at all of its<br />
centers called Structured Staffing. The agency intended<br />
to limit <strong>the</strong> number of full-performance level<br />
radar controllers. New-hires could not move up until<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was a vacancy. It appeared no relief was in sight<br />
for FPLs weary of six-day weeks that resulted from<br />
short staffing.<br />
“My head, my stomach, my<br />
whole body is spinning around,”<br />
one controller said at <strong>the</strong> time. “I<br />
can’t keep up with <strong>the</strong> workload.<br />
You ei<strong>the</strong>r need more people to do<br />
<strong>the</strong> work or you need less work—<br />
it’s a simple equation.” 1<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r aspect of Structured<br />
Staffing, which <strong>the</strong> FAA put<br />
into effect soon after <strong>the</strong> Washington<br />
Center meeting, gave priority<br />
for on-<strong>the</strong>-job training to developmentals with college<br />
credits, regardless of previous air traffic control<br />
Paul Williams<br />
Birthplace: Frustrated by short-staffing,<br />
air traffic controllers at Washington Center<br />
formed a facility-based organization<br />
called NATCA during <strong>the</strong> fall of 1983.
46<br />
1982<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
9<br />
July<br />
experience. On <strong>the</strong> surface, <strong>the</strong> policy appeared to be<br />
profiling. It favored new-hires with more education,<br />
a group that might be less likely to harbor pro-union<br />
sentiments.<br />
But, ra<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
quell ano<strong>the</strong>r uprising,<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency sparked a<br />
fire. Angry trainees with<br />
more seniority watched<br />
helplessly as <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
passed over. Ex-military<br />
controllers in <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA were particularly<br />
incensed. Despite <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
years at military air bases<br />
or onboard aircraft carriers,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y were relegated to<br />
passing out flight strips<br />
and assisting radar controllers.<br />
Meanwhile, less<br />
experienced colleagues,<br />
many of whom had no<br />
aviation background,<br />
advanced in <strong>the</strong> training program and enjoyed accompanying<br />
pay raises.<br />
“The academy was tough enough,” says Atlanta<br />
Center controller Don Brown, whose class in Oklahoma<br />
City lost 65 percent. “Once we got back, we had<br />
to do just about as much work all over again before<br />
A Pan American World <strong>Air</strong>ways 727 departing from New Orleans International<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port encounters wind shear and crashes, killing all 145 aboard<br />
and eight on <strong>the</strong> ground. A subsequent study recommends wider use of<br />
we got on <strong>the</strong> floor. And <strong>the</strong>n we got on <strong>the</strong> floor and<br />
that was tough. But we survived this process—where<br />
you had to be superhuman to do it because <strong>the</strong> vast<br />
majority of us didn’t make it—and what was our<br />
reward? They held us up<br />
six months.”<br />
The issue involved<br />
more than money. For<br />
“<br />
academy graduates who’d<br />
been told <strong>the</strong>y could check<br />
out at <strong>the</strong>ir en route center<br />
in two years and two<br />
days—an impractical goal<br />
for such a complex job,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y realized later—this<br />
constituted <strong>the</strong> “first big<br />
lie” from <strong>the</strong>ir employer.<br />
The FAA also proposed<br />
a variation of Structured<br />
— Washington Center controller Staffing for towers and<br />
TRACONs, but never<br />
implemented it.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> Washington<br />
Center controllers who had ga<strong>the</strong>red after work,<br />
<strong>the</strong> mere prospect of Structured Staffing was <strong>the</strong> last<br />
straw. Most of <strong>the</strong>m had been fully trained long ago.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> center dearly needed more radar controllers<br />
so <strong>the</strong>y could cut back on <strong>the</strong>ir overtime hours. Nor<br />
did <strong>the</strong> old guard like how <strong>the</strong> program would delay<br />
My head, my stomach, my<br />
whole body is spinning<br />
around. I can’t keep up with<br />
<strong>the</strong> workload. You ei<strong>the</strong>r need<br />
more people to do <strong>the</strong> work<br />
or you need less work—it’s a<br />
simple equation.<br />
Low-Level <strong>Wind</strong> Shear Alert Systems at airports, and in October 1983 <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA orders fifty-one more systems. By October 1991, LLWAS units are<br />
installed at 110 airports across <strong>the</strong> country.
timely advancement of new-hires. Rick Jones and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> room agreed that <strong>the</strong> only way <strong>the</strong>y<br />
could try to change <strong>the</strong> new policy, along with o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
issues, was through a labor union.<br />
Philosophical deliberation quickly turned tactical:<br />
Who could lead <strong>the</strong>ir embryonic group? For<br />
president, Jones suggested Jack Crouse, an <strong>Air</strong> Force<br />
veteran who had worked at Rochester Tower and<br />
Baltimore Approach before transferring to <strong>the</strong> center<br />
about six weeks before <strong>the</strong> strike. Easygoing and<br />
articulate, Crouse seemed like a good choice and <strong>the</strong><br />
controllers appointed him without<br />
bo<strong>the</strong>ring to vote.<br />
They also agreed on Charlie<br />
Bolling for vice president and a<br />
tall, heavyset controller named Mike<br />
Scott, who’d previously worked at<br />
Chicago Center, for treasurer. For secretary,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y prevailed on John Bentley,<br />
a Washington Center mainstay since<br />
1970 who was perfectly suited for <strong>the</strong><br />
position. He owned a key tool of <strong>the</strong><br />
trade—a RadioShack TRS-80 ® computer.<br />
With that settled, a new question arose: What<br />
should <strong>the</strong>y call <strong>the</strong>mselves? Someone suggested<br />
PATCA, replacing “Organization” with “<strong>Association</strong>.”<br />
Crouse shook his head. Too close to PATCO, he said.<br />
Someone else proposed NATCO, and <strong>the</strong> wheels be-<br />
5<br />
Nov.<br />
The FAA announces it will consider specially qualified air traffic controller<br />
applicants who are 31 to 35 years old, waiving <strong>the</strong> previous age limit of<br />
gan turning. The <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control <strong>Association</strong> still<br />
existed, so ATCA was ruled out. But what if <strong>the</strong>y added<br />
<strong>the</strong> word “<strong>National</strong>” in front of it?<br />
The group made no decision that day, but <strong>the</strong>y<br />
soon adopted <strong>the</strong> name <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
<strong>Association</strong>, despite <strong>the</strong>ir intention to form a<br />
single-facility union. The organizers created simple<br />
membership cards and those who joined contributed<br />
whatever <strong>the</strong>y could afford each month. NATCA’s<br />
founders wanted to get back with <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO, as<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir predecessor<br />
union had<br />
been. But <strong>the</strong>y<br />
learned <strong>the</strong><br />
vast labor organization<br />
was<br />
not accepting<br />
unions<br />
directly. Instead,<br />
NAT-<br />
CA would<br />
need to join<br />
through an AFL-CIO affiliate.<br />
Undeterred, NATCA contacted <strong>the</strong> American<br />
Federation of Government Employees, which represented<br />
about 750,000 workers employed by sixtyseven<br />
agencies and <strong>the</strong> District of Columbia. The controllers’<br />
issues were all too familiar to organizer John<br />
Thornton, whom AFGE had hired a year earlier.<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
31. The change applies to <strong>the</strong> November 8-30 application period and any<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r application periods through 1984.<br />
47<br />
New union: Within six months of its<br />
founding, two-thirds of Washington Center<br />
controllers had signed a petition supporting<br />
<strong>the</strong> proposed labor organization.
48<br />
1983<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
4<br />
Jan.<br />
A fired striker, Thornton had been out of work<br />
until early 1982. He and his family survived on his<br />
wife’s nursing salary until he picked up a job selling<br />
insurance, although he continued to lobby Capitol<br />
Hill to get <strong>the</strong> strikers rehired. Several months later,<br />
John Leyden told Thornton about <strong>the</strong> job at AFGE<br />
and he soon found himself working happily for <strong>the</strong><br />
largest federal employee union in <strong>the</strong> country.<br />
But when his boss approached him about<br />
organizing <strong>the</strong> Washington Center controllers—he<br />
was <strong>the</strong> only PATCO member on staff—Thornton<br />
resisted.<br />
“I didn’t want to do it,” he says. “These were<br />
people who had replaced me. I had a lot of baggage<br />
to get over.” Wrestling with his emotions, Thornton<br />
finally recognized <strong>the</strong> wisdom of helping after Leyden<br />
said to him, “There’s no way <strong>the</strong> government will<br />
allow fired controllers to be rehired unless <strong>the</strong>y’re<br />
unionized.”<br />
One evening in December 1983, as Thornton<br />
headed toward <strong>the</strong> door at AFGE headquarters on his<br />
way to meet some of <strong>the</strong> Leesburg organizers, union<br />
President Ken Blaylock caught his eye and stopped<br />
him. “Now, John, when you get <strong>the</strong>re, you tell those<br />
people that AFGE was <strong>the</strong> only union to support<br />
PATCO. Make sure <strong>the</strong>y know that,” Blaylock said.<br />
Thornton nodded politely. He knew <strong>the</strong> NAT-<br />
CA contingent would never respond to that type of<br />
message and suddenly realized how little <strong>the</strong> clerical<br />
The FAA increases requirements for on-<strong>the</strong>-job instructors.<br />
They must be certified on <strong>the</strong> position <strong>the</strong>y are training, worked<br />
it for at least 30 solo hours, and been certified as an instructor.<br />
A Face from <strong>the</strong> Past<br />
After serving as a controller in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong><br />
Force for eight years—including a year at<br />
Phan Rang <strong>Air</strong> Base in Vietnam—John Thornton<br />
joined <strong>the</strong> FAA in 1973 at Washington<br />
<strong>National</strong> Tower/TRACON.<br />
He ran for president of <strong>the</strong> PATCO local<br />
three years later while still a trainee. His<br />
bro<strong>the</strong>r-in-law, Victor Padgett, an FPL at <strong>the</strong><br />
facility, tossed his name in <strong>the</strong> ring, too, telling<br />
Thornton, “I didn’t think anyone should<br />
run unopposed.”<br />
But Padgett cast his ballot for Thornton,<br />
who won by a single vote.<br />
Tall, soft-spoken, and professional,<br />
Thornton distinguished himself as a union<br />
leader at <strong>the</strong> facility and as a voting representative<br />
at several PATCO conventions, speaking<br />
for towers and TRACONs from Pittsburgh<br />
south to Richmond and Roanoke, Virginia.<br />
With a young daughter at home, <strong>the</strong><br />
36-year-old fa<strong>the</strong>r worried about <strong>the</strong> health<br />
consequences of his job. He couldn’t bear to<br />
endure <strong>the</strong> same fate as a friend a few years<br />
older who’d suffered a heart attack and was no<br />
longer able to pick up his children. Thornton<br />
joined <strong>the</strong> chorus for a strike in hopes of gaining<br />
a better retirement and shorter workweek.<br />
Like o<strong>the</strong>r notables in PATCO, his<br />
activism attracted unwanted attention. He
was singled out with<br />
five o<strong>the</strong>r controllers<br />
in Washington,<br />
D.C., and Virginia<br />
and arrested on felony<br />
charges of striking<br />
against <strong>the</strong> government.<br />
Kenneth Conklin,<br />
<strong>the</strong> attorney who<br />
represented Thornton<br />
and two o<strong>the</strong>r defendants,<br />
negotiated a<br />
settlement with <strong>the</strong><br />
Justice Department<br />
in which <strong>the</strong>y would<br />
plead no contest to<br />
misdemeanor contempt<br />
charges and pay<br />
a small fine.<br />
But two weeks<br />
before Christmas in<br />
1981, <strong>the</strong> final court<br />
hearing took an unexpected turn.<br />
“The government has made its<br />
point, but <strong>the</strong> court’s point is a little different:<br />
<strong>the</strong> integrity of its orders,” District<br />
Judge Albert Bryan Jr. told Conklin and<br />
his clients. 2<br />
“They made one mistake,” Conk-<br />
Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
John Thornton: The former PATCO controller<br />
found himself organizing a largely<br />
new work force two years after <strong>the</strong> strike.<br />
�<br />
lin argued in <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
defense. “They didn’t<br />
go back to work.” 3<br />
Unmoved, <strong>the</strong><br />
judge ignored <strong>the</strong> plea<br />
bargain agreement<br />
and sentenced <strong>the</strong><br />
defendants to ten days<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Fairfax County<br />
Jail.<br />
Thornton, Tom<br />
Galloway, who had<br />
been <strong>the</strong> PATCO<br />
president at Washington<br />
Center, and ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
center controller<br />
named Bill Lombardi<br />
Jr. glanced at each<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r in shock. When<br />
<strong>the</strong> hearing concluded,<br />
federal marshals<br />
handcuffed <strong>the</strong> three<br />
nervous men, secured <strong>the</strong>ir legs with<br />
shackles, and shuffled <strong>the</strong>m out <strong>the</strong> back<br />
door of <strong>the</strong> courthouse to an official car.<br />
In a conciliatory gesture, ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
judge reduced <strong>the</strong> $5,000 fines levied<br />
against Thornton and Galloway to $1,000<br />
each later that day. *<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
To <strong>the</strong>ir relief, <strong>the</strong> three controllers<br />
were locked up toge<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> same<br />
cellblock with older, non-violent inmates.<br />
For ten sobering days, <strong>the</strong>y slept fitfully<br />
on mattresses on <strong>the</strong> floor and listened as<br />
guards regularly broke up fights among<br />
younger convicts across <strong>the</strong> hall. The<br />
worst moment for Thornton came that<br />
first night when he faced his wife and<br />
daughter through <strong>the</strong> thick glass separating<br />
him from <strong>the</strong> visitors’ room.<br />
Ginny had been present at all previous<br />
hearings, but on Thornton’s advice<br />
she skipped <strong>the</strong> final court appearance on<br />
<strong>the</strong> assumption that it would be routine.<br />
Alerted by his attorney, she quickly called<br />
relatives before <strong>the</strong>y watched <strong>the</strong> evening<br />
news. Eleven-year-old Michelle handled it<br />
well, too, though Thornton still worried<br />
that <strong>the</strong> experience would frighten her.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> trio was released, 200<br />
controllers and <strong>the</strong>ir families massed<br />
outside <strong>the</strong> jailhouse to greet <strong>the</strong>m in a<br />
touching show of support.<br />
* Fines were also reduced for <strong>the</strong> PATCO presidents from<br />
Dulles Tower/TRACON and Newport News, Virginia. Stephen<br />
Wallaert of Norfolk Tower/TRACON was not fined,<br />
but spent a week in jail in August 1981.<br />
49
50<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
union understood his former profession. The key, he<br />
believed, was to focus on controller issues.<br />
Outlining <strong>the</strong> process of forming a union, he<br />
explained to <strong>the</strong> group that <strong>the</strong>y had to collect signatures<br />
calling for an election from at least 30 percent of<br />
<strong>the</strong> work force. The petition would <strong>the</strong>n be filed with<br />
<strong>the</strong> Federal Labor Relations Authority. Then, once an<br />
Brian Fallon<br />
Expanding interest: The strike wiped out much of <strong>the</strong> work force at New York TRACON. Heavy traffic, understaffing,<br />
and a difficult certification process for trainees prompted controllers to discuss organizing a new union in early 1984.<br />
1983<br />
Feb. Feb.<br />
Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis leaves office after serving<br />
since January 23, 1981.<br />
1<br />
7<br />
election was scheduled, a majority would have to vote<br />
in favor of <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
The next month, President Reagan recited <strong>the</strong><br />
oath of office for his second term. At AFGE, Thornton’s<br />
phone began ringing with calls from controllers<br />
in New York, Atlanta, several cities in Florida, and<br />
elsewhere.<br />
The Pressure Cooker<br />
Situated along bustling Stewart Avenue in <strong>the</strong><br />
Long Island suburb of Westbury is New York TRA-<br />
CON. The boxy white building contains a cavernous<br />
dark room with radarscopes lining all four walls and<br />
rows of lockers that stand upright like sentries behind<br />
<strong>the</strong> scopes. In <strong>the</strong> center of <strong>the</strong> room are more scopes,<br />
plus desks for supervisors and o<strong>the</strong>r personnel.<br />
From here, controllers juggle thousands of arrivals<br />
and departures every day from seventeen airport<br />
towers crowded into some of <strong>the</strong> most congested<br />
airspace in <strong>the</strong> world. Aside from <strong>the</strong> big three—Kennedy,<br />
LaGuardia, and Newark—Teterboro in New<br />
Jersey ranks as one of <strong>the</strong> busiest general aviation<br />
airports in <strong>the</strong> country. <strong>Controllers</strong> also coordinate<br />
en route traffic crossing over <strong>the</strong> metropolitan area<br />
with Boston, New York, and Washington centers.<br />
Formerly known as <strong>the</strong> “Common IFR Room,”<br />
<strong>the</strong> facility earned a notorious reputation in <strong>the</strong> wake<br />
of <strong>the</strong> strike for its heavy traffic and harsh manage-<br />
Elizabeth Dole takes over from Lewis. Dole, most recently<br />
assistant to President Reagan for public liaison, had served in<br />
government posts as far back as <strong>the</strong> Johnson administration.
ment, which increasingly leaned on <strong>the</strong> decimated<br />
work force to move more metal.<br />
The pressure cooker atmosphere was often brutal<br />
for trainees, half of whom washed out. Walking on<br />
eggshells trying to please <strong>the</strong>ir instructors, <strong>the</strong>y frequented<br />
<strong>the</strong> local T.G.I. Friday’s and o<strong>the</strong>r watering<br />
holes, hoping to pass muster with <strong>the</strong> FPLs in an<br />
initiation rite to certification.<br />
The atmosphere also helped spawn close<br />
friendships and a hotbed of unionism that<br />
brought toge<strong>the</strong>r such activists as Phil Barbarello,<br />
Steve Bell, Joe Fruscella, Steve Kelley, and<br />
Joe O’Brien, all of whom worked in <strong>the</strong> Newark<br />
sector, and Barry Krasner over in <strong>the</strong> LaGuardia<br />
area. *<br />
George Kerr was now on <strong>the</strong> boards at <strong>the</strong> TRA-<br />
CON, too, working in <strong>the</strong> Islip sector. After losing his<br />
re-election bid as <strong>the</strong> Eastern Region vice president<br />
for PATCO, he left office a month before <strong>the</strong> strike.<br />
Kerr suffered from hepatitis A, a condition that prevented<br />
him from passing <strong>the</strong> FAA’s medical exam, his<br />
ticket back to <strong>the</strong> boards. Consequently, he watched<br />
sadly from home as thousands of fellow union members<br />
forfeited <strong>the</strong>ir careers.<br />
By <strong>the</strong> time he recuperated, PATCO had been<br />
decertified. With <strong>the</strong> help of <strong>the</strong> FAA Eastern Region<br />
director and <strong>the</strong> agency’s head of labor relations, who<br />
respected Kerr’s honesty and even-handedness, he<br />
was rehired in September 1982.<br />
Fall<br />
The FAA institutes Structured Staffing at its centers. The program limits<br />
<strong>the</strong> number of radar controllers, which delays training for new-hires and<br />
increases overtime for journeymen. Structured Staffing also gives priority<br />
Kerr immediately saw that little had changed<br />
within <strong>the</strong> FAA. He also felt a certain debt over getting<br />
his job back. “I’m a trade unionist and I do believe<br />
in this thing called <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rhood,” he says.<br />
When new controllers sought his advice<br />
on workplace issues, he offered<br />
it freely.<br />
Krasner, O’Brien, and o<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
had learned about NATCA<br />
at Washington Center. Frustrated<br />
by <strong>the</strong> ineffectiveness<br />
of <strong>the</strong> TRACON’s Human Relations<br />
Council, <strong>the</strong>y heeded<br />
Kerr’s whispered suggestions<br />
about organizing and held a meeting<br />
for controllers in early 1984 at <strong>the</strong><br />
Westbury Holiday Inn. Only a handful of people<br />
showed up, but <strong>the</strong> group was determined to move<br />
forward. They appointed O’Brien and Krasner as<br />
president and vice president, respectively, of an organization<br />
with no formal name.<br />
Krasner, who grew up in Flushing, New York,<br />
had quit high school five months before graduation<br />
(he later earned his GED) and served as a surveillance<br />
radar controller on a guided missile frigate in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Atlantic. After his discharge from <strong>the</strong> Navy, he<br />
attended electronics school and opened a shop with<br />
a friend. But <strong>the</strong> business relationship soured and he<br />
drifted along selling electronics parts. By <strong>the</strong> time of<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
for on-<strong>the</strong>-job training to controllers with college credits regardless of<br />
previous ATC experience. The FAA dissolves Structured Staffing in June<br />
1984, but it leads some frustrated controllers to thoughts of a union.<br />
51<br />
Joe O’Brien: The former Navy controller<br />
was 22 when he started at New York<br />
TRACON in February 1982. Two years<br />
later, he was appointed <strong>the</strong> facility’s first<br />
local president. / Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
* In spring 2002, New York TRACON boasted<br />
100 percent membership in NATCA. With<br />
250 controllers and fourteen traffic management<br />
specialists, it was <strong>the</strong> largest such local<br />
in <strong>the</strong> country. Chicago Center ranked as <strong>the</strong><br />
local with <strong>the</strong> most members—400.
52<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> strike, Krasner was on <strong>the</strong> brink of turning 29,<br />
and realized he and his wife needed more financial<br />
security. <strong>Air</strong> traffic control seemed like a good bet.<br />
He took <strong>the</strong> FAA’s entrance exam and <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
soon called to offer him a job.<br />
Despite his experience in <strong>the</strong> Navy, Krasner<br />
didn’t know much about air traffic control, least of all<br />
<strong>the</strong> distinction between centers and TRACONs. When<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA asked him where he wanted to work, he inquired,<br />
“What’s <strong>the</strong> highest-paying place closest to my<br />
house?” New York TRACON, <strong>the</strong> agency said. Krasner<br />
promptly told <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> TRACON was his choice. At<br />
<strong>the</strong> academy, though, he began to question his decision.<br />
Instructors who heard where he was headed after<br />
Japphire<br />
Atlanta Center: Organizing began here in spring 1984 after controllers heard about efforts in Washington and New<br />
York. Despite fear of management reprisals, 30 percent of <strong>the</strong> center’s controllers signed a petition within one week.<br />
1983<br />
Fall<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> at Washington Center talk about creating an independent<br />
union at <strong>the</strong>ir facility. Veterans Jack Crouse, Charlie Bolling, John Bentley,<br />
and Mike Scott lead <strong>the</strong> effort, which <strong>the</strong>y call <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
graduation would often ask, “Who did you piss off?”<br />
Krasner’s interest in <strong>the</strong> union was an anomaly<br />
for his family, which only knew about organized labor<br />
from word of mouth. When he called home to announce<br />
his intentions and seek advice, <strong>the</strong> response<br />
reflected that culture.<br />
“Don’t do it. Just walk away,” said his fa<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
a chiropractor. “You’re going to be fired just like <strong>the</strong><br />
rest of <strong>the</strong>m.”<br />
Krasner shrugged off his concerns. He and <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r activists met with John Thornton and went<br />
about <strong>the</strong> process of ga<strong>the</strong>ring signatures for an election<br />
petition. To fund <strong>the</strong>ir venture, <strong>the</strong>y instituted<br />
voluntary dues of $5 a pay period. More than half<br />
of <strong>the</strong> controllers supported <strong>the</strong> effort, coughing up<br />
money to crew reps who came around to collect.<br />
A Daunting Task<br />
Atlanta Center lies tucked away off Highway<br />
19/41, across <strong>the</strong> road from <strong>the</strong> Atlanta Motor Speedway<br />
in rural Hampton, Georgia, a half-hour’s drive<br />
south of <strong>the</strong> city. During a midnight shift, controller<br />
Lee Riley leaned back in his chair, propped both feet<br />
up on <strong>the</strong> console, and chatted on <strong>the</strong> phone with a<br />
colleague in Leesburg.<br />
Riley, who had all of two years of experience<br />
in <strong>the</strong> FAA, was commiserating about a software program<br />
installed recently at <strong>the</strong> centers. Traditionally,<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>. O<strong>the</strong>r facilities also launch organizing efforts<br />
soon after, including New York Center and TRACON, and control towers<br />
in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Bradley, Connecticut.
center controllers visually estimated <strong>the</strong> horizontal<br />
separation minimum of five miles between planes.<br />
The new program—called <strong>the</strong> Operational Error Detection<br />
Patch—automatically documented instances<br />
when Riley and his colleagues underestimated<br />
five miles by as<br />
little as 528 feet. <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
were suffering<br />
deals left and<br />
right while <strong>the</strong>y<br />
grew used to <strong>the</strong><br />
software, which<br />
<strong>the</strong>y scornfully<br />
referred to as “<strong>the</strong><br />
Snitch” and “Squeal-a-<br />
Deal.”<br />
Riley’s ears perked up<br />
when he heard about <strong>the</strong> formation of NATCA in Leesburg.<br />
He passed <strong>the</strong> word on to several Atlanta Center<br />
controllers, including his bro<strong>the</strong>r, Bill, who owned a<br />
trucking business with Lee on <strong>the</strong> side and had been<br />
hired immediately after <strong>the</strong> strike. Galvanized by <strong>the</strong><br />
activity at Washington Center, <strong>the</strong> group held a meeting<br />
in April 1984 at a nearby Holiday Inn to gauge<br />
union interest at <strong>the</strong>ir facility.<br />
They kept <strong>the</strong> ga<strong>the</strong>ring secret from management<br />
in hopes of attracting a larger turnout, but only<br />
a dozen or so controllers attended. Among <strong>the</strong>m was<br />
a crew member from Bill Riley’s area named Randy<br />
23<br />
Dec.<br />
A Korean <strong>Air</strong> Lines cargo DC-10 attempting to take off in fog from Anchorage<br />
International <strong>Air</strong>port collides on <strong>the</strong> runway with a Piper Navajo.<br />
The accident injures three people and destroys both planes. Subsequently,<br />
Carter. Hard working and low-key, Carter represented<br />
<strong>the</strong> anti<strong>the</strong>sis of unionism, and to Riley his presence<br />
spoke volumes about frustration among <strong>the</strong> rank and<br />
file. Despite <strong>the</strong> fear of retaliation from management,<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers formed a research committee. Tom<br />
Allen, Al Damalas, and Bob Hoffman were appointed<br />
to check out <strong>the</strong>ir options.<br />
Damalas called his old friend, John<br />
Leyden, who put <strong>the</strong> Atlanta group in<br />
touch with George Kerr and NATCA.<br />
Kerr told Damalas about <strong>the</strong> AFGEsponsored<br />
petition drive at New York<br />
TRACON, as well as ano<strong>the</strong>r one at<br />
New York Center. In late spring, <strong>the</strong><br />
Atlanta Center contingent decided to<br />
align itself with AFGE, too, and started to<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>r signatures.<br />
Riley and company faced a daunting task in <strong>the</strong><br />
South. Widespread textile mill strikes earlier in <strong>the</strong><br />
century—as many as 400,000 walked out in 1934—<br />
had cultivated a deep-rooted aversion to labor unions.<br />
Wounds were still fresh for those who endured <strong>the</strong><br />
upheaval in 1981. And many new-hires turned a cold<br />
shoulder to anything resembling a “PATCO II” organization.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> who stood still long enough to<br />
listen to <strong>the</strong> pitch about signing a petition fretted over<br />
<strong>the</strong> vast wasteland of trainee washouts, management<br />
clampdowns on phraseology mistakes, and a general<br />
fear of <strong>the</strong> unknown. More than a few who signed<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
53<br />
Lee Riley: Along with his bro<strong>the</strong>r, Bill, he<br />
was an early advocate for a new controllers’<br />
union. Riley later became Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
regional representative. / NATCA archives<br />
ground radar known as <strong>Air</strong>port Surface Detection Equipment undergoing<br />
testing at <strong>the</strong> FAA Technical Center is transferred to Anchorage. On<br />
October 10, 1985, <strong>the</strong> agency orders thirteen more ASDE-3 units.
54<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1983/84<br />
31<br />
Dec.<br />
sheepishly approached organizers later and asked<br />
<strong>the</strong>m to scratch <strong>the</strong>ir name off <strong>the</strong> list.<br />
“I never saw any management retribution,”<br />
Bill Riley says. “But <strong>the</strong><br />
fear was <strong>the</strong>re.” Never<strong>the</strong>less,<br />
30 percent of Atlanta<br />
Center controllers signed<br />
within <strong>the</strong> first week of<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir drive.<br />
The numbers were<br />
mounting elsewhere, too.<br />
In late May 1984, AFGE<br />
filed a petition with <strong>the</strong><br />
Federal Labor Relations<br />
Authority for an independent,<br />
facility-only union<br />
at Washington Center.<br />
NATCA’s petition included<br />
signatures from twothirds<br />
of <strong>the</strong> 320 controllers<br />
in Leesburg.<br />
In June, AFGE filed<br />
petitions from New York<br />
Center and TRACON<br />
and Atlanta Center, <strong>the</strong><br />
first salvos in a nationwide<br />
drive. Although <strong>the</strong> eventual union would be<br />
relatively small, organizing presented a monumental<br />
challenge. The FAA’s 12,000 controllers staffed about<br />
The FAA cancels its General Aviation Reservation system,<br />
which had been in effect for private pilots wishing to fly IFR<br />
since <strong>the</strong> PATCO strike 2½ years earlier.<br />
450 facilities scattered across all fifty states and several<br />
U.S. territories. Hoping to obtain faster results,<br />
AFGE planned to separately organize each of <strong>the</strong><br />
agency’s nine regions before<br />
combining <strong>the</strong>m into<br />
a national unit.<br />
The union would<br />
be designated a council<br />
“<br />
of AFGE ra<strong>the</strong>r than a<br />
full affiliate. As such, it<br />
was called <strong>the</strong> American<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
Council—or AATCC.<br />
Meanwhile, ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
government union<br />
known as <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
Federation of Federal<br />
Employees submitted<br />
— ALPA President Henry A. Duffy<br />
petitions from control<br />
towers in Atlantic City,<br />
New Jersey, and Bradley-<br />
<strong>Wind</strong>sor Locks in Connecticut.<br />
Whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong><br />
combined activity influenced<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA is unclear,<br />
but <strong>the</strong> agency suspended<br />
its Structured Staffing program that same month.<br />
The controllers’ efforts also attracted outside attention<br />
and gained significant credibility when <strong>the</strong> influ-<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> must be recognized<br />
by <strong>the</strong>ir employers as<br />
<strong>the</strong> professional group that<br />
<strong>the</strong>y are, and must be provided<br />
with <strong>the</strong> work rules<br />
needed to exercise <strong>the</strong>ir judgments<br />
free of fatigue and<br />
overburdened working<br />
conditions.<br />
31<br />
Jan.<br />
FAA Administrator J. Lynn Helms leaves office after serving<br />
since April 22, 1981.
ential <strong>Air</strong> Line Pilots <strong>Association</strong> endorsed <strong>the</strong>ir cause.<br />
“We don’t wish to see a return to old attitudes,”<br />
ALPA President Henry A. Duffy said. “To prevent<br />
that, <strong>the</strong> controllers must be recognized by <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
employers as <strong>the</strong> professional group that <strong>the</strong>y are,<br />
and must be provided with <strong>the</strong> work rules needed to<br />
exercise <strong>the</strong>ir judgments free of fatigue and overburdened<br />
working conditions.” 4<br />
Like sparks from a prairie fire, pockets of interest<br />
ignited rapidly. Drives sponsored by AFGE spread<br />
south into West Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida,<br />
where former PATCO controller Art Joseph at Miami<br />
Center was collecting signatures. They took flight in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Midwest under Fred Gilbert’s stewardship at Chicago<br />
Center and at Indianapolis Center, where Mike<br />
Ford—one of <strong>the</strong> strikers who’d successfully appealed<br />
his firing—formed a loose-knit group with<br />
some colleagues called <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
Alliance. Out West, veterans Phil Greer at<br />
Oakland Center and Anthony “Skip” Skirlick<br />
at Los Angeles Center sounded <strong>the</strong> call.<br />
In New England, Howie Barte, who’d<br />
refused to strike in Rhode Island, heard about<br />
<strong>the</strong> Washington Center effort earlier in <strong>the</strong><br />
spring. Barte, with warm green eyes punctuated<br />
by dark eyebrows and a face framed in a Dutch boy<br />
haircut, was no stranger to union activism.<br />
A former pilot for three air taxi outfits in<br />
Puerto Rico, he joined <strong>the</strong> FAA during a hiring binge<br />
1984<br />
10<br />
Apr.<br />
in 1970 and later served for eighteen months as <strong>the</strong><br />
local PATCO president at <strong>the</strong> tower in New Bedford,<br />
Massachusetts. Barte transferred to Quonset TRA-<br />
CON in 1978. After barely finishing classroom training,<br />
he demonstrated his characteristic feistiness by<br />
successfully challenging management’s decision to<br />
reschedule developmentals who were supposed to<br />
work on Labor Day, robbing <strong>the</strong>m of holiday pay. He<br />
later became editor of <strong>the</strong> Quonset TRACON Tabloid, a<br />
PATCO newsletter.<br />
Now, however, Barte was reluctant to jump into<br />
<strong>the</strong> fray again. “I really didn’t want to have anything<br />
to do with unions because of <strong>the</strong> fear and anguish<br />
that PATCO put me through,” he says. “But <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
made me realize how shortsighted that was.”<br />
He, too, phoned Kerr and<br />
subsequently received a call<br />
from John Thornton. At a<br />
meeting in May, Thornton<br />
met Barte, Donna Gropper,<br />
who was a controller at<br />
Providence Tower, and eight<br />
or so o<strong>the</strong>rs from Quonset,<br />
Providence, New Bedford,<br />
and Groton, Connecticut. Once<br />
again, Thornton mapped out <strong>the</strong> road to a union.<br />
After returning to Washington, Thornton called<br />
Barte to ask if he’d serve as <strong>the</strong> New England organizing<br />
representative. With 8- and 11-year-old daugh-<br />
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Donald D. Engen takes over as FAA administrator<br />
from J. Lynn Helms, who resigned two months earlier. Engen received<br />
twenty-nine decorations for flying in World War II. He also flew combat<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
55<br />
Dynamic duo: <strong>Controllers</strong> Donna Gropper<br />
and Howie Barte led <strong>the</strong> drive to<br />
organize facilities throughout New England<br />
during <strong>the</strong> summer of 1984. / NATCA archives<br />
missions in <strong>the</strong> Korean War. After retiring from <strong>the</strong> Navy in 1978, he<br />
worked for Piper <strong>Air</strong>craft Corporation and <strong>the</strong> consulting firm Kentron<br />
before becoming a member of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Transportation Safety Board.
56<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Donna Gropper: Since <strong>the</strong> FAA hired her<br />
in 1975, Gropper has worked in numerous<br />
union and management positions. She is<br />
now air traffic manager at Orlando Tower/<br />
TRACON. Workers and management laud<br />
her collaborative philosophy. / Japphire<br />
* PATCO’s bargaining unit included automation<br />
specialists, who maintain <strong>the</strong> software<br />
programs that run radarscopes and o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
equipment at FAA facilities. They logically<br />
became involved in efforts for a new union.<br />
1984<br />
May<br />
ters who kept him on <strong>the</strong> go and a half-built addition<br />
in <strong>the</strong> back of his home waiting to be finished, Barte<br />
declined. “All I wanted was a contract,” he says. “I<br />
didn’t want to be a leader. I didn’t have time to get<br />
involved.”<br />
Thornton <strong>the</strong>n asked Gropper, who agreed.<br />
Like Barte, she had been involved in<br />
PATCO as <strong>the</strong> secretary and vice<br />
president of <strong>the</strong> union local at<br />
Mac Arthur TRACAB (a combined<br />
tower and TRACON)<br />
on Long Island. However,<br />
Barte, a passionate, driven<br />
individual who could<br />
not stand idly on <strong>the</strong><br />
sidelines, called Thornton<br />
back. “We’ll give<br />
you two for <strong>the</strong> price of<br />
one,” he said. “We’ll be<br />
co-reps.”<br />
Throughout <strong>the</strong><br />
summer, <strong>the</strong> two arduously<br />
mounted <strong>the</strong>ir drive<br />
for signatures, quickly turning<br />
petitions over to AFGE from <strong>the</strong><br />
four facilities that attended <strong>the</strong> May meeting as well<br />
as o<strong>the</strong>rs in New England. During all of <strong>the</strong>ir spare<br />
time, Barte burned up <strong>the</strong> phone lines making contacts<br />
while Gropper tapped a staccato beat on <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
AFGE files a petition with <strong>the</strong> FLRA to form NATCA at Washington Center.<br />
The petition is signed by 214 controllers, about two-thirds of those<br />
working in Leesburg, Virginia. In June, AFGE also files petitions for Atlanta<br />
Royal typewriter crafting a monthly newsletter to<br />
spread <strong>the</strong> gospel.<br />
On October 22, 1984, AFGE filed a petition on<br />
behalf of all facilities in New England, making it <strong>the</strong><br />
first region to seek an election for a union. The bargaining<br />
unit would represent about 665 controllers,<br />
automation specialists, and air traffic assistants. *<br />
“It really took fire in <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>ast,” recalls<br />
Gropper, who later moved into several management<br />
positions along <strong>the</strong> Eastern Seaboard<br />
before assuming her current job as air traffic<br />
manager at Orlando Tower/TRACON. “But I<br />
was amazed by how <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> country<br />
came through pretty quickly, too. It<br />
was a grass-roots effort.”<br />
By this time, AFGE had filed petitions<br />
from twenty-eight facilities and organizing<br />
had branched out into Kansas,<br />
Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and as far<br />
away as Alaska.<br />
A Damaging Rift<br />
Even as <strong>the</strong> controllers celebrated reaching<br />
a major milestone in New England, several brewing<br />
problems threatened <strong>the</strong>ir momentum.<br />
In Atlanta, <strong>the</strong> Riley bro<strong>the</strong>rs disliked AFGE’s<br />
policy of making <strong>the</strong>ir proposed union a council<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than a separate affiliate. “We have different<br />
Center, and New York Center and TRACON for a union called <strong>the</strong><br />
American <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Council (AATCC). NFFE files for unions<br />
at control towers in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Bradley, Connecticut.
needs. We wanted to be our own game,” Lee Riley<br />
says. How could <strong>the</strong> controllers expect AFGE to<br />
negotiate on <strong>the</strong>ir behalf for a straight 20-year retirement,<br />
extra sick leave, and a major pay raise when its<br />
legions of office workers could not justify <strong>the</strong> same<br />
consideration because of <strong>the</strong> less stressful nature of<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir jobs?<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r controllers agreed—up to a point. Yes,<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir profession faced unique issues that were foreign<br />
to AFGE’s membership. But <strong>the</strong>y did not believe <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s policy on councils was a showstopper. If<br />
AFGE failed to serve <strong>the</strong>m adequately, <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
could affiliate with ano<strong>the</strong>r union after <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
certified as a bargaining unit.<br />
The Rileys disagreed, however, and withdrew<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir support for AATCC. * The bro<strong>the</strong>rs did not<br />
speak officially for <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region, but <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
actions affected <strong>the</strong> organizing. Only 24 percent of<br />
<strong>the</strong> region’s 2,700 controllers had signed AATCC petitions<br />
by December 1984.<br />
In a yearend status report, AFGE organizing<br />
director David Kushner noted that <strong>the</strong> rift “hurt us<br />
quite badly and spilled over to Southwest, Central,<br />
and Western-Pacific regions.” At a just-concluded<br />
meeting in Chicago, he wrote, several AATCC regional<br />
representatives talked about <strong>the</strong> difficulty in<br />
attracting younger controllers. The new-hires echoed<br />
<strong>the</strong> Rileys’ contention that a union of clerical workers<br />
didn’t understand <strong>the</strong>ir profession well enough to<br />
22<br />
Oct.<br />
AFGE files a petition for AATCC New England. More than 40 percent<br />
of controllers have signed petition cards. The FLRA holds hearings on<br />
AATCC’s petition November 27-30. The FAA challenges <strong>the</strong> proposed<br />
help <strong>the</strong>m effectively. Even in <strong>the</strong> Eastern Region, anchored<br />
by <strong>the</strong> labor stronghold of New York, Kushner<br />
warned that support for AFGE was waning.<br />
Predictably, AATCC also faced resistance from<br />
its employer, which did not welcome <strong>the</strong> prospect<br />
of ano<strong>the</strong>r union regardless of its affiliation. Retired<br />
Navy Adm. Donald Engen, who had taken over as<br />
FAA administrator from J. Lynn Helms in April 1984,<br />
publicly acknowledged that <strong>the</strong> agency “never really<br />
resolved” its labor problems. But he said he preferred<br />
to work with controllers individually. 5<br />
That July, <strong>the</strong> FAA moved to derail <strong>the</strong> organizers.<br />
In a motion filed with <strong>the</strong> FLRA, <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
sought to consolidate all <strong>the</strong> facility petitions into<br />
a single national bargaining unit. “The employees<br />
covered by <strong>the</strong> petitions do not have a community of<br />
interest separate and distinct” from controllers elsewhere,<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA argued. The FLRA scheduled hearings<br />
in November to consider <strong>the</strong> issue.<br />
Ironically, <strong>the</strong> FAA had taken <strong>the</strong> opposite stance<br />
in 1970 when it demanded that PATCO form single-facility<br />
unions. As a result of <strong>the</strong> agency’s current tactic,<br />
controllers would have to invest significantly more<br />
time and money to collect signatures from 30 percent<br />
of <strong>the</strong> entire work force before an election could be<br />
held. The outlook was even gloomier at Washington<br />
Center, where <strong>the</strong> agency’s action appeared to doom<br />
<strong>the</strong> independent NATCA. In September, Jack Crouse<br />
and company decided to merge <strong>the</strong>ir effort with<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
union on <strong>the</strong> grounds that it is regional ra<strong>the</strong>r than national and includes<br />
data systems specialists (<strong>the</strong>y were included in PATCO’s bargaining unit).<br />
A regional FLRA director rules in AATCC’s favor, but <strong>the</strong> FAA appeals.<br />
57<br />
The darkest cloud<br />
overshadowing <strong>the</strong><br />
organizing effort<br />
was money. AFGE<br />
had serious financial<br />
difficulties.<br />
* In March 1985, Lee Riley and Anthony “Skip”<br />
Skirlick formed an organization called <strong>the</strong><br />
United <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Lobby in hopes<br />
of affiliating directly with ALPA. However, <strong>the</strong><br />
group never got off <strong>the</strong> ground.
58<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
AATCC and <strong>the</strong> NATCA name was dropped.<br />
The darkest cloud overshadowing <strong>the</strong> effort<br />
was money. AFGE membership had plummeted<br />
during <strong>the</strong> early 1980s, creating serious financial<br />
difficulties. In his report, Kushner proposed a conservative<br />
budget of $675,000 to continue organizing<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers in 1985. He conceded it would<br />
take ano<strong>the</strong>r twelve to fifteen months before AFGE<br />
could expect enough money in dues from AATCC<br />
to cover its costs. Kushner also worried about <strong>the</strong><br />
“shallow support” for <strong>the</strong> effort among AFGE’s<br />
national vice presidents, given its financial constraints<br />
and <strong>the</strong> challenges of organizing a different<br />
Japphire<br />
800 Independence Avenue: In its appeal against petitions for regional unions, <strong>the</strong> FAA argued that it ran <strong>the</strong> air traffic<br />
control system from headquarters in Washington and, <strong>the</strong>refore, <strong>the</strong> new bargaining unit should be nationwide.<br />
1984<br />
2<br />
Nov.<br />
At an AATCC New England meeting, controllers elect Howie Barte from<br />
Quonset TRACON in Rhode Island as <strong>the</strong>ir regional representative. Several<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r regions also have reps by this time: Eastern, Joe D’Alessio, later<br />
type of work force.<br />
The movement at Washington Center, which<br />
began a mere two years after <strong>the</strong> strike, had sparked<br />
regional activity and coalesced into a promising<br />
takeoff. But as AATCC ended 1984 on a tenuous<br />
note, <strong>the</strong> flight toward a national union was in danger<br />
of stalling.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> Win a Round<br />
A badly needed victory lifted spirits on February<br />
28, 1985, when <strong>the</strong> FLRA approved <strong>the</strong> New<br />
England petition. The ruling followed three days<br />
of hearings <strong>the</strong> previous November, when <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
reiterated its objection to <strong>the</strong> proposed single-facility<br />
unions in Atlantic City and Bradley-<strong>Wind</strong>sor Locks<br />
as well as <strong>the</strong> regional unit in New England.<br />
The agency argued that it directed air traffic<br />
operations and employee relations from its headquarters<br />
at 800 Independence Avenue in Washington—not<br />
from its nine regional offices. Therefore,<br />
any union should be national in scope. The FAA also<br />
maintained that automation specialists were part of<br />
management and should not be included in any bargaining<br />
unit.<br />
FLRA Regional Director S. Jesse Reuben partially<br />
agreed and dismissed petitions for <strong>the</strong> singlefacility<br />
unions. But he allowed <strong>the</strong> New England unit<br />
by noting that FAA regional directors “have broad au-<br />
replaced by Joe O’Brien, both from New York TRACON; Great Lakes,<br />
Fred Gilbert from Chicago Center; Northwest Mountain, Gary Molen<br />
from Salt Lake Center.
thority concerning day-to-day conditions of employment.”<br />
Reuben also agreed with AATCC’s inclusion of<br />
automation specialists and air traffic assistants in <strong>the</strong><br />
union since employees in both jobs worked closely<br />
with controllers. <strong>Traffic</strong> assistants even reported<br />
to <strong>the</strong> same supervisors and personnel office.<br />
The FAA had sixty days to appeal, until<br />
which time <strong>the</strong> election for a union in<br />
New England remained on hold. Never<strong>the</strong>less,<br />
<strong>the</strong> ruling thrilled AATCC’s organizers.<br />
They were also encouraged that <strong>the</strong><br />
FLRA’s regional director understood <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA’s inconsistent management policies.<br />
All controllers knew that <strong>the</strong> FAA was not<br />
<strong>the</strong> cohesive, nationwide entity it purported<br />
to be. Substantial differences in work rules,<br />
terminology, and even some operating procedures<br />
existed among <strong>the</strong> regions, giving rise to <strong>the</strong> term<br />
“<strong>the</strong> Nine Kingdoms.”<br />
Shortly after <strong>the</strong> ruling, Eastern Region ga<strong>the</strong>red<br />
enough signatures to petition <strong>the</strong> FLRA for a<br />
second regional unit. By <strong>the</strong> spring of 1985, AATCC<br />
had submitted sixty-four petitions—more than double<br />
<strong>the</strong> number from <strong>the</strong> previous October—from<br />
facilities in twenty states and Puerto Rico, thanks<br />
to dogged efforts by Thornton, two organizers he’d<br />
hired, and numerous controllers. Discontent was<br />
so pervasive at <strong>the</strong> San Juan CERAP that Barte and<br />
Gropper signed up most of <strong>the</strong> controllers during a<br />
30<br />
Nov.<br />
The United States <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control Organization disbands due to a lack<br />
of money. USATCO was created in April 1982 and included about 800<br />
members at its peak in 1983. Existing without a contract or an employer,<br />
three-day trip to Puerto Rico.<br />
AFGE’s Eastern states organizer was Beth Thomas.<br />
A former operating room nurse turned controller,<br />
Thomas had firsthand experience<br />
with <strong>the</strong> issues and was steeped in<br />
union culture. She had grown<br />
up in Altoona, Pennsylvania,<br />
where her grandfa<strong>the</strong>r<br />
sloshed through knee-deep,<br />
icy water in <strong>the</strong> state’s coal<br />
mines. His descriptions<br />
of <strong>the</strong> hazardous working<br />
conditions—miners carried<br />
a canary with <strong>the</strong>m through<br />
<strong>the</strong> dark, dank tunnels to<br />
warn of toxic gases—left a lasting<br />
impression about <strong>the</strong> important<br />
protections that unions can provide.<br />
Thomas’s mo<strong>the</strong>r worked for <strong>the</strong> city and belonged<br />
to a union, as did several uncles who held railroad<br />
jobs.<br />
Her husband, Chuck, was a fired controller<br />
in Tampa. Beth Thomas had applied to <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 1970s and was waiting to be hired when <strong>the</strong><br />
strike hit. The FAA offered her a job soon after, but<br />
she declined. However, she accepted a second offer<br />
in December 1981 and was assigned to small control<br />
towers in Hagerstown, Maryland, and Binghamton,<br />
New York. Unable to transfer back to Tampa, where<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
USATCO focused on reinstating <strong>the</strong> fired controllers. Membership continually<br />
dwindled, however, in <strong>the</strong> face of a May 1984 federal court ruling<br />
against reinstatement and President Reagan’s re-election in <strong>the</strong> fall.<br />
59<br />
Beth Thomas: The controller turned labor<br />
organizer understood <strong>the</strong> pressures of<br />
her former profession. Even so, Thomas<br />
fought an uphill battle persuading controllers<br />
to support a new union. / NATCA archives
Beth<br />
Thomas<br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> Management<br />
Specialist<br />
2001 — Pre s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: ET<br />
NATCA archives<br />
HOm e t O w n : Altoona, Pennsylvania<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Completed <strong>the</strong> Boston Marathon in<br />
3 hours, 15 minutes<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Running<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: HGR, BGM<br />
TMB, FLL,<br />
AAT-120<br />
ATCSCC Command Ctr.<br />
Towers<br />
Evaluations<br />
In <strong>the</strong> chess game of life, Beth Thomas has landed<br />
on many squares across <strong>the</strong> board: operating<br />
room nurse, air traffic controller, labor organizer,<br />
manager. While she usually plays on <strong>the</strong> side of<br />
rank-and-file workers, her eclectic background<br />
drives <strong>the</strong> benevolent Thomas to seek strategies<br />
where everyone wins.<br />
Her union orientation was grounded in<br />
<strong>the</strong> hills of Pennsylvania, where family members<br />
mined coal and kept <strong>the</strong> railroads running.<br />
Her management philosophy was influenced by<br />
Maslow’s <strong>the</strong>ory of satisfying <strong>the</strong> hierarchy of<br />
human needs. Those views have been honed by<br />
professional experience.<br />
A better retirement plan prompted her to<br />
leave nursing and join <strong>the</strong> FAA. She also realized<br />
it would be easier to help her former husband,<br />
Chuck, and his colleagues, who were all fired<br />
PATCO strikers, from within <strong>the</strong> agency. Despite<br />
four years in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force, <strong>the</strong> FAA’s autocratic<br />
rule still turned her off. “There are better ways of<br />
doing business that involve common, decent courtesy,”<br />
she says.<br />
Thomas quit 3½ years later after tiring of <strong>the</strong><br />
commute between upstate New York and her home<br />
in Tampa, Florida. Yet her desire to improve workers’<br />
rights still burned bright. As an organizer for<br />
AFGE and MEBA, she traveled almost constantly<br />
from <strong>the</strong> summer of 1985 until NATCA was certified<br />
in July 1987.<br />
Facing antagonism, apprehension and apa-<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
1988 contract team; national chairwoman for<br />
Employee Assistance Program and Critical Incident<br />
Stress Mgmt. Team; Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region QTP coord.<br />
hir e d<br />
Dec.<br />
1981<br />
thy, <strong>the</strong> diminutive Thomas stood firm and won<br />
over many skeptical controllers.<br />
“You have to have a union,” she has always<br />
maintained. “There isn’t ano<strong>the</strong>r avenue, as one<br />
person, to have your voice heard and be recognized.”<br />
After certification, she organized nurses at<br />
four hospitals in South Florida before <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
rehired her at Tamiami Tower. When Quality<br />
Through Partnership came into vogue, Thomas<br />
went back on <strong>the</strong> road again as <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region<br />
coordinator and discovered that collaboration<br />
sessions could be testier than organizing meetings.<br />
“People don’t want to give up <strong>the</strong>ir territory,” she<br />
says.<br />
Encouraged by QTP’s potential, Thomas<br />
became air traffic manager at Tamiami for two<br />
years, an experience that reminded her people—<br />
not programs—cultivate successful relationships.<br />
She moved on to <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Evaluations and<br />
transferred again to <strong>the</strong> FAA Command Center in<br />
December 2001.<br />
Through it all, Thomas has steadfastly maintained<br />
her relationship with NATCA, ei<strong>the</strong>r as a<br />
full member or an associate. Her long-distance run<br />
with <strong>the</strong> union reflects ano<strong>the</strong>r passion. She has<br />
competed four times in <strong>the</strong> Boston Marathon, as<br />
well as o<strong>the</strong>rs. But Thomas frequently slows down<br />
long enough to savor life, spending free time with<br />
her non-NATCA family: a mo<strong>the</strong>r, sisters, nieces<br />
and nephews, and <strong>the</strong>ir children.
her husband was still living, Thomas quit <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
in May 1985. But she wanted to remain active in <strong>the</strong><br />
movement. A month later, she began working out of<br />
her home for AFGE and Thornton, whom she knew<br />
casually from PATCO days.<br />
Chuck Thomas was a handy carpenter and<br />
crafted an office for his wife in a spare bedroom.<br />
She quickly plastered <strong>the</strong> walls with organizational<br />
charts, contact names at facilities,<br />
travel plans, and signature tallies, which<br />
grew slowly with <strong>the</strong> fragmented organizing<br />
effort. As an outsider, one of her biggest<br />
challenges was spreading <strong>the</strong> word to <strong>the</strong><br />
rank and file on <strong>the</strong> inside.<br />
“Not too many people were willing to<br />
go out on a limb and post stuff on <strong>the</strong> bulletin<br />
board,” Thomas recalls. “It wasn’t readily<br />
accepted in a lot of places. I give a lot of credit to<br />
<strong>the</strong> people who were actively campaigning.”<br />
Even her affable personality couldn’t break<br />
through <strong>the</strong> ice at first in <strong>the</strong> labor-wary South. During<br />
a swing through Florida with Bill Riley, <strong>the</strong> two<br />
camped out for a day in <strong>the</strong> back of a franchise steakhouse,<br />
yet spoke to a mere ten controllers from nearby<br />
Jacksonville Center. Only two showed up to hear<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir pitch in Orlando.<br />
“I had a lot of tough meetings,” Thomas says. “A<br />
lot of people hung up on me.”<br />
More organizing activity occurred west of <strong>the</strong><br />
1985<br />
7<br />
Mar.<br />
Mississippi River.<br />
Gary Molen, a plain-spoken veteran at Salt<br />
Lake Center, was one of many who picked up <strong>the</strong><br />
torch. His penchant for boots and wide belt buckles,<br />
reminiscent of his Montana upbringing,<br />
earned him a reputation<br />
as a cowboy with a headset.<br />
After joining <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
in 1968, Molen suffered<br />
through a year of humidity<br />
and crowds in Houston<br />
while working at <strong>the</strong> center<br />
before eagerly transferring<br />
to a small en route center<br />
back in his hometown of<br />
Great Falls.<br />
The center handled<br />
traffic all across Montana east to<br />
Fargo, North Dakota, and south to<br />
Sheridan, Wyoming. When it closed in<br />
1976 and operations were transferred to Minneapolis<br />
and Salt Lake centers, Molen moved to Utah.<br />
Growing up with a fa<strong>the</strong>r who worked as a<br />
union switchman and brakeman for <strong>the</strong> Great Nor<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Railway, Molen understood <strong>the</strong> value of labor organizations.<br />
He joined PATCO while still training in<br />
Great Falls, but had to leave <strong>the</strong> bargaining unit once<br />
he became a classroom instructor. When <strong>the</strong> strike<br />
hit, Molen wrestled over his own good fortune and<br />
Howie Barte presents a graphic containing a control tower and radar<br />
sweep bearing <strong>the</strong> letters AATCC as <strong>the</strong> proposed logo for <strong>the</strong> group<br />
at an organizing meeting in Boston. AATCC declines to adopt <strong>the</strong> logo,<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
61<br />
Gary Molen: During <strong>the</strong> 1970s, he worked<br />
at an en route center in his hometown of<br />
Great Falls, Montana. Molen was NATCA’s<br />
Northwest Mountain regional rep from<br />
1985 to 1993. / Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
which Barte and controller Kim Kochis collaborated on, due to concerns<br />
that it favors terminal controllers. However, Barte uses it for organizing<br />
efforts in New England.
62<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Kelly Candaele: The organizer for AFGE<br />
(and later MEBA) covered <strong>the</strong> West,<br />
where laid-back attitudes and a rightto-work<br />
culture challenged his ability to<br />
inspire interest in a labor union. / Japphire<br />
1985<br />
29<br />
Apr.<br />
<strong>the</strong> pain of watching friends lose <strong>the</strong>ir jobs. Returning<br />
to <strong>the</strong> scopes was an eye-opener.<br />
“Everybody was pulling toge<strong>the</strong>r. Many, many<br />
people commented that this was <strong>the</strong> way it was supposed<br />
to be,” he says. Then <strong>the</strong> honeymoon between<br />
controllers and management ended. “It reverted<br />
back to <strong>the</strong> same old crap. Very little<br />
changed from <strong>the</strong> time of <strong>the</strong> strike<br />
until we formed a new union.”<br />
One night Molen listened<br />
to a colleague talking on <strong>the</strong><br />
phone with Skip Skirlick<br />
from Los Angeles Center.<br />
Molen got on <strong>the</strong> line, heard<br />
about <strong>the</strong> organizing efforts,<br />
and before long was talking<br />
up a union in Salt Lake. Soon<br />
after, AFGE’s Western states<br />
organizer, Kelly Candaele, visited<br />
<strong>the</strong> center.<br />
The AFGE position was <strong>the</strong> tall,<br />
thoughtful Irishman’s first union job. Initially,<br />
Candaele was ambivalent toward <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
based on his strong feelings about people who cross<br />
picket lines. But he knew a lot was at stake in air traffic<br />
control, making <strong>the</strong> workers vulnerable without<br />
a union. He also realized it would be symbolic for<br />
<strong>the</strong> labor movement if several thousand controllers<br />
organized again.<br />
The <strong>Air</strong> Line Pilots <strong>Association</strong> announces <strong>the</strong> possibility of organizing<br />
controllers. ALPA and AFGE discuss <strong>the</strong> proposition throughout <strong>the</strong> summer,<br />
but in late August ALPA’s Master Executive Council votes against <strong>the</strong><br />
Molen’s philosophical outlook appealed to Candaele<br />
and <strong>the</strong>y hit it off. Selling AATCC was tough in<br />
<strong>the</strong> West, though, given <strong>the</strong> region’s laid-back culture<br />
and right-to-work ethic. Molen and Candaele also<br />
found it hard to interest new-hires in <strong>the</strong>ir 20s, who<br />
were earning good money and had little job experience<br />
to put <strong>the</strong> working conditions in perspective.<br />
The two traveled extensively toge<strong>the</strong>r across<br />
Utah and Colorado. Candaele knew that certain<br />
personality traits and communication skills<br />
were critical in <strong>the</strong> people who waved <strong>the</strong> organizing<br />
flag. The upheaval from PATCO had<br />
colored many controllers’ views of organized<br />
labor. Candaele understood that <strong>the</strong> AFGEfinanced<br />
team had to tread lightly, focus on<br />
issues, and allay anxieties before <strong>the</strong>y could<br />
gain <strong>the</strong> trust of controllers.<br />
He believed that Molen’s reflective, sincere<br />
nature and “cowboy wisdom” fit <strong>the</strong> mold perfectly.<br />
The covert nature of <strong>the</strong>ir efforts could turn<br />
anxiety into anger for potential recruits at meetings,<br />
some of whom felt trapped by poor working conditions<br />
yet frightened of <strong>the</strong> potential consequences of<br />
organizing. Molen was patient and calm.<br />
One fateful incident helped to shape Candaele’s<br />
view of <strong>the</strong> Montana native. Snow was falling while<br />
<strong>the</strong>y drove south along Interstate 25 back to Stapleton<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port from Denver Center in Longmont. Candaele<br />
nervously gripped <strong>the</strong> steering wheel whenever <strong>the</strong><br />
move. During <strong>the</strong> fall, John Thornton and Howie Barte seek interest from<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r unions, including <strong>the</strong> Marine Engineers Beneficial <strong>Association</strong>, which<br />
had organized PATCO.
car skidded along <strong>the</strong> slippery highway. As a resident<br />
of Los Angeles, he was not accustomed to winter<br />
driving. Suddenly, a semi-trailer truck passed by,<br />
throwing up a wave of slush that cascaded across <strong>the</strong><br />
windshield and obliterated <strong>the</strong> road ahead.<br />
Candaele hit <strong>the</strong> brakes.<br />
The car spun around.<br />
Sparks flew as <strong>the</strong> passenger<br />
side scraped against<br />
<strong>the</strong> guardrail along <strong>the</strong><br />
median. The car pulled<br />
away, <strong>the</strong>n banged<br />
against <strong>the</strong> railing several<br />
times, flinging more<br />
orange embers into <strong>the</strong><br />
air before skidding to a<br />
stop. Both men silently<br />
thanked <strong>the</strong> presence<br />
of <strong>the</strong> guardrail, which<br />
prevented <strong>the</strong>m from<br />
careening into oncoming<br />
traffic. Candaele looked<br />
over at Molen.<br />
“Gary was just as calm as could be—with a<br />
kind of smirk on his face. Almost like, what did you<br />
do that for?” Candaele recalls.<br />
Nei<strong>the</strong>r man was hurt. Unfortunately, Candaele<br />
had neglected to take out insurance and his bosses at<br />
AFGE weren’t pleased about paying for <strong>the</strong> damage.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r controllers joined Candaele as he ranged<br />
far<strong>the</strong>r afield in <strong>the</strong> West, including Dave Bottini, an<br />
organizer from San Francisco Tower.<br />
Bottini became involved after <strong>the</strong> tower chief<br />
changed <strong>the</strong> seniority policy, denying him credit for<br />
<strong>the</strong> time he’d spent at SFO while on loan from <strong>the</strong><br />
Defense Department.<br />
Lack of job security for<br />
a largely inexperienced<br />
work force also con-<br />
“<br />
cerned him.<br />
“If management<br />
decid ed to look for technical<br />
faults, <strong>the</strong>y could find<br />
things wrong. They could<br />
make life miserable for an<br />
individual,” he says. “You<br />
always knew you could be<br />
fired. That wasn’t fair.”<br />
Bottini joined<br />
Candaele and Skirlick<br />
on a winter trip to visit<br />
Albuquerque Center.<br />
They had advertised two meetings at a nearby hotel.<br />
The morning dragged by while <strong>the</strong>y waited in a<br />
conference room for someone to show up. Finally, a<br />
lone controller appeared in <strong>the</strong> afternoon and warily<br />
asked a few questions. No, we’re not here to get you<br />
fired, <strong>the</strong> organizers stressed. We can’t strike. The<br />
If management decided to<br />
look for technical faults, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
could find things wrong. They<br />
could make life miserable<br />
for an individual. You always<br />
knew you could be fired.<br />
— O’Hare Tower controller Dave Bottini<br />
June July<br />
Citing financial constraints, AFGE lays off fourteen staff members,<br />
including John Thornton and <strong>the</strong> rest of its organizing staff<br />
except for <strong>the</strong> department’s director.<br />
26<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
The FAA awards a contract to IBM to replace <strong>the</strong> 9020 computers<br />
at en route centers with new 3083-BX1 “Host” computers.<br />
The 9020s were installed starting in 1967.<br />
63
64<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Some controllers<br />
regarded professional<br />
organizations such as<br />
ALPA and <strong>the</strong> AMA as<br />
<strong>the</strong> perfect role models<br />
for <strong>the</strong>ir budding<br />
union.<br />
1985<br />
2<br />
Aug.<br />
controller relaxed and listened while <strong>the</strong>y explained<br />
his labor rights under <strong>the</strong> law.<br />
A knock sounded at <strong>the</strong> door. They all looked<br />
over and saw a reporter and TV cameraman peeking<br />
into <strong>the</strong> room. “Is this <strong>the</strong> group of controllers who<br />
are trying to organize a union?” <strong>the</strong> reporter asked.<br />
“Can we come in and<br />
film?”<br />
“No,” <strong>the</strong> organizers<br />
replied in unison.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> edgy controller<br />
was already hustling<br />
out <strong>the</strong> door.<br />
Interest from<br />
an Interloper<br />
On April 26, 1985,<br />
<strong>the</strong> day before <strong>the</strong> deadline<br />
for <strong>the</strong> FAA to appeal<br />
<strong>the</strong> ruling that authorized<br />
regional unions, <strong>the</strong> agency filed a two-page<br />
statement. This predictable move fur<strong>the</strong>r delayed an<br />
election until <strong>the</strong> full FLRA reviewed <strong>the</strong> case.<br />
The following Monday, however, controllers<br />
and AFGE organizers awoke to surprising<br />
news. ALPA President Henry A. Duffy announced<br />
that his union, an AFL-CIO affiliate representing<br />
34,000 pilots at forty-eight airlines, planned to<br />
A Delta <strong>Air</strong> Lines L-1011 crashes after encountering wind shear during<br />
final approach to Dallas-Fort Worth <strong>Air</strong>port. The accident kills 134 of <strong>the</strong><br />
163 people aboard <strong>the</strong> plane and one on <strong>the</strong> ground. DFW’s Low-Level<br />
“<br />
The AFGE effort is dead in <strong>the</strong><br />
water, it is not moving, and<br />
time is of <strong>the</strong> essence.<br />
organize <strong>the</strong> controllers.<br />
ALPA First Vice President Thomas Ashwood<br />
said <strong>the</strong> pilots were keen on accelerating <strong>the</strong> drive<br />
because <strong>the</strong>y wanted <strong>the</strong> controllers’ input on a<br />
$10 billion program to overhaul <strong>the</strong> air traffic control<br />
system.<br />
“The AFGE effort is<br />
dead in <strong>the</strong> water, it is not<br />
moving, and time is of <strong>the</strong><br />
essence,” Ashwood said. 6<br />
— ALPA First Vice President<br />
Thomas Ashwood<br />
Some controllers<br />
regarded professional organizations<br />
such as ALPA<br />
and <strong>the</strong> American Medical<br />
<strong>Association</strong> as <strong>the</strong> perfect<br />
role models for <strong>the</strong>ir budding<br />
union. They admired<br />
how <strong>the</strong> organizations<br />
emphasized brains over<br />
brawn and cooperation<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than conflict.<br />
But while ALPA was financially sound, well<br />
organized, and exercised significant influence in <strong>the</strong><br />
industry, fundamental disputes periodically erupted<br />
between controllers and airline pilots. Many worried<br />
about how <strong>the</strong> disagreements could be resolved<br />
within <strong>the</strong> same organization.<br />
ALPA’s interest also raised a legal issue. Article<br />
20 of <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO constitution frowned upon com-<br />
<strong>Wind</strong> Shear Alert System did not record <strong>the</strong> turbulence until after <strong>the</strong><br />
crash, demonstrating its limitations. Ray<strong>the</strong>on Company develops Terminal<br />
Doppler Wea<strong>the</strong>r Radar to provide improved alert capability.
petition among its affiliates. If a second union tried to<br />
organize <strong>the</strong> same group of workers, <strong>the</strong> original affiliate<br />
could seek mediation to determine which one<br />
should retain exclusive rights.<br />
While AFGE publicly vowed to continue <strong>the</strong><br />
drive, it quietly held talks with ALPA throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> summer of 1985 about transferring <strong>the</strong> campaign.<br />
AFGE’s ongoing money problems served as a<br />
catalyst. In June, it laid off fourteen staff members,<br />
including Thornton, Thomas, and Candaele.<br />
Like a broken summer romance, ALPA ended<br />
its flirtation in late August when its Master Executive<br />
Council voted against <strong>the</strong> proposal. Insiders<br />
believe it is likely that MEBA was a factor in<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir decision.<br />
The Marine Engineers Beneficial<br />
<strong>Association</strong> had formally ceded its<br />
rights to organize <strong>the</strong> controllers to<br />
AFGE in <strong>the</strong> spring of 1984. When it<br />
appeared that AFGE might try to sell<br />
those rights to <strong>the</strong> pilots’ union, MEBA<br />
strongly opposed <strong>the</strong> move.<br />
Most controllers merely shrugged,<br />
given <strong>the</strong>ir worries about dealing with ALPA as<br />
a union. But <strong>the</strong>y were bitterly disappointed, though<br />
not too surprised, in September when <strong>the</strong> full FLRA<br />
overruled its Washington regional director and disallowed<br />
New England’s bid for a regional union.<br />
The authority agreed with <strong>the</strong> FAA’s conten-<br />
20<br />
Sep.<br />
Overruling its regional director, <strong>the</strong> full FLRA disallows New England’s bid<br />
for a regional union. Citing PATCO and a similar FLRA ruling concerning<br />
tion that it administered a nationwide air traffic<br />
system primarily from headquarters. To support its<br />
decision, <strong>the</strong> authority cited PATCO’s national bargaining<br />
unit and a similar FLRA ruling concerning<br />
<strong>the</strong> Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition<br />
Service as precedents. In light of its decision, <strong>the</strong><br />
authority declined to rule on whe<strong>the</strong>r automation<br />
specialists and air traffic assistants were entitled to<br />
be a part of AATCC.<br />
The determination, which came eleven months<br />
after AFGE filed for a New England unit, sounded a<br />
death knell for its stagnating effort. Layoffs<br />
had wiped out AFGE’s organizing<br />
department and <strong>the</strong> union appeared<br />
disinclined to spend<br />
much more money on<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers, who now<br />
needed to obtain all new<br />
signatures on petitions<br />
calling for a national<br />
union.<br />
Heading for a Fall<br />
Since June 1984, Barte had been holding<br />
monthly telephone conferences among activists<br />
in New England and o<strong>the</strong>r regions as <strong>the</strong>y joined<br />
AATCC. By now, <strong>the</strong> calls were about <strong>the</strong> only thread<br />
holding <strong>the</strong> effort toge<strong>the</strong>r and represented AFGE’s<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
65<br />
Gene DeFries: The MEBA president<br />
repeated history by committing his union’s<br />
resources to <strong>the</strong> controllers. MEBA also<br />
organized PATCO. / NATCA archives<br />
<strong>the</strong> Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service as precedents,<br />
<strong>the</strong> authority mandates that only a national bargaining unit is appropriate.
Howie<br />
Barte<br />
PVD Local President<br />
New England Alt. RVP<br />
ANE-540 Liaison<br />
1990 / ’93 / ’97 — Pr e s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: RJ<br />
HOm e t O w n : New York City<br />
CHildre n:<br />
Laura, Susan<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
Rebuilt a Korean War-era Jeep<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Science, electronics, computers,<br />
space exploration, sushi<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: OQU<br />
EWB<br />
ZSU<br />
PVD Tower/TRACON<br />
TRACON<br />
Tower<br />
Center<br />
Born in <strong>the</strong> Bronx, Howie Barte spent part of his<br />
childhood in Madrid, Spain, Caracas, Venezuela,<br />
and San Juan, Puerto Rico, while his parents<br />
followed various professional pursuits. But it<br />
wasn’t until he saw <strong>the</strong> world from inside cramped<br />
airplane cockpits above <strong>the</strong> azure seas of <strong>the</strong> Caribbean<br />
that Barte developed an appreciation for<br />
unions. His first air taxi outfit pressured him to fly<br />
despite bad wea<strong>the</strong>r, excess payloads, and without<br />
water survival gear. The next airline, whose pilots<br />
belonged to ALPA, rated safety much higher.<br />
“It was very much akin to working in a<br />
sweatshop and <strong>the</strong>n realizing it doesn’t have to be<br />
this way,” he says.<br />
Nor did <strong>the</strong> shoestring carriers offer much<br />
job security. After being furloughed twice, Barte<br />
applied to <strong>the</strong> FAA and started as a controller at<br />
San Juan Center in 1970. Two months later, he<br />
heard familiar voices on <strong>the</strong> radio as his pilot<br />
friends confronted a nasty thunderstorm. Grateful<br />
to be on terra firma, Barte recalls, “They got out of<br />
it, but it was scary.”<br />
He joined PATCO, retained his membership<br />
as an associate while a controller for four years in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Navy, <strong>the</strong>n was drafted to be facility rep six<br />
months after arriving at New Bedford Tower in<br />
Massachusetts. “I wasn’t afraid to speak up,” he<br />
says. Barte stayed involved when he transferred<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
New England provisional regional rep 1984-88;<br />
parliamentarian at NATCA national conventions<br />
since 1992.<br />
hir e d<br />
Nov.<br />
1970<br />
to Quonset TRACON in Rhode Island by editing<br />
<strong>the</strong> local union newsletter. However, he viewed<br />
<strong>the</strong> mounting drumbeat to walk out as “corporate<br />
hysteria,” resigned from PATCO <strong>the</strong> day after <strong>the</strong><br />
first strike vote, and stayed on <strong>the</strong> job.<br />
Barte soon realized controllers needed ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
union and, in 1984, became a founder of <strong>the</strong><br />
movement to form NATCA. His goal was to regain<br />
a contract. “I had no idea this thing would become<br />
my life,” he says.<br />
After playing a central role in NATCA’s drive<br />
to certification, Barte endured a heartbreaking loss<br />
in <strong>the</strong> union’s national election in 1988. He could<br />
not ignore <strong>the</strong> call of activism for long. During<br />
<strong>the</strong> past dozen years, he has served as <strong>the</strong> local<br />
president at Providence Tower/TRACON, alternate<br />
New England Region vice president, and NATCA<br />
regional liaison to <strong>the</strong> FAA’s Resource Management<br />
Branch (ANE-540), all while maintaining his certification<br />
as a controller. He serves as parliamentarian<br />
at every union convention, a role he assumed<br />
in 1992, and is known as NATCA’s “unofficial<br />
historian.”<br />
Somehow, Barte has also found time to raise<br />
two daughters, feed his craving for “Star Trek,” and<br />
restore a military Jeep that he inscribed with <strong>the</strong><br />
serial number NCC-1701-NATCA, a reference, of<br />
course, to <strong>the</strong> Starship Enterprise.
sole financial commitment to <strong>the</strong> campaign (in addition<br />
to Barte’s regular long-distance phone bill). Fed<br />
up with <strong>the</strong> lack of support and its effect on <strong>the</strong> pace<br />
of organizing, Barte began contacting o<strong>the</strong>r unions to<br />
solicit <strong>the</strong>ir backing. Thornton, who stayed in touch<br />
with key activists while collecting unemployment,<br />
worked <strong>the</strong> phone, too.<br />
The Communications<br />
Workers of America<br />
sounded eager to help,<br />
but would offer funding<br />
only after controllers had<br />
collected <strong>the</strong> requisite<br />
30 percent of signatures.<br />
With a work force of<br />
about 12,500 controllers,<br />
that amounted to 3,750<br />
names, an expensive<br />
proposition.<br />
Officials at <strong>the</strong><br />
American Federation of<br />
State, County and Municipal<br />
Employees, <strong>the</strong><br />
American Federation of Teachers, and <strong>the</strong> Teamsters<br />
all responded, “We’ll get back to you,” and never did.<br />
MEBA President Clayton E. “Gene” DeFries sounded<br />
<strong>the</strong> same refrain. Growing despondent, Barte wrote<br />
off <strong>the</strong> former PATCO organizer.<br />
In late October 1985, leaf-peeping season had<br />
1985<br />
13<br />
Nov.<br />
come and gone in New England, and winter coats<br />
were in style again. The white and scrub pine tree<br />
needles carpeting Barte’s back yard seemed to symbolize<br />
more than a passing season. Barte gloomily<br />
figured <strong>the</strong> frost that had stalled <strong>the</strong> organizing effort<br />
was about to kill it in a deep freeze.<br />
Suddenly, <strong>the</strong>re was<br />
a thaw. At three o’clock one<br />
afternoon, his phone rang.<br />
DeFries informed him that<br />
“<br />
MEBA would organize <strong>the</strong><br />
controllers, but <strong>the</strong> news<br />
could not be made public<br />
until December 2. An ecstatic<br />
Barte agreed to keep quiet.<br />
In mid-November,<br />
Thornton and ten activists<br />
met with AFGE’s David<br />
— MEBA President Gene DeFries Kushner in Alexandria,<br />
Virginia. AFGE had spent<br />
about $250,000 and was<br />
limited in how much more it<br />
could do, Kushner warned.<br />
He talked about a national organizing committee and<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r mailing. But <strong>the</strong> wi<strong>the</strong>ring support prompted<br />
growing disenchantment from several people sitting<br />
around <strong>the</strong> table, including Barte, who knew this<br />
would be AFGE’s last meeting with <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
The curtain was coming down.<br />
Let me emphasize that this<br />
new air traffic controllers’<br />
organization will indeed be<br />
new. It will not be a disguised<br />
rebirth of <strong>the</strong> old PATCO.<br />
ABC News devotes its program “Nightline” to ATC, representing <strong>the</strong> first<br />
major TV broadcast about <strong>the</strong> topic since <strong>the</strong> strike ended. Howie Barte<br />
challenges FAA Administrator Donald Engen’s contention that <strong>the</strong> FAA is<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
67<br />
sufficiently staffed with controllers and says management hasn’t changed<br />
since <strong>the</strong> strike. Joe O’Brien from New York TRACON and two unidentified<br />
controllers also appear on <strong>the</strong> program, along with Rep. Guy Molinari.
68<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Howie Barte: His appearance on ABC’s<br />
“Nightline” in November 1985 helped<br />
draw attention to controller understaffing<br />
and poor morale. / Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
1985<br />
As promised, MEBA publicly announced its<br />
intentions in early December. Taking pains to clarify<br />
<strong>the</strong> initiative for <strong>the</strong> public and controllers, DeFries<br />
said: “Let me emphasize that this new air traffic controllers’<br />
organization will indeed be new. It will not<br />
be a disguised rebirth of <strong>the</strong> old PATCO. The new<br />
union will be effectively and responsively geared to<br />
serving <strong>the</strong> needs of this new generation of air traffic<br />
controllers.” 7<br />
Barte flew to Washington again to meet De-<br />
Fries on December 5 and chart <strong>the</strong> new campaign. At<br />
Barte’s request, two o<strong>the</strong>r key activists joined <strong>the</strong>m:<br />
Joe O’Brien from New York<br />
TRACON, representing <strong>the</strong><br />
Eastern Region, and Dan<br />
Keeney from Daytona<br />
Beach Tower/TRACON<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region.<br />
The difference<br />
from <strong>the</strong> AFGE meeting<br />
was like night and day.<br />
DeFries promised solid financial<br />
backing and pointed<br />
out an important distinction: The controllers would be<br />
a full affiliate of <strong>the</strong> engineers’ union. Unlike AFGE’s<br />
council arrangement, <strong>the</strong> new union would establish<br />
its own structure and decide on policies without competing<br />
against <strong>the</strong> interests of o<strong>the</strong>r workers.<br />
“What do you want in return?” Barte asked.<br />
Nov. Dec.<br />
16<br />
AFGE outlines fur<strong>the</strong>r organizing activities, which solidifies <strong>the</strong><br />
belief among several controllers that <strong>the</strong> union does not intend<br />
to commit adequate resources to finish <strong>the</strong> AATCC campaign. 2<br />
“We don’t want anything,” DeFries said. “We just<br />
want to see you guys organized. It’s good for labor.”<br />
DeFries <strong>the</strong>n asked Barte to quit <strong>the</strong> FAA and<br />
become national coordinator for <strong>the</strong> new union.<br />
“I’m an air traffic controller,” Barte replied. “My<br />
goal is to get a contract—not a job.” He suggested<br />
that DeFries ask John Thornton, whose controller<br />
background and organizing experience made him a<br />
perfect candidate.<br />
Barte, Keeney, and O’Brien left MEBA headquarters<br />
feeling elated. Much work lay ahead, but<br />
<strong>the</strong> drive for a new union had been revitalized. Part<br />
of <strong>the</strong>ir optimism stemmed from ano<strong>the</strong>r helpful<br />
boost three weeks earlier when ABC-TV highlighted<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers’ cause on its popular news program<br />
“Nightline.”<br />
The segment aired near <strong>the</strong> end of a year in<br />
which 1,500 people had died in plane crashes around<br />
<strong>the</strong> world. The worst in <strong>the</strong> United States occurred<br />
on August 2 nd , when a Delta <strong>Air</strong> Lines L-1011 plummeted<br />
to <strong>the</strong> ground after encountering wind shear<br />
on final approach to Dallas-Fort Worth <strong>Air</strong>port, killing<br />
137. Ten days later, a Japan <strong>Air</strong> Lines 747 suffered<br />
mechanical problems and limped along for thirty<br />
minutes before plunging into Mount Ogura outside<br />
Tokyo. All but four of <strong>the</strong> 524 aboard perished, making<br />
it <strong>the</strong> deadliest single-plane accident in history.<br />
The “Nightline” broadcast was prompted by a<br />
midair collision three days earlier between a Nabisco<br />
MEBA President Gene DeFries announces that <strong>the</strong> union will<br />
organize controllers. In October, DeFries notified Howie Barte,<br />
who had contacted <strong>the</strong> union for help, of MEBA’s intentions.
Brands corporate jet and a Piper Archer over Cliffside<br />
Park, New Jersey, which killed six and injured<br />
several o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> were not initially implicated in any<br />
of <strong>the</strong> accidents, but “Nightline” called into question<br />
President Reagan’s actions in 1981. * Reporter Jack<br />
Smith noted that <strong>the</strong> ranks of journeymen controllers<br />
had dropped by 5,000 since <strong>the</strong> strike yet <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were handling 1,000 more flights a day. Reported<br />
near misses had soared an alarming 65 percent. Inexperienced<br />
controllers were training o<strong>the</strong>rs and sick<br />
leave was being denied because <strong>the</strong>re weren’t enough<br />
replacements.<br />
In a taped interview, Joe O’Brien said employee<br />
relations committees had failed because FAA management<br />
simply took <strong>the</strong> groups’ recommendations<br />
“into consideration” and did nothing more. FAA Associate<br />
Administrator Quentin Taylor brushed off <strong>the</strong><br />
problem, contending <strong>the</strong> complaints came from “an<br />
extreme minority” of controllers.<br />
FAA Administrator Donald Engen, New York<br />
Republican congressman Guy Molinari, and Barte<br />
appeared live on <strong>the</strong> program. Barte spoke from<br />
ABC’s studios in Boston. When a technician attached<br />
a microphone to his lapel, he could hear his heart<br />
thumping in an earpiece. His nervousness vanished<br />
as he listened to Taylor’s assessment.<br />
Barte noted that 2,500 controllers had signed a<br />
petition to form a new union, even though organizers<br />
5<br />
Dec.<br />
MEBA President Gene DeFries invites Howie Barte to Washington,<br />
D.C., to discuss organizing, and agrees to Barte’s request to include two<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r controllers: Joe O’Brien and Dan Keeney, representing Eastern and<br />
had not reached all parts of <strong>the</strong> country, and said,<br />
“Management within <strong>the</strong> FAA, in reality, has not<br />
changed at all since 1981.”<br />
“Nightline” also ran a video clip of Engen in<br />
Congress—one week after <strong>the</strong> strike—testifying that<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA did not need more controllers. “I’m full up.<br />
I have everything I need right now,” he said. “If I had<br />
more controllers today, I literally couldn’t use <strong>the</strong>m.”<br />
The clip prompted a spirited debate about continuing<br />
staff shortages between Engen, Barte and Molinari,<br />
who said he planned to give President Reagan a letter<br />
signed by seventy members of <strong>the</strong> House urging that<br />
he rehire some of <strong>the</strong> fired controllers.<br />
During commercial breaks in <strong>the</strong> Boston studio,<br />
Donna Gropper jumped excitedly in <strong>the</strong> shadows<br />
behind <strong>the</strong> cameraman while flashing Barte a<br />
thumbs-up sign.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> way home in a rented limo, courtesy of<br />
ABC, <strong>the</strong>y decided to stop for a drink to watch <strong>the</strong><br />
program, which had been taped an hour beforehand.<br />
While <strong>the</strong>y searched for a tavern, Barte schemed that<br />
he’d tell <strong>the</strong> bartender he was about to appear on TV,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n wager for a free round, figuring <strong>the</strong> bartender<br />
wouldn’t believe him. As <strong>the</strong> minutes ticked down to<br />
broadcast time, <strong>the</strong>y found a bar at last. Barte, Gropper,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> driver rushed inside, only to discover it<br />
had no television.<br />
The broadcast piqued <strong>the</strong> interest of many air<br />
travelers and galvanized controllers who watched<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn regions, respectively. DeFries asks Barte to serve as national<br />
coordinator, but he declines and recommends John Thornton, who accepts<br />
<strong>the</strong> job.<br />
69<br />
The ranks of<br />
journeymen controllers<br />
had dropped by 5,000<br />
since <strong>the</strong> strike yet<br />
<strong>the</strong>y were handling<br />
1,000 more flights a<br />
day. Reported near<br />
misses had soared an<br />
alarming 65 percent.<br />
* In its accident report issued in May 1987, <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> Transportation Safety Board cited a<br />
breakdown in coordination among Teterboro<br />
Tower controllers as a contributing cause to<br />
<strong>the</strong> midair collision. Several controllers were<br />
also named in a civil lawsuit, leading NATCA<br />
to lobby for immunity from tort actions.
70<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
New acronym: When MEBA took over<br />
<strong>the</strong> organizing effort in December 1985,<br />
<strong>the</strong> union resurrected <strong>the</strong> name created at<br />
Washington Center two years earlier.<br />
1985<br />
16<br />
Dec.<br />
with a sense of vindication as one of <strong>the</strong>ir ranks successfully<br />
debated <strong>the</strong> FAA administrator in a national<br />
forum. Engen ignored <strong>the</strong> facts and seemed out of<br />
touch with <strong>the</strong> realities of his work force.<br />
Barte’s appearance “was one of our biggest<br />
tools,” says Dave Landry from Lebanon Tower in<br />
New Hampshire.<br />
“The<br />
i n t e r v i e w<br />
pushed people<br />
who were<br />
sitting on <strong>the</strong><br />
fence.”<br />
In mid-<br />
D e c e m b e r<br />
1985, Engen<br />
fulfilled a<br />
promise he<br />
made on<br />
“Nightline”<br />
and met with<br />
five controllers<br />
at FAA<br />
headquarters in Washington, away from <strong>the</strong> intimidating<br />
presence of facility managers. Among those<br />
at <strong>the</strong> unprecedented 2½-hour meeting were Barte<br />
and Washington Center controller Walt Simpkins,<br />
who had taken over as president from Jack Crouse<br />
and also served as <strong>the</strong> alternate Eastern regional<br />
Five controllers meet with FAA Administrator Donald Engen to discuss<br />
<strong>the</strong> state of <strong>the</strong> ATC system and controller morale. The ga<strong>the</strong>ring is a result<br />
of <strong>the</strong> “Nightline” program. Afterward, Howie Barte and John Thorn-<br />
representative on <strong>the</strong> controllers’ provisional Executive<br />
Board.<br />
Following up on <strong>the</strong> “Nightline” debate, both<br />
controllers drove home <strong>the</strong> point that continued<br />
understaffing translated into excessive overtime.<br />
Simpkins acknowledged <strong>the</strong>y were able to take summer<br />
leave, but stressed that <strong>the</strong>ir colleagues suffered<br />
as a result.<br />
“While we were on leave, we knew that someone<br />
at <strong>the</strong> facility was working overtime so we could<br />
be off,” he said. Simpkins had not enjoyed two consecutive<br />
days off during <strong>the</strong> past ten months.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> meeting, Barte hopped in a cab for <strong>the</strong><br />
ride across The Mall to MEBA headquarters on North<br />
Capitol Street to talk about <strong>the</strong> organizing campaign<br />
with Thornton, who had been hired as national coordinator.<br />
Once again, <strong>the</strong> question arose over a name for<br />
<strong>the</strong> new group. This time, <strong>the</strong>re was little discussion.<br />
Thornton had prepared a list of possibilities and <strong>the</strong>y<br />
quickly agreed to resurrect <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>.<br />
Back on Track<br />
The new year dawned on a bright, if confusing,<br />
note for controllers. AFGE and MEBA each vied for<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir loyalty and <strong>the</strong> all-important signatures on election<br />
petitions in letters mailed nationwide. Although<br />
ton agree to change <strong>the</strong> name of <strong>the</strong> proposed union to NATCA, which<br />
Washington Center controllers used during organizing. They also agree to<br />
adopt <strong>the</strong> AATCC logo used in New England as <strong>the</strong> new NATCA logo.
A Logo is Born<br />
Like many of NATCA’s founders, <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s logo traced its heritage to<br />
AATCC. In <strong>the</strong> fall of 1984, Howie Barte<br />
took a break from<br />
drumming up support<br />
on <strong>the</strong> phone<br />
one day to sketch<br />
out a logo for New England’s<br />
monthly newslet- ters.<br />
The circular<br />
artwork paid hom- age<br />
to centers and<br />
TRACONs with its<br />
dotted and crosshatched<br />
lines and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r markings representing<br />
a radarscope, and was anchored<br />
by a control tower near <strong>the</strong> bottom.<br />
Influenced by his interest in “Star Trek,”<br />
he selected a computer-style typeface for<br />
<strong>the</strong> initials AATCC in <strong>the</strong> center.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> logo’s debut in <strong>the</strong> October<br />
edition of <strong>the</strong> New England AATCC<br />
Update, Barte collaborated with Kim<br />
Kochis, ano<strong>the</strong>r controller on his crew at<br />
Quonset TRACON. *<br />
Kochis, who loved to draw and<br />
�<br />
paint, relied on graphic design skills she<br />
developed in high school. By <strong>the</strong> time<br />
Barte and Kochis were finished, concentric<br />
circles with a radar sweep<br />
had replaced <strong>the</strong> radar<br />
map. A tower cab rested<br />
atop <strong>the</strong> “T” in a series of<br />
simple block letters spelling<br />
AATCC.<br />
Barte presented<br />
<strong>the</strong> finished product for<br />
formal adoption at an<br />
AATCC regional representatives<br />
meeting in<br />
March 1985. But a few<br />
controllers argued that<br />
it didn’t adequately represent en route<br />
centers.<br />
Unwilling to change <strong>the</strong> design,<br />
Barte used it throughout <strong>the</strong> year in<br />
New England. When MEBA entered <strong>the</strong><br />
picture, he gave a copy to Thornton, who<br />
turned it over to <strong>the</strong> union’s graphic artist.<br />
The resulting logo, with red letters<br />
and blue lines, made Barte swell with<br />
pride when he saw it at NATCA’s first<br />
national meeting.<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
The logo was subsequently trademarked<br />
in 1993, and in 2000 <strong>the</strong>n-President<br />
Michael McNally presented Barte<br />
with a plaque recognizing<br />
him for his efforts<br />
in creating <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s longstanding<br />
symbol.<br />
Noting that<br />
many companies<br />
change <strong>the</strong>ir visual<br />
identity as <strong>the</strong>y<br />
mature, Kochis says,<br />
“I’m surprised it’s<br />
held all <strong>the</strong>se years.”<br />
Two unsuccessful<br />
attempts to redesign <strong>the</strong> logo<br />
were made during <strong>the</strong> 1990s. To help<br />
ensure its enduring look, NATCA convention<br />
delegates in 2000 mandated<br />
that any changes must be approved by a<br />
majority vote at a convention.<br />
* Kochis later transferred to two o<strong>the</strong>r New England facilities<br />
before settling in at Raleigh-Durham Tower/TRACON in<br />
North Carolina in May 1995.<br />
71
72<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Helping hand: When <strong>the</strong> FAA instituted<br />
random drug testing in 1986, NATCA educated<br />
<strong>the</strong> work force about its rights. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> fall of 1987, a few months after certification,<br />
<strong>the</strong> union signed an agreement with<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency outlining testing procedures.<br />
1985/86<br />
m o s t<br />
activists quickly jumped aboard<br />
MEBA’s deck, a handful clung to AATCC’s sinking<br />
ship. AFGE cranked out a handful of newsletters<br />
during <strong>the</strong> spring trying to retain support, but its<br />
limited efforts foundered.<br />
Unwilling to go down quietly and keen to re-<br />
Dec. Jan.<br />
First NATCA organizing letter is sent via U.S. mail from<br />
NATCA New England to activists across <strong>the</strong> country.<br />
31<br />
3<br />
coup its organizing investment through future dues,<br />
AFGE forced <strong>the</strong> issue of organizing rights for<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers at an Article 20 hearing before<br />
<strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO in June. It soon became a moot<br />
point. Still struggling with money problems,<br />
AFGE convention delegates voted later that summer<br />
to stop funding <strong>the</strong> AATCC drive, opting<br />
instead to focus on <strong>the</strong> organization’s existing<br />
unions.<br />
By contrast, NATCA hit <strong>the</strong> ground running<br />
and never looked back. MEBA’s support<br />
brea<strong>the</strong>d life back into <strong>the</strong> smoldering effort and<br />
soon stoked a roaring blaze.<br />
Many familiar faces were on hand at its first<br />
national organizing meeting on January 11, 1986,<br />
including several who had been nominally elected<br />
to represent <strong>the</strong>ir regions in AATCC: Barte from<br />
New England, Dan Keeney from Sou<strong>the</strong>rn, Gary<br />
Molen from Northwest Mountain—who endured<br />
ribbing for wearing cowboy boots and a belt buckle<br />
with his suit—and O’Brien from Eastern. Walt Simpkins<br />
also attended, along with representatives from<br />
Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and Miami centers, and<br />
elsewhere.<br />
Notably, <strong>the</strong> president and vice president of <strong>the</strong><br />
Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways Systems Specialists were among<br />
<strong>the</strong> crowd. PASS, which became a union at <strong>the</strong> end<br />
of 1981, represented workers in <strong>the</strong> FAA’s <strong>Air</strong>ways<br />
Facilities, Flight Standards, and Office of Aviation<br />
First NATCA organizing letter is sent to all controllers in <strong>the</strong><br />
country from NATCA/MEBA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Standards branches. After PASS President Howard<br />
Johanssen stood up and offered to lend guidance on<br />
establishing locals, post information about NATCA,<br />
and file grievances on <strong>the</strong>ir behalf, a grateful audience<br />
applauded him warmly.<br />
An ebullient John Thornton directed <strong>the</strong> proceedings.<br />
His high spirits stemmed from more than<br />
being gainfully employed again. After watching<br />
AFGE run out of money and one union after ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
decline to help, he had worried that <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
might never get organized. MEBA’s deep pockets and<br />
powerful political contacts came as a major relief.<br />
The sense of history was also not lost on<br />
Thornton. Aside from its long tradition of representing<br />
seafaring workers, MEBA had backed PATCO.<br />
Now, it seemed only right that <strong>the</strong> same union should<br />
stand beside <strong>the</strong> controllers once more as <strong>the</strong>y fought<br />
to restore <strong>the</strong>ir place in organized labor.<br />
Joining Thornton on <strong>the</strong> dais were Beth Thomas<br />
and Kelly Candaele, whom he’d hired to resume<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir roles as organizers. Hanging behind <strong>the</strong>m was<br />
a banner bearing NATCA’s new logo and <strong>the</strong> inscription<br />
MEBA/AFL-CIO.<br />
Even at this early stage, <strong>the</strong> controllers expressed<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir desire to become more than a trade<br />
union. They envisioned a professional organization<br />
that would exercise clout in such matters as <strong>the</strong>ir retirement,<br />
stress reduction, and restoring <strong>the</strong> immunity<br />
program for controllers who reported operational<br />
1986<br />
11<br />
Jan.<br />
errors. Former FAA Administrator Langhorne Bond<br />
had unilaterally canceled <strong>the</strong> program in 1980.<br />
NATCA did not waste time developing strength<br />
and finding its voice.<br />
Budding Influence<br />
About 7:30 on <strong>the</strong> morning of March 3, 1986, a<br />
lanky controller named Michael Sheedy sped across<br />
<strong>the</strong> double-decker Verrazano Narrows Bridge on his<br />
way to New Brunswick, New Jersey. Sheedy, whose<br />
deep voice was familiar to pilots on New York TRA-<br />
CON frequencies, had been selected by his colleagues<br />
to testify at a congressional field hearing about airspace<br />
congestion, jurisdiction, and procedures. After<br />
<strong>the</strong> hearing, Sheedy had to race back to Long Island<br />
in time to start his 3 o’clock shift.<br />
Such was <strong>the</strong> frenetic pace of NATCA activists,<br />
many of whom still worked six-day weeks and<br />
spent <strong>the</strong>ir free day hustling to get <strong>the</strong> new union<br />
off <strong>the</strong> ground. Even with MEBA’s help, <strong>the</strong>y had to<br />
use annual leave, FAM trip privileges, and sometimes<br />
spend <strong>the</strong>ir own money to visit o<strong>the</strong>r facilities, attend<br />
organizing meetings and, at long last, publicly air<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir issues.<br />
The House Subcommittee on Aviation hearing,<br />
chaired by California Democrat Norman Mineta,<br />
marked ano<strong>the</strong>r milestone. For <strong>the</strong> first time since<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike, an organization representing controllers<br />
About two dozen controller activists, MEBA organizers, and representatives<br />
from across <strong>the</strong> nation attend NATCA’s first national organizing<br />
meeting in Alexandria, Virginia. The AATCC logo, which MEBA graphic<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
artists converted to <strong>the</strong> name NATCA, is used officially for <strong>the</strong> first time.<br />
The same logo is still used today.<br />
73
74<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Norman Mineta: The California Democrat<br />
attended a one-day NATCA conference in<br />
March 1986, while he was chairman of <strong>the</strong><br />
House Subcommittee on Aviation. President<br />
Bush appointed him transportation<br />
secretary in 2001. / Transportation Department<br />
1986<br />
3<br />
Mar.<br />
was testifying to Congress. Joining Sheedy were fellow<br />
Newark sector controllers Steve Bell and Joel<br />
Hicks. As a General Accounting Office representative<br />
presented testimony about serious<br />
staffing problems, Bell,<br />
Hicks, and Sheedy nodded<br />
in agreement. They<br />
worked in an area with<br />
just half <strong>the</strong> number of<br />
controllers authorized<br />
by <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
The hearing attracted<br />
news coverage,<br />
prompting an enthusiastic<br />
reaction from controllers at<br />
<strong>the</strong> TRACON. When Bell walked into work <strong>the</strong> next<br />
day, “it was like I’d just hit a home run at Yankee<br />
Stadium,” he recalls. The attention helped <strong>the</strong>ir organizing<br />
efforts, too. Meetings that previously attracted<br />
six or seven people began pulling in forty to sixty<br />
participants.<br />
Several weeks after <strong>the</strong> hearing, more than thirty<br />
NATCA activists from every region except Alaskan<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>red in San Francisco. Congressman Mineta, a<br />
renowned speaker on aviation issues, also attended<br />
<strong>the</strong> one-day conference. MEBA’s political contacts led<br />
to his presence, which fur<strong>the</strong>r legitimized NATCA’s<br />
increasingly public role on behalf of controllers.<br />
In June, Fred Gilbert and John Thornton tes-<br />
For <strong>the</strong> first time since 1981, an organization representing<br />
working controllers testifies before Congress. Steve Bell, Joel<br />
Hicks, and Michael Sheedy speak on behalf of NATCA.<br />
An Activist Finds His Voice<br />
Steve Bell, a newcomer to <strong>the</strong> blossoming<br />
union, quickly moved into its leadership.<br />
The oldest of three children, he grew up in<br />
Baltimore and moved to Omaha when he was<br />
15. During nine years as a controller in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong><br />
Force, Bell and his buddies dreamed of hitting<br />
<strong>the</strong> big time with <strong>the</strong> FAA after <strong>the</strong>y got out of<br />
<strong>the</strong> service.<br />
The agency hired one of Bell’s friends,<br />
who became <strong>the</strong> PATCO representative at<br />
Litchfield Tower (now Goodyear) in west<br />
suburban Phoenix. Bell was astonished when<br />
<strong>the</strong> friend refused to accede to Reagan’s ultimatum.<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r ex-military friend was also<br />
fired, giving Bell his first inkling of <strong>the</strong> strong<br />
sentiments boiling within.<br />
The FAA shut down all of <strong>the</strong> small towers<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Phoenix Valley and began contracting<br />
with private firms to operate <strong>the</strong>m. Several<br />
months later, Barton ATC Incorporated hired<br />
Bell to work at Falcon Field in Mesa. By <strong>the</strong><br />
time <strong>the</strong> FAA called him <strong>the</strong> following spring,<br />
PATCO had been decertified. Worried that<br />
he might never get ano<strong>the</strong>r chance to join <strong>the</strong><br />
agency, Bell accepted <strong>the</strong>ir job offer.<br />
He hadn’t understood <strong>the</strong> issues in<br />
August 1981. But <strong>the</strong>y immediately became<br />
apparent when his first instructor sat down<br />
to talk to him at Ontario TRACON in South-
ern California.<br />
“Steve, we don’t<br />
want you here,”<br />
<strong>the</strong> trainer said.<br />
“Your chances<br />
of making it are<br />
slim to none.”<br />
Bell survived<br />
training,<br />
however, and by<br />
December 1984<br />
found himself<br />
at New York<br />
TRACON after<br />
a brief stopover<br />
at Omaha Approach.<br />
One of<br />
Bell’s instructors<br />
was Joe O’Brien,<br />
who occasionally<br />
talked about <strong>the</strong> union. One day, O’Brien<br />
asked Bell if he wanted to get involved.<br />
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Bell<br />
said. “I don’t even know if I’ll be here<br />
next month, let alone help you start a<br />
union.”<br />
“That’s fair,” O’Brien responded.<br />
“I’ll ask when you’re checked out.”<br />
Steve Bell: A preacher’s son, he inherited a gifted tongue.<br />
�<br />
The day<br />
Bell certified<br />
in June 1985,<br />
O’Brien approached<br />
him<br />
again.<br />
After a<br />
swing shift,<br />
Bell and ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
controller<br />
joined O’Brien<br />
in his basement<br />
in Selden on<br />
Long Island and<br />
learned about<br />
AATCC.<br />
Reflecting<br />
his penchant<br />
Stan Barough<br />
for history, Bell<br />
sought out more<br />
information over<br />
<strong>the</strong> next several months from PATCO cofounder<br />
Mike Rock, John Leyden, and a<br />
few choirboys who’d been fired. He didn’t<br />
see <strong>the</strong> militancy reoccurring, but knew<br />
<strong>the</strong> issue would be a major hurdle to<br />
overcome with controllers who distrusted<br />
unions and were anti-PATCO.<br />
The Cliffside Park, New Jersey,<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
midair in November 1985, which led to<br />
several civil lawsuits against controllers,<br />
pushed Bell over <strong>the</strong> edge into union<br />
activism.<br />
“I saw what happened to my friend<br />
and colleague, Steve Kelley, who had to<br />
go to <strong>the</strong> NTSB by himself,” Bell says.<br />
“When he got no help from <strong>the</strong> FAA, I<br />
knew and a lot of o<strong>the</strong>r controllers knew<br />
this is not right. We need to organize so<br />
this can never happen again.”<br />
Bell was well suited to <strong>the</strong> task.<br />
He’d inherited a sense of leadership and<br />
a gifted tongue from his fa<strong>the</strong>r, a nondenominational<br />
Christian preacher. Bell<br />
soon took over as president of <strong>the</strong> New<br />
York TRACON local from O’Brien, whose<br />
extensive travels kept him away from his<br />
wife and two young children too often.<br />
More than a few controllers listened to<br />
Bell proselytize and promptly joined <strong>the</strong><br />
cause.<br />
“Steve had a gift and his gift was<br />
his ability to speak,” says New York Center<br />
controller Michael McNally, who saw<br />
<strong>the</strong> light after a two-hour session with<br />
Bell. “By <strong>the</strong> time I walked out of that<br />
preach, I said, ‘This is something I want<br />
to do.’ He put it all in perspective for me.”<br />
75
76<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Guy Molinari: The New York Republican<br />
congressman advocated rehiring some of<br />
<strong>the</strong> fired strikers to ease staffing shortages<br />
during <strong>the</strong> 1980s. / Stan Barough<br />
* Despite 145 co-sponsors, H.R. 4003 never<br />
came to <strong>the</strong> floor for a vote. Molinari tried<br />
again in <strong>the</strong> next Congress. Although <strong>the</strong><br />
House passed his bill, <strong>the</strong> Senate never voted<br />
on it.<br />
** The Salt Lake Center election served as a<br />
noteworthy litmus test on <strong>the</strong> competition<br />
between AFGE and MEBA. Local President<br />
Gary Molen supported NATCA while Vice<br />
President Jim Edmunds preferred to stay<br />
with AFGE (he was voted AATCC national<br />
vice president in a separate election that <strong>the</strong><br />
group held in April).<br />
1986<br />
26<br />
Mar.<br />
tified before Congress about continued low staffing<br />
to generate support for a bill that would authorize<br />
rehiring at least 1,000 PATCO<br />
strikers. Reflecting <strong>the</strong><br />
polar differences of its<br />
membership, NATCA<br />
walked a fine line on<br />
<strong>the</strong> emotional rehire<br />
issue.<br />
While Gilbert<br />
and Thornton acknowledged<br />
that <strong>the</strong> ratio of air<br />
traffic to full-performance level controllers had begun<br />
“to exceed <strong>the</strong> acceptable, prudent level,” NAT-<br />
CA shied away from formally endorsing <strong>the</strong> bill.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less, Rep. Molinari, <strong>the</strong> bill’s sponsor,<br />
met privately with Thornton and Gilbert after<br />
<strong>the</strong> hearing and pledged his support to <strong>the</strong> NATCA<br />
organizing. *<br />
The following month, NATCA appeared before<br />
a Senate committee to support <strong>the</strong> creation of <strong>the</strong><br />
Aviation Safety Commission. The proposed panel<br />
would be charged with presenting recommendations<br />
to President Reagan on improving air safety.<br />
The four events highlighted a key difference<br />
between AFGE and MEBA. Where AFGE preferred to<br />
focus on organizing and ignored <strong>the</strong> controllers’ desire<br />
to lobby Congress, MEBA plugged <strong>the</strong>m in right<br />
away on Capitol Hill.<br />
MEBA organizer Kelly Candaele coordinates a NATCA Western-Pacific<br />
conference in San Francisco, which is attended by more than thirty con-<br />
“That was really what was needed,” Thornton<br />
says. “MEBA not only put up money, <strong>the</strong>y put up<br />
some of <strong>the</strong>ir political capital.”<br />
The Home Stretch<br />
Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> drive to collect 3,750<br />
election petition signatures was in full swing.<br />
Some controllers grumbled over signing for <strong>the</strong><br />
third time—once for a regional union, ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
for a national AATCC, and now for NATCA. But<br />
sign <strong>the</strong>y did. In February 1986, Salt Lake Center<br />
controllers voted 22-0 to join NATCA. ** In March,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Controllers</strong> Alliance at Indianapolis<br />
Center climbed aboard. Cleveland Center held its<br />
first organizing meeting in April and 140 controllers<br />
signed up in two weeks. By <strong>the</strong> time Minneapolis<br />
Center got involved, organizers could see <strong>the</strong> nationwide<br />
movement start to jell.<br />
NATCA had collected more than 3,000 names<br />
when AFGE and MEBA argued <strong>the</strong>ir case at <strong>the</strong> Article<br />
20 hearing in June. After two years of false starts<br />
and stagnation, <strong>the</strong> numbers were climbing steadily.<br />
The almost constant travel to endless meetings with<br />
controllers, answering familiar questions, and allaying<br />
common fears gave Thornton, Candaele, Thomas,<br />
and a cadre of former AATCC activists a sense of déjà<br />
vu. Joining <strong>the</strong>m during this second national campaign<br />
were new NATCA activists and ano<strong>the</strong>r MEBA<br />
trollers from all regions except Alaskan. Rep. Norman Mineta, chairman of<br />
<strong>the</strong> House Subcommittee on Aviation, also attends.
14<br />
Apr.<br />
For Want of a Signature<br />
Ed Mullin took <strong>the</strong> FAA’s entrance<br />
exam in 1974, but never heard<br />
back from <strong>the</strong> agency. At <strong>the</strong> time, he<br />
worked at Philadelphia International<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port in passenger service and flight<br />
operations for Eastern <strong>Air</strong>lines, which<br />
contracted with British <strong>Air</strong>ways to<br />
handle <strong>the</strong>ir flights, as well.<br />
Several years later, Mullin<br />
planned to use his pass privileges to<br />
enjoy a trip to Ireland with his mo<strong>the</strong>r. Unfortunately,<br />
British <strong>Air</strong>ways went on strike <strong>the</strong><br />
day before <strong>the</strong>y were scheduled to leave.<br />
Mullin told his mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>ir vacation<br />
would have to be restricted to <strong>the</strong> United<br />
States and asked her to pick any destination as<br />
an alternative.<br />
They were soon flying first class to Denver<br />
to see <strong>the</strong> Rocky Mountains. They rented<br />
a car at <strong>the</strong> airport and stopped at a motel in<br />
nearby Aurora for <strong>the</strong> night. Mullin happened<br />
to notice <strong>the</strong> FAA Regional Office in <strong>the</strong> town<br />
The FAA reports 758 near midair collisions during 1985, compared with<br />
589 in 1984, a 29 percent increase. FAA Administrator Donald Engen<br />
attributes <strong>the</strong> higher rate to improved reporting. The previous fall, NTSB<br />
�<br />
(it was later moved to a<br />
suburb of Seattle after<br />
regional consolidations).<br />
Curious, he decided to<br />
inquire about his longlost<br />
job application <strong>the</strong><br />
next day. The receptionist<br />
directed Mullin to a man-<br />
NATCA archives<br />
ager down <strong>the</strong> hall and<br />
he introduced himself.<br />
The man broke into a wide grin, opened<br />
his bottom desk drawer, and pulled out<br />
Mullin’s file. “We’ve been looking for a medical<br />
qualification,” he said. A form needed a<br />
signature.<br />
Mullin shook his head over <strong>the</strong> circuitous<br />
route his application had taken from<br />
Philadelphia and signed <strong>the</strong> document. The<br />
manager <strong>the</strong>n consulted some o<strong>the</strong>r paperwork<br />
and announced that Mullin could start<br />
work in Lewistown, Montana, in two weeks.<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
Chairman James Burnett told Congress <strong>the</strong> board was very concerned.<br />
Subsequently, <strong>the</strong> FAA reports 840 near midair collisions in 1986 and<br />
1,058 in 1987, followed by a steady downward trend to 293 during 1993.<br />
77
Ed<br />
Mullin<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: EM<br />
HOm e t O w n : Philadelphia<br />
CHildre n:<br />
Jennifer Aileen<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Former sky diver<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Retired<br />
2002 — Pr e s e n t<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Arkansas Ozarks, Philadelphia<br />
Eagles, NCAA basketball, Rolling<br />
Rock beer<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: DAL<br />
FAY<br />
Various<br />
Tower<br />
Tower<br />
Flight Ser. Stations<br />
Ed Mullin’s involvement with aviation began<br />
during college, when he worked for Eastern<br />
<strong>Air</strong>lines and, later, British <strong>Air</strong>ways in passenger<br />
service and flight operations. The experience gave<br />
him a good grounding for air traffic control, but<br />
his formal education proved equally valuable when<br />
he helped organize NATCA. After growing up in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Philadelphia suburbs and attending a Jesuit<br />
prep school, Mullin graduated from West Chester<br />
University of Pennsylvania with a degree in philosophy<br />
and a concentration in Eastern studies.<br />
“All that ‘philosophy’ helped me quite a bit<br />
and enabled me to frame lucid opinions,” he says.<br />
He needed all available resources. The<br />
FAA hired him in 1977 as a flight service station<br />
specialist in Lewistown, Montana. But by <strong>the</strong> time<br />
Mullin joined <strong>the</strong> NATCA movement in early 1986,<br />
he was working at Dallas Love Field Tower. Unionism<br />
in Texas and <strong>the</strong> Southwest is largely nonexistent—a<br />
world away from Philadelphia, where he<br />
belonged to <strong>the</strong> United Steelworkers of America as<br />
a teenager.<br />
Dealing with a post-strike work force composed<br />
largely of “Pepsi generation” controllers,<br />
who were often ambivalent about organized labor,<br />
presented ano<strong>the</strong>r challenge. “Just <strong>the</strong> fact of certifying<br />
was literally against all odds by anybody’s<br />
calculus,” he says.<br />
Yet Mullin and his fellow organizers pre-<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
Southwest regional rep 1986-94; Reclassification<br />
Committee; member of NMI Board of Directors;<br />
Southwest Region vice president emeritus.<br />
hir e d<br />
Oct.<br />
1977<br />
vailed and set about shaping <strong>the</strong>ir union. During<br />
his six years on <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board, he<br />
approached many issues with a long-term view, including<br />
his successful campaign to set aside a portion<br />
of dues money for a rainy day fund, a program<br />
that remains in effect.<br />
He also advocated professional standards.<br />
Mullin acknowledges it is a sensitive issue, but<br />
believes <strong>the</strong> union should police itself like lawyers<br />
and doctors. “If NATCA can deal with it, <strong>the</strong>y will<br />
have really come of age,” he says.<br />
Back in <strong>the</strong> region, Mullin relied on good<br />
communications to build membership and get<br />
NATCA going. His detailed newsletters did not<br />
escape <strong>the</strong> attention of FAA management. When<br />
Mullin found out a staff member was assigned to<br />
collect all of his material, he chided <strong>the</strong> agency for<br />
wasting taxpayer money and promptly added <strong>the</strong><br />
Regional Office to his mailing list.<br />
Mullin retired as a controller in January<br />
2002, and his daughter, Jennifer, graduated from<br />
veterinary school at Texas A&M University that<br />
year. He still serves as a member of <strong>the</strong> NMI Board<br />
of Directors, and hopes to transition into aviation<br />
research on air traffic services and health issues.<br />
Noting that three controllers at <strong>the</strong> same facility<br />
suffered heart attacks one recent summer, Mullin<br />
says, “We’re hitting effects that no one has ever<br />
studied.”
organizer.<br />
Doc Cullison, a former marine engineer, handled<br />
<strong>the</strong> Central and Southwest regions. Although his<br />
family included a long line of ship captains, <strong>the</strong> allure<br />
of <strong>the</strong> bridge eluded him. After plying <strong>the</strong> seas for<br />
a few years, Cullison became a MEBA representative<br />
organizing workers and conducting contract<br />
negotiations while PATCO was still an affiliate.<br />
His familiarity with controller issues led MEBA<br />
President Gene DeFries to assign him to <strong>the</strong> project.<br />
Cullison worked out of his Houston townhouse<br />
and found himself scrambling at all hours to meet<br />
workers engaged in a 24/7 occupation.<br />
Right-to-work states throughout <strong>the</strong> Southwest<br />
Region and many new-hires who were ambivalent<br />
toward unions presented a difficult challenge. But<br />
Cullison discovered that <strong>the</strong> controllers’ “independent,<br />
Marvel Man mentality” and a string of broken<br />
promises by <strong>the</strong> FAA made <strong>the</strong> new union inevitable.<br />
“The FAA thought that in eliminating PATCO<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir problems were solved,” he says. “They refused<br />
to accept any responsibility for any of <strong>the</strong>ir labor<br />
problems.” *<br />
His right-hand man in <strong>the</strong> Southwest was a<br />
reflective, committed controller from Love Field in<br />
Dallas, who held a bachelor’s degree in philosophy<br />
emphasizing Eastern studies. Ed Mullin had joined<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency in 1977 as a flight service station specialist<br />
1986<br />
12<br />
June<br />
in Lewistown, Montana, along <strong>the</strong> eastern edge of <strong>the</strong><br />
Continental Divide. At <strong>the</strong> time, Mullin and his estranged<br />
wife were involved in a dispute over custody<br />
of <strong>the</strong>ir infant daughter. Mullin’s sister and bro<strong>the</strong>rin-law<br />
took care of young Jennifer in Columbia,<br />
Maryland, leading him to seek<br />
several transfers in an attempt to relocate<br />
closer to his family.<br />
To avoid imperiling his chances<br />
for custody—and sensing political<br />
realities—Mullin chose not to strike.<br />
It was a difficult decision because he believed<br />
in <strong>the</strong> legitimacy of a number of <strong>the</strong> issues.<br />
But reuniting with Jennifer was paramount. By now,<br />
his daughter and her surrogate parents lived in Dallas.<br />
Around Christmas 1981, Mullin finally arrived at<br />
Love Field.<br />
He was no stranger to working conditions<br />
within <strong>the</strong> FAA, but it took a pivotal event for him to<br />
get involved in <strong>the</strong> new union. As a FAB chairman,<br />
Mullin had been pushing to add a second person to<br />
<strong>the</strong> midnight shift at <strong>the</strong> busy airport. Despite his<br />
arguments about <strong>the</strong> higher level of fatigue (he noted<br />
that <strong>the</strong> Three Mile Island and Exxon Valdez disasters<br />
occurred during midnight shifts), his proposal<br />
never went anywhere.<br />
One night in late 1985, an elderly private pilot<br />
suffered a heart attack. His wife, who’d logged only<br />
a few hours of flying time, struggled to control <strong>the</strong><br />
NATCA national organizer John Thornton and Chicago Center controller<br />
Fred Gilbert testify in Congress. They say <strong>the</strong> ratio of air traffic to<br />
journeymen controllers has started to “exceed <strong>the</strong> acceptable, prudent<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
79<br />
* Cullison wrote a <strong>the</strong>sis on <strong>the</strong> subject titled<br />
The Forgotten Promise: The Resurgence of<br />
Unionism Among <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong>,<br />
which he submitted while earning a master’s<br />
degree in labor and policy studies from State<br />
University of New York in 1988.<br />
level.” The hearing is held in conjunction with an ill-fated effort to pass a<br />
bill, introduced <strong>the</strong> previous fall by Rep. Guy Molinari, R-N.Y., that would<br />
have authorized rehiring at least 1,000 fired PATCO controllers.
80<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Dan Brandt: When <strong>the</strong> Omaha TRACON<br />
controller organized in America’s heartland,<br />
he had to counter a perception that<br />
unions were violent. / Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
1986<br />
26<br />
June<br />
plane. The sole controller on duty at Love Field tried<br />
to talk her down while juggling o<strong>the</strong>r traffic. But <strong>the</strong><br />
plane flew into some clouds, tumbled to <strong>the</strong> earth near<br />
Dallas-Fort Worth <strong>Air</strong>port, and <strong>the</strong> couple perished.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> crash, <strong>the</strong> FAA assigned two people to<br />
<strong>the</strong> midnight shift to adequately staff <strong>the</strong> tower. When<br />
news media attention dwindled a month later,<br />
however, <strong>the</strong> schedule was changed back<br />
to one. The experience soured Mullin so<br />
much that he resigned from <strong>the</strong> FAB<br />
and attended a NATCA meeting several<br />
months later with about ten o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
controllers. When <strong>the</strong> call went out<br />
for someone to lead <strong>the</strong> effort, Mullin<br />
remembered <strong>the</strong> accident and figured:<br />
Why not?<br />
“I thought <strong>the</strong> best thing for this agency<br />
would be a viable internal voice,” he says. In a flash,<br />
he was <strong>the</strong> de facto Southwest Region representative.<br />
Initially, <strong>the</strong> soft-spoken Mullin talked to controllers<br />
reluctantly. The crowds, already a tough sell<br />
in a state where “right to work” is a euphemism for<br />
“anti-union,” sensed his timidity and gave him a cool<br />
reception. His home answering machine recorded<br />
several threats of violence and a Bible verse. The cultural<br />
difference from his teenage summers as a union<br />
steelworker in Philadelphia was stark.<br />
Consequently, Mullin avoided <strong>the</strong> word<br />
“union.” Instead, he used metaphors such as <strong>the</strong><br />
The AFL-CIO holds an Article 20 hearing to determine whe<strong>the</strong>r AFGE<br />
or MEBA should organize NATCA. MEBA, which had organized PATCO<br />
controllers, ultimately prevails.<br />
American Medical <strong>Association</strong>, American Bar <strong>Association</strong>,<br />
and Mo<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>Against</strong> Drunk Driving to<br />
describe <strong>the</strong> new organization and what it could do.<br />
“The fear factor was sky high,” he recalls.<br />
Omaha TRACON controller Dan Brandt ran<br />
into similar sentiments while helping<br />
to organize in America’s<br />
breadbasket. Many people<br />
equated unions with Jimmy<br />
Hoffa and <strong>the</strong> Teamsters.<br />
The meat packers<br />
had gone on strike<br />
when Brandt showed<br />
up in Sioux City, Iowa,<br />
and a union member had<br />
just been murdered. The homicide<br />
unnerved <strong>the</strong> controllers.<br />
“People are getting killed,” <strong>the</strong>y said with<br />
alarm.<br />
“You’re not a meat packer. You’re an air traffic<br />
controller,” Brandt countered. “That’s a big difference.<br />
It all depends on how you run <strong>the</strong> union.”<br />
Cullison tutored Mullin (and o<strong>the</strong>rs) on <strong>the</strong><br />
phone every night and smiled with satisfaction as<br />
his spokesman matured in front of audiences. “You<br />
could look at people’s eyes and watch to see if <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were persuaded,” Cullison says. “If <strong>the</strong>y believed you<br />
and how credible <strong>the</strong>y believed he was.”<br />
Mullin racked up thousands of miles on his
10-year-old Honda Civic hatchback as spring and<br />
summer 1986 passed in a blur. He met with controllers,<br />
placed leaflets on cars, and tested o<strong>the</strong>r, less traditional,<br />
organizing methods, such as renting a bus<br />
to ferry controllers to a horse track in Shreveport,<br />
Louisiana.<br />
Cullison ran into a crowd playing softball one<br />
afternoon in Corpus Christi, Texas. He rented a<br />
pickup, filled <strong>the</strong> bed with ice and beer, and parked<br />
near <strong>the</strong> exit gate when <strong>the</strong> game ended.<br />
Thirsty players happily accepted <strong>the</strong> refreshments—and<br />
union flyers.<br />
During a meeting in a hotel near<br />
Kansas City <strong>Air</strong>port, a slender controller<br />
with a quick smile named John Carr<br />
sat in <strong>the</strong> audience. After Cullison’s presentation,<br />
Carr asked, “At <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong><br />
day, why should we have a union?”<br />
“Let me tell you a little story,”<br />
Cullison responded. “It’s about a neighborhood.<br />
All <strong>the</strong> houses in <strong>the</strong> neighborhood<br />
were just beautiful except for<br />
this one vacant lot. It was overgrown<br />
with weeds and trash and rats. One of<br />
<strong>the</strong> neighbors decided if we each kick in<br />
a couple of bucks, we could turn it into<br />
a park. Everybody could share.<br />
“He went door to door and everybody<br />
pitched in. They got <strong>the</strong> trash re-<br />
23<br />
Sep.<br />
Seventy-two delegates attend NATCA’s founding convention at <strong>the</strong> Chicago-O’Hare<br />
Ramada Hotel, including provisional representatives from<br />
each of NATCA’s nine regions. John Thornton announces that NATCA has<br />
moved. They exterminated <strong>the</strong> pests. They mowed<br />
<strong>the</strong> grass. They hauled off <strong>the</strong> refrigerators and old<br />
tires. They put in playground equipment and a basketball<br />
hoop and some benches for <strong>the</strong> old people.<br />
Everybody said, ‘This is <strong>the</strong> most beautiful park<br />
we’ve ever seen.’<br />
“Then a couple of neighbors moved out and a<br />
couple moved in. About a year later, <strong>the</strong> same neighbor<br />
decides <strong>the</strong>y need to take up ano<strong>the</strong>r collection<br />
The neighborhood: Doc Cullison’s fable about homeowners who improve a local<br />
park and <strong>the</strong>n let it fall into disrepair perfectly conveyed <strong>the</strong> essence of solidarity.<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
NATCA archives<br />
collected more than 4,200 signatures calling for an election on whe<strong>the</strong>r to<br />
form a union. However, <strong>the</strong> group plans to ga<strong>the</strong>r more signatures before<br />
filing <strong>the</strong>m with <strong>the</strong> FLRA to help ensure a “big win.”<br />
81
John F.<br />
Thornton<br />
Acting Director<br />
of Free Flight Program<br />
2001 — Pre s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: JT<br />
HOm e t O w n : Atlantic City, New Jersey<br />
sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Ginny / Michelle (married to Shawn<br />
Daniels); granddaughter: Amanda<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
John, Ginny, and Michelle “starred”<br />
in a 1976 PATCO film about a day<br />
in <strong>the</strong> life of a controller<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Philly sports, reading, <strong>the</strong> beach<br />
Peter Cutts<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: DCA<br />
FAA Free Flight<br />
Tower/TRACON<br />
John F. Thornton joined <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force in 1965<br />
with no intention of becoming an air traffic controller.<br />
Computers were <strong>the</strong> nouveau wave, leading<br />
him to pester his career counselor about training.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> waiting list for school meant he’d have to<br />
endure a year of menial tasks such as KP duty and<br />
collecting roadside trash. When Thornton learned<br />
about <strong>the</strong> alternatives, he promptly “chose” ATC as<br />
a profession.<br />
The newness of it all made him apprehensive<br />
until <strong>the</strong> intricacies of <strong>the</strong> job jelled one sunny day<br />
at Little Rock AFB and he realized “it was what I<br />
was deemed to be.” His eight years in <strong>the</strong> military<br />
also included duty at McGuire and Dover AFBs as<br />
well as Phan Rang <strong>Air</strong> Base in Vietnam.<br />
As Congress held Watergate hearings in<br />
<strong>the</strong> summer of 1973, Thornton started as a civilian<br />
controller at Washington <strong>National</strong> Tower/<br />
TRACON. Still in training when elected facility<br />
rep, he also served as a voting representative at<br />
several PATCO conventions.<br />
He walked out in 1981, hoping to gain a<br />
better retirement and shorter workweek in a profession<br />
where many of his colleagues retired on<br />
medical disability.<br />
Among a handful of controllers who were<br />
jailed for <strong>the</strong>ir actions, Thornton credits his family<br />
for helping him survive <strong>the</strong> ordeal. His wife,<br />
Ginny, was “a rock” and his daughter loyally sup-<br />
Pr e v i o u s uN i oN Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
PATCO fac rep at DCA; NATCA nat’l. organizer;<br />
NATCA sr. dir. of legislative affairs 1988-95; helped<br />
avert Russian ATC strike as AFL-CIO special envoy.<br />
hir e d<br />
June<br />
1973<br />
ported him in public. Worried that her classmates<br />
might say something hurtful, Thornton advised<br />
Michelle against wearing a “PATCO on strike”<br />
T-shirt to school in a neighborhood where many<br />
controllers crossed <strong>the</strong> picket line. “I don’t feel<br />
bad,” she replied. “They feel bad.”<br />
Despite <strong>the</strong> pain and damage of <strong>the</strong> walkout,<br />
his association with controllers was far from over.<br />
Two years later, <strong>the</strong>y sought Thornton’s help in<br />
his new role as a labor organizer for <strong>the</strong> American<br />
Federation of Government Employees. Recognizing<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir needs were legitimate, he quietly healed<br />
personal wounds and immersed himself in a nationwide<br />
effort that culminated with a new union.<br />
After certification, Thornton directed NATCA’s<br />
legislative affairs for seven years.<br />
“My work with NATCA was some of <strong>the</strong><br />
most rewarding I’ve had in my life,” says Thornton,<br />
who is justifiably proud of <strong>the</strong> successor that he<br />
helped to create. “NATCA is a very smart organization.<br />
They think everything is possible and <strong>the</strong>y go<br />
after it.”<br />
Thornton left <strong>the</strong> union in 1995, but continued<br />
to represent controllers’ interests. For <strong>the</strong><br />
past five years, he has participated in <strong>the</strong> FAA’s<br />
Free Flight program, a collection of computerized<br />
tools designed to automate certain ATC functions.<br />
In late 2001, <strong>the</strong> agency promoted him to acting<br />
director of <strong>the</strong> program.
to paint <strong>the</strong> playground equipment and make sure<br />
<strong>the</strong> lawn gets mowed and <strong>the</strong> trash gets picked up.<br />
Well, some of <strong>the</strong> new neighbors said: ‘Why should<br />
I contribute? That park was here when I moved in.<br />
I don’t have to pay for it. It’s always been part of my<br />
life.’ So <strong>the</strong>y didn’t kick<br />
in any money.<br />
“By and by, more<br />
people move in and decide<br />
<strong>the</strong> park has always<br />
been a part of my life and<br />
is something I’ve got coming<br />
to me. Pretty soon, it<br />
looks just like it was <strong>the</strong><br />
very first time <strong>the</strong>y found<br />
it.<br />
“That’s why you<br />
need <strong>the</strong> union, John. I’m<br />
asking you for ten bucks<br />
to fix <strong>the</strong> playground,<br />
okay? Do you want to fix<br />
it or don’t you?”<br />
“Where do I sign<br />
up?” Carr said.<br />
As soon as he returned to Kansas City Tower/<br />
TRACON, Carr manned a table in <strong>the</strong> break room to<br />
hand out pledge cards. Managers followed a typical<br />
pattern and looked askance at his involvement. “You<br />
know when that effort fails, <strong>the</strong>y’re going to fire you,”<br />
1987<br />
5<br />
Jan.<br />
“<br />
You really can’t underestimate<br />
that first step <strong>the</strong>y took<br />
because <strong>the</strong>y were going up<br />
against a government that had<br />
just fired 11,000 people who<br />
did <strong>the</strong> same job <strong>the</strong>y did.<br />
<strong>the</strong>y’d say. “They’ll find a reason to fire you just like<br />
<strong>the</strong>y fired those o<strong>the</strong>r boys.”<br />
Carr wasn’t intimidated nor were o<strong>the</strong>rs drumming<br />
up support for NATCA, even as <strong>the</strong>y struggled<br />
just to get inside some facilities. Managers usually relented<br />
as soon as <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
reminded <strong>the</strong>m<br />
about <strong>the</strong> Civil Service<br />
Reform Act, which guaranteed<br />
workers <strong>the</strong> right<br />
— John Thornton<br />
to organize.<br />
O’Hare TRACON<br />
controller Joseph Bellino,<br />
drawing on experience<br />
he gained while serving<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Army in Vietnam<br />
and as a police officer in<br />
McHenry, Illinois, relied<br />
on ano<strong>the</strong>r trick.<br />
At facilities that<br />
used numbered keypads<br />
for door locks, Bellino<br />
applied powdered de-<br />
odorant to <strong>the</strong> keys and waited until someone<br />
punched <strong>the</strong> code to open <strong>the</strong> door. The missing<br />
powder on certain keys made it easy to determine<br />
<strong>the</strong> correct numbers.<br />
“We had a lot of great people step up,” Thornton<br />
says. “You really can’t underestimate that first<br />
NATCA files an election petition with <strong>the</strong> FLRA to be <strong>the</strong> sole bargaining<br />
agent for all operational GS-2152 air traffic controllers. The proposed<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
union needed 3,750 signatures—30 percent of <strong>the</strong> work force—but<br />
submits 5,800, or 46 percent.<br />
83
84<br />
19xx<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1986<br />
Founding Convention<br />
Regional Representatives<br />
Among those attending NATCA’s<br />
founding convention in September<br />
1986 were <strong>the</strong> nine interim regional representatives,<br />
who had been elected or appointed<br />
during <strong>the</strong> preceding two years:<br />
Alaskan: Joe Dunigan from<br />
Anchorage Tower/TRACON served as<br />
regional rep and Anchorage Center controller<br />
Will Faville Jr. assisted him as his<br />
alternate. However, Faville, who checked<br />
out as an FPL just three weeks before<br />
<strong>the</strong> convention, was <strong>the</strong> only controller<br />
from Alaska to attend. As a result, he<br />
signed <strong>the</strong> MEBA affiliation agreement<br />
and represented <strong>the</strong> region on votes for<br />
<strong>the</strong> interim constitution and initial dues.<br />
He took over officially when Dunigan<br />
stepped down shortly after <strong>the</strong> union was<br />
certified in 1987.<br />
Central: Like many o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong><br />
region, Jim Poole from Cedar Rapids<br />
Tower/TRACON did not get involved in<br />
organizing until 1986. During <strong>the</strong> spring<br />
and summer, however, he visited every<br />
facility in <strong>the</strong> region, often accompanied<br />
by Doc Cullison. Poole was elected<br />
regional representative at a meeting in<br />
August. He knew he’d be transferring to<br />
Chicago Center in October, however, so<br />
�<br />
Dan Brandt from Omaha TRACON was<br />
elected first alternate and Kansas City<br />
Center controller Ray Spickler was voted<br />
second alternate.<br />
Eastern: Joe O’Brien from New<br />
York TRACON served as <strong>the</strong> original regional<br />
rep during <strong>the</strong> AATCC organizing<br />
drive, but stepped down due to family<br />
pressures. At a pre-convention caucus in<br />
August 1986, controllers elected Steve<br />
Bell, also from New York TRACON, as<br />
regional rep and Dave Pearson from Harrisburg<br />
Tower/TRACON in Pennsylvania<br />
as his alternate.<br />
Great Lakes: Fred Gilbert, an early<br />
activist from AATCC days at Chicago<br />
Center, served as regional rep. His alternate<br />
was Cleveland Center controller<br />
Scott Lawless.<br />
New England: Howie Barte, who<br />
now worked at Providence Tower, was<br />
elected regional rep in November 1984.<br />
Dave Landry, ano<strong>the</strong>r PATCO member<br />
who refused to strike at Lebanon Tower<br />
in New Hampshire (believed to be <strong>the</strong><br />
only facility in <strong>the</strong> region where no one<br />
walked out), served as Barte’s alternate.<br />
Northwest Mountain: Gary Molen<br />
from Salt Lake Center had served as re-<br />
gional rep since 1985. Seattle Center controller<br />
David Brown became his alternate<br />
(until he quit <strong>the</strong> FAA in June 1987 to<br />
publicize his biography of rodeo cowboy<br />
Chris LeDoux, titled Gold Buckle Dreams).<br />
The FAA rehired Brown in 1991.<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn: Dennis Delaney from<br />
Pensacola Tower/TRACON served as<br />
regional rep after Lee Riley nominated<br />
him for <strong>the</strong> position. Riley, who helped<br />
start <strong>the</strong> movement at Atlanta Center, had<br />
taken over as regional rep from Daytona<br />
Beach controller Dan Keeney. When<br />
Delaney was elected, Riley became his<br />
alternate.<br />
Southwest: Ed Mullin from Love<br />
Field in Dallas was named regional rep at<br />
a meeting in early 1986. Houston Center<br />
controller Dennis O’Brien served as<br />
Mullin’s alternate.<br />
Western-Pacific: Jim McCann<br />
from Chino Tower in California served as<br />
<strong>the</strong> original de facto regional rep. At <strong>the</strong><br />
national NATCA meeting in March 1986,<br />
attended by Rep. Mineta, controllers<br />
elected Los Angeles TRACON controller<br />
Karl Grundmann as regional rep and<br />
Richard Bamberger from Lindbergh Field<br />
in San Diego as his alternate.
step <strong>the</strong>y took because <strong>the</strong>y were going up against<br />
a government that had just fired 11,000 people who<br />
did <strong>the</strong> same job <strong>the</strong>y did.”<br />
Founding Convention<br />
At a ballroom inside <strong>the</strong> Chicago-<br />
O’Hare Ramada Inn on September 23, 1986,<br />
Thornton stood behind a podium and welcomed<br />
seventy-two controller delegates and<br />
assorted dignitaries to NATCA’s founding<br />
convention. Almost immediately, he roused<br />
<strong>the</strong> audience by informing <strong>the</strong>m that 4,200<br />
controllers had signed petitions for a national<br />
union—about 33 percent of <strong>the</strong> work force. In<br />
less than nine months, <strong>the</strong> new campaign had<br />
met its goal and NATCA would soon file for an<br />
election with <strong>the</strong> FLRA.<br />
Thornton <strong>the</strong>n articulated what many in<br />
<strong>the</strong> audience believed about <strong>the</strong>ir organization.<br />
“It is clear that, in <strong>the</strong> FAA’s book, controllers are<br />
to be seen and not heard,” he said. “NATCA is a<br />
new union. It is not a reincarnation of <strong>the</strong> past. Our<br />
goals and methods are different, and despite what<br />
our critics say, we are not condemned to repeat <strong>the</strong><br />
mistakes of <strong>the</strong> past.” 8<br />
Determined to chart a different course from its<br />
more militant predecessor, <strong>the</strong> preamble of NATCA’s<br />
proposed constitution explicitly vowed to abide “by<br />
1987<br />
30<br />
Jan.<br />
lawful means” in carrying out its mission. The clause<br />
formalized a no-strike pledge that <strong>the</strong> union had adopted<br />
two months earlier. The constitution included<br />
two o<strong>the</strong>r key differences.<br />
First, every controller would receive a<br />
ballot in national elections.<br />
And every facility was entitled<br />
to send a proportional<br />
number of delegates<br />
to conventions to vote on<br />
constitutional amendments<br />
and participate in<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r business. * PATCO<br />
had elected voting representatives<br />
to speak for<br />
large blocs of members<br />
when electing officers<br />
and changing <strong>the</strong> constitution.<br />
“You had a<br />
cadre of kingmakers<br />
out <strong>the</strong>re who could really play<br />
politics and force <strong>the</strong> union perhaps to do things it<br />
might not have done,” Thornton says now. “By having<br />
direct election of officers by <strong>the</strong> membership, you<br />
curb some of that.”<br />
Secondly, NATCA conventions would be held<br />
every two years. That way, <strong>the</strong> new union would reduce<br />
<strong>the</strong> amount of political fallout that influenced<br />
NATCA Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Regional Representative Dennis Delaney, New England<br />
Regional Rep Howie Barte, and national organizer John Thornton testify<br />
before <strong>the</strong> Senate Subcommittee on Aviation. They urge Congress to re-<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
store immunity for controllers who report operational errors. They also<br />
urge Congress to release money in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>port and <strong>Air</strong>way Trust Fund to<br />
hire more controllers and replace outdated equipment and software.<br />
85<br />
Founding convention program: Delegates<br />
to NATCA’s ga<strong>the</strong>ring in Chicago in<br />
September 1986 adopted an interim constitution.<br />
The preamble stated <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
intention to abide “by lawful means.”<br />
* The formula stipulated one delegate for each<br />
facility with up to 100 union members. Larger<br />
facilities were entitled to ano<strong>the</strong>r delegate for<br />
every additional fifty members.
86<br />
1987<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
June 11, 1987<br />
This day in history: The culmination of NATCA’s campaign to represent air traffic controllers captured <strong>the</strong> attention of<br />
journalists from around <strong>the</strong> world. After <strong>the</strong> Federal Labor Relations Authority tallied <strong>the</strong> ballots—<strong>the</strong> vote passed by a<br />
70 percent margin—<strong>the</strong> news was announced at MEBA headquarters in Washington.<br />
Right: Confident of victory, regional reps filled out NATCA membership applications and FAA form 1187, which authorized<br />
payroll deductions for union dues, in <strong>the</strong> morning before <strong>the</strong> votes were counted. / NATCA archives<br />
2<br />
Feb.<br />
About thirty-five Eastern Region controllers discuss NATCA organizing<br />
and certification election strategy. Former PATCO President John Leyden<br />
tells <strong>the</strong> group that controllers need an organization to speak for <strong>the</strong>m on<br />
Capitol Hill. He says Congress wants to hear from <strong>the</strong> rank and file, not<br />
just managers. Howard Johannssen, president of <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways<br />
Systems Specialists, urges <strong>the</strong> group not to relax its campaign drive.
24<br />
Mar.<br />
The FLRA schedules an election for May 6 through June 10 to decide<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r NATCA will represent <strong>the</strong> nation’s controllers. The move comes<br />
after a consent meeting attended by NATCA, <strong>the</strong> FAA, and <strong>the</strong> FLRA.<br />
PATCO for several months before and after<br />
its annual ga<strong>the</strong>rings.<br />
Later that morning, a bespectacled<br />
Gene DeFries offered encouragement that<br />
appealed to <strong>the</strong> independent-minded controllers.<br />
“MEBA is going to fill your tank<br />
with gasoline and send you on your way,<br />
and we’ll follow you for a while with a tow<br />
truck in case you break down,” he said. “But<br />
we want you to run your organization.” 9<br />
NATCA took two formal steps that<br />
afternoon. Delegates unanimously approved<br />
an interim constitution and adopted<br />
initial membership dues of 1 percent<br />
of base pay.<br />
Many of <strong>the</strong> delegates were unaware<br />
that MEBA had tried to exert some influence<br />
already by mandating that Thornton<br />
be named executive director of NATCA in<br />
<strong>the</strong> draft constitution. Thornton had high<br />
hopes of leading NATCA, but <strong>the</strong> misstep<br />
was embarrassing for him. When MEBA<br />
lawyers drafted <strong>the</strong> constitution at headquarters<br />
before <strong>the</strong> convention, Thornton,<br />
Beth Thomas, and John Leyden all objected<br />
to including his name, telling DeFries <strong>the</strong><br />
move was heavy-handed.<br />
“If <strong>the</strong>y don’t want you, maybe we<br />
don’t want <strong>the</strong>m,” DeFries countered.<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
87
88<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
For <strong>the</strong> record: John Thornton, left, and<br />
MEBA President Gene DeFries announce<br />
<strong>the</strong> favorable vote for <strong>the</strong> new union. At<br />
a reception that evening, a congressman<br />
put <strong>the</strong> event in perspective: “You people<br />
have no idea what you did. They [<strong>the</strong> FAA]<br />
never saw this coming.” / NATCA archives<br />
1987<br />
After Thornton explained <strong>the</strong> background to <strong>the</strong><br />
board members in Chicago, several walked off for a<br />
private discussion with DeFries. Some felt MEBA was<br />
acting presumptuously. O<strong>the</strong>rs worried that Thornton’s<br />
PATCO background would send <strong>the</strong> wrong message<br />
to <strong>the</strong> FAA and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r organizations.<br />
There was also<br />
strong sentiment to<br />
have an active controller<br />
lead <strong>the</strong> new<br />
union.<br />
D e F r i e s<br />
agreed to remove<br />
Thornton’s name<br />
from <strong>the</strong> constitution<br />
as director.<br />
Instead, <strong>the</strong> board<br />
added a clause retaining<br />
Thornton as national coordinator until<br />
NATCA held a formal election for officers.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> second day of <strong>the</strong> convention, NATCA<br />
legally cemented its relationship with MEBA—but not<br />
without a surprise.<br />
After lunch, board members were told to report<br />
to a conference room. Thornton, DeFries, and ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
individual stood near a table with documents<br />
spread out on it.<br />
“Before we can go any fur<strong>the</strong>r, we need to take<br />
May May<br />
17<br />
The FAA begins using <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>craft Situation Display at its Central<br />
Flow Control Facility. The equipment provides a real-time<br />
visual display of all aircraft flying IFR in <strong>the</strong> nation.<br />
29<br />
a minute so you guys can sign <strong>the</strong>se affiliation agreements,”<br />
DeFries said.<br />
As he explained <strong>the</strong> resources that MEBA<br />
could offer, <strong>the</strong> controllers read <strong>the</strong> papers and<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir eyes widened. A promissory note obligated<br />
<strong>the</strong> union to reimburse<br />
MEBA for organizing expenses<br />
when its finances<br />
permitted. By that point,<br />
<strong>the</strong> loan amounted to<br />
$500,000 (it would climb<br />
to $1.5 million within <strong>the</strong><br />
next year). The second<br />
agreement stipulated a<br />
quarterly affiliation fee<br />
amounting to a steep 15<br />
percent of <strong>the</strong> dues that<br />
NATCA collected from<br />
each member—double<br />
<strong>the</strong> industry average.<br />
Most board members had been under <strong>the</strong> impression<br />
that NATCA would not have to repay <strong>the</strong><br />
money. They were also surprised that <strong>the</strong> affiliation<br />
fee would be so high, although MEBA assured <strong>the</strong>m<br />
<strong>the</strong> 15 percent would be reduced as NATCA membership<br />
increased.<br />
The provisions so angered Eastern Regional<br />
Representative Steve Bell that he stormed out of<br />
<strong>the</strong> room.<br />
The FAA commissions <strong>the</strong> first Host computer system at<br />
Seattle Center. The new equipment replaces IBM’s aging 9020<br />
mainframe computers.
Shaking his head, Gary Molen signed <strong>the</strong> papers,<br />
commenting, “Well, it’s <strong>the</strong>ir money.”<br />
“What’s <strong>the</strong> big deal?” Dan Brandt said with<br />
a shrug.<br />
One by one, <strong>the</strong>y each stepped up and scribbled<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir name, including Bell after he cooled down<br />
and returned to <strong>the</strong> room a few minutes later. But <strong>the</strong><br />
incident left some of <strong>the</strong> controllers with a lingering<br />
mistrust of MEBA and Thornton.<br />
Even as NATCA held its convention, FAA Administrator<br />
Engen steadfastly maintained that few<br />
controllers were unhappy. “I have been to every air<br />
traffic facility ... and I haven’t found strong support<br />
for a union,” he told USA Today. “This is a very vocal<br />
minority that probably stems from PATCO.” 10<br />
Yet signatures continued to pour in. When<br />
NATCA filed its national petition with <strong>the</strong> FLRA on<br />
January 5, 1987, <strong>the</strong>y totaled 5,800, far more than <strong>the</strong><br />
3,750 needed.<br />
The final tally represented 46 percent of <strong>the</strong><br />
work force. New England outpaced <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r regions<br />
with signatures from more than 71 percent of its<br />
controllers. Reflecting <strong>the</strong> region’s strong anti-union<br />
sentiment, a mere 18 percent had signed petitions in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Southwest.<br />
The solid showing in <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>ast was due in<br />
large measure to Howie Barte’s efforts marshaling his<br />
contacts in <strong>the</strong> field. Barte was so relentless in pursuing<br />
<strong>the</strong> new union that he once called ano<strong>the</strong>r con-<br />
11<br />
June<br />
troller on Thanksgiving, forgetting it was a holiday.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> controller reminded him, Barte quickly<br />
apologized and hung up.<br />
The FLRA approved <strong>the</strong> petition in March<br />
and scheduled a mail-in vote for all controllers during<br />
May and early<br />
June. This time,<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA did not<br />
appeal <strong>the</strong> decision.<br />
A Union<br />
at Last<br />
More than 80 percent of all controllers vote in NATCA’s certification<br />
election. Seventy percent approve <strong>the</strong> union as <strong>the</strong>ir sole bargaining agent.<br />
MEBA President Gene DeFries characterizes <strong>the</strong> results as a “victory for<br />
Washington, D.C., awoke to warm, sunny<br />
skies on <strong>the</strong> morning of Thursday, June 11, 1987. The<br />
pleasant, though humid, wea<strong>the</strong>r matched <strong>the</strong> upbeat<br />
mood of NATCA’s regional representatives as <strong>the</strong>y<br />
bantered at MEBA headquarters. A few bloodshot<br />
eyes betrayed early revelers who’d begun celebrating<br />
<strong>the</strong> night before.<br />
John Thornton had told a reporter he estimated<br />
that 70 percent of controllers would vote in favor of<br />
<strong>the</strong> union. The accuracy of his prediction would be<br />
tested shortly when ballot counting commenced.<br />
Confident of victory, <strong>the</strong> nine board members filled<br />
out a NATCA membership application and FAA form<br />
1187 to authorize payroll deductions for union dues.<br />
They piled into taxicabs, rode to FLRA head-<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
NATCA archives<br />
all air traffic controllers who have carried <strong>the</strong> nation’s air traffic system on<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir backs for nearly six years with excessive overtime and stress.” Charter<br />
members begin signing membership and dues deduction forms.<br />
89
90<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Special recognition: NATCA issued gold<br />
cards and charter member pins to <strong>the</strong><br />
more than 3,000 controllers who joined in<br />
<strong>the</strong> first year after union certification.<br />
1987<br />
19<br />
quarters not far across town, and ga<strong>the</strong>red with FAA<br />
officials in a large conference room. Numerous large<br />
bags stuffed with ballots were clustered around several<br />
tables occupied by FLRA staff members. As <strong>the</strong><br />
tabulating began, agency and union volunteers removed<br />
<strong>the</strong> ballots from <strong>the</strong>ir envelopes using electric<br />
letter openers supplied by MEBA to expedite<br />
<strong>the</strong> process. Repeated murmurs<br />
of “yes” and “no” started rebounding<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong><br />
room. Once counted, <strong>the</strong><br />
workers bundled <strong>the</strong> ballots<br />
in packets of fifty and<br />
stacked <strong>the</strong>m on two tables<br />
at one end of <strong>the</strong> room.<br />
Watching from<br />
<strong>the</strong> sidelines, Gary Molen<br />
paced while puffing<br />
nervously on a cigarette.<br />
A comment from his facil- i -<br />
ty manager, who’d spoken with Molen just before he<br />
flew to Washington, came to mind: “When you guys<br />
lose it, I want to be sure we have an all-hands meeting<br />
and we’ll shake hands. There’s no hard feelings<br />
and we’ll try to work things out.”<br />
But Molen knew it was an empty gesture and<br />
he dreaded a difficult relationship should <strong>the</strong> vote<br />
for a union fail. He listened to <strong>the</strong> FLRA workers at<br />
<strong>the</strong> closest table and winced while <strong>the</strong>y repeated “no”<br />
June July<br />
more often than “yes.”<br />
“This doesn’t look good,” he said. Still pacing,<br />
Molen lit ano<strong>the</strong>r cigarette. “Oh, God, this doesn’t<br />
look good.”<br />
Standing nearby, Karl Grundmann finally snapped:<br />
“Would you shut up. You’re driving me crazy.”<br />
Ed Mullin was preoccupied with similar<br />
thoughts. An anonymous telephone caller had told<br />
him before he left for D.C., “It’s going to be a long ride<br />
home if this doesn’t work out.” Mullin responded:<br />
“You’ve been wrong every step of <strong>the</strong> way. My bet is<br />
you’re wrong now.” Never<strong>the</strong>less, he felt unsettled as<br />
he watched <strong>the</strong> counting proceed.<br />
Morning edged into afternoon without a formal<br />
lunch break and <strong>the</strong> stacks on <strong>the</strong> “yes” table gradually<br />
mounted. In time, <strong>the</strong>y dwarfed those on <strong>the</strong><br />
“no” table. The controllers smiled and nudged each<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r while <strong>the</strong> FAA managers grew increasingly<br />
subdued. Eighty-four percent of <strong>the</strong> work force cast<br />
ballots. After <strong>the</strong> last one was counted, <strong>the</strong> tally stood<br />
at 7,494 to 3,275—a margin of 70 percent, exactly as<br />
Thornton had predicted.<br />
Thornton and <strong>the</strong> board members shook<br />
hands, hugged each o<strong>the</strong>r, and tried to keep mum<br />
about <strong>the</strong> victory as <strong>the</strong>y shouldered past a thicket of<br />
reporters outside <strong>the</strong> building. The official announcement<br />
would be made at MEBA headquarters. But <strong>the</strong>y<br />
couldn’t contain <strong>the</strong>ir ear-to-ear grins and Barte discreetly<br />
gave one reporter a thumbs-up signal.<br />
The FLRA officially certifies NATCA as a union. FAA Administrator Donald Engen leaves office after serving<br />
since April 10, 1984.<br />
2
Back at MEBA’s offices, <strong>the</strong>y joined o<strong>the</strong>r controllers<br />
who’d been anxiously awaiting <strong>the</strong> results.<br />
DeFries and Thornton each spoke into a forest of<br />
microphones to announce <strong>the</strong> historic news to a mob<br />
of reporters and television camera crews. Afterward,<br />
controllers, FAA officials, o<strong>the</strong>r dignitaries, and journalists<br />
milled about a reception on <strong>the</strong> second floor.<br />
The FAA managers wore gold NATCA pins in a show<br />
of respect but, privately, <strong>the</strong>y were stunned <strong>the</strong> union<br />
had garnered so much support.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> celebration, a member of Congress<br />
approached an exhausted Mullin, who was sitting in<br />
a corner nursing a drink. “You people have no idea<br />
what you did,” <strong>the</strong> politician said. “They never saw<br />
this coming.” Reflecting on <strong>the</strong> accomplishment now,<br />
Mullin agrees. “To do it after an apocalyptic event but<br />
before Reagan left <strong>the</strong> White House, and during an<br />
anti-union decade with Pepsi-generation people was<br />
quite astounding,” he says.<br />
8<br />
July<br />
NTSB Chairman Jim Burnett tells <strong>the</strong> Senate Appropriations Subcommittee<br />
on Transportation that <strong>the</strong> FAA should implement an improved controller<br />
feedback program. He says operational errors for April and May<br />
The FLRA certified <strong>the</strong> election results on<br />
June 19. Donald Engen, who presided over <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
throughout NATCA’s formation, had announced<br />
<strong>the</strong> previous March that he intended to return to<br />
<strong>the</strong> private sector. Two weeks after certification, he<br />
left office. President Reagan and his administration<br />
would occupy <strong>the</strong> White House for ano<strong>the</strong>r nineteen<br />
months. Once again, <strong>the</strong>y had to deal with a labor<br />
organization representing air traffic controllers, less<br />
than six years after crushing its predecessor.<br />
1. Hockstader, Lee. 1984. <strong>Controllers</strong> seek new union at Leesburg center. The<br />
Washington Post. 30 May, final edition.<br />
2. Smith, Philip. 1981. Three in PATCO given 10-day terms. The Washington<br />
Post. 12 December, final edition.<br />
3. Ibid.<br />
4. Shifrin, Carole. 1984. Union launches program to organize controllers. Aviation<br />
Week & Space Technology. 9 July.<br />
5. Ibid.<br />
6. Witkin, Richard. 1985. Pilots planning to form union for controllers. The New<br />
York Times. 29 April.<br />
7. MEBA archives.<br />
8. NATCA archives. Founding convention transcript.<br />
9. Ibid.<br />
10. Adams, Marilyn, and Spahn, Holly. 1986. <strong>Air</strong> controllers see if union revival<br />
will fly. USA Today. 23 September.<br />
Chapter 3: A Long and <strong>Wind</strong>ing Road<br />
1987 were 10 percent higher than 1986. Reports of near midair collisions<br />
for <strong>the</strong> first five months of 1987 rose 39 percent.<br />
91
“<br />
Imagine walking<br />
into an empty office<br />
space. That’s where<br />
<strong>the</strong>y started.<br />
— Former MEBA President<br />
Alexander “Doc” Cullison<br />
Labor of love: Adell Humphreys, NAT-<br />
CA’s director of administration, pieced<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r sixty-two logos to create a wallsized<br />
quilt, which hangs in <strong>the</strong> local union<br />
office at Oakland Center. / Steve Tuttle
Chapter 4<br />
The House That NATCA Built<br />
Nearly 300 delegates packed <strong>the</strong> Phoenix Ballroom of <strong>the</strong> Hyatt Regency<br />
Atlanta, seated in nine regional clusters. Among those on <strong>the</strong><br />
dais at NATCA’s second national convention in late January 1988<br />
was John Thornton. Once again, he found himself in a swirl of debate about<br />
his role with <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
Hoping to preserve a place for Thornton, New<br />
England Regional Representative Howie Barte had<br />
introduced a constitutional amendment to create a<br />
chief executive officer position. Barte argued that hiring<br />
a professionally qualified CEO would eliminate<br />
<strong>the</strong> specter of national politics, which had already<br />
permeated <strong>the</strong> convention. The CEO—PATCO started<br />
with a similar corporate-type structure—would<br />
be answerable to <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board, ensuring<br />
that controllers established <strong>the</strong> union’s goals<br />
and policies.<br />
Thornton was a natural candidate for <strong>the</strong> position.<br />
He’d held <strong>the</strong> job under <strong>the</strong> title of national<br />
organizer since MEBA hired him in December 1985<br />
and had been involved in <strong>the</strong> organizing campaign<br />
since <strong>the</strong> earliest days with AFGE. Thornton also<br />
racked up sixteen years of experience as a controller<br />
with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force and FAA before he was fired in<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike.<br />
But many delegates believed NATCA<br />
would have more credibility if its members<br />
ran <strong>the</strong>ir union. “We want an organization<br />
of, by, and for air traffic controllers,”<br />
Western-Pacific Regional Rep<br />
Karl Grundmann said, a sentiment that<br />
struck a chord throughout <strong>the</strong> ballroom.<br />
Those who applauded Grundmann’s<br />
stance wanted to completely disassociate<br />
from PATCO. Many feared that NAT-<br />
CA would become ano<strong>the</strong>r radical organization<br />
and were adamantly opposed to Thornton running<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir new union.<br />
Deciding <strong>the</strong>ir destiny: Karl Grundmann<br />
spoke for many by arguing that controllers<br />
should run <strong>the</strong> new union. / NATCA archives
94<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA archives<br />
Legacy of <strong>the</strong> strike: John Thornton, left, confers with MEBA President Gene De-<br />
Fries, right, and NATCA General Counsel Bill Osborne at <strong>the</strong> union’s Atlanta convention<br />
in 1988. Thornton’s PATCO background dashed his hopes of becoming president.<br />
* NATCA retained a professional parliamentarian<br />
to monitor its proceedings in Atlanta.<br />
Central Regional Representative Dan Brandt<br />
handled <strong>the</strong> duties during <strong>the</strong> 1990 convention<br />
and Howie Barte has served as parliamentarian<br />
at every subsequent ga<strong>the</strong>ring.<br />
1987<br />
22<br />
July<br />
“John’s loyalty<br />
and his contribution<br />
to NATCA were unparalleled.<br />
Nobody<br />
can deny that,” says<br />
Steve Bell, <strong>the</strong> Eastern<br />
regional rep at<br />
<strong>the</strong> time. “But <strong>the</strong>re<br />
was no way, no way<br />
we could campaign<br />
and build a union<br />
by electing a PAT-<br />
CO guy as <strong>the</strong> new<br />
president.”<br />
A healthy dose<br />
of wariness about<br />
Thornton’s relationship<br />
with MEBA also<br />
existed. For <strong>the</strong> contingent<br />
from New<br />
York, parochialism came into play, as well. Bell had<br />
emerged as a leading candidate for president in <strong>the</strong><br />
upcoming national election.<br />
After delegates voted down Barte’s CEO proposal,<br />
Barry Krasner introduced two constitutional<br />
amendments aimed at barring Thornton from <strong>the</strong><br />
presidency he sought. One resolution defined an<br />
active member as a certified controller or a developmental<br />
in a training program. The second limited <strong>the</strong><br />
The Aviation Safety Commission, created by Congress in 1986 to develop<br />
recommendations on improving air safety, holds its first day of hearings.<br />
NATCA national organizer John Thornton presents a six-point improve-<br />
right to vote or hold office to active members.<br />
Krasner, who had taken over as <strong>the</strong> local<br />
president at New York TRACON from Bell, was very<br />
familiar with Robert’s Rules of Order and would later<br />
earn a reputation for running conventions with a deft<br />
hand. * But he became tongue-tied while simultaneously<br />
trying to write and announce one of <strong>the</strong> resolutions.<br />
“Wait, wait, wait,” he stammered, trying to be<br />
diplomatic. “What I’m trying to do—”<br />
Thornton leaned toward a microphone and<br />
remarked, “Barry, we all know what you’re trying<br />
to do.”<br />
The measures passed, but some felt badly for<br />
Thornton. Northwest Mountain Regional Rep Gary<br />
Molen, who dismissed <strong>the</strong> anti-PATCO sentiment as<br />
pettiness, nearly came to tears watching <strong>the</strong> drama<br />
play out. “He’s <strong>the</strong> one who got us going and we owed<br />
him something,” Molen says now.<br />
To that end, <strong>the</strong> Atlanta delegates bestowed<br />
Thornton with <strong>the</strong> union’s first honorary lifetime<br />
membership in appreciation of his contributions.<br />
Their recognition moved Thornton and he understood<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers’ desire to run NATCA. But <strong>the</strong><br />
snub over <strong>the</strong> presidency still hurt.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> four-day convention, delegates wrestled<br />
over a variety of organizational issues and came<br />
to grips with politics. One proposal would establish a<br />
weighted scale for <strong>National</strong> Executive Board members,<br />
giving two votes each to <strong>the</strong> four largest regions and<br />
ment plan. Key elements include immunity for controllers who report<br />
operational errors, increasing FPL controller ranks, addressing equipment<br />
problems, and ending <strong>the</strong> FAA’s contract tower program.
one each to <strong>the</strong> remaining five. In a fiery speech to <strong>the</strong><br />
delegates, Kansas City Center controller Ray Spickler,<br />
from <strong>the</strong> four-state Central Region, contended <strong>the</strong><br />
divisive move would pit large facilities and regions<br />
against small ones. Delegates rejected <strong>the</strong> measure.<br />
They also considered a Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region resolution<br />
to consolidate NATCA’s nine regions, which<br />
mirrored <strong>the</strong> FAA’s, into seven, as PATCO had done. *<br />
“We were really looking for an efficient organization.<br />
It didn’t make sense to have nine regions and it still<br />
doesn’t,” Krasner says now.<br />
Today, many agree that NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
would be better off with just three or four matching<br />
regions—or even a single national entity—to reduce<br />
overhead costs and foster more unity. “We’ve perfected<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA model to an art form and we really need<br />
to stop doing that,” says Carol Branaman, who was<br />
elected Northwest Mountain Region vice president in<br />
2000. “If I had my way, we wouldn’t have a bunch of<br />
regional anything. It would be different.”<br />
But in 1988 in Atlanta, some delegates viewed<br />
<strong>the</strong> move as a power play among <strong>the</strong> larger regions.<br />
Representatives from Alaskan, Central, and New England—<strong>the</strong>y<br />
were loosely known as <strong>the</strong> Small Region<br />
Coalition—sent letters opposing <strong>the</strong> proposal to all facilities.<br />
“We feel that by limiting NATCA to only a few<br />
regions, all controllers will not get <strong>the</strong> proper representation<br />
<strong>the</strong>y deserve, and that <strong>the</strong>re will exist certain<br />
internal power structures that helped destroy PATCO,”<br />
22<br />
July<br />
T. Allan McArtor takes over as FAA administrator from Donald Engen,<br />
who resigned twenty days earlier. McArtor logged 200 combat missions<br />
in Vietnam, winning <strong>the</strong> Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. He also<br />
Alaskan Regional Rep Will Faville Jr. wrote.<br />
The proposed amendment was withdrawn,<br />
though not before Barte threatened to pull New England<br />
delegates out of <strong>the</strong> convention.<br />
The First <strong>National</strong> Election<br />
Heavy lobbying ensued in <strong>the</strong> hotel’s bars and<br />
regional “war rooms,” which were making <strong>the</strong>ir first<br />
appearance at a NATCA function. The Small Region<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
Honorary Lifetime Members<br />
FYI<br />
John F. Thornton 1988 NATCA nat’l. organizer, sr. leg. affairs director<br />
John F. Leyden 1992 PATCO president 1970-80<br />
James Breen 1994 New England regional representative 1988-92<br />
Robert D. Taylor 1994 Director of labor relations<br />
Richard Swauger 1996 <strong>National</strong> technology coordinator<br />
Cathy Meachum 2000 NATCA Charitable Foundation co-founder<br />
Emeritus Members<br />
Gary Molen 1994 Northwest Mountain Region VP emeritus<br />
Ed Mullin 1994 Southwest Region VP emeritus<br />
Barry Krasner 1996 <strong>National</strong> president emeritus<br />
Michael McNally 2000 <strong>National</strong> president emeritus<br />
flew with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force Thunderbirds for two years. McArtor worked<br />
for Federal Express Corporation for eight years until his appointment as<br />
administrator.<br />
95<br />
* Under <strong>the</strong> proposal, New England Region<br />
would be consolidated into Eastern. Central<br />
and a renamed Western Region would absorb<br />
Northwest Mountain states, and several<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r realignments would occur west of <strong>the</strong><br />
Mississippi River. A new Pacific Region would<br />
include Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories in<br />
<strong>the</strong> South Pacific.
96<br />
1987<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
7<br />
Sep.<br />
Coalition, joined by Northwest Mountain, hosted a<br />
combined hospitality suite. A fully stocked bar covered<br />
a credenza that ran <strong>the</strong> length of one wall. After<br />
<strong>the</strong> convention, Central Regional Rep Dan Brandt<br />
paid <strong>the</strong> hefty room and bar tab with a credit card.<br />
Thornton, who approved expense reports, gulped<br />
deeply before reimbursing Brandt.<br />
The upcoming national election dominated<br />
conversations in <strong>the</strong> war rooms. Nominations<br />
opened in ano<strong>the</strong>r week, voting would take place in<br />
<strong>the</strong> spring, and results would be tallied in July.<br />
Many union members viewed Steve Bell as <strong>the</strong><br />
heir apparent for president. Seven months before,<br />
on <strong>the</strong> day <strong>the</strong> FLRA tabulated <strong>the</strong> votes to certify<br />
NATCA, he’d announced his candidacy to <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
on <strong>the</strong> board. The 35-year-old preacher’s son was an<br />
inspirational speaker, had gained visibility during<br />
NATCA’s formation, and enjoyed a powerful political<br />
base rooted at New York TRACON.<br />
Karl Grundmann from Los Angeles TRACON<br />
had been perceived as a contender for political office<br />
as far back as NATCA’s founding convention.<br />
Tall, astute, and at ease in front of a crowd, 34-yearold<br />
Grundmann became Kelly Candaele’s leading<br />
spokesman during organizing on <strong>the</strong> West Coast.<br />
He was seen as a natural candidate for executive<br />
vice president.<br />
Fred Gilbert, an early NATCA stalwart from<br />
Chicago Center, and Ray Spickler, <strong>the</strong> Kansas City<br />
Eastern Regional Representative Steve Bell and o<strong>the</strong>r controllers<br />
in <strong>the</strong> New York area appear on behalf of NATCA in <strong>the</strong><br />
city’s traditional Labor Day parade.<br />
The Bell / Grundmann Ticket<br />
native of Maryland, Karl Grundmann<br />
A quit high school—”before I got asked to<br />
leave”—to join <strong>the</strong> Navy in 1977. He served as<br />
an aviation bosun’s mate at Lemoore Naval <strong>Air</strong><br />
Station, south of Fresno, where he befriended<br />
<strong>the</strong> tower crew and <strong>the</strong>n trained as an air<br />
traffic controller. After <strong>the</strong> FAA hired him two<br />
years later, he worked briefly at Sacramento<br />
Tower and was certifying at Burbank Tower/<br />
TRACON when <strong>the</strong> strike countdown began.<br />
As luck would have it, Lemoore needed<br />
radar controllers. Grundmann’s old commander<br />
called to offer him a civilian transfer<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Defense Department, a five-level bump<br />
on <strong>the</strong> GS pay scale if he accepted <strong>the</strong> job.<br />
Grundmann took <strong>the</strong> offer and subsequently<br />
sidestepped <strong>the</strong> difficult decision of whe<strong>the</strong>r<br />
to strike. Three weeks after <strong>the</strong> walkout, <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA rehired him at Burbank.<br />
“It was very uncomfortable for a while<br />
to walk past <strong>the</strong> picket line,” Grundmann<br />
says. “But I believed <strong>the</strong> FAA. All I heard was<br />
‘we’re going to take care of you.’ ”<br />
Before long, though, <strong>the</strong> ten-hour, sixday<br />
weeks began to grate. Grundmann also<br />
took exception to <strong>the</strong> FAA’s public pronouncements<br />
that <strong>the</strong> air traffic system was returning<br />
to normal. “All it would have taken would<br />
have been one major accident, one controller
Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
Bicoastal running mates: Steve Bell, right, never formally<br />
acknowledged his unofficial ticket with Karl Grundmann.<br />
screw-up, and <strong>the</strong> whole thing would have<br />
come down. It was a house of cards.”<br />
Despite <strong>the</strong>se issues, Grundmann<br />
hadn’t seriously thought about organizing<br />
given that federal-sector unions were not<br />
permitted to strike. But when he transferred<br />
to Los Angeles TRACON in 1984,<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r controller named George Stevens<br />
persuaded him to take a closer look.<br />
Kelly Candaele still recalls his first<br />
encounter with Grundmann at an organizing<br />
meeting in Anaheim. “He was a longhaired<br />
guy full of piss and vinegar,” Candaele<br />
says. “Reminded me of—not exactly a<br />
biker type. I came walking in <strong>the</strong> door and<br />
�<br />
he said, ‘Who are you?’ I had a tie on, so he<br />
knew I wasn’t a controller.”<br />
Grundmann listened to Candaele<br />
explain that controllers should think about<br />
organizing because <strong>the</strong>ir jobs involved<br />
high stakes. If a mistake occurred, a union<br />
would define a hierarchy of responsibility<br />
to help protect <strong>the</strong> workers. Candaele<br />
was quick to point out, though, that it was<br />
a decision <strong>the</strong> controllers needed to make<br />
on <strong>the</strong>ir own. “I knew that it was so tender<br />
during <strong>the</strong> initial period that I couldn’t<br />
come in and just say we’ll give you protection,”<br />
Candaele says.<br />
His words won Grundmann over.<br />
Not long after, NATCA held its March 1986<br />
national meeting in San Francisco. Though<br />
Grundmann had joined <strong>the</strong> NATCA drive<br />
only recently, <strong>the</strong> controllers elected him as<br />
Western-Pacific regional rep over Jim Mc-<br />
Cann from Chino Tower, who had served<br />
as <strong>the</strong> de facto rep.<br />
Under Candaele’s gentle tutelage,<br />
Grundmann trimmed his shoulder-length<br />
hair, replaced his jeans with a coat and tie,<br />
and quickly demonstrated a natural savvy<br />
in responding to controllers’ concerns<br />
about <strong>the</strong> new union.<br />
Before NATCA’s certification, Grund-<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
mann and Bell befriended each o<strong>the</strong>r and<br />
forged an alliance. MEBA had assigned a<br />
member of its staff named Walter Browne<br />
to keep tabs on its fledgling affiliate.<br />
“Everybody felt he was <strong>the</strong>re as MEBA’s<br />
hit man,” Barry Krasner recalls. After <strong>the</strong><br />
disagreement over MEBA’s promissory note<br />
and steep affiliation fee, Browne’s appearance<br />
fur<strong>the</strong>r frayed <strong>the</strong> controllers’ faith in<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir funding organization.<br />
That lack of trust came to bear when<br />
Browne asked <strong>the</strong> interim regional reps<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y could guarantee <strong>the</strong> vote<br />
for a union and if anyone was willing to<br />
quit <strong>the</strong> FAA and join MEBA as a full-time<br />
organizer. Bell and Grundmann talked<br />
about it, decided to offer <strong>the</strong>ir services, and<br />
met with Gene DeFries. When word of <strong>the</strong><br />
meeting reached <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r NATCA board<br />
members, <strong>the</strong>y exchanged heated phone<br />
calls that were charged with political accusations.<br />
Very quickly, Bell and Grundmann<br />
abandoned <strong>the</strong> idea.<br />
Now, as Grundmann launched a<br />
campaign for executive vice president, he<br />
and Bell were widely regarded as a ticket.<br />
However, <strong>the</strong> New Yorker never formally<br />
acknowledged his West Coast counterpart<br />
as a running mate.<br />
97
98<br />
19xx<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
The Gilbert / Spickler Ticket<br />
Fred Gilbert joined <strong>the</strong> FAA in 1969<br />
and encountered his “first big lie”<br />
from <strong>the</strong> agency during orientation at<br />
Chicago Center. The academy in Oklahoma<br />
City, he was told, would teach Gilbert<br />
and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r new-hires how to think,<br />
speak, and act exactly alike. In Gilbert’s<br />
first class, however, he watched with<br />
incredulity and unease when two instructors<br />
nearly came to blows arguing about<br />
phraseology.<br />
After working as a controller for<br />
seven years, he was promoted to <strong>the</strong><br />
Great Lakes Regional Office and soon<br />
became associate administrator of <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> and <strong>Air</strong>way Facilities <strong>National</strong><br />
Task Force.<br />
Gilbert returned to <strong>the</strong> boards<br />
after <strong>the</strong> strike, where his wariness over<br />
unions waned as he endured his ill-fated<br />
attempt to convene a national FAB conference<br />
and realized <strong>the</strong> committees were an<br />
FAA ploy “to placate Congress and controllers.”<br />
Seeing that little had changed,<br />
he joined <strong>the</strong> movement, was elected<br />
Great Lakes regional rep, and traveled<br />
extensively during organizing.<br />
Hoping to steer NATCA toward<br />
a more professional orientation than a<br />
�<br />
traditional labor bent, Gilbert threw<br />
his hat in <strong>the</strong> ring for president. Fellow<br />
Midwesterner Ray Spickler—who<br />
regarded Gilbert as being level-headed,<br />
decent, and likable—backed his candidacy.<br />
The youngest of <strong>the</strong> four top contenders,<br />
29-year-old Spickler grew up in<br />
Kansas City, attended Catholic schools,<br />
and studied chemistry for a while at<br />
Rockhurst University, a Jesuit institution.<br />
His chosen specialty did not inspire him,<br />
however, and <strong>the</strong> strike turned his attention<br />
to air traffic control. Spickler had no<br />
qualms about applying to <strong>the</strong> FAA several<br />
days after <strong>the</strong> walkout. He believed <strong>the</strong><br />
picketers broke <strong>the</strong> law and would not get<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir jobs back.<br />
By <strong>the</strong> summer of 1986, controllers<br />
at Kansas City Center were talking<br />
about a union, but only Spickler attended<br />
an organizing meeting near <strong>the</strong><br />
airport. Among <strong>the</strong> handful of o<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
present were Jim Poole and Dan Brandt.<br />
The group elected Poole as regional rep<br />
and Brandt as his alternate. Poole was<br />
transferring from Cedar Rapids Tower/<br />
TRACON to Chicago Center that fall,<br />
however, so Spickler was named second<br />
Gilbert / Courtesy of Howie Barte Spickler / NATCA archives<br />
alternate to prepare for <strong>the</strong> upcoming<br />
vacancy.<br />
After certification, talk turned to<br />
NATCA’s first national election. Spickler<br />
inherently distrusted Bell and Grundmann.<br />
The two men from <strong>the</strong> coasts<br />
“just hit me wrong,” Spickler says now,<br />
though he adds: “I came to view New<br />
Yorkers with a great deal of love and<br />
respect. They supply <strong>the</strong> union with a lot<br />
of energy.” He has also since resolved his<br />
differences with Grundmann.<br />
But o<strong>the</strong>rs shared Spickler’s suspicions<br />
at <strong>the</strong> time and fretted in particular<br />
about <strong>the</strong> Eastern Region’s influence.<br />
Spickler’s thoughts about running for executive<br />
vice president solidified in Atlanta<br />
after his speech opposing weighted voting<br />
on <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board attracted<br />
attention from delegates. Looking for a<br />
vice presidential candidate to give <strong>the</strong><br />
Midwest and smaller regions a greater<br />
voice, <strong>the</strong>y encouraged him to run.<br />
A week later, Spickler and Gilbert<br />
agreed to form a ticket.
Center controller who gained attention with his<br />
pointed speech about competition among regions,<br />
ran toge<strong>the</strong>r in opposition. They hoped <strong>the</strong>ir Midwestern<br />
roots would appeal to members as a more<br />
balanced ticket.<br />
However, Gilbert’s link to PATCO, his emphasis<br />
on professional issues over labor problems,<br />
and possibly his age—he was 42—worked against<br />
his bid for president. Ano<strong>the</strong>r factor may have been<br />
a joint campaign mailing. To save money, Spickler<br />
relied on third-class postage and <strong>the</strong> literature did<br />
not arrive in time for balloting. When <strong>the</strong> results<br />
were announced on July 18, 1988, Bell outpolled<br />
Gilbert nearly two-to-one out of more than 3,200<br />
votes cast.<br />
Likewise, Spickler trailed Grundmann<br />
in <strong>the</strong> race for executive vice<br />
president by about 200 votes. Nei<strong>the</strong>r<br />
won a majority, however, because<br />
of candidacies by two o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
controllers.<br />
Spickler campaigned hard<br />
in a runoff while Grundmann<br />
was hampered by a serious bicycle<br />
accident that knocked out<br />
all his teeth. He also suffered embarrassment,<br />
if not voter backlash, from a letter claiming<br />
Bell’s endorsement sent out by an overzealous<br />
campaign worker. Bell quickly disavowed <strong>the</strong> en-<br />
1987<br />
10<br />
dorsement and Spickler went on to win 63 percent<br />
of <strong>the</strong> runoff vote.<br />
First Steps<br />
Even before <strong>the</strong> Atlanta convention, NATCA<br />
began publicly asserting itself as a labor organization.<br />
Shortly after certification, <strong>the</strong> union joined AFGE in<br />
a lawsuit to prevent <strong>the</strong> Transportation Department<br />
from implementing random drug testing. Both unions<br />
contended <strong>the</strong> program violated Fourth Amendment<br />
protection from unreasonable search and seizure.<br />
Meanwhile, newly retained general counsel William<br />
Osborne demanded talks with <strong>the</strong> FAA to negotiate<br />
<strong>the</strong> rules based on NATCA’s rights under federal labor<br />
laws.<br />
Although a U.S. District Court denied an injunction<br />
sought by <strong>the</strong> unions against drug testing,<br />
NATCA immediately signed its first Memorandum<br />
of Understanding with <strong>the</strong> agency in<br />
October 1987. The agreement, which outlined<br />
testing and grievance procedures, would be included<br />
in <strong>the</strong> union’s first contract whenever it<br />
was negotiated.<br />
By <strong>the</strong> time Steve Bell arrived at NATCA<br />
headquarters in August 1988, <strong>the</strong> union was in <strong>the</strong><br />
midst of lobbying Congress on a key issue that had<br />
helped fuel <strong>the</strong> organizing effort. A bill by Rep. Barney<br />
Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, would<br />
Sep. Oct.<br />
The Senate Aviation Subcommittee begins <strong>the</strong> first of at least<br />
four hearings on an ill-fated bill that would remove <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
from <strong>the</strong> Transportation Department.<br />
1<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
FYI<br />
NATCA retained<br />
William W. Osborne Jr. as<br />
its first general counsel in<br />
August 1987. Osborne had<br />
been in private practice<br />
representing labor unions<br />
for eleven years.<br />
He also taught labor<br />
law at Georgetown<br />
University, The George<br />
Washington University and<br />
The Catholic University of<br />
America in Washington, as<br />
well as <strong>the</strong> George Meany<br />
Center for Labor Studies in<br />
Silver Spring, Maryland.<br />
“I’m very proud to have<br />
been on <strong>the</strong> 1989 union<br />
negotiating team that bargained<br />
<strong>the</strong> first post-PATCO<br />
agreement with <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
and to have been one of <strong>the</strong><br />
signatories,” Osborne says.<br />
99<br />
Ray Spickler: The Kansas City Center<br />
delegate attracted attention at <strong>the</strong> Atlanta<br />
convention by speaking out against competition<br />
among <strong>the</strong> regions. / NATCA archives<br />
Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole leaves office after<br />
serving since February 7, 1983.
100<br />
1987<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1988<br />
The First <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
Although several interim regional representatives<br />
retained <strong>the</strong>ir seats, <strong>the</strong><br />
1988 election brought five new faces to <strong>the</strong><br />
board:<br />
Alaskan: Incumbent Will Faville Jr.<br />
from Anchorage Center handily beat Gordon<br />
Jones from Kodiak Tower.<br />
Central: Incumbent Dan Brandt from<br />
Omaha TRACON easily defeated Larry<br />
Clementz from St. Louis TRACON.<br />
Eastern: Steve Bell’s presidential bid<br />
left <strong>the</strong> field open in <strong>the</strong> region. New York<br />
TRACON controller Barry Krasner won a<br />
runoff election against Steve Van Houten<br />
from New York Center after cultivating <strong>the</strong><br />
support of voters who had backed Dave<br />
Pearson from Harrisburg Tower/TRACON<br />
in <strong>the</strong> first round.<br />
Great Lakes: Joseph Bellino, <strong>the</strong> first<br />
developmental at O’Hare Tower/TRACON<br />
to join PATCO and a longtime NATCA<br />
9<br />
Oct.<br />
�<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Band of bro<strong>the</strong>rs: NATCA’s first elected board took office in September 1988. The top two executives and nine regional<br />
representatives included, from left: Will Faville Jr., Alaskan; President Steve Bell; Jim Breen, New England; Joseph Bellino,<br />
Great Lakes; Barry Krasner, Eastern; Dan Brandt, Central; Executive Vice President Ray Spickler; Lee Riley, Sou<strong>the</strong>rn; Ed<br />
Mullin, Southwest; Gary Molen, Northwest Mountain. Not pictured: Western-Pacific Regional Rep Richard Bamberger.<br />
organizer, had taken over as alternate rep<br />
from Cleveland Center’s Scott Lawless before<br />
<strong>the</strong> election. He beat Mark Ward from<br />
Indianapolis Center and David Shuler from<br />
O’Hare Tower with 61 percent of <strong>the</strong> vote.<br />
New England: Providence Tower<br />
NATCA and FAA representatives sign an agreement regarding random<br />
drug testing. The Memorandum of Understanding provides for a grievance<br />
and arbitration procedure for controllers who are forced to undergo test-<br />
controller Howie Barte, who had served as<br />
<strong>the</strong> regional rep for nearly four years, lost<br />
to Jim Breen from Bradley Tower/TRACON.<br />
A former state trooper who helped establish<br />
<strong>the</strong> Connecticut State Police Union,<br />
Breen edged out Barte by seventeen votes<br />
ing. The signing follows a U.S. District Court ruling denying an injunction<br />
against testing sought by NATCA and AFGE.
with heavy support from Boston Center, <strong>the</strong><br />
region’s largest facility.<br />
Northwest Mountain: Incumbent Gary<br />
Molen from Salt Lake Center easily withstood<br />
a challenge by Robert Fletcher from Denver<br />
Center.<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn: Pensacola Tower/TRACON<br />
controller Dennis Delaney was unable to win<br />
a majority over challengers Lee Riley from<br />
Atlanta Center and Tim Leonard from Miami<br />
Center. Riley, who served as Delaney’s alternate<br />
on <strong>the</strong> provisional board, triumphed in<br />
a runoff election thanks to healthy backing<br />
from his facility.<br />
Southwest: Incumbent Ed Mullin from<br />
Dallas Love Field ran unopposed.<br />
Western-Pacific: Karl Grundmann’s<br />
alternate, Richard Bamberger from San Diego<br />
Lindbergh Tower, held back challenges from<br />
three o<strong>the</strong>r candidates.<br />
immediately substitute <strong>the</strong> government for federal<br />
employees as <strong>the</strong> defendant in civil lawsuits.<br />
For years, accident victims’ next of kin had<br />
periodically sued controllers, costing <strong>the</strong>m thousands<br />
of dollars in legal fees and hampering <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
ability to buy and sell real estate and obtain loans<br />
until <strong>the</strong> government stepped in.<br />
Many controllers signed petitions for NATCA<br />
after five of <strong>the</strong>ir colleagues at New York TRACON<br />
were named in a lawsuit stemming from <strong>the</strong> midair<br />
collision over Cliffside Park, New Jersey, in 1985.<br />
In a concerted lobbying campaign, John<br />
Thornton spoke with Frank’s staff several times and<br />
enlisted support from<br />
MEBA, which earmarked<br />
political action committee<br />
money for <strong>the</strong> tort<br />
reform bill.<br />
NATCA welcomed<br />
<strong>the</strong> financial help. Although<br />
<strong>the</strong> union had<br />
formed constitution,<br />
finance and safety committees,<br />
no PAC existed<br />
yet. NATCA also joined<br />
a coalition of federal-sector<br />
unions formed by <strong>the</strong><br />
Public Employees Department<br />
of <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO<br />
Nov. Dec.<br />
18<br />
NATCA’s provisional Executive Board votes to hold national<br />
elections. February 1, 1988, is <strong>the</strong> opening date for nominations<br />
for president, vice president, and regional representatives.<br />
3<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
101<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Leading <strong>the</strong> PAC: NATCA retained John Thornton as senior director of legislative<br />
affairs and, in 1989, director of its new Political Action Committee.<br />
James H. Burnley takes over as transportation secretary. Burnley,<br />
former deputy secretary, also served as general counsel and<br />
as associate deputy attorney general in <strong>the</strong> Justice Department.
102<br />
1987<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1988 Election<br />
Results<br />
�<br />
Incumbents served on <strong>the</strong><br />
provisional Executive Board<br />
9<br />
Dec.<br />
President<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Steve Bell Eastern New York TRACON 1,948 60.4<br />
Fred Gilbert Great Lakes Chicago Center 1,138 35.3<br />
Joseph Perrone New England Bradley Twr./TRACON 94 2.9<br />
John Saludin Eastern Albany Twr./TRACON 46 1.4<br />
Executive Vice President<br />
Ray L. Spickler Central Kansas City Center 1,163 36.6 1,828 63.2<br />
Karl Grundmann Western-Pacific L.A. TRACON 1,375 43.2 1,065 36.8<br />
Richard Bolton Southwest Okla. City Twr./TRA. 427 13.4<br />
Timothy Stinson New England Boston Center 218 6.8<br />
Regional Representatives<br />
Alaskan<br />
Will Faville Jr. / incumbent Anchorage Center 60 85.7<br />
Gordon P. Jones<br />
Central<br />
Kodiak Tower 10 14.3<br />
Dan Brandt / incumbent Omaha TRACON 111 66.5<br />
Larry Clementz<br />
Eastern<br />
St. Louis TRACON 56 33.5<br />
Barry Krasner New York TRACON 245 36.2 330 56.2<br />
Steve Van Houten New York Center 256 37.8 257 43.8<br />
Dave Pearson Harrisburg Twr./TRA. 176 26.0<br />
Union representatives from all fifty-three Southwest Region facilities meet<br />
in Dallas to share experiences and initiate a regional “self-training mode.”<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent<br />
FAA representatives from <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong>, Labor Management Relations, and<br />
Human Resources also attend.
Great Lakes<br />
Joseph M. Bellino Chicago TRACON 303 61.1<br />
Mark Ward Indianapolis Center 127 25.6<br />
David A. Shuler<br />
New England<br />
Chicago O’Hare Tower 66 13.3<br />
James Breen Bradley Tower/TRACON 119 53.8<br />
Howie Barte / incumbent<br />
Northwest Mountain<br />
Providence Tower 102 46.2<br />
Gary Molen / incumbent Salt Lake Center 165 68.2<br />
Robert Fletcher<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Denver Center 77 31.8<br />
F. Lee Riley Atlanta Center 192 29.6 355 56.6<br />
Dennis Delaney / incumbent Pensacola Tower 277 42.7 273 43.4<br />
Tim Leonard<br />
Southwest<br />
Miami Center 180 27.7<br />
Ed Mullin / incumbent Dallas Love Field Tower 293 99.1<br />
Write-ins<br />
Western-Pacific<br />
Various 3 0.9<br />
Richard Bamberger San Diego Tower 213 53.1<br />
Owen Bridgeman Phoenix TRACON 78 19.4<br />
Kenneth Moen Reno Tower/TRACON 62 15.4<br />
Benjamin Pappa Jr. Los Angeles Center 49 12.1<br />
1988<br />
26<br />
Jan.<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Nearly 300 delegates attend NATCA’s second biennial convention at <strong>the</strong><br />
Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta. Major issues adopted include: establishing<br />
Constitution, Finance, and Safety committees, composed of one member<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent<br />
103<br />
from each region; defining an “active” member as a controller who has<br />
been certified in <strong>the</strong> preceding two years or a developmental in a training<br />
program; limiting <strong>the</strong> right to vote or hold office to “active” members.
R. Steve<br />
Bell<br />
Training Specialist<br />
1998 — Pr e s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: SB, RB, BS<br />
HO m e t O w n : Baltimore<br />
sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Carrie / Jeff, Randy, Tim,<br />
Colleen, Christin, Shawn<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Lives in a house built circa 1765<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
History, sailing<br />
Stan Barough<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: P50, N90<br />
OFF<br />
ONT<br />
ATCSCC Command Ctr.<br />
TRACONs<br />
TRACON<br />
Tower/TRACON<br />
Steve Bell’s vision of NATCA has always hovered<br />
on <strong>the</strong> horizon. “That vision is <strong>the</strong> creation of<br />
a twenty-first century labor organization,” he says.<br />
“A union that understands systemic approaches,<br />
understands <strong>the</strong> complexities of systems, and one<br />
that truly does collaborate to <strong>the</strong> greatest extent<br />
possible to reach consensus with management.<br />
That’s what we organized this union on.”<br />
Even as Bell preached <strong>the</strong> need for NATCA<br />
in <strong>the</strong> early days, he advocated collaboration with<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA and embraced Quality Through Partnership<br />
during his presidency. Since transferring to<br />
<strong>the</strong> Command Center in October 1998, he is often<br />
on <strong>the</strong> road trying to motivate people to think outside<br />
<strong>the</strong> box and see labor-management relations in<br />
a new light.<br />
“The problem has never been people in <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA. The problem has always been <strong>the</strong> structure,”<br />
he says. “The paramilitary structure comes to us<br />
from Rome and has primary dysfunctions built<br />
into it that don’t allow people at <strong>the</strong> bottom of <strong>the</strong><br />
pyramid to bubble up good ideas into <strong>the</strong> organization.”<br />
Part of Bell’s perception of <strong>the</strong> agency stems<br />
from his diverse ATC experience. After nine years<br />
as a controller in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force, he worked at a privately<br />
run tower in Mesa, Arizona, before <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
hired him at Ontario Tower/TRACON in 1982. He<br />
<strong>the</strong>n worked in radar rooms in Omaha and New<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
<strong>National</strong> president 1988-91; Eastern provisional<br />
regional rep 1986-88; Western-Pacific Region QTP<br />
coordinator; New York TRACON local president.<br />
hir e d<br />
April<br />
1982<br />
York, before his election as president, and in Phoenix<br />
from 1991 to 1998.<br />
Bell discovered a new world at <strong>the</strong> Command<br />
Center. Acknowledging that he previously<br />
gave little thought to airplanes beyond <strong>the</strong> range of<br />
his scope, he now regards traffic management as<br />
“<strong>the</strong> wave of <strong>the</strong> future.”<br />
While Bell keeps looking forward in <strong>the</strong><br />
profession, <strong>the</strong> past also fascinates him. A Civil<br />
War history buff, he walks across <strong>the</strong> battlefields of<br />
Antietam and Gettysburg with <strong>the</strong> same familiarity<br />
as Gen. Grant and Robert E. Lee.<br />
He and his wife, Carrie, live in <strong>the</strong> rolling<br />
hills outside Charles Town, West Virginia, in a<br />
colonial-style house built about <strong>the</strong> time <strong>the</strong> British<br />
Parliament passed <strong>the</strong> Stamp Act of 1765, infuriating<br />
American colonists. In <strong>the</strong> barn behind <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
home—and elsewhere on <strong>the</strong> property—a variety<br />
of animals claim residence, including eleven head<br />
of sheep, a donkey, golden retriever, miniature<br />
schnauzer, and two cats. The couple also owns<br />
a sailboat, which <strong>the</strong>y someday hope to steer<br />
through <strong>the</strong> Panama Canal and along <strong>the</strong> West<br />
Coast.<br />
Meanwhile, Bell remains passionate about<br />
his vision for NATCA. “How else will we get<br />
<strong>the</strong>re?” he says. “Until I die or I leave <strong>the</strong> FAA or<br />
I leave <strong>the</strong> union, I’m going to keep plugging that<br />
way.”
to campaign for <strong>the</strong> bill. By fall, <strong>the</strong> Senate passed<br />
a companion measure, which President Reagan<br />
signed into law a month later.<br />
NATCA’s first significant legislative victory<br />
came as Bell and Spickler joined a skeletal national<br />
office staff on <strong>the</strong> eighth floor of MEBA headquarters<br />
at 444 North Capitol Street in Washington.<br />
Besides Thornton and Osborne, Richard<br />
Gordon Jr. served as director of labor relations<br />
and Tony Dresden handled public<br />
affairs.<br />
“They had to create new space where<br />
none had been as far as developing <strong>the</strong><br />
whole organization. Their space at MEBA<br />
headquarters grew as <strong>the</strong>y grew,” Doc Cullison<br />
says. “But that was <strong>the</strong> sort of thankless job that<br />
Steve and Ray did—to create <strong>the</strong> environment. The<br />
things you take for granted.”<br />
Such as hiring a bookkeeper, receptionist, secretaries,<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>r staff members, leasing and buying<br />
office equipment, establishing lines of communication<br />
with union members and <strong>the</strong> FAA, and negotiating<br />
with <strong>the</strong> agency. Indeed, Bell and Spickler were<br />
forced to spend a good deal of time and energy on<br />
infrastructure during <strong>the</strong>ir three-year reign.<br />
With President Bell on <strong>the</strong> scene, Thornton’s<br />
title of executive director posed a dilemma for outsiders<br />
who might be confused about <strong>the</strong> group’s<br />
leadership. Joe Kilgallon, a consultant whom NATCA<br />
1988<br />
Apr.<br />
and PATCO retained periodically, devised a solution.<br />
Thornton was named to <strong>the</strong> newly created position of<br />
senior director for legislative affairs.<br />
Among <strong>the</strong> new faces appearing at <strong>the</strong> national<br />
office was a stylishly dressed, fun-loving woman<br />
named Frances Alsop,<br />
whom Spickler hired as<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s comptroller<br />
in May 1989. NATCA<br />
had seen two previous<br />
bookkeepers come<br />
and go, but Alsop<br />
would remain with <strong>the</strong><br />
union for twelve years<br />
until she passed away in<br />
August 2001.<br />
Fellow employees and NATCA members were<br />
largely unaware of Alsop’s lengthy illness until her<br />
death, which took away a vibrant personality and a<br />
gold mine of institutional history.<br />
A year after Alsop joined NATCA, Adell Humphreys,<br />
a tall woman with flowing blonde hair and<br />
an easy smile, came onboard. More than a decade<br />
earlier, Humphreys had been secretary for PATCO’s<br />
director of operations until she moved on when <strong>the</strong><br />
job lost its challenge. Humphreys had met Thornton<br />
during her PATCO days and <strong>the</strong>y kept in touch<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong> Eighties.<br />
In April 1990, he called to let her know about<br />
A joint NATCA-FAA labor-management training course, called “Partners<br />
in Problem Solving,” begins. Three-day sessions are held in <strong>the</strong> regions<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong> spring and summer.<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
105<br />
Frances Alsop: The union’s longtime<br />
comptroller was a vivacious presence at<br />
NATCA headquarters until she passed<br />
away in August 2001. / NATCA archives
Adell<br />
Humphreys<br />
Director of<br />
Administration<br />
niC k n a m e : Adelli<br />
1992 — Pr e s e n t<br />
HO m e t O w n : Quantico, Virginia<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Attended more <strong>National</strong> Execu-<br />
tive Board meetings than anyone in<br />
NATCA<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Peter Cutts<br />
Quilting, sewing, gourmet cooking,<br />
music<br />
NATCA FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s:<br />
NO <strong>National</strong> Office<br />
While <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board is in flux<br />
every three years and has evolved through<br />
five administrations, one of <strong>the</strong> few constants<br />
at headquarters is Adell Humphreys. Officially<br />
known as <strong>the</strong> union’s director of administration,<br />
her professional touch graces everything from <strong>the</strong><br />
prosaic to <strong>the</strong> strategic.<br />
Humphreys learned about <strong>the</strong> nuances of air<br />
traffic controllers when she worked for PATCO’s<br />
director of operations. More than a decade later,<br />
NATCA astutely grasped <strong>the</strong> benefits of her skills<br />
and knowledge. “Adell’s qualifications were outstanding,”<br />
former Executive Vice President Ray<br />
Spickler says.<br />
With lightning-fast fingers, Humphreys<br />
has documented <strong>the</strong> deliberations at monthly<br />
NEB meetings since 1990. As <strong>the</strong> union grew, her<br />
responsibilities did, too. They were secretarial in<br />
nature at first—she earned <strong>the</strong> nickname “Adelli”<br />
for faithfully ordering in lunch at NEB ga<strong>the</strong>rings—but<br />
Humphreys deftly demonstrated her<br />
ability to manage executive affairs.<br />
She has coordinated schedules for all of<br />
NATCA’s presidents, from <strong>the</strong> era of Day-Timers<br />
to <strong>the</strong> latest PalmPilot. Convention delegates vote<br />
on which cities to hold <strong>the</strong> union’s biennial ga<strong>the</strong>rings,<br />
but Humphreys oversees <strong>the</strong> selection of hotel<br />
and meeting sites.<br />
And she inherited <strong>the</strong> “title” of landlord<br />
with <strong>the</strong> purchase of <strong>the</strong> Krasner Building in<br />
2000, supervising initial renovations and ongoing<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
Received <strong>the</strong> Barry Krasner Award for Distinguished<br />
Service, presented by New York TRACON,<br />
in 2000.<br />
hir e d<br />
May<br />
1990<br />
maintenance.<br />
Juggling <strong>the</strong> move to <strong>the</strong> new headquarters<br />
while preparing for <strong>the</strong> Anchorage convention<br />
made <strong>the</strong> first three months of 2000 a chaotic time<br />
for Humphreys. Yet she handled <strong>the</strong> additional<br />
workload like a veteran controller expertly reeling<br />
in planes during an arrival rush. Little wonder,<br />
perhaps, given that she devotes much of her life to<br />
NATCA.<br />
She considers <strong>the</strong> union her family—aside<br />
from doting on two nieces, Ashley and Kendall.<br />
The lasting association contrasts with a<br />
childhood marked by fleeting friendships as Humphreys<br />
moved among various Marine Corps bases<br />
across <strong>the</strong> country, a time when playing <strong>the</strong> flute<br />
and violin cultivated an early love of music. These<br />
days, her tastes favor Bruce Springsteen, who she<br />
believes “is truly <strong>the</strong> king of all music.”<br />
The union has even benefited from her<br />
primary recreational passion. In 1998, she lovingly<br />
quilted an attractive potpourri of sixty-two NAT-<br />
CA logos taken from various shirts. <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
contributed several thousand dollars to a Political<br />
Action Fund raffle for <strong>the</strong> privilege of owning <strong>the</strong><br />
quilt, which now hangs in <strong>the</strong> local union office at<br />
Oakland Center.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r wall-sized quilts grace Humphreys’ office<br />
at headquarters, along with <strong>the</strong> Barry Krasner<br />
Award for Distinguished Service. “It meant so very,<br />
very much to me to be honored by <strong>the</strong> men and<br />
women I work for,” she says.
a job at NATCA. By this time, she was happily employed<br />
as <strong>the</strong> administration manager for <strong>the</strong> data<br />
processing department of a bank in Alexandria,<br />
Virginia.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> position of executive assistant to <strong>the</strong><br />
president sounded appealing, too. Sitting once again<br />
in PATCO’s old offices, adorned with <strong>the</strong> same garish<br />
metallic wallpaper and red plush carpet, she felt comfortable<br />
enough to advise Bell and Spickler against<br />
running a newspaper ad for <strong>the</strong> job.<br />
“You’ll get a ton of applications,” Humphreys<br />
warned. Then she pitched her strengths. “I know <strong>the</strong><br />
kind of people that we’re talking about. I’ve worked<br />
with air traffic controllers. I know what I’m getting<br />
into here.”<br />
Afterward, she chatted with a friend about<br />
her interview. Exhibiting a characteristic sense of<br />
fairness, Humphreys noted that it was bad business<br />
practice to hire <strong>the</strong> first person to walk through <strong>the</strong><br />
door for a job without talking to more candidates.<br />
“If <strong>the</strong>y offer it to me, I’ll tell <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong>y<br />
should consider o<strong>the</strong>r applicants,<br />
too,” she told her friend.<br />
“Are you nuts?” he exclaimed.<br />
“If <strong>the</strong>y call you up<br />
and offer <strong>the</strong> job, you take it!<br />
You don’t tell <strong>the</strong>m to interview<br />
more people.”<br />
The phone rang within an<br />
1988<br />
22<br />
June<br />
hour and Humphreys took her friend’s advice—as<br />
well as NATCA’s offer. Three months later, a colleague<br />
left to have a baby and Humphreys added office manager<br />
and assistant to <strong>the</strong> executive vice president to<br />
her responsibilities.<br />
Today, her title is director of administration, a<br />
generic description that masks <strong>the</strong> far reach of her<br />
involvement in everything from responding to distressed<br />
members on <strong>the</strong> telephone to booking several<br />
hundred hotel rooms for conventions and o<strong>the</strong>r union<br />
functions. Regardless of <strong>the</strong> title, union members and<br />
<strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> national office staff simply consider her<br />
<strong>the</strong> all-knowing, ever-capable Adell.<br />
Barry Krasner describes Humphreys as “<strong>the</strong><br />
beginning and <strong>the</strong> end of NATCA. She’s <strong>the</strong> one constant.<br />
She holds it all toge<strong>the</strong>r.” Krasner remains in<br />
awe of her many talents, least of all a more pedestrian<br />
skill. “Adell types faster than you can talk. We<br />
would finish a five-day board meeting and as I said,<br />
‘This meeting is adjourned,’ she would hand me <strong>the</strong><br />
minutes. Finished. Including, ‘This meeting is<br />
adjourned.’ ”<br />
By <strong>the</strong> end of 1990, NATCA’s<br />
headquarters staff numbered a dozen<br />
or so, including two full-time lawyers<br />
to help Bill Osborne handle <strong>the</strong> mounting<br />
pile of grievances and o<strong>the</strong>r legal<br />
issues. James Morin, a PATCO controller<br />
from LaGuardia Tower, earned a law<br />
John Thornton, NATCA’s senior director of legislative affairs, testifies<br />
before <strong>the</strong> House Aviation Subcommittee in favor of an independent FAA.<br />
Although Thornton credits <strong>the</strong> agency with making progress under Admin-<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
107<br />
Tool of <strong>the</strong> trade (above): Adell Humphreys’<br />
five-year anniversary plaque is<br />
framed by a gift from President Barry<br />
Krasner when he left office. / Japphire<br />
James Morin (left): Hired in 1989, <strong>the</strong> former<br />
LaGuardia Tower controller served<br />
as general counsel for NATCA throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1990s. / Courtesy of Howie Barte<br />
istrator T. Allan McArtor, he says, “There is no reason that <strong>the</strong> FAA must<br />
carry <strong>the</strong> DoT’s bureaucratic anchor around its neck forever.”
108<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Susan Tsui Grundmann (right): When<br />
NATCA’s current general counsel joined<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s staff in 1990, she recalls that<br />
“we were like a small family.” / NATCA archives<br />
Cheryl Cannon (far right): She has<br />
handled <strong>the</strong> union’s growing switchboard<br />
while watching <strong>the</strong> national office staff<br />
triple in <strong>the</strong> past decade. / Peter Cutts<br />
1988<br />
23<br />
degree from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New<br />
York, after <strong>the</strong> strike and practiced with a private firm<br />
specializing in aviation law until he joined NATCA in<br />
1989. He would serve as<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s general<br />
counsel for a decade.<br />
Susan Tsui, a graduate<br />
of <strong>the</strong> Georgetown<br />
University<br />
Law Center, came<br />
to <strong>the</strong> union in December<br />
1990 from<br />
<strong>the</strong> Sheet Metal<br />
Workers <strong>National</strong><br />
Benefit Fund.<br />
Early in 1991,<br />
NATCA hired a part-time<br />
receptionist named Cheryl Cannon. She eventually<br />
switched to full time and remains <strong>the</strong> first NATCA<br />
employee that most visitors see when <strong>the</strong>y walk<br />
into headquarters. The growing staff also included<br />
NATCA’s first director of safety and technology. Joel<br />
Hicks, who’d worked at TRACONs in New York, Chicago<br />
and Oakland, California, had been one of <strong>the</strong><br />
activists involved in organizing NATCA during <strong>the</strong><br />
mid-1980s.<br />
Since <strong>the</strong>n, NATCA’s national office staff has<br />
tripled in response to <strong>the</strong> evolving needs of <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
Where Tony Dresden once grappled single-handedly<br />
June Aug.<br />
The FAA commissions <strong>the</strong> twentieth Host computer system at<br />
Salt Lake Center.<br />
15<br />
with <strong>the</strong> monthly newslet- t e r<br />
and media inquiries,<br />
C om mu n ic a t ion s<br />
Director Courtney<br />
Portner and three<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r people handle<br />
that work and<br />
much more now.<br />
Richard Gordon,<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s first director<br />
of labor relations,<br />
enjoyed <strong>the</strong> help<br />
of an assistant. But with<br />
<strong>the</strong> mushrooming growth in<br />
bargaining units, <strong>the</strong> Labor Relations Department has<br />
swelled to nine people, plus a full-time liaison, under<br />
<strong>the</strong> direction of Bob Taylor. (Gordon left NATCA<br />
in 1996 to start a consulting firm, working with <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA, The MITRE Corporation, and o<strong>the</strong>r clients.)<br />
Like Humphreys, Tsui has grown up with <strong>the</strong><br />
union personally and professionally. She married<br />
Karl Grundmann in 1994 and was promoted to general<br />
counsel in 2000. Tsui Grundmann recalls that in<br />
those early days “we were like a small family.” E-mail<br />
and <strong>the</strong> Web were not in <strong>the</strong> public realm yet and<br />
few committees existed. As a result, members in need<br />
often turned to headquarters, where <strong>the</strong> phones rang<br />
almost nonstop.<br />
“You had to do it all. It was exhausting,” she<br />
President Steve Bell announces <strong>the</strong> establishment of a ten-member<br />
contract negotiation team for <strong>the</strong> union.
says. But <strong>the</strong> employees were happy “doing <strong>the</strong>ir best<br />
to keep <strong>the</strong> child alive.”<br />
While <strong>the</strong> lack of personnel made every day<br />
a scramble, it created a close-knit atmosphere that<br />
included moments of whimsy. One favorite activity<br />
involved a visit to Wilma Gisala in <strong>the</strong> Membership<br />
Department. Gisala read palms and had a knack<br />
for accurate predictions, including one premonition<br />
about a union member who won a car and Tsui’s<br />
impending marriage to a controller. A few diehards<br />
called in for daily readings.<br />
Out in <strong>the</strong> field, regional representatives<br />
and <strong>the</strong> union’s locals<br />
faced <strong>the</strong> same daunting task of<br />
starting from scratch. “Watching<br />
<strong>the</strong> whole system develop<br />
was like watching a tree<br />
come to life,” says Christine<br />
Neumeier, who worked with<br />
Ed Mullin during NATCA’s<br />
organizing days and has been<br />
<strong>the</strong> administrative assistant<br />
for <strong>the</strong> Southwest Region office<br />
since 1992.<br />
When Neumeier signed on,<br />
<strong>the</strong> office consisted of a small, windowless<br />
space in one of Dallas Love Field’s largely<br />
empty terminals. Only later did NATCA expand its<br />
quarters to include a bathroom and badly needed<br />
Sep. Sep.<br />
12<br />
NATCA’s new <strong>National</strong> Executive Board meets for <strong>the</strong> first<br />
time since <strong>the</strong> election in its offices on <strong>the</strong> eighth floor of MEBA<br />
headquarters in Washington, D.C.<br />
29<br />
storage areas. “We were so covered up with file cabinets,”<br />
Neumeier says, adding that <strong>the</strong> furniture “was<br />
one step above a garage sale.”<br />
As with headquarters, <strong>the</strong> telephone served as<br />
a primary communications link in <strong>the</strong> field. “There<br />
was no e-mail, pagers, cell phones, etcetera,” says<br />
Terri Jeffries, who also joined NATCA in 1992 as administrative<br />
assistant for <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region office.<br />
Simply obtaining a bulletin board to post union<br />
material in FAA facilities was often a fight. Many<br />
controllers set up offices in <strong>the</strong>ir homes because<br />
managers refused to give <strong>the</strong>m space at work. The<br />
first Atlanta Center union office consisted of a<br />
tiny desk and wall phone in <strong>the</strong> men’s locker<br />
room. Files for <strong>the</strong> New York Center local<br />
resided in <strong>the</strong> trunk of Michael McNally’s<br />
red Toyota Corolla hatchback. Members<br />
held meetings in <strong>the</strong>ir living rooms and<br />
basements until management ceded <strong>the</strong><br />
second guard shack at <strong>the</strong> center, which<br />
was spacious enough for three people.<br />
“They gave me that because it leaked<br />
like a sieve,” McNally recalls. “But it did have<br />
a bathroom, so I was excited.”<br />
For a couple of years before and after certification,<br />
<strong>the</strong> local at New York TRACON enjoyed<br />
<strong>the</strong> use of a room at <strong>the</strong> Public Employees Federation<br />
branch office in Hauppauge on Long Island. The largess<br />
came through Michael Sheedy’s fa<strong>the</strong>r, a union<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
NATCA presents <strong>the</strong> union’s first contract proposal to <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA. The proposed agreement contains about eighty articles.<br />
109<br />
Richard Gordon: NATCA’s first labor relations<br />
director left <strong>the</strong> union in 1996 and<br />
formed a consulting firm. / NATCA archives
110<br />
1989<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
FYI<br />
officer. When TRACON management finally permitted<br />
NATCA an office at <strong>the</strong> facility, <strong>the</strong>y stationed<br />
a beat-up desk behind a radarscope in <strong>the</strong> control<br />
room with a phone shared by all controllers. Local<br />
President Joe Fruscella had to buy a lamp and light<br />
bulbs.<br />
Today, NATCA occupies two offices: one for <strong>the</strong><br />
membership and ano<strong>the</strong>r for its ten-member Executive<br />
Board. Virtually every o<strong>the</strong>r local in <strong>the</strong> country<br />
also has an office and at least one computer.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> locals established <strong>the</strong>mselves, membership<br />
edged upward. About 6,000 controllers—44<br />
percent of <strong>the</strong> work force—belonged to <strong>the</strong> union<br />
when <strong>the</strong> first <strong>National</strong> Executive Board took office.<br />
By early 1989, membership exceeded 50 percent. David<br />
C. Abbott from Billings Tower/TRACON in Montana<br />
put NATCA over <strong>the</strong> halfway mark by becoming<br />
its 6,859 th member.<br />
Membership milestones during NATCA’s early years<br />
Date Members No. in Unit Percent<br />
October 31, 1988 6,000 13,200 45<br />
February 2, 1989 6,859 13,717 51<br />
July 26, 1990 8,610 14,000 62<br />
October 19, 1990 10,600 14,000 75<br />
13<br />
Jan. Feb.<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA reach tentative agreement on <strong>the</strong>ir first<br />
contract. The three-year pact includes seventy-seven articles.<br />
2<br />
About 2,000 more<br />
joined during <strong>the</strong><br />
summer of 1990,<br />
thanks to concerted<br />
efforts from an<br />
organizing committee<br />
headed by<br />
Atlanta Center’s<br />
Rick Woolbright,<br />
before <strong>the</strong> union instituted<br />
an initiation fee.<br />
The fee—equal to one year of dues, or 1 percent of a<br />
controller’s base pay—was temporarily waived during<br />
a few o<strong>the</strong>r organizing drives during <strong>the</strong> 1990s.<br />
Membership broke <strong>the</strong> 10,000 mark within three<br />
years of certification and gradually increased to 82<br />
percent by 2002.<br />
In its eagerness to attract recruits, NATCA<br />
stumbled early on with a program designed to refund<br />
a member’s lifetime dues upon retirement. Trish Gilbert,<br />
a newly hired Houston Center controller, had<br />
no union background but joined NATCA because<br />
<strong>the</strong> innovative program called <strong>the</strong> O.N.E. Dues Back<br />
Trust appealed to her.<br />
Executive Board member Ed Mullin, ever on <strong>the</strong><br />
lookout for ways to boost membership in his difficult<br />
Southwest Region, proposed <strong>the</strong> plan after hearing<br />
that seven o<strong>the</strong>r unions participated in it. Skeptical<br />
that it sounded too good to be true, he sought advice<br />
Tower controller David C. Abbott in Billings, Montana,<br />
becomes <strong>the</strong> union’s 6,859 th member. For <strong>the</strong> first time since<br />
NATCA was certified, membership exceeds 50 percent.
from a couple of associates who declared <strong>the</strong> trust to<br />
be sound. O<strong>the</strong>r board members were leery. Several<br />
thought it sounded like a pyramid scheme. But <strong>the</strong>y<br />
never<strong>the</strong>less approved it as a membership benefit in<br />
<strong>the</strong> fall of 1988.<br />
Their fears proved correct a year later. The<br />
plan’s promoters claimed that NATCA’s initial contribution<br />
would be 5.35 percent of dues and never<br />
exceed 10 percent. However, consultant Joe Kilgallon<br />
discovered <strong>the</strong> union would need to allocate at<br />
least 20 percent to make <strong>the</strong> plan financially viable.<br />
An embarrassed NATCA sued and was able to recover<br />
all contributions as well as most of its legal<br />
and actuarial costs.<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r Mullin proposal has lived a long and<br />
useful life. Early on, he successfully persuaded <strong>the</strong><br />
board to set aside 6 percent of income as a contingency<br />
fund. Known as <strong>the</strong> “Southwest Rule,” Mullin’s<br />
budgetary foresight proved invaluable in 1998. By<br />
<strong>the</strong>n, <strong>the</strong> fund had swelled to $800,000 and enabled<br />
NATCA to avoid going into debt as it spent heavily to<br />
finish a facility reclassification project and complete<br />
its third contract with <strong>the</strong> agency. That same year, <strong>the</strong><br />
Southwest Rule was reduced to 4 percent of income.<br />
Although dues revenue grew as membership<br />
climbed, NATCA’s first two years were awash in red<br />
ink, forcing <strong>the</strong> union to borrow ano<strong>the</strong>r $400,000<br />
from MEBA in July 1989. Regional reps using a common<br />
credit card occasionally had to dig for o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
6<br />
means of payment when merchants rejected <strong>the</strong><br />
union plastic.<br />
Spickler, who was in charge of finances, grew<br />
so concerned about expenses that he finally told Bell,<br />
“Nobody can buy a paper clip in this office unless I<br />
approve it.” Bell instituted “mini-minutes”—summaries<br />
of <strong>National</strong> Executive Board meetings reduced<br />
on a photocopier to save paper. Those with less than<br />
perfect eyesight could barely read <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
Aside from <strong>the</strong> additional loan, MEBA agreed<br />
to halve its 15 percent affiliation fee for six months<br />
shortly after <strong>the</strong> first <strong>National</strong> Executive Board took<br />
Feb. Feb.<br />
Samuel Skinner takes over as transportation secretary from<br />
James H. Burnley. Skinner, an Illinois lawyer, served as chairman<br />
of <strong>the</strong> state’s Regional Transportation Authority.<br />
17<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Paying off <strong>the</strong> debt: Strapped for cash in its early years, NATCA’s finances quickly improved. In October 1995, President<br />
Barry Krasner, right, and Executive Vice President Michael McNally presented MEBA with a final loan payment.<br />
111<br />
FAA Administrator T. Allan McArtor leaves office after serving<br />
since July 22, 1987.
Ray<br />
Spickler<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
Specialist<br />
1982 — Pr e s e n t<br />
niC k n a m e / Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s:<br />
Maj. Ksang / SP<br />
ho m e T o w N : Kansas City<br />
FO r m e r sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Jayne / Shannon, Stevie<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Owns a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy ®<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Guitar, Little League baseball coach,<br />
active in church<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: MCI<br />
IAD<br />
ZKC Center<br />
Tower<br />
Tower/TRACON<br />
Ray Spickler dreamed of being a “top gun” pilot<br />
while growing up in Kansas City. When <strong>the</strong><br />
U.S. Naval Academy did not accept him and he<br />
could not obtain an ROTC scholarship, he studied<br />
chemistry in college. Meanwhile, his interest in<br />
aviation simmered beneath <strong>the</strong> surface.<br />
Spickler applied to be a controller after <strong>the</strong><br />
strike and jumped at <strong>the</strong> chance to attend <strong>the</strong><br />
academy in 1982. He was assigned to Kansas City<br />
Center, where working conditions were better<br />
than many facilities. Never<strong>the</strong>less, talk about a<br />
new union blossomed when managers implemented<br />
a major reorganization with little worker input.<br />
It was an eye-opening experience for Spickler,<br />
who soon found himself attending organizing<br />
meetings and serving as alternate Central regional<br />
representative.<br />
After certification, Spickler mounted a successful<br />
campaign for executive vice president,<br />
and subsequently relocated to Washington. His<br />
wife, Jayne, accompanied him and <strong>the</strong>y quickly<br />
found an apartment—albeit a little too hastily, in<br />
retrospect.<br />
Enchanted by <strong>the</strong> bucolic campus of The<br />
Catholic University of America, <strong>the</strong> couple didn’t<br />
notice <strong>the</strong> “war zone” a few blocks away. The two<br />
Midwesterners were taken aback that <strong>the</strong> neighborhood<br />
grocery checker worked <strong>the</strong> cash register<br />
from behind bulletproof glass. They moved again a<br />
short while later.<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
Executive vice president 1988-91; Central provisional<br />
alt. regional rep 1986-88; Nat’l. QTP Steering<br />
Committee member; first ZKC local president.<br />
hir e d<br />
April<br />
1982<br />
Spickler’s new duties left him little personal<br />
time. He and President Steve Bell had <strong>the</strong> substantial<br />
task of setting up NATCA’s national office<br />
virtually from scratch while juggling o<strong>the</strong>r pressing<br />
issues, such as <strong>the</strong> union’s first contract. They<br />
were also cognizant of <strong>the</strong> PATCO legacy. Spickler<br />
recalls having to “walk a tight line” to represent<br />
members while not appearing overly strident. “We<br />
both really did believe in trying to collaborate with<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency.”<br />
Although Spickler lost his bid for re-election<br />
in 1991, his disappointment was short-lived. “It’s<br />
hard to turn around and walk away from that,” he<br />
says. But <strong>the</strong> change enabled him to enjoy more<br />
time with his children. Shannon was born four<br />
months before he left office and Stevie arrived in<br />
January 1993.<br />
Spickler went to work at Dulles Tower/<br />
TRACON and transferred to Kansas City Tower<br />
in 1994 before returning to Kansas City Center<br />
two years later. While he has stayed involved by<br />
participating in various local positions and a work<br />
group on Article 87/88 issues, he also believes in<br />
balancing work with his private life. Active in his<br />
church, he coaches his son’s Little League team<br />
and plays guitar, a self-taught skill.<br />
“I’m proud to have been a part of NATCA’s<br />
history and to play a small role,” Spickler says.<br />
“Thanks to <strong>the</strong> members who gave me <strong>the</strong> opportunity.”
office. In March 1990, Bell and Spickler approached<br />
MEBA again and negotiated <strong>the</strong> fee down to 7.5 percent<br />
permanently, saving NATCA $200,000 a year.<br />
MEBA also agreed to forgive about $250,000 in debts<br />
and consolidated eight o<strong>the</strong>r loans into one promissory<br />
note to be paid at 6 percent interest instead of<br />
<strong>the</strong> previous average of 8.8 percent. The restructured<br />
debt represented ano<strong>the</strong>r $50,000 in annual savings.<br />
“They were good to us,” Spickler says. “They<br />
just wanted to see us get organized again. They<br />
wanted to be able to say <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>the</strong> ones who did<br />
it again.”<br />
MEBA’s accommodating attitude continued<br />
with Spickler’s successor, Joseph Bellino, who renegotiated<br />
<strong>the</strong> $1.9 million loan once more for a threeyear<br />
term at 3 percent interest. By October 1995,<br />
NATCA wrote a final check for $34,975.09 to close<br />
out <strong>the</strong> debt, having saved nearly $1 million in interest<br />
and accelerated repayment by ten years.<br />
Spreading <strong>the</strong> Word<br />
The strike had ended seven years earlier and a<br />
different generation of controllers stood at <strong>the</strong> helm<br />
of <strong>the</strong> new union. But it took time for NATCA to<br />
break <strong>the</strong> ice with <strong>the</strong> agency’s top-level managers,<br />
some of whom regarded <strong>the</strong> upstart group warily.<br />
“The FAA people <strong>the</strong>y were dealing with had been<br />
<strong>the</strong>re when PATCO was <strong>the</strong>re,” Doc Cullison notes.<br />
1989<br />
18<br />
“So, this wasn’t exactly <strong>the</strong> most conducive environment<br />
for labor relations.”<br />
As with all relationships, personalities were<br />
key. Bell preached collaboration. Spickler’s philosophy<br />
was to believe in someone until <strong>the</strong>y betrayed his<br />
trust. The agency’s deputy associate administrator for<br />
air traffic, Norbert “Nobby” Owens, believed in collaboration,<br />
too, and was helping to start an innovative<br />
program called Success Through Partnership at<br />
New York Center. Joseph Noonan, <strong>the</strong> FAA’s director<br />
of labor and employee relations, could be hard-nosed<br />
but he preferred dealing with a single entity ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than thousands of individual controllers.<br />
Collectively, those attitudes began to thaw a<br />
chilly divide of contentiousness.<br />
But even as NATCA took its first tentative<br />
steps with <strong>the</strong> agency, union members struggled over<br />
<strong>the</strong> direction of <strong>the</strong>ir organization. When NATCA<br />
formed a steering committee to develop a joint labormanagement<br />
cooperative with <strong>the</strong> FAA, it proved to<br />
be a seminal charge for <strong>the</strong> group.<br />
“This steering committee brought out some big<br />
differences within NATCA on what our basic issues<br />
should be—traditional LMR or ‘new’ initiatives,” says<br />
committee member Anthony Coiro from South Bend<br />
Tower/TRACON in Indiana.<br />
Collaboration was a hard sell in those early<br />
days. After <strong>the</strong> agency denied NATCA’s proposed<br />
memorandum to provide 100 percent official time for<br />
Apr. Apr.<br />
NATCA members ratify <strong>the</strong>ir first contract with <strong>the</strong> FAA by a<br />
vote of 3,920 to 748, more than a 5-to-1 ratio.<br />
19<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
113<br />
The strike had ended<br />
seven years earlier and<br />
a different generation<br />
of controllers stood at<br />
<strong>the</strong> helm of <strong>the</strong> new<br />
union. But it took time<br />
for NATCA to break <strong>the</strong><br />
ice with <strong>the</strong> agency’s<br />
top-level managers.<br />
According to NATCA’s first financial report, <strong>the</strong> union had assets<br />
of $319,772 and liabilities of $1,941,564, including principal<br />
and interest of $1.7 million owed to MEBA, on August 31, 1988.
114<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Getting to yes: Labor Relations Director<br />
Bob Taylor developed a different procedure<br />
for settling disputes that has saved<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA money while also<br />
cutting down on arbitrations. / Japphire<br />
1989<br />
1<br />
regional representatives to carry out <strong>the</strong>ir union duties,<br />
Bell urged <strong>the</strong> committee not to “jump ship and<br />
become a strictly confrontational union.”<br />
When Bell and Spickler ran for re-election in<br />
1991, <strong>the</strong>y cited <strong>the</strong> regional representatives’ request<br />
for $200,000 to clear up a backlog of arbitrations<br />
and noted that some wanted to spend even more.<br />
They urged less emphasis on grievances and “greater<br />
employee involvement in management decisions and<br />
resolution of problems at <strong>the</strong> facility level.” They<br />
argued this was a way to save money that could be<br />
May June<br />
NATCA President Steve Bell and FAA Acting Administrator<br />
Robert E. Whittington sign <strong>the</strong> union’s first collective bargaining<br />
agreement, which takes effect immediately.<br />
18<br />
put back into studying facility reclassification, safety<br />
and technology issues, legislative action, and member<br />
benefits.<br />
Such lofty goals competed with reality for <strong>the</strong><br />
young union. In <strong>the</strong> field, controllers were still growing<br />
accustomed to <strong>the</strong>ir new roles as union representatives<br />
while dealing with facility managers who did<br />
not always subscribe to <strong>the</strong> notion of collaboration.<br />
In that regard, <strong>the</strong> local reps were clamoring<br />
for help. Some schooled <strong>the</strong>mselves in labor law, but<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was a clear need for formal training. Central<br />
Regional Representative Dan Brandt approached FAA<br />
Division Manager Ed Newburn, who suggested <strong>the</strong>y<br />
attend joint classes conducted by <strong>the</strong> FLRA. At least<br />
two sessions were held, although some in <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
feared it would set a precedent for contract negotiations<br />
scheduled to begin soon.<br />
Using instructional materials from <strong>the</strong> classes,<br />
Brandt and Kansas City Center controllers Mark<br />
Kutch and Michael Putzier held training sessions for<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r reps. Joseph Bellino conducted similar classes<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Great Lakes Region, as did o<strong>the</strong>rs elsewhere.<br />
NATCA launched an official program in October<br />
1989 under a contract with <strong>the</strong> George Meany<br />
Center for Labor Studies in Silver Spring, Maryland.<br />
The weeklong course covered federal-sector labor<br />
relations, management rights, unfair labor practices,<br />
disciplinary and adverse actions, grievance and arbitration<br />
preparation, and a briefing on <strong>the</strong> union’s first<br />
The FAA launches a five-year Pay Demonstration Project providing<br />
a bonus of up to 20 percent at eleven hard-to-staff facilities<br />
in <strong>the</strong> New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland areas.
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
Training <strong>the</strong> Troops Greg Llafet / Peter Cutts<br />
�<br />
The three dozen controllers seated in<br />
a Las Vegas hotel meeting room were<br />
ready to relax. They’d spent <strong>the</strong> past<br />
week poring over a ream of information<br />
about labor-management relations and<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s contract with <strong>the</strong> FAA. Weariness<br />
from <strong>the</strong> intense training session<br />
competed with a desire to race back to<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir facilities and put this newfound<br />
knowledge into practice. Conversations<br />
buzzed at tables throughout <strong>the</strong> room.<br />
Several participants impatiently eyed <strong>the</strong><br />
exit doors, yearning for a cocktail and<br />
one more crack at <strong>the</strong> casinos.<br />
Rising from his chair, a longtime<br />
facility representative announced with<br />
conviction: “I’m glad you’ve all learned<br />
<strong>the</strong> contract. But I’m here to tell you that<br />
being a fac rep will present you with<br />
moral choices. It is a moral issue.”<br />
Everyone fell silent while <strong>the</strong>y<br />
absorbed <strong>the</strong> import of his hard-earned<br />
wisdom. The contract might be black and<br />
white, but <strong>the</strong> day-to-day process of carrying<br />
out its provisions could lead <strong>the</strong>m<br />
into a gray morass.<br />
Labor Relations Director Bob Taylor,<br />
primary instructor at <strong>the</strong> weeklong<br />
Facility Representative and Leadership<br />
Training course, addressed <strong>the</strong> dilemma<br />
with a philosophy he espouses<br />
at every seminar: “Be honest, be fair, but<br />
firm. Good, bad or indifferent, if you say<br />
you will do something, see it through, no<br />
matter how politically incorrect it may<br />
be. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, when <strong>the</strong> employer<br />
makes a commitment, make <strong>the</strong>m<br />
deliver. With that, you can walk away<br />
knowing you did your best with respect<br />
and dignity. Always have <strong>the</strong> courage to<br />
stand tall, to do it right.”<br />
The facility rep course, which has<br />
been available to NATCA members up to<br />
eight times a year since 1989, forms <strong>the</strong><br />
bedrock of educating <strong>the</strong> union’s local<br />
presidents and o<strong>the</strong>r activists. The curriculum<br />
covers <strong>the</strong> gamut of labor-management<br />
relations: workers’ rights under<br />
federal law; unfair labor practice charges;<br />
grievance procedures; conduct and discipline;<br />
midterm bargaining; leadership<br />
survival skills; and more.<br />
Taylor and a variety of NATCA<br />
activists and staff members taught <strong>the</strong><br />
course through <strong>the</strong> 1990s. When NATCA<br />
hired Greg Llafet as its training coordinator<br />
(now director of training) in 1999,<br />
he took over responsibility for schedul-<br />
ing, course materials, hotel<br />
arrangements, all on-site<br />
duties, and teaching <strong>the</strong> leadership<br />
module. Llafet held a similar position<br />
with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>craft Owners and Pilots <strong>Association</strong><br />
<strong>Air</strong> Safety Foundation and has<br />
a background in adult education and<br />
corporate training.<br />
Four people now augment Taylor<br />
and Llafet to offer specialized knowledge<br />
on different sections of <strong>the</strong> curriculum.<br />
President John Carr typically provides an<br />
overview and encourages <strong>the</strong> audience<br />
to conduct <strong>the</strong>mselves with trust, honor,<br />
and integrity—sentiments codified in <strong>the</strong><br />
preamble of <strong>the</strong> union’s 1998 contract<br />
with <strong>the</strong> FAA. Summarizing NATCA’s<br />
growth and accomplishments, he drives<br />
home <strong>the</strong> point that “without labor relations<br />
all <strong>the</strong> rest of this is a club.”<br />
Taylor covers that realm using a<br />
no-nonsense, street-smart style he acquired<br />
from working in several positions<br />
with <strong>the</strong> International <strong>Association</strong> of Machinists<br />
and Aerospace Workers, including<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region general chairman,<br />
before joining NATCA in 1991. Quoting<br />
chapter and verse from <strong>the</strong> United States<br />
Code and labor authority rulings, he<br />
115
116<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
contract, which had been adopted <strong>the</strong> previous May.<br />
The training also included mock negotiating sessions,<br />
an invaluable component for new union reps,<br />
many of whom had little relevant experience o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than haggling over <strong>the</strong> price of a car or house.<br />
Classes were also held at MEBA’s training<br />
facilities in Easton, Maryland, until <strong>the</strong> mid-1990s,<br />
Japphire<br />
Fac rep training: NATCA conducts up to eight weeklong sessions a year to teach its rank and file about labor-management<br />
relations and leadership skills. The union also offers several advanced courses and has begun Web-based training.<br />
1989<br />
30<br />
June<br />
Retired Navy Adm. James B. Busey IV takes over as FAA administrator<br />
from T. Allan McArtor, who resigned 4½ months earlier. Busey won <strong>the</strong><br />
Navy Cross for combat missions in Vietnam. During his 37-year military<br />
when NATCA assumed responsibility. Staff members<br />
from headquarters initially taught <strong>the</strong> course, which<br />
was expanded to include sections on local finances,<br />
organizing, safety and technology, <strong>National</strong> Transportation<br />
Safety Board issues, and such. A year later,<br />
<strong>the</strong> regions began teaching <strong>the</strong> class with help from<br />
<strong>the</strong> national office.<br />
Meanwhile, Labor Relations Director Bob<br />
Taylor and David Sandbach, a recent addition to<br />
his staff, worked with Cary R. Singletary, a Florida<br />
attorney who specialized in mediation, to develop<br />
basic and advanced arbitration courses. To help convey<br />
concepts of arbitration advocacy, <strong>the</strong>y wrote and<br />
produced a 40-minute video that is still used today.<br />
Several years later, <strong>the</strong>y inaugurated an advanced<br />
facility rep course that included ano<strong>the</strong>r video on<br />
negotiations.<br />
In late 1997, labor relations training was transferred<br />
back to headquarters. <strong>Controllers</strong> James “Ajax”<br />
Kidd, Chris Su<strong>the</strong>rland, and Rodney Turner—with<br />
help from o<strong>the</strong>r activists and Hea<strong>the</strong>r Timme at headquarters—developed<br />
a basic facility rep curriculum<br />
using material <strong>the</strong>y’d been teaching in <strong>the</strong> Eastern<br />
and Sou<strong>the</strong>rn regions for years. Shortly after <strong>the</strong>y<br />
launched <strong>the</strong> new national course in <strong>the</strong> spring of<br />
1998, which was more comprehensive and consistent<br />
than various classes conducted by <strong>the</strong> regions, <strong>the</strong><br />
Labor Relations Department took <strong>the</strong> reins and has<br />
been teaching it ever since.<br />
career, he also served as vice chief of naval operations, commander-inchief<br />
of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, and commander-in-chief of Allied<br />
Forces in Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Europe.
Training <strong>the</strong> Troops (continued)<br />
translates legal jargon into plain English,<br />
provides a liberal dose of practical tips,<br />
and often exhorts <strong>the</strong> students, “Do not<br />
fear this, people.”<br />
Andy Cantwell, considered a guru<br />
on <strong>the</strong> 1998 contract, explains every article<br />
of <strong>the</strong> agreement. Finance Committee<br />
Chairman Dale Wright covers money<br />
matters and Mike Hull, <strong>the</strong> current <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> Resources (ATX) liaison, brings<br />
<strong>the</strong> class up to date on ongoing negotiations,<br />
human resource issues, and technical<br />
projects.<br />
“They are true experts in <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
fields,” Llafet says. “No one talks to my<br />
class unless <strong>the</strong>y have worn <strong>the</strong> shoes.”<br />
Since Llafet took over training,<br />
NATCA revived its Advanced Representation<br />
course. The union also offers a oneday<br />
seminar for liaisons and technical<br />
representatives who deal with <strong>the</strong> FAA,<br />
training for leaders of new bargaining<br />
units that don’t yet have a contract with<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency, and two arbitration advocacy<br />
courses. The overall curriculum represented<br />
a $300,000 investment in 2001.<br />
NATCA also created an external<br />
�<br />
program in cooperation with <strong>the</strong> George<br />
Meany Center <strong>National</strong> Labor College in<br />
Silver Spring, Maryland. Participants can<br />
earn a bachelor’s degree by completing<br />
five courses that supplement <strong>the</strong>ir work<br />
and union leadership experience, and<br />
technical and labor training.<br />
In early 2002, Llafet launched an<br />
initiative to provide Web-based instruction<br />
by posting <strong>the</strong> Formal Discussions<br />
module on NATCA’s site. Many segments<br />
of <strong>the</strong> basic facility rep course are also<br />
available online for reference.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> training provides a<br />
firm grounding in traditional labor-management<br />
procedures, it also emphasizes<br />
working relationships with <strong>the</strong> FAA. This<br />
philosophy, coupled with a new process<br />
called Alternate Dispute Resolution, has<br />
helped to significantly reduce grievance<br />
arbitrations.<br />
During 1998 contract negotiations,<br />
more than 900 grievances were pending.<br />
Typically, most are resolved before going<br />
to arbitration. Even so, Taylor successfully<br />
pushed for an expedited arbitration<br />
process, which was written into <strong>the</strong><br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
contract. He also sought a way to settle<br />
disputes under less adversarial conditions<br />
by inventing procedures for ADR.<br />
Aside from faster resolution of<br />
grievances, Taylor lauds <strong>the</strong> program for<br />
providing substantial cost savings. Arbitrations<br />
usually cost $5,000 to $8,000<br />
or more, depending on <strong>the</strong> length of<br />
<strong>the</strong> hearing. With ADR, a mediator can<br />
handle five to eight grievances a day for<br />
about $2,000.<br />
The savings stem from ADR’s accelerated<br />
and simplified procedures. At<br />
traditional arbitration hearings, witnesses<br />
representing <strong>the</strong> union and management<br />
may testify for days. Under ADR, each<br />
side receives about fifteen minutes to<br />
present its case. Based on <strong>the</strong> testimony,<br />
a mediator renders an advisory opinion<br />
that both sides are encouraged to accept.<br />
If ei<strong>the</strong>r party forces <strong>the</strong> issue to arbitration,<br />
<strong>the</strong> ultimate loser pays all expenses<br />
arising from <strong>the</strong> dispute.<br />
Since NATCA and <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
formally adopted ADR three years ago,<br />
arbitrations have declined 44 percent to<br />
just ten cases in 2001.<br />
117
118<br />
1989<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
The NATCA Voice<br />
When Bryan Thompson transferred to<br />
Chicago TRACON around Thanksgiving<br />
1993, he heard <strong>the</strong> standard directive<br />
issued to all new arrivals: Don’t talk to<br />
<strong>the</strong> journeymen controllers.<br />
“There’s nothing you can say about<br />
what it is we do that will have any impact<br />
or that <strong>the</strong>y want to hear,” management told<br />
him. “If it looks like you might get checked<br />
out and get to stay here, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>y’ll probably<br />
want to get to know you. In <strong>the</strong> meantime,<br />
you’re probably not going to make it<br />
so don’t bo<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
Thompson, who’d worked as a controller<br />
for more than eleven years in Lafayette,<br />
Louisiana, and at <strong>the</strong> Marine Corps<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Station in Beaufort, South Carolina,<br />
bristled over <strong>the</strong> outcast treatment. He<br />
also brushed it off. Thompson had been<br />
involved with <strong>the</strong> union in Lafayette, where<br />
he served as <strong>the</strong> NATCA facility rep, and<br />
12<br />
July<br />
�<br />
did not intend to sit on <strong>the</strong> sidelines in<br />
Chicago.<br />
Instead, he approached Ray Gibbons<br />
and John Carr, <strong>the</strong> local’s president<br />
and vice president, respectively, to<br />
offer his photography and design skills.<br />
Coincidentally, <strong>the</strong> union was resurrecting<br />
a facility newsletter called Intentionally<br />
Left Blank. Articles in previous issues<br />
had been cobbled toge<strong>the</strong>r with scissors<br />
and paste, and duplicated on a photocopier.<br />
Gibbons and Carr, who wanted a<br />
more professional appearance, welcomed<br />
Thompson’s help.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> next year, Thompson<br />
edited and published Intentionally Left<br />
Blank every two months or so. The issues<br />
contained an eclectic mix of news articles,<br />
soapbox columns, historical perspectives,<br />
cartoons, top ten lists, and o<strong>the</strong>r offbeat<br />
tidbits. Thompson designed <strong>the</strong> pages using<br />
An arbitrator rules that NATCA local presidents may leave <strong>the</strong> facility on<br />
official time to perform representational duties. The decision grew out of<br />
three cases in which facility reps had been denied such permission.<br />
an Amiga computer, and worked with a local<br />
shop to duplicate and collate <strong>the</strong>m into<br />
a newsletter.<br />
“If I had to move or some big event<br />
was taking place, <strong>the</strong> publishing got pushed<br />
back a bit because <strong>the</strong>re was nobody to<br />
slough it off on,” he says.<br />
The experience provided a firm foundation<br />
for Thompson’s next venture. In <strong>the</strong><br />
fall of 1994, Great Lakes Vice President Jim<br />
Poole decided to launch a regional newsletter.<br />
Veronica Green from Flint Tower/<br />
TRACON in Michigan volunteered to lead<br />
<strong>the</strong> effort, but she had no background in<br />
print production and gratefully accepted<br />
Thompson’s help.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> beginning, <strong>the</strong> co-editors<br />
sought to create a publication written<br />
entirely by controllers. Their philosophy<br />
was embodied in <strong>the</strong> title of <strong>the</strong> inaugural<br />
32-page issue in March 1995: The NATCA
Voice. Thompson’s involvement<br />
fulfilled an artistic craving (he<br />
also plays <strong>the</strong> baritone and<br />
tenor saxophone).<br />
“<strong>Air</strong> traffic control is<br />
an art form,” he says. “But<br />
it’s an art form that, when<br />
you’re done, <strong>the</strong>re isn’t<br />
anything for you to see. I<br />
like <strong>the</strong> creativeness of <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r stuff.”<br />
Each monthly edition<br />
was sent to every<br />
facility in <strong>the</strong> nation with<br />
<strong>the</strong> goal of sharing information<br />
about common issues. By<br />
August, Green had transferred<br />
to Tamiami, Florida, leaving<br />
more of <strong>the</strong> editing to Thompson. Funding<br />
was also in jeopardy. Far from letting<br />
The NATCA Voice fold, however, Thompson<br />
19<br />
July<br />
Bryan Thompson / Frank Flavin<br />
envisioned even broader national<br />
distribution to provide<br />
an alternative forum to<br />
<strong>the</strong> officially sanctioned<br />
newsletter produced at<br />
headquarters.<br />
Executive Vice<br />
President Michael Mc-<br />
Nally saw <strong>the</strong> merit and<br />
provided money that enabled<br />
Thompson and his<br />
crew to publish <strong>the</strong> first<br />
grass-roots national edition<br />
in February 1996. The<br />
union funding was unusual<br />
given that some of <strong>the</strong> articles<br />
in The Voice attacked NATCA’s<br />
leadership as well as <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
“It has allowed <strong>the</strong> membership a<br />
place to voice <strong>the</strong>ir opinions,” Thompson<br />
says. “The NATCA Voice has issues in it that<br />
A United <strong>Air</strong>lines DC-10 suffers total hydraulic failure after one of its engine<br />
fans breaks apart and damages <strong>the</strong> aircraft’s control system. Capt. Al<br />
Haynes and his crew fly <strong>the</strong> plane to <strong>the</strong> airport in Sioux City, Iowa, where<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
are important to <strong>the</strong>m.”<br />
Plagued by several years of budget<br />
battles, The Voice enjoyed firmer financial<br />
footing after delegates at <strong>the</strong> 1998 convention<br />
voted to allocate $44,000 annually<br />
for <strong>the</strong> newsletter. Even that amount<br />
has become insufficient in <strong>the</strong> face of<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s growing family of bargaining<br />
units. Circulation has climbed to 7,500,<br />
with distribution to some 385 air traffic<br />
control facilities and o<strong>the</strong>r interested parties<br />
around <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
Income has been supplemented with<br />
advertisements, which are coordinated by<br />
longtime Voice staff member Jeff Parrish.<br />
Money is also derived from The NATCA<br />
Shop, an online venture that stemmed from<br />
a desire among some controllers for quality<br />
jackets bearing <strong>the</strong> union’s logo.<br />
“People liked <strong>the</strong>m and wanted<br />
<strong>the</strong>m,” Thompson says. “Next thing you<br />
a crash landing kills 110 of <strong>the</strong> 269 people onboard. Canadian controllers<br />
help <strong>the</strong>ir U.S. colleagues deal with traumatic stress, which ultimately<br />
leads to a formal program known as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing.<br />
119
120<br />
1989<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
The NATCA Voice (continued)<br />
know, we started selling a couple of polo<br />
shirts.” Over time, <strong>the</strong> shop’s<br />
inventory has expanded<br />
to include a variety<br />
of clothing and<br />
accessories.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> fall<br />
of 1996, The NAT-<br />
CA Voice launched<br />
a Web site to augment<br />
its print edition,<br />
and both efforts have<br />
received several awards<br />
from <strong>the</strong> International<br />
Labor Communications <strong>Association</strong>.<br />
The Voice has also supported<br />
unions outside <strong>the</strong><br />
profession, such as raising thousands<br />
of dollars for workers who<br />
staged a 5½-year strike at Detroit’s two<br />
28<br />
�<br />
Cutting edge: Stories in The NATCA Voice take<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA and <strong>the</strong> union’s leadership to task. The<br />
alternative publication began as a Great Lakes<br />
Region newsletter in March 1995 (center).<br />
Sep. Oct.<br />
NATCA creates a Political Action Committee, which collects<br />
$21,163 in contributions during its first election cycle.<br />
metropolitan newspapers.<br />
But at its core are <strong>the</strong> articles—and<br />
cartoons from Brian Fallon and<br />
Mike “Iggy” Irving—that<br />
may run counter to<br />
conventional wisdom.<br />
Although a committee<br />
composed of three<br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
members and <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
general counsel reviews each<br />
edition, Thompson has never<br />
been told to withdraw an article.<br />
“My job is to print <strong>the</strong> stuff<br />
that nobody else is getting to see,”<br />
he says. “We’re an alternative news<br />
source.”<br />
The union holds its first weeklong facility representative training<br />
class at <strong>the</strong> George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Silver<br />
Spring, Maryland.
NATCA hired a training coordinator in 1999<br />
and has continued to refine and expand its educational<br />
program. Some 400 participants annually take<br />
advantage of seven different courses offered multiple<br />
times a year. Many more benefit from o<strong>the</strong>r classes<br />
taught at <strong>the</strong> regional and local level using instructional<br />
material from headquarters.<br />
The union’s commitment to ongoing education<br />
has resulted in a platoon of activists so well versed in<br />
labor law and negotiating tactics that “<strong>the</strong> FAA is very<br />
envious,” Kidd says. “I’ve been told directly by managers<br />
at <strong>the</strong> local, regional, and headquarters level<br />
that our training is so much better than <strong>the</strong>irs.<br />
They would die to get ours.”<br />
As NATCA took shape, getting <strong>the</strong> word<br />
out to members proved to be ano<strong>the</strong>r challenge.<br />
Most regions and several facilities published<br />
newsletters, but pagers for local and<br />
regional representatives buzzed and beeped<br />
constantly. After returning home from dining<br />
out with his wife, Linda, Brandt would<br />
walk straight to an answering machine loaded<br />
with a backlog of messages. He realized a computer<br />
bulletin board would be a boon to cutting<br />
down on unnecessary communication.<br />
Brandt hooked up with <strong>the</strong> late Scott Davies, a<br />
San Diego controller who was savvy with computers,<br />
and <strong>the</strong>y looked around for a place to host <strong>the</strong>ir textbased<br />
bulletin board service. The late John Galipault,<br />
17<br />
Oct.<br />
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake strikes <strong>the</strong> Bay Area during a<br />
World Series game. Tower cab windows break at San Francisco<br />
and San Jose airports, but controllers remain on position.<br />
who founded <strong>the</strong> respected Aviation Safety Institute,<br />
agreed to give <strong>the</strong>m computer space on an aging 8088<br />
PC. In time, <strong>the</strong>y moved to CompuServe and formed<br />
an aviation special interest group for <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
Several years later, <strong>the</strong> controllers temporarily<br />
transferred <strong>the</strong>ir online activities to Genie before returning<br />
to <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO section on CompuServe in<br />
1996. In September, Chicago Center’s Doug Holland<br />
and Tim Kuhl from Springfield, Illinois, Tower/TRA-<br />
CON provided <strong>the</strong> first comprehensive online coverage<br />
of a convention. Transcripts of <strong>the</strong><br />
discussions, online live chats, and<br />
photos were posted throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> proceedings in Pittsburgh.<br />
With Internet usage<br />
starting to explode, Holland<br />
spearheaded a move<br />
to create a BBS on <strong>the</strong><br />
Web. O<strong>the</strong>r activists aided<br />
<strong>the</strong> effort, including Gordon<br />
Baker, Bryan Thompson,<br />
and Ed Morris, an Omaha<br />
Tower controller who had<br />
formed ano<strong>the</strong>r e-mail listserv. The<br />
group lacked funding, but New York Center controller<br />
Leo Kremer came to <strong>the</strong> rescue by providing space<br />
on his Internet hosting company’s servers.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> time, <strong>the</strong> union’s online community<br />
1990<br />
8<br />
Jan.<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
121<br />
Rodney Turner: The Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region VP,<br />
who is renowned for sharing information<br />
with members, helped activists gain NEB<br />
approval for a <strong>National</strong> Communications<br />
Committee in 1999. / NATCA archives<br />
Randy Schwitz from Atlanta Center takes over as Sou<strong>the</strong>rn regional<br />
representative from Lee Riley, who steps down to devote<br />
attention to his ATC duties and a trucking business he owns.
122<br />
1990<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
FYI<br />
Heard on <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>waves<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> are rarely at a loss for words and <strong>the</strong>ir sharp wit can lead to interesting<br />
exchanges on <strong>the</strong> radio. The following actual transmissions appeared as part<br />
of an occasional feature in <strong>the</strong> Chicago TRACON newsletter Intentionally Left Blank<br />
during <strong>the</strong> mid-1990s:<br />
Controller: “The traffic at nine o’clock is gonna do a little Linda Ronstadt on you.”<br />
Pilot: “Linda Ronstadt? What’s that?”<br />
Controller: “Well, sir, <strong>the</strong>y’re gonna ‘Blue Bayou.’ ”<br />
� � �<br />
Controller: “Sure you can have eight miles behind <strong>the</strong> heavy—<strong>the</strong>re’ll be a United<br />
trijet between you and him.”<br />
� � �<br />
Pilot: “The first officer says he’s got you in sight.”<br />
Controller: “Roger. The first officer’s cleared for a visual approach runway two-seven<br />
right. You continue on that one-eighty heading and descend to three thousand.”<br />
� � �<br />
Pilot: “Approach, what’s <strong>the</strong> tower [radio frequency]?”<br />
Controller: “A big, tall building with glass all around it, but that’s not important<br />
right now.”<br />
25<br />
Jan.<br />
An Avianca 707 crashes on Long Island, New York, after running out of<br />
fuel while waiting to land at Kennedy <strong>Air</strong>port. The accident kills seventythree<br />
of <strong>the</strong> 158 people onboard <strong>the</strong> plane. In its probable cause report,<br />
remained minuscule compared with a membership<br />
numbering close to 12,000 (though its activity<br />
outpaced larger unions in <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO). On a<br />
busy day, perhaps twenty users would exchange<br />
messages on NATCAnet. One of those who logged<br />
on was Doug Laughter from Salt Lake Center, who<br />
quickly joined <strong>the</strong> move to expand <strong>the</strong> union’s Web<br />
presence.<br />
Initially, <strong>the</strong> communications activists were<br />
stymied by a lack of support from <strong>the</strong> national office.<br />
Financial backing was nonexistent, even though<br />
nearly 1,000 members were using <strong>the</strong> Web site and<br />
BBS by <strong>the</strong> end of 1998.<br />
Limited technical knowledge at headquarters<br />
also hindered <strong>the</strong>ir plans. At <strong>the</strong> convention in September,<br />
two computers were sent to Seattle to disseminate<br />
information for controllers who couldn’t<br />
attend. Unfortunately, <strong>the</strong> PCs lacked modems.<br />
Laughter unwittingly saved <strong>the</strong> day by bringing his<br />
PC from home as a backup.<br />
The activists grew increasingly frustrated. “All<br />
<strong>the</strong> people in <strong>the</strong> field who were doing communications<br />
work didn’t have a voice in communications,”<br />
Thompson says.<br />
They found an influential ally in Rodney<br />
Turner, who was serving his first term as Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Region vice president and embraced open communication<br />
with <strong>the</strong> membership. His detailed weekly<br />
updates of union activities, which he dubbed “Rod-<br />
<strong>the</strong> NTSB cites <strong>the</strong> flight crew’s failure to manage <strong>the</strong> plane’s fuel load and<br />
declare an emergency to controllers. The board also notes that lack of<br />
standardized terminology for fuel emergencies was a contributing cause.
ney Vision,” were widely read by NATCA members<br />
and FAA managers.<br />
“I’ve always been one who told my membership<br />
that what I knew, <strong>the</strong>y would know,” he says. “Communication<br />
is one of <strong>the</strong> most important things that<br />
we need to continually improve upon.”<br />
With Turner’s support, <strong>the</strong> activists now had<br />
<strong>the</strong> ear of <strong>the</strong> Executive Board and <strong>the</strong>y crafted a<br />
proposal to create a <strong>National</strong> Communications Committee.<br />
In February 1999, Thompson and Morris attended<br />
an NEB meeting to make <strong>the</strong>ir pitch. Board<br />
members agreed with <strong>the</strong>ir recommendation and<br />
empowered <strong>the</strong> new group with oversight on most<br />
communications issues between <strong>the</strong> national office<br />
and <strong>the</strong> membership. *<br />
This included merging <strong>the</strong> Web-based BBS and<br />
a very active listserv—a boon to bringing <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
Mar.<br />
MEBA agrees to lower <strong>the</strong> union’s affiliation fee from 15 percent to 7.5<br />
percent of dues income—an annual savings of $200,000. MEBA also<br />
forgives about $250,000 in debts and consolidates eight o<strong>the</strong>r debts into<br />
members and leadership toge<strong>the</strong>r in a consolidated<br />
online venue—and fur<strong>the</strong>r development of <strong>the</strong> Web<br />
site, which national office staff members had been<br />
working on with help from an outside contractor.<br />
“We felt we could build a better product at no cost to<br />
NATCA,” says Laughter, who by now served as NAT-<br />
CAnet administrator.<br />
Thompson, a Chicago TRACON controller<br />
who is also managing editor of an alternative newsletter<br />
called The NATCA Voice, redesigned <strong>the</strong> site by<br />
creating public and members-only areas. By early<br />
2002, union information available on <strong>the</strong> Web had<br />
multiplied exponentially and about 2,200 members<br />
were exchanging an average of 125 messages a day on<br />
more than seventy-five forums.<br />
Plans were also under way to unveil a completely<br />
revamped site in <strong>the</strong> summer.<br />
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built<br />
one promissory note to be paid at 6 percent interest instead of <strong>the</strong> previous<br />
average of 8.8 percent. The restructured debt saves <strong>the</strong> union about<br />
$4,200 a month in interest.<br />
123<br />
* A previous standing Communications Committee<br />
was disbanded in late 1997 after <strong>the</strong><br />
union acted on most of its recommendations<br />
and transferred ongoing duties to NATCA<br />
headquarters.
“Never<br />
leave anything<br />
on <strong>the</strong> table if you<br />
can get it now.<br />
— Barry Krasner,<br />
<strong>the</strong> negotiator<br />
It’s a deal: President Steve Bell, right, and<br />
chief FAA negotiator Ray Thoman tentatively<br />
agreed on NATCA’s first contract in<br />
January 1989. / Courtesy of Anthony Coiro
Chapter 5<br />
The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
Seated on one side of a long table in a narrow hotel conference room in<br />
Washington, D.C., Ray Thoman, <strong>the</strong> FAA’s deputy director of labor and<br />
employee relations, slid a proposed collective bargaining agreement<br />
across to a clean-shaven, fair-haired man with wire-rimmed glasses.<br />
NATCA President Steve Bell let <strong>the</strong> proposal<br />
rest on <strong>the</strong> table and looked Thoman in <strong>the</strong> eye. Barry<br />
Krasner and union contract team Co-Chairman Mark<br />
Kutch, who flanked Bell, watched and waited. This<br />
meeting on November 16, 1988, represented <strong>the</strong> first<br />
bargaining talks between a controllers’ union and <strong>the</strong><br />
agency in more than seven years. NATCA had rehearsed<br />
this moment, and Bell responded on cue.<br />
“Thank you very much,” he said. “We know<br />
how hard you must have worked on this. We’d like<br />
to work off ours.” Bell <strong>the</strong>n slid a thicker document<br />
across <strong>the</strong> table.<br />
Thoman, broad-shouldered with black hair<br />
and a graying beard, smiled politely. “I thank you for<br />
your efforts. It was obviously a lot of work,” he said.<br />
“But it is a sophomoric attempt because of your lack<br />
of expertise in this area.” 1<br />
Thoman’s comment was not entirely off <strong>the</strong><br />
mark. The NATCA reps in <strong>the</strong> room, including Bell,<br />
were controllers—not businessmen. Never<strong>the</strong>less,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y clearly understood <strong>the</strong> historic nature of this<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>ring and <strong>the</strong>ir responsibility of helping to ensure<br />
<strong>the</strong> well being of more than 13,000 families.<br />
They’d prepared as if this were <strong>the</strong> Super Bowl.<br />
The union’s ten-member contract team had<br />
been carefully chosen to represent a balance of terminals<br />
and centers across <strong>the</strong> regions. They’d attended<br />
a two-day seminar on negotiating skills conducted<br />
by <strong>the</strong> American Arbitration <strong>Association</strong>. They’d<br />
also spent two intensive weeks at MEBA’s expansive,<br />
colonial-style training facility in Easton, Maryland,<br />
working up proposals.<br />
NATCA’s first contract: Built on <strong>the</strong><br />
foundation of PATCO’s last agreement, <strong>the</strong><br />
1989 pact also broke new ground.
126<br />
1990<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
16<br />
Apr.<br />
Nearly 500 delegates attend NATCA’s third biennial convention at The<br />
Desert Inn in Las Vegas. After an emotional debate, delegates overwhelmingly<br />
approve a resolution asking President Bush to allow fired controllers<br />
Courtesy of Anthony Coiro (upper left); NATCA archives (lower left, above)<br />
Setting <strong>the</strong> stage: NATCA’s first contract team spent two weeks at MEBA’s<br />
training facility in Easton, Maryland, preparing for negotiations. Kansas City<br />
Center controller Mark Kutch, left, and President Steve Bell, above, cochaired<br />
<strong>the</strong> ten-member team. Eight o<strong>the</strong>rs served as resource specialists.<br />
to apply for new positions in <strong>the</strong> FAA, which Bush refuses to do. A resolution<br />
to increase union dues by one-half percent is voted down.
While <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>the</strong>re, <strong>the</strong>y listened to advice<br />
from PATCO’s ousted president, John Leyden.<br />
Unrealistic expectations from <strong>the</strong> last contract<br />
proposal, which Robert Poli and company<br />
shared with <strong>the</strong> membership, had led to widespread<br />
discontent, Leyden told <strong>the</strong>m. Determined not to<br />
repeat history, <strong>the</strong> NATCA team solicited suggestions<br />
from members, but did not reveal its starting<br />
position.<br />
Aided by eight resource specialists, <strong>the</strong> contract<br />
team spent many a late night digging through<br />
PATCO archives, Office of Personnel Management<br />
regulations, FAA orders, grievance files and arbitration<br />
transcripts, private-sector entitlements, and<br />
federal-sector contracts for all bargaining units.<br />
Their voluminous research culminated in a<br />
comprehensive proposal containing eightytwo<br />
articles. Team members <strong>the</strong>n ranked<br />
<strong>the</strong>m numerically by importance and plotted<br />
<strong>the</strong> articles on a grid.<br />
Sitting at <strong>the</strong> negotiating table, Bell remained<br />
confident and poised. Ignoring Thoman’s remark, he<br />
began to outline <strong>the</strong> union’s proposal. Parts of <strong>the</strong><br />
document traced <strong>the</strong>ir roots to PATCO’s 1978 contract,<br />
including provisions for mandatory breaks after<br />
two hours on position, reinstatement of immunity<br />
for controllers who reported operational errors,<br />
and official release of union representatives for NTSB<br />
accident investigations.<br />
May July<br />
10<br />
The FAA announces that Hampton University in Virginia has<br />
been awarded a contract to develop a controller training program.<br />
Graduates can apply to <strong>the</strong> FAA as developmentals.<br />
10<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r sections were new, such as <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
right to conduct midterm bargaining—a significant<br />
enhancement—and guaranteed leave for prenatal<br />
care. Workplace articles related to prime time leave<br />
(during summers and holidays) and a<br />
uniform dress code were aimed at addressing<br />
inconsistent policies. *<br />
The agency forbade tape recordings<br />
of <strong>the</strong> negotiations. As a<br />
result, team member Anthony Coiro<br />
filled a hefty stack of yellow legal<br />
pads with scribbled notes to<br />
create a “bargaining history.”<br />
In <strong>the</strong> event of subsequent<br />
grievance arbitrations, <strong>the</strong><br />
notes could prove invaluable<br />
in establishing <strong>the</strong> parties’ intentions<br />
while <strong>the</strong>y were formulating<br />
<strong>the</strong> contract language.<br />
One notable gain for <strong>the</strong><br />
union involved reporting immunity.<br />
NASA created <strong>the</strong> Aviation<br />
Safety Reporting System in 1975<br />
to allow controllers, pilots, and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs to document errors within<br />
ten days of an incident without<br />
fear of penalty (except in cases of gross negligence<br />
or criminal activity). The system was designed to<br />
document common mistakes, which could help lead<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
127<br />
Hard-won victory: Beth Thomas, who<br />
helped organize controllers, rejoined <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA after certification and was a contract<br />
team resource person. / NATCA archives<br />
* The final contract included all of <strong>the</strong>se provisions.<br />
Ruling on a lawsuit originally filed by NATCA, <strong>the</strong> Ninth U.S.<br />
Circuit Court of Appeals upholds <strong>the</strong> FAA’s random drug testing<br />
program for <strong>the</strong> aviation industry.
128<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Signed, sealed, and delivered: FAA and union representatives are<br />
all smiles after adopting <strong>the</strong> contract. <strong>Controllers</strong> worked without<br />
a formal pact for nearly eight years until NATCA’s first agreement<br />
became effective May 1, 1989. Union members on <strong>the</strong> team included:<br />
President Steve Bell; Co-Chairman Mark Kutch, Kansas City Center;<br />
1990<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Richard Bamberger, San Diego Tower; Don Carlisle, Washington<br />
Center; Paul Cascio, Seattle TRACON; Anthony Coiro, South Bend<br />
Tower/TRACON; Art Joseph, Miami Center; Lonnie Kramer, Corpus<br />
Christi Tower/TRACON; Barry Krasner, New York TRACON; William<br />
Osborne Jr., general counsel; and eight resource specialists.<br />
to procedures to avoid <strong>the</strong>m. <strong>Controllers</strong>, who could<br />
lose <strong>the</strong>ir jobs if <strong>the</strong>y were involved in three operational<br />
errors—“deals”—within 2½ years, considered<br />
<strong>the</strong> program critical because various managers handled<br />
mistakes differently.<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> agency had been working to<br />
Aug. Sep.<br />
3<br />
In a “Walk for Safety,” NATCA national office staff members<br />
and more than 120 controllers from around <strong>the</strong> nation picket in<br />
front of Washington Center to protest continued low staffing. 1<br />
reinstate <strong>the</strong> policy for controllers,<br />
which FAA Administrator<br />
Langhorne Bond had canceled in<br />
1980, before negotiations began.<br />
However, Thoman insisted <strong>the</strong><br />
provision was non-negotiable<br />
and did not belong in <strong>the</strong> contract.<br />
Barry Krasner suggested<br />
<strong>the</strong>y include it “for educational<br />
purposes.” Thoman ultimately<br />
agreed, which ensured that <strong>the</strong><br />
agency could not unilaterally<br />
change or abolish <strong>the</strong> policy because<br />
<strong>the</strong> union could contest<br />
<strong>the</strong> move by filing a grievance.<br />
The two sides reached tentative<br />
agreement by mid-January<br />
1989. NATCA members spent<br />
most of <strong>the</strong> grueling two months<br />
during negotiations in <strong>the</strong> Washington<br />
area, far from <strong>the</strong>ir families.<br />
Yet, <strong>the</strong> process went easier<br />
than expected. Coiro recalls that<br />
it was “tentative and strangely predetermined. We all<br />
needed a good contract. No one was able to bring<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir ‘side’ to a showdown and we knew it.”<br />
NATCA’s first effort differed from PATCO’s<br />
final contract in several ways. The agency negotiated<br />
<strong>the</strong> right to change controllers’ schedules within one<br />
A new Transportation Department policy takes effect, banning<br />
smoking at FAA facilities, although designated smoking areas are<br />
permitted.
week. Under PATCO, it had been three weeks. And<br />
developmentals had to check out on at least two control<br />
positions before receiving FAM trip privileges;<br />
PATCO trainees received <strong>the</strong> benefit immediately.<br />
NATCA made one significant improvement<br />
over PATCO. The FAA<br />
agreed to grant regional<br />
representatives 50 percent<br />
of official time off<br />
to conduct <strong>the</strong>ir duties.<br />
PATCO board members<br />
who took leave to serve<br />
<strong>the</strong> union did so without<br />
pay from <strong>the</strong> agency.<br />
“The contract is not<br />
a panacea. However, it goes<br />
well beyond a start,” Great<br />
Lakes Regional Representative<br />
Joseph Bellino said. 2<br />
Half of <strong>the</strong> union<br />
contract team joined Bell and Spickler on different segments<br />
of a tour to twenty-three cities to sell <strong>the</strong> pact to<br />
<strong>the</strong> rank and file. The group found itself repeatedly defending<br />
a clause that appeared frequently throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> document: “if operational conditions permit.” <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
worried that <strong>the</strong> phrase diluted <strong>the</strong>ir rights. But<br />
without it—in connection with guaranteed breaks, for<br />
example—an arbitrator could rule that <strong>the</strong> article in<br />
question was unenforceable and, <strong>the</strong>refore, void.<br />
“<br />
The contract is not<br />
a panacea. However, it goes<br />
well beyond a start.<br />
— Great Lakes Regional Rep Joseph Bellino<br />
The costly briefing tour helped educate <strong>the</strong> members.<br />
But with little cash to spare in <strong>the</strong> union, it drew<br />
criticism from some who accused NATCA’s top officers<br />
of wasting thousands of dollars on what <strong>the</strong>y dubbed<br />
“Steve and Ray’s Excellent Adventure,” paraphrasing <strong>the</strong><br />
title from a popular Hollywood<br />
film that year.<br />
Regardless, union<br />
members overwhelmingly<br />
approved of <strong>the</strong><br />
contract. The three-year<br />
pact took effect May 1,<br />
1989, after <strong>the</strong>y ratified<br />
it by a vote of 3,920 to<br />
748—a margin of 84<br />
percent. Subsequent contracts<br />
would streng<strong>the</strong>n<br />
and expand controllers’<br />
rights. For now, NATCA<br />
founders and activists<br />
who’d spent more than five years creating <strong>the</strong>ir union<br />
and securing its first collective bargaining agreement<br />
basked in an enormous sense of accomplishment.<br />
Power Struggles<br />
“Steve and Ray’s Excellent Adventure” was one<br />
of many skirmishes over money and control that<br />
beset <strong>the</strong> first <strong>National</strong> Executive Board. Having run<br />
Oct. Jan.<br />
An initiation fee takes effect after a major organizing drive in<br />
which more than 2,000 controllers join NATCA. Membership is 1991<br />
19<br />
about 10,600—or more than 70 percent of <strong>the</strong> work force.<br />
13<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
129<br />
The negotiators: President Steve Bell,<br />
right, and Ray Thoman, <strong>the</strong> FAA’s deputy<br />
director of labor and employee relations,<br />
went head to head during talks on <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s first contract. / Stan Barough<br />
An 8 percent pay raise called an “interim geographic adjustment”<br />
is given to 5,933 FAA employees at facilities in <strong>the</strong> New<br />
York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco areas.
130<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
New NATCA logo (above): Steve Bell’s<br />
move to redesign <strong>the</strong> union’s visual identity<br />
riled regional reps and members.<br />
Steve and Ray (right): Executive Vice<br />
President Ray Spickler, left, stood by Steve<br />
Bell when <strong>the</strong> president came under criticism.<br />
Spickler’s loyalty derailed his bid for<br />
re-election in 1991. / NATCA archives<br />
1991<br />
1<br />
Feb.<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir regions largely autonomously, board members<br />
now had to adjust to a different power structure.<br />
“We were all new,” says Gary Molen, <strong>the</strong> Northwest<br />
Mountain regional rep. “We wanted Bell and those<br />
guys to jump.”<br />
They took Bell to task for having little or no say<br />
on everything from hiring new employees to buying<br />
fax machines for each region (<strong>the</strong> reps couldn’t live<br />
without <strong>the</strong>m after a few months) to retaining an elderly<br />
woman as parliamentarian at a board meeting<br />
(a one-time appearance stemming from Bell’s impatience<br />
with Robert’s Rules of Order).<br />
A history buff, Bell maintained that <strong>the</strong> most<br />
successful U.S. presidents were those who led decisively.<br />
He defends his style by pointing out he was<br />
elected to get NATCA up and running. The board’s<br />
time was better spent on addressing regional and<br />
national issues ra<strong>the</strong>r than focusing on infrastructure.<br />
“If we’d sat <strong>the</strong>re<br />
and argued,” he<br />
says now, “we’d<br />
never have gotten<br />
anything<br />
done.”<br />
Several<br />
board members<br />
gave Bell<br />
more latitude<br />
than o<strong>the</strong>rs. But<br />
A US<strong>Air</strong> 737 landing at LAX <strong>Air</strong>port crashes into a Sky West Metroliner<br />
positioned on <strong>the</strong> runway awaiting takeoff clearance. The nighttime accident<br />
kills all twelve aboard <strong>the</strong> commuter plane and twenty-two aboard<br />
when <strong>the</strong>y discovered that NATCA had paid a public<br />
relations firm about $20,000 to revamp <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
logo, <strong>the</strong>y all revolted.<br />
The new look, which appeared on promotional<br />
materials for <strong>the</strong> 1990 convention, consisted solely of<br />
<strong>the</strong> word “NATCA” in a streamlined typeface. The letter<br />
“A” was positioned above <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs, which some<br />
observers referred to as “<strong>the</strong> excited A.” While a few<br />
controllers considered <strong>the</strong> original old-fashioned,<br />
most regarded any changes akin to redesigning <strong>the</strong><br />
U.S. flag.<br />
The board and members at large believed <strong>the</strong><br />
logo was <strong>the</strong>ir identity and quickly called for<br />
its reinstatement. A subsequent board also<br />
toyed with updating <strong>the</strong> logo and failed.<br />
Changing it was “like <strong>the</strong> third rail of<br />
NATCA politics,” President John Carr<br />
says now. The original logo remains to<br />
this day.<br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Board members<br />
were also perturbed when Bell and Spickler<br />
borrowed ano<strong>the</strong>r $400,000 from MEBA in<br />
<strong>the</strong> US<strong>Air</strong> flight. Two weeks later, <strong>the</strong> FAA amends procedures to prohibit<br />
planes from holding at runway/taxiway intersections at night or when <strong>the</strong><br />
intersection is not visible from <strong>the</strong> tower.
July 1989 to tide <strong>the</strong> union over. While<br />
<strong>the</strong>y understood <strong>the</strong> financial need, <strong>the</strong><br />
lack of consultation was a sore spot. Even<br />
so, <strong>the</strong> clashes amounted to little more<br />
than an inevitable byproduct of a young<br />
association finding its sea legs.<br />
“None of us had ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> experience<br />
or <strong>the</strong> wherewithal to get <strong>the</strong> job<br />
done,” Bell says. “We all came from a<br />
controller background and were well<br />
versed in moving airplanes, not an infant<br />
organization in <strong>the</strong> birth-pangs of its<br />
evolution.”<br />
Power struggles and politics were<br />
not Bell’s only problems. Just as <strong>the</strong> Las<br />
Vegas convention began in April 1990,<br />
Karin Bell informed her husband she<br />
wanted a divorce.<br />
“It kicked <strong>the</strong> legs right out from under him,”<br />
Spickler recalls.<br />
So much so that Bell did not feel up to chairing<br />
<strong>the</strong> proceedings. As soon as <strong>the</strong> opening session ended,<br />
he turned to a friend from New York TRACON,<br />
whom he perceived to be “a gifted negotiator and a<br />
gifted communicator”—Barry Krasner. Speaking privately<br />
in Krasner’s room, Bell asked him to run <strong>the</strong><br />
convention, sidestepping his second-in-command.<br />
Despite Krasner’s position as Eastern regional<br />
representative and his work on <strong>the</strong> contract team, he<br />
Apr. May<br />
4<br />
The FAA finishes transferring more than 600,000 square miles<br />
of oceanic airspace from Miami and Boston centers to New<br />
York Center.<br />
1<br />
NATCA archives<br />
1990 convention: President Bell passed over Ray Spickler and asked Barry Krasner<br />
to conduct most of <strong>the</strong> proceedings. Dan Brandt, right, served as parliamentarian.<br />
was “scared to death” of <strong>the</strong> podium. But he warmed<br />
to <strong>the</strong> task nicely during <strong>the</strong> first two days before<br />
handing <strong>the</strong> gavel to Spickler, who’d approached Bell<br />
and insisted that <strong>the</strong> executive vice president should<br />
rightfully conduct <strong>the</strong> proceedings.<br />
Krasner’s skill came from a mixture of street<br />
smarts he learned while growing up in Flushing,<br />
New York—“you take out <strong>the</strong> biggest guy first”—and<br />
a keen familiarity with Robert’s Rules of Order. He<br />
first read <strong>the</strong> book when New York TRACON formed<br />
a constitution and continued to review it before every<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
Aviation safety inspectors vote to organize as a bargaining unit<br />
of <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways Systems Specialists. On May 10,<br />
PASS is certified for <strong>the</strong> 1,913 FAA workers.<br />
131
Barry<br />
Krasner<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
Specialist<br />
1982 — Pr e s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: XO<br />
HOm e t O w n : New York City<br />
sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Sallie / Michael, Bryan<br />
Mindy; grandson: Drew<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Owns an extensive collection of<br />
stuffed frogs<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Wine, trout fishing<br />
NATCA archives<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s:<br />
N90 TRACON<br />
After six years at NATCA’s helm, Barry Krasner<br />
dismayed many members by going back to <strong>the</strong><br />
boards. One controller lamented that <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
second president had been <strong>the</strong> best <strong>the</strong>y would<br />
ever elect. Krasner shook his head and responded:<br />
“If that’s <strong>the</strong> case, we might as well fold our doors<br />
right now. Everybody after me should be better<br />
than me. O<strong>the</strong>rwise, we’ve learned nothing.”<br />
His down-to-earth attitude comes from contemplating<br />
life at 35,000 feet. “I spend a lot of time<br />
on airplanes looking out <strong>the</strong> window and seeing<br />
nothing but clouds,” he says. “You start thinking<br />
on a different level.”<br />
Growing up with NATCA has also framed<br />
his outlook. While serving as Eastern regional rep<br />
in <strong>the</strong> late 1980s, Krasner frequently stretched <strong>the</strong><br />
telephone cord out of his cramped office—space<br />
donated by ano<strong>the</strong>r union—to pace in a hallway<br />
during conversations.<br />
“That’s when you really had to believe and<br />
fight. There was no luxury <strong>the</strong>n,” he says. Today,<br />
NATCA’s seven-story headquarters in Washington,<br />
D.C., bears his name.<br />
Like many union activists, Krasner’s commitment<br />
involved significant personal sacrifice.<br />
The demands extended to his new wife, Sallie<br />
Sullivan, a veteran bank manager who works in<br />
NATCA’s Eastern Region office now. His presidency<br />
began just eight months after <strong>the</strong>ir wedding.<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
<strong>National</strong> president 1991-97; Eastern regional rep<br />
1988-91; chief contract negotiator; NMI president;<br />
nat’l. president emeritus; N.Y. TRACON president.<br />
hir e d<br />
Jan.<br />
1982<br />
Throughout his tenure, she lived in New York to be<br />
near her son and family while he commuted home<br />
on weekends.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> job, Krasner’s razor-sharp negotiating<br />
skills were tempered by an offbeat sense of<br />
humor. A stuffed armadillo stared down visitors to<br />
his office from atop a curio cabinet. Softening his<br />
sentry’s demeanor one year, he transformed <strong>the</strong><br />
stubby creature into <strong>the</strong> Pope-adillo. The next year<br />
<strong>the</strong> animal evolved into a Santa-dillo. An exotic<br />
collection of more than two-dozen stuffed frogs<br />
rounded out <strong>the</strong> menagerie.<br />
After leaving office in 1997, Krasner returned<br />
to <strong>the</strong> birthplace of his FAA career: New York<br />
TRACON’s LaGuardia sector. He now spends most<br />
nights at <strong>the</strong> couple’s home on a peaceful two acres<br />
in central Long Island, where <strong>the</strong> armadillo and<br />
stuffed frogs have been quarantined to a recreation<br />
room to preserve decorum elsewhere in <strong>the</strong> house.<br />
NATCA still benefits from Krasner’s talents.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> union’s chief negotiator, he has spent <strong>the</strong><br />
past few years wrapping up numerous contracts for<br />
a growing roster of bargaining units.<br />
Once asked what inscription he’d prefer on<br />
his tombstone, Krasner said simply, “He made a<br />
difference.” While content with his NATCA accomplishments,<br />
he remains restless. “When you jump<br />
<strong>the</strong> last hurdle, your only two choices are to find<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r hurdle or die.”
convention. His mastery of handling <strong>the</strong> proceedings<br />
earned him such fame that he began to hold seminars<br />
for delegates.<br />
On stage, Krasner was in his element. “I like<br />
arguing with a thousand people at a time,” he says<br />
with his characteristic laugh.<br />
There was plenty of opportunity. Convention<br />
delegates considered some 100 constitutional<br />
amendments and resolutions. Despite backing from<br />
a majority of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board, <strong>the</strong>y declined<br />
to increase dues by a half percent. However,<br />
delegates agreed to impose an initiation fee for new<br />
members equal to one year of dues, which took effect<br />
<strong>the</strong> following October. Newly hired trainees were<br />
granted a six-month grace period.<br />
After listening to a heartfelt speech by John<br />
Leyden, <strong>the</strong> delegates also voted by more than a<br />
three-to-one margin to urge <strong>the</strong> Bush administration<br />
to allow controllers fired in <strong>the</strong> 1981 strike to reapply<br />
for new positions in <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
Krasner had gone to Las Vegas intending to<br />
announce his candidacy for executive vice president.<br />
He and his campaign manager, Bernie Reed from Bay<br />
TRACON, had prepared buttons and printed flyers to<br />
slip beneath <strong>the</strong> doors to delegates’ rooms.<br />
After Bell approached him, however, Krasner<br />
hid <strong>the</strong> paraphernalia beneath <strong>the</strong> bed in his room,<br />
fearing it would look like a setup. As it turned out,<br />
his exposure on <strong>the</strong> podium may have been Krasner’s<br />
1991<br />
20<br />
May<br />
most effective campaign tool.<br />
“There’s a really good possibility Barry would<br />
never have become president of this union had that<br />
not happened,” Spickler maintains.<br />
When Krasner hit <strong>the</strong> campaign trail <strong>the</strong> following<br />
January—during a honeymoon in Las Vegas<br />
with his second wife, Sallie—he sought <strong>the</strong> presidency.<br />
A changing of <strong>the</strong> guard seemed likely.<br />
By now, <strong>the</strong> board’s frustration had been compounded<br />
by Bell’s long absences <strong>the</strong> previous summer<br />
while he tried<br />
to mend fences with<br />
Karin. For Krasner,<br />
<strong>the</strong> decision to run<br />
against his friend<br />
was a difficult one.<br />
His change of heart<br />
arose over a separate<br />
financial matter<br />
stemming from<br />
a dinner with Bell<br />
and Leyden that<br />
occurred before <strong>the</strong><br />
Vegas convention.<br />
During an<br />
Eastern Region pre-<br />
convention caucus<br />
in Atlantic City,<br />
Bell invited Barry<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA reach agreement on alternative work schedules,<br />
which enable controllers to complete an 80-hour work period in less than<br />
ten days.<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
133<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Friends and foes: Barry Krasner, left, and Steve Bell formed a personal bond at New<br />
York TRACON during <strong>the</strong> mid-1980s. Dissatisfaction with Bell’s leadership, however,<br />
drove Krasner to campaign for president in <strong>the</strong> 1991 election and defeat Bell.
134<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Tallying <strong>the</strong> vote: <strong>Controllers</strong> cast ballots by mail in NATCA’s national<br />
elections, held every three years. The union pays a salary to its<br />
1991<br />
23<br />
Oct.<br />
and Sallie Krasner to <strong>the</strong> casual get-toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong><br />
former PATCO president, who was a speaker at <strong>the</strong><br />
day’s event. The Krasners had ano<strong>the</strong>r commitment<br />
and stopped by just long enough for drinks. Later,<br />
Construction begins on Sou<strong>the</strong>rn California TRACON in San Diego,<br />
which will consolidate five approach control facilities, including Los<br />
Angeles, San Diego, Burbank, Ontario, and Coast (covering <strong>the</strong> Pacific<br />
NATCA archives<br />
president and executive vice president, who serve on leave from <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA without pay. Regional VPs conduct <strong>the</strong>ir duties on official time.<br />
when <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board questioned Bell’s<br />
expensive tab, he claimed <strong>the</strong> meeting involved NAT-<br />
CA business and asked Krasner for confirmation. Put<br />
on <strong>the</strong> spot, Krasner agreed.<br />
“When I realized that I’d<br />
blindly stood behind him so<br />
he could explain himself to <strong>the</strong><br />
Executive Board I couldn’t live<br />
with myself anymore,” Krasner<br />
says, adding it was “<strong>the</strong> defining<br />
moment when I decided to run<br />
against him.”<br />
Executive Vice President<br />
Spickler sympathized with<br />
some of <strong>the</strong> unhappiness over<br />
Bell, but he remained loyal to<br />
his partner. “I just felt that Steve<br />
was really <strong>the</strong> best guy for <strong>the</strong><br />
job and I was going to hang with<br />
what I believed, regardless of <strong>the</strong><br />
political cost,” he says now.<br />
The two formed a ticket,<br />
which many believe killed<br />
Spickler’s chances for re-election<br />
against a challenge by<br />
Joseph Bellino, <strong>the</strong> Great Lakes<br />
regional rep.<br />
Bellino became a controller<br />
at O’Hare Tower in 1968.<br />
coast north to San Luis Obispo). The new facility will become <strong>the</strong> nation’s<br />
third consolidated TRACON. Two o<strong>the</strong>rs—New York TRACON on Long<br />
Island and Bay TRACON at Oakland <strong>Air</strong>port—have operated for years.
When John Leyden visited O’Hare looking for members<br />
to join <strong>the</strong> newly formed PATCO, Bellino was <strong>the</strong><br />
first trainee to sign up. But he was forced to retire a<br />
few years before <strong>the</strong> strike on medical disability. He<br />
believed <strong>the</strong> agency acted without just cause and spent<br />
seven years fighting on<br />
his own for reinstatement.<br />
When he wasn’t working<br />
as a McHenry, Illinois, po-<br />
liceman or at o<strong>the</strong>r jobs,<br />
he spent hours in <strong>the</strong> library<br />
researching <strong>the</strong> law<br />
on employees’ rights.<br />
Bellino hit a breakthrough<br />
in his case when<br />
he wrote to <strong>the</strong> American<br />
Medical <strong>Association</strong><br />
to prepare for a hearing<br />
with <strong>the</strong> FAA and discovered<br />
that <strong>the</strong> doctor<br />
who’d issued his medical<br />
disqualification was not<br />
board certified at <strong>the</strong> time. After Bellino informed<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency, he was quickly allowed back on <strong>the</strong> job<br />
in 1984 with full seniority.<br />
He soon joined <strong>the</strong> drive for election petition<br />
signatures and mounted an effort to obtain extra<br />
money for understaffed O’Hare Tower/TRACON,<br />
which culminated with <strong>the</strong> Pay Demonstration<br />
Nov.<br />
Project in 1989 that covered seven air traffic control<br />
facilities. He also served as <strong>the</strong> Great Lakes alternate<br />
regional rep under Jim Poole before his election to <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Board in 1988.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> election of 1991, seven board members<br />
endorsed Krasner, helping<br />
him defeat Bell with<br />
60 percent of <strong>the</strong> vote.<br />
Bellino beat Spickler by<br />
“<br />
an equally large margin.<br />
Afterward, Bell transferred<br />
to Phoenix TRA-<br />
CON, where he raised<br />
eyebrows by quitting <strong>the</strong><br />
union for a few weeks<br />
over a travel voucher dispute.<br />
He later moved to<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA Command Center<br />
in Herndon, Virginia,<br />
as a traffic management<br />
specialist and trainer.<br />
“His leadership<br />
qualities were strong-willed,” says former New England<br />
Regional Rep Jim Breen. “He was what <strong>the</strong> union needed<br />
to get started. Beyond <strong>the</strong> first term, we needed to get out<br />
of an organizational mode and into an operating mode.”<br />
Spickler went to Dulles Tower/TRACON and<br />
later transferred to Kansas City Tower as a supervisor<br />
(<strong>the</strong> only way <strong>the</strong> agency would pay for his move)<br />
Everybody wanted <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
In two-and-a-half years, you<br />
can’t deliver that. We didn’t<br />
even have an office staff.<br />
[Bell] started this and got<br />
everything going.<br />
— Former President Michael McNally<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA formally agree to implement Quality Through Partnership.<br />
This program is intended as a collaborative labor-management<br />
relationship that creates “an environment where employees are empow-<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
ered to participate in decisions that affect <strong>the</strong>ir work lives.” QTP <strong>National</strong><br />
Coordinator Michael McNally initially oversees <strong>the</strong> program for NATCA,<br />
followed by Bill Murphy from Kansas City Center.<br />
135
136<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Labor-management training: The FAA<br />
and union members initially attended classes<br />
that evolved into an ongoing program<br />
known as Quality Through Partnership.<br />
1991<br />
to live near his extended family. But he grew disenchanted<br />
with management and returned to Kansas<br />
City Center about eighteen months later.<br />
Michael McNally, who later served as executive<br />
vice president and president, believes NATCA’s<br />
first two top officers were “doomed to go down. The<br />
first ones out of <strong>the</strong> box always are. The expectations<br />
are too high. They’re green. They’re brand new. It’s<br />
just coming at <strong>the</strong>m too fast. Everybody wanted <strong>the</strong><br />
world. In two-and-a-half years, you can’t deliver that.<br />
We were barely a union. We didn’t even have an office<br />
staff. Steve built <strong>the</strong> office staff. He hired <strong>the</strong><br />
talent. He got us an office. He started this and got<br />
everything going.”<br />
The Age of Collaboration<br />
Even before Bell became president, he and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs in NATCA advocated collaboration with <strong>the</strong><br />
agency, eschewing traditional, contentious labor-management<br />
relations in favor of a partnership philosophy<br />
that was permeating many organizations at <strong>the</strong> time.<br />
Despite <strong>the</strong> FAA’s steadfastly intolerant reputation, a<br />
notable segment in <strong>the</strong> agency hoped to avoid a repeat<br />
of 1981 and embraced cooperation, too.<br />
With backing from T. Allan McArtor, who’d<br />
taken over as FAA administrator from Donald Engen,<br />
those attitudes dovetailed in March 1988 with<br />
a training course called “Labor and Management:<br />
Dec. Dec.<br />
FAA Administrator James B. Busey IV leaves office after serving<br />
since June 30, 1989.<br />
4<br />
16<br />
Partners in Problem Solving.” The curriculum was<br />
designed to jointly teach facility managers and union<br />
representatives about <strong>the</strong>ir rights and responsibilities<br />
as well as techniques in communicating and resolving<br />
differences.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> three-day classes, controllers and<br />
managers switched roles to better understand problems<br />
and perspectives from <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side. <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
learned what it was like to defend policies <strong>the</strong>y<br />
did not personally support, while managers found<br />
reasons to file grievances. About 1,000 managers<br />
and facility reps attended <strong>the</strong> course throughout <strong>the</strong><br />
spring and summer.<br />
The one-time sessions paved <strong>the</strong> way for a<br />
more formal, ongoing program whose path began<br />
at New York Center. Like some o<strong>the</strong>rs, local President<br />
Michael McNally worried about a PATCO II. “I<br />
didn’t want to be involved in a union if it was going<br />
to be radical,” he says.<br />
He, too, saw <strong>the</strong> need to “stop butting heads”<br />
and encourage more harmonious relationships.<br />
McNally approached <strong>the</strong> facility’s deputy manager,<br />
Jim Buckles, and <strong>the</strong> two developed a collaborative,<br />
committee-oriented program called Success Through<br />
Partnership.<br />
Initially, both sides were resistant. “Management<br />
hated it,” McNally recalls. “To <strong>the</strong>m, it was a<br />
raid on <strong>the</strong>ir authority. They thought it was all going<br />
downhill. Letting <strong>the</strong> monkeys run <strong>the</strong> zoo.” Union<br />
Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner leaves office after<br />
serving since February 6, 1989.
1992<br />
1991<br />
The Second <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
Mirroring <strong>the</strong> first election, five<br />
new members joined <strong>the</strong> board<br />
in 1991:<br />
Alaskan: Sam Rich beat incumbent<br />
Will Faville Jr. (both were<br />
from Anchorage Center). Faville<br />
went on to become NATCA’s third<br />
safety and technology director.<br />
Central: Incumbent Dan<br />
Brandt from Omaha TRACON did<br />
not win a majority and waived a<br />
runoff against Michael Putzier from<br />
Kansas City Center.<br />
Eastern: Incumbent Barry<br />
Krasner’s run for president left<br />
<strong>the</strong> field open. Although Michael<br />
McNally from New York Center<br />
outpolled Tim Haines from Pittsburgh<br />
Tower, nei<strong>the</strong>r won a majority.<br />
Haines edged past McNally in a<br />
runoff.<br />
Great Lakes: In <strong>the</strong> absence<br />
of incumbent Joseph Bellino, who<br />
won election for executive vice<br />
president, Jim Poole from Chicago<br />
Center beat Chuck Owens from<br />
Bismarck Tower/TRACON in North<br />
Dakota. Poole had briefly served as<br />
Central regional rep on <strong>the</strong> interim<br />
board.<br />
New England: Incumbent<br />
Jim Breen from Bradley Tower/<br />
TRACON withstood a second challenge<br />
by Howie Barte from Providence<br />
Tower to retain his seat for<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r term.<br />
Northwest Mountain: Incumbent<br />
Gary Molen from Salt Lake<br />
Center retained his seat for a second<br />
term against challenges by contract<br />
team member Paul Cascio from<br />
Seattle TRACON and James Brawner<br />
Feb. Feb.<br />
5<br />
President Barry Krasner, Contract Committee Co-Chairman<br />
Bernie Reed, and Labor Relations Director Richard Gordon<br />
present <strong>the</strong> union’s second contract proposal to <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
24<br />
�<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
from Denver TRACON.<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn: Incumbent Randy<br />
Schwitz ran unopposed. Schwitz,<br />
from Atlanta Center, took over from<br />
fellow center controller Lee Riley<br />
when he stepped down in January<br />
1990 to devote more attention to a<br />
trucking business he owned with<br />
his bro<strong>the</strong>r, Bill.<br />
Southwest: Incumbent Ed<br />
Mullin from Dallas Love Field ran<br />
unopposed for a second term.<br />
Western-Pacific: Rick Bamberger<br />
from Lindbergh Field in<br />
San Diego lost his re-election bid.<br />
Karl Grundmann from Los Angeles<br />
TRACON, who was defeated by Ray<br />
Spickler for executive vice president<br />
in <strong>the</strong> union’s 1988 election, beat<br />
Owen Bridgeman from Phoenix<br />
TRACON in a runoff.<br />
137<br />
Andrew H. Card Jr. takes over as transportation secretary from<br />
Samuel Skinner. Card, who served in <strong>the</strong> Massachusetts Legislature,<br />
was deputy chief of staff under President Bush.
138<br />
1992<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1991 Election<br />
Results<br />
�<br />
* Brandt waived a runoff election to<br />
Putzier.<br />
** Schwitz joined <strong>the</strong> NEB in January<br />
1990 after Lee Riley stepped down.<br />
27<br />
May<br />
President<br />
Barry Krasner Eastern Regional representative 3,720 59.9<br />
Steve Bell / incumbent Eastern New York TRACON 2,494 40.1<br />
Executive Vice President<br />
Joseph M. Bellino Great Lakes Regional representative 3,803 61.6<br />
Ray L. Spickler / incumbent Central Kansas City Center 2,370 38.4<br />
Regional Representatives<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Alaskan<br />
Sam Rich Anchorage Center 87 64.9<br />
Will Faville Jr. / incumbent<br />
Central<br />
Anchorage Center 47 35.1<br />
Michael Putzier Kansas City Center 134 40.8<br />
Dan Brandt * / incumbent Omaha TRACON 113 34.3<br />
Mark Kutch<br />
Eastern<br />
Kansas City Center 82 24.9<br />
Tim Haines Pittsburgh Tower 397 36.8 576 54.0<br />
Michael McNally New York Center 449 41.6 490 46.0<br />
Deborah Ann Katz Washington Center 234 21.6<br />
NATCA’s fourth biennial convention is held at <strong>the</strong> Hilton Palacio del Rio in<br />
San Antonio. Delegates vote to modify Article IX, Section 7, of <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
constitution to allow a majority attending conventions to change dues<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than a majority of <strong>the</strong> membership; <strong>the</strong>y <strong>the</strong>n approve raising dues<br />
to 1.5 percent. Delegates also approve an honorary lifetime membership<br />
for former PATCO President John F. Leyden.
Votes Percent<br />
Great Lakes<br />
Jim Poole Chicago Center 594 52.6<br />
Chuck Owens<br />
New England<br />
Bismarck TRACAB 536 47.4<br />
Jim Breen / incumbent Bradley Tower/TRACON 212 55.6<br />
Howie Barte<br />
Northwest Mountain<br />
Providence Tower 169 44.4<br />
Gary Molen / incumbent Salt Lake Center 262 56.0<br />
Paul Cascio Seattle TRACON 135 28.8<br />
James Brawner<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Denver TRACON 71 15.2<br />
Randy Schwitz / incumb. **<br />
Southwest<br />
Atlanta Center 1,189 100.0<br />
Ed Mullin / incumbent<br />
Western-Pacific<br />
Dallas Love Field Tower 581 100.0<br />
Karl Grundmann Los Angeles TRACON 332 45.1 424 56.9<br />
Owen Bridgeman Phoenix TRACON 230 31.2 321 43.1<br />
Rick Bamberger / incumbent San Diego Tower 175 23.7<br />
June Aug.<br />
27<br />
Thomas C. Richards takes over as FAA administrator. Richards<br />
served in <strong>the</strong> Korean and Vietnam wars. He later served on <strong>the</strong><br />
President’s Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism.<br />
24<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
In its sweep through sou<strong>the</strong>rn Florida, Hurricane Andrew forces<br />
Miami International, Fort Lauderdale Executive, West Palm<br />
Beach, Tamiami, and Key West airports to temporarily close.<br />
139
Joseph M.<br />
Bellino<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
Specialist<br />
1968 — Pr e s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: MB, NC<br />
HOm e t O w n : Chicago; McHenry, Illinois<br />
CHildre n:<br />
Anna; granddaughter: Marissa<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Vietnamese interpreter and sign<br />
language interpreter in <strong>the</strong> past<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Stan Barough<br />
Blue-green water, white sand<br />
beaches, Internet business, rental<br />
properties<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: ORD<br />
RFD<br />
C90 TRACON<br />
Tower<br />
Tower<br />
Joseph M. Bellino has always lived life on <strong>the</strong><br />
front lines. Before starting as a controller at<br />
O’Hare Tower in 1968, he served in <strong>the</strong> Army’s<br />
125th ATC Company in Vietnam. He was also assigned<br />
to <strong>the</strong> 101st <strong>Air</strong>borne and 1st Infantry setting<br />
up landing and drop zones. Shrewdly, he bought a<br />
monkey named Johnny to guard him.<br />
“When you sleep in <strong>the</strong> jungle with a monkey<br />
tied to your wrist, not even <strong>the</strong> invisible man<br />
can sneak up on you,” Bellino says. Johnny had a<br />
mischievous streak, however, such as <strong>the</strong> time he<br />
picked Gen. William Westmoreland’s pocket.<br />
Bellino’s tenacity and ethical nature have<br />
characterized his involvement in organized labor<br />
for more than three decades. During a seven-year<br />
fight to overturn his forced medical disability<br />
retirement, he learned enough about <strong>the</strong> law to<br />
become an astute negotiator who could cite federal<br />
regulations as fluently as sports fans reel off statistics<br />
for <strong>the</strong>ir favorite team. Whe<strong>the</strong>r he was testifying<br />
before Congress, bargaining with <strong>the</strong> FAA or<br />
filing an insurance claim for a controller injured in<br />
an auto accident, Bellino always relied on stacks of<br />
documentation and sound oral arguments.<br />
He is motivated by an “eternal” distrust of<br />
<strong>the</strong> government. After <strong>the</strong> birth of his daughter,<br />
Anna, Bellino discovered he’d been contaminated<br />
with Agent Orange in Vietnam. Medical prob-<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
Executive vice president 1991-94; Great Lakes<br />
regional rep 1988-91; O’Hare Tower and TRACON<br />
local president (multiple terms).<br />
hir e d<br />
Sept.<br />
1968<br />
lems that could be attributed to <strong>the</strong> toxic defoliant<br />
prevented him from having more children.<br />
“The government knew <strong>the</strong> dangers of dioxin.<br />
We didn’t,” he says. “My continuing lack of trust<br />
in governmental activities has never proven to be<br />
without merit.”<br />
After <strong>the</strong> FAA reinstated him in 1984 as if<br />
he never left <strong>the</strong> agency, Bellino did not intend to<br />
re-enlist in <strong>the</strong> labor movement. “I was so happy<br />
to have my job back,” he says. “But <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
had become even more of an ogre than before. I<br />
couldn’t stand it.”<br />
Life as an activist can entail protracted<br />
discussions in bars, but Bellino does not drink<br />
alcohol. Instead, he prefers to read or research issues<br />
online, often into <strong>the</strong> wee hours. Despite his<br />
preference for such low-key activities, “colorful” is<br />
<strong>the</strong> word most often used by those who know him.<br />
Colleagues rib Bellino about his height—he<br />
stands just 5 feet, 4 inches—yet an equally toughnosed<br />
“adversary” at <strong>the</strong> FAA measured him differently.<br />
Joseph Noonan, <strong>the</strong> agency’s director of<br />
labor and employee relations when Bellino served<br />
as executive vice president, once introduced him to<br />
a group of managers, eliciting a comment about his<br />
stature.<br />
“You think Bellino’s short?” Noonan responded.<br />
“The longer he talks, <strong>the</strong> taller he gets.”
Course on cooperation: NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA underwent recurrent<br />
training on Quality Through Partnership. This class included four re-<br />
members believed <strong>the</strong> program diluted <strong>the</strong>ir power<br />
as a labor organization.<br />
But, over time, people saw benefits to STP<br />
and it eventually caught <strong>the</strong> attention of high-ranking<br />
managers at headquarters. The experiment migrated<br />
to New York TRACON and by 1991 evolved<br />
into Quality Through Partnership, which McNally<br />
directed as <strong>the</strong> union’s national QTP coordinator.<br />
Under <strong>the</strong> program, groups of managers and union<br />
members had to agree on issues before <strong>the</strong>y could be<br />
implemented. Decisions were binding; nei<strong>the</strong>r side<br />
1992<br />
Oct.<br />
NATCA archives<br />
gional vice presidents, from left: Michael Putzier, Central; Jim Poole,<br />
Great Lakes; Rich Phillips, Southwest; and Joe Fruscella, Eastern.<br />
could appeal to <strong>the</strong> FLRA.<br />
The agency created a training video to introduce<br />
QTP and committed substantial money for sessions<br />
at all of its facilities. Acceptance came slowly for<br />
some—and not at all for o<strong>the</strong>rs—who were uncomfortable<br />
with this “new” way of thinking. Referring to<br />
QTP as “drinking <strong>the</strong> Kool-Aid,” participants on both<br />
sides felt it undermined <strong>the</strong>ir authority.<br />
“I always viewed <strong>the</strong> agency as <strong>the</strong> enemy, not<br />
a friend. I didn’t see <strong>the</strong> collaborative thing working,”<br />
says Bill Otto, a controller at St. Louis TRACON who<br />
NATCA’s recently formed Reclassification Committee, chaired by Eastern<br />
Region Vice President Tim Haines, meets for <strong>the</strong> first time to discuss ways<br />
to change <strong>the</strong> classification system for air traffic facilities. The union hires<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
141<br />
Dick Swauger, a former PATCO member, and consultant Joe Kilgallon to<br />
work on <strong>the</strong> project. Both men were involved in PATCO’s reclassification<br />
effort in <strong>the</strong> mid-1970s, which resulted in higher pay for busy facilities.
142<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1992/93<br />
later served as Central Region vice president. “QTP<br />
gave us a façade of working toge<strong>the</strong>r, but tough issues<br />
we never really worked on toge<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
Paul Williams, a former facility rep at Washington<br />
Center, says QTP<br />
“took away one of our<br />
biggest weapons.”<br />
Williams acknowledges<br />
that cooperative<br />
relationships are possible.<br />
But he also believes<br />
“consensus negates<br />
leadership.” Under QTP’s<br />
committee structure,<br />
one person—ei<strong>the</strong>r in<br />
management or with <strong>the</strong><br />
union—could undermine<br />
a decision everyone else<br />
thought was fine. “It’s led<br />
to a lot of weak decisions,<br />
watered-down decisions,<br />
half-hearted language.”<br />
O<strong>the</strong>rs looked at collaboration differently.<br />
Carol Branaman, who served in leadership roles<br />
with PATCO and was elected NATCA’s Northwest<br />
Mountain Region vice president in 2000, contends<br />
<strong>the</strong> program opened doors for <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
“Everyone maligns QTP, but it was a huge leap<br />
for <strong>the</strong> FAA,” she says. “In many ways, it gave <strong>the</strong><br />
Nov. Jan.<br />
T. Craig Lasker from Boston Center takes over as New England<br />
Region vice president for Jim Breen, who retired as a controller<br />
after suffering a mild stroke and vision loss.<br />
“<br />
Everyone maligns QTP, but it<br />
was a huge leap for <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
In many ways, it gave <strong>the</strong><br />
union tremendous influence<br />
that it never had before.<br />
union tremendous influence that it never had before.<br />
It was <strong>the</strong> first time <strong>the</strong>y acknowledged <strong>the</strong> union<br />
had a role in everything that affected <strong>the</strong> facility.”<br />
Barry Krasner notes that <strong>the</strong> law allows both<br />
sides to engage in protracted<br />
disputes over grievances<br />
that can take years to resolve.<br />
QTP provided a way<br />
to settle <strong>the</strong>m faster. Bill<br />
— Northwest Mountain Region<br />
VP Carol Branaman<br />
20<br />
Murphy from Kansas City<br />
Center, who succeeded Mc-<br />
Nally as national QTP coordinator<br />
in 1994, says it came<br />
down to common sense. “If<br />
you beat up someone, what<br />
are you going to get back?<br />
You’ll get beat up.”<br />
Aided by follow-up<br />
training sessions, <strong>the</strong> tenor<br />
of labor relations in <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA gradually improved—<br />
though not everywhere.<br />
But in 1996, QTP was among nine agency programs<br />
totaling $29 million that were cut by <strong>the</strong> Republicancontrolled<br />
Congress as part of its “Contract With<br />
America” to balance <strong>the</strong> budget.<br />
“QTP was not a failure. It left its mark,” says<br />
Howie Barte, who continues to believe in collaboration.<br />
“Where it was successful, it’s still successful.<br />
FAA Administrator Thomas C. Richards leaves after serving<br />
since June 27, 1992. Transportation Secretary Andrew H. Card<br />
Jr. resigns after serving since February 24, 1992.
Where it wasn’t successful, it<br />
never had a chance.”<br />
The program is carried on<br />
in practice at some facilities.<br />
The Second Contract<br />
While QTP ga<strong>the</strong>red<br />
steam and Krasner and Bellino<br />
took up residence in Washington<br />
as <strong>the</strong> union’s second<br />
president and executive vice<br />
president in September 1991,<br />
preparations were already under<br />
way for negotiations on <strong>the</strong> second<br />
contract.<br />
Before leaving office, Bell<br />
had appointed Bernie Reed from<br />
Bay TRACON as team chairman<br />
(he’d served as a resource<br />
person on <strong>the</strong> first contract).<br />
Washington Center’s Paul Williams<br />
and Rodney Turner from Nashville Metro<br />
Tower/TRACON, both of whom had helped Bell with<br />
his unsuccessful campaign, were also on <strong>the</strong> team.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> election, <strong>the</strong> members ga<strong>the</strong>red at<br />
<strong>Air</strong>lie Center, a retreat in eastern Virginia, to brief<br />
<strong>the</strong> new administration. Reed, Turner, and Williams<br />
assumed Krasner would ask <strong>the</strong>m to step aside so<br />
Jan. Apr.<br />
21<br />
Federico F. Peña takes over as transportation secretary. A chief<br />
booster behind <strong>the</strong> new Denver <strong>Air</strong>port, Peña served as <strong>the</strong><br />
city’s mayor and was also elected to <strong>the</strong> Colorado Legislature. 5<br />
that he could appoint his own people. Turner offered<br />
to resign.<br />
But in a move indicative of Krasner’s sense of<br />
cooperation and political savvy, he asked everyone to<br />
stay. Reed was particularly astonished. Due to a miscommunication,<br />
he’d dropped his support for Krasner<br />
during <strong>the</strong> campaign and joined <strong>the</strong> Bell camp. Kras-<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
143<br />
NATCA archives<br />
The 1993 contract team: Presidents Bell<br />
and Krasner both selected members, who<br />
included, bottom row from left: Bruce<br />
Means; Mike Motta; Jay Keeling; Rob<br />
Stephenson; Co-Chairman Bernie Reed;<br />
and Ken Brissenden. Top row from left:<br />
Lonnie Kramer; Joe Fruscella; Mark Kutch;<br />
President Barry Krasner; Paul Williams;<br />
Rodney Turner; Labor Relations Director<br />
Richard Gordon; and Duane Dupon.<br />
The union relocates from suite 845 at MEBA headquarters, 444<br />
North Capitol Street, to its own leased offices in suite 701 at<br />
1150 17 th Street NW, both in Washington, D.C.
144<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Team building: President Krasner favored<br />
<strong>the</strong> exercises to help contract teams and<br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Boards form a bond<br />
and learn to work toge<strong>the</strong>r. / NATCA archives<br />
1993<br />
ner <strong>the</strong>n set a tone of partnership by arranging teambuilding<br />
exercises at <strong>Air</strong>lie Center to help <strong>the</strong> group<br />
forge a bond before negotiations started, a particularly<br />
effective way to get <strong>the</strong> Bell and Krasner supporters<br />
working toge<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
Like <strong>the</strong>ir counterparts three years earlier, <strong>the</strong><br />
contract team knew all too well how much was riding<br />
on <strong>the</strong>ir efforts and grasped <strong>the</strong> enormity of <strong>the</strong><br />
task ahead. Their commitment played out in distinct<br />
contrast to <strong>the</strong> FAA negotiators.<br />
While union members toiled sixteen hours a<br />
day and spent two weeks a month on <strong>the</strong> road during<br />
bargaining talks, <strong>the</strong> agency’s representatives largely<br />
regarded <strong>the</strong> process as a 9-5 job. At hotels where <strong>the</strong><br />
two teams met, <strong>the</strong> walls of NATCA’s caucus room<br />
were papered with lists of contract provisions and<br />
proposals, broken down into those <strong>the</strong>y absolutely<br />
needed, ones that would be nice to have, and giveaways.<br />
Paul Williams regularly collected <strong>the</strong> trash<br />
and took it home to prevent <strong>the</strong> FAA team from scavenging<br />
hints about <strong>the</strong>ir strategy. The agency rarely<br />
used its caucus room.<br />
“We’re volunteer workers,” Krasner says. “It’s a<br />
whole lot easier to work airplanes than it is to do this<br />
union stuff. We do it because we believe. And, if you<br />
believe, you don’t walk away at five o’clock.”<br />
Bargaining talks began in March 1992 and ended<br />
with tentative agreement fourteen months later.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> latter part of <strong>the</strong> year, as <strong>the</strong> FAA fought<br />
Apr. Aug.<br />
28<br />
NATCA begins briefing <strong>the</strong> membership on its tentative, fouryear<br />
contract with <strong>the</strong> FAA. Article 83 of <strong>the</strong> new pact gives<br />
locals <strong>the</strong> right to determine <strong>the</strong>ir own seniority policy.<br />
1<br />
NATCA’s second contract with <strong>the</strong> FAA takes effect after 92<br />
percent of voting members approve it.
Congress over <strong>the</strong> budget, its negotiators told NATCA<br />
<strong>the</strong>y weren’t sure when <strong>the</strong>y’d be able to meet again<br />
due to cost cutting. Relishing <strong>the</strong> chance to show <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s foresight, Krasner told <strong>the</strong>m: “Look, we just<br />
got a half percent dues increase. If you want, we can<br />
lend you money to continue to negotiate.”<br />
Federal law prohibited <strong>the</strong> two sides from<br />
Aug. Aug.<br />
10<br />
David Hinson takes over as FAA administrator. A Navy pilot,<br />
Hinson flew for Northwest <strong>Air</strong>lines and was an instructor for<br />
United <strong>Air</strong>lines. He was also a founder of Midway <strong>Air</strong>lines.<br />
12<br />
bargaining over salary and benefits, but <strong>the</strong> second<br />
contract included language guaranteeing a 5 percent<br />
“operational differential.” Congress had established<br />
<strong>the</strong> premium in 1982 to recognize <strong>the</strong> efforts of controllers<br />
who stayed on <strong>the</strong> job during <strong>the</strong> strike. O<strong>the</strong>r<br />
provisions streng<strong>the</strong>ned and expanded <strong>the</strong> first<br />
contract, such as mandating split urine specimens<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
President Clinton announces that controllers fired for participating<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 1981 PATCO strike may reapply for employment<br />
with <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
145<br />
Contract caucus: The walls of hotel<br />
rooms where <strong>the</strong> NATCA team met during<br />
negotiations were plastered with prospective<br />
provisions. / Courtesy of Bernie Reed
146<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA’s second contract: Among o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
provisions, <strong>the</strong> 1993 agreement guaranteed<br />
<strong>the</strong> 5 percent operational differential<br />
paid to controllers, which had been at <strong>the</strong><br />
whim of Congress. / NATCA archives<br />
* During a visit to Barnstable Tower in Hyannis,<br />
Massachusetts, a highly desirable area of<br />
Cape Cod not far from <strong>the</strong> Kennedy family’s<br />
summer home, Bellino discovered that<br />
housing costs forced controllers to commute<br />
long distances to work. He vowed to obtain<br />
pay demo for Hyannis, too, but <strong>the</strong> site was<br />
dropped when Congress got involved.<br />
1993<br />
20<br />
Sep.<br />
for drug testing to allow rechecks in<br />
case of false positive results. One new<br />
article outlined critical incident stress<br />
debriefing procedures for controllers<br />
involved in a traumatic event.<br />
“Collective bargaining has<br />
changed over <strong>the</strong> last twelve years. It<br />
is no longer a game of unions going<br />
to management, asking for more, and<br />
receiving it,” Krasner said at <strong>the</strong> time.<br />
“Nowadays, unions have to fight to<br />
maintain <strong>the</strong> rights <strong>the</strong>y currently<br />
have, in addition to making gains.” 3<br />
Members took that sentiment<br />
to heart with a ratification vote of 92<br />
percent. The four-year contract became<br />
effective on August 1, 1993.<br />
The U.S. Postal Service and Federal Deposit<br />
Insurance Corporation negotiated with <strong>the</strong>ir federal-sector<br />
unions over pay, but o<strong>the</strong>rwise bargaining<br />
talks about money were extremely rare. Yet, to a certain<br />
degree, NATCA had successfully circumvented<br />
that limitation. In addition to <strong>the</strong> congressionally<br />
mandated 5 percent operational differential that<br />
<strong>the</strong> union built into its latest contract, about 2,100<br />
controllers enjoyed a 20 percent bonus as part of a<br />
five-year Pay Demonstration Project.<br />
The premium was designed to attract and retain<br />
controllers at hard-to-staff facilities known in<br />
More than 250 members participate in “Lobby Week”—<strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
inaugural effort to educate <strong>the</strong> rank and file about working with Congress.<br />
As a result of controller lobbying, <strong>the</strong> number of sponsors for H.R. 2663<br />
<strong>the</strong> profession as “<strong>the</strong> Magnificent<br />
Seven:” Chicago Center;<br />
O’Hare Tower/TRACON; New<br />
York Center and TRACON; Los<br />
Angeles Tower/TRACON; Coast<br />
TRACON in Santa Ana; and Bay<br />
TRACON in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn California.<br />
Flight Standards district offices in<br />
Los Angeles, Teterboro, New Jersey,<br />
and Farmingdale and Valley<br />
Stream, New York, also received<br />
<strong>the</strong> bonus. 4<br />
The campaign for pay<br />
demo, as it was commonly<br />
known, began in Chicago before<br />
NATCA was even certified<br />
as a union. Joseph Bellino, who<br />
was reinstated at O’Hare in 1984 following wrongful<br />
dismissal for a medical issue, returned to find<br />
just twenty-seven journeymen controllers. That was<br />
down from about forty who staffed <strong>the</strong> facility in <strong>the</strong><br />
late 1970s. His frustration over working conditions<br />
soon launched him on a mission to garner extra pay<br />
to compensate <strong>the</strong> O’Hare controllers for forced overtime<br />
and provide a carrot that would attract o<strong>the</strong>rs. *<br />
Bellino found a receptive ear in <strong>the</strong> office of<br />
Democratic Illinois Sen. Paul Simon. After a series<br />
of calls between Simon and FAA officials, a meeting<br />
was arranged in October 1985 between Jerry McDer-<br />
increases from ten to forty-one. The <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Controller Incentive and<br />
Retention Act includes premium pay for working Sundays and boosts <strong>the</strong><br />
controller operational differential from 5 percent to 15 percent.
Follow <strong>the</strong> Money<br />
During <strong>the</strong> early 1990s, a grievance<br />
filed by Cleveland Center facility rep<br />
Pat Forrey involving Sunday premium<br />
pay led to a settlement of more than $20<br />
million, <strong>the</strong> largest with <strong>the</strong> FAA to date.<br />
The issue involved controllers who<br />
arrived for work at 11:45 p.m. Sunday for<br />
a midnight shift. The agency maintained<br />
that <strong>the</strong> controllers chose to start work<br />
early for <strong>the</strong>ir Monday shift under flexible<br />
scheduling rules and did not deserve <strong>the</strong><br />
extra pay. However, <strong>the</strong> Comptroller General,<br />
<strong>the</strong> head of <strong>the</strong> General Accounting<br />
Office, concluded that <strong>the</strong> flexible schedule<br />
issue was irrelevant. The employees<br />
worked part of Sunday and, according to<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s contract, were entitled to <strong>the</strong><br />
differential, which amounted to about<br />
$650,000.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> case evolved, NATCA’s<br />
grievance expanded to include controllers<br />
who’d been denied <strong>the</strong> premium pay for<br />
taking annual and sick leave on Sundays.<br />
The $19.5 million settlement covered<br />
nearly seven years dating to November<br />
1986 (Congress later passed a law prohibiting<br />
<strong>the</strong> extra pay).<br />
When <strong>the</strong> FAA’s hefty check arrived<br />
at union headquarters, it was en-<br />
�<br />
dorsed to Executive Vice President Joseph<br />
Bellino ra<strong>the</strong>r than to NATCA. The check<br />
also posed ano<strong>the</strong>r issue: It was well<br />
above federal deposit insurance limits.<br />
Bellino and comptroller Frances Alsop<br />
agreed <strong>the</strong>y’d have to parcel <strong>the</strong> money<br />
out in different bank accounts across <strong>the</strong><br />
country until NATCA calculated how<br />
much each controller should receive.<br />
Demonstrating his characteristic<br />
sense of humor, Bellino created fictitious<br />
names for <strong>the</strong> accounts: Grand Cayman<br />
Local 1, Grand Cayman Local 2,<br />
etc. An auditor who stumbled across <strong>the</strong><br />
wealthy Caribbean “local” immediately<br />
approached Bellino.<br />
“Are <strong>the</strong>re controllers in <strong>the</strong> Grand<br />
Cayman Islands?” he asked suspiciously.<br />
Unable to resist, Bellino deadpanned:<br />
“No, I don’t think <strong>the</strong>re are. But<br />
we’ve got a local <strong>the</strong>re.”<br />
The auditor appeared confused.<br />
“Well, we’ve got some $19.5 million in<br />
<strong>the</strong>se Grand Cayman locals.”<br />
“It’s a pretty rich local,” Bellino<br />
acknowledged.<br />
“What do you mean? Where did it<br />
come from?”<br />
“I don’t know.”<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Up his sleeve: When NATCA won a back pay settlement<br />
and banked <strong>the</strong> money before disbursing it to<br />
controllers, Joseph Bellino unnerved an auditor by<br />
creating a fictitious local in <strong>the</strong> Cayman Islands.<br />
The auditor persisted. “Who’s in<br />
this local?”<br />
“Barry Krasner is <strong>the</strong> VP. I’m<br />
<strong>the</strong> president. He’s <strong>the</strong> president of <strong>the</strong><br />
union. I’m <strong>the</strong> president of <strong>the</strong> local. John<br />
Thornton is <strong>the</strong> secretary-treasurer. We<br />
have one member and that’s Will Faville.”<br />
“Where’d you get this money?”<br />
“I don’t know. Does it matter?”<br />
The auditor was not amused and<br />
insisted that Bellino transfer <strong>the</strong> money<br />
out of <strong>the</strong> accounts as soon as possible.<br />
NATCA planned to do just that, of<br />
course, and mailed <strong>the</strong> entire $19.5 million<br />
to controllers a few months later.<br />
147
148<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Joseph Bellino: The O’Hare TRACON<br />
controller led a campaign that resulted<br />
in 20 percent more pay for controllers at<br />
seven hard-to-staff facilities. / Stan Barough<br />
1993<br />
29<br />
Sep.<br />
mott, who was a member of <strong>the</strong> senator’s staff, and Ed<br />
Bears from agency headquarters. Bellino was invited<br />
to present <strong>the</strong> controllers’ proposal, which essentially<br />
amounted to a request for more money.<br />
For Bellino, that posed one critical question:<br />
How much? On <strong>the</strong> flight from Chicago<br />
to Washington, figures swirled in his<br />
head. The controllers wanted 5 percent,<br />
so should he ask for 9 percent, hoping to<br />
split <strong>the</strong> difference? What about 7 percent<br />
or 8 percent? His uncertainty kept him<br />
awake that night at <strong>the</strong> hotel.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> meeting <strong>the</strong> next day, McDermott<br />
laid it out to Bears. “What we’re looking for<br />
here, Ed, is something for O’Hare.”<br />
“If you controllers wanted more money, you<br />
should never have taken jobs in <strong>the</strong> government sector,”<br />
Bears snapped irritably. Then he turned to Bellino<br />
and demanded to know <strong>the</strong> bottom line.<br />
“We want twenty percent more,” Bellino<br />
blurted. Realizing he’d responded impulsively—Bellino<br />
swears he doesn’t know where <strong>the</strong> figure came<br />
from—he quickly adopted a poker face.<br />
Bears looked shocked. “You know about it,<br />
don’t you?”<br />
Bellino fought back a look of puzzlement. He had<br />
no idea what Bears meant. Instead, he bluffed. “Yeah,<br />
of course we know about it, Ed. What do you think<br />
we’re doing here? Just because you’re at headquarters<br />
The FAA agrees to pay $19.5 million in back premium pay to controllers<br />
who took annual and sick leave on Sundays. The grievance, filed Novem-<br />
doesn’t mean <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> country is stupid.”<br />
McDermott interjected and asked what <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were talking about. Bears proceeded to describe a relatively<br />
new Pay Demonstration Project<br />
that compensated scientists with a<br />
20 percent bonus for working at<br />
<strong>the</strong> China Lake Naval Weapons<br />
Center in <strong>the</strong> Mojave<br />
Desert, a hard-to-staff facility<br />
like O’Hare.<br />
It took Congress until<br />
1989 to enact <strong>the</strong> same differential<br />
for controllers. By <strong>the</strong>n, Michael<br />
McNally in New York, Bernie Reed<br />
on <strong>the</strong> West Coast, and o<strong>the</strong>rs had gotten involved to<br />
help expand <strong>the</strong> list of facilities to <strong>the</strong> Magnificent<br />
Seven. Bay TRACON controllers particularly appreciated<br />
<strong>the</strong> extra money due to <strong>the</strong> area’s exorbitant cost<br />
of living, and <strong>the</strong>y joined NATCA in droves.<br />
“People saw that <strong>the</strong> union was doing something<br />
for <strong>the</strong>m,” Reed says. When he later stepped<br />
down as facility rep, <strong>the</strong> membership presented him<br />
with what remains a prized possession—a gavel with<br />
<strong>the</strong> inscription: “To Bernie Reed. You accomplished<br />
100 plus 20 percent.”<br />
Even though controllers at <strong>the</strong> Magnificent<br />
Seven were happy, pay demo rankled many o<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
and created an awkward dilemma for <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
NATCA’s leadership warily embraced <strong>the</strong> hefty pre-<br />
ber 20, 1992, covered nearly a seven-year period beginning November 20,<br />
1986. Subsequently, Congress passes a law outlawing <strong>the</strong> extra pay.
mium while pointing out its drawbacks. Testifying<br />
at an Office of Personnel Management hearing before<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA implemented pay demo, <strong>the</strong>n-Executive Vice<br />
President Ray Spickler acknowledged that <strong>the</strong> chosen<br />
facilities deserved <strong>the</strong> extra money. But he also raised<br />
<strong>the</strong> issue of divisiveness.<br />
Thousands of o<strong>the</strong>r controllers “have been left<br />
out in <strong>the</strong> cold. The perception at <strong>the</strong>se facilities is<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y were not selected because <strong>the</strong>y lack <strong>the</strong><br />
visibility or political clout to get <strong>the</strong>m on <strong>the</strong> FAA’s<br />
‘A List,’ ” he said. “We trust that Congress and <strong>the</strong><br />
American public do not believe for one moment that<br />
<strong>the</strong> Pay Demonstration Project is anything more than<br />
a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage.” 5<br />
Pay demo was extended by Congress in 1994<br />
and was later replaced by a program known as Controller<br />
Incentive Pay that provided variable differentials<br />
to facilities based upon <strong>the</strong> local cost of living.<br />
Going for <strong>the</strong> Gold<br />
Oct. Oct.<br />
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues a full federal registration<br />
for <strong>the</strong> NATCA logo, with its distinctive control tower<br />
and radar sweep.<br />
2<br />
Despite <strong>the</strong> significance of pay demo, <strong>the</strong> program<br />
was far from comprehensive and its longevity<br />
hinged on <strong>the</strong> whims of Congress. The 5 percent operational<br />
differential also landed in <strong>the</strong> cross hairs<br />
when Capitol Hill took aim at balancing <strong>the</strong> budget<br />
during <strong>the</strong> mid-1990s. * These issues prompted<br />
NATCA more than ever to pursue an agenda of negotiating<br />
pay with <strong>the</strong> agency.<br />
The goal had eluded unionized<br />
controllers for a quarter century. But<br />
several factors came into play throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> Nineties that put <strong>the</strong> brass ring<br />
within reach.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r than legislative action by<br />
Congress, <strong>the</strong> only way <strong>the</strong> union could<br />
change pay for all controllers was through<br />
an appeal to <strong>the</strong> Office of Personnel<br />
Management, which had <strong>the</strong> authority to<br />
declare government occupations unique<br />
and remove <strong>the</strong>m from <strong>the</strong> standard<br />
General Schedule—or GS scale. But persuading<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency and OPM to agree to<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
* In what became an annual rite for several<br />
years, heavy NATCA lobbying helped to<br />
preserve <strong>the</strong> 5 percent premium.<br />
149<br />
Bay TRACON: Given <strong>the</strong> Bay Area’s steep<br />
cost of living, facility rep Bernie Reed<br />
worked to ensure that <strong>the</strong> TRACON was<br />
included among pay demo sites. / Japphire<br />
Longtime NATCA activist and Northwest Mountain Region Vice<br />
President Gary Molen retires from <strong>the</strong> FAA. James Ferguson of<br />
Salt Lake Center replaces Molen on <strong>the</strong> Executive Board.
150<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Tim Haines: NATCA tapped him in 1990<br />
to head a comprehensive facility and pay<br />
reclassification project, which was put into<br />
effect in <strong>the</strong> 1998 contract. / Peter Cutts<br />
* Van Nuys ranked as <strong>the</strong> fifteenth-busiest<br />
control tower in <strong>the</strong> nation during 2000.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> handled 483,000 takeoffs and<br />
landings—more than San Francisco (23 rd ),<br />
LaGuardia (25 th ), and Kennedy (35 th ), among<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
1993<br />
31<br />
Dec.<br />
such a momentous change would be difficult, at best,<br />
and proposing an alternative pay system represented<br />
a Herculean task.<br />
The FAA linked <strong>the</strong> GS scale to a five-tier facility<br />
ranking based solely on traffic volume. High-density<br />
TRACONs were rated Level V while small VFR<br />
towers were considered Level I. However, several<br />
inequities plagued <strong>the</strong> system.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> at en route centers, which adhered<br />
to a separate three-tier scale, could<br />
earn no more money than<br />
those at <strong>the</strong> busiest terminal<br />
facilities. Most towers<br />
were capped at Level IV,<br />
regardless of how much<br />
traffic <strong>the</strong>y handled. Van<br />
Nuys Tower in Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
California, which<br />
swarmed with general<br />
aviation traffic, was<br />
limited to Level II and<br />
ranked lower than some<br />
radar towers that were not<br />
as busy. * A few towers, such<br />
as San Francisco and <strong>the</strong> three<br />
New York airports, had been elevated<br />
to Level V due to political influence and <strong>the</strong><br />
difficulty of staffing <strong>the</strong>m, even though <strong>the</strong>ir traffic<br />
did not justify <strong>the</strong> higher ranking.<br />
Five years after its first financial statement, NATCA reports assets of $2.5<br />
million and liabilities of $1.6 million, including principal and interest of<br />
$747,765 owed to MEBA.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> fall of 1990, President Steve Bell and<br />
Barry Krasner, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> Eastern regional rep, approached<br />
Tim Haines and directed him to create a<br />
classification standard that would eliminate <strong>the</strong> disparities.<br />
“It was an unsaid thing, though, that somehow<br />
pay would be attached to it,” says Haines, who was <strong>the</strong><br />
Pittsburgh Tower facility rep at <strong>the</strong> time and would win<br />
election as Eastern regional rep <strong>the</strong> next year.<br />
Lack of money stalled progress for a while as<br />
did lack of interest. When <strong>the</strong> union invited <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
to join its effort, agency managers declined. Even<br />
many controllers dismissed <strong>the</strong> project, thinking<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA would never agree to a new standard or<br />
find <strong>the</strong> money to pay for it. “Probably <strong>the</strong> biggest<br />
problem throughout this whole thing was<br />
<strong>the</strong> general feeling that it would never happen,”<br />
Haines recalls.<br />
But in <strong>the</strong> fall of 1992, <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive<br />
Board allowed Haines to appoint one person<br />
from each region and committed enough<br />
money to retain consultant Joe Kilgallon and<br />
Dick Swauger, a controller who’d been fired in<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike. Both men had worked on PATCO’s<br />
reclassification project in <strong>the</strong> 1970s. Committee<br />
members were selected to create an equal representation<br />
of large and small terminal facilities and centers.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> start, everyone agreed <strong>the</strong> current standard<br />
was overly simplistic.<br />
“We wanted to make it more realistic and in-
corporate volume, complexities, knowledge, skills,<br />
and ability to do <strong>the</strong> job,” says committee member Pat<br />
Forrey, who was <strong>the</strong> facility rep at Cleveland Center.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> next eighteen months, <strong>the</strong> group traveled<br />
every three to four weeks to more than 200<br />
sites to observe air traffic<br />
operations and collect<br />
mountains of information.<br />
They interviewed<br />
more than a thousand<br />
controllers about runway<br />
configurations, <strong>the</strong> types<br />
of planes <strong>the</strong>y handled,<br />
and facility-specific issues.<br />
They ga<strong>the</strong>red traffic<br />
counts, studied aeronautical<br />
charts, and reviewed<br />
Letters of Agreement that<br />
outlined procedures with<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r facilities.<br />
Notebooks containing<br />
all <strong>the</strong> data filled<br />
several long shelves at <strong>the</strong> national office. Heeding<br />
a suggestion from Kilgallon and Swauger, <strong>the</strong> group<br />
purposefully waited to review PATCO’s reclassification<br />
project to avoid being swayed by its conclusions.<br />
“It was some of <strong>the</strong> best advice we got,” says<br />
committee member Mike Coulter, <strong>the</strong> facility rep at<br />
Denver Tower. “We didn’t fall into <strong>the</strong> trap of just<br />
31<br />
Dec.<br />
“<br />
We wanted to make it more<br />
realistic and incorporate<br />
volume, complexities,<br />
knowledge, skills, and ability<br />
to do <strong>the</strong> job.<br />
taking over where PATCO left off, although our findings<br />
were very similar. The issues hadn’t changed.”<br />
The wearisome process of acquiring information<br />
was relatively easy compared with <strong>the</strong> challenge<br />
of devising a standard that included myriad complex<br />
factors. After producing a<br />
document that ran more<br />
than 100 pages, <strong>the</strong> committee<br />
<strong>the</strong>n had to decide<br />
— Reclassification Committee<br />
member Pat Forrey<br />
All airliners with more than thirty passenger seats flying in U.S. airspace<br />
must now be equipped with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Alert/Collision Avoidance System.<br />
Early on, TCAS suffers from many false alerts that cause numerous near<br />
how to weight <strong>the</strong> factors<br />
to rank <strong>the</strong> facilities fairly.<br />
While Coulter taught himself<br />
how to use a spreadsheet<br />
program and plugged in <strong>the</strong><br />
numbers, Haines, Forrey,<br />
and Cam Maltby from Nantucket<br />
Tower wrangled for<br />
hours over <strong>the</strong> formula.<br />
“We were operating in<br />
a pure environment,” Maltby<br />
says. “We didn’t really know<br />
what putting a facility into a<br />
particular grouping would do to <strong>the</strong>ir pay. We were<br />
working on <strong>the</strong> concept that we had <strong>the</strong> ‘right’ facilities<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
At <strong>the</strong> 1994 convention in Tampa, Florida, <strong>the</strong><br />
committee unveiled a proposal that assigned facilities<br />
to one of seven categories and expanded <strong>the</strong> FAA’s<br />
five-tier scale to fourteen levels. The first three grades<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
misses due to pilot unfamiliarity and lack of controller involvement during<br />
product development. The incidents subside as pilots become familiar with<br />
TCAS and controllers help programmers working on software updates.<br />
151
152<br />
1994<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1994<br />
The Third <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
Along with Executive Vice President Michael<br />
McNally, four new regional vice<br />
presidents joined <strong>the</strong> board in 1994:<br />
Alaskan: Jerry Whittaker from<br />
Anchorage TRACON beat incumbent Sam<br />
Rich from Anchorage Center.<br />
Central: Incumbent Michael Putzier<br />
from Kansas City Center ran unopposed for<br />
a second term.<br />
Eastern: Incumbent Tim Haines<br />
from Pittsburgh Tower, who was now leading<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s Reclassification Committee,<br />
chose not to run for re-election. Joe Fruscella,<br />
president of <strong>the</strong> local at New York<br />
TRACON for <strong>the</strong> past six years, ran unopposed.<br />
Great Lakes: Incumbent Jim Poole<br />
from Chicago Center held back a challenge<br />
by Cleveland Center facility rep Pat Forrey<br />
to retain his seat for a second term.<br />
New England: Incumbent T. Craig<br />
17<br />
Jan.<br />
Lasker ran unopposed.<br />
Lasker,<br />
from Boston<br />
Center, took over<br />
for Jim Breen<br />
after he suffered<br />
a mild stroke<br />
and accompanying<br />
vision loss in<br />
<strong>the</strong> fall of 1992,<br />
which forced<br />
him to retire<br />
as a controller<br />
and leave <strong>the</strong><br />
bargaining unit.<br />
Breen contin-<br />
�<br />
ued to work for <strong>the</strong> FAA as an automation<br />
specialist, a category of workers he helped<br />
to organize as a new NATCA bargaining<br />
unit in 2000.<br />
Northwest Mountain: Incumbent<br />
A 6.6-magnitude earthquake in Sou<strong>the</strong>rn California briefly closes Los<br />
Angeles International <strong>Air</strong>port. <strong>Wind</strong>ows in <strong>the</strong> Van Nuys tower cab break,<br />
but <strong>the</strong> airport continues to operate until a temporary tower is activated.<br />
NATCA archives<br />
The new regime: President Krasner’s second board, which took office in September 1994,<br />
included, front row from left: James Ferguson, Northwest Mountain; Joe Fruscella, Eastern;<br />
Jim Poole, Great Lakes; Rich Phillips, Southwest; and Randy Schwitz, Sou<strong>the</strong>rn. Back row<br />
from left: Jerry Whittaker, Alaskan; Owen Bridgeman, Western-Pacific; Krasner; Michael<br />
Putzier, Central; Executive Vice President Michael McNally; and Craig Lasker, New England.<br />
James Ferguson ran unopposed. Ferguson,<br />
from Salt Lake Center, took over for Gary<br />
Molen when he retired in <strong>the</strong> fall of 1993.<br />
Molen’s involvement on <strong>the</strong> board spanned<br />
more than eight years, dating back to <strong>the</strong>
days of AATCC organizing.<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn: Incumbent Randy Schwitz<br />
from Atlanta Center ran unopposed for his<br />
second full term.<br />
Southwest: Ed Mullin, who had served<br />
on <strong>the</strong> board since joining <strong>the</strong> NATCA organizing<br />
drive in 1986, chose not to run<br />
for re-election. Mullin’s two alternates campaigned<br />
for his seat—along with Tulsa Tower<br />
controller Dennis Hartney, who garnered just<br />
9.5 percent of <strong>the</strong> vote. In a runoff vote, Rich<br />
Phillips from Houston Center narrowly won<br />
a majority over longtime Fort Worth Center<br />
President Bill Shedden.<br />
Western-Pacific: Incumbent Karl<br />
Grundmann from Los Angeles TRACON<br />
chose not to run for re-election. After losing<br />
a runoff vote to Grundmann in 1991, Owen<br />
Bridgeman from Phoenix TRACON campaigned<br />
again and defeated Bernie Reed from<br />
Bay TRACON.<br />
2<br />
Feb.<br />
The FAA announces that twenty-five Level I VFR control towers will be<br />
contracted out per year in 1994, 1995 and 1996, plus several more in 1997.<br />
The agency has been contracting out towers since 1982. By <strong>the</strong> end of<br />
covered controllers in training. Facilities were ranked<br />
ATC-4 through -12, leaving two higher grade-levels<br />
for future air travel growth. Soon after <strong>the</strong> convention,<br />
several FAA managers came onboard to form a<br />
joint workgroup. Although <strong>the</strong> two sides would refine<br />
<strong>the</strong> standard over <strong>the</strong> next two years, it remained essentially<br />
true to NATCA’s original proposal.<br />
The agency’s interest was piqued when <strong>the</strong><br />
Clinton administration announced a plan in May<br />
1993 to create a quasi-governmental entity called <strong>the</strong><br />
U.S. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Services Corporation. The nonprofit<br />
USATS, <strong>the</strong> latest in a series of proposals to reform<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA, would derive its income from fees paid by<br />
airlines and o<strong>the</strong>r commercial users ra<strong>the</strong>r than relying<br />
on Congress for funding.<br />
Two elements of <strong>the</strong> USATS proposal appealed<br />
to NATCA. The union hoped that removing <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
and <strong>Air</strong>way Trust Fund from <strong>the</strong> general budget<br />
would ease <strong>the</strong> FAA’s financial constraints. That, in<br />
turn, could help expedite long-awaited modernization<br />
projects and eliminate what had become an annual<br />
union fight in Congress to retain <strong>the</strong> 5 percent<br />
operational differential. NATCA also liked USATS<br />
provisions allowing for a personnel and pay system<br />
that was not locked to <strong>the</strong> GS scale.<br />
USATS never got off <strong>the</strong> ground. However,<br />
parts of <strong>the</strong> plan resurfaced two years later, when<br />
NATCA found itself confronting a historic opportunity<br />
and <strong>the</strong> most serious threat to its existence since<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
1993, private firms were running thirty facilities. In 1994, NATCA and <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA agree to implement <strong>the</strong> Direct Placement Program, which ensures<br />
that affected controllers can transfer to <strong>the</strong> facility of <strong>the</strong>ir choice.<br />
153
154<br />
1994<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1994 Election<br />
Results<br />
�<br />
* Lasker joined <strong>the</strong> NEB in November<br />
1992 after Jim Breen retired.<br />
** Ferguson joined <strong>the</strong> NEB in October<br />
1993 after Gary Molen retired.<br />
15<br />
Apr.<br />
President<br />
Barry Krasner / incumbent Eastern New York TRACON 4,868 70.9<br />
F. Lee Riley Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Atlanta Center 1,966 28.7<br />
Write-ins Various Various 26 0.4<br />
Executive Vice President<br />
Michael McNally Eastern New York Center 5,401 82.3<br />
Clayton J. Hanninen Great Lakes DuPage Tower 1,098 16.7<br />
Write-ins Various Various 65 1.0<br />
Regional Vice Presidents<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Alaskan<br />
Jerry Whittaker Anchorage TRACON 60 44.2 73 51.4<br />
Sam Rich / incumbent Anchorage Center 58 42.6 69 48.6<br />
Richard H. Potzger<br />
Central<br />
Anchorage Center 18 13.2<br />
Michael Putzier / incumbent Kansas City Center 235 83.0<br />
Write-ins<br />
Eastern<br />
Various 48 17.0<br />
Joe Fruscella New York TRACON 1,200 96.0<br />
Write-ins Various 50 4.0<br />
The <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control System Command Center begins operations at<br />
a new facility in Herndon, Virginia. Size and technological constraints<br />
prompted <strong>the</strong> move from FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C.<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent
Great Lakes<br />
Jim Poole / incumbent Chicago Center 683 52.8<br />
Pat Forrey Cleveland Center 600 46.4<br />
Write-ins<br />
New England<br />
Various 10 0.8<br />
T. Craig Lasker / incumb. * Boston Center 315 93.0<br />
Write-ins<br />
Northwest Mountain<br />
Various 24 7.0<br />
James Ferguson / incumb. ** Salt Lake Center 415 95.2<br />
Write-ins<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Various 21 4.8<br />
Randy Schwitz / incumbent Atlanta Center 1,221 92.9<br />
Write-ins<br />
Southwest<br />
Various 94 7.1<br />
Rich Phillips Houston Center 381 50.1<br />
Bill Shedden Fort Worth Center 302 39.7<br />
Dennis Hartney Tulsa Tower 72 9.5<br />
Write-ins<br />
Western-Pacific<br />
Various 5 0.7<br />
Owen Bridgeman Phoenix TRACON 451 52.6<br />
Bernie Reed Bay TRACON 400 46.7<br />
Write-ins Various 6 0.7<br />
19<br />
Apr.<br />
More than 400 delegates attend NATCA’s fifth biennial convention at <strong>the</strong><br />
Hyatt Regency Westshore in Tampa. A proposal to establish a national<br />
seniority system is defeated. The delegates approve honorary lifetime<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
memberships—<strong>the</strong> union’s third and fourth—for former New England<br />
Region Vice President Jim Breen and Labor Relations Director Robert D.<br />
Taylor.<br />
155
156<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Fighting for its life: NATCA hired Ken<br />
Montoya as its second legislative affairs director.<br />
The union’s fate hinged on his first<br />
mission: lobbying Congress to restore key<br />
workers’ rights. Stacy Trigler, left, later<br />
became his assistant. / NATCA archives<br />
1994<br />
3<br />
May<br />
certification.<br />
The Double-Edged Sword<br />
In mid-November 1995, Congress passed an<br />
annual appropriations act for <strong>the</strong> FAA that required<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency to implement a new personnel system and<br />
procurement procedures by April 1, 1996. To give <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA freedom to reinvent itself, Congress exempted it<br />
from <strong>the</strong> vast majority of a thicket of regulations<br />
contained in Title 5 of <strong>the</strong> United States<br />
Code. As a result, <strong>the</strong> agency could<br />
legally negotiate pay for <strong>the</strong> first<br />
time, among many o<strong>the</strong>r potential<br />
changes.<br />
However, part of <strong>the</strong><br />
statutes that vanished included<br />
Chapter 71 of Title<br />
5, a crucial section granting<br />
federal workers <strong>the</strong> right to<br />
union representation and<br />
collective bargaining. “Chapter<br />
71 is <strong>the</strong> heart and soul<br />
of employee rights,” says Bob<br />
Taylor, director of labor relations.<br />
“Without that, we wouldn’t exist.”<br />
In a one-two punch, Congress stripped away<br />
what little remaining authority <strong>the</strong> agency’s unions<br />
had to negotiate by directing <strong>the</strong> FAA to work “in<br />
The Clinton administration announces a plan to create <strong>the</strong> United States<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Services corporation to operate, maintain, and modernize <strong>the</strong><br />
air traffic control system. The nonprofit concern, covering 38,000 FAA<br />
consultation” with <strong>the</strong>m. This deceptively simple<br />
phrase gave <strong>the</strong> agency a free rein to merely announce<br />
sweeping changes before unilaterally implementing<br />
<strong>the</strong>m, unfettered by <strong>the</strong> wishes of its workers.<br />
The dichotomy reflected conflicting agendas<br />
in Washington. The Democratic Clinton administration<br />
was pleased to salvage a portion of its USATS<br />
plan with “FAA reform.” Republicans, who had just<br />
won majorities in both houses of Congress, took<br />
<strong>the</strong> opportunity to severely limit <strong>the</strong> power of <strong>the</strong><br />
agency’s unions.<br />
“The Republicans were looking for something<br />
and <strong>the</strong> administration was looking for something,<br />
but <strong>the</strong>y were coming at it from two different points<br />
of view,” says Ken Montoya, a former aide to Sen. Paul<br />
Simon who joined NATCA as its legislative affairs director<br />
in January 1996.<br />
Now, unless <strong>the</strong> unions could persuade Congress<br />
to reinstate Chapter 71 rights before <strong>the</strong> April 1<br />
deadline for FAA reform, <strong>the</strong>y would lose <strong>the</strong>ir raison<br />
d’être. Although FAA management assured NATCA<br />
that it would continue to bargain in good faith, <strong>the</strong><br />
union was taking no chances. “We do not exist because<br />
<strong>the</strong>y allow us to exist,” <strong>the</strong>n-President Krasner<br />
says. “We exist because we have a right to exist.”<br />
Just when NATCA was hitting its stride in <strong>the</strong><br />
workplace and <strong>the</strong> aviation community at large, its<br />
fate rested on <strong>the</strong> ability of Montoya and o<strong>the</strong>rs to<br />
lobby Congress and <strong>the</strong> White House.<br />
employees, would bring in revenue by levying fees on commercial aviation.<br />
NATCA supports <strong>the</strong> proposal, but it is never implemented.
As Washingtonians shivered through <strong>the</strong> first<br />
few months of 1996, NATCA fought two battles. On<br />
one front, <strong>the</strong> union sought to include language restoring<br />
workers’ rights in a continuing resolution, <strong>the</strong><br />
only way it could get legislation enacted in time. Congress<br />
was passing a series<br />
of <strong>the</strong> bills to prevent <strong>the</strong><br />
government from shutting<br />
down while it ar-<br />
gued over balancing <strong>the</strong><br />
budget.<br />
The o<strong>the</strong>r front entailed<br />
streng<strong>the</strong>ning <strong>the</strong><br />
“in consultation” phraseology<br />
to “shall negotiate.”<br />
Even if Chapter 71 rights<br />
were reinstated, <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
could still develop procedures<br />
before bargaining<br />
with its unions over<br />
putting <strong>the</strong>m into effect.<br />
The new language would<br />
obligate <strong>the</strong> agency to involve its workers throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> process.<br />
To expand its lobbying fight, NATCA joined<br />
forces with <strong>the</strong> FAA’s two o<strong>the</strong>r major unions—<strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Association</strong> of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Specialists and<br />
<strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways Systems Specialists—to<br />
form <strong>the</strong> Aviation Labor Coalition. At <strong>the</strong> same time,<br />
3<br />
June<br />
“<br />
We’re scabs in some of your<br />
eyes … but, by God, we are<br />
a union again. Good, bad or<br />
indifferent. And <strong>the</strong>y’re about<br />
to kill us one more time.<br />
Michael McNally, who’d won election as executive<br />
vice president in 1994, launched ano<strong>the</strong>r offensive<br />
by turning to <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO for help.<br />
Occupying MEBA’s seat at <strong>the</strong> mid-February<br />
meeting of <strong>the</strong> Executive Council in Bal Harbour,<br />
Florida, McNally faced <strong>the</strong><br />
eighty members and <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
staffs ga<strong>the</strong>red around a<br />
long, rectangular table.<br />
— Executive Vice President<br />
Michael McNally<br />
Citing lengthy delays and cost overruns of about $1.5 billion, FAA Administrator<br />
David Hinson cancels most of <strong>the</strong> Advanced Automation System<br />
project. However, he allows <strong>the</strong> Display System Replacement project to<br />
Technically, as a MEBA affiliate,<br />
NATCA did not have<br />
<strong>the</strong> authority to speak at <strong>the</strong><br />
proceedings. Breaking protocol,<br />
he introduced himself,<br />
spelled out <strong>the</strong> threat to <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA’s unions, and asked for<br />
help. The council members<br />
were surprised; this had not<br />
been on <strong>the</strong> agenda. McNally<br />
was whisked away to speak<br />
with Richard Trumka, <strong>the</strong><br />
AFL-CIO’s newly elected<br />
secretary-treasurer.<br />
Walking down a hall, Trumka said, “We have<br />
to find a room.” They pushed open a door and stepped<br />
inside <strong>the</strong> hotel kitchen. To <strong>the</strong> accompaniment of<br />
clanging pots and pans, McNally outlined again what<br />
was happening in Washington. Vice President Linda<br />
Chavez-Thompson showed up and escorted McNally<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
157<br />
In a one-two punch,<br />
Congress stripped<br />
away what little<br />
remaining authority<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency’s unions<br />
had to negotiate.<br />
move forward at <strong>the</strong> nation’s twenty-one en route centers. DSR consists<br />
of 20-inch-square color monitors powered by IBM RISC-6000 computers,<br />
but it does not offer new functionality.
158<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Working <strong>the</strong> Hill: Grass-roots legislative<br />
activism helped save <strong>the</strong> union during<br />
NATCA’s battle to regain key rights taken<br />
away by Congress in 1995. / NATCA archives<br />
1994<br />
back into <strong>the</strong> meeting.<br />
President John Sweeney stopped <strong>the</strong> proceedings<br />
and McNally explained once more. “We’re scabs<br />
in some of your eyes. I understand that’s what we<br />
look like to you,” he said. “But, by God, we are a<br />
union again. Good, bad or indifferent. And <strong>the</strong>y’re<br />
about to kill us one more time. And if <strong>the</strong>y kill us this<br />
time, whe<strong>the</strong>r we’re scabs or not, o<strong>the</strong>rs in this room<br />
are going to go down, as well.”<br />
Sweeney said: “We will take care of this, Mr.<br />
McNally.”<br />
For <strong>the</strong> first time since <strong>the</strong> strike in 1981, a<br />
U.S. president became involved in an air traffic control<br />
labor issue. During a White House<br />
meeting brokered by <strong>the</strong> Clinton administration,<br />
Montoya and Krasner pleaded<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir case with <strong>the</strong> secretary of <strong>the</strong> Cabinet<br />
and representatives from <strong>the</strong> FAA,<br />
Transportation Department, and Office of<br />
Management and Budget.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> Clinton administration<br />
agreed to insist on reinstating <strong>the</strong> workers’<br />
rights, NATCA <strong>the</strong>n ran into a stumbling<br />
block with <strong>the</strong> chairman of <strong>the</strong> Senate Appropriations<br />
Committee. Oregon Republican<br />
Mark Hatfield refused to include Chapter<br />
71 language in a continuing resolution<br />
without <strong>the</strong> approval of Sen. John McCain,<br />
an Arizona Republican who chaired <strong>the</strong><br />
June Sep.<br />
15<br />
The FAA commissions twin control towers at Dallas-Fort<br />
Worth International <strong>Air</strong>port, making DFW <strong>the</strong> only airport in<br />
<strong>the</strong> world to have three working towers.<br />
26<br />
Commerce Committee.<br />
This presented yet ano<strong>the</strong>r dilemma—as well<br />
as <strong>the</strong> chance for victory on NATCA’s second front.<br />
McCain was drafting <strong>the</strong> FAA Reauthorization Act<br />
of 1996, which outlined <strong>the</strong> parameters of agency<br />
reform, and he demanded union support for his bill<br />
before giving Hatfield <strong>the</strong> green light. NATCA liked<br />
many provisions of <strong>the</strong> act—with one key exception.<br />
It included <strong>the</strong> same “in consultation” provision as<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA reform measure that Congress had passed<br />
<strong>the</strong> previous fall.<br />
After McCain’s staff verbally agreed to change<br />
<strong>the</strong> language to “shall negotiate,” Montoya and <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s <strong>National</strong> Legislative<br />
Committee endorsed<br />
<strong>the</strong> reauthorization<br />
bill. But as <strong>the</strong><br />
April 1 deadline loomed<br />
ever closer, McCain had<br />
still not given Hatfield<br />
his approval to include<br />
Chapter 71 rights in a<br />
continuing resolution.<br />
By mid-March,<br />
Krasner decided time<br />
was running out and<br />
turned up <strong>the</strong> heat. In<br />
a page sent to <strong>the</strong> nine<br />
regional vice presidents,<br />
More than 250 participants attend <strong>the</strong> union’s second annual<br />
“Lobby Week.”
he instructed <strong>the</strong>m to “let McCain feel <strong>the</strong> pain.” Krasner<br />
included McCain’s phone and fax numbers. Board<br />
members forwarded <strong>the</strong> information to hundreds of<br />
facility representatives. The local union presidents, reinforced<br />
by an army of grass-roots activists organized<br />
by <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee, quickly jammed<br />
<strong>the</strong> senator’s phone lines.<br />
“They shut down McCain’s office with incoming<br />
calls,” Montoya recalls.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> eleventh hour, McCain gave his okay to<br />
Hatfield. On <strong>the</strong> afternoon of Friday, March 29, <strong>the</strong><br />
last business day before NATCA would lose its very<br />
essence, Congress passed a continuing resolution that<br />
included three special items: aid for Bosnia, Midwest<br />
flood relief, and restoration of Chapter 71 rights.<br />
Montoya awaited <strong>the</strong> outcome while pacing in<br />
a staff room in <strong>the</strong> Hart Senate Office Building. The<br />
moment he saw a fax showing <strong>the</strong> approved resolution,<br />
he called Krasner.<br />
“It’s done,” he said.<br />
Shortly after, NATCA pagers across <strong>the</strong> nation<br />
started beeping.<br />
“It was <strong>the</strong> most beautiful of all beautiful turns<br />
of events,” says Ruth Marlin, who served as chairwoman<br />
of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee in<br />
1996 and was later elected executive vice president.<br />
“We effectively used <strong>the</strong> legislation designed to cripple<br />
us to get everything we ever wanted.”<br />
McCain’s FAA Reauthorization Act became<br />
Oct. Oct.<br />
The FAA develops a structured system for implementing Critical<br />
Incident Stress Debriefing, which was provided for under<br />
Article 74 of <strong>the</strong> 1993 NATCA/FAA contract.<br />
law <strong>the</strong> following October. As his staff members had<br />
promised, it included <strong>the</strong> “shall negotiate” language.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> four months that NATCA fought for<br />
its survival on Capitol Hill, <strong>the</strong> union simultaneously<br />
engaged in ano<strong>the</strong>r massive effort to help reinvent<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA under <strong>the</strong> congressionally mandated reform.<br />
Along with NAATS and PASS—<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r two groups<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Aviation Labor Coalition—NATCA and <strong>the</strong><br />
agency created task forces to discuss virtually every<br />
aspect of personnel procedures, from pay and leave<br />
policies to training to disciplinary actions.<br />
Information from <strong>the</strong>se meetings at agency<br />
headquarters flowed into a command post at <strong>the</strong><br />
end of a maze of corridors on <strong>the</strong> second floor of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Mayflower Hotel, two blocks from <strong>the</strong> national<br />
office. The “back room” was crammed with tables,<br />
computers, a photocopier, and a crew consisting of<br />
NATCA members Carol Branaman, Jon Ramsden,<br />
Joe Trainor, and <strong>the</strong>n-Labor Relations Director<br />
Richard Gordon.<br />
They consolidated <strong>the</strong> data, researched employee<br />
practices at o<strong>the</strong>r companies, and prepared<br />
proposals for a new FAA. All of <strong>the</strong>ir material was<br />
collected in a thick, black notebook known as “<strong>the</strong><br />
football,” which someone monitored at all times. The<br />
football never left <strong>the</strong> room.<br />
The group submitted several dozen suggested<br />
reforms to <strong>the</strong> union and disbanded on April 1. Krasner,<br />
McNally, and Montoya spent <strong>the</strong> summer hag-<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
159<br />
NATCA members<br />
prepared proposals<br />
for a new FAA. All<br />
of <strong>the</strong>ir material was<br />
collected in a thick<br />
black notebook known<br />
as “<strong>the</strong> football,” which<br />
someone monitored at<br />
all times.<br />
Former Western-Pacific Region Vice President Karl Grundmann<br />
starts work as a liaison at FAA headquarters. This new program<br />
enables NATCA to better represent its interests in <strong>the</strong> agency.
160<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA archives<br />
A fortuitous pairing: President Michael McNally and FAA<br />
Administrator Jane Garvey both took office in 1997. They developed<br />
a good relationship that resulted in an unprecedented pay<br />
agreement and improved worker-management cooperation.<br />
1994<br />
Oct.<br />
The Stars Align<br />
gling with <strong>the</strong> agency over which<br />
proposals to include in McCain’s<br />
FAA Reauthorization Act.<br />
More than thirty were adopted,<br />
but <strong>the</strong> most significant by<br />
far enabled <strong>the</strong> FAA to abandon <strong>the</strong><br />
standard GS pay scale, negotiate with<br />
NATCA, and implement its own pay<br />
system.<br />
“Removing <strong>the</strong>mselves from<br />
<strong>the</strong> GS scale was a quantum step<br />
forward,” says John Leyden, who<br />
had tried to attain <strong>the</strong> same goal for<br />
PATCO two decades earlier.<br />
With <strong>the</strong> legal framework in<br />
place at last, NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
now had to translate <strong>the</strong> momentous<br />
reform into reality. Two individuals<br />
were about to emerge who would<br />
prove to be key in closing <strong>the</strong> deal<br />
of a lifetime.<br />
In 1994, Barry Krasner ran for re-election as<br />
president and easily fended off a challenge from<br />
Lee Riley, <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn regional rep who served<br />
on <strong>the</strong> first <strong>National</strong> Executive Board for about<br />
eighteen months before stepping down. During<br />
At <strong>the</strong> FAA’s request, RTCA Inc. begins to study a concept known as Free<br />
Flight. By using new technology and procedures, this concept would enable<br />
pilots at high altitudes to fly to <strong>the</strong>ir destination more directly ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
Krasner’s second term, NATCA racked up a number<br />
of major accomplishments.<br />
The union paid off its debt to MEBA, instituted<br />
full-time liaisons at FAA headquarters to participate<br />
in safety and technical projects, asserted its political<br />
influence to dodge <strong>the</strong> Chapter 71 bullet and retain<br />
<strong>the</strong> 5 percent operational differential, and was now<br />
heading into contract talks involving pay. Krasner<br />
was widely revered among <strong>the</strong> rank and file for his<br />
eloquence, savvy, and sharp negotiating skills. Many<br />
believed he would run for office again.<br />
But having spent <strong>the</strong> first six years of his marriage<br />
to Sallie away from home, Krasner was ready<br />
to return to New York. He made his decision public<br />
in a poignant speech at <strong>the</strong> 1996 convention in<br />
Pittsburgh, telling New York TRACON facility rep<br />
Phil Barbarello to “dust off my headset” and warning<br />
Sallie, who was sitting in <strong>the</strong> audience, to “get your<br />
clo<strong>the</strong>s out of my closet because I’m coming home.”<br />
The following spring, McNally, Riley, Joseph<br />
Bellino, and Bill “Blackie” Blackmer from Washington<br />
Center all sought <strong>the</strong> top office. During his term<br />
as executive vice president, Bellino had successfully<br />
pushed for higher salaries for <strong>the</strong> union’s top two<br />
officers and, consequently, had chosen not to run<br />
again in 1994 to avoid charges of impropriety. Now,<br />
Bellino, McNally, and Riley each received about onethird<br />
of <strong>the</strong> vote while Blackmer trailed far behind.<br />
In a runoff election, McNally picked up many Riley<br />
than following established airways. <strong>Controllers</strong> would provide clearances<br />
only to ensure safety and prevent congestion.
supporters and won.<br />
One month before McNally took over <strong>the</strong> helm<br />
from Krasner in September 1997, <strong>the</strong> FAA’s fourteenth<br />
administrator moved into her office at agency<br />
headquarters. Ending a revolving door policy that<br />
had afflicted <strong>the</strong> FAA’s executive suite since its inception<br />
in 1958, <strong>the</strong> Senate appointed Jane Garvey to an<br />
unprecedented five-year term.<br />
A former director of Logan International <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
in Boston, Garvey came to <strong>the</strong> FAA after serving<br />
in <strong>the</strong> two top positions at <strong>the</strong> Federal Highway<br />
Administration for more than four years. Bright and<br />
sincere, she was a firm believer in collaboration and<br />
soon endeared herself to controllers by listening to<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir concerns and demonstrating that <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
valued <strong>the</strong>ir input. The sharp difference from previous<br />
administrators floored <strong>the</strong> work force, which<br />
considered Garvey a breath of fresh air.<br />
Houston Center controller Trish Gilbert, who<br />
sits on <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee and has<br />
actively organized new members and o<strong>the</strong>r bargaining<br />
units, echoes a widely held sentiment when she<br />
says Garvey “realizes that you can get more from<br />
people when you respect <strong>the</strong>m ra<strong>the</strong>r than try to<br />
control <strong>the</strong>m.”<br />
Garvey credits her parents for instilling that<br />
attitude. “My mom was a great teacher and she listened<br />
to people, brought <strong>the</strong>m forward through persuasion<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than coercion,” she says. Garvey also<br />
28<br />
Nov.<br />
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aldrich dismisses NATCA’s lawsuit to<br />
prevent <strong>the</strong> contracting out of 111 Level I VFR towers. The judge cites case<br />
law supporting government contracts to private employers—essentially<br />
understands her limitations in technical knowledge<br />
and isn’t shy about seeking guidance from o<strong>the</strong>rs. “I<br />
always think I have something I can learn.”<br />
The new administrator and McNally met for<br />
<strong>the</strong> first time that fall. Over <strong>the</strong> next few years, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
established a lasting rapport and an unparalleled<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
Fourteen administrators have directed <strong>the</strong> FAA since its inception in 1958<br />
1 Elwood R. Quesada Nov. 1, 1958 – Jan. 20, 1961<br />
2 Najeeb E. Halaby March 3, 1961 – July l, 1965<br />
3 William F. McKee July l, 1965 – July 31, 1968<br />
4 John H. Shaffer March 24, 1969 – March 14, 1973<br />
5 Alexander P. Butterfield March 14, 1973 – March 31, 1975<br />
6 John L. McLucas Nov. 24, 1975 – April l, 1977<br />
7 Langhorne M. Bond May 4, 1977 – Jan. 20, 1981<br />
8 J. Lynn Helms April 22, 1981 – Jan. 31, 1984<br />
9 Donald D. Engen April 10, 1984 – July 2, 1987<br />
10 T. Allan McArtor July 22, 1987 – Feb. 17, 1989<br />
11 James B. Busey IV June 30, 1989 – Dec. 4, 1991<br />
12 Thomas C. Richards June 27, 1992 – Jan. 20, 1993<br />
13 David R. Hinson Aug. 10, 1993 – Nov. 9, 1996<br />
14 Jane F. Garvey Aug. 4, 1997 – Aug. 4, 2002 *<br />
FYI<br />
* Appointed to a five-year term<br />
agreeing that air traffic control is not “inherently governmental”—and<br />
rules that <strong>the</strong> union lacks standing to press its claim against <strong>the</strong> FAA and<br />
Transportation Department. NATCA appeals <strong>the</strong> decision.<br />
161
Michael<br />
McNally<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
Specialist<br />
1982 — Pr e s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: XO<br />
HOm e t O w n : New York City<br />
CHildre n:<br />
Shannon, Erin<br />
NATCA archives<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s:<br />
ZNY Center<br />
Michael McNally always had his eyes in <strong>the</strong><br />
sky. He graduated from <strong>the</strong> specialized Aviation<br />
High School in Queens, New York, and joined<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force. He wanted to become a military<br />
controller, but was stymied by a ten-month waiting<br />
list. Instead, he learned electronics and applied to<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA after leaving <strong>the</strong> service. Hired in 1982,<br />
McNally found <strong>the</strong> academy exciting and hoped to<br />
settle in happily at New York Center.<br />
Realities of <strong>the</strong> post-strike workplace soon<br />
tempered his dream. Training became an ordeal<br />
when a supervisor sexually harassed a married<br />
woman at <strong>the</strong> facility. McNally verified her allegations<br />
and endured harsh reprisals from <strong>the</strong> supe.<br />
He survived after ano<strong>the</strong>r manager took McNally<br />
under his wing and certified him as a journeyman.<br />
Like his colleagues, however, McNally <strong>the</strong>n grew<br />
weary of working six-day weeks to keep pace with<br />
skyrocketing traffic.<br />
Consequently, he willingly heeded <strong>the</strong> call<br />
when former PATCO controller Ed Day, newcomer<br />
Steve Bell, and o<strong>the</strong>rs talked about ano<strong>the</strong>r union.<br />
After NATCA was certified, McNally served for<br />
four years as New York Center’s first elected president.<br />
His union perspective was founded on a<br />
desire to work cooperatively with management. A<br />
receptive manager agreed with that philosophy,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> two laid <strong>the</strong> groundwork for what became<br />
a major labor-management initiative in <strong>the</strong> early<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
<strong>National</strong> president 1997-2000; executive vice president<br />
1994-97; national QTP coordinator; national<br />
president emeritus; N.Y. Center local president.<br />
hir e d<br />
Jan.<br />
1982<br />
1990s known as Quality Through Partnership.<br />
McNally’s vision of collaboration continued<br />
during his term as executive vice president. He encouraged<br />
expansion of a budding roster of NATCA<br />
liaisons and technical representatives, which<br />
boosted controller influence in FAA projects while<br />
saving <strong>the</strong> agency time and money.<br />
His election as president in 1997 came shortly<br />
after NATCA won <strong>the</strong> right to legally bargain<br />
over pay. The union was also finishing a massive<br />
project to restructure facility and pay classifications.<br />
Hoping to negotiate a compensation package<br />
that fairly represented controller workloads,<br />
McNally understood <strong>the</strong> need for cooperation more<br />
than ever. His successful talks with FAA Administrator<br />
Jane Garvey fur<strong>the</strong>r solidified <strong>the</strong> labor-management<br />
partnership in a contract that rewarded<br />
controllers with substantially larger paychecks.<br />
Although some union members accused<br />
McNally of not communicating enough, he defends<br />
his style as a necessary strategy. “I would have<br />
tipped my hand,” he says. “I had to keep things<br />
close to <strong>the</strong> vest.”<br />
After nine years away from home, McNally<br />
left office in 2000 to spend more time with his<br />
wife, Maria, and two daughters. Coming on <strong>the</strong><br />
heels of <strong>the</strong> historic contract and direct affiliation<br />
with <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO, he remains wistful about stepping<br />
down. “It’s <strong>the</strong> best job I ever did,” he says.<br />
“The hardest job I ever did.”
level of respect and trust between <strong>the</strong> agency and <strong>the</strong><br />
controller community.<br />
When President Krasner assembled <strong>the</strong> third<br />
contract team in early 1997, <strong>the</strong> chief negotiator<br />
turned to Bernie Reed again to serve as chairman.<br />
Like <strong>the</strong> previous group, <strong>the</strong> ten members who<br />
joined Krasner, Reed, and Labor Relations Director<br />
Bob Taylor engaged in team-building exercises before<br />
immersing <strong>the</strong>mselves in research and bargaining<br />
preparations. The pile of materials <strong>the</strong>y accumulated<br />
measured roughly five feet high by ten feet wide and<br />
was trucked to each meeting location.<br />
As in 1993, <strong>the</strong> walls of <strong>the</strong> NATCA hotel caucus<br />
room were plastered with lists of contract goals,<br />
proposed articles, and pending tasks. This time,<br />
laptop computers littered <strong>the</strong> tables. Team members<br />
took along a mini-refrigerator and brought in a pallet<br />
of soft drinks. During one negotiating stint, <strong>the</strong>y survived<br />
on pizzas from a nearby restaurant that offered<br />
a magnet with each delivery. By <strong>the</strong> time <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
checked out of <strong>the</strong> hotel two weeks later, magnets<br />
blanketed <strong>the</strong> fridge.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> lack of Title 5 restrictions enabled<br />
<strong>the</strong> two sides to talk about pay, existing law still prevented<br />
<strong>the</strong>m from negotiating health and retirement<br />
benefits. A new memorandum from <strong>the</strong> FLRA also<br />
imposed a significant burden—chiefly on <strong>the</strong> union.<br />
The parties were now subject to <strong>the</strong> FLRA’s “covered<br />
by” doctrine, which determined <strong>the</strong> validity of unfair<br />
1995<br />
labor practice charges based on one of three prongs.<br />
The most far-reaching prong stipulated that no<br />
charge could be filed if <strong>the</strong> parties “reasonably should<br />
have contemplated” <strong>the</strong> subject, even when it wasn’t<br />
explicitly spelled out in <strong>the</strong> contract. Given <strong>the</strong> vast<br />
array of workplace issues, this language sent shivers<br />
up <strong>the</strong> controllers’ spines.<br />
“Can you imagine having to reasonably contemplate<br />
everything?”<br />
team member<br />
John Carr says.<br />
“We were doing<br />
a contract<br />
literally with<br />
no net.”<br />
To protect<br />
<strong>the</strong> union, NAT-<br />
CA proposed to <strong>the</strong><br />
agency that <strong>the</strong>y abide<br />
by just one of <strong>the</strong> three prongs: If <strong>the</strong> contract “expressly<br />
contained” a subject in question, an unfair<br />
labor practice charge could not be filed. For anything<br />
not spelled out in <strong>the</strong> bargaining agreement, <strong>the</strong><br />
union would still be able to file charges.<br />
The agency’s Ray Thoman, who postured<br />
against Steve Bell and <strong>the</strong> first negotiating team, initially<br />
refused to sign <strong>the</strong> Memorandum of Understanding.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> FAA was interested in modifying<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s national seniority policy, which had been<br />
Jan. Feb.<br />
10<br />
Ballots are counted in <strong>the</strong> election to organize traffic management<br />
coordinators, who vote 279 to 169 against joining NAT-<br />
CA. In May 2000, <strong>the</strong>y vote in favor of union representation.<br />
28<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
163<br />
Round Three: Bernie Reed, left, served as<br />
contract team chairman for a second time<br />
in 1997-98 while Barry Krasner assumed<br />
<strong>the</strong> role of chief negotiator. / NATCA archives<br />
Denver International <strong>Air</strong>port, occupying 53 square miles, begins<br />
operations during a snowstorm. The last major airport to open<br />
in <strong>the</strong> United States was Dallas-Fort Worth in 1974.
164<br />
1995<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1997<br />
The Fourth <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
With Michael McNally running<br />
for president, several candidates stepped<br />
forward to campaign for executive vice<br />
president in <strong>the</strong> 1997 election.<br />
They included: James R. “Randy”<br />
Schwitz, who’d represented <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Region on <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
since 1990; James “Ajax” Kidd, a longtime<br />
Washington Center facility rep who<br />
helped lead <strong>the</strong> fight to increase staffing<br />
at <strong>the</strong> center, wrote <strong>the</strong> Eastern Region’s<br />
strategic plan in <strong>the</strong> early 1990s, and was<br />
a member of an FAA reform task force;<br />
Will Faville Jr., a former Alaskan regional<br />
rep and safety and technology director at<br />
headquarters who was working as a controller<br />
again at Muskegon Tower/TRACON<br />
in Michigan; and Larry “Bubba” Watson,<br />
an Atlanta Center controller.<br />
Schwitz outpolled Kidd by a mere<br />
eight votes. As with <strong>the</strong> presidential race,<br />
6<br />
Mar.<br />
�<br />
however, nei<strong>the</strong>r<br />
candidate attained a<br />
majority due to significant<br />
support for<br />
Faville. In a runoff,<br />
Schwitz pulled fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />
ahead to collect<br />
nearly 53 percent of<br />
<strong>the</strong> vote.<br />
Among <strong>the</strong><br />
regional vice presidents,<br />
six new faces<br />
joined <strong>the</strong> board:<br />
Alaskan:<br />
Incumbent Jerry<br />
Whittaker from Anchorage TRACON<br />
chose not to run for re-election. Ricky<br />
Thompson from Anchorage Center ran<br />
unopposed.<br />
Central: Bill Otto from St. Louis<br />
TRACON defeated incumbent Michael<br />
More than 400 participants attend NATCA’s third annual “Lobby Week.”<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Changing of <strong>the</strong> guard: In July 2000, <strong>the</strong> fourth <strong>National</strong> Executive Board dedicated<br />
NATCA’s new headquarters in Washington. The board included, from left: James<br />
Ferguson, Northwest Mountain; Gus Guerra, Western-Pacific; Jim D’Agati, Engineers &<br />
Architects; Ricky Thompson, Alaskan; Jim Poole, Great Lakes; Executive Vice President<br />
Randy Schwitz; President Michael McNally; Bill Otto, Central; Joe Fruscella, Eastern;<br />
Mike Blake, New England; Mark Pallone, Southwest; and Rodney Turner, Sou<strong>the</strong>rn.<br />
Putzier from Kansas City Center.<br />
Eastern: Incumbent Joe Fruscella<br />
from New York TRACON ran unopposed<br />
for a second term.<br />
Great Lakes: Incumbent Jim Poole<br />
from Chicago Center withstood a sig-
nificant challenge from <strong>the</strong> center’s longtime<br />
facility rep, Mark Scholl, and retained his seat<br />
for a third term.<br />
New England: Incumbent T. Craig<br />
Lasker from Boston Center chose not to run<br />
for re-election. Mike Blake, <strong>the</strong> facility rep at<br />
<strong>the</strong> center, ran unopposed.<br />
Northwest Mountain: Incumbent<br />
James Ferguson from Salt Lake Center held<br />
back a challenge by Reclassification Committee<br />
member Mike Coulter from Denver Tower<br />
to retain his seat for a second full term.<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn: Rodney Turner from Nashville<br />
Metro Tower/TRACON beat Tim Leonard<br />
from Miami Center.<br />
Southwest: Mark Pallone from Dallas-Fort<br />
Worth TRACON defeated incumbent<br />
Rich Phillips from Houston Center.<br />
Western-Pacific: Gus Guerra from Oakland<br />
Center beat incumbent Owen Bridgeman<br />
from Phoenix TRACON.<br />
1<br />
May<br />
NATCA starts a program to award five $2,000 scholarships annually. May<br />
1 is <strong>the</strong> deadline for children of active members to submit a 500-word<br />
essay. NATCA subsequently announces <strong>the</strong> inaugural winners to be: Karen<br />
adopted a year before contract talks began. To remove<br />
a stumbling block—and avoid <strong>the</strong> potential of<br />
negotiating over <strong>the</strong> contract ad nauseam with <strong>the</strong><br />
union—Thoman agreed to <strong>the</strong> single-prong test after<br />
Krasner pledged to review <strong>the</strong> seniority issue at NAT-<br />
CA’s 1998 convention.<br />
“The doc trine was<br />
extremely damaging<br />
to unions<br />
in <strong>the</strong>ir effort to<br />
conduct midterm<br />
bargaining,” says<br />
Andy Cantwell,<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r member<br />
of <strong>the</strong> team who<br />
helps te ach cont r act pro - visions<br />
at facility rep training sessions. “It’s my belief<br />
that this was one of <strong>the</strong> most significant achievements<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 1998 contract.”<br />
One of <strong>the</strong> union’s proposals prohibited contract<br />
team members from leaving <strong>the</strong> bargaining<br />
unit and going into management for <strong>the</strong> duration of<br />
<strong>the</strong> agreement. After <strong>the</strong> FAA rejected <strong>the</strong> article on<br />
<strong>the</strong> grounds that it concerned union business, <strong>the</strong><br />
members decided to affirm <strong>the</strong>ir allegiance ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
way. Carr wrote <strong>the</strong> pledge on a cloth napkin at dinner<br />
one night. Each of <strong>the</strong> members <strong>the</strong>n scrawled<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir signatures on “<strong>the</strong> shroud” as it was passed<br />
around <strong>the</strong> table. *<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
Blittersdorf, Margaret L. Bullard, Melissa Lee Hambrick, Laura Caroline<br />
Hightower, and Brandy L. Smith. Chalmer Detling is recognized for best<br />
essay.<br />
165<br />
* Mark Hood from New York TRACON,<br />
keeper of “<strong>the</strong> shroud,” noted in 2000 that<br />
John Carr technically—and unwittingly—<br />
violated its precept when he was elected<br />
president. The union’s top two officers serve<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir terms while on leave without pay from<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA.
166<br />
19xx<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1997 Election<br />
Results<br />
�<br />
President<br />
Michael McNally Eastern Executive VP 2,233 35.6 3,465 61.4<br />
Joseph M. Bellino Great Lakes Chicago TRACON 1,994 31.7 2,175 38.6<br />
F. Lee Riley Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Atlanta Center 1,837 29.2<br />
Bill “Blackie” Blackmer Eastern Washington Center 183 2.9<br />
Write-ins Various Various 37 0.6<br />
Executive Vice President<br />
Randy Schwitz Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Regional VP 2,149 35.0 2,956 52.7<br />
James “Ajax” Kidd Eastern Washington Center 2,141 34.9 2,654 47.3<br />
Will Faville Jr. Great Lakes Muskegon Twr./TRACON 1,441 23.5<br />
Bubba Watson Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Atlanta Center 305 5.0<br />
Write-ins Various Various 96 1.6<br />
Regional Vice Presidents<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Alaskan<br />
Ricky Thompson Anchorage Center 90 92.8<br />
Write-ins<br />
Central<br />
Various 7 7.2<br />
Bill Otto St. Louis TRACON 180 65.2<br />
Michael Putzier / incumbent Kansas City Center 85 30.8<br />
Write-ins<br />
Eastern<br />
Various 11 4.0<br />
Joe Fruscella / incumbent New York TRACON 979 88.4<br />
Write-ins Various 129 11.6<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent
Votes Percent<br />
Great Lakes<br />
Jim Poole / incumbent Chicago Center 507 45.9 644 56.3<br />
Mark Scholl Chicago Center 321 29.0 499 43.7<br />
Jim Green Detroit TRACON 269 24.3<br />
Write-ins<br />
New England<br />
Various 9 0.8<br />
Mike Blake Boston Center 193 79.4<br />
Write-ins<br />
Northwest Mountain<br />
Various 50 20.6<br />
James Ferguson / incumbent Salt Lake Center 289 63.0<br />
Mike Coulter Denver Tower 168 36.6<br />
Write-ins<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Various 2 0.4<br />
Rodney Turner Nashville Met. Twr./TRA. 758 53.8<br />
Tim Leonard Miami Center 617 43.8<br />
Write-ins<br />
Southwest<br />
Various 34 2.4<br />
Mark Pallone DFW TRACON 339 51.0<br />
Rich Phillips / incumbent Houston Center 315 47.4<br />
Write-ins<br />
Western-Pacific<br />
Various 11 1.6<br />
Gus Guerra Oakland Center 431 51.8<br />
Howie Rifas John Wayne Tower 229 27.5<br />
Owen Bridgeman / incumbent Phoenix TRACON 164 19.7<br />
Write-ins Various 8 1.0<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
167
168<br />
1995<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Third contract team: NATCA spent a year negotiating with <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
Union members included, from left: Tim Kuhl; Labor Relations Director<br />
Bob Taylor; Phil Barbarello; Bruce Means; Eric Owens; Chris<br />
While <strong>the</strong> two sides hammered out 106 articles<br />
from <strong>the</strong> summer of 1997 to <strong>the</strong> summer of 1998,<br />
McNally worked on <strong>the</strong> pay component of <strong>the</strong> contract,<br />
which NATCA and <strong>the</strong> agency agreed to handle<br />
separately. By now, <strong>the</strong> Reclassification Committee<br />
had enlisted <strong>the</strong> help of Ed Mullin to provide economic<br />
justification for a raise. Mullin tracked airline<br />
stocks—“I knew what each of <strong>the</strong>m was worth to <strong>the</strong><br />
penny”—and ga<strong>the</strong>red o<strong>the</strong>r diverse information on<br />
aviation’s economic impact.<br />
“It’s actually <strong>the</strong> easiest argument I’ve ever<br />
made in my life,” he says. Although NATCA is one<br />
of <strong>the</strong> smallest federal-sector unions—representing<br />
just 15,000 controllers and 1,200 engineers and<br />
July Oct.<br />
21<br />
The FAA and Qantas finish <strong>the</strong> first test of <strong>the</strong> satellite-based<br />
Future <strong>Air</strong> Navigation System, designed to improve communications<br />
between controllers and pilots flying oceanic routes.<br />
1<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Boughn; President Michael McNally; Dan Fitas; FAA Administrator<br />
Jane Garvey; chief negotiator Barry Krasner; team Chairman Bernie<br />
Reed; Mark Hood; Carol Branaman; John Carr; and Andy Cantwell.<br />
architects at <strong>the</strong> time—its members “spin gold” by<br />
helping to support an industry that contributes $3.5<br />
trillion to <strong>the</strong> world’s economy, or 12 percent of its<br />
total gross output.<br />
Based on Mullin’s research and o<strong>the</strong>r factors,<br />
<strong>the</strong> committee established 5 percent as <strong>the</strong> minimum<br />
raise. Armed with this information, McNally approached<br />
staff members on <strong>the</strong> key Appropriations<br />
and Authorizing committees in Congress to let <strong>the</strong>m<br />
know <strong>the</strong> union’s bottom line. He and Legislative Affairs<br />
Director Ken Montoya also lobbied <strong>the</strong> White<br />
House to push reclassification along.<br />
Throughout <strong>the</strong> spring of 1998, McNally and<br />
Tony Herman, an attorney retained by <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
NATCA pays off its loan to MEBA with a final check of<br />
$34,975.09. Overall, <strong>the</strong> union saved about $982,000 in interest<br />
and accelerated repayment by ten years.
from <strong>the</strong> prestigious firm of Covington & Burling,<br />
dickered over money. Although some union members<br />
argued in favor of an across-<strong>the</strong>-board raise for<br />
everyone, McNally refused to turn his back on <strong>the</strong><br />
concept of pay for performance and years of work by<br />
<strong>the</strong> Reclassification Committee.<br />
“There are a lot of controllers in <strong>the</strong> system today<br />
who believe that a controller is a controller<br />
is a controller. No matter how hard you<br />
work, no matter how difficult <strong>the</strong> job you<br />
do, we should all make <strong>the</strong> same amount of<br />
money,” McNally says. “I don’t believe that.<br />
I believe <strong>the</strong>re are logical steps of progression<br />
and of difficulty that should separate<br />
<strong>the</strong> different levels of work we do, and commensurate<br />
with that should be pay. I also believe<br />
<strong>the</strong>re are different parts of <strong>the</strong> country<br />
that have higher costs of living that should be<br />
recognized in order to drive people to those<br />
parts of <strong>the</strong> country. I don’t have <strong>the</strong> magical<br />
answer. But I know reclassification and CIP is<br />
a start in that direction.” *<br />
Many endorse McNally’s beliefs, including<br />
Haines, Forrey and John Leyden, who<br />
fought a similar battle with his PATCO brethren<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 1970s.<br />
“I always was a believer, and paid a heavy political<br />
price for it, that a controller is not a controller<br />
is a controller,” he says. When those who worked at<br />
15<br />
Nov.<br />
The appropriations bill funding <strong>the</strong> Transportation Department for fiscal<br />
1996 becomes law. Two sections of <strong>the</strong> bill mandate that <strong>the</strong> agency institute<br />
new personnel and procurement systems. To help <strong>the</strong> FAA imple-<br />
smaller facilities debated him on <strong>the</strong> issue, Leyden<br />
told <strong>the</strong>m to transfer to Chicago or New York, where<br />
<strong>the</strong>y could earn more money. “No one ever took me<br />
up on my offer,” he says, because <strong>the</strong>y “didn’t want to<br />
go to <strong>the</strong> pressure cooker.”<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>r talks about money between NATCA<br />
a n d <strong>the</strong> FAA culminated one morning<br />
in early July at a hotel in<br />
Montréal. Seated in a glasswalled<br />
meeting room off <strong>the</strong><br />
lobby, McNally and Herman<br />
countered back and forth<br />
while Krasner and Garvey<br />
watched in silence. Herman<br />
offered $140 million in new<br />
money for pay raises. Saying<br />
<strong>the</strong>y couldn’t accept it, <strong>the</strong><br />
two union officials left <strong>the</strong><br />
room for a break.<br />
“I never in my life believed<br />
that someone would<br />
offer me $140 million and<br />
we would tell <strong>the</strong>m to take<br />
a walk,” Krasner said while<br />
strolling toward <strong>the</strong> lobby. They wandered<br />
into <strong>the</strong> gift shop, where Krasner bought a Cuban<br />
cigar, before returning to <strong>the</strong> meeting. Herman<br />
asked about <strong>the</strong> cigar as Krasner set it on <strong>the</strong> table.<br />
“That’s for when <strong>the</strong> fat lady sings,” he explained.<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
169<br />
NATCA’s third contract: The 1998 agreement<br />
was <strong>the</strong> first time a controllers’<br />
union negotiated pay with its employer.<br />
The new system tied wages to operational<br />
complexity as well as traffic counts.<br />
* CIP is a cost-of-living premium known as<br />
Controller Incentive Pay, which is awarded to<br />
some facilities based on <strong>the</strong>ir ranking in studies<br />
conducted by Runzheimer International.<br />
ment <strong>the</strong>se reforms, <strong>the</strong> bill exempts agency employees from key workers<br />
rights under Title 5 of <strong>the</strong> United States Code, effective April 1, 1996,<br />
which would strip <strong>the</strong> union of its powers as a labor group.
170<br />
1996<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
1<br />
McNally and Herman argued some more until<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency’s offer was up to $190 million and Mc-<br />
Nally had come down to $210 million.<br />
“Look, it’s $200 million,” Herman said at last.<br />
“That’s all <strong>the</strong>re is.”<br />
McNally finally<br />
agreed. After everyone<br />
shook hands, Krasner lit<br />
his cigar. “The fat lady<br />
has sung,” he said. In less<br />
than twenty minutes, <strong>the</strong><br />
historic deal had been<br />
closed, one that would<br />
compound into $1.6 billion<br />
over <strong>the</strong> life of <strong>the</strong><br />
five-year contract.<br />
The amount of<br />
money sparked some<br />
criticism in Congress, but<br />
Garvey is unapologetic.<br />
Noting that controllers<br />
work around <strong>the</strong> clock in<br />
<strong>the</strong> world’s most complicated<br />
air traffic system,<br />
she says, “I’m glad we’re<br />
paying <strong>the</strong>m that.”<br />
More importantly, Garvey wanted to send a<br />
clear message to controllers. Faced with concerns<br />
over <strong>the</strong> year 2000 computer bug and a pressing<br />
Jan. Mar.<br />
need to expedite <strong>the</strong> FAA’s lagging modernization<br />
program, she did not want contract negotiations to<br />
linger as a distracting issue.<br />
“We wanted <strong>the</strong> union in full partnership<br />
with us,” she says. “We wanted a common message<br />
that both sides could deliver<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Hill each year<br />
and that would provide<br />
predictability in budget-<br />
“<br />
ing—that would be costavoidance.”<br />
To help pay for<br />
<strong>the</strong> package, NATCA<br />
agreed to assume more<br />
duties that would enable<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency to whittle<br />
its supervisory ranks<br />
— FAA Administrator Jane Garvey<br />
through attrition for an<br />
estimated savings of $70<br />
million. Disbanding alternate<br />
work schedules,<br />
commonly known as<br />
AWS, was projected to<br />
save ano<strong>the</strong>r $60 million.<br />
Kansas City Center<br />
controllers led <strong>the</strong> drive<br />
for compressed workweeks and won a court ruling in<br />
1991 that permitted <strong>the</strong>m. However, <strong>the</strong> agency contended<br />
AWS cost more than regular scheduling, and<br />
We wanted <strong>the</strong> union in<br />
full partnership with us. We<br />
wanted a common message<br />
that both sides could deliver<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Hill each year and that<br />
would provide predictability<br />
in budgeting—that would be<br />
cost-avoidance.<br />
NATCA begins depositing $33,000 a month into a building fund. President Clinton signs a continuing resolution bill providing aid<br />
to Bosnia, Midwest flood relief, and restoration of Chapter 71<br />
29<br />
rights for air traffic controllers.
NATCA agreed to give it up at 24-hour facilities.<br />
The two sides also agreed on a controller<br />
work force of 15,000 in <strong>the</strong> first three years of <strong>the</strong><br />
contract, with growth of 2 percent in<br />
each of <strong>the</strong> last two years.<br />
Garvey considered <strong>the</strong><br />
contract historic in terms<br />
of <strong>the</strong> partnership it created.<br />
“We had to change<br />
<strong>the</strong> relationship between<br />
management and labor<br />
in order to meet <strong>the</strong> challenges,”<br />
she says. “It had<br />
been so adversarial and not<br />
productive.”<br />
Unlike <strong>the</strong> first two contracts,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was no briefing trip to <strong>the</strong> regions to sell this<br />
one. It wasn’t necessary. The agreement took effect<br />
on September 1, 1998, after a 92 percent ratification<br />
vote. Pay reclassification did not kick in until<br />
<strong>the</strong> following summer because of <strong>the</strong> complexity<br />
of recalculating salaries for 15,000 controllers.<br />
However, NATCA released information in <strong>the</strong> fall<br />
of 1998 about <strong>the</strong> increases, which ranged up to<br />
30 percent.<br />
While most controllers were very pleased, a<br />
vocal minority tied up special phone lines at headquarters<br />
for a few weeks. McNally, Haines, Coulter,<br />
Forrey, and o<strong>the</strong>rs spent twelve to fourteen hours<br />
a day trying to explain <strong>the</strong> new scales and placate<br />
controllers who felt <strong>the</strong>y weren’t being compensated<br />
fairly.<br />
“When we turned <strong>the</strong> switch on, I<br />
felt I was <strong>the</strong> most hated individual in<br />
<strong>the</strong> country,” Haines says. “Everybody<br />
was measuring <strong>the</strong>mselves against each<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
McNally was dismayed by <strong>the</strong> reaction,<br />
too. But <strong>the</strong> complaints could not diminish<br />
his pride over <strong>the</strong> union’s enormous<br />
accomplishment. “We rocked <strong>the</strong>ir world,” he<br />
says. “And we did it in a way that I believe everybody<br />
gained. Everybody won.”<br />
1. Related by Anthony Coiro during an interview in January 2002.<br />
2. 1989. Executive Board applauds <strong>the</strong> tentative agreement. NATCA Newsletter.<br />
February.<br />
3. 1993. NATCA and FAA reach tentative contract agreement. NATCA News.<br />
May.<br />
4. Schmidt, William. 1989. <strong>Controllers</strong> at busy airports get 20 percent bonus.<br />
The New York Times. 19 June.<br />
5. 1988. NATCA testifies on DoT/FAA pay demonstration project. NATCA<br />
Newsletter. December.<br />
Chapter 5: The Art of <strong>the</strong> Deal<br />
171<br />
Michael McNally: NATCA’s third president<br />
closed <strong>the</strong> deal on a significant pay raise<br />
for controllers in <strong>the</strong> 1998 contract. “We<br />
rocked <strong>the</strong>ir world,” he says. / Steve Schneider<br />
May July<br />
Twenty-four participants attend a “mini” Lobby Week. NARI, a nonprofit offshoot of NATCA, holds kickoff ceremonies.<br />
This new group was created to ensure that human factors<br />
1<br />
30<br />
are considered in ATC research and development projects.
“ The easy stuff<br />
is over. Now<br />
<strong>the</strong> union has to<br />
look inside itself.<br />
— Former Southwest Region<br />
Vice President Ed Mullin<br />
A voice of one: During <strong>the</strong> latter half of<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1990s, NATCA expanded its presence<br />
on Capitol Hill with more lobbying and<br />
an annual legislative session attended by<br />
several hundred activists. / NATCA archives
Chapter 6<br />
Spreading Its Wings<br />
One day in <strong>the</strong> spring of 1989, an <strong>Air</strong>ways Facilities technician approached<br />
Mark Scholl and said simply, “I want to show you this.”<br />
Scholl, an area representative at Chicago Center, nodded and followed<br />
his colleague through <strong>the</strong> control room. A buzz of murmuring voices<br />
surrounded <strong>the</strong>m while <strong>the</strong>y passed controllers seated along four rows of<br />
radarscopes.<br />
The hubbub diminished as <strong>the</strong> two men ascended<br />
a stairway to <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> two-story room.<br />
They opened a door to a dark chamber and <strong>the</strong> technician<br />
flipped a switch. Fluorescent lights flickered<br />
on, casting a ghostly glare over a maze of water pipes<br />
and ventilation ducts.<br />
The two men climbed more stairs and stepped<br />
onto a catwalk. Below <strong>the</strong>m, gray heaps of asbestos<br />
fibers, twelve to eighteen inches high, carpeted<br />
sections of ductwork and <strong>the</strong> control room ceiling.<br />
Overhead, <strong>the</strong>y could see bare sections of <strong>the</strong> metal<br />
roof where <strong>the</strong> toxic insulation material had flaked<br />
off. Sobered by <strong>the</strong> sight, Scholl returned later to take<br />
photographs and collect samples.<br />
When Scholl and facility rep Jim Poole alerted<br />
management, <strong>the</strong>y contended <strong>the</strong> building was safe<br />
and declined to do anything. NATCA’s first collective<br />
bargaining agreement would not be signed for<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r few months and <strong>the</strong> young union was still<br />
learning how best to resolve its issues. Resorting to<br />
tactics that had proven effective in <strong>the</strong> past, Scholl<br />
and Poole turned to <strong>the</strong> news media and Congress.<br />
Local newspapers ran several articles about <strong>the</strong><br />
health hazard. Sen. Paul Simon, who’d helped institute<br />
<strong>the</strong> Pay Demonstration Project for controllers,<br />
and Rep. Dennis Hastert, a Republican from Illinois,<br />
got involved, too.<br />
“We learned that <strong>the</strong> agency was at <strong>the</strong> whim of<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Sen. Paul Simon: The Illinois Democrat<br />
aided controllers on pay and health issues.
174<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Brian Fallon<br />
Drawing a perspective: New York TRACON controller Brian Fallon has highlighted many issues with his cartoons,<br />
which have appeared regularly in The NATCA Voice. He also draws a poster-sized illustration for most conventions.<br />
1996<br />
9<br />
Sep.<br />
Congress and <strong>the</strong> public, and that we could use that<br />
to our advantage,” Scholl says.<br />
Even with congressional interest, it took ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
three years before <strong>the</strong> FAA formally agreed<br />
to remove <strong>the</strong> asbestos—an expensive, complicated<br />
NATCA holds its sixth biennial convention at <strong>the</strong> Pittsburgh Hilton and<br />
Towers. Delegates institute a national seniority policy and vote to allow<br />
NATCA to expand representation to o<strong>the</strong>r employee groups. MEBA Pres-<br />
project in a building where hundreds of employees<br />
worked around <strong>the</strong> clock handling about 6,000<br />
flights a day. Contractors built a steel superstructure<br />
to support a second dropped ceiling in <strong>the</strong> control<br />
room. Crews also erected a plastic canopy to shield<br />
workers during construction and set up monitoring<br />
equipment to issue warnings when air quality<br />
dropped below safe levels. <strong>Controllers</strong> on position<br />
wore breathing apparatus several times while <strong>the</strong><br />
second ceiling was installed.<br />
Asbestos affected all twenty-one of <strong>the</strong> agency’s<br />
en route centers, which had been built three decades<br />
earlier. Picketers outside Boston Center in Nashua,<br />
New Hampshire, wore protective suits and masks to<br />
call attention to <strong>the</strong> hazard. In Boston, Chicago and<br />
elsewhere, mold grew around air vents. Drip pans for<br />
air conditioning units leaked water onto radarscopes<br />
and supervisors’ desks.<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> agency signed a Memorandum<br />
of Understanding in 1992 mandating <strong>the</strong> removal of<br />
asbestos from all <strong>the</strong> centers. The 1993 contract extended<br />
that same directive to terminal facilities. Before<br />
<strong>the</strong> work was completed at <strong>the</strong> centers, however,<br />
different control rooms were created in o<strong>the</strong>r parts of<br />
<strong>the</strong> buildings to accommodate <strong>the</strong> installation of new<br />
radarscopes during <strong>the</strong> latter part of <strong>the</strong> Nineties.<br />
The asbestos incident proved to be an object<br />
lesson for <strong>the</strong> Chicago Center controllers—and o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
They realized how much <strong>the</strong> news media could<br />
ident Alex Shandrowsky urges NATCA to stay with <strong>the</strong> union that helped<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers organize. However, delegates vote to allow NATCA to<br />
consider affiliation with ano<strong>the</strong>r union.
help <strong>the</strong> public understand this hidden world and that<br />
Capitol Hill had <strong>the</strong> power to resolve <strong>the</strong>ir issues.<br />
A year after <strong>the</strong> asbestos discovery, <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
relied on <strong>the</strong> media again<br />
to call attention to a less serious,<br />
yet annoying, problem:<br />
lack of chairs.<br />
Ironically, <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
had recently replaced its<br />
old chairs. But <strong>the</strong> new<br />
ones, which were not as<br />
durable, frequently broke.<br />
Atlanta Center was thirtyone<br />
short of <strong>the</strong> number required<br />
for a normal day shift.<br />
At Chicago Center, Poole snared a supervisor’s<br />
chair to sit in front of a radarscope, which<br />
prompted a heated argument with his boss. O<strong>the</strong>r<br />
controllers perched on boxes and atop wastebaskets<br />
that were turned upside down.<br />
Alerted by Poole, USA Today ran a story. In<br />
response, furniture manufacturers offered to donate<br />
several hundred chairs and a local radio station conducted<br />
a “chair-a-thon.” 1<br />
CNN broadcast live from Chicago Center several<br />
years later on Thanksgiving Day and <strong>the</strong> weekly<br />
news magazines began printing stories about equipment<br />
breakdowns. The growing coverage “pushed<br />
<strong>the</strong> union into <strong>the</strong> realm of a player,” Scholl says.<br />
16<br />
Sep.<br />
The FAA awards a contract to Ray<strong>the</strong>on Company to develop and build<br />
<strong>the</strong> Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System for approach control<br />
facilities. STARS consists of color radar monitors, similar to <strong>the</strong> DSR<br />
Beyond <strong>the</strong>se disparate efforts, <strong>the</strong> concept of<br />
formalized lobbying crystallized in 1992 when two<br />
visionary controllers, Dee Green and Debbie Cunningham,<br />
recognized that <strong>the</strong> union’s ultimate boss<br />
was Congress—not <strong>the</strong> FAA. At <strong>the</strong> San Antonio<br />
convention, <strong>the</strong>y spoke passionately about <strong>the</strong><br />
need for grass-roots involvement in legislative<br />
affairs. Thus was born a far-reaching structure<br />
of facility legislative representatives, state coordinators,<br />
and a <strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee<br />
with an elected representative from<br />
each region. Green and Cunningham, respectively,<br />
served as <strong>the</strong> first two chairwomen of <strong>the</strong><br />
committee.<br />
“It wasn’t sufficient to have one or two people<br />
in Washington lobbying our cause,” says Alan Clendenin,<br />
who was chairman from 1997 to 2000.<br />
Indeed, <strong>the</strong> well-organized legion of activists<br />
responded immediately and overwhelmingly<br />
when Krasner issued his “let McCain feel <strong>the</strong> pain”<br />
directive during <strong>the</strong> Chapter 71 battle. The union’s<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
displays used in en route centers, as well as replacement computers and<br />
updated software. The new equipment will replace <strong>the</strong> aging Automated<br />
Radar Terminal System, which had been installed starting in 1965.<br />
175<br />
Lobby Week: The union launched an<br />
annual, weeklong program in 1993 to<br />
raise legislative awareness and provide an<br />
opportunity for members to meet <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
congressional representatives.
176<br />
1996<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
FYI<br />
One of <strong>the</strong> most celebrated and enduring trinkets that<br />
permeates NATCA’s biennial conventions concerns <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
highest calling. Since Las Vegas in 1990, Alaskan controllers<br />
have populated each ga<strong>the</strong>ring with condoms as a reminder<br />
about safety.<br />
growing legislative savvy and influence also helped<br />
it close <strong>the</strong> deal on reclassification. “When we got<br />
down to crunch time, it was political pressure that<br />
turned those tides in our favor,” Clendenin says.<br />
In addition to creating <strong>the</strong> army of foot soldiers,<br />
Cunningham saw <strong>the</strong> need to teach <strong>the</strong>m how <strong>the</strong><br />
political system works. In 1993, she helped launch an<br />
annual “Lobby Week.” This effective program teaches<br />
<strong>the</strong> rank and file about <strong>the</strong> legislative process, introduces<br />
<strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong>ir local representatives, and<br />
promotes ongoing activism. The face-to-face contact<br />
has proven to be extremely effective in cultivating<br />
relationships with Congress and opening doors in<br />
districts across <strong>the</strong><br />
country.<br />
Lobby Week,<br />
which attracts<br />
as many as 350<br />
controllers, was renamed<br />
NATCA in<br />
Washington in 1997<br />
when it evolved<br />
into a lobbying and<br />
training opportunity<br />
and, significantly,<br />
a high-profile political<br />
event. Key members<br />
of <strong>the</strong> House<br />
and Senate appear<br />
Nov. Dec.<br />
FAA Administrator David Hinson leaves office after serving<br />
since August 10, 1993.<br />
9<br />
5<br />
as guest speakers, influential staff members attend<br />
<strong>the</strong> congressional reception, and news organizations<br />
such as CNN and Aviation Daily cover <strong>the</strong> proceedings.<br />
The annual ga<strong>the</strong>ring also serves to educate<br />
participants about <strong>the</strong> union’s Political Action Committee<br />
fund. By spring 2002, nearly 5,000 members<br />
were contributing some $1 million to <strong>the</strong> fund every<br />
election cycle. “That shines just as bright as any of<br />
those specific legislative victories,” Clendenin says.<br />
“We’ve built it from nothing to one of <strong>the</strong> most influential<br />
in a labor organization in D.C.”<br />
Safety Above All<br />
As <strong>the</strong> decade progressed, NATCA expanded its<br />
influence in o<strong>the</strong>r arenas. Since its organizing days,<br />
one of <strong>the</strong> union’s missions had been to increase its<br />
voice in workplace issues, operating procedures, and<br />
new equipment to help ensure air safety. <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
were expected to deliver perfection on <strong>the</strong> job,<br />
yet <strong>the</strong>y often had little say in matters that affected<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir ability to meet such a high standard. Many who<br />
joined NATCA considered it a professional association<br />
as much as a labor union and worked to push it<br />
in that direction.<br />
By <strong>the</strong> early 1990s, controllers had highlighted<br />
staffing shortages and equipment problems to <strong>the</strong><br />
agency, Congress, and <strong>the</strong> news media on numerous<br />
The FAA installs <strong>the</strong> first Display System Replacement at Seattle<br />
Center.
occasions. In a yearlong effort, <strong>the</strong> safety committee<br />
at Dallas-Fort Worth Tower and TRACON documented<br />
numerous problems with <strong>the</strong> ARTS software,<br />
which displayed aircraft information on radarscopes.<br />
A contract provision entitled union members to join<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r industry representatives in NTSB accident investigations.<br />
NATCA had also established review<br />
committees to help oversee training and performance<br />
standards.<br />
But its role in <strong>the</strong> research and development<br />
of new technology remained<br />
slim to nonexistent.<br />
A classic example involved a<br />
computer onboard airliners known<br />
as <strong>the</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Alert/Collision Avoidance<br />
System. TCAS monitors traffic<br />
and instructs pilots to climb or descend<br />
if it senses a potential collision.<br />
Before TCAS was deployed in<br />
<strong>the</strong> late 1980s and early ’90s, however,<br />
controllers had very little input<br />
in its design and operation, even though<br />
<strong>the</strong> computer inserted a third element in <strong>the</strong><br />
critical equation of communications between pilots<br />
and controllers.<br />
With <strong>the</strong> advent of TCAS, cockpit crews sometimes<br />
received conflicting instructions from controllers<br />
and <strong>the</strong> computer. Early versions of <strong>the</strong> software<br />
generated targets for nonexistent planes on radar-<br />
1997<br />
14<br />
Feb.<br />
scopes. O<strong>the</strong>r problems resulted in frequent false<br />
alerts. Some of <strong>the</strong>se led to dangerous near misses<br />
when pilots deviated from <strong>the</strong>ir assigned altitude by<br />
as much as 1,000 feet. During a 4½-month period in<br />
1991, deviations occurred in 70 percent of <strong>the</strong> 590<br />
incidents that were reported. 2<br />
“It is like a puppy walking over a game of chess,<br />
destroying <strong>the</strong> board’s composition,” Executive Vice<br />
President Joseph Bellino<br />
said. “Every controller<br />
is executing a plan.<br />
When one plane<br />
deviates from its<br />
assigned space,<br />
it affects all <strong>the</strong><br />
aircraft under <strong>the</strong><br />
controller’s plan,<br />
making <strong>the</strong> controller<br />
scramble<br />
to develop ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
plan in seconds.” 3<br />
NATCA was unable to<br />
halt deployment of <strong>the</strong> new equipment until <strong>the</strong><br />
bugs were fixed. But extensive field documentation<br />
by safety representatives helped TCAS manufacturers<br />
fine-tune <strong>the</strong> software and problems gradually<br />
diminished.<br />
The experience was not lost on <strong>the</strong> FAA. As<br />
frustrations mounted over poor communication, a<br />
Transportation Secretary Federico F. Peña leaves office after serving<br />
since January 21, 1993. Rodney E. Slater takes over. Slater, who previously<br />
directed <strong>the</strong> Federal Highway Administration, also served as assistant<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
177<br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> alert: NATCA Safety and Technology<br />
Director Will Faville Jr., left, and Ray<br />
Gibbons from Chicago TRACON testified<br />
at an international symposium in 1992<br />
(and before Congress a year earlier) about<br />
TCAS deployment problems. Gibbons, <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s national TCAS representative for<br />
terminals, and Greg Meyer, his counterpart<br />
for centers, led <strong>the</strong> effort to ga<strong>the</strong>r<br />
compelling statistics showing that early<br />
versions of <strong>the</strong> collision avoidance system<br />
adversely affected safety. / NATCA archives<br />
attorney general of Arkansas and as a member of <strong>the</strong>n-Gov. Bill Clinton’s<br />
staff.
178<br />
1997<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Hurricane Andrew<br />
After <strong>the</strong> storm: The ferocious hurricane that slammed into<br />
sou<strong>the</strong>rn Florida and Louisiana on August 24, 1992, packed<br />
sustained winds of 125 knots, leaving fifteen people dead and<br />
250,000 homeless. NATCA members quickly donated food,<br />
clothing, generators, financial assistance, and more to help <strong>the</strong><br />
affected controllers and <strong>the</strong>ir families. / NATCA archives<br />
Feb. Feb.<br />
The <strong>National</strong> Labor Relations Board certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong><br />
exclusive bargaining representative for its first contract tower.<br />
21<br />
27<br />
significant change occurred—<br />
albeit slowly. In <strong>the</strong> fall of 1994,<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA invited a union liaison<br />
to work full time at agency<br />
headquarters on a trial basis to<br />
provide controller perspectives<br />
on technology and equipment.<br />
Never before had a NATCA<br />
member occupied an office at<br />
800 Independence Avenue. Several<br />
union technical representatives<br />
also became involved in<br />
projects full time.<br />
Karl Grundmann, who’d<br />
chosen not to run for re-election<br />
as Western-Pacific Region<br />
vice president, hung out <strong>the</strong> first<br />
shingle as a liaison. Working<br />
with Neil Planzer in <strong>the</strong> agency’s<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Requirements branch,<br />
Grundmann found himself privy<br />
to key budget information and<br />
attended meetings with Administrator<br />
David Hinson and o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
top-level managers that were<br />
previously off-limits to NATCA.<br />
“I was in places <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
had never let <strong>the</strong> union in before,”<br />
he says.<br />
NATCA President Barry Krasner meets with MEBA President<br />
Alex Shandrowsky, notifying him of <strong>the</strong> union’s intent to terminate<br />
affiliation.
Both sides were feeling <strong>the</strong>ir way in <strong>the</strong> experiment.<br />
Grundmann essentially made up his job day<br />
by day. The agency’s longstanding top-down culture<br />
spawned a cool reception and a conference room of<br />
managers often drowned out Grundmann’s objections<br />
at meetings. Attitudes had not changed appreciably<br />
by <strong>the</strong> summer of 1996, when Darrell Meachum<br />
began working as a liaison with Planzer.<br />
“We felt a lot like window dressing,” says<br />
Meachum, who served as one of <strong>the</strong> original<br />
technology representatives in 1994 and is now<br />
<strong>the</strong> facility rep at Fort Worth Center. “We had<br />
to force ourselves into dialogues and discussions<br />
within <strong>the</strong> culture of <strong>the</strong> FAA and it<br />
wasn’t easy.”<br />
Part of <strong>the</strong> difficulty stemmed from a lack of<br />
formal recognition. Nei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> union’s contract nor<br />
a Memorandum of Understanding with <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
covered <strong>the</strong> work of liaisons and technical representatives.<br />
“As a fac rep, you’re basically enforcing <strong>the</strong><br />
rules. As a liaison, <strong>the</strong>re are no rules to enforce,” Meachum<br />
says. “It was all about trying to influence decisions<br />
that would affect us for <strong>the</strong> next ten to twelve<br />
years.”<br />
Relationships slowly improved when it became<br />
apparent that union input during <strong>the</strong> development<br />
phase of projects could save time and money. O<strong>the</strong>r<br />
managers at headquarters voiced interest in having<br />
liaisons and technical representatives. Despite <strong>the</strong><br />
Apr. May<br />
20<br />
NATCA holds its annual “Lobby Week.” The ga<strong>the</strong>ring, which<br />
has evolved into a lobbying and training opportunity and highprofile<br />
political event, is renamed to “NATCA in Washington.” 28<br />
initial difficulties and ongoing differences of opinions,<br />
Meachum lauds Planzer for helping to ensure<br />
<strong>the</strong> survival of NATCA’s involvement.<br />
“If Neil had not stepped out <strong>the</strong>re and made a<br />
commitment to <strong>the</strong> union,” he says, “not<br />
only would <strong>the</strong> program not have existed,<br />
it would not have been successful.”<br />
The first major project in<br />
which NATCA members were<br />
centrally involved was called<br />
<strong>the</strong> Display System Replacement.<br />
DSR consisted of 20-inchsquare<br />
color radar displays and<br />
newer computers to replace antiquated<br />
scopes and mainframes at<br />
<strong>the</strong> en route centers. The equipment had<br />
been developed for <strong>the</strong> Advanced Automation System,<br />
an ambitious and enormously complicated venture<br />
started by <strong>the</strong> FAA in <strong>the</strong> early 1980s to overhaul<br />
its air traffic operations. Citing delays, multibilliondollar<br />
cost overruns and “seriously flawed” software,<br />
Administrator Hinson scrapped most of <strong>the</strong> program<br />
in June 1994. 4<br />
Yet aging equipment was older than some<br />
of <strong>the</strong> people using it and growing increasingly<br />
unreliable. The agency hoped to salvage some of<br />
its investment and partially modernize its centers<br />
by deploying <strong>the</strong> newer displays and computers<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
The union files a lawsuit against MEBA, seeking <strong>the</strong> right to<br />
disaffiliate. The action follows a letter from MEBA opposing<br />
disaffiliation and threatening legal action against NATCA.<br />
179<br />
Karl Grundmann: As NATCA’s first fulltime<br />
liaison to <strong>the</strong> FAA, he blazed <strong>the</strong> trail<br />
for providing union input on technology<br />
and equipment issues to management at<br />
agency headquarters. / NATCA archives
180<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA archives<br />
Controller involvement: Darrell Meachum from Fort Worth<br />
Center worked with <strong>the</strong> FAA to ensure <strong>the</strong> feasibility of deploying<br />
new radarscope displays in <strong>the</strong> agency’s en route centers.<br />
The displays were salvaged from a costly project known as AAS.<br />
1997<br />
17<br />
June<br />
without <strong>the</strong> software, which would have made flight<br />
strips obsolete. This presented a problem. The existing<br />
design of <strong>the</strong> new workstation, called <strong>the</strong> “sector<br />
suite,” now had to accommodate racks to hold flight<br />
strips—known as strip bays.<br />
That fall, while Grundmann began work as <strong>the</strong><br />
first liaison, <strong>the</strong> agency invited two controllers to its<br />
William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City,<br />
New Jersey, to evaluate a slightly modified sector<br />
suite. When Meachum and Scott Hanley from Kansas<br />
City Center saw a cardboard mockup, <strong>the</strong>y realized<br />
<strong>the</strong> strip bay would obscure controllers’ views of <strong>the</strong><br />
radar display.<br />
Working with <strong>the</strong> center’s engineers, Meachum<br />
and Hanley suggested redesigning <strong>the</strong> bay to reduce<br />
its size and make it curve like a ski<br />
slope so it could hold more strips.<br />
They also recommended repositioning<br />
<strong>the</strong> bay to avoid any visual obstructions.<br />
The modifications were<br />
minor enough that <strong>the</strong> basic sector<br />
suite would not have to be radically<br />
redesigned.<br />
As engineers set about making<br />
<strong>the</strong> changes, NATCA tried to<br />
persuade <strong>the</strong> agency to involve more<br />
controllers in this early development<br />
of DSR. The FAA declined, however,<br />
and when DSR arrived at Seattle<br />
NATCA files a petition with <strong>the</strong> FLRA to hold an election on whe<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>the</strong> union can represent FAA engineers and architects. This would be<br />
NATCA’s first bargaining unit for non-controllers since it was established.<br />
Center in late 1996 <strong>the</strong> union realized it still wasn’t<br />
ready for prime time. One notable flaw involved<br />
drop-down menus that had been incorporated into<br />
<strong>the</strong> display. The menus covered up targets and aircraft<br />
information, which controllers needed to see at<br />
all times.<br />
A thirteen-member “Tiger Team” formed by<br />
NATCA created a punch list of items requiring attention.<br />
Before DSR was installed at <strong>the</strong> agency’s o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
twenty centers, most of <strong>the</strong> items were resolved.<br />
DSR’s successful deployment provided a significant<br />
boost to <strong>the</strong> FAA, which was under heavy<br />
fire for its creeping pace of modernization. The project<br />
showed what was possible when <strong>the</strong> agency and<br />
NATCA worked toge<strong>the</strong>r. With support from Michael<br />
McNally and Jane Garvey, both of whom embraced<br />
collaboration, <strong>the</strong> liaison program snowballed.<br />
Garvey’s building block approach to implementing<br />
components of new equipment, as opposed to<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency’s traditional method of waiting years to<br />
deploy one huge system, also spurred <strong>the</strong> growth of<br />
liaisons and technical reps.<br />
By spring 2002, twenty-eight people were involved<br />
full time in about sixty-five projects. Their<br />
participation ranged from strategic planning to design<br />
factors as detailed as <strong>the</strong> placement of a control<br />
button or <strong>the</strong> height of a shelf, which can have a<br />
significant effect on <strong>the</strong> ability of controllers to do<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir jobs.
19<br />
DSR brought new scopes and supporting<br />
PCs to en route centers.<br />
However, <strong>the</strong> programming language<br />
that relays information to controllers from<br />
radar sites and aircraft transponders remains<br />
etched in <strong>the</strong> Stone Age of computing.<br />
Ever since <strong>the</strong> FAA installed radar data<br />
processing computers at its centers in 1967,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y have run on a venerable, but obscure,<br />
language known as JOVIAL.<br />
Jules Schwartz, a programmer for<br />
System Development Corporation, wrote <strong>the</strong><br />
language for <strong>the</strong> U.S. <strong>Air</strong> Force. He dubbed it<br />
Our Own Version of <strong>the</strong> International Algebraic<br />
Language, but his moniker presented a<br />
problem.<br />
“In <strong>the</strong> late 1950s, society wasn’t quite<br />
as free thinking as it is today,” Schwartz wrote<br />
years later. “The name OVIAL seemed to have<br />
June<br />
From Sanskrit to Silicon<br />
NATCA holds a ten-year anniversary celebration, including a party at<br />
<strong>the</strong> U.S. Capitol. Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles declares June 19 <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
Control Day, as does Manassas, Virginia, Miami, Milwaukee, New York<br />
�<br />
a connotation relative to <strong>the</strong> birth process that<br />
did not seem acceptable to some people.” 6<br />
A colleague at System Development Corporation<br />
suggested JOVIAL as an alternative in<br />
honor of its inventor, Jules, and <strong>the</strong> name stuck.<br />
Aside from FAA computers, JOVIAL is<br />
used on a variety of weapons systems, including<br />
<strong>the</strong> B-52 Stratofortess, F/A-18 Hornet, UH-<br />
60 Blackhawk helicopter, and <strong>the</strong> advanced<br />
cruise missile. Work on replacing JOVIAL at<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA’s en route centers was under way in<br />
2002.<br />
The ARTS system in TRACONs runs<br />
on ano<strong>the</strong>r arcane language called ULTRA.<br />
Programming is done painstakingly at <strong>the</strong> bit<br />
level—akin to using toothpicks to create each<br />
stroke of every letter in a sentence.<br />
ULTRA will fade into history when<br />
Unix-based STARS is deployed.<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
City, and Spokane, Washington. Many facilities hold open houses and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r festivities.<br />
181
182<br />
1997<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
The level of manpower was a world away from<br />
<strong>the</strong> days when Joel Hicks, Amy Kaufman, and Will<br />
Faville Jr.—<strong>the</strong> union’s first three safety and technology<br />
directors—grappled with scores of projects.<br />
“We found that with every rock we turned<br />
over, we had many more issues scurry out from underneath,”<br />
Faville says.<br />
Brian Fallon<br />
Advanced Automation System: The FAA wasted about $1.5 billion in its ambitious plan to overhaul ATC.<br />
27<br />
June<br />
Eighteen controllers from radar towers across <strong>the</strong> nation meet in Chicago<br />
and form <strong>the</strong> NATCA Radar Tower Coalition to address common issues.<br />
During Faville’s tenure in <strong>the</strong> early 1990s,<br />
NATCA hired veteran Washington Center controller<br />
Jerry Tierney and former PATCO member Dick<br />
Swauger to help. Many facility safety representatives<br />
pitched in, too. But not until <strong>the</strong> liaison and technical<br />
rep program took hold within <strong>the</strong> agency, accompanied<br />
by a collaborative spirit, did <strong>the</strong> union begin to<br />
exercise real influence on equipment issues.<br />
Garvey sees no o<strong>the</strong>r choice. “We have a job to<br />
do that is so fundamentally important and critical to<br />
<strong>the</strong> economy and <strong>the</strong> American people that nothing<br />
short of our best efforts will do,” she says. Garvey<br />
credits <strong>the</strong> union with being a catalyst in keeping<br />
key projects on track, including a counterpart to<br />
DSR known as <strong>the</strong> Standard Terminal Automation<br />
Replacement System.<br />
Like its cousin at <strong>the</strong> centers, STARS includes<br />
a full-color display bright enough to be used in a<br />
lighted room and provides TRACON controllers with<br />
more than 200 digital maps (older scopes contained<br />
just five). The equipment can also accept information<br />
from multiple radar sites, a boon to facilities plagued<br />
by blind spots from mountainous terrain.<br />
In a repeat of DSR’s evolution, however, controllers<br />
were not involved until development was well under<br />
way. The union’s technical team on <strong>the</strong> STARS project<br />
had to argue for changes that, necessarily, delayed implementation.<br />
Among o<strong>the</strong>r issues, pop-up menus once<br />
again obscured critical information on <strong>the</strong> display.
In late 1999 and early 2000, STARS became<br />
operational at TRACONs in El Paso, Texas, and<br />
Syracuse, New York. Unlike previous FAA projects,<br />
controllers at <strong>the</strong> two test radar rooms worked<br />
closely with Ray<strong>the</strong>on Company and <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
Computer-Human Interface<br />
workgroup to finish<br />
developing <strong>the</strong> product<br />
before it was to be in-<br />
stalled at some 185 o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
TRACONs.<br />
“NATCA took<br />
something that was<br />
unworkable and has<br />
brought about a piece<br />
of equipment that <strong>the</strong><br />
average controller can<br />
use with just three days<br />
of training,” says Doug<br />
Wicker, <strong>the</strong> project lead<br />
in El Paso.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> same time<br />
controllers gained influence<br />
at FAA headquarters, <strong>the</strong>y extended <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
reach globally by joining <strong>the</strong> International Federation<br />
of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong>’ <strong>Association</strong>s in 1994.<br />
Composed of group membership from more than<br />
100 nations, IFATCA is a professional entity that<br />
represents air traffic controller issues to <strong>the</strong> Inter-<br />
4<br />
Aug.<br />
“<br />
NATCA took something that<br />
was unworkable and has<br />
brought about a piece of<br />
equipment that <strong>the</strong> average<br />
controller can use with just<br />
three days of training.<br />
national Civil Aviation Organization, which sets<br />
worldwide policies.<br />
The union’s interest in affiliating with IF-<br />
ATCA germinated over time. Executive Vice President<br />
Ray Spickler and Fernando Ospina from Fort<br />
Worth Center attended<br />
<strong>the</strong> group’s annual meeting<br />
in May 1989.<br />
“The most striking<br />
— Doug Wicker,<br />
STARS project lead at El Paso TRACON<br />
Jane Garvey takes over as FAA administrator. For <strong>the</strong> first time, <strong>the</strong> Senate<br />
appoints <strong>the</strong> agency’s chief to a five-year term, ending a revolving-door<br />
policy that had been in effect since <strong>the</strong> PATCO strike. Garvey has held a<br />
thing to me was <strong>the</strong> commonality<br />
of problems all<br />
controllers are facing,”<br />
Spickler wrote after <strong>the</strong><br />
ga<strong>the</strong>ring in Frankfurt,<br />
Germany. “There is as<br />
much we can learn from<br />
<strong>the</strong>m as <strong>the</strong>y from us.” 7<br />
A few years later,<br />
Safety and Technology<br />
Director Will Faville Jr.<br />
attended ano<strong>the</strong>r IFATCA<br />
meeting and applauded<br />
<strong>the</strong> group’s philosophy<br />
on computer issues. While <strong>the</strong> FAA and U.S. controllers<br />
worked on Computer-Human Interface—or<br />
CHI—problems, IFATCA reversed <strong>the</strong> emphasis.<br />
“They put <strong>the</strong> human before <strong>the</strong> computer,”<br />
Faville says. “It was clear to me that we needed that<br />
international help and support.”<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
number of public positions, including commissioner of <strong>the</strong> Massachusetts<br />
Department of Public Works, director of Logan International <strong>Air</strong>port in<br />
Boston, and acting administrator of <strong>the</strong> Federal Highway Administration.<br />
183
184<br />
1997<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
13<br />
Japphire<br />
Atlanta TRACON: The facility became operational in April 2001, and is one of a half<br />
dozen TRACONs that consolidate operations from several radar rooms.<br />
Martin Cole, a Washington Center controller<br />
who served as executive vice president technical of<br />
IFATCA from 1997 to 1999, agrees. “We work a predominant<br />
amount of <strong>the</strong> world’s air traffic,” he says.<br />
“To not have a voice in <strong>the</strong> global scene for aviation is<br />
something that wouldn’t sit well.”<br />
But <strong>the</strong> international association’s per capita<br />
dues structure was cost-prohibitive to NATCA, which<br />
represented <strong>the</strong> largest group of controllers in <strong>the</strong><br />
world. IFATCA was interested in having <strong>the</strong> United<br />
States onboard, however, and agreed to <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
Aug. Aug.<br />
Ballots are counted from NATCA members, who vote 5,984 to<br />
60 in favor of breaking away from MEBA. The effective date is<br />
May 30, 1997, based on an out-of-court settlement with MEBA.<br />
15<br />
request to re-evaluate its dues. After a<br />
temporary cap was imposed, NATCA<br />
joined and helped <strong>the</strong> group create a<br />
three-tier scale based on a United Nations<br />
model.<br />
Cole’s involvement began after<br />
he was assigned to <strong>the</strong> FAA as one of<br />
NATCA’s original technical representatives.<br />
His project involved Data Link,<br />
which enables controllers and pilots to<br />
exchange text messages and o<strong>the</strong>r digital<br />
information.<br />
“I had no idea what Data Link<br />
was,” Cole recalls. When he arrived at<br />
FAA headquarters, his agency counterpart<br />
showed him two file cabinets of<br />
information and suggested he start reading.<br />
Over time, Cole became an expert<br />
and was <strong>the</strong> obvious choice to represent<br />
<strong>the</strong> United States on Data Link issues after <strong>the</strong> union<br />
joined IFATCA.<br />
The second meeting he attended nearly convinced<br />
him he’d made a mistake. Poverty in Dakar,<br />
Senegal, was prevalent and he confronted sanitation<br />
problems with <strong>the</strong> water and food during <strong>the</strong> twoweek<br />
conference.<br />
After waking up one morning at <strong>the</strong> Ngor<br />
Diarama Hotel, he heard a commotion and looked<br />
out <strong>the</strong> window of his room on <strong>the</strong> sixth floor. Armed<br />
About fifty controllers picket outside Boston Center to call<br />
attention to asbestos problems at <strong>the</strong> facility.
FYI<br />
NATCA formed <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Aviation Research<br />
Institute in 1996 as ano<strong>the</strong>r way to ensure<br />
that <strong>the</strong> union could exercise some influence in <strong>the</strong><br />
development of air traffic control technology.<br />
Mike Connor, <strong>the</strong> union’s former director of<br />
external operations, spearheaded <strong>the</strong> move to create<br />
<strong>the</strong> private, nonprofit group to give controllers<br />
a voice before functionality and design considerations<br />
of new systems are set in stone. Among<br />
its board of directors was former Rep. Norman<br />
Mineta.<br />
Within a year of its founding, five organizations<br />
had committed more than $1 million<br />
in grants to NARI, including <strong>the</strong> NASA Ames<br />
Research Center, Lockheed Martin, The MITRE<br />
Corporation, The Catholic University of America,<br />
and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. NARI<br />
and <strong>the</strong>se organizations have focused on advanced<br />
air traffic control systems and Free Flight, an FAA<br />
project aimed at automating certain air traffic functions<br />
by using computerized tools.<br />
“Today, controllers are given a piece of equipment<br />
and told, ‘Make this work,’ ” Connor said at<br />
<strong>the</strong> time. “NARI will change this mindset by placing<br />
human factors at <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> priority list.” 5<br />
Sep. Nov.<br />
NATCA submits a written request to <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO for direct<br />
affiliation with <strong>the</strong> labor organization.<br />
18<br />
10<br />
soldiers were spilling out of numerous trucks lined<br />
up in front of <strong>the</strong> building.<br />
Some ran into <strong>the</strong> lobby while o<strong>the</strong>rs formed<br />
a perimeter around <strong>the</strong> hotel. Cole, whose pounding<br />
heart took awhile to settle down, learned later that <strong>the</strong><br />
troops constituted security for a meeting of high-level<br />
government officials.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> end<br />
of his stay, Cole<br />
and a colleague,<br />
Delta <strong>Air</strong> Lines<br />
Capt. Terry Hanson,<br />
discovered<br />
that airlines serving<br />
Dakar overbook<br />
flights even more heavily than <strong>the</strong>ir U.S. counterparts.<br />
Several exasperating days passed while <strong>the</strong>y vainly<br />
tried to get home. When <strong>the</strong>y heard that an <strong>Air</strong> France<br />
charter flight was arriving to pick up Club Med patrons,<br />
<strong>the</strong> two dashed to <strong>the</strong> airport and pleaded for<br />
a pair of seats. But everyone from ticket agents to <strong>the</strong><br />
airline’s station manager shook <strong>the</strong>ir heads.<br />
Not long before <strong>the</strong> flight was scheduled<br />
to leave, Hanson noticed an attractive Senegalese<br />
woman near <strong>the</strong> ticket counter wearing a Club Med<br />
name-tag that read “Aby.” Hanson approached her<br />
and smiled. “Aren’t you named for <strong>the</strong> fourth wife of<br />
<strong>the</strong> prophet Mohammed, <strong>the</strong> youngest one, <strong>the</strong> most<br />
beautiful one, <strong>the</strong> one he loved <strong>the</strong> best?” he asked.<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for 1,150 FAA engineers and architects. In October,<br />
<strong>the</strong> employees voted 498 to 141 in favor of joining NATCA.<br />
185<br />
Global connections: Randy Schwitz, left,<br />
and Jim Poole attended IFATCA’s conference<br />
in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1995.<br />
NATCA member James Ferguson was<br />
elected deputy president of <strong>the</strong> international<br />
organization in 2001. / NATCA archives
186<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Martin Cole: The Washington Center controller<br />
was a technical rep on Data Link,<br />
which led to his election as vice president<br />
technical of IFATCA. / Courtesy of Martin Cole<br />
1998<br />
The woman beamed. “Yes, I am. How could<br />
you possibly know that?”<br />
“I’ve read <strong>the</strong> Koran,” Hanson replied. He <strong>the</strong>n<br />
explained <strong>the</strong>ir plight and Aby excused herself to<br />
speak with <strong>the</strong> station manager. Minutes later, Hanson<br />
and Cole were sinking into <strong>the</strong>ir seats on <strong>the</strong><br />
flight and breathing long sighs of relief.<br />
A subsequent trip to Taipei, Taiwan, where<br />
Cole was elected executive vice president technical,<br />
went much smoo<strong>the</strong>r. In his new role, he once<br />
again endured a steep learning curve to absorb information<br />
about a wealth of projects besides Data<br />
Link. He also felt an added obligation to represent<br />
NATCA at its best to help set <strong>the</strong> stage for future<br />
U.S. involvement in <strong>the</strong> group.<br />
Although some members from o<strong>the</strong>r nations<br />
worried about <strong>the</strong> United States dominating decisions,<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir fears were allayed by<br />
Cole’s knowledgeable and<br />
even-handed manner.<br />
In 2001, James Ferguson,<br />
<strong>the</strong> former Northwest<br />
Mountain Region vice<br />
president, was elected deputy<br />
president of IFATCA.<br />
Two o<strong>the</strong>r union members<br />
serve on IFATCA committees.<br />
Barry Krasner is chairman<br />
of Standing Committee 6, which deals with con-<br />
Feb. Feb.<br />
19<br />
President Michael McNally, Executive VP Randy Schwitz and<br />
former General Counsel William Osborne Jr. appear before <strong>the</strong><br />
AFL-CIO Executive Council to request direct affiliation.<br />
22<br />
stitution and administrative policy. Southwest Region<br />
Vice President Mark Pallone is a member of Standing<br />
Committee 3, which is responsible for finance.<br />
NATCA sees its continuing representation in<br />
<strong>the</strong> international organization as an<br />
important element of its mission<br />
to help shape aviation policy.<br />
“If our voice isn’t heard<br />
out <strong>the</strong>re in <strong>the</strong> world, we’re<br />
going to have to bear <strong>the</strong><br />
brunt of <strong>the</strong>se ICAO regulations<br />
when <strong>the</strong>y come back<br />
though <strong>the</strong> FAA,” Cole says.<br />
“The U.S. view of air traffic<br />
control needs to be out <strong>the</strong>re.”<br />
Breaking Away<br />
While <strong>the</strong> union’s reputation and influence<br />
propelled it to new heights in <strong>the</strong> aviation industry,<br />
NATCA felt <strong>the</strong> weight of a ball and chain gripping its<br />
ankles in <strong>the</strong> house of labor. The union was growing<br />
increasingly disenchanted over its affiliation with <strong>the</strong><br />
Marine Engineers Beneficial <strong>Association</strong>.<br />
The union that had provided NATCA with<br />
manpower, political contacts, and $1.9 million to organize<br />
and prosper after certification was now sinking<br />
under dwindling membership, serious financial<br />
problems, and fallout from a racketeering trial. Five<br />
More than 250 participants attend “NATCA in Washington.”
top former officers, including Gene DeFries and Doc<br />
Cullison, were accused of collecting more than $2<br />
million in severance pay after MEBA merged with <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> Maritime Union<br />
in 1988. *<br />
These simmering issues<br />
pushed NATCA into<br />
action, but <strong>the</strong> indepen-<br />
dent-minded controllers<br />
had long set <strong>the</strong>ir sights<br />
on affiliating directly with<br />
<strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO. In <strong>the</strong>ir capacity<br />
as a MEBA affiliate,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y could not submit<br />
resolutions at AFL-CIO<br />
conventions without <strong>the</strong><br />
parent union’s permission.<br />
Money was ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
issue. NATCA continued<br />
to pay 7.5 percent of its<br />
members’ dues to MEBA<br />
and didn’t believe it was<br />
getting much, if anything,<br />
in return.<br />
“NATCA’s always<br />
had this ego thing, and part of <strong>the</strong> ego thing is we stand<br />
on our own two feet,” Krasner says. “We always wanted<br />
to be directly affiliated with AFL-CIO.”<br />
Aware of NATCA’s dissatisfaction, MEBA Presi-<br />
Mar.<br />
“<br />
If our voice isn’t heard out<br />
<strong>the</strong>re in <strong>the</strong> world, we’re<br />
going to have to bear<br />
<strong>the</strong> brunt of <strong>the</strong>se ICAO<br />
regulations when <strong>the</strong>y come<br />
back through <strong>the</strong> FAA. The<br />
U.S. view of air traffic control<br />
needs to be out <strong>the</strong>re.<br />
— Martin Cole,<br />
former vice president technical of IFATCA<br />
The U.S. District Court vacates its decision from 1994 allowing <strong>the</strong> FAA to<br />
contract out Level I towers. The FAA does not appeal this decision. Subsequently,<br />
NATCA seeks a court order requiring <strong>the</strong> agency to dismantle its<br />
dent Alex Shandrowsky spoke at <strong>the</strong> September 1996<br />
convention in Pittsburgh, urging <strong>the</strong> union not to<br />
jump ship. But <strong>the</strong> delegates were not swayed and<br />
voted to allow NATCA<br />
to consider aligning with<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r union.<br />
Krasner and William<br />
Osborne, NATCA’s<br />
outside counsel, met one<br />
last time with MEBA<br />
in late February 1997<br />
to fulfill <strong>the</strong> requirements<br />
of <strong>the</strong>ir affiliation<br />
agreement. Worried that<br />
MEBA would retaliate by<br />
putting <strong>the</strong> controllers’<br />
union in trusteeship and<br />
seize its assets, Osborne<br />
had already prepared a<br />
court injunction to prevent<br />
such action.<br />
The meeting ended<br />
badly after Shandrowsky<br />
announced that MEBA<br />
had unilaterally modi-<br />
fied its agreement with NATCA to make disaffiliation<br />
nearly impossible and to ensure that <strong>the</strong> controllers’<br />
union would forfeit its assets in <strong>the</strong> event it<br />
successfully broke away. Krasner replied that NATCA<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
187<br />
* DeFries, Cullison, and two o<strong>the</strong>rs were convicted<br />
of racketeering in July 1995. Cullison<br />
cooperated with authorities and received one<br />
year of unsupervised probation. DeFries was<br />
sentenced to sixty-three months in prison<br />
and fined $600,000 in January 1996, but his<br />
conviction was overturned on appeal. 8<br />
contract program. The court denies <strong>the</strong> union’s motion, but it orders <strong>the</strong><br />
agency to determine whe<strong>the</strong>r ATC services are “inherently governmental”<br />
or a “commercial activity,” in which case <strong>the</strong>y can be contracted out.
188<br />
1998<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
20<br />
Mar.<br />
intended to do so with or without MEBA’s approval<br />
and, on <strong>the</strong> way out of <strong>the</strong> meeting, directed Osborne<br />
to file <strong>the</strong> injunction immediately.<br />
Despite <strong>the</strong> protections afforded by <strong>the</strong> injunction,<br />
a cautious Krasner<br />
hired 24-hour armed<br />
guards to protect <strong>the</strong> national<br />
office in case MEBA<br />
decided to launch a raid.<br />
He also told employees<br />
to take home<br />
critical files. “I want<br />
nothing in this office that<br />
you think you’re going to<br />
need in case <strong>the</strong>y’re actually<br />
successful,” he said.<br />
“This union has to keep<br />
running.” About $3 million<br />
was shifted to different<br />
accounts to make it<br />
harder for MEBA to find.<br />
“Walking around<br />
my last days in office with armed guards and money<br />
spread out across <strong>the</strong> country was kind of spooky,”<br />
Krasner says now.<br />
During this time, AFL-CIO general counsel<br />
Jon Hiatt advised Osborne that <strong>the</strong> labor association<br />
would not be inclined to grant NATCA direct affiliation<br />
if <strong>the</strong> union broke away from MEBA. At Krasner’s<br />
The AFL-CIO Executive Council votes unanimously to accept NATCA as<br />
a direct affiliate to <strong>the</strong> union. Since <strong>the</strong> American Federation of Labor and<br />
direction, Osborne replied that NATCA intended to<br />
achieve independence and it believed direct AFL-<br />
CIO affiliation was best for both organizations. He<br />
added that, if NATCA was turned down, <strong>the</strong> union<br />
was prepared to live with<br />
that outcome.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> tense period<br />
passed without incident.<br />
As part of a court-<br />
“<br />
ordered settlement in<br />
— Former President Barry Krasner<br />
June 1997, NATCA asked<br />
its members to vote on <strong>the</strong><br />
issue of affiliation. Out of<br />
<strong>the</strong> 6,044 ballots cast, 99<br />
percent favored breaking<br />
away from MEBA.<br />
Having gained independence,<br />
NATCA now<br />
faced <strong>the</strong> formidable task<br />
of persuading <strong>the</strong> mighty<br />
AFL-CIO, which represented<br />
some thirteen million<br />
workers, to accept a union with less than 11,000<br />
members as a direct affiliate.<br />
Since <strong>the</strong> merger of <strong>the</strong> American Federation<br />
of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations<br />
in 1955, only twenty or so unions had achieved that<br />
honor. Indeed, AFL-CIO policy discouraged direct<br />
affiliations and <strong>the</strong>re were just sixty-two by <strong>the</strong> time<br />
Walking around my last<br />
days in office with armed<br />
guards and money spread<br />
out across <strong>the</strong> country was<br />
kind of spooky.<br />
Congress of Industrial Organizations merged in 1955, it has accepted just<br />
twenty direct affiliates.
NATCA approached <strong>the</strong> organization in early 1998.<br />
“The entire direction of <strong>the</strong> council and <strong>the</strong> AF<br />
of L-CIO was to bring existing organizations into bigger<br />
organizations, so this flew in <strong>the</strong> face of all of those<br />
resolutions that had been passed previously,” says John<br />
Leyden, who was director of <strong>the</strong> organization’s Public<br />
Employee Department and sat on its Executive Council.<br />
History provided both an obstacle for NATCA<br />
to overcome and a persuasive argument in favor of its<br />
recognition. A three-member special committee on<br />
AFL-CIO national charters expressed concern about<br />
<strong>the</strong> PATCO strike and its effect on organized labor.<br />
They wanted assurances from President McNally, Executive<br />
Vice President Randy Schwitz, and Osborne<br />
that NATCA did not intend to repeat history. But <strong>the</strong><br />
committee was also mindful of what NATCA had<br />
achieved during its short tenure.<br />
“Unquestionably, <strong>the</strong> mass discharge of <strong>the</strong><br />
PATCO strikers near <strong>the</strong> beginning of Ronald Reagan’s<br />
administration represented one of <strong>the</strong> most<br />
shameful acts of union-busting by our federal government<br />
in <strong>the</strong> past several decades,” <strong>the</strong> committee<br />
stated in its report.<br />
The panel credited NATCA and MEBA with<br />
helping to ensure that “<strong>the</strong> air traffic controllers’<br />
legacy has not been quietly forgotten, that it remains<br />
a symbol warning <strong>the</strong> labor movement against complacency<br />
and against forgetting that an attack on<br />
one union is an attack on all.”<br />
28<br />
Aug.<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA sign an unprecedented five-year, $1.6 billion collective<br />
bargaining agreement after negotiating for nearly a year. The new pact<br />
includes a ten-tier pay reclassification system that had been under devel-<br />
A month after NATCA appeared before <strong>the</strong><br />
committee to present its case, <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO Executive<br />
Council agreed to accept <strong>the</strong> union as a direct<br />
affiliate. “It was <strong>the</strong> right thing to do. I think [AFL-<br />
CIO President John] Sweeney saw <strong>the</strong> wisdom,” says<br />
Leyden, who lobbied on NATCA’s behalf. “That’s going<br />
to be a monumental step for <strong>the</strong>m to stay in <strong>the</strong><br />
house of labor.”<br />
Bob Taylor, a frequent visitor at <strong>the</strong> George<br />
Meany Center for Labor Studies when NATCA held<br />
its facility rep training <strong>the</strong>re, often watched workers<br />
from o<strong>the</strong>r unions nearly come to blows with controllers<br />
over misunderstandings about PATCO and its<br />
successor.<br />
“With <strong>the</strong> direct affiliation,<br />
<strong>the</strong> distinction of NATCA<br />
as a scab union has been laid<br />
to rest,” he says.<br />
At a meeting later that<br />
spring in Las Vegas, <strong>the</strong> AFL-<br />
CIO presented NATCA with its<br />
cherished independent charter.<br />
McNally approached <strong>the</strong> podium to accept it<br />
and told Sweeney, “You understand how much this<br />
means to us.”<br />
“I understand,” Sweeney responded. “But I’ve<br />
got a big agenda, Mike. Make it quick.”<br />
McNally thanked <strong>the</strong> audience and said: “I understand<br />
you have a lot of important work to do here.<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
opment since 1992. Members voted 8,219 to 747 in favor of <strong>the</strong> contract, a<br />
92 percent margin. The contract takes effect September 15, 1998.<br />
189
James R.<br />
Schwitz<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
Specialist<br />
1982 — Pr e s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: RV<br />
HOm e t O w n : Fayetteville, Georgia<br />
NATCA archives<br />
sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Pamela / Taylor, Sam, Chad, Nicole<br />
Grandchildren: Breanna, Michael<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Longest-serving member of <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Golf, skiing, riding his Harley<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s:<br />
ZTL Center<br />
Randy Schwitz developed a kinship with aviation<br />
as a boy when he accompanied his dad, a<br />
controller, to work and discovered <strong>the</strong> challenging<br />
variety of <strong>the</strong> job. At home, he sat on a swing set<br />
watching planes thunder overhead after taking off<br />
from Hartsfield <strong>Air</strong>port in Atlanta. The family’s<br />
home bordered <strong>the</strong> south side of <strong>the</strong> field, leading<br />
to ano<strong>the</strong>r diversion when jetliners began flying.<br />
Scared by <strong>the</strong> screaming turbine engines, rats<br />
scurried from airport property into <strong>the</strong> back yard,<br />
where Schwitz and his fa<strong>the</strong>r picked <strong>the</strong>m off with<br />
.22-gauge rifles.<br />
As he grew older, Schwitz set his sights on<br />
becoming an orthodontist. But his career plans<br />
took a detour when he quit Georgia State University<br />
temporarily to earn money at a local General<br />
Motors plant in <strong>the</strong> early 1970s. Assembling<br />
Chevrolet trucks and Pontiac Grand Prix and Le<br />
Mans cars during <strong>the</strong> South’s sweltering summers<br />
opened his eyes to <strong>the</strong> need and value of labor<br />
unions. Four months after he was hired, <strong>the</strong> plant<br />
installed fans following a wildcat strike, providing<br />
welcome relief for <strong>the</strong> workers.<br />
Schwitz promptly joined <strong>the</strong> UAW and was<br />
soon elected steward of <strong>the</strong> body shop. The plant<br />
closed a few years later and he transferred to ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
GM facility, where he continued as a union<br />
rep. However, <strong>the</strong> job’s mindless repetition eventually<br />
drove him to apply to <strong>the</strong> FAA and he<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
Exec. VP 1997-2000; Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region VP 1990-97;<br />
ZTL fac rep 1988-90; negotiated liaisons and tech<br />
rep positions; spearheaded STARS, DSR programs.<br />
hir e d<br />
1982<br />
attended <strong>the</strong> academy in 1982 before starting work<br />
at Atlanta Center.<br />
By now, his fa<strong>the</strong>r was an assistant manager<br />
at Hartsfield. “They’re going to run all over you<br />
unless you form a new union,” he advised his son.<br />
Schwitz heeded <strong>the</strong> warning, participated in organizing,<br />
and became <strong>the</strong> center’s second facility rep<br />
after certification.<br />
In late 1989, he was appointed Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
regional rep when his colleague, Lee Riley, stepped<br />
down.<br />
Schwitz traveled extensively during two<br />
more elected terms and lived in Washington while<br />
serving as executive vice president from 1997 to<br />
2000, earning recognition as a low-key manager<br />
with a sharp eye for finances. During his tenure<br />
with President Michael McNally, NATCA signed<br />
its historic 1998 contract and was granted direct<br />
affiliation with <strong>the</strong> AFL-CIO.<br />
The union also launched a public relations<br />
campaign that included a television commercial<br />
showing controllers at work. Schwitz and his<br />
young daughter, Taylor, appeared at <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong><br />
spot, along with <strong>the</strong> tag line, “We guide you home.”<br />
He rediscovered life back home after narrowly<br />
losing his bid for re-election. Besides spending<br />
much more time with his wife, Pamela, and <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
children, Schwitz has been able to enjoy regular<br />
rounds of golf with his fa<strong>the</strong>r.
1998<br />
5<br />
Sep.<br />
I want you to understand how important<br />
this is to us. In order to show how much<br />
it means to us, I guarantee that when<br />
your business is done your flights home<br />
are going to get out on time.”<br />
A Growing Family<br />
NATCA holds its seventh biennial convention at <strong>the</strong> Westin Hotel in Seattle.<br />
Delegates revise <strong>the</strong> national seniority system. Previously, members<br />
who went into staff or management positions lost all seniority; now, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
The direct affiliation came as NAT-<br />
CA began to embrace o<strong>the</strong>r FAA workers<br />
in <strong>the</strong> union. Interest in expanding<br />
membership dated<br />
to 1990, when<br />
NATCA unionizedcontrollers<br />
at Cherry<br />
Point Marine<br />
Corps <strong>Air</strong> Station.<br />
It had also<br />
recently started to reorganize towers run<br />
by private contractors. In 1994, NATCA<br />
stepped outside its active controller<br />
ranks for <strong>the</strong> first time by seeking to organize<br />
traffic management coordinators.<br />
Although 62 percent of <strong>the</strong> TMCs who<br />
voted rejected <strong>the</strong> move, <strong>the</strong>y later reconsidered<br />
and joined in May 2000. *<br />
The formal decision to expand representation<br />
occurred at <strong>the</strong> 1996 conven-<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
191<br />
Bob Taylor: NATCA’s labor relations director,<br />
a former Eastern <strong>Air</strong>lines employee<br />
and official with <strong>the</strong> International <strong>Association</strong><br />
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,<br />
has seen <strong>the</strong> union’s bargaining units<br />
grow from two to twenty. / NATCA archives<br />
AFL-CIO charter: The labor organization<br />
prefers to absorb new unions as affiliates<br />
of existing entities. However, it granted<br />
NATCA direct affiliation in 1998. / Japphire<br />
* <strong>Traffic</strong> management coordinators are<br />
controllers who work in centers, TRACONs,<br />
towers, and <strong>the</strong> FAA’s Command Center.<br />
Their mission is to minimize airborne delays<br />
by monitoring <strong>the</strong> wea<strong>the</strong>r, runway capacity<br />
at major hub airports, and o<strong>the</strong>r factors.<br />
When necessary, <strong>the</strong> coordinators adjust<br />
traffic flows by temporarily holding planes at<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir point of departure, which is known as a<br />
“ground stop,” and through o<strong>the</strong>r means.<br />
will lose only <strong>the</strong> amount of time <strong>the</strong>y spend outside <strong>the</strong> bargaining unit.<br />
Delegates also allow <strong>the</strong> engineers and architects a seat on <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
Executive Board, and authorize <strong>the</strong> board to buy an office building.
192<br />
1998<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA archives<br />
Engineers and architects: NATCA’s second-largest bargaining unit joined <strong>the</strong> union in November 1997. Among<br />
<strong>the</strong> activists were, front row from left: Mike Martin; Mark McLauren; Curt Howe; and Pete Healy. Back row from<br />
left: controller/organizer Kevin Christy; Jim D’Agati; Tom Bayone; Jim Frascone; and Doug Hintz.<br />
30<br />
Oct.<br />
tion. By this time, <strong>the</strong> agency’s engineers and architects<br />
had broached <strong>the</strong> subject of affiliation with NATCA<br />
and <strong>the</strong> Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways Systems Specialists, which<br />
represents more than 11,000 technicians, safety inspectors,<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>r FAA workers. The engineers’ motivation<br />
sounded very familiar to NATCA.<br />
“We felt left out of most of <strong>the</strong> decision-making<br />
President Michael McNally and Rick White, NATCA technical representative<br />
on <strong>the</strong> STARS modernization program, testify in Congress. They say<br />
that, until recently, controllers were not consulted on <strong>the</strong> program and<br />
processes,” says Doug Hintz, who spent a decade with<br />
<strong>the</strong> U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before joining <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
in 1991. “Most of us were becoming disenchanted.”<br />
Initial interest sprouted in <strong>the</strong> New England,<br />
Northwest Mountain, Sou<strong>the</strong>rn, and Southwest regions.<br />
Five engineers—Floyd Majors from Seattle,<br />
Mark McLauren from Boston, Hintz from Atlanta,<br />
and James Frascone and Garlon Jordan from Fort<br />
Worth—met NATCA and PASS representatives in<br />
<strong>the</strong> summer of 1995. On <strong>the</strong> basis of those encounters,<br />
<strong>the</strong> organizing group decided NATCA was <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
union of choice.<br />
“NATCA was much better organized,” Hintz<br />
says. The engineers also believed that <strong>the</strong>ir issues<br />
were less likely to conflict with those of a group composed<br />
predominantly of controllers.<br />
A year later, many o<strong>the</strong>r engineers began<br />
clamoring for union representation when <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
implemented a PASS proposal to reclassify those who<br />
did not wish to transfer to a regional office. This new<br />
job—called a GS-2101 engineering technician—represented<br />
a technical generalist position ra<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
an engineering specialty such as electronics or <strong>the</strong><br />
environment.<br />
The new position was aimed at enabling field<br />
engineers to move into management. But it rankled<br />
many who historically had served as technical managers<br />
and now faced <strong>the</strong> prospect of forfeiting <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
state licenses because <strong>the</strong>y would no longer be prac-<br />
<strong>the</strong> equipment is not suited to <strong>the</strong> way TRACON controllers do <strong>the</strong>ir job.<br />
STARS consists of color monitors, similar to <strong>the</strong> DSR displays in en route<br />
centers, which will replace aging radarscopes.
ticing engineers.<br />
With help from NATCA Southwest Region<br />
Vice President Rich Phillips, Great Lakes Region<br />
VP Jim Poole and Chicago Center controller<br />
Kevin Christy, <strong>the</strong> engineers mounted<br />
a nationwide organizing drive. In November<br />
1997, little more than a decade after NATCA<br />
was certified, <strong>the</strong> FAA’s 1,150 engineers and<br />
architects voted overwhelmingly to become <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s second major bargaining unit.<br />
Their decision led to <strong>the</strong> first expansion of<br />
NATCA’s <strong>National</strong> Executive Board. Pete Healy was<br />
appointed <strong>the</strong> first engineers vice president and invited<br />
to sit on <strong>the</strong> board as a non-voting member.<br />
After delegates at <strong>the</strong> 1998 convention approved a<br />
voting position, Jim D’Agati, <strong>the</strong> Great Lakes Region<br />
local president, won election to<br />
<strong>the</strong> NEB <strong>the</strong> next year.<br />
Some controllers<br />
feared <strong>the</strong> growth in<br />
representation would<br />
dilute <strong>the</strong>ir organization,<br />
but most saw it<br />
as a necessary evolution.<br />
“Look at China,”<br />
says Phillips, who<br />
also helped to organize<br />
traffic management coor-<br />
15<br />
Dec.<br />
DSR becomes operational at Seattle Center. After <strong>the</strong> equipment was<br />
installed in 1996, a thirteen-member NATCA “Tiger Team” determined<br />
that DSR was not deployable in its present configuration. Subsequently,<br />
dinators in 2000. “One thousand<br />
years ago, <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>the</strong> most<br />
advanced culture in <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
They built a big wall to keep<br />
everyone out. Look where <strong>the</strong>y<br />
are now. They’re still one thousand<br />
years ago and are now trying<br />
to catch up. We could do<br />
that—just be controllers—but<br />
<strong>the</strong>n we’d stagnate.”<br />
That was hardly <strong>the</strong> case after <strong>the</strong><br />
historic 1998 contract. Interest in affiliating with<br />
NATCA suddenly ballooned and <strong>the</strong> union found itself<br />
representing ano<strong>the</strong>r 3,500 FAA workers over <strong>the</strong><br />
next three years. <strong>Controllers</strong> continued to dominate<br />
<strong>the</strong> organization, followed by <strong>the</strong> engineers and architects.<br />
The FAA’s 950 staff-support specialists voted to<br />
join NATCA in late 2001, becoming its third-largest<br />
bargaining unit.<br />
As union membership and representation<br />
grew, so, too, did <strong>the</strong> national office in Washington.<br />
During NATCA’s first six years of existence,<br />
it occupied <strong>the</strong> same suite that PATCO<br />
had used at MEBA headquarters on North Capitol<br />
Street, near Union Station. To liven up <strong>the</strong><br />
offices, President Steve Bell brought in several<br />
brass lamps with pink shades and hanging beads<br />
evocative of <strong>the</strong> Civil War era.<br />
When Barry Krasner took over, <strong>the</strong> lamps gave<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
193<br />
Direct AFL-CIO<br />
affiliation came as<br />
NATCA began to<br />
embrace o<strong>the</strong>r workers<br />
in <strong>the</strong> union. In 1997,<br />
NATCA stepped<br />
outside its controller<br />
ranks for <strong>the</strong> first time.<br />
<strong>the</strong> union and <strong>the</strong> FAA corrected a punch list of issues before allowing <strong>the</strong><br />
system to go live.
194<br />
1998<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
FYI<br />
Besides representing 15,300 air traffic controllers,<br />
NATCA’s twenty bargaining units include some 4,700 o<strong>the</strong>r FAA and Defense<br />
Department workers and privately employed controllers (as of June 2002).<br />
Bargaining Unit Workers Certification Date<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control Specialists 15,300 June 19, 1987<br />
Cherry Point Marine Corps <strong>Air</strong> Station 30 September 6, 1990<br />
Privately Employed ATC Specialists 110 February 21, 1997, and later<br />
Engineers and Architects 1,200 November 10, 1997<br />
Notice to <strong>Air</strong>men Office 10 March 23, 1999<br />
Budget and Financial Analysis 101 February 7, 2000<br />
Logistics, Finance, Acc’t., Info. Services Division 518 April 26, 2000<br />
Engineers (Oklahoma City / Atlantic City) 124 May 22 / July 14 / Sept. 28, 2000<br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> Management Coordinators 605 May 25, 2000<br />
31<br />
Automation Specialists 175 June 1, 2000<br />
Aerospace Medicine 30 August 23, 2000<br />
<strong>Air</strong>ports Division 263 August 31, 2000<br />
<strong>Air</strong>worthiness Engineers 13 September 8, 2000<br />
<strong>Air</strong>craft Certification 532 September 12, 2000<br />
Hawaii Department of Defense 12 October 26, 2000<br />
Dec.<br />
Hawaii <strong>National</strong> Guard 10 October 26, 2000<br />
Regional Counsel’s Office 50 January 4, 2001<br />
Staff Support Specialists 950 January 7, 2002<br />
Ten years after its first financial statement, NATCA reported assets of<br />
$2.7 million and liabilities of $1.3 million.<br />
way to a large bearskin rug strategically positioned<br />
so that visitors entering <strong>the</strong> president’s office looked<br />
directly into a mouth full of bared teeth. Krasner’s<br />
motif also included a stuffed armadillo, which he’d<br />
haggled over for forty-five minutes in Tijuana, Mexico,<br />
and an exotic collection of more than two-dozen<br />
stuffed frogs in strikingly au<strong>the</strong>ntic poses: shooting<br />
pool, strumming a ukulele, tending bar. A frog dancing<br />
atop a charred picnic table—a gift from Joseph<br />
Bellino—mimicked Krasner’s antics at a party.<br />
By April 1993, employees at headquarters were<br />
stumbling over each o<strong>the</strong>r. Space was so limited that<br />
Labor Relations Director Richard Gordon worked<br />
out of a converted closet in Krasner’s office. To gain<br />
breathing room, NATCA moved to much larger leased<br />
offices at 17 th and M streets on <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn edge of<br />
downtown. Although ten-year leases were <strong>the</strong> norm,<br />
Krasner had his eye on <strong>the</strong> future and insisted on a<br />
seven-year term. He and many o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> union<br />
envisioned owning a building.<br />
Delegates at <strong>the</strong> 1994 convention in Tampa<br />
took a step toward making <strong>the</strong>ir dream come true<br />
when <strong>the</strong>y agreed to transfer MEBA payments to a<br />
building fund after <strong>the</strong> loan was paid off. Starting in<br />
January 1996, <strong>the</strong>y deposited about $33,000 a month<br />
into <strong>the</strong> fund. Just two-and-a-half years later, convention<br />
delegates in Seattle approved releasing <strong>the</strong><br />
money to buy a building. The challenge was finding<br />
an affordable structure that provided enough space to
suit <strong>the</strong> union’s needs.<br />
Working with a real estate broker, Executive<br />
Vice President Randy Schwitz and Finance Committee<br />
Chairman Dale Wright scouted different<br />
sites. Given President Michael McNally’s belief that<br />
NATCA archives (left); Japphire (right)<br />
The menagerie: President Krasner’s office included an exotic collection<br />
of stuffed animals. An armadillo greeted visitors from atop a<br />
curio cabinet. A dancing frog mimicked Krasner’s antics at a party.<br />
1999<br />
23<br />
Feb.<br />
NATCA would not be taken as seriously with an address<br />
outside D.C., <strong>the</strong>y decided to concentrate <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
search within <strong>the</strong> capital.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less, a vacant lot at King Street and<br />
Diagonal Road in Alexandria, Virginia, first caught<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir eye because of its proximity to <strong>the</strong> Metro, a<br />
nearby hotel, and Old Town. However, ano<strong>the</strong>r buyer<br />
stepped in before NATCA could put down a deposit.<br />
Several older buildings were available in D.C., but<br />
<strong>the</strong>y were priced in <strong>the</strong><br />
$15 million range—out of<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s reach.<br />
While walking<br />
around on his lunch hour<br />
one day in <strong>the</strong> summer of<br />
1999, Schwitz saw a “for<br />
sale” sign in front of a seven-story,<br />
white brick structure<br />
at 1325 Massachusetts<br />
Avenue. Located just<br />
off Thomas Circle, it was<br />
a mere three blocks from<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s current offices.<br />
The American Society for<br />
Microbiology owned <strong>the</strong> building, which seemed<br />
perfect in terms of size and location, and NATCA<br />
bought it for $8.1 million. In a sense, <strong>the</strong> controllers<br />
were coming home. AFGE owned <strong>the</strong> offices during<br />
<strong>the</strong> mid-1980s while it directed <strong>the</strong> organizing drive<br />
On <strong>the</strong> basis of a court order, <strong>the</strong> FAA notifies NATCA that it has determined<br />
VFR control tower operations are a commercial activity that can<br />
be provided by private firms. The union files a second lawsuit and <strong>the</strong> two<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
195<br />
parties agree that no more towers will be contracted out until <strong>the</strong> courts<br />
resolve <strong>the</strong> matter.
196<br />
1999<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
23<br />
Mar.<br />
for AATCC.<br />
Schwitz, who handled many of <strong>the</strong> purchase<br />
decisions, says it was “probably <strong>the</strong> most scary thing I<br />
ever did.” The union had to wait until ano<strong>the</strong>r buyer’s<br />
purchase option expired<br />
before moving forward.<br />
Financing <strong>the</strong>n became<br />
an issue. Three banks<br />
that were vying for NAT-<br />
CA’s business repeatedly<br />
undercut each o<strong>the</strong>r’s offer.<br />
With <strong>the</strong> deadline to<br />
close <strong>the</strong> deal looming,<br />
Schwitz finally called <strong>the</strong><br />
banks’ representatives toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
in his office.<br />
“Y’all sit in here<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r and decide who<br />
wants our business,” he<br />
told <strong>the</strong>m. “I’m going to<br />
go outside and smoke<br />
a cigarette and drink a<br />
Pepsi. When I come back<br />
in, you tell me which one<br />
of you is going to do business<br />
with us because I’m not going to go back and<br />
forth between you anymore.” By <strong>the</strong> time Schwitz returned,<br />
a decision had been made.<br />
The union occupies <strong>the</strong> first, third, fourth, and<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative for<br />
ten FAA workers who issue Notices to <strong>Air</strong>men.<br />
“<br />
Y’all sit in here toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
and decide who wants<br />
our business. I’m going to<br />
go outside and smoke a<br />
cigarette. When I come<br />
back in, you tell me which<br />
one of you is going to do<br />
business with us.<br />
fifth floors of its headquarters, and has leased all <strong>the</strong> remaining<br />
space. Before occupying <strong>the</strong> building in February<br />
2000, NATCA spent two frenetic months and about<br />
$580,000 on renovations, including carpeting, dropped<br />
ceilings, telephones, and<br />
office furniture. New desks<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>r items for McNally<br />
and Schwitz did not arrive<br />
until <strong>the</strong> day before an<br />
— Executive Vice President<br />
Randy Schwitz<br />
open house in mid-July.<br />
“The two of <strong>the</strong>m<br />
camped out on tables for<br />
a few months,” recalls<br />
Adell Humphreys.<br />
As director of administration,<br />
she has<br />
overall responsibility for<br />
maintenance of a building<br />
constructed in <strong>the</strong><br />
mid-1960s. It is a role, she<br />
says, that makes her “feel<br />
like Bob Vila” as she frets<br />
about replacing <strong>the</strong> roof<br />
and heating and ventilation<br />
system, and listens<br />
to <strong>the</strong> wind whistling through <strong>the</strong> windows.<br />
To avoid liability issues, <strong>the</strong> union formed a<br />
separate entity called NATCA Membership Investments<br />
Incorporated to act as owner of <strong>the</strong> building.
29<br />
Apr.<br />
Schwitz, McNally, and Walter J. Boyne—a retired<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Force colonel, former director of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong><br />
and Space Museum at <strong>the</strong> Smithsonian Institution,<br />
and prolific aviation author—constituted NMI’s first<br />
board of directors. Boyne soon resigned because of<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r commitments, and Krasner was appointed in<br />
his place. After McNally and Schwitz left at <strong>the</strong> end of<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir terms in <strong>the</strong> fall of 2000, Krasner appointed Ed<br />
Mullin and James Ferguson to <strong>the</strong> board. *<br />
The day after Krasner announced at <strong>the</strong> Pittsburgh<br />
convention that he would not seek re-election,<br />
delegates voted to dedicate to him any building <strong>the</strong><br />
union bought. In April 2000, Anchorage convention<br />
delegates paid homage to Michael McNally by christening<br />
<strong>the</strong> first-floor conference room with his name.<br />
Both men were moved by <strong>the</strong> honor. “I can’t think<br />
of a prouder moment than to have a building named<br />
after you while you’re still alive,” Krasner says. “That<br />
was pretty darn cool.”<br />
The Home Front<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA agree to a revised policy concerning familiarization<br />
trips. The replacement Article 23 provides for: six FAM trips per year,<br />
including one international (down from eight domestic and one interna-<br />
Even as NATCA grew and extended its outside<br />
influence, it grappled with several thorny internal issues<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong> 1990s. Early on, money created<br />
an intense conflict when <strong>the</strong> union wrestled over a<br />
second attempt to raise dues from 1 percent to 1.5<br />
percent at its convention in 1992.<br />
Despite <strong>the</strong> fact that NATCA did not pay off<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
197<br />
* To ensure autonomy, Krasner, Mullin, and<br />
Ferguson adopted a resolution giving <strong>the</strong> NMI<br />
board sole authority to appoint new members.<br />
The <strong>National</strong> Executive Board retains<br />
power to confirm appointees.<br />
tional); all FAMs on duty time; no more than two trips to <strong>the</strong> same airport<br />
(<strong>the</strong> previous limit was eight); FAMs used toward annual proficiency training<br />
requirements. The new agreement takes effect May 31, 1999.
198<br />
1999<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
10<br />
<strong>the</strong> MEBA loan until October 1995, it was no longer<br />
spending in <strong>the</strong> red. But its annual income of about $7<br />
million was stretched to <strong>the</strong> limit. Arbitrations were<br />
piling up, asbestos issues loomed, negotiating <strong>the</strong><br />
1993 contract would cost<br />
about $1 million, and <strong>the</strong><br />
union was outgrowing its<br />
cramped space at MEBA<br />
headquarters.<br />
NATCA publicized<br />
<strong>the</strong> need for raising dues<br />
before <strong>the</strong> convention.<br />
But nearly half of <strong>the</strong><br />
controllers back home<br />
sent <strong>the</strong>ir delegates to<br />
San Antonio with firm<br />
instructions to oppose<br />
any increase. “We were<br />
against it for <strong>the</strong> same<br />
reason we’re against taxes.<br />
It wasn’t clear enough<br />
what we were going to do<br />
with <strong>the</strong> money,” says Bill Otto, facility rep at St. Louis<br />
Tower and TRACON at <strong>the</strong> time. The issue became<br />
<strong>the</strong> talk of <strong>the</strong> convention in hotel bars and elevators,<br />
at Dick’s Last Resort along San Antonio’s famed River<br />
Walk, everywhere.<br />
Aside from membership sentiment, <strong>the</strong>re<br />
were several procedural obstacles. At <strong>the</strong> Las Vegas<br />
May July<br />
convention in 1990, when delegates first rejected an<br />
increase, <strong>the</strong>y approved Karl Grundmann’s constitutional<br />
amendment requiring a vote of <strong>the</strong> entire<br />
membership to change <strong>the</strong> dues structure. And<br />
standing convention<br />
rules stipulated that all<br />
adopted decisions took<br />
effect at <strong>the</strong> close of <strong>the</strong><br />
“<br />
convention. Both had to<br />
be changed before <strong>the</strong><br />
delegates could even consider<br />
raising dues.<br />
President Krasner<br />
always believed in an increase<br />
to enable NATCA<br />
“to grow as a union.”<br />
— Former President Barry Krasner He wanted to raise dues<br />
once and never change<br />
<strong>the</strong>m again—up or down.<br />
Deftly applying Robert’s<br />
Rules of Order and taking<br />
care to explain each step<br />
of <strong>the</strong> process to <strong>the</strong> delegates, Krasner first tackled<br />
<strong>the</strong> issue of modifying <strong>the</strong> standing convention rules<br />
so that amendments and resolutions would take effect<br />
immediately. This required a two-thirds majority.<br />
At virtually every convention, controllers seize<br />
on an issue <strong>the</strong>y believe demands a roll-call vote,<br />
known as a division of <strong>the</strong> house. In San Antonio,<br />
I can’t think of a prouder<br />
moment than to have a<br />
building named after you<br />
while you’re still alive. That<br />
was pretty darn cool.<br />
Nearly 300 participants attend “NATCA in Washington.” The union signs a purchase agreement with <strong>the</strong> American Society<br />
for Microbiology to buy its office building at 1325 Massachu-<br />
21<br />
setts Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., for $8.1 million.
changing <strong>the</strong> standing rules was it. Doors to <strong>the</strong> convention<br />
floor were locked and no one was allowed to<br />
enter or leave. One by one, delegates stepped up to a<br />
microphone and cast <strong>the</strong>ir ballots. The involved procedure<br />
took about an hour.<br />
Krasner, who established <strong>the</strong> rules for security<br />
and protocol during <strong>the</strong> vote, says, “I’ve always<br />
made it so painful <strong>the</strong>y never do it a second<br />
time.”<br />
Once <strong>the</strong> delegates approved <strong>the</strong> procedural<br />
change, Krasner knew <strong>the</strong> dues<br />
increase was assured. Next, by voice vote,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y adopted an amendment stating that<br />
dues could be changed by a majority of delegates<br />
attending a convention ra<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
<strong>the</strong> membership as a whole. Finally, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
raised <strong>the</strong> dues a half percent.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> convention’s closing banquet,<br />
Richard Gordon announced that he’d called<br />
<strong>the</strong> national office and told <strong>the</strong>m he wanted<br />
a facility rep training class scheduled for<br />
each month during <strong>the</strong> next four years. The<br />
room erupted in applause.<br />
“It’s one of <strong>the</strong> biggest reasons we’ve<br />
been able to do what we’ve done over <strong>the</strong><br />
past ten years,” say Pat Forrey, a delegate<br />
who returned to Cleveland Center and wrote a detailed<br />
memo explaining why he voted against his<br />
members’ wishes. Some were upset by <strong>the</strong> process,<br />
Sep. Dec.<br />
Jim D’Agati beats Pete Healy by a vote of 126 to 93 in a runoff<br />
election for Engineers and Architects vice president. Hurricane<br />
20<br />
Floyd delays <strong>the</strong> ballot tally for four days.<br />
but most accepted <strong>the</strong> rationale.<br />
Not all facilities were as understanding. Membership<br />
at Fort Worth Center plunged from 50 percent<br />
to 38 percent, <strong>the</strong> largest drop of any local in <strong>the</strong><br />
country (though it has since rebounded to 80 percent).<br />
Membership elsewhere suffered,<br />
too, but <strong>the</strong> resentment<br />
soon faded.<br />
The Bro<strong>the</strong>rhood<br />
Aside from <strong>the</strong> dues<br />
increase, ano<strong>the</strong>r emotional<br />
issue divided NATCA<br />
virtually from Day One:<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s stance on rehiring<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers who<br />
struck in 1981.<br />
At an organizing<br />
meeting in <strong>the</strong> fall of 1984,<br />
New York controllers argued<br />
strenuously in favor<br />
while those from Atlanta<br />
vehemently objected. A<br />
proposal to formally support<br />
rehiring passed by one<br />
vote. The issue came up at o<strong>the</strong>r organizing meetings,<br />
too. NATCA founders quickly learned to downplay<br />
<strong>the</strong> subject to most potential members, who were<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
199<br />
NATCA publicized <strong>the</strong><br />
need for raising dues<br />
before <strong>the</strong> convention.<br />
But nearly half of <strong>the</strong><br />
controllers back home<br />
sent <strong>the</strong>ir delegates to<br />
San Antonio with firm<br />
instructions to oppose<br />
any increase.<br />
The Early Display Configuration of STARS is installed in El Paso,<br />
Texas, for testing and evaluation. In January 2000, <strong>the</strong> prototype<br />
is also installed in Syracuse, New York.
200<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
PATCO rehires: Valerie and Bob Butterworth<br />
worked in <strong>the</strong> Bay Area at <strong>the</strong> time<br />
of <strong>the</strong> strike. Rehired in 1997, she is now<br />
a controller at San Diego Tower while he<br />
works at Sou<strong>the</strong>rn California TRACON.<br />
Both are members of NATCA. / Japphire<br />
* This changed when NATCA adopted a<br />
national seniority policy in 1996. Depending<br />
upon <strong>the</strong>ir length of service before 1981,<br />
some rehires were more senior than <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
post-strike colleagues.<br />
2000<br />
7<br />
Feb.<br />
skittish about ano<strong>the</strong>r radical union.<br />
After NATCA was certified, John Leyden<br />
attended <strong>the</strong> Las Vegas convention to speak<br />
on <strong>the</strong> issue. His presence stirred anew<br />
unease among <strong>the</strong> new generation of controllers.<br />
While Leyden stood by and listened,<br />
delegates heatedly wrangled over<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r he should be permitted to address<br />
<strong>the</strong>m. Those in opposition largely<br />
respected Leyden, but <strong>the</strong>y were reluctant<br />
to provide him with a forum.<br />
“It measured us on how much <strong>the</strong> wounds<br />
were still open,” recalls <strong>the</strong>n-Southwest Regional<br />
Rep Ed Mullin, who left Las Vegas feeling unsettled<br />
by “<strong>the</strong> fragmentation and <strong>the</strong> degree of rancor.”<br />
Leyden was finally allowed to step up to <strong>the</strong><br />
podium after a roll-call vote.<br />
“These individuals are <strong>the</strong> same<br />
as you are,” he said in an impassioned<br />
speech. “They wanted to<br />
change <strong>the</strong> system. In many instances,<br />
through no fault of <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
own, <strong>the</strong>y lost <strong>the</strong>ir jobs.”<br />
Leyden described controllers<br />
who had suffered through<br />
divorces and committed suicide.<br />
Some lost <strong>the</strong>ir homes and were<br />
still struggling to make a living.<br />
He explained that <strong>the</strong> FAA would<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative for<br />
280 workers in <strong>the</strong> Budget and Finance divisions at FAA headquarters.<br />
not fire <strong>the</strong> new breed to rehire<br />
<strong>the</strong> strikers and<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y wouldn’t<br />
lose <strong>the</strong>ir seniority.<br />
* He urged <strong>the</strong><br />
NATCA members<br />
to give <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
former brethren<br />
a chance.<br />
During a<br />
question-and-answer<br />
period, <strong>the</strong> toughest<br />
queries came from former PAT-<br />
CO members who had not struck. They spoke about<br />
<strong>the</strong> threats, acrimony, and confrontations at work<br />
that were common during <strong>the</strong> PATCO era. Leyden<br />
couldn’t answer point for point, but he said <strong>the</strong> former<br />
controllers had been in a union and should not<br />
be denied <strong>the</strong> chance to come back.<br />
After an emotional debate, <strong>the</strong> delegates voted<br />
by a three-to-one margin to urge President Bush to<br />
allow <strong>the</strong> fired controllers to apply for new job openings<br />
in <strong>the</strong> FAA. Like his Republican predecessor,<br />
Bush declined. But on August 12, 1993, Democratic<br />
President Clinton signed an executive order lifting<br />
<strong>the</strong> ban on <strong>the</strong> strikers.<br />
That fall, <strong>the</strong> FAA sent a questionnaire—commonly<br />
known as <strong>the</strong> ’93 List—to <strong>the</strong> last known<br />
addresses of <strong>the</strong> fired controllers. They were given a
limited time to reapply and about 5,000 did so. The<br />
agency responded deliberately, but rehired some 800,<br />
most since 1997. Passing certification again was not<br />
easy for all of <strong>the</strong>m, who were re-entering a young<br />
man’s profession and<br />
confronting traffic that<br />
had doubled since <strong>the</strong>y<br />
left more than fifteen<br />
years earlier.<br />
“I’ve watched PAT-<br />
CO bro<strong>the</strong>rs come in that<br />
door and what that did to<br />
<strong>the</strong>m is worse than what<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike did,” says Bob<br />
Butterworth, who walked<br />
out at Oakland Center<br />
in 1981 and now works<br />
at Sou<strong>the</strong>rn California<br />
TRACON in San Diego.<br />
“They remembered<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves as being good<br />
at <strong>the</strong>ir jobs, but with<br />
all <strong>the</strong> additional traffic <strong>the</strong>se days and <strong>the</strong> fact that<br />
<strong>the</strong>y’re so much older now, it was crushing. They had<br />
to go back to <strong>the</strong>ir now-grown children and say <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were failures.”<br />
Even for those who succeeded, checking out<br />
could be a bumpy ride. Many rehires encountered<br />
<strong>the</strong> same insolent attitudes that first-time trainees<br />
23<br />
Feb.<br />
endured. They also discovered a more reserved work<br />
force shaped by different circumstances and times.<br />
“We were more like family,” says Jim Shearer, a striker<br />
who hired back in at Indianapolis Center and now<br />
works at Indianapolis<br />
Tower/TRACON.<br />
The clash of cultures<br />
and lack of un-<br />
“<br />
derstanding about history<br />
saddens people like<br />
Barry Krasner. “We forget<br />
all those who died before<br />
us,” he says. For controllers<br />
who remain opposed<br />
to rehires, he reminds<br />
<strong>the</strong>m: “They gave all<br />
<strong>the</strong>y had. You may not<br />
have agreed with <strong>the</strong>m<br />
going on strike, but you<br />
couldn’t have <strong>the</strong> contract<br />
you have, <strong>the</strong> pay<br />
raise you have, or <strong>the</strong> job<br />
you have if <strong>the</strong>y hadn’t died so you could live.”<br />
On a Monday morning in mid-September<br />
1995, Krasner found himself in an awkward meeting<br />
with a former PATCO controller—an individual<br />
who, like <strong>the</strong> rehires, had inspired heated emotions<br />
over <strong>the</strong> years. The encounter stemmed from a decision<br />
made at a <strong>National</strong> Executive Board session <strong>the</strong><br />
These individuals are <strong>the</strong><br />
same as you are. They wanted<br />
to change <strong>the</strong> system. In<br />
many instances, through no<br />
fault of <strong>the</strong>ir own, <strong>the</strong>y lost<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir jobs.<br />
— Former PATCO President John Leyden<br />
The union holds its second annual Legislative Conference Committee,<br />
attended by about seventy NATCA activists. Democratic Louisiana Rep.<br />
William Jefferson speaks out against privatization of <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
201
202<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Krasner found himself<br />
in an awkward<br />
meeting with a former<br />
PATCO controller—a<br />
man widely regarded<br />
as instrumental in<br />
NATCA’s creation—<br />
John Thornton.<br />
2000<br />
28<br />
Feb.<br />
previous week in Pittsburgh, where a protracted yet<br />
heartfelt discussion ensued concerning a man widely<br />
regarded as instrumental in NATCA’s creation—John<br />
Thornton.<br />
While acknowledging his contributions, several<br />
board members believed Thornton was out of his<br />
element as senior director<br />
of legislative affairs, a<br />
sentiment that had been<br />
growing over <strong>the</strong> past<br />
year. It culminated with<br />
<strong>the</strong> feeling that he wasn’t<br />
doing enough to block <strong>the</strong><br />
looming loss of Chapter<br />
71 rights. Congress was<br />
talking about stripping<br />
away FAA workers’ rights<br />
to union representation<br />
and collective bargaining<br />
in a Transportation<br />
Department appropriations bill it had introduced in<br />
July and would soon vote on <strong>the</strong> measure.<br />
The board members harped about his job performance<br />
and accused him of “dropping <strong>the</strong> ball.”<br />
Legislatively, “people weren’t happy with <strong>the</strong> direction<br />
we were going in,” Eastern Region Vice President<br />
Joe Fruscella says now.<br />
James Ferguson, <strong>the</strong> Northwest Mountain Region<br />
VP, agrees: “We felt like it was time for a change.<br />
The union moves into its newly purchased office building at 1325 Massachusetts<br />
Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. AFGE owned <strong>the</strong> structure<br />
“<br />
When I think of NATCA, I<br />
think of John.<br />
He had done excellent work, but <strong>the</strong>re were some<br />
mistakes being made.”<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r incident that tripped up Thornton and<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1988-91 <strong>National</strong> Executive Board concerned<br />
NATCA’s stance on a law known as <strong>the</strong> Wright<br />
Amendment. Named after former Texas Democratic<br />
Rep. James Wright, <strong>the</strong><br />
1979 law prohibited airlines<br />
at Love Field in Dallas<br />
from flying beyond<br />
<strong>the</strong> four states bordering<br />
— Former Executive Vice President<br />
Ray Spickler<br />
Texas, an anticompetitive<br />
limitation that helped to<br />
ensure success for <strong>the</strong><br />
new DFW <strong>Air</strong>port. Noting<br />
that Love Field and<br />
DFW are just eight miles<br />
apart, supporters justified<br />
<strong>the</strong> Wright Amendment<br />
on safety grounds.<br />
Their argument incensed Southwest Regional<br />
Rep Ed Mullin. “Chicago’s airports are busier. New<br />
York’s are closer. L.A.’s are more numerous,” he says.<br />
“It was strictly a marketing issue, but <strong>the</strong>y framed it<br />
as a safety issue.”<br />
When Congress considered repealing <strong>the</strong><br />
Wright Amendment a decade after it was enacted,<br />
Mullin persuaded <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
to publicly support <strong>the</strong> move. However, <strong>the</strong> union<br />
during <strong>the</strong> mid-1980s, and John Thornton briefly worked in <strong>the</strong> offices<br />
while organizing AATCC.
quickly back-pedaled in <strong>the</strong> face of irate reactions<br />
from key congressmen. Thornton did not believe<br />
NATCA should be fighting for <strong>the</strong><br />
issue, particularly while it was<br />
trying to build a presence on<br />
Capitol Hill. His position<br />
angered Mullin, who left<br />
<strong>the</strong> board a year before <strong>the</strong><br />
discussion about Thornton.<br />
Even so, simmering<br />
dissatisfaction lingered.<br />
U n w i t t i n g l y ,<br />
Thornton had not really<br />
ingratiated himself with Michael<br />
McNally, who had been<br />
elected executive vice president<br />
<strong>the</strong> previous year. Thornton had developed a close<br />
confidence with President Barry Krasner, a level of<br />
trust that McNally did not yet enjoy. At <strong>the</strong> meeting<br />
in Pittsburgh, Krasner tried to persuade <strong>the</strong> board<br />
not to take such drastic action, but a majority voted<br />
to remove Thornton. It was one of <strong>the</strong> few debates<br />
Krasner has ever lost and lent credence to those who<br />
contend that <strong>the</strong> union “eats our young.”<br />
“Politics gets involved,” Krasner says now. “You<br />
know that if you don’t have your entire board behind<br />
you, you’re going to fall apart. It’s not just a matter<br />
of removing John. They can remove me. They can<br />
ultimately do what <strong>the</strong>y want if you don’t have your<br />
26<br />
Apr.<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative for<br />
274 FAA regional office employees in <strong>the</strong> Logistics, Finance, and Computer<br />
Support divisions.<br />
executive board behind you.”<br />
Krasner went home to Long Island, as he usually<br />
did on weekends, and agonized about what to<br />
do. Early Monday morning, he and McNally drove<br />
to Washington. While <strong>the</strong>y were on <strong>the</strong> road, Sallie<br />
Krasner awoke in bed, crying, and wrote out a<br />
speech that she paged to both men. “Please reconsider<br />
this,” she said. “Please don’t do this. Please<br />
think about what you’re doing.”<br />
Krasner listened to <strong>the</strong> page when he arrived<br />
at <strong>the</strong> national office, but <strong>the</strong> outcome was<br />
inevitable. The board’s decision astonished many<br />
members. “When I think about NATCA, I think<br />
about John,” says Ray Spickler. Michael Putzier,<br />
Central Region vice president at <strong>the</strong> time, likens <strong>the</strong><br />
action to “firing <strong>the</strong> founder.”<br />
Thornton was as shocked as anyone. “I thought<br />
it was obvious to <strong>the</strong>m I was doing good work for <strong>the</strong><br />
union and I was a believer in all this stuff,” he says.<br />
Over time, <strong>the</strong> wounds healed and he has grown<br />
philosophical. “You go through things, and if you<br />
don’t get over <strong>the</strong>m, you’ve crippled yourself.”<br />
Two months after Thornton left, NATCA hired<br />
Ken Montoya to lead <strong>the</strong> fight to regain Chapter 71<br />
rights. MEBA retained Thornton as its deputy director<br />
of legislative affairs, but he was laid off a few months<br />
later in a cost-cutting sweep and moved on to <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
Parks and Conservation <strong>Association</strong>. In 1997,<br />
he joined <strong>the</strong> FAA’s Free Flight program, an initiative<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
203<br />
John Thornton: After leaving NATCA, he<br />
became involved with <strong>the</strong> FAA’s Free Flight<br />
project and was named acting director of<br />
<strong>the</strong> program in late 2001. / NATCA archives
204<br />
19xx<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA Charitable Foundation<br />
Shortly before Christmas 2000, Darrell<br />
Meachum and a colleague hefted a<br />
dilapidated table up a flight of stairs to a<br />
two-bedroom apartment in a low-income<br />
suburb nor<strong>the</strong>ast of Fort Worth, Texas.<br />
Meachum, his wife, Cathy, and <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
volunteer helper had driven forty miles to<br />
retrieve <strong>the</strong> item from <strong>the</strong> donor’s outdoor<br />
porch. Its wea<strong>the</strong>r-beaten condition<br />
made <strong>the</strong>m shake <strong>the</strong>ir heads in dismay.<br />
Grime covered <strong>the</strong> white Formica top<br />
and splotches of rust were corroding <strong>the</strong><br />
metal trim and legs.<br />
It belonged in a dump.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> trio did <strong>the</strong>ir best to wipe off<br />
<strong>the</strong> dirt before setting out to deliver it to a<br />
single mo<strong>the</strong>r and her three young boys.<br />
They were one of several families “adopted”<br />
that holiday season by <strong>the</strong> NATCA<br />
Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization<br />
formed by <strong>the</strong> Meachums.<br />
While maneuvering <strong>the</strong> table into<br />
<strong>the</strong> apartment, <strong>the</strong>y noticed that <strong>the</strong> only<br />
furniture outside <strong>the</strong> bedrooms consisted<br />
of a shabby couch and a small television<br />
sitting atop a nightstand. They made<br />
three more trips to lug in a donated microwave,<br />
pots and pans, a laundry basket<br />
full of toiletries, and two armloads of<br />
�<br />
holiday gifts—under <strong>the</strong> ecstatic gazes of<br />
<strong>the</strong> youngsters and <strong>the</strong>ir mo<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
As soon as <strong>the</strong> table and four vinylpadded<br />
chairs were positioned in front<br />
of a window near <strong>the</strong> kitchen, <strong>the</strong> boys<br />
jumped onto <strong>the</strong>ir newfound seats. Beaming,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y set <strong>the</strong>ir hands on <strong>the</strong> table as if<br />
holding forks and knives.<br />
“Look, ma, a table,” <strong>the</strong>y exclaimed.<br />
“Can we have a meal at our table?”<br />
The mo<strong>the</strong>r was speechless.<br />
Such scenes are one of <strong>the</strong> most<br />
rewarding aspects of <strong>the</strong> NATCA Charitable<br />
Foundation. Cathy Meachum says<br />
recipients “inevitably are crying because<br />
<strong>the</strong>y’re so happy and we’re just beside<br />
ourselves.”<br />
Darrell Meachum, a Fort Worth<br />
Center controller, hoped to pool <strong>the</strong><br />
efforts of many NATCA locals that run<br />
charity fund-raisers and bring recognition<br />
to <strong>the</strong> profession when NCF was<br />
formed in August 1994. Originally<br />
incorporated in Texas, <strong>the</strong> organization<br />
expanded to Florida in 2001 and to Georgia<br />
<strong>the</strong> next year. The long-term goal is to<br />
make it a nationwide entity, but in measured<br />
steps to prevent a good idea from<br />
“crumbling under its own weight due to<br />
Courtesy of Cathy and Darrell Meachum<br />
Darrell and Cathy Meachum: The couple formed <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
foundation in 1994 and hope to expand it nationwide.<br />
poor implementation,” Meachum says.<br />
Far-flung expansion is something<br />
<strong>the</strong> skeptics never imagined possible<br />
when he envisioned <strong>the</strong> foundation.<br />
“They are amazed at how far we’ve come<br />
and how much we’ve accomplished,”<br />
Cathy Meachum says. “They didn’t think<br />
it was feasible to get a bunch of people to<br />
do all this work by volunteers only.”<br />
The absence of paid staff members<br />
enables NCF to donate nearly 96 percent<br />
of <strong>the</strong> money it raises. A core group of<br />
about twenty volunteers runs <strong>the</strong> organization,<br />
including satellite offices in Houston,<br />
Jacksonville, Florida, and Peachtree<br />
City, Georgia. In 2001, <strong>the</strong> foundation<br />
gave $43,000 to more than two dozen<br />
Continued on page 206
to automate certain air traffic functions through <strong>the</strong><br />
use of several computerized tools. Thornton was promoted<br />
to acting director of <strong>the</strong> program in late 2001.<br />
It’s About Time<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> toil in an around<strong>the</strong>-clock<br />
profession. They refer to<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir constantly changing schedule<br />
as “<strong>the</strong> rattler” because it bounces<br />
<strong>the</strong>m between day and night like a<br />
baby’s toy. Days off, prime time annual<br />
leave, and o<strong>the</strong>r matters are determined<br />
by seniority. Consequently,<br />
<strong>the</strong> issue is dear to <strong>the</strong> heart of every<br />
controller.<br />
When NATCA organized during<br />
<strong>the</strong> mid-1980s, <strong>the</strong> issue of seniority cultivated<br />
interest among controllers who hoped <strong>the</strong> new<br />
union would give <strong>the</strong>m a say in <strong>the</strong>ir work schedules.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> time, each facility established its own<br />
policy.<br />
Some based seniority on controllers’ length of<br />
service at <strong>the</strong> facility ra<strong>the</strong>r than how long <strong>the</strong>y had<br />
worked for <strong>the</strong> FAA. The policy discouraged controllers<br />
from transferring to certain high-density operations,<br />
such as Chicago Center, because <strong>the</strong>y would<br />
lose all <strong>the</strong> time <strong>the</strong>y’d accrued.<br />
As a result, those facilities were chronically<br />
2000<br />
27<br />
Apr.<br />
understaffed and controllers frequently had to work<br />
overtime—although some enjoyed <strong>the</strong> extra pay and<br />
did not want to see it diminished under a national<br />
seniority policy.<br />
Support for such a change had been<br />
steadily brewing. Although delegates at <strong>the</strong><br />
1994 convention defeated a proposal to<br />
abolish local policies, <strong>the</strong> prickly issue<br />
arose again two years later in Pittsburgh.<br />
Fractious debate raged throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> first day. Numerous controllers<br />
lined up at microphones urging<br />
<strong>the</strong> union to banish a disincentive for<br />
those seeking to move up <strong>the</strong> ranks<br />
and establish a fair system for everyone.<br />
“We had to stand up and make<br />
one policy for each and every controller<br />
to make it fair. It’s about time we<br />
had one policy,” said Barrett Byrnes, <strong>the</strong><br />
facility rep from Poughkeepsie Tower. 9<br />
However, an equally vocal contingent pleaded<br />
to retain control over <strong>the</strong>ir local policies. “Seniority<br />
was a tool fac reps were able to use against management,”<br />
New York TRACON facility rep Phil Barbarello<br />
said. “Now, this is a tool I no longer have.” 10<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r contentious issue involved specifics<br />
of <strong>the</strong> proposed national policy. Reflecting a disdain<br />
More than 800 delegates attend NATCA’s eighth biennial convention at<br />
<strong>the</strong> Egan Convention Center in Anchorage. Moves to revisit <strong>the</strong> seniority<br />
plan and dues structure are voted down. The delegates approve an honor-<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
205<br />
Convention credentials: Delegates wear<br />
official badges as well as a potpourri of<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r union trinkets. / NATCA archives<br />
ary lifetime membership for Cathy Meachum, a longtime associate member<br />
who created <strong>the</strong> NATCA Charitable Foundation with her husband,<br />
Darrell. The foundation raises about $17,000 at <strong>the</strong> convention.
206<br />
2000<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA Charitable Foundation (continued)<br />
�<br />
charities and families. NCF income has<br />
grown steadily since its inception—a total<br />
of $153,575 by <strong>the</strong> end of 2001—and<br />
focuses on areas that aren’t being met by<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r charities.<br />
One recipient has been a Dallasarea<br />
shelter for abused women, which<br />
regularly needs undergarments, towels,<br />
and art supplies for children, who often<br />
use creative outlets to deal with <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
emotional trauma. NCF also favors helping<br />
children who are disadvantaged,<br />
disabled and terminally ill, along with<br />
national charities such as <strong>the</strong> American<br />
Heart <strong>Association</strong>, Cystic Fibrosis <strong>Association</strong>,<br />
and Habitat for Humanity.<br />
Visiting terminally ill children and<br />
disadvantaged people surviving on <strong>the</strong><br />
edge of poverty can be uncomfortable,<br />
Darrell Meachum says. But, he adds, “You<br />
know that you’ve done something for <strong>the</strong><br />
good of <strong>the</strong> community and that you’ve<br />
given something back in <strong>the</strong> name of<br />
your profession and your union.”<br />
Cathy Meachum notes that persuading<br />
detail-oriented controllers to<br />
donate is sometimes a challenge. “They<br />
want to know <strong>the</strong> full picture before <strong>the</strong>y<br />
commit to anything,” she says. “But once<br />
<strong>the</strong>y see it, <strong>the</strong>y jump in full body. They<br />
are overwhelmingly generous.”<br />
Relying on her background running<br />
auctions for <strong>the</strong> American Cancer<br />
Society, Cathy Meachum planned a similar<br />
event for NCF’s first official function.<br />
Starting in 1996, <strong>the</strong> organization has<br />
also raised money through silent auctions<br />
at every NATCA convention.<br />
When Darrell was called to <strong>the</strong><br />
podium to announce <strong>the</strong> winner of <strong>the</strong><br />
raffle grand prize at <strong>the</strong> closing banquet<br />
that first year, <strong>the</strong>n-Executive Vice Presi-<br />
May May<br />
22<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for <strong>the</strong> FAA’s AOS-200/260 engineers in Oklahoma<br />
City.<br />
25<br />
dent Michael McNally introduced him as<br />
“Mr. Cathy Meachum.”<br />
At <strong>the</strong> biennial ga<strong>the</strong>ring in Anchorage<br />
in 2000, where <strong>the</strong> foundation raised<br />
more than $17,000, <strong>the</strong> union officially<br />
recognized her ongoing efforts with an<br />
honorary lifetime membership. It was <strong>the</strong><br />
first time NATCA bestowed <strong>the</strong> tribute<br />
on someone wholly outside <strong>the</strong> air traffic<br />
control profession (fellow lifetime member<br />
Bob Taylor is not a controller, but has<br />
worked for <strong>the</strong> union since 1991). Cathy<br />
Meachum, who’d been an associate member<br />
for seven years, is a dental hygienist.<br />
“I just couldn’t believe it,” she says.<br />
“That’s an honor beyond expression.”<br />
Web site: http://ncf.natca.net<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for <strong>the</strong> FAA’s 600 traffic management coordinators.
for management, one clause stated that controllers<br />
who had become temporary supervisors or worked<br />
in staff positions would lose all <strong>the</strong>ir seniority unless<br />
<strong>the</strong>y returned to <strong>the</strong> bargaining unit within a 30-day<br />
grace period.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less, a grounds well of support from<br />
smaller facilities helped<br />
pass <strong>the</strong> resolution for a<br />
national policy by a whisker.<br />
The roll-call vote of<br />
4,706 to 4,573 amounted<br />
to 50.7 percent approval.<br />
In a 5-4 regional split, Alaskan,<br />
Central, Great Lakes,<br />
New England and Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
favored <strong>the</strong> change, while<br />
Eastern, Northwest Mountain,<br />
Southwest and Western-Pacific<br />
were opposed.<br />
Kevin Keener, a controller<br />
at Napa Tower in<br />
California, characterizes<br />
<strong>the</strong> outcome as “monumental”<br />
in terms of <strong>the</strong> power of small- and mediumsized<br />
facilities. “It was <strong>the</strong> first time it showed <strong>the</strong><br />
body that when you collectively get toge<strong>the</strong>r as a unit<br />
you have a voice,” he says.<br />
The FAA filed a grievance on <strong>the</strong> grounds that<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s 1993 contract stipulated seniority would<br />
1<br />
June<br />
“<br />
We had to stand up and make<br />
one policy for each and every<br />
controller to make it fair. It’s<br />
about time we had one policy.<br />
be set at <strong>the</strong> local level. Contending that <strong>the</strong> locals<br />
were still controlling <strong>the</strong> policy—under direction<br />
from <strong>the</strong> national office—Krasner denied <strong>the</strong> grievance<br />
with great relish. In a rare role reversal, former<br />
Executive Vice President Joseph Bellino testified on<br />
behalf of <strong>the</strong> agency during an FLRA hearing on<br />
a separate unfair labor<br />
practice charge concerning<br />
<strong>the</strong> rights of nonmembers.<br />
— Poughkeepsie Tower facility rep<br />
Barrett Byrnes<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative for<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA’s 180 automation specialists (AOS 300/400).<br />
Bellino believed<br />
<strong>the</strong> NATCA delegates<br />
had adopted <strong>the</strong> policy<br />
illegally by not stating<br />
<strong>the</strong>y were speaking on<br />
behalf of all controllers<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than just union<br />
members. He based his<br />
argument on a case involving<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r union, in<br />
which a non-member was<br />
prohibited from voting on<br />
<strong>the</strong> seniority policy.<br />
William Osborne argued for NATCA that <strong>the</strong><br />
contract authorized <strong>the</strong> union to determine seniority,<br />
its national policy was lawful, and that non-members<br />
had no right to vote. The administrative law judge<br />
ruled against NATCA, leaving <strong>the</strong> union in <strong>the</strong> difficult<br />
position of having to decide whe<strong>the</strong>r to capitu-<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
207
208<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Taking a stand: Beth Thomas weighs in with her views on a proposed<br />
national seniority policy at <strong>the</strong> 1996 convention in Pittsburgh.<br />
2000<br />
26<br />
June<br />
late or appeal and risk a potentially enormous back<br />
pay liability that continued to mount.<br />
But Krasner believed NATCA’s actions were morally<br />
and legally right, and chose to appeal. Fortunately, <strong>the</strong><br />
full FLRA overturned <strong>the</strong> judge’s decision a year later.<br />
The U.S. District Court rules for <strong>the</strong> second time that <strong>the</strong> FAA has not<br />
made a valid decision on whe<strong>the</strong>r air traffic control is an “inherently<br />
governmental” function. The court leaves <strong>the</strong> existing contract tower<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Delegates debated <strong>the</strong> fractious issue for a day and a half before narrowly<br />
adopting <strong>the</strong> policy by a vote of 50.7 percent.<br />
Bellino’s actions on behalf of <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
angered many NATCA members. Aside from his<br />
brief testimony, he sat at <strong>the</strong> FAA table during <strong>the</strong><br />
hearing. Consequently, he lost his bid for president<br />
against McNally in 1997 (and John Carr in 2000).<br />
Soon after, Bellino was removed<br />
as facility rep at Chicago TRA-<br />
CON when he refused to implement<br />
<strong>the</strong> new policy.<br />
The topic of seniority arose<br />
again at <strong>the</strong> 1998 convention in<br />
Seattle. Many controllers were<br />
still unhappy. During contract<br />
negotiations <strong>the</strong> previous spring,<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA had pressured NATCA to<br />
soften a punitive aspect of <strong>the</strong> policy,<br />
which discouraged controllers<br />
from seeking management or staff<br />
positions because <strong>the</strong>y would forfeit<br />
all previously accrued time.<br />
After a day and a half of debate,<br />
delegates modified <strong>the</strong> policy so<br />
that only time spent outside <strong>the</strong><br />
bargaining unit was lost.<br />
The issue was brought up<br />
once more during <strong>the</strong> Anchorage<br />
convention in 2000, but delegates<br />
voted overwhelmingly against<br />
considering any modifications.<br />
program in place. For <strong>the</strong> second time, NATCA asks <strong>the</strong> U.S. Court of<br />
Appeals to discontinue <strong>the</strong> program.
Breaking <strong>the</strong> Glass Ceiling<br />
By 2000, President Michael McNally had been<br />
traveling away from home for nearly a decade as national<br />
QTP coordinator, executive vice president, and<br />
president. His two daughters on Long Island were<br />
growing up without him and his wife, Maria, was<br />
unhappy over <strong>the</strong> lengthy absences. Succumbing to<br />
her wishes, McNally decided not to run for re-election<br />
and publicly endorsed John Carr.<br />
After helping to organize controllers at Kansas<br />
City Tower/TRACON during NATCA’s certification<br />
drive, Carr blazed <strong>the</strong> trail as facility rep <strong>the</strong>re. He<br />
<strong>the</strong>n moved on to spend ten years at Chicago TRA-<br />
CON, serving in every elected position in <strong>the</strong> local<br />
and frequently contributing to <strong>the</strong> facility’s newsletter,<br />
Intentionally Left Blank, an early indication of his<br />
reliance on communication.<br />
Carr was now working at Cleveland Tower/<br />
TRACON to be with his new wife, Jill, who was also a<br />
controller at <strong>the</strong> facility. Quick-witted and articulate,<br />
he’d gained national visibility as a member of <strong>the</strong><br />
1998 contract team and wrote <strong>the</strong> preamble, which<br />
stated in part, “The true measure of our success will<br />
not be <strong>the</strong> number of disagreements we resolve, but<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> trust, honor, and integrity with which <strong>the</strong><br />
parties jointly administer this agreement.”<br />
His campaign platform emphasized open<br />
communication, a stark difference from McNally’s<br />
12<br />
July<br />
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, numerous o<strong>the</strong>r agency and union<br />
dignitaries, and rank-and-file members attend a ceremony to dedicate<br />
NATCA’s new headquarters as <strong>the</strong> Krasner Building. The main conference<br />
close-to-<strong>the</strong>-vest style, and reflected Carr’s down-toearth,<br />
no-nonsense attitude. He referred to himself<br />
as Johnny <strong>the</strong> Bull, a nickname he acquired during<br />
negotiations for <strong>the</strong> collective bargaining agreement.<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
area on <strong>the</strong> first floor is named <strong>the</strong> Michael McNally Conference Room.<br />
McNally presents Howie Barte with a plaque honoring him for his role in<br />
creating <strong>the</strong> NATCA logo.<br />
209<br />
Heading home: President Michael McNally<br />
(shown in a playful moment during <strong>the</strong><br />
2000 convention in Anchorage) had<br />
decided not to run for re-election when<br />
he chaired <strong>the</strong> ga<strong>the</strong>ring. He’d been on <strong>the</strong><br />
road for NATCA for nine years. / Frank Flavin
210<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
John Carr: After NATCA’s fourth<br />
president took office in 2000, he expanded<br />
communication with <strong>the</strong> membership and<br />
mounted an aggressive PR campaign to<br />
advance <strong>the</strong> union’s perspective on flight<br />
delays and privatization. / NATCA archives<br />
2000<br />
Although its origin is a closely guarded contract team<br />
secret, <strong>the</strong> moniker came to typify Carr’s tenaciousness<br />
and his campaign materials often included <strong>the</strong><br />
slogan: “Want no bull? Then know Bull.”<br />
Members welcomed <strong>the</strong> refreshing change and<br />
elected Carr in a landslide over Joseph Bellino, who<br />
was seeking <strong>the</strong> presidency for<br />
a second time, and Atlanta<br />
Center’s Lee Riley, who<br />
was mounting his third<br />
attempt.<br />
After taking office,<br />
Carr established<br />
himself as <strong>the</strong> communications<br />
president<br />
in several ways. Taking<br />
a cue from Rodney<br />
Turner, he posted detailed<br />
weekly updates on<br />
<strong>the</strong> Web to keep <strong>the</strong> membership<br />
informed about union activities.<br />
He also made it a priority to meet with <strong>the</strong> editorial<br />
boards of major newspapers such as The New York<br />
Times, The Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune.<br />
As his administration progressed, <strong>the</strong> Communications<br />
Department underwent a metamorphosis.<br />
Dealings with <strong>the</strong> news media became more<br />
proactive, <strong>the</strong> Web site expanded fur<strong>the</strong>r, and staff<br />
members produced a redesigned newsletter as well<br />
July Aug.<br />
14<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for <strong>the</strong> FAA’s Aviation Systems Standards specialists<br />
and seventy-five AOS-510 engineers in Oklahoma City.<br />
23<br />
as several o<strong>the</strong>r special interest publications for <strong>the</strong><br />
membership.<br />
Like McNally, Executive Vice President Randy<br />
Schwitz had spent a decade on <strong>the</strong> national board<br />
and was ready to go back to Atlanta Center. He still<br />
enjoyed widespread support, however, and says he<br />
“let people talk me into” a bid for re-election. He<br />
faced challenges by Will Faville Jr., <strong>the</strong> former<br />
Alaskan regional rep and safety and technology<br />
director who was making a second<br />
run for <strong>the</strong> position, and Ruth Marlin<br />
from Miami Center.<br />
Marlin joined <strong>the</strong> FAA in 1990<br />
and became actively involved in <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s local after checking out as a controller.<br />
She attended NATCA’s second annual<br />
Lobby Week in Washington, saw <strong>the</strong><br />
power of political activism, and persuaded<br />
<strong>the</strong> Miami Center local to establish its own<br />
legislative representative, a position Marlin initially<br />
occupied.<br />
When Congress threatened to abolish <strong>the</strong> 5<br />
percent differential for controllers, she worked with<br />
Miami Tower controller Andy Cantwell and Barry<br />
Wilson from Fort Lauderdale Executive Tower to<br />
form a group of seven facilities called <strong>the</strong> South Florida<br />
Legislative Committee to mount a coordinated<br />
lobbying effort. The ongoing success of this group<br />
became a model for similar organizational structures<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for <strong>the</strong> FAA’s 30 occupational health specialists,<br />
occupational health nurses, and medical program assistants.
NATCA Racing<br />
The red-and-blue NATCA logo, a<br />
visual symbol of <strong>the</strong> union’s identity<br />
since before certification in 1987, has<br />
appeared on shirts and jackets, pins and<br />
belt buckles, coffee mugs and key rings. It<br />
has graced <strong>the</strong> walls of air traffic control<br />
facilities and homes, and can be seen on<br />
many members’ cars and trucks.<br />
On Memorial Day weekend 1998,<br />
<strong>the</strong> logo debuted in a new venue: <strong>the</strong> Indianapolis<br />
500. Its appearance represented<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s sponsorship of a car driven<br />
by Sam Schmidt, a recent contender on<br />
<strong>the</strong> circuit who placed sixth at Indy and<br />
won <strong>the</strong> Las Vegas 500K in 1999.<br />
Schmidt had been racing since he<br />
was 5. He owned a car, but needed sponsors<br />
when he met Taylor Koonce, a racing<br />
fan and controller at Indianapolis Tower/<br />
TRACON. Showing <strong>the</strong> union’s colors at<br />
major spectator sports events appealed to<br />
Koonce, as well as o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> local and<br />
across <strong>the</strong> field at Indianapolis Center.<br />
They also saw it as a natural pairing given<br />
that controllers frequently work in temporary<br />
towers at races to handle <strong>the</strong> influx of<br />
drivers, pit crews, and spectators.<br />
The two Indianapolis locals soon<br />
began selling stylish polo shirts with<br />
�<br />
checkered trim, Sam Schmidt’s autograph<br />
and car number—99—and a “NATCA<br />
Racing” logo to help underwrite <strong>the</strong> cost<br />
of sponsorship. “It’s a win-win situation,”<br />
says Koonce, who spent ten years as a<br />
Navy controller before joining <strong>the</strong> FAA in<br />
1988. “The more we go to <strong>the</strong> track, <strong>the</strong><br />
more people recognize <strong>the</strong> shirts. They<br />
get to know controllers.”<br />
NATCA’s involvement took on<br />
new meaning in January 2000 after <strong>the</strong><br />
35-year-old Schmidt suffered critical<br />
injuries in an accident at <strong>the</strong> Walt<br />
Disney World Speedway in Bay Lake,<br />
Florida. Supported by a respirator for<br />
months, he was diagnosed as a quadriplegic.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> Schmidt family, history<br />
had repeated itself. Sam’s fa<strong>the</strong>r, Marvin,<br />
remains partially paralyzed from a<br />
racing accident that occurred when his<br />
son was 10.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> family established <strong>the</strong><br />
Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation, NAT-<br />
CA Racing proceeds from an expanded<br />
line of clothing sales were redirected<br />
toward spinal cord research. A year later,<br />
<strong>the</strong> foundation turned over $50,000<br />
in donations from <strong>the</strong> union and o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
sources to <strong>the</strong> Washington University<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
Japphire<br />
Clothing for a cause: A portion of proceeds from<br />
shirt sales helps underwrite spinal cord research.<br />
School of Medicine in St. Louis.<br />
Schmidt, who hopes to benefit<br />
from that research someday, has not been<br />
content to limit himself to daily physical<br />
<strong>the</strong>rapy. In 2001, he formed a team and<br />
returned to racing. “Sam is not a quitter,”<br />
Koonce says. “He continues to strive for<br />
excellence, and that’s very representative<br />
of NATCA.”<br />
In 2002, <strong>the</strong> union began sponsoring<br />
NASCAR Winston Cup star<br />
Bobby Labonte, who won <strong>the</strong> Virginia<br />
500 in April.<br />
211
John<br />
Carr<br />
President<br />
2000 — Pre s e n t<br />
niC k n a m e / Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s:<br />
Johnny <strong>the</strong> Bull / CY<br />
HO m e t O w n : Washington, D.C.<br />
sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Jill / Rachael Diana<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
NATCA archives<br />
Fluent in Spanish; visited more than<br />
50 nations and 45 states<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Travel, football, sailing, swimming<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: CLE<br />
C90<br />
MCI<br />
NO <strong>National</strong> Office<br />
Tower/TRACON<br />
TRACON<br />
Tower/TRACON<br />
When John Carr moved to Washington after<br />
his election as NATCA’s fourth president in<br />
2000, it was a homecoming, of sorts. Carr grew up<br />
in <strong>the</strong> D.C. area, where he delivered The Washington<br />
Post and observed <strong>the</strong> workings of <strong>the</strong> Beltway<br />
through his fa<strong>the</strong>r, a career civil servant who<br />
eschewed unions and regarded his son’s eventual<br />
interest as a hobby.<br />
An understatement, indeed. Carr’s passionate<br />
devotion stems from an overriding concern for<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs, a sense of fairness and empathy—he once<br />
equated a woman’s tears at work with men who<br />
kick walls in frustration—tempered with intolerance<br />
for reckless authority.<br />
Carr spent four years as a Navy controller<br />
in Corpus Christi, Texas, and aboard <strong>the</strong> USS<br />
Eisenhower, including a 152-day deployment at<br />
sea without a port call—a record that stood for<br />
twenty-two years. He turned down a job offer from<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA a few days after <strong>the</strong> strike, but reconsidered<br />
when his bro<strong>the</strong>r counseled him on his career<br />
options. Five months later, he joined <strong>the</strong> agency<br />
and soon certified as a journeyman at Kansas City<br />
Tower/TRACON.<br />
NATCA’s petition drive reached America’s<br />
heartland in 1986, whereupon Carr organized his<br />
facility and became <strong>the</strong> local’s first president. Two<br />
years later, O’Hare’s renowned traffic drew him to<br />
Chicago TRACON. The joy of serving in a variety<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
1998 contract team; all elected positions at Chicago<br />
TRACON; first local president at Kansas City<br />
Tower/TRACON; facility rep training instructor.<br />
hir e d<br />
Jan.<br />
1982<br />
of positions, including facility rep, wedded him to<br />
<strong>the</strong> union. It also contributed to a divorce.<br />
Unlike NATCA’s previous presidents, Carr’s<br />
election to <strong>the</strong> top office was not predicated on<br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Board experience. Instead, he<br />
made <strong>the</strong> leap using his articulate flair, involvement<br />
with <strong>the</strong> 1998 contract team, and <strong>the</strong> consent<br />
of his new wife, Jill, a controller at Cleveland<br />
Hopkins <strong>Air</strong>port. After <strong>the</strong> couple married in July<br />
1998, Carr transferred to Cleveland, where <strong>the</strong><br />
newlyweds intended to settle down and start a<br />
family.<br />
But union activists had ano<strong>the</strong>r agenda and<br />
nominated Carr for president. Determined not to<br />
repeat personal history, John ceded 51 percent of<br />
<strong>the</strong> decision to run to Jill. His wife reminded him<br />
that she was a NATCA member, too, and believed<br />
he was <strong>the</strong> best candidate.<br />
Taking <strong>the</strong> reins of a maturing union, Carr<br />
has proven adept at framing public debate on key<br />
issues such as flight delays and privatization while<br />
streng<strong>the</strong>ning communication with <strong>the</strong> membership.<br />
“I’ve become a huge success in every corner<br />
of my life by giving Jill that 51 percent,” he says.<br />
Part of that good fortune recently paid a dividend.<br />
On March 14, 2002, <strong>the</strong> couple celebrated <strong>the</strong> birth<br />
of a blue-eyed, red-haired beauty named Rachael<br />
Diana.
in o<strong>the</strong>r metropolitan areas. Marlin later served as<br />
chairwoman of <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region Legislative<br />
Committee for several months before moving on to<br />
lead <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> wake of <strong>the</strong> Chapter 71 battle, which she<br />
regarded as a “coming of age” in NATCA’s education<br />
about legislative activism, Marlin set about changing<br />
<strong>the</strong> nature of Lobby Week. Scheduled in advance, <strong>the</strong><br />
annual event might not coincide with a timely issue,<br />
and this could diminish its effectiveness.<br />
Marlin hoped to promote training and<br />
long-term relationships with Congress “that<br />
would enable us to work issues in <strong>the</strong> district<br />
year round ra<strong>the</strong>r than have our grass-roots<br />
legislative success hinge on a few days in<br />
D.C.,” she says. Krasner and McNally agreed,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> union held its first no-issue “NATCA<br />
in Washington” in 1997.<br />
With o<strong>the</strong>r goals in mind and hoping<br />
to avoid being typecast, Marlin decided against<br />
running for a second term as <strong>National</strong> Legislative<br />
Committee chairwoman. A year later, she worked on<br />
terminal and en route issues as a full-time NATCA<br />
liaison in <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Requirements at FAA headquarters<br />
before returning to <strong>the</strong> boards at Miami Center<br />
in <strong>the</strong> spring of 2000. During this time, she decided<br />
to campaign for executive vice president at <strong>the</strong> urging<br />
of Jim Poole, <strong>the</strong> Great Lakes Region vice president.<br />
Like Carr and many o<strong>the</strong>r members, Marlin was<br />
2000<br />
frustrated by <strong>the</strong> recent lack of communication from<br />
headquarters and believed that a top-down attitude<br />
had started to disenfranchise <strong>the</strong> rank and file.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> ballots were counted, Faville placed<br />
a distant third. Marlin surpassed Schwitz, but nei<strong>the</strong>r<br />
carried a majority. Voters faced a distinct choice.<br />
Schwitz had a strong labor-relations<br />
background, ran <strong>the</strong> national office<br />
in McNally’s absence, and represented<br />
continuity at headquarters.<br />
Marlin was part of<br />
<strong>the</strong> younger generation of<br />
controllers hired in <strong>the</strong> past<br />
decade, someone who embraced<br />
open communication,<br />
and sought to achieve<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s goals by influencing<br />
Congress and <strong>the</strong><br />
news media.<br />
During a runoff election,<br />
Marlin did not campaign<br />
and continued to focus on re-certifying<br />
at <strong>the</strong> center to help stay in touch with life in <strong>the</strong><br />
field, a decision she now calls “foolishness.” Indeed,<br />
her original 458-vote lead dwindled to just sixteen<br />
votes in <strong>the</strong> runoff. Ballots were tabulated in <strong>the</strong> firstfloor<br />
conference room at headquarters using dollarbill<br />
counters and workers conducted several tallies to<br />
verify <strong>the</strong> results.<br />
Aug. Sep.<br />
31<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for 263 FAA workers in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>ports Division and<br />
airport district offices.<br />
8<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
213<br />
Ruth Marlin: After attending <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
Lobby Week in 1994, she became a strong<br />
advocate of maintaining close ties with<br />
lawmakers in Congress. / NATCA archives<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for 13 FAA workers in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>worthiness Programs<br />
Branch.
214<br />
2000<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
12<br />
When Marlin took her place on <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
Executive Board (and began posting weekly updates<br />
on <strong>the</strong> Web, too), she joined Carol Branaman, <strong>the</strong><br />
newly elected Northwest Mountain Region vice<br />
president. It was <strong>the</strong> first time in NATCA’s history<br />
that women served on<br />
<strong>the</strong> board.<br />
While Branaman<br />
is happy to see that rep-<br />
resentation in <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
leadership, she says it was<br />
not <strong>the</strong> reason she campaigned<br />
for <strong>the</strong> position.<br />
“There’s a point at which<br />
an organization has to<br />
decide that it’s a union—<br />
principally, to make it a<br />
union ra<strong>the</strong>r than a loosely<br />
knit group of regions,<br />
all of which were going<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir own way.”<br />
Branaman had<br />
been a union member<br />
most of her adult life.<br />
The FAA hired her at<br />
Daytona Beach Tower/TRACON in 1975 and she<br />
later became a PATCO facility rep. As one of <strong>the</strong><br />
first women in <strong>the</strong> tower, she encountered unique,<br />
and often petty, issues.<br />
Sep. Sep.<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for 532 FAA workers in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>craft Certification<br />
Service.<br />
“<br />
There’s a point at which an<br />
organization has to decide<br />
that it’s a union—principally,<br />
to make it a union ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than a loosely knit group of<br />
regions, all of which were<br />
going <strong>the</strong>ir own way.<br />
The manager’s daughter accompanied Branaman<br />
to lunch on her first day at work because, <strong>the</strong><br />
young woman explained, her fa<strong>the</strong>r didn’t know what<br />
to do with his new female employee. When Branaman<br />
issued clearances to pilots, she often endured long silences<br />
before hearing <strong>the</strong><br />
incredulous response, “Is<br />
that a girl talking?”<br />
Branaman trans-<br />
— Northwest Mountain Region<br />
VP Carol Branaman<br />
17<br />
ferred to Denver Centennial<br />
Tower in May<br />
1981 after resolving<br />
not to strike, a decision<br />
prompted by her perception<br />
that <strong>the</strong> impending<br />
walkout was more about<br />
<strong>the</strong> leadership than <strong>the</strong><br />
membership. Though<br />
not involved in organizing<br />
NATCA, she joined<br />
<strong>the</strong> union after it was<br />
certified and ultimately<br />
became <strong>the</strong> facility rep.<br />
She also served on several<br />
projects, including FAA<br />
reform and <strong>the</strong> 1998 contract team, before running<br />
for <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Executive Board in 2000.<br />
Her campaign manager, Denver Center facility<br />
rep Chris Monaldi, remembers <strong>the</strong> night Branaman<br />
About 260 participants attend “NATCA in Washington.” Membership<br />
financial contributions during <strong>the</strong> week push <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
PAC over <strong>the</strong> $1 million mark for <strong>the</strong> first time.
2000<br />
The Fifth <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
Four new<br />
faces joined <strong>the</strong><br />
board in 2000:<br />
Alaskan:<br />
Incumbent Ricky<br />
Thompson from<br />
Anchorage Center<br />
easily defeated<br />
Doug Holland to<br />
win his second<br />
term.<br />
Holland<br />
worked at Chicago<br />
TRACON and his<br />
candidacy involved<br />
an interesting quirk in <strong>the</strong> union’s constitution.<br />
Candidates are permitted to run<br />
for vice president in regions o<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
where <strong>the</strong>y work; however, controllers<br />
can vote only in <strong>the</strong>ir own region.<br />
Central: John Tune from Kansas<br />
City Center beat incumbent Bill Otto<br />
from St. Louis TRACON.<br />
Eastern: Incumbent Joe Fruscella<br />
from New York TRACON ran unopposed<br />
for his third term.<br />
Great Lakes: In his second campaign<br />
for <strong>the</strong> position, Alternate Regional<br />
Vice President Pat Forrey from Cleveland<br />
�<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
NATCA archives<br />
The current leadership: NATCA’s fifth <strong>National</strong> Executive Board includes, from left: John Tune; Central; Jim D’Agati; Engineers & Architects; President<br />
John Carr; Rodney Turner, Sou<strong>the</strong>rn; Carol Branaman; Northwest Mountain; Mark Pallone, Southwest; Pat Forrey, Great Lakes; Mike Blake,<br />
New England; Kevin McGrath, Western-Pacific; Ricky Thompson, Alaskan; Executive Vice President Ruth Marlin; and Joe Fruscella, Eastern.<br />
Center edged out Kevin Christy from<br />
Chicago Center.<br />
New England: Incumbent Mike<br />
Blake from Boston Center ran unopposed<br />
for his second term.<br />
Northwest Mountain: Carol<br />
Branaman from Denver Centennial Tower<br />
defeated Mike Motta from Seattle TRA-<br />
CON.<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn: Incumbent Rodney<br />
Turner from Nashville Metro Tower/<br />
TRACON won a second term by beating<br />
1998 contract team member Andy<br />
Cantwell from Miami Tower.<br />
Southwest: Eric Owens from<br />
Houston TRACON outpolled incumbent<br />
Mark Pallone from Dallas-Fort Worth<br />
TRACON, but nei<strong>the</strong>r earned a majority.<br />
Dennis McGee from DFW Tower also ran<br />
and collected 19.5 percent of <strong>the</strong> vote. In<br />
a runoff, Pallone retained his seat for a<br />
second term.<br />
Western-Pacific: Kevin McGrath<br />
from Sou<strong>the</strong>rn California TRACON defeated<br />
incumbent Gus Guerra from Oakland<br />
Center, making this <strong>the</strong> only region<br />
to select a new vice president in each of<br />
NATCA’s five national elections.<br />
215
216<br />
19xx<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
2000 Election<br />
Results<br />
�<br />
President<br />
John Carr Great Lakes Cleveland TRACON 4,446 61.7<br />
Joseph M. Bellino Great Lakes Chicago TRACON 1,396 19.4<br />
F. Lee Riley Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Atlanta Center 1,369 18.9<br />
Executive Vice President<br />
Ruth Marlin Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Miami Center 3,401 47.0 3,437 50.1<br />
Randy Schwitz / incumbent Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Atlanta Center 2,943 40.6 3,421 49.9<br />
Will Faville Jr. Great Lakes Muskegon Twr./TRACON 897 12.4<br />
Regional Vice Presidents<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Alaskan<br />
Ricky Thompson / incumb. Anchorage Center 104 98.1<br />
Doug Holland<br />
Central<br />
Chicago Center 2 1.9<br />
John Tune Kansas City Center 201 54.6<br />
Bill Otto / incumbent<br />
Eastern<br />
St. Louis TRACON 167 45.4<br />
Joe Fruscella / incumbent<br />
Great Lakes<br />
New York TRACON 975 100.0<br />
Pat Forrey Cleveland Center 780 56.0<br />
Kevin Christy<br />
New England<br />
Chicago Center 614 44.0<br />
Mike Blake / incumbent<br />
Northwest Mountain<br />
Boston Center 237 100.0<br />
Carol Branaman Denver Centennial Tower 306 56.1<br />
Mike Motta Seattle TRACON 239 43.9<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Rodney Turner / incumbent Nashville Metro Twr./TRA. 853 56.2<br />
Andy Cantwell<br />
Southwest<br />
Miami Tower 665 43.8<br />
Mark Pallone / incumbent DFW TRACON 304 34.4 474 54.0<br />
Eric Owens Houston TRACON 407 46.1 403 46.0<br />
Dennis McGee<br />
Western-Pacific<br />
DFW Tower 172 19.5<br />
Kevin McGrath Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Calif. TRACON 398 40.1 621 56.3<br />
Gus Guerra / incumbent Oakland Center 350 35.3 482 43.7<br />
Tony Yushinsky Tucson TRACON 186 18.8<br />
Howie Rifas John Wayne Tower 58 5.8<br />
Engineers and Architects (special election in 1999)<br />
Jim D’Agati Great Lakes 107 47.8 126 57.5<br />
Pete Healy Southwest 108 48.2 93 42.5<br />
James “Ajax” Kidd Washington Center 9 4.0<br />
Engineers and Architects (regular election in 2000)<br />
Votes Percent<br />
Jim D’Agati / incumbent Great Lakes 184 100.0<br />
Runoff<br />
Votes<br />
Runoff<br />
Percent<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
217
Ruth<br />
Marlin<br />
Executive Vice President<br />
2000 — Pre s e n t<br />
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: SL<br />
HOm e t O w n : Joppatowne, Maryland<br />
sp O u s e / CHildre n:<br />
Scott / Sean<br />
Ot Her tr i v i a:<br />
Hiked across <strong>the</strong> Grand Canyon<br />
in t e r e s t s:<br />
Skiing, art, entertaining<br />
Peter Cutts<br />
ATC FACiliTies<br />
Cu r r e n t:<br />
pr e v i O u s: ZMA<br />
NO <strong>National</strong> Office<br />
Center<br />
Ruth Marlin stumbled into <strong>the</strong> profession of air<br />
traffic control, but she quickly developed a<br />
passion for NATCA and a vision for increasing <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s influence. While selling ads for <strong>the</strong> Yellow<br />
Pages in Deerfield Beach, Florida, she heard a radio<br />
commercial about <strong>the</strong> FAA’s entrance exam for<br />
controllers and took <strong>the</strong> test one Saturday morning<br />
“because I had nothing better to do.”<br />
By <strong>the</strong> time <strong>the</strong> agency hired her eleven<br />
months later, she’d worked at a chiropractor’s office<br />
and maintained <strong>the</strong> computer network at a venture<br />
capital firm. Although not thrilled about <strong>the</strong> prospect<br />
of living in Oklahoma City during training,<br />
“I had a really good time at <strong>the</strong> academy,” Marlin<br />
says, and she soon discovered <strong>the</strong> exciting challenge<br />
of her new career.<br />
After checking out at Miami Center, she<br />
began lobbying to get involved in <strong>the</strong> union local<br />
and was appointed treasurer (later elected to two<br />
terms). Then-facility rep Tim Leonard encouraged<br />
Marlin’s activism and she was assigned to attend<br />
Lobby Week. Those four days in Washington in<br />
1994 changed her life in NATCA.<br />
“It was great. It was three hundred people,”<br />
she says. “It was that big NATCA love.”<br />
Rubbing shoulders with so many activists<br />
who shared similar interests energized her. Among<br />
<strong>the</strong> participants was Trish Gilbert, a former Hous-<br />
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s<br />
Chairwoman of Nat’l. Leg. Comm., Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Reg.<br />
Leg. Comm.; South Florida leg. rep; liaison to FAA;<br />
earned B.A. and M.A. at George Meany campus.<br />
hir e d<br />
Dec.<br />
1990<br />
ton Center facility rep whom Marlin regarded as<br />
an idol because “she had clearly earned <strong>the</strong> respect<br />
of her peers with her effortless leadership style.”<br />
Marlin returned to Miami with a heightened sense<br />
of political awareness, became <strong>the</strong> center’s first<br />
legislative rep, and helped create <strong>the</strong> South Florida<br />
Legislative Committee to lobby for preserving <strong>the</strong> 5<br />
percent operational differential paid to controllers.<br />
Like o<strong>the</strong>r legislative activists, Marlin viewed<br />
Congress as a needed ally as much, if not more,<br />
than <strong>the</strong> FAA. To help increase membership awareness<br />
in this regard, she spearheaded a philosophical<br />
shift in Lobby Week, a $200,000 annual event,<br />
to a more educational orientation ra<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
focusing on a single issue.<br />
“It’s an open door,” Marlin says. “Fac rep<br />
training is for fac reps. Conventions are for delegates.<br />
But Lobby Week is for anyone who wants to<br />
show up and learn.”<br />
The evolution of <strong>the</strong> renamed NATCA in<br />
Washington occurred while Marlin served as<br />
chairwoman of <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee,<br />
experience that paved <strong>the</strong> way to her election<br />
as executive vice president in 2000. Her work in<br />
<strong>the</strong> legislative arena has attracted accolades from<br />
many members. One of her most cherished compliments<br />
came several years ago from Trish Gilbert,<br />
who told Marlin she was her idol.
expressed interest in running.<br />
“It clicked for me<br />
right away,” he says. “I<br />
felt that <strong>the</strong> union needed<br />
to promote women<br />
and minorities better.<br />
This was just a middleaged<br />
white guy’s organization.<br />
We needed a<br />
different perspective at<br />
<strong>the</strong> table.”<br />
Called a visionary by<br />
some of her colleagues, Branaman authored a paper<br />
proposing <strong>the</strong> adoption of professional standards.<br />
“It’s a <strong>the</strong>ory by which peer assessment is much more<br />
effective than <strong>the</strong> top-down hierarchy that we’ve<br />
got going,” she says. “You have to function in teams,<br />
teams who care about one ano<strong>the</strong>r and who are responsible<br />
for one ano<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
While some see <strong>the</strong> value of <strong>the</strong> proposal,<br />
Branaman thinks it was introduced before its time:<br />
“It takes <strong>the</strong> union into a gray area. It’s uncomfortable<br />
for people. But it’s where we’re going, where we<br />
have to go.”<br />
2000<br />
11<br />
Oct.<br />
Former Southwest Regional Rep Ed Mullin,<br />
an early proponent of professional standards, agrees.<br />
“We’ve never been good at <strong>the</strong> inward look. It’s easier<br />
to blame <strong>the</strong> agency,” he says. “If we’re professional<br />
about it, we need to deal with it. It’s arrogant and<br />
stupid to ignore it.”<br />
1. Sharn, Lori. 1990. <strong>Air</strong> controllers face long-standing problem. USA Today. 13<br />
April, final edition.<br />
2. 1991. TCAS installation should cease indefinitely until <strong>the</strong> system’s flaws are<br />
ironed out. NATCA Newsletter. October.<br />
3. 1993. Unnecessary altitude deviations due to TCAS are increasing, wreaking<br />
havoc on <strong>the</strong> air traffic control environment. NATCA Newsletter. February.<br />
4. Weintraub, Richard. 1994. FAA grounds two key parts of big computer<br />
project. The Washington Post. 4 June, final edition.<br />
5. 1997. NARI receives more than $1 million in grants. The <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Controller.<br />
September.<br />
6. Miller, John M., and Saffle Jr., Charles F. 1996. The JOVIAL/MIL-STD-1750A<br />
Integrated Tool Set.<br />
7. 1989. IFATCA ’89. NATCA Newsletter. June.<br />
8. Shorrock, Tim. 1996. Ex-MEBA president gets five-year sentence. Journal of<br />
Commerce. 30 January.<br />
9. 1996. 1996 convention propels NATCA into <strong>the</strong> future. Radar Contact.<br />
October.<br />
10. Ibid.<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative for<br />
FAA employees in <strong>the</strong> Logistics, Finance, and Computer Support divisions<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Alaskan Region.<br />
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings<br />
219<br />
Carol Branaman: Women served on <strong>the</strong><br />
union’s <strong>National</strong> Executive Board for <strong>the</strong><br />
first time in 2000. Branaman, a controller<br />
since 1975, was elected Northwest Mountain<br />
Region vice president. / NATCA archives
“ Safety and<br />
corporate America<br />
do not go<br />
arm in arm.<br />
— Former President<br />
Michael McNally<br />
ATC One: Archie League, <strong>the</strong> nation’s first<br />
air traffic controller, pioneered his profession<br />
in St. Louis about <strong>the</strong> time of <strong>the</strong><br />
stock market crash of 1929. / <strong>National</strong> Archives
Chapter 7<br />
The Skies Ahead<br />
When controller Archie League arrived for his day shift at Lambert<br />
Field in St. Louis, he did not don a headset. Radio communication<br />
with pilots was ano<strong>the</strong>r year off in 1929. The tools of <strong>the</strong><br />
trade for League, generally considered to be <strong>the</strong> first air traffic controller in <strong>the</strong><br />
United States, consisted of checkered and red flags, a beach chair, notepad,<br />
water, and his lunch.<br />
Every morning, <strong>the</strong> former barnstormer and<br />
mechanic piled his equipment in a wheelbarrow<br />
that he’d rigged with an umbrella to protect him<br />
from <strong>the</strong> sun. Then he trekked across <strong>the</strong> 170-acre<br />
dirt airfield, positioned himself at <strong>the</strong> approach end<br />
of <strong>the</strong> runway, and waved his flags to issue holding<br />
or landing clearances for inbound pilots.<br />
League was employed by <strong>the</strong> city of St. Louis.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r large airports followed suit and began hiring<br />
controllers, too. However, pilots had a hard time seeing<br />
<strong>the</strong>m from above and it was nearly impossible for<br />
<strong>the</strong> controllers to simultaneously direct more than<br />
one arriving plane.<br />
Within several years, flourishing traffic<br />
forced dramatic changes. Twin-engine Boeing<br />
247D and Douglas DC-2 airliners swarmed above<br />
Chicago, Cleveland, and Newark. One airport official<br />
said as many as fifteen planes often circled<br />
overhead, “all of <strong>the</strong>m blind flying and trying to<br />
keep at a different altitude, and some of <strong>the</strong>m low<br />
on gas.” 1 Near misses occurred regularly. Local<br />
officials worried about planes crashing into neighborhoods<br />
and enacted flying restrictions around<br />
major airports.<br />
In response, Congress formed <strong>the</strong> Bureau of<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Commerce in 1934 to create and operate an<br />
air traffic control system. But <strong>the</strong> Great Depression<br />
still gripped <strong>the</strong> nation and <strong>the</strong> new agency could<br />
<strong>National</strong> Archives<br />
Newark control: Earl Ward, left, and R.A.<br />
Eccles track aircraft at <strong>the</strong> nation’s first<br />
<strong>Air</strong>way <strong>Traffic</strong> Control Unit in 1935. Ward<br />
helped to develop <strong>the</strong> concept of ATC.
222<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
<strong>National</strong> Archives<br />
Privatized ATC: Four airlines operated this first <strong>Air</strong>way <strong>Traffic</strong> Control Unit at Newark <strong>Air</strong>port—plus o<strong>the</strong>rs in Chicago,<br />
Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Oakland—for seven months before <strong>the</strong> Bureau of <strong>Air</strong> Commerce took over in July 1936.<br />
2000<br />
26<br />
Oct.<br />
not afford to carry out its mission. Accordingly, <strong>the</strong><br />
Commerce Department asked <strong>the</strong> airlines to run <strong>the</strong><br />
system until it could take over. American, Eastern,<br />
TWA, and United opened <strong>the</strong> first <strong>Air</strong>way <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
Unit at Newark <strong>Air</strong>port on December 1, 1935.<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative for<br />
22 controllers in <strong>the</strong> Hawaii <strong>Air</strong> Guard and Defense Department on <strong>the</strong><br />
islands. This is <strong>the</strong> eleventh and last new bargaining unit organized by <strong>the</strong><br />
Soon after, <strong>the</strong> four airlines launched facilities<br />
in Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Oakland,<br />
California. Dressed in white shirts and ties, controllers<br />
received position reports from airline dispatchers<br />
and pushed brass shrimp boats tagged with information<br />
about each flight across aeronautical charts to<br />
monitor <strong>the</strong>ir progress. They issued clearances by<br />
telephone to <strong>the</strong> dispatchers, who relayed <strong>the</strong>m to<br />
pilots via primitive radios.<br />
By mid-1936, <strong>the</strong> Commerce Department was<br />
flush enough to acquire <strong>the</strong> operations and staff <strong>the</strong>m<br />
with federally certified controllers. Many of <strong>the</strong> airline<br />
employees joined <strong>the</strong> Bureau of <strong>Air</strong> Commerce so<br />
<strong>the</strong>y could continue working at <strong>the</strong> renamed <strong>Air</strong>way<br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> Control Stations.<br />
Except for some very small, municipally<br />
owned towers run by private firms, air traffic control<br />
remained within <strong>the</strong> province of <strong>the</strong> federal government<br />
for nearly half a century.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> wake of <strong>the</strong> 1981 strike, a hamstrung<br />
FAA turned to <strong>the</strong> private sector once more. Scrambling<br />
to keep <strong>the</strong> system running with just one-quarter<br />
of its controller work force, <strong>the</strong> agency closed<br />
eighty small facilities known as Level I VFR towers.<br />
Two-thirds of <strong>the</strong> towers were reopened by <strong>the</strong> fall of<br />
1984, including nine operated by private companies<br />
under contract with <strong>the</strong> FAA. The towers ranged<br />
from North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina to Laredo,<br />
Texas, to Pendleton, Oregon.<br />
union during <strong>the</strong> calendar year. NATCA now represents 15,000 controllers,<br />
80 percent of whom are union members, and nearly 4,000 o<strong>the</strong>r FAA<br />
employees, whose membership percentage varies.
The contract program expanded to thirty facilities<br />
by late 1993, when <strong>the</strong> FAA announced that it intended<br />
to privatize <strong>the</strong> remaining 101 Level I towers<br />
over <strong>the</strong> next four years.<br />
Concerned about <strong>the</strong> fate of some 1,150 controllers,<br />
who could be transferred at <strong>the</strong> agency’s<br />
whim or simply let go, NATCA sued. The union<br />
charged that <strong>the</strong> FAA failed to comply with rules<br />
requiring government agencies to determine whe<strong>the</strong>r<br />
7<br />
FYI<br />
Archie League, <strong>the</strong> nation’s first air traffic<br />
controller, ultimately graduated to using a radio to<br />
guide aircraft.<br />
He also went on to earn a degree in aeronautical<br />
engineering at Washington University in St. Louis<br />
and flew as a pilot during World War II.<br />
In 1937, League joined <strong>the</strong> Bureau of <strong>Air</strong> Commerce,<br />
which evolved into <strong>the</strong> Civil Aeronautics Authority<br />
and today’s FAA. During his 36-year career,<br />
he served as assistant administrator of <strong>the</strong> Central<br />
Region, director of <strong>the</strong> Southwest Region, and<br />
director of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Services at FAA headquarters<br />
before retiring in 1973.<br />
League died on October 1, 1986. He was 79.<br />
Dec.<br />
President Clinton signs an executive order mandating <strong>the</strong> FAA to reorganize<br />
its air traffic control operations into a performance-based <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
Organization. He defines such services as “inherently governmental.”<br />
services <strong>the</strong>y provide are “inherently governmental”<br />
or a “commercial activity” before awarding a contract.<br />
The law permitted private firms to handle commercial<br />
services only.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> same time, <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
member James Ferguson, whose Northwest Mountain<br />
Region stood to lose <strong>the</strong> most towers, volunteered to<br />
work with <strong>the</strong> agency on arranging transfers for <strong>the</strong> affected<br />
controllers. Then-President Barry Krasner hedged<br />
his bet and readily agreed. He believed contracting out<br />
was wholly within <strong>the</strong> purview of <strong>the</strong> FAA and doubted<br />
that NATCA would win its case in court. *<br />
While <strong>the</strong> agency initially contended it knew<br />
best where people were needed, Ferguson successfully<br />
argued that giving employees a say on where<br />
<strong>the</strong>y moved would improve <strong>the</strong>ir morale and job performance.<br />
Out of <strong>the</strong>se talks came <strong>the</strong> Direct Placement<br />
Program, which essentially guaranteed Level I<br />
controllers <strong>the</strong> right to transfer to <strong>the</strong> higher-density<br />
facility of <strong>the</strong>ir choice.<br />
Krasner viewed <strong>the</strong> program with mixed emotions.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> Level I controllers would be taken<br />
care of, he recognized that <strong>the</strong> union was establishing<br />
a precedent on contract towers. He also knew that<br />
some Level II and III controllers who’d been trying<br />
to move up <strong>the</strong> ranks might be frustrated when <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
colleagues leapfrogged over <strong>the</strong>m to larger facilities.<br />
Given his pessimism concerning <strong>the</strong> ongoing<br />
legal battle, however, he reluctantly signed an<br />
Chapter 7: The Skies Ahead<br />
Clinton names five members to a board of directors that will serve as an<br />
oversight committee and directs that a chief operating officer be hired.<br />
223<br />
James Ferguson: When <strong>the</strong> FAA contracted<br />
with private firms to operate 101 small<br />
towers during <strong>the</strong> mid-1990s, NATCA’s<br />
Northwest Mountain Region vice president<br />
worked with <strong>the</strong> agency to ensure<br />
that affected controllers could transfer to<br />
<strong>the</strong> facility of <strong>the</strong>ir choice. / NATCA archives<br />
* In <strong>the</strong> eight years since NATCA filed its<br />
original lawsuit—as well as a second suit in<br />
1999—<strong>the</strong> case has remained unresolved<br />
after a series of partial union victories and<br />
appeals. In February 2002, <strong>the</strong> U.S. Court of<br />
Appeals in Cleveland directed <strong>the</strong> FAA, once<br />
again, to complete a “final” attempt to bring<br />
its privatization program into compliance<br />
with federal law.
224<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
FYI<br />
Until 1998, <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
ranked its towers and TRA-<br />
CONs on a five-tier scale<br />
according to traffic volume.<br />
Level V was reserved for<br />
<strong>the</strong> busiest facilities. En<br />
route centers were ranked<br />
on a different three-level<br />
scale, and controllers at <strong>the</strong><br />
busiest facilities were paid<br />
<strong>the</strong> same as those at Level V<br />
towers and TRACONs.<br />
Level I VFR (Visual<br />
Flight Rules) towers were<br />
not equipped with radar<br />
and handled general aviation<br />
traffic in good wea<strong>the</strong>r only.<br />
Under <strong>the</strong> reclassification<br />
plan adopted by <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA in 1998, all facilities are<br />
now ranked from ATC-4 to<br />
ATC-12 based on traffic volume<br />
and operational complexity.<br />
Two higher grades—<br />
ATC-13 and -14—were built<br />
into <strong>the</strong> scale to accommodate<br />
future growth.<br />
2001<br />
agreement with <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
to implement <strong>the</strong> Direct<br />
Placement Program.<br />
“It was a victory for<br />
<strong>the</strong> people. It was a loss for<br />
<strong>the</strong> union,” says Krasner,<br />
who regards <strong>the</strong> issue as<br />
<strong>the</strong> one key failure of his<br />
presidency.<br />
A twelve-member<br />
Level I Contracting Committee,<br />
composed equally<br />
of FAA managers and<br />
union representatives, was<br />
formed to carry out <strong>the</strong><br />
program. The agency gave<br />
NATCA some latitude by<br />
allowing it to recommend<br />
which facilities would be<br />
transferred to private operators<br />
each year.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> program was hailed as a success<br />
for <strong>the</strong> controllers involved, <strong>the</strong> overall toll on<br />
<strong>the</strong> union is represented by what its members call<br />
<strong>the</strong> “Wall of Shame.” Covering one side of <strong>the</strong> main<br />
conference room on <strong>the</strong> fifth floor of NATCA headquarters<br />
are <strong>the</strong> local charters of 101 towers that were<br />
once unionized but have since been contracted out.<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r thirty-four privately run towers have been<br />
Jan. Jan.<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for <strong>the</strong> FAA’s 50 regional and center counsel.<br />
4<br />
20<br />
Japphire<br />
Wall of Shame: Union charters from towers that have been contracted out to private firms hang in a<br />
conference room at NATCA headquarters. The union has reorganized thirty-four contract towers.<br />
reorganized by NATCA. Unless it’s absolutely necessary,<br />
Krasner won’t enter <strong>the</strong> room.<br />
“I just can’t look at it,” he says. “It eats me<br />
alive.”<br />
One of Krasner’s fears about <strong>the</strong> Direct Placement<br />
Program reared its head not long after <strong>the</strong><br />
remaining towers went private, posing a significant<br />
challenge to NATCA’s future. In 1998, Congress directed<br />
<strong>the</strong> FAA to study <strong>the</strong> feasibility of expanding<br />
Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater leaves office after<br />
serving since February 14, 1997.
its contract program to all non-radar towers, which<br />
would include Level II and III facilities (now rated<br />
ATC-8 and lower). Murmurs also buzzed through<br />
Congress and <strong>the</strong> airline industry about spinning off<br />
transoceanic flight operations from <strong>the</strong> FAA, a potentially<br />
lucrative segment of <strong>the</strong> air traffic system.<br />
Meanwhile, a staunch public policy advocate<br />
named Robert Poole proposed turning all air traffic<br />
operations over to a private entity funded entirely by<br />
user fees. Poole, founder of a think tank called <strong>the</strong><br />
Reason Foundation, had advocated <strong>the</strong> privatization<br />
of many government services for more than two decades.<br />
He based his model for air traffic control on<br />
Nav Canada and similar ATC systems in Australia,<br />
New Zealand, and elsewhere. His views attracted<br />
attention at <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> millennium as burgeoning<br />
air traffic led to unprecedented flight delays and<br />
Congress grew increasingly frustrated with <strong>the</strong> FAA’s<br />
laggardly pace of modernization.<br />
Under <strong>the</strong> current U.S. system, larger airports<br />
assess airlines and general aviation pilots landing<br />
fees to help pay for operational costs and facility<br />
improvements. Money from an airline passenger<br />
ticket tax and a fuel tax assessed on GA pilots goes<br />
into <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong>port and <strong>Air</strong>way Trust Fund, which<br />
Congress appropriates to <strong>the</strong> FAA for o<strong>the</strong>r capital<br />
expenses. However, one-third of <strong>the</strong> agency’s operating<br />
budget ($6.9 billion in fiscal year 2002) comes<br />
from general tax revenue.<br />
25<br />
Jan.<br />
Norman Y. Mineta takes over as transportation secretary. Mineta served<br />
as a Democratic congressman from California for two decades and as<br />
Commerce Department secretary under President Clinton. In 1997,<br />
Poole and o<strong>the</strong>r proponents argued that a selffunded<br />
system would alleviate <strong>the</strong> congres sional<br />
budget battles that had plagued civil aviation ever<br />
since <strong>the</strong> Bureau of <strong>Air</strong> Commerce was formed<br />
nearly seventy years ago. They also contended it<br />
would expedite modernizing air traffic control facilities<br />
and reduce delays, which by <strong>the</strong> summer of<br />
2001 reached an all-time high of one of every four<br />
commercial flights.<br />
Over <strong>the</strong> years, NATCA had endorsed two<br />
proposals to create a quasi-governmental body to<br />
operate air traffic control on <strong>the</strong> premise that such<br />
an agency could free <strong>the</strong> union from <strong>the</strong> constraints<br />
of <strong>the</strong> civil service pay system and potentially hasten<br />
Chapter 7: The Skies Ahead<br />
225<br />
The finances of flying: Privatized ATC<br />
systems charge user fees. In <strong>the</strong> United<br />
States, landing fees, fuel and ticket taxes,<br />
and general tax revenues pay for operating<br />
and capital expenses. / Brian Fallon<br />
Mineta chaired <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> Civil Aviation Review Commission, which recommended<br />
restructuring <strong>the</strong> FAA into a government-run, performancebased<br />
organization.
226<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
The bottom line: NATCA argues that<br />
<strong>the</strong> drive for profits in a privatized ATC<br />
system competes against safety in terms of<br />
adequate staffing and training.<br />
* Despite fifty-seven co-sponsors, Ford’s bill<br />
never came up for a vote in <strong>the</strong> Senate.<br />
** The Transportation Trades Department is an<br />
umbrella organization composed of thirtyfour<br />
AFL-CIO unions representing aviation,<br />
rail, transit, trucking, highway, and longshore<br />
workers.<br />
2001<br />
badly needed equipment upgrades. The union supported<br />
Sen. Wendell Ford’s bill for an independent<br />
FAA in 1988 and worked with <strong>the</strong> Clinton administration<br />
to create its USATS plan in <strong>the</strong> mid-1990s. *<br />
However, NATCA opposed privatization and<br />
fur<strong>the</strong>r contracting out. It<br />
also kept a watchful eye<br />
on o<strong>the</strong>r proposals. When<br />
<strong>the</strong> Clinton administration<br />
drafted an executive<br />
order in late 2000 to create<br />
a performance-based<br />
organization, <strong>the</strong> union’s top two officers and <strong>the</strong><br />
Transportation Trades Department’s executive director<br />
attended a White House meeting to help ensure<br />
that <strong>the</strong> mandate described air traffic control as an<br />
inherently governmental function. **<br />
Saving jobs was not NATCA’s sole concern.<br />
Many members worried about <strong>the</strong> inevitable tradeoff<br />
between safety and <strong>the</strong> bottom line. Bill “Blackie”<br />
Blackmer, a former director of safety and technology<br />
for <strong>the</strong> union, says ever-increasing traffic puts pressure<br />
on controllers, whose adherence to safety margins<br />
can result in delays. “What scares our people<br />
most is <strong>the</strong> pressure we’d feel in <strong>the</strong> private world.”<br />
One measure of that influence and <strong>the</strong> effect of<br />
mounting traffic is <strong>the</strong> number of near misses on <strong>the</strong><br />
ground, referred to as runway incursions. A record<br />
431 incidents were reported in <strong>the</strong> United States<br />
Jan. Feb.<br />
30<br />
NATCA signs two collective bargaining agreements with <strong>the</strong><br />
FAA representing engineers/architects and traffic management<br />
specialists.<br />
28<br />
during 2000—or more than one a day. The <strong>National</strong><br />
Transportation Safety Board considered <strong>the</strong> problem<br />
so acute that it listed prevention of runway incursions<br />
as one of its most-wanted safety improvements.<br />
While many incidents are relatively minor,<br />
<strong>the</strong> potential for disaster is<br />
always present. Aviation’s<br />
worst accident in history<br />
occurred when two Boeing<br />
747s collided on a<br />
fog-shrouded runway on<br />
Tenerife in <strong>the</strong> Canary Islands<br />
in 1977, killing 582 people.<br />
NATCA feared, with some justification, that<br />
a privatized system would create an acute staffing<br />
shortage and compromise safety. Its neighbor to <strong>the</strong><br />
north provides an example of a privatized model.<br />
Nav Canada, a nonprofit corporation, paid <strong>the</strong><br />
Canadian government C$1.5 billion to take over air<br />
traffic control operations in 1996. <strong>Air</strong>lines and o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
users pay Nav Canada fees for its services. The firm<br />
estimated that airlines saved more than C$225 million<br />
in fiscal year 2000 compared with <strong>the</strong>ir previous<br />
costs under Canada’s air transportation tax. 2<br />
Although Nav Canada has spent C$500 million<br />
on modernization, <strong>the</strong> Canadian <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
Control <strong>Association</strong> maintains that some of <strong>the</strong> savings<br />
should have been allocated for fur<strong>the</strong>r improvements.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r savings have come from Nav Canada’s<br />
A 6.1-magnitude temblor severely damages <strong>the</strong> Seattle-Tacoma<br />
International <strong>Air</strong>port control tower. Ignoring orders to evacuate,<br />
Brian Schimpf clears twelve remaining arrivals to land.
practice of closely matching traffic patterns with<br />
variable work shifts lasting six to eleven hours from<br />
one day to <strong>the</strong> next to minimize staffing. However,<br />
many of its 2,000 controllers complain about chronic<br />
fatigue.<br />
Former CATCA<br />
President Fazal Bhimji<br />
has said that it’s not<br />
uncommon for many<br />
Canadian controllers to<br />
work nine consecutive<br />
days with one off. “The<br />
extreme variation in shift<br />
lengths and start times,<br />
as <strong>the</strong> employer tries to<br />
match its anticipated<br />
traffic with staffing, is<br />
creating havoc on our<br />
controllers’ sleep patterns<br />
and <strong>the</strong>ir personal lives.”<br />
Bhimji’s successor,<br />
President Rob Thurger,<br />
points out that understaffing is systemic: “Scheduling<br />
practices show that Nav Canada staffs for <strong>the</strong><br />
ninetieth percentile of demand. So, at any given time,<br />
<strong>the</strong> system demand could be at least ten percent over<br />
capacity.” 3<br />
Boston Center controllers experienced that<br />
equation firsthand during <strong>the</strong> summer of 2000 when<br />
7<br />
<strong>the</strong>y asked Nav Canada for permission to route some<br />
regional jets north of <strong>the</strong> New York border to avoid<br />
thunderstorms. The Canadians denied <strong>the</strong> request,<br />
citing insufficient flights to warrant paying ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
controller to work overtime.<br />
Those already on<br />
duty could not handle<br />
<strong>the</strong> overflow and, consequently,<br />
<strong>the</strong> flights were<br />
“<br />
delayed.<br />
Bad wea<strong>the</strong>r typically<br />
accounts for about<br />
70 percent of traffic<br />
holdups. Much of <strong>the</strong> rest<br />
have been caused by saturated<br />
capacity at major<br />
airports, where runways<br />
cannot physically accommodate<br />
<strong>the</strong> number<br />
of planes scheduled to<br />
arrive and depart within<br />
a given hour. In <strong>the</strong> face<br />
of mounting delays during <strong>the</strong> late 1990s, Congress<br />
and <strong>the</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Transport <strong>Association</strong> became increasingly<br />
critical of <strong>the</strong> FAA and its beleaguered air traffic<br />
control system.<br />
NATCA President John Carr’s pronouncement<br />
that “delays are on <strong>the</strong> ground—not in <strong>the</strong> air” became<br />
a rallying cry for <strong>the</strong> union in 2001 and formed<br />
The extreme variation in<br />
shift lengths and start times<br />
… is creating havoc on our<br />
controllers’ sleep patterns and<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir personal lives.<br />
— Former CATCA President Fazal Bhimji<br />
Apr. May<br />
Atlanta TRACON begins operations in a new consolidated<br />
facility in Peachtree City, Georgia. Macon and Columbus TRA-<br />
CONs are scheduled to move into <strong>the</strong> building within a year.<br />
14<br />
Chapter 7: The Skies Ahead<br />
About 285 participants attend “NATCA in Washington.”<br />
227
228<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
A concrete solution: NATCA President<br />
John Carr, center, and Capt. Andy Deane,<br />
an <strong>Air</strong> Line Pilots <strong>Association</strong> member, appeared<br />
in a television commercial in 2001<br />
to convey <strong>the</strong> message that lack of runway<br />
capacity causes flight delays. / NATCA archives<br />
2001<br />
24<br />
May<br />
part of a public relations campaign that shifted <strong>the</strong><br />
focus away from <strong>the</strong> FAA.<br />
“For anyone under <strong>the</strong> mistaken impression<br />
that you can add limitless demand to a finite system,<br />
I’ve got a news flash for you—you can’t,” Carr contended.<br />
“Fifty miles of concrete poured at <strong>the</strong> twentyfive<br />
busiest airports would do more for this country’s<br />
aviation needs than privatization ever will.”<br />
Working with Hill & Knowlton, a worldwide PR<br />
firm, NATCA also produced commercials for CNN’s<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port Network and ran print ads in AOPA Pilot, Roll<br />
The FAA selects Lockheed Martin Corporation to upgrade <strong>the</strong> agency’s<br />
Anchorage, New York, and Oakland oceanic control centers. Lockheed’s<br />
system, which is used by privately run <strong>Air</strong>ways New Zealand, will elimi-<br />
Call, and elsewhere to educate <strong>the</strong> public<br />
about privatization and o<strong>the</strong>r air traffic<br />
control issues. The union also created toy<br />
Beanie planes named Roger and Journey<br />
to distribute to members of Congress<br />
during NATCA in Washington.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> union’s PR campaign ga<strong>the</strong>red<br />
steam, <strong>the</strong> ATA, a trade group representing<br />
twenty-two domestic airlines<br />
and five international carriers, toned<br />
down its attacks on <strong>the</strong> FAA and supported<br />
NATCA. ATA President Carol<br />
Hallett also distanced <strong>the</strong> association<br />
from Poole’s privatization proposal and<br />
acknowledged <strong>the</strong> need for infrastructure<br />
improvements.<br />
“We must now set real, achievable<br />
priority targets to rapidly address system<br />
inadequacies,” she said. “What we do not need<br />
is ano<strong>the</strong>r protracted debate among academics and<br />
<strong>the</strong>oreticians about <strong>the</strong> merits of a privately run air<br />
traffic control system.” 4<br />
Cataclysm on September 11<br />
Rumblings over privatization and traffic delays<br />
vanished—at least temporarily—in <strong>the</strong> thick, ominous<br />
smoke that billowed from four plane crashes on<br />
September 11, 2001.<br />
nate <strong>the</strong> need for controllers to use paper strips and track oceanic flights<br />
with grease pencils on Plexiglas charts. Such rudimentary tools have been<br />
in use since <strong>the</strong> 1930s.
The day dawned under brilliant blue skies<br />
along <strong>the</strong> East Coast. By mid-morning, <strong>the</strong> sun shone<br />
over a nation in shock from ghastly terrorist attacks<br />
carried out by Islamic extremists associated with<br />
Saudi Arabian exile Osama bin Laden. Some<br />
3,000 victims from eighty nations died in<br />
<strong>the</strong> catastrophe, including Susan Mackay,<br />
<strong>the</strong> wife of a Boston Center controller.<br />
After American <strong>Air</strong>lines<br />
flight 11, a Boeing 767 destined<br />
for Los Angeles, slammed into<br />
<strong>the</strong> north tower of <strong>the</strong> World<br />
Trade Center in New York at<br />
8:46 a.m., a few broadcast news reporters<br />
speculated about a grievous<br />
air traffic control error. Sixteen minutes<br />
later, a United <strong>Air</strong>lines 767 barreled<br />
into <strong>the</strong> south tower, making it painfully<br />
clear <strong>the</strong> crashes were no accident.<br />
<strong>Controllers</strong> had already alerted <strong>the</strong> military that<br />
hijackers commandeered <strong>the</strong> two aircraft. They’d also<br />
passed along a chilling message from one of <strong>the</strong> terrorists<br />
aboard American flight 11 who said, “We have<br />
some planes.” 5 The hijacker thought he was speaking<br />
to passengers on <strong>the</strong> airliner’s public address system.<br />
Instead, his words were transmitted over <strong>the</strong> radio<br />
frequency, providing controllers with confirmation<br />
that something was terribly wrong.<br />
6<br />
June<br />
The FAA and The Boeing Company’s <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Management unit each<br />
unveil long-range plans for improving <strong>the</strong> ATC system. The FAA’s plan,<br />
estimated to cost $11.5 billion, consists of several projects already in de-<br />
But <strong>the</strong> horrific sequence of events unfolded<br />
too quickly to prevent disaster.<br />
One after <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> planes raced south over<br />
<strong>the</strong> Hudson Valley and reached <strong>the</strong>ir target before<br />
two F-15 fighter jets from Otis <strong>Air</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
Guard Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts,<br />
were able to intercept <strong>the</strong>m. The twin<br />
110-story towers, consumed by an inferno<br />
raging at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit,<br />
collapsed in <strong>the</strong> next ninety<br />
minutes.<br />
Not long before <strong>the</strong> second<br />
tower was struck, Indianapolis Center<br />
controllers lost radio contact with<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r American jet. The radar target<br />
for Los Angeles-bound flight 77<br />
disappeared, too. At 9:24 a.m. Danielle<br />
O’Brien in <strong>the</strong> Dulles TRACON<br />
noticed an unidentified blip on her scope<br />
moving rapidly from <strong>the</strong> southwest toward prohibited<br />
airspace over <strong>the</strong> White House and Capitol<br />
known as P-56.<br />
Flight 77 had resurfaced. In spite of urgent<br />
warnings from Dulles, <strong>the</strong> Boeing 757 crashed into<br />
<strong>the</strong> Pentagon before fighter jets from Langley <strong>Air</strong> Force<br />
Base in Hampton, Virginia, could arrive to stop it.<br />
Half an hour later, passengers overwhelmed<br />
<strong>the</strong> hijackers aboard a United <strong>Air</strong>lines 757 en route<br />
from Newark to San Francisco. During <strong>the</strong> ensuing<br />
Chapter 7: The Skies Ahead<br />
229<br />
Jane Garvey: The FAA administrator<br />
credited <strong>the</strong> fast actions of controllers<br />
with preventing more loss of life after <strong>the</strong><br />
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001:<br />
“It was public service at its best.” / FAA<br />
velopment. Boeing’s blueprint relies heavily on satellites to provide navigation<br />
and communication services. Boeing’s John Hayhurst stresses that his<br />
company’s plan would minimize <strong>the</strong> need for ground-based facilities.
230<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Dick Swauger: NATCA’s national technology<br />
coordinator previously assisted <strong>the</strong><br />
union with its comprehensive facility and<br />
pay reclassification project. / NATCA archives<br />
* The <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>space System was shut down<br />
to commercial and general aviation traffic for<br />
<strong>the</strong> first time on September 10, 1960, when<br />
<strong>the</strong> Defense Department conducted a sixhour<br />
air drill known as Operation Sky-Shield.<br />
2001<br />
11<br />
Sep.<br />
struggle, <strong>the</strong> plane nose-dived into a field about three<br />
miles from <strong>the</strong> tiny burg of Shanksville in western<br />
Pennsylvania.<br />
Shortly after <strong>the</strong> two planes hit <strong>the</strong> World Trade<br />
Center, <strong>the</strong> FAA Command Center banned all<br />
takeoffs nationwide. As more information<br />
poured in, it became obvious that <strong>the</strong><br />
best move was to land <strong>the</strong> remaining<br />
4,500 aircraft as soon as possible.<br />
Transportation Secretary Norman<br />
Mineta issued <strong>the</strong> order at 9:45<br />
a.m., shutting down <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
<strong>Air</strong>space System for only <strong>the</strong> second<br />
time in history under a modified implementation<br />
of a plan known as <strong>the</strong><br />
Security Control of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> and<br />
Navigation Aids—or SCATANA—<br />
which was developed in <strong>the</strong> 1960s to<br />
clear <strong>the</strong> skies in <strong>the</strong> event of a nuclear<br />
attack. 6 <strong>Controllers</strong> guided 700 planes<br />
back to <strong>the</strong> ground in <strong>the</strong> first four minutes<br />
and <strong>the</strong> remainder in ano<strong>the</strong>r two hours. *<br />
FAA Administrator Garvey credits <strong>the</strong> extraordinary<br />
actions of controllers with preventing fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />
loss of life. “The prevailing view—and one that I<br />
share—is that greater tragedies might have occurred<br />
but for <strong>the</strong>ir fine actions,” she says. “It was public<br />
service at its best.”<br />
Recognizing <strong>the</strong> controllers’ efforts, Mineta<br />
Terrorists commandeer four airliners in an attack that kills some 3,000.<br />
The hijackers fly two Boeing 767s into <strong>the</strong> World Trade Center in New<br />
York, causing both towers to collapse from <strong>the</strong> ensuing fire. They fly a 757<br />
subsequently presented <strong>the</strong>m with <strong>the</strong> Transportation<br />
Department’s 2001 Gold Medal for Outstanding<br />
Achievement.<br />
The airspace system remained shut down for<br />
two days to commercial flights. General aviation<br />
traffic was grounded for a week and many<br />
private planes were stranded for several<br />
months due to new flying restrictions<br />
in high-density areas. <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
and pilots contended with almost<br />
daily changes in procedures during<br />
<strong>the</strong> initial weeks after <strong>the</strong> attack.<br />
Ironically, three-quarters of<br />
<strong>the</strong> union’s <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
and facility representatives from five<br />
regions were ga<strong>the</strong>red in New Orleans<br />
for a meeting on September 11<br />
and spent several frustrating days trying<br />
to get home to help controllers on<br />
<strong>the</strong> front lines.<br />
NATCA’s Critical Incident Stress<br />
Management Team also swung into action. The<br />
specially trained volunteers, who counsel <strong>the</strong>ir colleagues<br />
to help <strong>the</strong>m deal with traumatic events,<br />
had <strong>the</strong>ir work cut out for <strong>the</strong>m. Like many people<br />
in Manhattan, controllers on position at LaGuardia,<br />
Newark, and Kennedy towers endured a front-row<br />
seat to <strong>the</strong> smoke rising from <strong>the</strong> gaping hole in New<br />
York’s skyline for several weeks.<br />
into <strong>the</strong> Pentagon. A 757 crashes in Pennsylvania after passengers fight<br />
<strong>the</strong> hijackers to prevent fur<strong>the</strong>r attacks. All air traffic in <strong>the</strong> United States,<br />
except for military flights, is grounded for only <strong>the</strong> second time in history.
Amid a clamor for heightened airport security,<br />
President Bush signed a law to federalize passenger<br />
screeners—though with misgivings. New regulations<br />
on baggage screening were also adopted.<br />
While <strong>the</strong> attention focused solely on airports,<br />
many air traffic control facilities were still vulnerable.<br />
Security usually consisted of little more than<br />
chain-link fences and a guard stationed at <strong>the</strong> front<br />
entrance. NATCA urged <strong>the</strong> FAA to position armed<br />
guards at all control towers and radar facilities, and<br />
to redesign employee identification cards to minimize<br />
<strong>the</strong> chances of tampering or duplication.<br />
Perfection, Nothing Less<br />
As <strong>the</strong> tragic events of September 11 jolted <strong>the</strong><br />
U.S. aviation industry out of its longstanding complacency<br />
over security, NATCA’s core argument against<br />
privatization—that air traffic control is an inherently<br />
governmental function—took on a new dimension and<br />
affirmed <strong>the</strong> controllers’ role in homeland defense.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> passionate dedication of a cadre of<br />
NATCA activists concerned with safety and o<strong>the</strong>r issues<br />
has remained constant since <strong>the</strong> union’s earliest<br />
organizing days. Much of <strong>the</strong>ir devotion stems from<br />
<strong>the</strong> nature of <strong>the</strong> profession, where perfection is <strong>the</strong><br />
minimum performance standard and a momentary<br />
lapse of attention can wreak tragic consequences.<br />
Dick Swauger, a PATCO controller who now<br />
13<br />
Sep.<br />
Limited commercial flights resume, however, passenger traffic declines<br />
dramatically. General aviation planes are permitted to fly IFR on September<br />
15. VFR flights resume four days later, but restrictions near major<br />
works in <strong>the</strong> union’s Safety and Technology Department,<br />
likens <strong>the</strong> job to boxing. “The only problem is<br />
you never win and you never lose. You come away<br />
from it and feel good if you didn’t make any mistakes,”<br />
he says. “After that, you need something else<br />
to put those energies into. A lot of controllers feel<br />
very happy that <strong>the</strong>y can do something.”<br />
Those who turn to activism to satisfy <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
craving to do more often find <strong>the</strong>mselves pulled into<br />
a vortex of nonstop involvement. <strong>National</strong> Executive<br />
Board members and facility representatives receive<br />
official time off from <strong>the</strong> agency to conduct union<br />
business. But NATCA’s evolution and its many accomplishments<br />
have also come at <strong>the</strong> hands of<br />
countless activists working on <strong>the</strong>ir own time<br />
without financial compensation. Their commitment<br />
exacts a toll.<br />
Extensive travel has been a factor in divorces<br />
that have touched nearly every <strong>National</strong> Executive<br />
Board, along with activists in <strong>the</strong> field. Several longtime<br />
regional vice presidents have left <strong>the</strong> board and<br />
returned home to children who’d grown a foot or<br />
more during <strong>the</strong>ir extended absences. Contract team<br />
members and those who are assigned to Washington<br />
for a year or more as liaisons and technical representatives<br />
know well <strong>the</strong> personal cost of participation.<br />
Back home, <strong>the</strong>ir spouses shoulder a greater burden,<br />
willingly or not.<br />
Chapter 7: The Skies Ahead<br />
In May 1986, John Thornton visited Howie Barte Courtesy of Mike Hull<br />
airports leave thousands of private planes trapped where <strong>the</strong>y were on <strong>the</strong><br />
ground when <strong>the</strong> attacks occurred. All commercial airports reopen except<br />
<strong>National</strong>, due to security concerns; limited flights resume on October 4.<br />
231<br />
Steve Schneider<br />
The union label: “NATCAvists” are passionate<br />
about <strong>the</strong>ir organization. Above:<br />
Many members demonstrate <strong>the</strong>ir allegiance<br />
with special license plates. Below:<br />
Oakland Center controller Mike Hull, a<br />
NATCA liaison to <strong>the</strong> FAA, shows off his<br />
pride in a more personal manner.
232<br />
2002<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Phil Barbarello: A Pennsylvania police<br />
officer startled <strong>the</strong> longtime New York<br />
TRACON facility rep by “arresting” him<br />
during a session of <strong>the</strong> 1996 convention in<br />
Pittsburgh. The officer’s bro<strong>the</strong>r, a controller,<br />
concocted <strong>the</strong> prank. / NATCA archives<br />
at his home in rural Rhode Island and was greeted by<br />
an indignant 10-year-old. “You took my dad,” Susan<br />
Barte said. Thornton nodded with understanding. “My<br />
daughter says <strong>the</strong> same thing,” he replied.<br />
“The involvement is like a mistress,” says former<br />
Central Region Vice President Michael Putzier.<br />
“You have to be really careful because it can<br />
completely consume all of your time.”<br />
Christine Neumeier, <strong>the</strong> longtime<br />
Southwest Region office administrative<br />
assistant, regards <strong>the</strong> members<br />
as her children. It is a sentiment that<br />
explains why she and o<strong>the</strong>r dedicated<br />
staff members can often be found<br />
working on NATCA business well<br />
past 5 p.m.<br />
The union’s ongoing successes<br />
and its necessary involvement in<br />
decisions affecting <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>space<br />
System continue to lure 5 percent<br />
to 10 percent of its members into<br />
<strong>the</strong> ring of activism like a narcotic. Legions<br />
of o<strong>the</strong>rs help by contributing to <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
Political Action Committee or simply paying dues.<br />
The net result can be seen in NATCA’s contract<br />
gains with <strong>the</strong> agency, its significant influence in<br />
<strong>the</strong> industry and on Capitol Hill, its effective dealings<br />
with <strong>the</strong> news media, and its recognition by<br />
organized labor.<br />
Jan. May<br />
7<br />
The FLRA certifies NATCA as <strong>the</strong> exclusive bargaining representative<br />
for 950 FAA staff support specialists. This is <strong>the</strong> twentieth<br />
bargaining unit organized by NATCA since its inception. 19<br />
Although NATCA is a relatively small union,<br />
Labor Relations Director Bob Taylor notes that its<br />
voice is strong. “No doubt, we lead <strong>the</strong> way in <strong>the</strong><br />
labor movement in <strong>the</strong> federal government for all bargaining<br />
unit employees and <strong>the</strong>ir families,” he says.<br />
Such a string of victories has its downside.<br />
More than a few members worry about <strong>the</strong><br />
inevitable serious setback. “Sooner or later,<br />
it’s going to happen and it will be a<br />
major shock. I don’t think <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
ready for it,” James Ferguson says.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> time being, however,<br />
NATCA remains justifiably proud<br />
of its accomplishments and enjoys<br />
a level of partnership with <strong>the</strong> FAA<br />
that eluded previous generations of<br />
controllers and agency managers.<br />
Many union members are quick to<br />
share <strong>the</strong> credit.<br />
“Jane Garvey and her immediate<br />
staff are phenomenal,” says Phil Barbarello,<br />
<strong>the</strong> facility rep at New York TRACON.<br />
“They’ve truly changed <strong>the</strong> way we think about<br />
<strong>the</strong> agency. They’re more collaborative. And it’s starting<br />
to trickle down. I don’t think <strong>the</strong>re’s any turning<br />
back. Too many people within <strong>the</strong> general ranks like<br />
working with each o<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
From Garvey’s perspective, NATCA leadership<br />
has played a big role in turning collaboration into<br />
About 275 participants attend “NATCA in Washington.”
eality.<br />
“I’ve been very lucky to have McNally and<br />
Carr. Both are gifted leaders. Both were right for <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
time,” she says. “Mike understood <strong>the</strong> collaboration<br />
piece and <strong>the</strong> concepts of productivity and taking<br />
on more responsibility.” As <strong>the</strong> relationship matures,<br />
Garvey notes, each side must rely on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r for<br />
support, a concept that Carr intuitively grasped. “He<br />
always comes with <strong>the</strong> notion of problem-solving.”<br />
She also lauds Carr for his exceptional communication<br />
skills. “I don’t think <strong>the</strong>re is anyone better in<br />
Washington at capturing <strong>the</strong> public’s attention,” Garvey<br />
says. “He’s galvanizing. He says <strong>the</strong> right thing in<br />
<strong>the</strong> right way. It’s great fun to watch him.”<br />
The trade publication Aviation Daily echoed that<br />
sentiment when it named Carr <strong>the</strong> second most-influential<br />
person in aviation for 2001. The honor was bestowed<br />
in recognition of controllers’ efforts on September<br />
11, but it also underscored <strong>the</strong> great strides NATCA<br />
had made since its inception fourteen years earlier.<br />
<strong>Air</strong> traffic controllers have always provided a<br />
5<br />
Sep.<br />
NATCA holds its ninth biennial convention at <strong>the</strong> Cleveland Convention<br />
Center, with <strong>the</strong> Sheraton City Centre serving as <strong>the</strong> host hotel.<br />
guiding voice on <strong>the</strong> radio. Yet <strong>the</strong>y have struggled<br />
for decades to attain one in <strong>the</strong> workplace. Today,<br />
NATCA and <strong>the</strong> FAA regard each o<strong>the</strong>r as partners<br />
like never before. Despite <strong>the</strong> unprecedented changes,<br />
though, realists understand that <strong>the</strong> process will<br />
never be complete.<br />
“We haven’t fully gotten <strong>the</strong>re yet. We’re not<br />
done,” Garvey says. “It’s like any relationship. You<br />
have to constantly work at it.”<br />
1. Komons, Nick. 1986. Aviation’s Indispensable Partner Turns 50. U.S. Department<br />
of Transportation.<br />
2. Flint, Perry. 2000. A towering success. <strong>Air</strong> Transport World. October.<br />
3. 2001. CATCA says, “Privatization is not justified by Nav Canada example.”<br />
The <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Controller. July/August.<br />
4. <strong>Air</strong> Transport <strong>Association</strong> archives. News release of March 1, 2001.<br />
5. Wald, Mat<strong>the</strong>w, and Sack, Kevin. 2001. “We have some planes,” hijacker told<br />
controller. The New York Times. 16 October.<br />
6. Schwartz, Stephen I. 2001. This is not a test. Bulletin of <strong>the</strong> Atomic Scientists.<br />
November/December.<br />
Chapter 7: The Skies Ahead<br />
233
Index<br />
Note<br />
Page references in italic type<br />
refer to information contained in<br />
illustrations or photographs.<br />
A<br />
AATCC New England, 57, 58–59,<br />
61, 65<br />
Abbott, David C., 110<br />
activism, of NATCA members,<br />
231–232<br />
Advanced Automation System<br />
project (AAS), 157, 179, 182<br />
Aero Center map, 39<br />
AFL-CIO<br />
accepts NATCA as direct<br />
charter, 8, 188–191<br />
Article 20 hearing on AFGE/<br />
MEBA, 64–65<br />
and NATCA’s Chapter 71 rights<br />
fight, 157–158<br />
Transportation Trades<br />
Department, 226<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Line Pilots <strong>Association</strong> (ALPA),<br />
54–55, 57, 62, 64–65<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port and <strong>Air</strong>way Trust Fund,<br />
153, 225<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port Surface Detection<br />
Equipment (ASDE), 53<br />
air traffic assistants, 56, 59<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control <strong>Association</strong><br />
(ATCA), 18<br />
air traffic control operations<br />
ARTS system, 17, 18, 175, 181<br />
centers, 17–18<br />
equipment, 10, 15, 16, 17<br />
late 1950s, 15–16<br />
modernizing, 229<br />
origins of, 221–222<br />
post-strike, 35–36<br />
Project Beacon, 16–18<br />
STARS system, 17, 175, 181,<br />
182–183<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Organization, 223<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Transport <strong>Association</strong> (ATA),<br />
24, 228<br />
Alaskan Region, 176<br />
Albuquerque Center, 31–32<br />
Allen, Tom, 53<br />
Alsop, Frances, 105, 147<br />
Alternate Dispute Resolution, 117<br />
alternate work schedules (AWS),<br />
170–171<br />
American <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
Council (AATCC), 54, 72<br />
logo, 71<br />
American Federation of<br />
Government Employees (AFGE)<br />
AATCC organizing efforts, 47,<br />
53, 54, 55, 56–65, 67,<br />
72<br />
drug testing opposition, 99<br />
American Federation of State,<br />
County and Municipal<br />
Employees (AFSCME), 67<br />
American Federation of Teachers<br />
(AFT), 67<br />
American Medical <strong>Association</strong><br />
(AMA), 64<br />
Anchorage International <strong>Air</strong>port,<br />
53<br />
arbitration, 116, 117<br />
arrival metering, 34<br />
asbestos removal, 173–174, 184<br />
Ashwood, Thomas, 64<br />
Atlanta Center, 52–53, 56–57, 175<br />
Atlanta Center local offices, 109<br />
Atlanta TRACON, 184, 227<br />
Atlantic City Tower, 54<br />
Automated Radar Terminal System<br />
(ARTS), 17, 18, 175, 181<br />
automation specialists, 56, 58–59<br />
Aviation Labor Coalition, 157,<br />
159–160<br />
Aviation Safety Commission, 76,<br />
94<br />
Aviation Safety Reporting System,<br />
21, 127<br />
B<br />
Bailey, F. Lee, 21, 22, 23<br />
Baker, Gordon, 121<br />
Bamberger, Richard, 84, 100, 101,<br />
103, 128, 137, 139<br />
Barbarello, Phil, 36, 51, 160, 168,<br />
205, 232<br />
Bargaining units. see also NATCA—<br />
bargaining units within<br />
Aerospace Medicine, 194<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control Specialists,<br />
194<br />
<strong>Air</strong>craft Certification, 194<br />
<strong>Air</strong>ports Division, 194<br />
<strong>Air</strong>worthiness Engineers, 194<br />
Automation Specialists, 194<br />
Budget and Financial Analysis,<br />
194<br />
Cherry Point Marine Corps <strong>Air</strong><br />
Index<br />
253<br />
Station, 194<br />
Engineers and Architects, 180,<br />
185, 191-192, 194<br />
Engineers (Oklahoma City/<br />
Atlantic City), 194<br />
Hawaii Department of Defense,<br />
194<br />
Hawaii <strong>National</strong> Guard, 194<br />
Logistics, Finance, Accounting<br />
Information Services<br />
Division, 194<br />
Notice to <strong>Air</strong>men Office, 194,<br />
196<br />
Regional Counsel’s Office, 194<br />
privately employed <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
Control Specialists, 194<br />
Staff Support Specialists, 194<br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> Management<br />
Coordinators, 163, 191,<br />
194<br />
Barry Krasner Building, 2, 9, 106,<br />
195–196, 197<br />
Barte, Howie, 1, 6, 84, 100, 103, 137<br />
and AATCC logo, 61, 71<br />
Aviation Subcommittee<br />
testimony, 85<br />
biographical sketch, 66<br />
elected AATCC New England<br />
rep, 55–56, 58<br />
and NATCA certification, 89<br />
and NATCA creation, 65–70<br />
proposes CEO model, 93–94<br />
on strike’s effect on operations,<br />
33, 34<br />
Bayone, Tom, 192<br />
Bay TRACON, 149<br />
Bears, Ed, 146–148<br />
Bell, R. Steve, 73, 84, 100, 128
254<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
biographical sketch, 104<br />
elected first president of<br />
NATCA, 95–99, 97, 102<br />
and first contract negotiations<br />
with FAA, 124, 125, 126<br />
and John Thornton, 94<br />
joins union movement, 74–75<br />
at New York TRACON, 51<br />
1991 election, 135<br />
Bellino, Joseph, 100, 103, 113, 114,<br />
137, 138<br />
and Barnstable Tower, 146<br />
biographical sketch, 140<br />
loses 1997 election, 160<br />
and NATCA organizing, 83<br />
and pay demo, 146–148<br />
runs for executive vice<br />
president, 134–135<br />
and seniority policy, 207–208<br />
and Sunday pay settlement, 147<br />
Bentley, John, 47, 52<br />
Bhimji, Fazal, 227<br />
Blackmer, Bill “Blackie,” 160, 166,<br />
226<br />
Blake, Mike, 164, 215<br />
Blaylock, Ken, 48<br />
Blittersdorf, Karen, 165<br />
Bolling, Charlie, 47, 52<br />
Bolton, Richard, 102<br />
Bond, Langhorne M., 21, 22, 73<br />
Boston Center, 174, 184, 227<br />
Bottini, Dave, 63–64<br />
Boughn, Chris, 168<br />
Bradley-<strong>Wind</strong>sor Locks Tower, 54<br />
Branaman, Carol, 95, 142, 159,<br />
168, 214–219, 215<br />
Brandt, Dan, 42, 80, 84, 94, 96, 98,<br />
100, 102, 114, 137, 138<br />
Brawner, James, 137, 139<br />
Breen, James, 95, 100, 103, 137,<br />
139, 152<br />
Bridgeman, Owen, 103, 137, 139,<br />
152, 165<br />
Brissenden, Ken, 143<br />
Brown, David, 84<br />
Brown, Don, 1, 35, 40, 46<br />
Browne, Walter, 97<br />
Buckles, Jim, 136<br />
building fund, NATCA, 170, 194<br />
Bullard, Margaret L., 165<br />
Bureau of <strong>Air</strong> Commerce, 221–222<br />
Burnett, James, 77, 91<br />
Burnley, James H., 101, 111<br />
Busey, James, B., IV, 116, 136<br />
Butterworth, Valerie and Bob, 200,<br />
201<br />
Byrnes, Barrett, 205<br />
C<br />
Calhoon, Jesse, 23<br />
Canada, ATC operations in, 226–<br />
227<br />
Canadian <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
<strong>Association</strong>, 226–227<br />
Candaele, Kelly, 62–64, 73, 76, 97<br />
Cannon, Cheryl, 108<br />
Cantwell, Andy, 117, 165, 168, 210,<br />
215<br />
Card, Andrew H., 137, 142<br />
Carlisle, Don, 128<br />
Carr, John, 44, 115, 118, 163, 168<br />
biographical sketch, 212<br />
and Jane Garvey, 233<br />
joins union effort, 81–83<br />
and safety campaign, 228<br />
and “<strong>the</strong> shroud,” 165<br />
training, 41<br />
2000 election, 209–210<br />
Carson, Johnny, 21<br />
Carter, Jimmy, 16<br />
Carter, Randy, 53<br />
Cascio, Paul, 128, 137, 139<br />
Chapter 71 rights issue, 156–160,<br />
202<br />
Chavez-Thompson, Linda, 157<br />
Cherry Point Marine Corps <strong>Air</strong><br />
Station, 191<br />
Chicago Center, 19, 173–174, 175<br />
Chiles, Lawton, 181<br />
China Lake Naval Weapons Center,<br />
148<br />
choirboys, 12, 23, 25<br />
Christy, Kevin, 192, 193, 215<br />
CIP (controller incentive pay), 169<br />
Civil Aeronautics Administration<br />
(CAA), 16<br />
Clementz, Larry, 100, 102<br />
Clendenin, Alan, 175<br />
Clinton, Bill, 145, 158, 171, 223<br />
Coiro, Anthony, 113, 127, 128<br />
Cole, Martin, 184–186<br />
Command Center, 104<br />
committees. see NATCA<br />
committees<br />
Communications Workers of<br />
America, 67<br />
CompuServe aviation special<br />
interest group, 121<br />
computer bulletin boards, 121–123<br />
Conklin, Kenneth, 49<br />
Connor, Mike, 185<br />
Conom, Nick, 36<br />
contracts. see NATCA–FAA<br />
contracts; PATCO–FAA 1981<br />
contract negotiations<br />
contract towers issue, 153, 161,<br />
178, 187, 222–224<br />
Controller Incentive Pay, 149<br />
conventions. see NATCA national<br />
conventions<br />
Coulter, Mike, 151, 165<br />
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing,<br />
159<br />
Critical Incident Stress<br />
Management Team, 230–231<br />
Crouse, Jack, 43, 47, 52, 57, 70<br />
Cullison, Alexander “Doc,” 5–6, 27,<br />
76–79, 80–81, 186–187<br />
Cunningham, Debbie, 175, 176<br />
D<br />
D’Agati, Jim, 164, 192, 193, 215<br />
D’Alessio, Joe, 58<br />
Dallas-Fort Worth International<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port, 158<br />
Damalas, Al, 53<br />
Data Link, 184<br />
Davies, Scott, 121<br />
Day, Ed, 162<br />
“deals,” 16, 69, 77<br />
Deane, Andy, 228<br />
DeFries, Clayton E. “Gene”, 65, 67,<br />
68, 88, 94, 186–187<br />
Delaney, Dennis, 84, 85, 100, 103<br />
delays, airline, 227–228<br />
Denver Center, 35<br />
Denver International <strong>Air</strong>port, 163<br />
Detling, Chalmer, 165<br />
Direct Access Radar Channel<br />
(DARC) systems, 20, 26<br />
Direct Placement Program, 223–<br />
224<br />
Display System Replacement<br />
project (DSR), 157, 176, 179–<br />
180<br />
Dole, Elizabeth, 50, 99<br />
Dresden, Tony, 105<br />
dress code, 36<br />
drug testing, 72, 99, 100<br />
dues, 87, 110–111, 198–199<br />
Duffy, Henry A., 55, 64<br />
Dunigan, Joe, 84
Dupon, Duane, 143<br />
Dyess <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, 38<br />
E<br />
Eads, Gary, 27, 29, 40<br />
Eccles, R.A., 221<br />
Edmunds, Jim, 76<br />
Ehrlichman, John, 23<br />
elections, see under NATCA<br />
national elections<br />
emeritus members, 95<br />
Engen, Donald D., 55, 57, 67, 69,<br />
70, 90, 91, 95<br />
Engineers and Architects<br />
bargaining unit, 180, 185,<br />
191–192<br />
F<br />
FAA. see also NATCA–FAA<br />
contracts; PATCO–FAA 1981<br />
contract negotiations; strike,<br />
1981 controllers’<br />
administrators, since 1958, 161<br />
Advanced Automation System<br />
project (AAS), 157, 179,<br />
182<br />
age limits for controllers, 47<br />
Automated Radar Terminal<br />
System (ARTS), 17, 18,<br />
175, 181<br />
commissions first DARC, 20<br />
contract towers issue, 153, 161,<br />
178, 187, 195, 208,<br />
222–224<br />
Controller Incentive Pay, 149<br />
created, 16<br />
Critical Incident Stress<br />
Debriefing, 159<br />
Direct Placement Program,<br />
223–224<br />
Display System Replacement<br />
project (DSR), 157, 176,<br />
179–180<br />
facilities security, 42, 231<br />
Facility Advisory Boards (FABs),<br />
42–43<br />
“Flow Control 50” implemented,<br />
27, 32<br />
Free Flight program, 82<br />
funding and privatization,<br />
224–226<br />
General Aviation Reservation<br />
system, 54<br />
Human Relations Councils<br />
(HRCs), 42<br />
independence hearings, 99, 107<br />
Jones Committee reports, 37,<br />
41, 43<br />
NATCA liaison position, 177–<br />
179, 180<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>space System Plan, 42<br />
Pay Demonstration Projects,<br />
114, 135, 146<br />
reclassification of facilities in<br />
1998, 224<br />
replacement controllers, training<br />
and treatment, 5–6,<br />
34–43<br />
seeks consolidation of AATCC<br />
regional certification<br />
petitions, 57, 58<br />
Standard Terminal Automation<br />
Replacement System<br />
(STARS), 17, 175, 181,<br />
182–183<br />
Structured Staffing program,<br />
45–46, 51<br />
supervision culture of, 19–20<br />
FAA Academy, 18, 21, 36, 37–41<br />
Facility Advisory Boards (FABs),<br />
42–43<br />
Facility Representative and<br />
Leadership Training course,<br />
115–123<br />
Fallon, Brian, 120, 174<br />
FAM trip privileges, 24, 73, 197<br />
Faville, Will, Jr., 84, 100, 102, 137,<br />
147, 164, 177, 182, 183<br />
Federal Labor Relations Authority<br />
(FLRA), 38, 41, 50, 58, 163<br />
Fellows, Mike, 35<br />
Ferguson, James, 149, 152, 164,<br />
185, 186, 202, 223<br />
Fisher, Freddie, 42<br />
Fitas, Dan, 168<br />
Fletcher, Robert, 100, 103<br />
“Flow Control 50,” 27, 32<br />
Ford, Mike, 55<br />
The Forgotten Promise: The<br />
Resurgence of Unionism Among <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong>, 79<br />
Forrey, Pat, 147, 151, 152, 199, 215<br />
Frank, Barney, 99<br />
Frascone, Jim, 192<br />
Free Flight program, 82, 160, 205<br />
Fruscella, Joe, 51, 110, 141, 143,<br />
152, 164, 215<br />
Future <strong>Air</strong> Navigation System, 168<br />
G<br />
Galipault, John, 121<br />
Galloway, Tom, 49<br />
Garvey, Jane, 168, 183<br />
collaboration emphasis, 160,<br />
161, 182, 232–233<br />
credits controllers’ actions on<br />
September 11, 2002, 230<br />
Index<br />
255<br />
1998 contract negotiations, 7–8,<br />
170–171<br />
General Aviation Reservation<br />
system, 54<br />
George Meany Center for Labor<br />
Studies, 114–115, 117<br />
Gibbons, Ray, 118, 177<br />
Gilbert, Fred, 19–20, 55, 58, 84, 87<br />
on controller treatment after<br />
strike, 34–35<br />
and FAB national meeting, 34,<br />
42–43<br />
runs for president of NATCA,<br />
96–99, 98, 102<br />
supports rehiring controllers,<br />
74–76, 79<br />
Gilbert, John, 31–32<br />
Gilbert, Trish, 110, 161<br />
Gisala, Wilma, 109<br />
Goldschmidt, Neil E., 19<br />
Gordon, Richard, Jr., 105, 108, 109,<br />
137, 143, 159, 194, 199<br />
Green, Dee, 175<br />
Green, Veronica, 118, 119<br />
Green, Jim, 167<br />
Green Book, The, 35–36<br />
Greer, Phil, 55<br />
Gropper, Donna, 55, 56, 69<br />
Grundmann, Karl, 84, 90, 100, 102<br />
108, 137, 139, 153<br />
and dues increases, 198<br />
liaison to FAA, 159, 178–179<br />
runs for executive vice<br />
president, 96–99, 97<br />
on union leadership by<br />
controllers, 93<br />
Grundmann, Susan see under Tsui<br />
Grundmann, Susan<br />
Guensch, Craig, 36–37<br />
Guerra, Gus, 164, 215
256<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
H<br />
Haines, Tim, 137, 138, 150–153<br />
Haldeman, H.R. “Bob,” 23<br />
Hallett, Carol, 228<br />
Hambrick, Melissa Lee, 165<br />
Hampton University, 127<br />
“Handbook for <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
Employees in Centers and<br />
Towers,” 35–36<br />
Hanley, Scott, 180<br />
Hanson, Terry, 185–186<br />
Hartney, Dennis, 153<br />
Hastert, Dennis, 173<br />
Hatfield, Mark, 158<br />
Hays, Jimmy, 22<br />
Healy, Pete, 192, 193, 217<br />
Helms, J. Lynn, 22, 37, 54<br />
Herman, Tony, 7–8, 168, 169–170<br />
Hiatt, Jon, 188<br />
Hicks, Joel, 73–74, 108, 182<br />
Hightower, Laura Caroline, 165<br />
Hill & Knowlton, 228<br />
Hinson, David, 145, 176<br />
Hintz, Doug, 192<br />
Hoffman, Bob, 53<br />
Holland, Doug, 121, 215<br />
Hood, Mark, 165<br />
House of Representatives, U.S. see<br />
U.S. Congress<br />
Houston Center, 33<br />
Howe, Curt, 192<br />
H.R. 2663, 146<br />
H.R. 4003, 75–76, 79<br />
Hull, Mike, 117, 231<br />
Human Relations Councils (HRCs),<br />
42<br />
Humphreys Adell, 92, 105–107,<br />
196<br />
biographical sketch, 106<br />
Hurricane Andrew, 178<br />
I<br />
IBM<br />
3083-BXI “Host” computers, 63,<br />
108<br />
9020 computers, 16, 18, 63<br />
RISC-6000 computers, 157<br />
immunity program, operational<br />
error-reporting, 73, 127–128<br />
Intentionally Left Blank, 118<br />
International Civil Aviation<br />
Organization, 183<br />
International Federation of <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong>’ <strong>Association</strong>s<br />
(IFATCA), 8, 183–186<br />
Irving, Mike “Iggy,” 120<br />
J<br />
Jacksonville Center, 18<br />
Jeffries, Terri, 109<br />
Johanssen, Howard, 72–73, 86<br />
Jones, Gordon P., 100<br />
Jones, Lawrence M., 37<br />
Jones, Rick, 45, 47<br />
Jones Committee reports, 37, 41, 43<br />
Jordan, Garlon, 192<br />
Joseph, Art, 55, 128<br />
JOVIAL computer language, 181<br />
K<br />
Kansas City Center, 170<br />
Katz, Deborah Ann, 138<br />
Kaufman, Andy, 182<br />
Keeling, Jay, 143<br />
Keener, Kevin, 207<br />
Keeney, Dan, 68, 72, 84<br />
Keesler <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, 38<br />
Kelley, Steve, 51, 75<br />
Kennedy, John F., 16, 18<br />
Kerr, George, 13, 25, 51, 53, 55<br />
Kidd, James “Ajax,” 115, 116, 121,<br />
164, 166, 217<br />
Kilgallon, Joe, 105, 141, 150<br />
Kirkland, Lane, 37<br />
Kochis, Kim, 61, 71<br />
Koonce, Taylor, 211<br />
Kramer, Lonnie, 128, 143<br />
Krasner, Barry, 100, 102, 128, 143,<br />
152, 168<br />
accomplishments during second<br />
term, 160<br />
biographical sketch, 132<br />
conducts third convention<br />
meetings, 131<br />
and Direct Placement Program,<br />
223–224<br />
and dues increases, 198–199<br />
emeritus member, 95<br />
and IFATCA, 186<br />
introduces constitutional<br />
amendments on<br />
membership, 94<br />
and MEBA disaffiliation, 187–188<br />
1993 contract team, 143–146,<br />
144<br />
1998 contract negotiations, 7–8,<br />
163<br />
office motif, 193–194, 195<br />
organizing at New York<br />
TRACON, 51–52<br />
runs for president, 133–134,<br />
137, 138<br />
Kremer, Leo, 121<br />
Kuhl, Tim, 121, 168<br />
Kushner, David, 57, 58, 67<br />
Kutch, Mark, 114, 125, 126, 128,<br />
138, 143<br />
L<br />
Labonte, Bobby, 211<br />
“Labor and Management: Partners<br />
in Problem-Solving,” 136.<br />
see also Quality Through<br />
Partnership (QTP)<br />
Landry, Dave, 19, 20, 70, 84<br />
Lane, Sally, 32<br />
Lasker, T. Craig, 142, 152, 165<br />
Laughter, Doug, 122, 123<br />
Lawless, Scott, 84, 100<br />
lawsuits, 101, 105<br />
League, Archie, 220, 221, 223<br />
Leonard, Tim, 100, 103, 165<br />
Lewis, Drew, 19, 26, 37, 50<br />
Leyden, John, 7, 22, 86<br />
career highlights, 14<br />
and choirboys, 12, 25<br />
elected PATCO president, 22–23<br />
honorary lifetime membership,<br />
95<br />
and John Thornton, 48<br />
ousted as PATCO president,<br />
11–13<br />
and reclassification, 169<br />
and rehiring of fired controllers,<br />
200<br />
and vocational retraining, 24<br />
liaison and technical representative<br />
program, NATCA, 177–179,<br />
180, 182<br />
lifetime members, honorary, 95<br />
Llafet, Greg, 115–117<br />
lobbying efforts and programs,<br />
NATCA, 156–160, 172, 175–<br />
176, 210–213<br />
“Lobby Week,” 146, 158, 164, 170,<br />
175, 176, 179<br />
Lockheed Martin Corporation, 228<br />
logo, NATCA, 70, 71, 130
logo quilt, 92, 107<br />
Lombardi, Bill, Jr., 49<br />
Low-Level <strong>Wind</strong> Shear Alert<br />
Systems (LLWAS), 46, 64<br />
M<br />
Mackay, Susan, 229<br />
“Magnificent Seven,” 146<br />
Magnuson, Warren, 16<br />
Maher, Jack, 20, 21<br />
Majors, Floyd, 192<br />
Maltby, Cam, 151<br />
Marine Engineers Beneficial<br />
<strong>Association</strong> (MEBA)<br />
affiliation agreements/fees, 88–<br />
89, 111–113<br />
and civil lawsuit legislation, 101<br />
final loan payment to, 111, 168<br />
NATCA disaffiliation, 178, 179,<br />
184, 186–188<br />
and NATCA organizing, 62,<br />
65, 67, 68, 70–72, 74,<br />
85–87<br />
and PATCO, 5, 9, 23<br />
training facility, 125, 126<br />
Marlin, Ruth, 9, 159, 210–214, 213,<br />
215<br />
biographical sketch, 218<br />
Martin, Mike, 192<br />
McArtor, T. Allan, 95, 111<br />
McCain, John, 158–159<br />
McCann, Jim, 84, 97<br />
McDermott, Jerry, 146–148<br />
McGee, Dennis, 215<br />
McGrath, Kevin, 215<br />
McLauren, Mark, 192<br />
McNally, Michael, 137, 138, 152,<br />
164, 168<br />
assesses Bell’s performance, 136<br />
biographical sketch, 162<br />
and Chapter 71 rights fight,<br />
157–158<br />
doesn’t run for re-election, 209<br />
emeritus member, 95<br />
and Jane Garvey, 160, 161–162<br />
at New York Center after strike,<br />
34<br />
1998 contract negotiations, 7–8,<br />
168–171<br />
as QTP <strong>National</strong> Coordinator,<br />
135, 141<br />
and Steve Bell, 75<br />
Meachum, Cathy, 95, 204–206<br />
Meachum, Darrell, 179, 180,<br />
204–206<br />
Means, Bruce, 143, 168<br />
media use, by NATCA, 175<br />
Metropolitan <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
<strong>Association</strong>, 21<br />
Meyer, Greg, 177<br />
Meyer, Robert, 29, 40<br />
Miami Tower, 36–37<br />
midair collisions, 16<br />
Mike Monroney Aeronautical<br />
Center. see FAA Academy<br />
Mineta, Norman, 73–74, 185, 225,<br />
230<br />
minimum safe altitude warnings,<br />
34<br />
Moen, Kenneth, 103<br />
Molen, Gary, 58, 72, 84, 88, 100,<br />
103, 137, 139, 152–153<br />
emeritus member, 95<br />
and John Thornton, 94<br />
and NATCA certifying election,<br />
90<br />
organizing at Salt Lake Center,<br />
61–62, 63<br />
retires, 149<br />
Molinari, Guy, 67, 69, 76<br />
Monaldi, Chris, 214–219<br />
Monroney, Mike, 16<br />
Montoya, Ken, 156, 158–159, 168<br />
Morin, James, 107–108<br />
Morris, Ed, 121, 123<br />
Motta, Mike, 143, 215<br />
Mullin, Ed, 84, 100, 103, 137, 139,<br />
153<br />
biographical sketch, 78<br />
and certification election, 90, 91<br />
emeritus member, 95<br />
joins FAA, 77<br />
O.N.E. Dues Back Trust<br />
program, 110–111<br />
organizing efforts, 6, 79–80<br />
and pay raise negotiations, 168<br />
“Southwest Rule” (contingency<br />
fund), 111<br />
and Wright Amendment, 202–<br />
203<br />
Murphy, Bill, 142<br />
Murphy, Doug, 39<br />
N<br />
NATCA<br />
approved as exclusive<br />
bargaining agent of<br />
controllers, 6–7, 86,<br />
89–91<br />
bargaining units within, 191–<br />
193, 194, 210, 213, 214,<br />
219, 222, 232<br />
building fund, 170, 194<br />
Chapter 71 rights issue, 156–<br />
160, 202<br />
charter member pin, 90<br />
charter members, 236-249<br />
Critical Incident Stress<br />
Management Team,<br />
230–231<br />
Index<br />
257<br />
dues, 87, 110–111, 198–199<br />
emeritus members, 95<br />
employees, 245<br />
Facility Representative and<br />
Leadership Training<br />
course, 115–123<br />
files election petition, 83<br />
finances, and MEBA loans, 88,<br />
111–113, 123, 150, 168,<br />
194<br />
health and working conditions,<br />
173–175<br />
interim constitution, 85, 87<br />
liaison and technical<br />
representative program,<br />
177–179, 180, 182<br />
lifetime members, honorary, 95<br />
lobbying efforts and programs,<br />
156–160, 172, 175–176,<br />
210–213<br />
Logistics, Finance, Accounting,<br />
Information Services<br />
Division bargaining<br />
unit, 203<br />
members, 236–249. see also<br />
individual names<br />
membership milestone figures,<br />
110, 129<br />
name and logo adopted, 70, 71<br />
national office and staff, 2, 9,<br />
105–110, 106, 193–196,<br />
202<br />
O.N.E. Dues Back Trust<br />
program, 110–111<br />
Radar Tower Coalition, 182<br />
regional divisions, 95, 234<br />
safety concerns and initiatives,<br />
176–186, 226–228<br />
seniority issue, debates and<br />
policies, 144, 163–165,<br />
174, 191, 200, 205–208<br />
Small Region Coalition, 95-96
258<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
“Southwest Rule” (contingency<br />
fund), 111<br />
training programs, 114–123<br />
“Wall of Shame,” 224<br />
Web site, 117, 122<br />
NATCA Charitable Foundation<br />
(NCF), 204–206<br />
NATCA committees<br />
<strong>National</strong> Communications<br />
Committee, 121, 123<br />
<strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee,<br />
175<br />
Political Action Committee, 8,<br />
120, 176<br />
Reclassification Committee<br />
(facility and pay), 141,<br />
150–153, 168, 169, 224<br />
NATCA–FAA contracts<br />
1989, 110, 113, 114, 125–129,<br />
128<br />
1993, 137, 143–149<br />
1998, 7–8, 163–171, 168<br />
NATCA in Washington, 176, 179,<br />
186, 213, 227, 232<br />
NATCA Membership Investments<br />
Incorporated (NMI), 196–197<br />
NATCA national conventions<br />
<strong>National</strong> Convention Body, 235<br />
founding (1986), 81, 84, 85–89<br />
second (1988), 93–95, 103<br />
third (1990), 126–133, 205<br />
fourth (1992), 138<br />
fifth (1994), 155<br />
sixth (1996), 174<br />
seventh (1998), 191<br />
eighth (2000), 205<br />
ninth (2002), 233<br />
parliamentarians, 94<br />
NATCA national elections<br />
1988, 95–101, 100–101, 102–<br />
103, 109<br />
1991, 133–136, 137–139<br />
1994, 152–153, 154–155, 160<br />
1997, 164–165, 166–167<br />
2000, 213–214, 215–217<br />
NATCAnet, 121–122<br />
NATCA Racing, 211<br />
NATCA Shop, 119–120<br />
NATCAvists, 231–232<br />
The NATCA Voice, 118–120, 174<br />
NATCA (Washington Center),<br />
45–48, 52, 56, 57<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>port (Washington,<br />
D.C.), 28<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>space System Plan, 42<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Association</strong> of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
Specialists, (NAATS), 18–19,<br />
157, 159–160<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Association</strong> of<br />
Government Employees (NAGE)<br />
local controllers’ unions formed,<br />
18–19<br />
O’Hare slowdown and<br />
compensation plans,<br />
20–21<br />
<strong>National</strong> Aviation Research<br />
Institute (NARI), 171, 185<br />
<strong>National</strong> Communications<br />
Committee, 121, 123<br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Board (NEB).<br />
see also provisional Executive<br />
Board<br />
first (1988), 100-101<br />
second (1991), 137<br />
third (1994), 152-153<br />
fourth (1997), 164-165<br />
fifth (2000), 215<br />
expansion of, 193<br />
family toll of, 231<br />
first woman board member, 214<br />
weighted scale proposal, 94-95<br />
<strong>National</strong> Federation of Federal<br />
Employees, 54<br />
<strong>National</strong> Legislative Committee,<br />
175<br />
<strong>National</strong> Maritime Union, 187<br />
Nav Canada, 226–227<br />
Neumeier, Christine, 109<br />
Newark <strong>Air</strong>port, 222<br />
Newburn, Ed, 114<br />
New England, organizing in,<br />
55–56<br />
New York Center, 54<br />
New York TRACON, 18, 50–52,<br />
109–110, 141<br />
“Nightline” program on ATC, 67,<br />
68–70<br />
Nixon, Richard, 23<br />
Noonan, Joseph, 113, 140<br />
O<br />
Oakland Center, 19<br />
O’Brien, Danielle, 229<br />
O’Brien, Dennis, 84<br />
O’Brien, Joe, 34, 51, 58, 67, 68, 69,<br />
72, 75, 84<br />
O’Hare International <strong>Air</strong>port, 15,<br />
20<br />
O.N.E. Dues Back Trust program,<br />
110–111<br />
Operational Error Detection Patch<br />
software, 52–53<br />
operational error-reporting, 73, 91,<br />
127–128<br />
“Operation Snowman,” 20<br />
Osborne, William W., Jr., 94, 99,<br />
128, 187–188, 207<br />
Otto, Bill, 141–142, 164, 198, 215<br />
Owens, Chuck, 137, 138<br />
Owens, Eric, 168, 215<br />
Owens, Norbert “Nobby,” 113<br />
P<br />
Padgett, Victor, 48<br />
Pallone, Mark, 164, 186, 215<br />
Pappa, Benjamin, Jr., 103<br />
Parrish, Jeff, 119<br />
PATCO. see also PATCO–FAA 1981<br />
contract negotiations; strike,<br />
1981 controllers’<br />
accomplishments under Leyden,<br />
11–12<br />
affiliation with MEBA, 23<br />
choirboys, 12, 23, 25<br />
creation of, 18–21<br />
decertified, 29, 38<br />
early negotiated victories, 21<br />
endorses Reagan, 16<br />
files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, 43<br />
1978 agreement with FAA, 24<br />
1970 sickout, retaliation, and<br />
reinstatement, 22–24<br />
Second-Career Retirement Bill,<br />
24<br />
work-to-rule slowdown at<br />
O’Hare International<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port, 15<br />
PATCO–FAA 1981 contract<br />
negotiations<br />
“educational package”<br />
distributed to members,<br />
13<br />
labor agreement with FAA<br />
lapses in March 1981,<br />
21<br />
Poli agrees to FAA’s “final”<br />
contract offer, 24, 26<br />
representatives walk out of<br />
bargaining sessions, 23<br />
second strike deadline set, 26<br />
strike and aftermath, 27–29<br />
strike deadline set, 23, 26, 31
Pay Demonstration Projects, 114,<br />
135, 146, 149<br />
Pearson, Dave, 84, 100, 102<br />
Peer, William, 13<br />
Peña, Federico F., 143, 177<br />
Perrone, Joseph, 102<br />
Phillips, Rich, 141, 152, 165, 193<br />
plane crashes, 1985, 68–69, 130<br />
Planzer, Neil, 178, 179<br />
Poli, Robert E.<br />
assumes leadership of PATCO,<br />
12–13<br />
and FAA’s “final” contract offer,<br />
24, 26<br />
resigns, 29, 40<br />
strike deadlines set, 23, 26, 31<br />
Political Action Committee, 8, 120,<br />
176<br />
Poole, Jim, 58, 84, 98, 118, 137,<br />
138, 141, 152, 164, 173<br />
Poole, Robert, 225<br />
Portner, Courtney, 108<br />
Potzger, Richard H., 154<br />
Preston, Wayne, 13<br />
privatized ATC systems, 224–226,<br />
225. see also contract towers<br />
issue<br />
Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways Systems<br />
Specialists (PASS), 41, 72–73,<br />
131, 157, 159–160, 192<br />
Professional <strong>Controllers</strong> Alliance,<br />
55, 76<br />
Project Beacon, 16–18, 18<br />
provisional Executive Board, 44,<br />
72, 84<br />
Putzier, Michael, 114, 137, 138,<br />
141, 152, 164<br />
Q<br />
Quality Through Partnership<br />
(QTP), 60, 104, 135, 136, 137–<br />
143, 162<br />
Quonset TRACON, 35, 55<br />
R<br />
radarscopes, 10, 15<br />
Radar Tower Coalition, 182<br />
rainy day fund, 78<br />
Ramsden, Jon, 159<br />
Ray<strong>the</strong>on Company, 20, 64, 175<br />
Reagan, Ronald<br />
dismissal of 11,000 striking<br />
controllers, 5, 27–28<br />
pledges support to PATCO, 16,<br />
25–26<br />
rescinds order banning fired<br />
controllers from federal<br />
jobs, 39<br />
Reclassification Committee (facility<br />
and pay), 141, 150–153, 168,<br />
169, 224<br />
Reed, Bernie, 137, 143, 145, 148,<br />
149, 153, 163, 168<br />
rehiring of fired controllers, 75–76,<br />
79, 145, 199–201<br />
Reuben, S. Jesse, 58–59<br />
Rich, Sam, 137, 138, 152<br />
Richards, Thomas C., 142<br />
Rifas, Howie, 167, 217<br />
Riley, Bill, 53, 54, 56-57, 61, 137<br />
Riley, Lee, 36, 52–53, 56–57, 84,<br />
100, 103, 137, 160<br />
Rock, Mike, 21<br />
“Rodney Vision,” 122–123<br />
RTCA, Inc., 160<br />
Rucker, Tom, 38, 41<br />
runway incursions, 226<br />
S<br />
safety concerns and initiatives,<br />
176–186, 226–228<br />
safety statistics, 41–42<br />
Salt Lake Center, 20, 33, 62, 76<br />
Saludin, John, 102<br />
Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation,<br />
211<br />
Sandbach, David, 115, 116<br />
San Juan CERAP, 59<br />
Schimpf, Brian, 226<br />
Schmidt, Sam, 211<br />
scholarship program, 165<br />
Scholl, Mark, 164, 173<br />
Schwitz, James R. “Randy,” 28,<br />
121, 137, 139, 152, 164<br />
attends IFATCA conference, 185<br />
biographical sketch, 190<br />
and national office building<br />
purchase, 195–196<br />
2000 election, 210, 213<br />
Scott, Mike, 47, 52<br />
Seattle-Tacoma International<br />
<strong>Air</strong>port, 226<br />
sector suite design, 180<br />
Security Control of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> and<br />
Navigation Aids (SCATANA),<br />
230<br />
seniority issue, debates and<br />
policies, 144, 163–165, 174, 191,<br />
200, 205–208<br />
September 11, 2001, terrorist<br />
attacks, 228–231<br />
Shandrowsky, Alex, 174, 187<br />
Shedden, Bill, 153<br />
Sheedy, Michael, 73–74<br />
Index<br />
259<br />
“shrimp boats,” 15<br />
“<strong>the</strong> shroud,” 165<br />
Shuler, David, 100, 103<br />
sickouts, 21, 22<br />
Simon, Paul, 146–148, 156, 173<br />
Simpkins, Walt, 70, 72<br />
Singletary, Cary R., 115, 116<br />
Skinner, Samuel, 111, 136<br />
Skirlick, Anthony “Skip,” 38, 55,<br />
57, 63–64<br />
Slater, Rodney E., 177, 224<br />
Smith, Brandy L., 165<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn California TRACON, 134<br />
South Florida Legislative<br />
Committee, 210–213<br />
Southwest Region (NATCA), 102,<br />
109<br />
“Southwest Rule” (contingency<br />
fund), 111<br />
Soviet Union ships/cargo, MEBA<br />
longshoremen and, 23<br />
Sperry Univac Corporation, 17, 18<br />
Spickler, Ray, 84, 100, 102, 135–<br />
136<br />
biographical sketch, 112<br />
bypassed at third convention,<br />
131<br />
elected first executive vice<br />
president, 98, 99<br />
at founding convention, 95<br />
IFATCA meeting, 183<br />
and pay demo, 149<br />
re-election bid in 1991, 130<br />
“sprinters,” 27<br />
Standard Terminal Automation<br />
Replacement System (STARS),<br />
17, 175, 181, 182–183<br />
Stephenson, Rob, 143<br />
Stevens, George, 97<br />
strike, 1981 controllers’, 27–32<br />
Stinson, Timothy, 102<br />
Structured Staffing program,
260<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
45–46, 51<br />
Success Through Partnership,<br />
113, 136–141. see also Quality<br />
Through Partnership (QTP)<br />
Sullivan, Sallie, 132<br />
Su<strong>the</strong>rland, Chris, 115, 116<br />
Swauger, Richard, 95, 141, 150,<br />
182, 230<br />
Sweeney, John, 158, 189<br />
T<br />
Taylor, Quentin, 69<br />
Taylor, Robert D., 95, 114, 115–117,<br />
168, 189, 191<br />
Teamsters, 67<br />
Terminal Doppler Wea<strong>the</strong>r Radar,<br />
64<br />
terrorist attacks of September 11,<br />
2001, 228–231<br />
Texas, 80<br />
Thoman, Ray, 124, 125, 163–165<br />
Thomas, Beth, 59–61, 73, 127, 128,<br />
208<br />
biographical sketch, 60<br />
Thomas, Chuck, 59, 61<br />
Thomas, David, 18<br />
Thompson, Bryan, 118–120, 119,<br />
121, 123<br />
Thompson, Ricky, 164, 215<br />
Thornton, John<br />
addresses founding convention,<br />
85<br />
as AFGE organizer, 47–50, 55-<br />
56, 67<br />
Barte recommends to coordinate<br />
NATCA organization<br />
under MEBA, 68, 69<br />
biographical sketch, 82<br />
board removes, 203–205<br />
and certification election, 44,<br />
88-90<br />
honorary lifetime membership,<br />
94, 95<br />
MEBA mandates as executive<br />
director, 87–88<br />
as MEBA organizer, 73<br />
as PATCO president, 49<br />
and rehiring of fired controllers,<br />
74, 79<br />
role determined, at second<br />
national convention,<br />
93–94<br />
as senior director for legislative<br />
affairs, 101, 105, 202<br />
and Wright Amendment repeal,<br />
202–203<br />
Thurger, Rob, 227<br />
Tierney, Jerry, 3–5, 182<br />
Timme, Hea<strong>the</strong>r, 115, 116<br />
Torchia, Domenic, 19, 29, 40<br />
<strong>Traffic</strong> Alert/Collision Avoidance<br />
System (TCAS), 25, 151, 177<br />
training programs, 114–123<br />
Trainor, Joe, 159<br />
trans-Atlantic flights, 16<br />
Transportation Department, 230<br />
Transportation Trades Department,<br />
226<br />
Trigler, Stacy, 156<br />
Trumka, Richard, 157<br />
Tsui Grundmann, Susan, 108–109<br />
Tune, John, 37–39, 38, 41, 215<br />
Turner, Rodney, 116, 121, 122–123,<br />
143, 164, 215<br />
U<br />
ULTRA computer language, 181<br />
understaffing, 30, 69<br />
union formation procedure, 50<br />
United <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong><br />
Lobby, 57<br />
United States <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control<br />
Organization (USATCO), 59<br />
University of Oklahoma, 36<br />
U.S. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Services<br />
Corporation (USATS), 153, 156<br />
U.S. Congress. see also individual<br />
congressmen<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Controller Incentive<br />
and Retention Act, 146<br />
Chapter 71 rights issue, 156–<br />
160, 202<br />
Civil Service Reform Act, 18<br />
FAA Reauthorization Act,<br />
158–159<br />
hearing on controller stress, 43<br />
House Subcommittee on<br />
Aviation, 73–74, 107<br />
H.R. 2663, 146<br />
H.R. 4003, 75–76, 79<br />
Postal Reorganization Act, 22<br />
Second-Career Retirement Bill,<br />
24<br />
Senate Subcommittee on<br />
Aviation, 85, 99<br />
Wright Amendment, 202–203<br />
U.S. Postal Service, 22<br />
V<br />
Van Houten, Steve, 100, 102<br />
Van Nuys Tower, 150<br />
vocational retraining, 24<br />
Volpe, John, 22<br />
W<br />
Wagner Act, 18<br />
“Wall of Shame,” 224<br />
Ward, Earl, 221<br />
Ward, Mark, 100, 103<br />
Washington Center, 3, 4, 30, 45–<br />
48, 52, 57–58<br />
Washington <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>port, 28<br />
Watson, Larry “Bubba,” 164<br />
Web site, NATCA, 117, 122<br />
Whittaker, Jerry, 152, 154, 164<br />
Wicker, Doug, 183<br />
Williams, Paul, 9, 142, 143<br />
Wilson, Barry, 210<br />
wind shear, 46, 64<br />
Woolbright, Rick, 110<br />
World Wide Web, use of, 117,<br />
122–123<br />
Wright, Dale, 117, 195<br />
Wright, James, 202<br />
Wright Amendment, 202–203<br />
Y<br />
Yushinsky, Tony, 217
234<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
NATCA at a Glance<br />
California<br />
Hawaii<br />
Washington<br />
Oregon<br />
Nevada<br />
Western-<br />
Pacific<br />
Alaskan<br />
Idaho<br />
Arizona<br />
Northwest<br />
Mountain<br />
Utah<br />
Alaska<br />
Montana<br />
Wyoming<br />
Colorado<br />
New Mexico<br />
The Nine Regions<br />
Nebraska<br />
Texas<br />
North<br />
Dakota<br />
Central<br />
Kansas<br />
Oklahoma<br />
Southwest<br />
Minnesota<br />
Great Lakes<br />
South<br />
Dakota Wisconsin<br />
Iowa<br />
Arkansas<br />
Louisiana<br />
Missouri<br />
Illinois Indiana<br />
Mississippi<br />
Notes<br />
Kentucky<br />
Tennessee<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Alabama<br />
Michigan<br />
Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Region includes San Juan and <strong>the</strong> U.S.<br />
Virgin Islands.<br />
Western-Pacific Region includes Kwajalein and<br />
Marshall Islands, American Samoa, and Guam.<br />
Ohio<br />
Georgia<br />
West<br />
West<br />
Virginia<br />
Virginia<br />
North Carolina<br />
South<br />
Carolina<br />
Florida<br />
Pennsylvania<br />
Eastern<br />
Virginia<br />
New York<br />
New<br />
England<br />
Vermont<br />
New<br />
Hampshire<br />
Delaware<br />
Maryland<br />
Maine<br />
Massachusetts<br />
Rhode Island<br />
Connecticut<br />
New Jersey<br />
Additional information<br />
is available on <strong>the</strong> union’s<br />
Web site: www.natca.org<br />
NATCA<br />
1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW<br />
Washington, D.C. 20005<br />
Voice: 202 / 628-5451<br />
Fax: 202 / 628-5767
Director of<br />
Political &<br />
Legislative Affairs<br />
Legislation<br />
Legislative Rep.<br />
Administrative Asst.<br />
Director of<br />
Administration<br />
Constitution<br />
Elections<br />
Regional<br />
Admin. Asst.<br />
Human Resources<br />
Information Technology<br />
Administrative Asst.<br />
Al A sk An RVP<br />
Ce n t R A l RVP<br />
eAsteRn RVP<br />
GR e At lA k e s RVP<br />
new en G l A n d RVP<br />
Director of<br />
Communications<br />
Communication<br />
Media Relations Mgr.<br />
Publications Specialist<br />
Communications Spec.<br />
Director of<br />
Membership<br />
& Marketing<br />
Benefits<br />
Membership Manager<br />
Marketing Specialist<br />
Member Contact Spec.<br />
Receptionist<br />
<strong>National</strong> Convention Body<br />
<strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
PR e s i d e n t<br />
ex eCu t i V e ViCe PR e s i d e n t<br />
Liaisons<br />
Comptroller<br />
Finance<br />
Deputy Comptroller<br />
Staff Accountant<br />
Accounting Asst. I/II<br />
noR t h w e s t Mtn. RVP<br />
southwesteRn RVP<br />
so u t h e R n RVP<br />
westeRn-PACif iC RVP<br />
enGineeRs & AR C h i t e C t s VP<br />
Director of<br />
Safety & Technology<br />
Safety<br />
Technology<br />
Reps<br />
Safety Specialist<br />
Technology Reps<br />
Administrative Asst.<br />
Regional<br />
Admin. Asst.<br />
Director of<br />
Training<br />
Director of<br />
Strategic Planning<br />
& Policy<br />
Director of<br />
Labor Relations<br />
Arbitration<br />
Advocate<br />
Trial<br />
Committee<br />
General Counsel<br />
Dep. General Counsel<br />
L.R. Specialists<br />
Administrative Asst.
The NATCA Family<br />
Bargaining Unit Members (as of January 2002)<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
John Michael Aarhus • John A. Aartman • Mark G. Abbey • James R. Abbott • Robert G. Abbott • Teresa L. Abbott • Todd D. Abbotts • William M. Abdalla • Eric K. Abdullah • John D. Abdul-Malik • Chris J. Abel • L. Roger Abel • Tim G. Abels • Karl Aber • Marc M.<br />
Abeyta • Gary Lee Abplanalp • Dean M. Abraham • Janice O. Abraham • Stephen J. Abraham • Lynn M. Abram • Russell O. Absher • George G. Acampora • Tracey E. Acampora • Dennis J. Accavallo • Joe Accavallo • Juliane W. Accavallo • Terrence R. Accoo • Richard<br />
M. Accorto • Thomas M. Achin • Diane Y. Achterling • Gordon F. Acker • Michael R. Ackerman • Robert Todd Ackerman • George F. Ackley • Andrew G. Acres • James P. Adair • Jeffrey S. Adair • Charles F. Adam • Robert R. Adam • Leonard J. Adamczyk • Michael<br />
Adame • Steve Adamek • Amanda M. Adams • Brad Adams • Charles B. Adams • Derrek J. Adams • Donnie Adams • Glenn E. Adams • Gregory J. Adams • John K. Adams • John R. Adams • Mark A. Adams • Marshall Adams • Michael D. Adams • Michael L.<br />
Adams • Pamela D. Adams • Patrick M. Adams • Philip W. Adams • Raymond M. Adams • Rhonda Adams • Theresa J. Adams • Timothy L. Adams • Warren M. Adams • Ronald J. Adamski • Stephen P. Adamski • Jonathan Lee Adcock • Ka<strong>the</strong>rine H. Adcock • Thomas<br />
R. Adcock • Mary Anne Addis • Charles Thomas Addy • Robert Adelizzi • Herbert W. Adkins • James D. Adkins • Abner P. Advincula • Blaine G. Agena • Don R. Aggers • Curtis P. Agnew • Vimala Agrawal • Lourdes D. Aguerre-Bennett • Roberto Aguilera • Alice<br />
H. AhLo • John M. Ahearn • Shane T. Ahern • Donald E. Ahlberg • James F. Ahlers • Michael V. Aiello • Gregory A. Aiken • John D. Aiken • Ernest Akau • Jeffrey Scott Ake • Charlie Akers • Gregory S. Akers • Daniel E. Albanese • Glenn S. Albanese • George K.<br />
Alberer • Joe M. Albers • Jonette M. Albers • Richard W. Albers • Edward W. Albert • Merlyn E. Albert • Steven L. Alberts • Jason T. Albold • Frederic Paul Albrecht • Chris D. Albright • James Albright • Thomas Scott Albright • Glen M. Alcantara • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine S.<br />
Alcorn • James A. Alcorn • Jeff R. Alcorn • Larry D. Alcorn • Michael E. Alcorn • Michael D. Alcott • Alain Aldama • Bradley I. Alden • Randal M. Alden • David M. Aldrich • Joy Ann Aldrich • Michael F. Aldrich • Guy Douglas Aldridge • Steve Aldridge • Thomas Jay<br />
Alef • Bobbie Lee Alejandre • Mark Phillip Alessio • Dawn Alewine • Kevin Charles Alewine • Michael P. Alewine • Stephen Alex • Allen B. Alexander • Arnold G. Alexander • Beth Ann Alexander • Brett Robin Alexander • Bruce W. Alexander • Chris V.<br />
Alexander • Daniel A. Alexander • David L. Alexander • Keith D. Alexander • Lynn D. Alexander • Michael Eames Alexander • Richard D. Alexander • Robbie R. Alexander • Roland Lee Alexander • Terry W. Alexander • Todd Alfes • Julie Alger • Alexis Raul Ali • Asif<br />
M. Ali • Melissa Alicea • Joseph Aliperti • John R. Aliperto • Carl Joe Alizio • Robert G. Alker • David T. Allan • Loretta Ann Allberry • Lawrence Joseph Allcott • Scott A. Allegretto • Kevin J. Allegrini • Joseph F. Allegro • Steven M. Allemang • Amy L. Allen • Brenda<br />
G. Allen • Charles C. Allen • Darren J. Allen • David W. Allen • Donald F. Allen • Edward A. Allen • Edward F. Allen • George T. Allen • Jeffry R. Allen • Kerry W. Allen • Lawrence F. Allen • Mark D. Allen • Murriel D. Allen • Scott E. Allen • Steven D. Allen • Tami L.<br />
Allen • Thomas J. Allen • Vernon P. Allen • James K. Allerdice • James R. Alles • Barbara G. Allgood • Glen R. Allgood • Virginia A. Allis • Patricia A. Allison • Brady J. Allred • Kevin L. Allsop • Kenneth D. Almand • Juan Almanzar • Gail C. Almeida • Douglas C.<br />
Alms • Barbara A. Alonzo • Steven E. Alqueza • Marianne C. Als • Aric Sean Alston • Kelley R. Althouse • Jon D. Altieri • Michael N. Altmann • Gregory L. Alumbaugh • Eduardo Q. Alva • Merce Alvarado • Orlando Alvarado • Joseph Alvardo • Armando<br />
Alvarez • Michael Alvarez • Gerald Dale Alvord • Gordon K. Amann • Marie Ann Amato • Michael Samuel Amato • Larry C. Ambrose • John B. Amengual • Pamela S. Amerman • Todd K. Amerman • Stephen J. Ames • Abdul Hafiz Amin • Mohammad R. Amini • Brian<br />
Thomas Amireault • Anthony Amodeo • John L. Amor • Alvin L. Amposta • Gary L. Amy • Jeffrey J. Amy • Donald V. An • Edward Anacleto • Bill Ancheta • Shelby D. Anders • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine E. Andersen • Anthony Anderson • Billy T. Anderson • Charles Crouse<br />
Anderson • Christian D. Anderson • David L. Anderson • David P. Anderson • David S. Anderson • Dennis M. Anderson • Dhana Marlene Anderson • Doyle B. Anderson • Drew O. Anderson • Dwight D. Anderson • Eric N. Anderson • Erik C. Anderson • Ernest E.<br />
Anderson • Grant R. Anderson • Greg T. Anderson • Holly Marie Anderson • James C. Anderson • Jeffrey A. Anderson • Jeffrey E. Anderson • John D. Anderson • John E. Anderson • John Stanley Anderson • John Anderson • Kent Thomas Anderson • Lars D.<br />
Anderson • Martin Lee Anderson • Michael A. Anderson • Michael D. Anderson • Nathan Anderson • Ray L. Anderson • Richard N. Anderson • Ronald L. Anderson • Stanley N. Anderson • Stephen E. Anderson • Susan E. Anderson • Susan P. Anderson • Tamara L.<br />
Anderson • Tina L. Anderson • Todd A. Anderson • Wendy S. Anderson • Kenneth A. Andrade • Gary A. Andrae • Raymond R. Andrae • Ronald C. Andre’ • John Andrei • Alan Bruce Andrelezyk • Darrin Andrew • Brad L. Andrews • David L. Andrews • George W.<br />
Andrews • John S Andrews • Kyle R. Andrews • Michael E. Andrews • Nathan Andrews • Sandy Andrews • John W. Andrick • Gregory Andriotis • Paul R. Andrus • Charles Andruskiewicz • Marco Angel • Sherry L. Angeley • Neil Angelotti • Dennis J.<br />
Angerman • Judy C. Angle • Theodore W. Angle • Russell A. Anile • John Robert Ankeny • William T. Anker • John Charles Annino • Dan Lee Ansbaugh • Barry Anshell • Kendle G. Anspach • Taso P. Anthan • John G. Antoine • John Antonakos • Felix T.<br />
Antone • Anthony Antonopoulos • Dina R. Antuna • James A. Anzaldi • Frank J. Apel • William M. Apgar • Andy Applegate • Curtis W. Applegate • Craig Applin • Ron Aquilina • Rodney S. Aquiningoc • Anthony J. Aquino • Majid K. Arab • Craig Y. Arakaki • Morris<br />
K. Arakawa • Joseph D. Aramburu • Roberto V. Aranda • Virginia A. Arata • Alfred K. Arbeiter • Bonny L. Arbuckle • Fred R. Arbuckle • David Arcado • Lourdes Arce • William J. Archbold • Anna M. Archer • Michael A. Archer • Andrew T. Archut • Steven F.<br />
Arcio • Charles E. Ard • Thomas E. Arden • Timothy C. Arden • Ka<strong>the</strong>rine E. Arehart • Vivian E. Arendall • Diane E. Arendt • Robert J. Arenholz • Chris P. Argalas • Paul R. Argus • Alexander A. Argyros • Patrick J. Arlt • Stephan J. Armocida • David R.<br />
Armstrong • David W. Armstrong • Denis Armstrong • Jack K. Armstrong • James M. Armstrong • Patrick Michael Armstrong • Peggy J. Armstrong • Steve A. Armstrong • Sheldon C. Arndt • William A. Arnett • Bunny L. Arnold • Eric Neel Arnold • James R.<br />
Arnold • James R. Arnold • James Randell Arnold • Jason Ty Arnold • Joe W. Arnold • John S. Arnold • Kirk Allen Arnold • Mark W. Arnold • Peter R. Arnold • Peter V. Arnold • Richard D. Arnold • Shelly R. Arnold • Thomas W. Arnold • Timothy A. Arnold • John<br />
D. Arntz • Harley Aronson • Wesley Arp • V. Homer Arrington • David J. Arroyo • Margarita Arroyo • Craig R. Arruda • Jeffrey T. Arruda • Richard J. Arsenault • Scott L. Arsenault • Marvin Arshawsky • Krikor Arslanian • Randolph E. Arslanian • Adlai M.<br />
Arthur • Vivian A. Artis • Richard L. Arzate • Thomas E. Asbury • Thomas E. Asby • Gary J. Aschenbrenner • Mike G. Ascherl • David M. Ash • James M. Ash • James Ash • Cassie Susan Ashbury • David L. Ashby • James D. Ashe • Roger Harry Asher • Mary A.<br />
Ashley • Francis A. Ashline • Allen A. Ashlock • Scott C. Ashton • Anthony C. Askew • Terry Askew • William A. Aslaksen • Alan H. Ast • Mark Athas • Girard I. A<strong>the</strong>rholt • Larry Atkerson • Arthur C. Atkinson • Thomas R. Atkinson • Van D. Atmore • Derrick<br />
L. Aubuchon • Ivens Auchet • Gary P. Audet • Harold A. Auer • Allen E. Augustad • Richard S. Augustin • Gregory Augusto • Peter J. Augustyniak • Rana Aujla • Jeffrey M. Aulbach • Albert W. Aulner • Philip R. Aune • Kevin Aurandt • Andy Auscherman • Bonnie<br />
S. Austin • Daniel B. Austin • Mark A. Austin • Michael J. Austin • Richard A. Austin • Stephen A. Austin • Stephen R. Austin • Thomas Patrick Austin • Timothy A. Austin • Dudley Auzenne • Bart B. Avery • Julia Avery • Robert M. Avery • Fabian I. Avilla • Michael<br />
Avitt • Roy K. Awana • Bejie Aweau • Gary S. Ayers • Larry W. Ayers • John P. Aylward • William D. Aynes • Colleen M. Ayotte • Daniel R. Ayotte • Michael A. Ayotte • David A. Ayres • Clinton D. Aytes • Ann Azevedo • James M. Babcock • Jerry W.<br />
Babcock • Robert L. Babcock • Michael J. Babin • Aaron A. Babino • Secundino O. Baca • Denise M. Bachand • Robin L. Bacher • William Kevin Bachman • Barbara A. Bachus-Saunders • Jennifer Bacon • Mat<strong>the</strong>w W. Bacon • William J. Bacon • Cynthia M. Bacon-<br />
Sturgis • Eric J. Baczenski • David D. Baczkowski • Mark Baden • Charles Bader • Mat<strong>the</strong>w C. Bader • Nancy Lea Bader • Chris Badger • Ky D. Badgley • Karl Bading • Jack L. Baggett • Patrick A. Baggot • Donald R. Bagley • James P. Bagley • Stephen P.<br />
Bagley • James D. Baglieri • Leigh S. Bagnall • Kenneth Bagnasco • Charles E. Bagwell • David A. Bagwell • Jay B. Bagwell • Raymond Bahavar • Roger R. Bahl • Gary C. Bahler • John H. Bahns • Mat<strong>the</strong>w W. Bahnsen • Joel M. Bahr • Randall D. Bahrenfuss • Robert G.<br />
Bahrke • Ale<strong>the</strong>a Michelle Bailey • Debbie A. Bailey • Dennis E. Bailey • Frank C. Bailey • Gregory D. Bailey • Henry Eugene Bailey • Janet L. Bailey • Jay L. Bailey • Jennifer L. Bailey • Patricia E. Bailey • Rick Bailey • Russell E. Bailey • Terry N. Bailey • Roger A.<br />
Baim • Brad H. Bain • Bruce M. Bain • Chris A. Bain • Gloria L. Bain • Kevin E. Bainer • Jimmie O. Bair • Kevin Bair • Clifford Baird • David L. Baird • Steven L. Baird • Susan L. Baird • Timothy J. Bakeman • Angela Lynette Baker • Bryan S. Baker • Charles B.<br />
Baker • Charles W. Baker • Charles W. Baker • Charles Baker • Gary D. Baker • Glenn S. Baker • Gregory L. Baker • Jeffrey W. Baker • John W. Baker • Joseph K. Baker • Kathy L. Baker • Kenneth Eugene Baker • Marshall Louis Baker • Paul M. Baker • Phillip<br />
William Baker • Rex A. Baker • Richard T. Baker • Robert B. Baker • Robert L. Baker • Roger A. Baker • Steven Baker • Thomas E. Baker • Timothy W. Baker • James J. Balachowski • John D. Balachowski • John P. Balberchak • John Balbi • Kenneth A. Balch • Michael<br />
E. Balder • David H. Baldwin • Jacqueline A. Baldwin • Michael W. Baldwin • Raymond S. Baldwin • Sam R. Baldwin • Sharon K. Baldwin • John S. Baldyga • John A. Baleski • David M. Balestreri • Susan Balestrier • Michelle F. Bales-Woods • David L. Balkenbush • Steven<br />
P. Balkevicius • Crystal Ball • Daniel Lee Ball • Luke A. Ball • Randall R. Ball • William W. Ball • Ann Ballard • Christopher J. Ballard • Gary D. Ballard • Kenneth D. Ballard • Michael J. Ballard • Rhonda Lee Ballard • Frank Louis Ballif • Timothy A. Ballog • Darryl Keith<br />
Bally • Howard W. Balmer • Douglas L. Balok • Jeff P. Baltzley • Marc D. Balzac • Bernard J. Banche • Rene Laurance Bancroft • Janice M. Bane • Hans E. Banitt • Carol A. Banks • Clayton Mitchell Banks • James A. Banks • James E. Banks • Shawn R. Banks • Kirk S.<br />
Banner • Kevin James Bannwolf • Michael E. Baptiste • Robert B. Barabasz • Charles A. Baratta • David J. Baratta • Phil M. Barbarello • Richard W. Barbas • James Ray Barbee • Ashley M. Barber • Barry W. Barber • Bobby R. Barber • Chad E. Barber • David A.<br />
Barber • Hugh Barber • John B. Barber • Kirk R. Barber • Robert A. Barber • Joseph Barberia • John R. Barbieri • Jesse R. Barcinas • Don E. Barclay • John J. Barcus • Paul L. Bardwell • Rufus B. Bardwell • Mark John Barger • John R. Bargerhuff • Alan P. Barker • Brett<br />
O. Barker • Bryan Barker • David K. Barker • Ryan B. Barker • Wayne T. Barkfelt • Ronald Jay Barkley • Loretta Barlow • Roger A. Barlow • William K. Barlow • Thomas A. Barnard • Thomas J. Barnard • Alan L. Barnes • Brian J. Barnes • James A. Barnes • Julie A.<br />
Barnes • Lisa D. Barnes • Mark A. Barnes • Morris N. Barnes • Scott S. Barnes • Thomas H. Barnes • Era L. Barnes-Wagner • James R. Barnett • James Richard Barnett • Jodi Lynne Barnett • Maury K. Barnett • Richard E. Barnett • Thomas E. Barnett • John C.<br />
Barnewall • Cindy L. Barnhart • William B. Barnhart • Ramon Barnowski • Anthony J. Baron • Candy L. Barr • Troy L. Barr • Thomas V. Barrale • Anthony J. Barrett • Bruce W. Barrett • Charles E. Barrett • Edward V. Barrett • James Patrick Barrett • John J.<br />
Barrett • Lorraine H. Barrett • Michell J. Barrett • Robert W. Barrett • Susan Barrett • Tim D. Barrett • Stephen Barringer • Bruce R. Barris • Mark P. Barron • Vincent L. Barron • Charles R. Barry • Michael F. Barry • Michael R. Barry • Howie Barte • J a n e t<br />
Bartek • Rodney Bartek • David Alan Bartel • James C. Bartel • Bronson M. Barth • Chris J. Barth • Michael N. Bartholomew • John G. Bartimoccia • Byron M. Bartkiewicz • Gregory J. Bartlett • John Bartlett • William A. Bartlett • Keven Bartness • Eugene Samuel<br />
Barto • Raymond T. Bartolotta • John J. Bartosiewicz • Todd J. Bartoszek • Richard F. Bartow • Patricia Jo Bartz • Michael J. Barutha • Danny R. Basham • John E. Basham • Domingo Basilio • Mohanned A. Basith • Anthony R. Bass • Edward J. Bass • Alan B.<br />
Bassett • Charles Thomas Bastien • Francis Robert Bastis • Stephen M. Batchelder • Robert F. Bateman • Bruce E. Bates • Charles T. Bates • Daniel Dean Bates • John W. Bates • Michael E. Bates • Stanley E. Bates • Steven E. Bates • Susan Bates • William C.<br />
Batie • Rachelle Marie Batista • Laverne Battle • Nicole Battle • Sharon A. Battles • Paul S. Baudanza • Kathleen Sue Bauer • Keith R. Bauer • Troy Bauer • John A. Bauers • Birthland O. Baugh • Jeffrey Lee Baugh • Richard G. Baugh • Randall Lee Baughcum • Benny<br />
W. Baughman • David G. Baum • Stephen M. Baum • Charles K. Bauman • Richard J. Bauman • Stephen R. Bauman • Vincent E. Bauman • Michael D. Baur • Cheryl Ann Bavister • Brett L. Baxter • Kent A. Baxter • Kimberly M. Baxter • Wayne D. Baxter • Thomas J.<br />
Bayalis • Joel Michael Bayes • John Bayone • Thomas F. Bayone • Darrell P. Bazman • Julie Anne Bazman • Pinkney C. Beach • Mark R. Beadle • James E. Beadling • John L. Beall • Mark Richard Beall • Paul D. Beall • Jon A. Bealles • Vicki D. Bealman • David Glenn<br />
Beam • Michael K. Beam • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine E. Beard • Dennis H. Beard • Mark William Beard • Marnie Lynn Beard • Nathaniel D. Beard • Ralph J. Beard • Scott E. Beard • Jeffrey R. Beasley • Mary Melissa Beasley • Ronald G. Beasley • Charles Beaton • Mark Anthony<br />
Beaton • Russell C. Beatse • Charles F. Beattie • Thomas R. Beattie • Scott D. Beauchamp • Barbara A. Beauchat • John F. Beauchat • David G. Beauchesne • Bruce M. Beaulieu • Dennis M. Beaulieu • Ann Beauman • William E. Beaumont • Timothy J. Bechtler • Kenneth<br />
Robert Bechtold • Alex L. Beck • Bryan D. Beck • Charles N. Beck • David E. Beck • Douglas D. Beck • Jimmy C. Beck • Karen L. Beck • Michael L. Beck • Robert E. Beck • Robert K. Beck • William M. Beck • Alex H. Becker • Daniel Becker • James R. Becker • Mark<br />
E. Becker • Philip D. Becker • Robert H. Becker • Holly Beckley-Bailey • John N. Beckman • Patricia M. Beckman • Stephen E. Beckmann • Jerald N. Beckner • Donald W. Beckwith • John W. Becoat • David M. Becquet • Howard E. Bedee • James R. Bedient • Theresa<br />
J. Bedner • Theresa A. Bedwell • Lloyd B. Beebe • William B. Beebe • M. Faye Beedles • Michael Beeler • William B. Beeler • Sammy Beene • Robert G. Beer • James L. Beers • Kenneth Beers • Curtis R. Beery • Frank E. Beeton • Larry G. Beggs • Jeffrey Lynn<br />
Begley • Steven B. Begnaud • Andrew Behary • David S. Behney • Jeffrey W. Behrens • Lisa A. Behrens • Thomas R. Behrens • Kevin John Beine • Ana Maria Bejar • Brett C. Belak • Juliann E. Belanger • Marc Belhumeur • Andrew Bell • Clyde A. Bell • Cynthia E.<br />
Bell • Keith O. Bell • Keith W. Bell • Kevin L. Bell • R. Steve Bell • Rebecca G. Bell • Richard A. Bell • Robert L. Bell • Ronald W. Bell • Thomas R. Bell • Jean Darlene Bellamy • Robert J. Bellchambers • Gary W. Beller • Kenneth Bruce Bellesen • Joseph M.<br />
Bellino • Daniel Ross Bellows • Janet G. Bellush • Joseph H. Beltz • Guguie Benabe • Michael A. Bencal • Allen H. Bencker • Lyn Edward Bendall • David C. Bender • Brian L. Bendigo • Paul L. Bendigo • Paul David Benedetto • Janis L. Benell • Doug Benesch • Robert<br />
J. Benetti • Rita D. Benike • Scott Ryan Benish • Mark A. Benner • Charlie Bennett • Chris C. Bennett • David Alan Bennett • Jeffrey A. Bennett • Judy M. Bennett • Mark S. Bennett • Roger L. Bennett • Stephen D. Bennett • Teresa M. Bennett • Thomas J.<br />
Bennett • Craig A. Bennington • Robert J. Benoit • Victoria L. Bensburg • William F. Bensburg • Bruce Benson • Gregory John Benson • Michael A. Benson • Charles Bentley • Robert James Bentley • Carol A. Bento • Benny M. Benton • Richard P. Benton • Terrance<br />
L. Benton • Megan Bents • Chad M. Bentz • Daniel W. Bentz • Edward H. Bentzlin • Victoria L. Benzinger • Juanita Beran • Rebecca Anne Berberich • Gary M. Berblinger • James C. Berbrich • Mark J. Berdahl • Kimberlee Putnam Berens • Gunnar H. Berg • Jeff<br />
Berg • Leah J. Berg • Michael D. Berg • Michael Jon Berg • James W. Bergagna • Ken A. Berge • Mark S. Berger • Patrick Bergin • Thomas G. Bergin • Harry Bergmann • Jonathan H. Bergstrom • Clifford M. Beringer • Lisa C.M. Berkland • James G. Bermant • Antonio<br />
Bermudez • DonRoy A. Bernabe • Yolanda A. Bernal • Alfredo Bernard • Keith Anthony Bernard • Vince Bernard • Deanna L. Bernardino • Brian Bernhardt • Bruce R. Bernstein • Thomas Bernstein • David G. Berrang • Bobby S. Berry • Bryan T. Berry • Chris F.<br />
Berry • Jeffrey L. Berry • Joe Bailey Berry • Michael L. Berry • Mitchel A. Berry • Peter T. Berry • Ransome L. Berry • Robert S. Berry • Thomas Berry • Bret Bersuch • Bruce Bertelsen • Jeffrey T. Bertelsen • Daniel C. Bertrand • Cheryl Kay Berttunen • Dave<br />
Berveiler • Michael L. Besagno • James R. Best • Heidi R. Besters • Phillip E. Bettis • Michael Walter Betz • Thomas E. Beuerlein • Keith J. Beulen • Kerry Beus • Holly A. Bevan • Peter J. Bever • Brent L. BeVier • Stephanie P. Bevins • Audrey L. Beyer • Brian K.<br />
Beyer • Patricia A. Beyer • Robert E. Beyer • Garth C. Beyette • Kevin M. Bianchi • John F. Bica • August H. Bickel • Douglas B. Bickerstaff • John J. Bideganeta • Brian Keith Bidwell • Allen L. Bieber • Andrew Biegel • Stacey L. Bierfeldt • Steven G. Bierfeldt • Mark<br />
C. Bierhaalder • Vernon William Biesecker • Thomas P. Bieszad • Daniel P. Bigelow • Kathleen M. Bigelow • Molly B. Bigelow • Ralph J. Bigelow • Troy L. Bigelow • Francis B. Biggar • Geraldine Biggers • Jack H. Biggers • Michael H. Biggers • Rachael Biggs • Randall<br />
F. Biggs • Michael W. Bigler • Stephen B. Bilger • Michael G. Billinghurst • Jeff A. Billings • Thomas L. Billings • Kevin Billingsly • Scott M. Billups • Gary M. Bilonta • William S. Bing • Michael E. Bingham • Richard V. Bingham • Benjamin E. Biordi • Todd C. Birch • James<br />
A. Birchfield • Randy J. Birchler • Daniel E. Bird • Leslie Sheldon Bird • Lewis M. Bird • Mitchell R. Bird • Pamela S. Bird • Alan S. Birdsall • Janet S. Birkner • Timothy C. Birtcil • Mary J. Birtwistle • George W. Bishop • John K. Bishop • Mark R. Bishop • Reynold W.<br />
Bishop • Rodney C. Bishop • Scott R. Bishop • Ted D. Bishop • Willis A. Bishop • Chris Alan Bishopp • Glenn S. Bishop-Smith • Joseph R. Bisping • Denis Bisson • Kenneth A. Bitgood • Kyle F. Bitters • Charles A. Bittner • Jimmy Bitz • Mark O. Bjorg • M a r k
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Blaber • Vincent D. Blaber • Albert D. Black • Bernard A. Black • Danielle Starr Black • James M. Black • John C. Black • N. Keith Black • Rodney L. Black • Stephen D. Black • Thomas G. Black • Bernard L. Blackburn • Jeffrey Dean Blackburn • Michael E.<br />
Blackburn • Derek A. Blackford • Jeffrey D. Blackman • Bill A. Blackmer • Aaron Wade Blackmon • Guy S. Blackwell • Walter D. Blackwood • Kristianne K. Blaese • Robert J. Blahut • Scott D. Blain • Allan Blair • Bruce E. Blair • Chris Dean Blair • Doug Blair • Mark<br />
A. Blair • Randy H. Blair • Thomas M. Blair • Michael J. Blais • Bradford M. Blaisdell • Michael F. Blaisuis • Earl W. Blake • Michael I. Blake • Michael J. Blake • Robert A. Blake • Roger T. Blake • John W. Blakeney • Marc David Blam • Andrew S. Blanchard • Mark I.<br />
Blanchard • Peter D. Blanchard • William G. Blanchette • Rene Laurence Blanco • Charles C. Blankenship • Delayna Smith Blankenship • Hank G. Blankenship • Howard L. Blankenship • Steven A. Blankenship • Willis Blankenship • Darrell G. Blanton • Lawrence<br />
M. Blaser • George E. Blash • Jayne B. Blasier • Kurt R. Blasier • Nicky D. Blaylock • David L. Blessinger • Terrence R. Bleuins • Brent Blevins • James Blilie • Stephen E. Blinco • Charles L. Blink • Jeffrey E. Blittersdorf • Kevin Joseph Blixt • Chris J. Block • Maryrose<br />
Block • Suzanne Block-Bauman • Dewey Blocker • Roelof Blok • Jill R. Blomquist • Michael S. Blondin • Edward D. Bloom • John H. Bloomingdale • LaTaunya L. Bloomingdale • Keith P. Bloss • Jeffrey S. Blow • John M. Blue • Carl Bluethgen • David Bluhm • Amy<br />
M. Blume • Michael Blumling • Thomas B. Blunk • Carl L. Bly<strong>the</strong> • Douglas Bly<strong>the</strong> • Otto J. Boat • Michael E. Boatright • Thomas A. Boatwright • Cheryl Bobletz • Dominick Bocelli • Brian L. Bochenski • Irvin C. Bockhold • Richard E. Bocook • Rodney S.<br />
Bodart • Jeffrey Bodell • Mark E. Bodine • Robert W. Bodron • Brian Robert Boehne • Craig M. Boehne • Timothy T. Boelter • Brad K. Boese • Roy E. Boffo • Yvonne Bogardus • Michael J. Bogdan • Dean Bogdanowich • Eugene F. Bohl • Daniel F. Bohleber • James<br />
P. Bohleber • Mark R. Bohn • Todd K. Bohrer • Chris Bokowy • Thomas Boland • Gina A. Bolen • Joseph N. Bolen • Richard C. Boles • Kevin Daniel Bolhouse • Douglas Lee Bolkema • Brian L. Bollin • Tonya M. Bolling • Bobby Bolt • Daniel T. Bolt • Lisa M.<br />
Bonczyk • Brian C. Bond • George A. Bond • Howard W. Bond • James O. Bond • Ronald F. Bond • Susann S. Bond • Michele Marie Bonds • Scott W. Bondurant • Bradley W. Bone • Michael D. Bone • Patricia Ann Bonelli • James E. Bonham • Steven R.<br />
Boniberger • Anthony J. Bonic • Mat<strong>the</strong>w L. Bonidie • Edward S. Bonilla • Lance R. Bonin • Donna Bonner • Scott W. Bonnet • Jacqueline K. Bonney • David E. Bono • Steven Bono • Wendell W. Bonta • Mark Richard Bonvouloir • Eric A. Booe • Carol A.<br />
Boome • Deborah L. Boone • Mark A. Boone • Ronald R. Boos • Jack A. Boot • Jack Boot • Jeffrey P. Booth • Melissa G. Booth • Jack Allan Boothby • David J. Borcalli • Greg R. Borchardt • Louise M. Borchardt • Ted A. Borchelt • John C. Bordeaux • Nicholas P.<br />
Bordelon • Robert W. Bordner • Stephen K. Bordner • James W. Bordoni • Martin A. Borg • Michael L. Borga • David W. Borger • Kevin P. Borre • Louis Richard Borrego • Victoria Borrego • Michaab Borrero • Michael Borzym • Michael G. Bosch • Kevin C.<br />
Bosemer • Scott Bosemer • James R. Boshek • James D. Bosley • Kimberly Bostick • Joseph H. Boswell • Timothy N. Bosworth • Terri M. Botkins • Joanne V. Botos • David P. Bottiglia • David T. Bottini • Peter L. Bouchard • Rodney D. Bouchard • Frederick M.<br />
Boucher • Kevin M. Boucher • Scott B. Boucher • Sharon E. Bouchonville • William P. Boudewyns • Chris S. Boughn • Mark Andrew Boumenot • Lynn R. Bounds • Nancy A. Bourn • Jay R. Bourne • Donald J. Bouslaugh • Jeffery H. Bousson • Carrie Lee<br />
Boutivas • Russell F. Boutot • Brian J. Boutte • Christophe P. Boutte • Kerry E. Bowden • Edward J. Bowe • John R. Bowe • Delaine G. Bowen • Joel A. Bowen • Christopher J. Bowers • David William Bowers • Jack E. Bowers • Jay B. Bowers • Jerry O. Bowers • Larry<br />
W. Bowers • Stephen D. Bowers • William M. Bowers • Leo F. Bowersox • Evell D. Bowie • Larry M. Bowles • Chris Shay Bowling • Kimberly Ann Bowling • Bond R. Bowman • Daniel B. Bowman • Joseph E. Bowman • William Blaine Bowman • Erik V. Bowring • Richard<br />
M. Bowser • Douglas Clayton Boyce • Jeffrey J. Boyce • John E. Boyce • A’kin M. Boyd • Andrew F. Boyd • Brian P. Boyd • Bruce J. Boyd • Edward I. Boyd • James A. Boyd • John C. Boyd • Kevin W. Boyd • Richard A. Boyd • Ronald D. Boyd • Ramona C. Boyd-<br />
Brenholdt • Jason F. Boyde • Joanne R. Boyer • Michael Thomas Boyer • Steve R. Boyer • David B. Boyett • Jeff Boyett • Louise Marie Boyett • Conway L. Boyette • Derryl R. Boyette • Joel Vincent Boykin • Daniel P. Boyle • Duane A. Boyle • Joseph D. Boyle • Lynn<br />
D. Boyle • Mark Boyle • Mona J. Boyle • Ronald A. Boyle • Scott C. Boyle • Travis Boyle • Wanda C. Boyle • William R. Boyle • James G. Brabec • Donald C. Bracewell • Cyrus Bracey • Frank M. Bracken • Linda L. Bracken • Jimmy L. Brackery • Sydney P.<br />
Bradfield • Richard S. Bradfisch • Robert I. Bradford • Samuel M. Bradford • Terry Bradford • Bruce James Bradigan • Forrest H. Bradley • Halcott W. Bradley • John R. Bradley • Keith F. Bradley • Mat<strong>the</strong>w P. Bradley • Paquita K. Bradley • Phillip M. Bradley • Robert<br />
K. Bradley • Robin H. Bradley • Gary M. Bradt • Daniel D. Brady • Edward Charles Brady • Jason T. Brady • Wilbert G. Brady • Gary F. Braese • Randy Bragg • Jennifer S. Braid • Michael A. Braid • Frank E. Brakenwagen • Anthony V. Brama • Nora J. Braman • Mark<br />
G. Bramfeld • Erica L. Bramhall • Carol D. Branaman • James O. Branch • Torrance L. Branch • Ralph A. Branche • Sarah C. Brand • Michael D. Brandes • Kevin S. Brandon • Daniel L. Brandt • Lee A. Brandt • Peter L. Brandt • Randal Dean Branham • Tony A.<br />
Branham • Elliot H. Brann • William J. Brann • Thomas L. Brannon • Janelle L. Branower • Carrie J. Branowitzer • Stephanie Marion Branta • Carl E. Brantley • Dick J. Brantley • Daniel J. Brashear • David D. Brasko • Thomas J. Brassard • Glynn E. Braswell • Joseph<br />
Bratovich • Terry O. Braun • William Braun • David Braunius • Douglas R. Braunsroth • Cary R. Brawley • Ray M. Braxton • Charles T. Bray • John L. Bray • Lisa M. Bray • Lance L. Brazeale • Lesa Ann Brazeale • Christophe J. Brazys • James H. Breaker • Mark T.<br />
Bredehoft • Scott L. Breece • Kenneth Paul Breeden • Ken L. Breedlove • James D. Breen • Karen Breen • David W. Breidenbach • Robert S. Breidenbach • Joyce Breiner • Robert D. Breitweg • Randy P. Breland • Andrew B. Brennan • James A. Brennan • James W.<br />
Brennan • Jeffrey S. Brennan • Michael J. Brennan • Terence P. Brennan • Roger A. Brensinger • Richard M. Brent • David L. Bre<strong>the</strong>rick • John A. Brewer • Roger Keith Brewer • Laura K. Brewner • David Bricker • Harley S. Bridgeman • James Robert Bridgeman • Janet<br />
M. Bridges • David B. Bridson • Sven Bridstrup • Brian H. Bridwell • Russell Kent Brier • Peter Brierton • Douglas E. Briggs • Sally A. Briggs • Virginia A. Briggs • Ronald L. Bright • Kevin W. Brill • William L. Brill • Curtis K. Brilz • Randy Brindley • John T.<br />
Brine • Joshua S. Brinegar • Todd P. Brink • Richard M. Brinker • Jon A. Brint • William Brisbane • Steven M. Brisbey • Floyd Grant Brisco • Denzil K. Britt • Gary R. Brittain • Janice Beth Britton • Keith R. Britton • William D. Britton • William W. Broach • Ronald<br />
L. Broadbent • Robert D. Broadwater • William Rolland Broadwell • Terry A. Brockett • Roger M. Brode • Patricia A. Broderick • Timothy I. Broderick • Kenneth L. Brodston • Patrick K. Brogan • Philip P. Brogan • Gordon F. Broich • Barbara A. Broker • Harold F.<br />
Broker • Scott A. Bronger • Richard T. Bronleben • John Steven Brooke • Joseph Brooke • Harold L. Brooker • Vincent Scott Brookins • Alan Wade Brooks • Amy S. Brooks • Christine A. Brooks • David Weeks Brooks • Diana M. Brooks • Joanna Brooks • Patrick<br />
K. Brooks • Rayford H. Brooks • Robert E. Brooks • Robin H. Brooks • Ronald D. Brooks • Thomas C. Brooks • Ken Brookshire • Lester W. Broom • Michelle S. Broom • Charles R. Broome • Joseph T. Brophy • Pamela C. Brophy • George J. Broschart • Maria<br />
Broschart • David C. Bross • Jerry Bro<strong>the</strong>r • Thomas Broughall • David B. Broughton • Louis Brouillard • Julia Lee Broussard • James E. Brouwers • Lynn Elizabeth Brouwers • Stephen Browder • Alvin C. Brown • Andrew David Brown • Angela F. Brown • Barbara<br />
A. Brown • Blake R. Brown • Brenda L. Brown • Bruce E. Brown • Byron C. Brown • Calvin R. Brown • Chris W. Brown • Clement Brown • Cydney M. Brown • David G. Brown • David I. Brown • David L. Brown • David Brown • Dean Allan Brown • Dirk G.<br />
Brown • Donald L. Brown • Donald S. Brown • Edward J. Brown • Garry F. Brown • Gary L. Brown • Gene A. Brown • Herbert A. Brown • Herbert Brown • Inger T. Brown • Janice C. Brown • Jeff E. Brown • Jennifer L. Brown • Joel L. Brown • John G. Brown • John<br />
I. Brown • John R. Brown • Joseph E. Brown • Keith S. Brown • Kelly E. Brown • Kenneth Paul Brown • Kent D. Brown • Kevin Grant Brown • Mark A. Brown • Marla M. Brown • Marlow L. Brown • Maurice Brown • Michael G. Brown • Monte Cassidy Brown • Nancy<br />
S. Brown • Noble R. Brown • Noble R. Brown • Norman C. Brown • Patrick E. Brown • Patti L. Brown • Raymond Brown • Richard A. Brown • Richard A. Brown • Richard J. Brown • Richard Jay Brown • Robert O. Brown • Robert T. Brown • Robert Brown • Robert<br />
Brown • Roger Anthony Brown • Roger Douglas Brown • Scott D. Brown • Stephen A. Brown • Tammy S. Brown • Timmy L. Brown • Timothy Jay Brown • Troy A. Brown • Vanna T. Brown • William D. Brown • William K. Brown • Sandra L. Brown-Bisson • Francis<br />
L. Browne • Mark Browning • Micheal W. Browning • Mikel D. Browning • Robert V. Browning • Samuel Robert Browning • James R. Broz • Judith I. Bruce • Larry Ray Bruce • Kenneth S. Bruck • Diemut K. Brugonone • Robert F. Bruhn • Russell M. Bruinsma • Gary<br />
D. Brummett • Michael Brundage • Leroy C. Brune • William K. Brune • Craig J. Bruneault • Donald P. Brunner • Lisa K. Brunner • Glenn R. Bruno • Richard L. Bruno • Angelia R. Brunofsky • Eric C. Bruns • Susan M. Brunson • Ronald W. Brust • P e r r y<br />
Bryan • Alton M. Bryant • Ben Bryant • Gerald D. Bryant • Giovanni D. Bryant • James P. Bryant • Kurt C. Bryant • Donald C. Bryden • Robert J. Bryer • Chris J. Bryja • Pamela A. Brynarsky • Thomas D. Bryska • Elizabeth Bryson • Douglas F. Bubb • Jaideep H.<br />
Buch • Werner F. Buch • William T. Buchanan • Jack J. Buchholz • Laura Lee Buchkovich • Steve Buchkovich • Donald J. Buchner • William Buchwald • Danny Terrell Buck • Doug Buckingham • Linda M. Buckingham • Paul J. Buckingham • Daniel J. Bucklaew • Mary<br />
Buckle • Brian J. Buckley • Bryan Buckley • James E. Buckley • Jeffrey A. Buckley • Peter W. Buckley • Gary D. Buckowsky • Cory M. Buckway • Richard A. Buczyna • Paul R. Buday • Ross S. Budd • Nick Buderus • Pamela L. Buesing • Timothy E. Buffett • Vernon<br />
D. Buffington • Steven A. Buford • Paul L. Bugarin • Dana M. Bugbee • Jerilee E. Buggert • Lawrence L. Buggie • James E. Buhl • Hung Q. Bui • James Bui • Stanley W. Bujnowski • Gary A. Bukovskey • George W. Buley • Shelley Bulkley • Belinda S. Bullard • Stanley<br />
C. Bullard • Ann M. Buller • Allen Bullock • Kevin L. Bullock • Wayne A. Bullock • Steven G. Bullough • Thomas R. Bulzoni • Billy Arthur Bump • Daniel D. Bunce • Michael R. Bunch • Oswald S. Bunda • Brian B. Bunnell • Jennifer L. Buntjer • Darrel Keith<br />
Buntyn • William E. Bupp • Randy Alan Burack • Dennis C. Burch • Jerald W. Burch • Valerie J. Burch • Brent David Burcham • George M. Burd • William R. Burd • Delores C. Burden • J. Brad Burdette • John W. Burdine • Deron L. Burger • John Robert<br />
Burger • Carole A. Burgess • James K. Burgess • Mat<strong>the</strong>w R. Burgess • Ronald G. Burgess • Stacey Leigh Burgesser • Larry P. Burgett • Stacie Burik • Robert G. Burkart • Tracy Burkart • William Robert Burkart • Darryl J. Burke • Doug Burke • Jeffrey A.<br />
Burke • Joseph A. Burke • Kenneth L. Burke • Margaret Joy Burke • Mat<strong>the</strong>w A.W. Burke • Robert A. Burke • Robert K. Burke • Sharon Burkes • Jimmy D. Burkett • Benjamin N. Burkey • Jeffrey D. Burkhart • Margaret Anne Burkhart • Robert G. Burkhart • S. Scott<br />
Burks • Thomas A. Burks • James A. Burleigh • Starlet R. Burleson • Daniel G. Burnett • Elizabeth R. Burnett • Steven D. Burnett • Julie R. Burney • David Robert Burnier • Don B. Burns • Kent W. Burns • Michael L. Burns • Robert S. Burns • Rusty A. Burns • William<br />
K. Burns • Thomas C. Burr • Agnes C. Burrell • Margaret Burrell • Chris A. Burri • Leonard A. Burridge • Jeff Burrill • Lyle Jason Burrington • Charles M. Burroughs • David L. Burrows • Patrick Burrows • James N. Burrus • Allen Burt • Brian F. Burt • Robert<br />
Louis Burt • Bradley L. Burtner • Brad Burton • Danny D. Burton • David L. Burton • David Burton • Jill Terese Burton • Kenneth Burton • Richard M. Burton • Richard W. Burton • Tanja J. Burton • Thomas J. Burton • Meredith W. Burtt • Eric W.<br />
Burwell • Clifford L. Burwick • Michael L. Burye • Craig A. Burzych • Archie Ray Busbee • Russell S. Busbee • Mat<strong>the</strong>w R. Busch • Sonya Holland Busch • Kevin P. Buscio • Charlotte L. Bush • Edward W. Bush • Jason A. Bush • Jeremy D. Bush • Roan C. Bush • Steven<br />
A. Bush • Timothy A. Buso • Judith A. Busse • Rafael E. Bustamante • Sonia Bustamante • Albert E. Butler • Jeffery Dale Butler • Robert A. Butler • Lesley A. Butrymowicz • Robert Butterworth • Valerie N. Butterworth • Michael Butts • William G. Buvens • George<br />
Buxmann • Randall D. Buxton • Mark G. Buzenski • Byron R. Byars • Jeffrey L. Byberg • Theodore C. Bye • Lee T. Bynum • Rhonda Yvette Byran • Brian R. Byrd • Chris D. Byrd • James Chris Byrd • John G. Byrd • Joyce A. Byrd • Lorrania Byrd • Michael Warren<br />
Byrd • Richard B. Byrd • Sheila Byrd • John J. Byrne • Leona J. Byrne • Michael T. Byrne • Richard H. Byrne • Barrett R. Byrnes • Steven Byrnes • Edward B. Byron • Stephen V. Byrum • David L. By<strong>the</strong>way • Ruben Cabalbag • Cynthia E. Cabico • Karen C.<br />
Cabral • Arys Rene Cabrera • Roger L. Cadd • Gregory A. Cade • Latasha B. Cage • Louis J. Caggiano • Mark S. Cagle • Ronald L. Cagle • John P. Cahill • Lawrence D. Cahill • Kevin P. Cahoon • Donna R. Cain • James P. Cain • Kevin Cain • Martin R. Cain • Ralph V.<br />
Cain • Patrick N. Caine • Craig David Cairns • William A. Cairns • Decolino G. Cajigas • Keith Calabro • Jose E. Calderon • Pablo L. Calderon • Christine M. Caldwell • David B. Caldwell • Donald J. Caldwell • Frank M. Caldwell • John A. Caldwell • Michael J.<br />
Caldwell • Stewart D. Caldwell • Terrance Caldwell • William H. Caldwell • Chester A. Calhoun • Terry Calhoun • David Cali • Rick A. Cali • Thomas Cali • Julie D. Call • Gregory A. Callahan • Thomas F. Callahan • Joe Callegari • Roberta L. Calley • Paul J.<br />
Callinan • Kendal C. Callwood • Craig R. Calvert • Jose A. Camacho • Jeffrey D. Camara • Gregory J. Cameron • Jay R. Camp • John W. Camp • Bernard A. Campau • Gregg A. Campayno • Brian R. Campbell • Chandra Gray Campbell • Craig B. Campbell • Craig G.<br />
Campbell • Dani L. Campbell • Derrick N. Campbell • Donald S. Campbell • Edward Scott Campbell • Frederick Lee Campbell • Gregg E. Campbell • Hea<strong>the</strong>r Rochelle Campbell • John G. Campbell • Kevin M. Campbell • Oliver S. Campbell • Patrice Ellis<br />
Campbell • Rebecca Campbell • Russell W. Campbell • Walter R. Campbell • Yolanda Campbell • Dale A. Campo • Orlando Campomizzi • Brian A. Campos • Debra J. Campton • Michael S. Canaan • Robert P. Canali • Timothy R. Canan • Donald Candage • Antonio<br />
Canepa • Kevin Dale Canipe • Gary R. Cannady • Terry D. Canney • Bill G. Canning • Kimberlynn M. Cannioto • Michael Cannioto • Curtis W. Cannon • Deborah R. Cannon • Jeremie M. Cannon • Mark E. Cannon • Michael J. Cannon • Philip Cannon • Robert K.<br />
Cannon • Stephen B. Cannon • Timothy S. Cannon • Debra J. Canter • Timothy D. Canter • Rodolfo Cantu • Andrew J. Cantwell • Charles Cantwell • David Edward Cantwell • Edward M. Canyes • Nicholas A. Capaci • Sam A. Capangpangan • Enrique E.<br />
Capati • George P. Capitano • Norman E. Caple • David C. Capobianco • Denise A. Capobianco • Mark E. Caporale • Chris W. Capps • Jeanette C. Caproon • Kevin M. Caproon • Dominick P. Caputo • Francis J. Caputo • Neil M. Caputo • Robert Caradonna • Robert<br />
E. Card • Andrew D. Cardaras • Craig L. Cardell • Anthony M. Carder • John E. Carder • John T. Cardinal • Melanie J. Carender • John H. Carey • Molly Carey • Rodney E. Carey • Rebecca S. Carini • Michael A. Carioscia • Daniel E. Carlberg • John J. Carle • David<br />
I. Carley • Mat<strong>the</strong>w C. Carley • Sandi Carli • Daniel A. Carlins • David J. Carlisle • Steven D. Carlisle • Linda Gail Carlock • Clae Beau Carlson • Eli Carlson • Gregory D. Carlson • Keith E. Carlson • Timothy E. Carlson • Michael W. Carlton • Richard A.<br />
Carlton • Shirlene P. Carlton • Mat<strong>the</strong>w T. Carlyon • Daniel B. Carmack • Eugene F. Carman • Scott J. Carman • David L. Carmichael • Darrell W. Carnes • Tony Carnes • Edward W. Carney • Thomas M. Carnicom • Michael D. Carollo • Jeffery P. Carowan • Charles<br />
W. Carpenter • Ernest L. Carpenter • Gerald D. Carpenter • Jacqueline D. Carpenter • James E. Carpenter • Jeffrey M. Carpentier • George R. Carper • Timothy T. Carper • Daniel P. Carr • Donald R. Carr • Jennifer L. Carr • Jill D. Carr • John S. Carr • Laura M.<br />
Carr • Robert J. Carr • Roy Paul Carr • William B. Carr • David Carrasco • Daniel Carrico • Brian K. Carrier • Nancy P. Carrigan • Jesse Carriger • Edward Carrillo • Yvonne M. Carrillo • Jerry D. Carriveau • Oscar Carrizales • Bobby Lee Carroll • Frank B.<br />
Carroll • Jacqueline Mary Carroll • Jerald P. Carroll • Michael W. Carroll • Paul Carroll • Reba J. Carroll • Richard W. Carroll • Ronald Jay Carroll • John P. Carron • David W. Carru<strong>the</strong>rs • Scott R. Carru<strong>the</strong>rs • Darrell C. Carson • Howard G. Carson • Robert S.<br />
Carson • Rita L. Carstens • Dianne Lynn Carswell • Perry M. Carswell • Damon D. Carter • Daniel E. Carter • Eric Sean Carter • Gary D. Carter • James L. Carter • James R. Carter • John R. Carter • John W. Carter • Lenard L. Carter • Lisa Gail Carter • Norman<br />
Jefferson Carter • Patricia Wilson Carter • Richard C. Carter • Shawn L. Carter • Stephen P. Carter • Wesley H. Carter • William T. Carter • Paul G. Cartier • Theresa M. Cartier • Carl R. Cartwright • Anthony P. Carugno • Peter J. Caruso • Tony H. Caruso • John<br />
L. Carvajal • Brian A. Carver • Jeffery S. Carver • Keith Carver • Salvatore J. Casale • Steven Casarez • Albert John Casari • Paul A. Cascio • Douglas M. Case • Joseph L. Case • Pamela Lee Case • Kathleen A. Casey • Michael L. Casey • Oscar L. Casey • Richard J.<br />
Casey • Robert C. Casey • William Casey • Curtis R. Cash • Monica V. Cash • Richard A. Cash • Vickie S. Cash • Eliot J. Cashdan • Robert W. Cashdollar • John L. Cashin • Tracy Casil • Aileen Casillas • Barry D. Casper • David T. Casper • Kurt Casper • Dennis<br />
Cassalia • Joseph S. Cassara • John M. Cassarly • Robert D. Cassell • Cort D. Cassens • James F. Cassidy • Robert D. Cassidy • Ron Cassidy • Thomas M. Cassidy • Nanci Castellano • Timothy Casten • Albert Castillo • Jorge R. Castillo • Steven A. Castillo • Jon<br />
Mark Castle • Michael L. Casto • Luciano L. Castracane • James H. Castro • Jose T. Castro • Laurance A. Castro • Malinda Castro • Diane M. Cathcart • Caron L. Ca<strong>the</strong>rs • Wayne Owen Ca<strong>the</strong>y • Mark R. Catizone • William Clinton Catledge • Marvin C.<br />
Cato • Ralph D. Catoe • Chris J. Catoggio • Norman J. Cattanach • Romaine Catusi • Todd J. Cavanagh • John F. Cavanaugh • Mark G. Cavanaugh • Sandra K. Cavanaugh • Joel J. Cavazos • Lawrence B. Cavender • Racior R. Cavole • Dawn J. Cawrse • Joseph M.<br />
Cazalas • Paul J. Cazares • Jerry L. Cearley • Jon D. Cech • Craig Mat<strong>the</strong>w Cecil • John Lamont Cecil • Ronald Louis Cecil • Jerome James Ceithaml • Trisha L. Celano • David F. Celski • Gregory J. Cenac • Kurt Ceniglio • Gerard J. Censabella • Joseph S. The<br />
NATCA Family
The NATCA Family<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Cerami • Joseph J. Cerasuolo • Rosemary L. Cerasuolo • Thomas Cercone • Chris J. Cerda • James F. Cergl • George M. Cerillo • Roger M. Cerovsky • Maria H. Cerqueira • Franklin D. Ceruti • Ronald David Cetta • Jorge A. Chades • Ronald E. Chadman • Gary M.<br />
Chadwell • William M. Chadwick • Andrew M. Chalot • Todd J. Chaltry • Stephen P. Chamberlain • Mark John Chamberlin • Joseph T. Chambers • M. Steven Chambers • Michael G. Chambers • Michael L.P. Chambers • Robert W. Chambers • Stephen W.<br />
Chambers • Terrell Chambers • Daryl K. Chambless • Chris L. Chambliss • Henry H. Chambliss • Latifa Chamie • Douglas James Champagne • William G. Champion • Harry L. Champley • Wing T. Chan • Yiu Ming Chan • Michael S. Chance • Dale K. Chandler • Dan<br />
E. Chandler • David K. Chandler • Garry Chandler • Paula A. Chandler • Karen Chaney • Lon D. Chaney • David W. Chang • Sean S. Chaplain • Don Chapman • Kimberly A. Chapman • Ricky K. Chapman • Robert A Chapman • Trina H. Chapman • Troy L.<br />
Chapman • David A. Chapmon • Phillip T. Chappell • Ronald Arthur Chappell • David J. Chappuies • Paul Charapata • Terri L. Charapata • Cortez M. Charles • Wallace C. Charles • Kimberly J. Charlten • John B. Charlton • Michael J. Charmoli • Michael C.<br />
Charton • Nathan D. Chase • Patricia M. Chasse • Jody W. Chastine • Vicki S Chatel • Anita Renee Chatman • Tim P. Chatterley • Edward I. Chau • Shailendra Chaudhari • Scott James Chausee • Paul J. Chavez • Terry A. Chavez • Emilio A. Chaviano • Marc H.<br />
Cheadle • Douglas W. Chee • Michael Chen • William Chen • Annjenet Chennault • Joseph N. Cheravitch • Steven J. Chereson • Christopher Cherioli • Gary M. Chernega • James C. Cherrey • Robert E. Cherry • Theodore J. Cherry • Christine J. Chesak • Leslie<br />
J. Cheshire • Patrick Cheslak • Carl Chesley • Jeffrey W. Chester • Joseph F. Chester • Reggie L. Chester • Richard C. Chester • Sam B. Cheung • Alan Chew • Freddy Chez • Raymond K. Chiang • Robert Chibana • Gary L. Chicoine • Brian Kent Childers • Greg<br />
T. Childers • Ricky F. Childers • Roderick G. Childers • Jacqueline P. Childress • David E. Childs • Mark A. Chiles • David Chilson • William E. Chilson • James Chin • Jeffrey K. Chin • Sam Y. Chin • Chris A. Chiorando • Michael Vincent Chiovari • Michael<br />
Chirillo • Thomas W. Chitwood • Oiming Chiu • Philip D. Chlentzos • Pamela M. Choi • Glenn Chong • Michele M. Chong • Sunny M. Chong • Nick Choporis • Stephen Girard Chorba • Erich John Chouinard • Jamie L. Chouinard • Paul E. Chouinard • Lucy L.<br />
Chow • Keith M.J. Choy • Douglas S. Chrisman • Daniel James Christensen • Eric Christensen • Kenneth D. Christensen • Kenneth Joel Christensen • Mark A. Christensen • Raymond Christensen • Rodney O. Christensen • Susan L. Christensen • Timothy A.<br />
Christensen • Scott D. Christenson • Stuart D. Christenson • Kenneth H. Christgen • Ralph B. Christian • Ralph H. Christian • Carrie R. Christiansen • Peter A. Christianson • Thor E. Christianson • Thomas D. Christie • Deborah L. Christin • Leann R.<br />
Christman • David E. Christmas • Stephen A. Christon • Mark J. Christophel • Chester G. Christopher • George J. Christopher • Paul F. Chrobak • Andrea D. Chrouser • David Chrzanowski • Frank Peter Chuberko • Timothy P. Chun • Phillip Chung • Tracy T.<br />
Chung • Jeffrey Joseph Church • Joel I. Church • Jeffrey A. Churchill • Joseph Ciappa • Leonard P. Ciarnelli • Farol Cilluffo • Kevin M. Cimarusti • Robert Cimino • Darrell J. Cindrich • Richard M. Cinotto • Mark A. Cinquegrana • Albert A. Cipicchio • John<br />
Cirrincione • Jacqueline M. Cissna • John M. Citrola • Chris B. Clack • Dennis E. Clack • Alan W. Clark • Bruce W. Clark • Christina N. Clark • Cynthia L. Clark • Dean C. Clark • Elaine Elise Clark • Jack G. Clark • James R. Clark • Jeffry S. Clark • John A. Clark • Jon<br />
Milton Clark • Kenneth A. Clark • Kenton B. Clark • Lee K. Clark • Lorri E. Clark • Michael D. Clark • Michael L. Clark • Pamla A. Clark • Patrick L. Clark • Patrick W. Clark • Randy L. Clark • Robert E. Clark • Rodney Clark • Ronald B. Clark • Scott F.<br />
Clark • Stephen T. Clark • William A. Clark • William B. Clark • William C. Clark • James S. Clarke • Jerry D. Clarke • Kimberly C. Clarke • Louis W. Clarke • Robert Clarke • Shawn L. Clarke • Warren B. Clarke • James M. Clarkson • James S. Clarry • Michael A.<br />
Clary • James V. Claseman • Raymond N. Claus • William P. Claus • Jonathan N. Clausen • Douglas L. Clausnitzer • Eric M. Clawson • Eric Clawson • Richard Clay • Laurence J. Clayton • Mark Clayton • Scott R. Clayton • Rhett A. Claytor • Gary W. Cleary • James<br />
R. Cleary • Kevin J. Cleary • Charles T. Clemens • Timothy Louis Clemens • Brian Keith Clement • John Clement • William Clement • George M. Clements • Paul J. Clements • Sean M. Clements • Travis Edwin Clementsmith • Charles E. Clemons • Christophe R.<br />
Clemons • Tammy J. Clemons • Alan Clendenin • Howard J. Cleveland • Larry K. Cleveland • Susan Cleveland • Wayne Cleveland • William Wayne Cleveland • Dianna Cliatt • Dale E. Click • Nancy L. Click • Ka<strong>the</strong>rine L. Clifton • Michael D. Clifton • Scot V.<br />
Cline • Lyle Alden Clingman • David M. Clinkscale • Howard A. Clodfelter • Troy A. Clogston • Steven L. Cloose • Bruce E. Clough • James E. Clough • Marsha L. Clough • Jack P. Cloughley • Kimberly R. Cloutier • Robert B. Clowney • Jose A. Clue • Christian N.<br />
Cluff • Brenda L. Clyde • Joe W. Clyde • Donald L. Coard • Richard B. Coate • Donald C. Coats • Michael S. Coats • Theron K. Coats • William G. Cobb • Santiago L. Cobos • Jerry W. Cochran • Mark E. Cochran • Keith A. Coddington • Paul A. Codispoti • Douglas<br />
A. Coe • Joseph D. Coelho • Jeffrey A. Coffey • Kathleen Ann Coffey • Gary L. Coffman • Jerry W. Coffman • Norma J. Coffman • Laura Kimberly Coggin • Adam F. Cohen • Jack A. Cohen • Pedro Cohen • Hildred Cohill • Bret A. Coil • Anthony W. Coiro • John W.<br />
Coker • Joseph R. Colagreco • Vincent R. Colaianni • Thomas J. Colarossi • David W. Colasanto • Joseph Colasanto • Carol E. Colbenson • Gregory M. Colclasure • Lisa M. Colclasure • Alan R. Cole • Donna Ann Cole • Ellen S. Cole • Eric R. Cole • Eric Cole • Isabel<br />
A. Cole • Jay Cole • Jeffrey D. Cole • Joel P. Cole • Kelly A. Cole • Kenneth E. Cole • Martin W. Cole • Richard G. Cole • Richard Garcia Cole • Robert A. Cole • Robert B. Cole • Shannadee Cole • Susan M. Cole • Terry L. Cole • Willie G. Cole • James E.<br />
Colella • Scott A. Colella • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine M. Coleman • Cynthia M Coleman • Debra S. Coleman • Loyle L. Coleman • Raoul T. Coleman • Robert Scott Coleman • Steven R. Coleman • Thomas M. Coleman • Todd A. Coleman • Jeffrey R. Coley • Richard W. Coley • Steven<br />
L. Colfer • Thomas R. Colgan • Anthony M. Collazo • Michael A. Colle • Jason P. Collette • Jeanne L. Collette • William H. Collette • Donald L. Colley • Paul E. Colley • Ricky W. Colley • Robert E. Colley • Bryan W. Collier • Curtis C. Collier • Daniel J. Collier • Joe<br />
M. Collier • Callen R. Collins • David W. Collins • G. Michael Collins • Gregory T. Collins • Herbert F. Collins • James A. Collins • Mark R. Collins • Mark Collins • Marlena M. Collins • Marsha Ann Collins • Nicholas F. Collins • Pamela Collins • Robert J.<br />
Collins • Ronald R. Collins • Russell B. Collins • William R. Collins • Steven E. Collison • Robert G. Colman • Eligio R. Colon • Luis R. Colon • Marco A. Colon • James D. Colson • Michael Colson • Daniel Stephen Columbus • Gregory W. Colyer • Lisa Coleen<br />
Colyer • Bonny Combs • Dina M. Comeau • John A. Comeau • Brent M. Comeaux • Mark A. Comer • Deborah A. Compel • Angela Compton • Richard K. Compton • William R. Compton • Patrick R. Comte • Charles R. Conant • Mark T. Conaway • Albert<br />
Concha • Scott Chapin Conde • Joseph Fred Condina • Barry L. Condon • Francis T. Condon • Charles Michael Conely • John Conklin • Mark C. Conklin • Ann M. Conley • Mark W. Conley • Mark Conley • Mitchell A. Conley • Richard E. Conley • Susan J.<br />
Conley • Robert F. Connell • Michael J. Connelly • Vincent J. Connelly • Barry D. Conner • Donald P. Conner • Jenny M. Conner • Michael James Conner • Michael T. Conner • Sheila R. Conner • Steven P. Conner • David C. Connett • Brendan J. Connolly • John E.<br />
Connolly • Joseph A. Connolly • Karen M. Connolly • Ronald J. Connolly • Donald Connor • John F. Connors • Eric J. Conrad • Constance J. Conroy • Daniel J. Conroy • John M. Conroy • Barry Eugene Constant • Richard T. Contatore • Thomas J. Conte • Michael<br />
C. Conti • Robert S. Convery • Bruce L. Conze • Beverly A. Cook • Clark G. Cook • Cnthia A. Cook • David W. Cook • Diane Cook • Fulton Cook • Jack E. Cook • Jody D. Cook • John G. Cook • Jonathan Dale Cook • Julian Cook • Kenneth R. Cook • Richard<br />
G. Cook • Ricky A. Cook • Robert S. Cook • Rodney L. Cook • Teresa Y. Cook • William Paul Cook • Mark C. Cooke • Robert R. Cooke • Steven G. Cooke • David A. Cookfair • Jeffrey S. Cooksey • Mark J. Cool • Kimberly Ann Cooley • Michael W. Cooley • Paul A.<br />
Cooley • Sidney W. Cooley • William M. Cooley • Thomas Coolidge • Andrea Lynn Coombs • James Gerald Coon • Mark E. Coon • Joseph Coonce • Gerard L. Cooney • Jay Cooney • Angela Grass Cooper • Clifford J. Cooper • Gloriane M. Cooper • James R.<br />
Cooper • Joseph Bruce Cooper • Lorraine P. Cooper • M. Karen Cooper • Robert N. Cooper • Russell G. Cooper • Sharon S. Cooper • William J.K. Cooper • Kyle Cooperson • Pamela M. Coopwood • Gary A. Coots • Darlene A. Copeland • Marty V.<br />
Copeland • Darrell R. Coplen • B. Dwayne Copley • Michael K. Copp • Michael Coppa • Jeffrey Copping • Dawn Marie Coppock • Joseph Coppola • Richard A. Coppola • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Corak • Stephen M. Corbett • William B. Corbett • Frederick N. Corbin • Angel M.<br />
Corchado • Pedro J. Corcino • Frank Corcoran • Grover E. Corcoran • Patrick Corcoran • Sean M. Corcoran • Stephen J. Corcoran • Kathleen V. Cordaro • Pamela S. Cordell • Joe Corder • Miguel Cordero • Steven F. Cords • Jim L. Corey • Ken K.<br />
Corippo • Victoria E. Corman • John J. Cormier • Todd D. Cormier • James A. Cornbrooks • Richard A. Cornejo • Charles D. Cornelius • Erwin D. Cornelius • Thor B. Cornell • Charles A. Cornett • Eddie R. Cornett • Johnny W. Cornett • Scott Cornett • Walter<br />
Cornett • Douglas R. Cornman • Thomas F. Coronite • Javier Correa • Kevin S. Corson • Lonnie M. Cortese • Deborah A. Cortina • Enri J. Cortina • Joseph Cortina • Victor P. Cortner • John C. Cosgrove • Gordon D. Cosier • Dale J. Cossette • Brian E.<br />
Costa • Michael J. Costanzi • David M. Coste • Jesse L. Costeino • Brian Costello • John Charles Costion • Darrin V. Costlow • Dana J. Cothran • Rick G. Cotrell • Charles A. Cotten • Timothy L. Cotter • David M. Cottingham • Anthony Cottrell • Richard T.<br />
Cottrell • Melody G. Coughenour • Joseph C. Coughlin • Michael R. Coulter • James B. Countess • Todd D. Couper • Darlene Kay Courier • Mark S. Courier • James Courtade • James G. Courtney • Kelvin L. Courtney • Phillip Curtis Cousins • Antonio<br />
Couto • David C. Coutts • Steven M. Couturier • Teddi-Jann Covell • John M. Covino • Stephen J. Covino • Charles Cowan • Jerry A. Cowart • William G. Cowles • John T. Cowne • Brian H. Cox • David Paul Cox • Gregory C. Cox • James B. Cox • James D.<br />
Cox • James J. Cox • Jeffrey Thomas Cox • Jim L. Cox • Mat<strong>the</strong>w G. Cox • Paul S. Cox • Richard S. Cox • Robert A. Cox • Tommy H. Cox • William Paul Cox • Barbara J. Coy • James D. Coy • Thomas W. Coy • Michael J. Coyle • David L. Coyne • John B.<br />
Cozart • John M. Crabtree • Tim L. Crady • Terry L. Craft • Carl D. Craig • Dana L. Craig • Donald R. Craig • Lisa Craig • Michael T. Craighead • Rafael Crame • Daniel L. Cramer • Kevin J. Cramer • Andrew T. Crampton • Kimberly Ann Crandall • Curtis Andrew<br />
Crane • Dara G. Crane • James Derek Crane • Kevin K. Crane • Steven R. Crane • Thomas R. Craner • Spencer R. Cranford • Victor Crant • Davud G. Craven • Ned R. Craver • Andrea Lynne Crawford • Craig A. Crawford • Gregory E. Crawford • Jana K.<br />
Crawford • Jeffrey C. Crawford • John A. Crawford • John K. Crawford • Michael R. Crawford • Robert M. Crawford • William O. Crawford • Aaron Crawley • James E. Crawley • John Craycraft • Michael S. Creager • Patrick M. Crean • Daniel F. Creedon • Brian<br />
G. Creelman • Richard S. Creese • Paul W. Creighton • Alan D. Cress • Larry G. Cribbs • Timothy L. Cripe • Samuel D. Crisp • Dwaine D. Criss • Claire Crist • Matt R. Crist • Tom Roy Crist • Keith M. Criswell • Leigh A. Criswell • William J. Critchfield • Randall<br />
Crnobrnja • Sally Ann Crocker • Thomas R. Crockett • Jennifer R. Croft • Louis F. Cronan • Timothy L. Crone • Albert A. Cronin • Robert F. Cronin • Terrance F. Cronin • Rick Crook • Robert Lee Crook • Mark R. Crooks • Paula S. Crooks • John W. Cropsey • Rick<br />
L. Crose • Autumn Cross • Darren W. Cross • David Cross • Todd Jeffrey Cross • Leonard M. Croteau • George E. Crotts • Paul B. Crotty • Jonathan W. Crouch • Linda M. Crouch • Jack L. Crouse • Tina L. Crouse • Anthony S. Crow • Brian M. Crow • Norman<br />
Harlan Crowder • Sarah Crowder • Timothy H. Crowder • Lloyd G. Crowl • John A. Crowley • Patricia E. Crowley • Timothy A. Crowley • William Dean Crowson • James M. Cruikshank • David R. Crump • Terry W. Crump • Catina Cruz • Wilfredo Cruz • Mark<br />
S. Cucura • Robert K. Cuddy • Steven J. Cudney • Brian S. Cugno • Sean T. Culbert • Chris Paul Culbertson • Wendell Terry Culbreth • Susan L. Culhane • Brian Steven Cull • Amy Lynn Cullen • Steven L. Cullen • Betty L. Cullins • Deborah M. Culver • Regina J.<br />
Culver • David A. Cumberland • Brian P. Cummings • Evongelon Cummings • Glen T. Cummings • Melissa A. Cummings • Michael J. Cummings • Richard Cummings • Wayne R. Cummings • Brian E. Cummins • Leonard M. Cummins • Patrick E. Cummins • James D.<br />
Cumpton • Craig A. Cunningham • Daniel A. Cunningham • Deborah S. Cunningham • James Scott Cunningham • Paul J. Cunningham • Randy J. Cunningham • Steve C. Cunningham • Tonya N. Cunningham • Lloyd A. Cupiccia • Judy A. Cupp • Pamela Curington • James<br />
C. Curl • Robert D. Curlin • William S. Curnias • Dale W. Curran • Edward F. Curran • Michelle A. Curran • Steve Curran • Charles Bradley Currier • David W. Curry • David W. Curry • William C. Curry • Donald R. Curtis • Shad G. Curtis • Marie L. Cusenza • J o h n<br />
Cushman • David J. Cushwa • Jane E. Cuthbertson • Kevin K. Cuthbertson • William Edward Cutts • James H. Cutuli • Scott Cuyler • Philip S. Czervinske • Michael J. Czub • Jeffrey S. Czysz • Chris G. DaCosta • Robert T. D’Addario • James R. D’Agati • Daniel J.<br />
D’Agostino • Bruce L. Dahl • Douglas Dahl • Kristi Lynn Dahl • Chris James Dailey • Randall L. Dailey • David A. Dakins • Michael Daknis • Timothy William Dalbey • Elizabeth L. Dale • Russell E. Dale • Steven L. Dale • Terry M. Dale • Wesley L. Dale • William D.<br />
Dale • Steven D. Dallanegra • Elliot R. Dallavalle • Diosdado D. Dalmacio • Michael G. Dalmaso • William Anthony D’Alo • David P. Dalsanders • Martin J. Daly • Darlene M. Damico • Fred Damico • Julie F. Damico • Sheldon Scott Damron • Kenneth Ray<br />
Dancy • Chad E. Daniel • David W. Daniel • Diana L. Daniel • Robert Glenn Daniel • Terry W. Daniel • Willie J. Daniel • Douglas R. Daniels • Glen F. Daniels • Kinneth Monroe Daniels • L. Daryl Daniels • Troy E. Daniels • Edward A. Daniocek • Jonathan J.<br />
Danko • Daniel A. Danyluk • Camille Danzi • Philip H. Darche • Lawrence W. Darling • Michael E. Darling • Clarice Spencer Darnell • Clayton R. Darr • James Clinton Darr • Dan Daudier • James P. Dauer • William E. Daughtrey • David C. Daum • Gregory A.<br />
Davenport • William Lloyd Davenport • Marilyn K. Davey • Michael J. Davey • Robert A. Davey • Chris B. David • Donny P. David • Monte J. David • Carl W. Davidson • James M. Davidson • John A. Davidson • Ronny D. Davidson • Stephen J. Davidson • Paul<br />
Davied • John Davies • Karen Davies • Carol E. Davila • Kim S. Davila • Allan P. Davis • Andreese Davis • Brian E. Davis • Bruce W. Davis • Cary D. Davis • Charles C. Davis • Clarence Davis • Comodore Davis • Dale T. Davis • Darrell L. Davis • David A.<br />
Davis • Dean E. Davis • Deborah Davis • Douglas W. Davis • Edward F. Davis • Gail Davis • Gary Lee Davis • Harold E. Davis • James Duane Davis • Jeffrey L. Davis • Jennifer Davis • Jerry L. Davis • Joan Davis • Jody L. Davis • John Earl Davis • John P.<br />
Davis • Kathleen A. Davis • Kathleen Marie Davis • Kent B. Davis • Kevin E. Davis • Laurie J. Davis • Lenore D. Davis • Marie Burnette Davis • Melvin Davis • Michael D. Davis • Michael Wade Davis • Michael Davis • Michelle L. Davis • Michelle M. Davis • Perry<br />
Davis • Richard F. Davis • Rick L. Davis • Roberstine H. Davis • Robert A. Davis • Ronald L. Davis • Russell D. Davis • Scott A. Davis • Sean Eric Davis • Seth Davis • Sherri M. Davis • Steven H. Davis • Timothy H. Davis • Todd Owen Davis • Trent D. Davis • Walter<br />
Davis • Donald M. Davison • Gerry S. Davison • Joseph A. Davoust • Darrel K. Dawson • Gary A. Dawson • Michael Eugene Dawson • Richard E. Dawson • Sabrina Y. Dawson • Samuel K. Dawson • Andrea Bolding Day • April L. Day • Craig E. Day • Darren J.<br />
Day • James R. Day • Kathleen Day • Michael J. Day • Stephen R. Day • William Martin Day • James M. Daye • Carol Ann Dayton • Robert G. Dazey • Nancy Eva DeLaCruz • Jay R. DeLosSantos • Monica Lynn DeRojas • Edward G. Deacon • William J. Deacy • Gregory<br />
W. Deagon • David E. Dean • Edward S. Dean • Fred Dean • Joseph R. Dean • W. Clifford Dean • William M. Dean • Willie Richard Dean • Richard E. Deaner • James Whittmann Dear • Terry Deatrick • James C. Deaver • Mark L. DeBack • Dennis DeBello • Kevin<br />
N. DeBenedittis • Randall D. Debnam • Keven K. DeBoard • William Earl DeBolt • Deidra D. DeBorde • Joseph L. DeBrohun • Robert E. DeBrule • David K. DeBusk • Ann Darcy DeCastro • Jesse DeCastro • Kenneth M. Dech • Dennis H. Decker • Dexter<br />
Decker • Donald D. Decker • Robert Guy Decker • Stephani A. Decker • Troy S. Decker • Tim C. Deckert • Eric R. Deckman • Ronald W. DeCost • John A. DeCuir • James L. DeDauw • Hector Emilio DeDominicis • Howard M. Dedow • Susan R. Deegan • Terrell<br />
E. Deering • Brian Dees • Kent L. Dees • Pamela Anne Dees • Robert N. Deese • Scott D. Deeter • Daniel H. Defenderfer • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine A. Defilippo/Perry • Heidi DeFor • Herbert M. Degan • Mark P. Degani • Kevin B. DeGarmo • Ralph J. DeGennaro • Robert<br />
DeGennaro • Dennis E. DeGraw • Randall Bret DeHaan • David J. DeHart • William G. Dehler • Jerold R. Dehmer • Robert G. Dehning • Gregg E. Deiboldt • James D. Deignan • Philip O. Deitsch • Nicole Lee DeKlyen • Theodore Louis DelNegri • Edgar<br />
DelValle • Leonel Delamo • Gerald Michael DeLane • Harold L. Delaney • Kevin Timothy Delaney • Elizabeth J. Delano • Steven DeLaurentis • Everett Paul Delay • John A. Delay • Michael F. DelBalzo • Carrie S. DeLeon • Dennis T. DeLeonardis • Leroy<br />
Deleston • Paul M. Delfine • Cherie Delgado • Dwight D. Delgado • Martha M. Delgado • Thomas S. Delgado • Thaddeus Glen DeLille • Gary M. Delise • James E. Delisio • Lawrence R. Delisle • Robert A. DeLisle • Edward John Delius • Brian DellaPorta • David C.<br />
DellaPorte • Darryl Dellarossa • Thomas DellaVecchia • Gerard M. Dellemann • Robert A. Dellicarpini • Lisa A. Dellinger • Chris M. Delnegro • Patrick A. Delozier • David Delshad • Stephen R. Delude • Henry J. DeLugt • Jeb J. Delzer • Kimberly A.<br />
DeMarco • Nicholas J. DeMarco • John C. Demaree • Marcia A. DeMatteo • Marlene M. DeMatteo • Raymond C. DeMatteo • Michael John Demboski • Darryl A. Dembski • Daniel DeMers • Dennis R. DeMers • Lafayette M. Demory • Bruce W. DeMotts • Derrick L.<br />
Dempsey • James Donald Deneweth • Benjamin J. Dengler • Corey M. Denham • Michael R. Denison • Thomas Michael Denison • Larry M. Denmark • Lilliana E. Denneson • Glen R. Denning • Rashell D. Denning • Berlon E. Dennis • Paul K. Dennis • Steve J.
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Dennis • Steven M. Dennis • Jonathan W. Denny • Wiley D. Denson • Chandra Sargent Denton • David M. Denton • Jay L. Denton • Kathleen Joan Denton • Richard A. Denton • Alan E. Denzer • Sushil Deodhar • John A. DePasquale • Anthony J. DePietto • Thomas<br />
W. Deppmeyer • Vaughn P. DeRamus • Brian K. Deren • Stacie A. Derepentigny • Timothy R. Derepentigny • Camille J. DeRosa • Joseph R. DeRosa • Brent S. Derrick • David T. Derrickson • Larry Vincent Derrickson • James S. DeRuby • Jerry DeSantis • Richard C.<br />
DeSantis • Brent Descalopoulis • Guy K. DeShazo • Mike DeSimone • Raymond E. Deskins • Edward J. Desmond • Raymond Desmond • Norman A. Desnoyer • Craig M. DeSpain • Bruce T. Despommier • Russell A. Desrocher • Walter K. DeTeresa • Edwin L.<br />
De<strong>the</strong>rage • Brian V. Dethier • Robert Anthony DeThomas • Chalmer E. Detling • Gary Dettloff • William E. Dettwiller • John C. Deutscher • Michael W. Devenport • Kevin J. Devery • Robert Michael Devery • John A. Devine • William T. Devine • Della M.<br />
DevineMonagle • Sandra Joan Devito • Richard J. Devivo • Michael Ray DeVor • Stacy L. DeVorak • Frank DeVries • Edward L. Dewar • Michael O. Deweese • Louis P. Dewenter • William Edward Dewey • Kenneth Lewis DeWitt • Marlene DeWitt • Richard<br />
DeWitt • Sheila R. DeWitt • Paul Richard DeWitte • Terry Lee DeWitte • Bruce A. Dexter • Scott M. DiPiazza • Woody Dias • Edgar Diaz • Jose L. Diaz • Luis Diaz • Paul DiBenedetto • Salvatore DiBetta • Lorna S. Dibkey • Donald E. Dice • Michael R.<br />
Dickason • Ralph A. Dickerman • Simon Gordon Dickerson • Veronique Dickerson • Nicole E. Dickey • Steven S. Dickey • Jason Dickhans • Charles E. Dickinson • Peter J. Dickinson • Ross L. Dickinson • Troy Diedrich • Lawrence A. Diehl • Kurt L. Diemler • Gary<br />
W. Dienhart • Janet L. Dierdorf • Michael A. Dietrich • John R. Dietz • Thomas A. DiFilippo • Stephen M. Dignam • Yolanda Dijkstra • Frank Diliberto • Michael C. DiLisio • Carl Danny Dill • Mark A. Dill • Robert L. Dill • Curtis L. Dillahay • Marilyn Q.<br />
Dillard • Nina Dillard • Keith K.A. Dilliner • Carol Noelle Dillon • James Peter Dillon • Jeffrey S. Dillon • Mark J. Dillon • Mark Dillon • Michael D. Dillon • Michael J. Dillon • William C. Dillon • Joseph B. Dimas • Nunzio A. Dimillo • Wayne E. Dimmic • Daniel P.<br />
DiMura • Michael F. Dinard • Bryan M. Dinello • Emad Dinkha • Mark A. DiPalmo • Tomaso DiPaolo • John F. DiPetta • Giovanni DiPierro • James W. Dippel • Lisa M. Dippel • Andrew P. Diragi • Peter Dirks • Kevin A. Dirrim • Kenneth P. Discoli • Charles M.<br />
Diseker • Frank Rhyan Disher • Tameria J. Dishman • John R. Disney • Ronald W. Disney • Scott Dittamo • Thomas D. Dittmer • Richard Ditto • King A. Divers • Charlie W. Dixon • Chauncey Owen Dixon • Christopher Mark Dixon • Frank O. Dixon • George<br />
Dixon • Harriet A. Dixon • Lawrence N. Dixon • Maurice V. Dixon • Robert J. Dixon • William R. Dixon • Bill Q. Do • Quy T. Do • Trinh Do • Richard A. Doak • Craig A. Doan • Daryl E. Dobbins • Larry D. Dobbins • Mark D. Dobbs • Michael A. Dobens • Christopher<br />
R. Dobinson • Lydia L. Dobis • Michael R. Dobso • Richard S. Dobso • Steven John Docalavich • Eric Lee Dodd • Richard H. Dodd • Jeffrey James Doden • Brent D. Dodge • Danny Dodge • Dennis J. Dodge • Richard Dodge • Stanley R. Dodge • Debra L.<br />
Dodson • Blane S. Doege • Jeffrey Alden Doege • Daniel Eric Doerr • Mike Doerr • Thomas G. Doerr • Adam C. Doescher • Robert W. Dofflemyer • Perry J. Doggrell • Robert L. Dogherty • Daniel N. Doherty • Lonnie N. Doherty • David J. Dohlman • Daniel B.<br />
Dohner • Richard J. Dolan • Andrew G. Dole • Edward J. Dolen • Paul Dolezal • James W. Dolphin • LeeAnne P. Domben • Wayne S. Dombroski • James C. Dombrowski • Mark J. Dombrowski • David C. Dominguez • James D. Dominguez • Todd A. Domini • Tracie<br />
L. Dominy • Scott A. Dommin • Dennis L. Donahue • Michael Donahue • Donald S. Donaldson • Edward B. Donaldson • George L. Donbrosky • Gene C. Dong • Dennis M. Donlon • Brian K. Donnelly • Kevin J. Donnelly • Maureen M. Donnelly • Michael G.<br />
Donnelly • Philip C. Donnelly • Regina R. Donnelly • John Donohue • William A. Donohue • Bryan E. Donovan • Daniel Joseph Donovan • Eugene L. Donovan • Gerard J. Donovan • Paul L. Donovan • Richard E. Donovan • Roger R. Dooley • Vincent B. Doran • John<br />
Daniel Dorgan • Richard M. Doring • Frank E. Dorman • Randall Reed Dorman • Steven Thomas Dorman • Robert C. Dornhagen • Joseph G. Dorr • James I. Dorrance • D. James Doskow • Terry J. Doss • William M. Doss • James E. Dossing • Phillip M.<br />
Dostalik • Michael E. Dostert • Bobby J. Dotson • Joseph H. Dotterer • Robert A. Dotts • Chadwick D. Doty • William Brad Dotzel • James A. Doucet • Richard Doucette • Vincent E. Doud • John M. Dougherty • John Thomas Dougherty • Kenneth Dale<br />
Dougherty • Charles F. Doughty • Lee A. Doughty • Robert D. Doughty • Howard J. Douglas • Marvin S. Douglas • Robert E. Douglas • Jeffrey Alan Douglass • Joseph Michael Doumont • Dennis C. Dover • Brian J. Dowd • David D. Dowd • Kelley J. Dowd • Michael<br />
Dowd • Charles K. Dowell • Evanna A. Dowis • Kathleen Ann Dowling • Kevin Dowling • Ronald N. Downen • Deborah R. Downer • Richard A. Downer • Jack L. Downie • Donald W. Downing • Steven L. Downing • Brian Eric Downs • O. Ear<strong>the</strong>rline Downs • Kenneth<br />
W. Doxey • Vera M. Doy • Donna M. Doyen • Philip E. Doyen • Gene L. Doyle • James T. Doyle • Kevin E. Doyle • Thomas J. Doyle • William M. Doyle • Paul A. Dozois • Roland E. Drabek • Teresa L. Dragonetti • Walter Dragonetti • Karen L. Dragotta • Craig C.<br />
Drake • David M. Drake • Lorna Drake • Terry W. Drake • David E. Drashil • Kathleen M. Draughon • Michael K. Dray • Thomas J. Dray • Michael P. Dreger • Michael W. Drennan • Don W. Drennen • Knute R. Dresden • Keith L. Dresow • Robert Dressler • Jerome<br />
C. Drew • Mark S. Drew • Barbara Jean Drewry • James O. Driggers • Stephen Driggers • Margie Drilling • Mat<strong>the</strong>w R. Drinen • Robert D. Drinkall • Brent Driscoll • Charles F. Driscoll • Sean J. Driscoll • Johnnie K. Driver • Thomas Frank Drop • Randolph William<br />
Drose • Brian Drouillard • Dominika Drozdzal • Tim Druffel • Timothy E. Drumm • Gwin Drummond • Herbert R. Drury • Jean A. Drury • Minh Tan Du • Christopher C. DuPuy • Erik J. Dual • Brian E. Dubay • James A. Dubay • Bradford D. DuBois • Bruce R.<br />
DuBois • James P. DuBois • Kenneth G. Dubois • Chris T. DuBose • Alan B. DuBrow • Barrett D. Duchene • George J. Duckett • Andrew J. Duda • Duke A. Dudley • Elizabeth Anne Dudley • Gerald M. Dudley • John W. Duer • Chris E. Duerden • David N. Duff • Dean<br />
S. Duff • Jon R. Duffett • Timothy Duffrin • Glenn J. Duffy • Kevin M. Duffy • Timothy P. Duffy • Kevin R. Dufour • Daniel A. DuFresne • Renee’ F. DuFresne • Terrance J. Dugan • Jeff L. Duggan • Sheila L. Duhn • James M. Duke • David Dukeman • Gregory J.<br />
Dukeman • Jacek O. Dulczewski • Joseph S. Dulemba • Daniel S. Dumas • John R. DuMiller • Jason S. Dunaway • Michael J. Dunbar • Bradley L. Duncan • Jacq A. Duncan • John W. Duncan • Mark D. Duncan • Michael E. Duncan • Scott A. Duncan • Steven T.<br />
Duncan • David C. Dunham • Michael K. Dunhom • Donald R. Dunivant • Sally Sue Dunivant • John A. Dunkailo • John T. Dunkerly • Diane L. Dunkman • Robert D. Dunlap • Gregory Alan Dunlop • George W. Dunn • Gregory Dunn • Harold T. Dunn • Sherie J.<br />
Dunn • Steven E. Dunn • Peter P. Dunne • Stacey Alan Dunning • Daniel P. Dunphy • Ronald Dupaty • Lonnie C. Dupree • Tommy Dupree • Pamella J. Duquette • Stephanie Durall • Carlos Duran • James T. Duran • Phillip R. Durben • Gregory A. Durbin • Ronald<br />
L. Durbin • Michelle A. Durenberger • Barry S. Durham • Richard J. Durham • Scott R. Durham • T. Glenn Durham • Derek Durkee • Douglas P. Durst • Mark S. Durtschi • Paul R. Duschane • Russell E. Dusenberry • John H. Dutto • Anthony Wayne Dutton • Randell<br />
L. Dutton • Scott Allan Dutton • Jeffrey J. Duttweiler • Andrew Bradley Duvall • David M. Dworek • James T. Dwyer • Mark A. Dwyer • Peter Sean Dwyer • Robert M. Dwyer • Jed Dybvik • Lorraine T. Dycha • James N. Dyckman • Barry C. Dye • Charles B. Dye • Jon<br />
David Dyer • Timothy A. Dyer • John J. Dykema • Christine R. Dykeman • Cindy Dymond • Gregory A. Dyson • Bradley M. Eades • Diane S. Earhart • Portia J. Earl • Kenneth G. Easley • Dennis J. Eason • Joel J. Eason • Lloyd D. Eastburn • Diana J. Easterday • Karen<br />
Eastland • Jeffrey J. Eastlick • Lee Anne Eastlick • Chris J. Eaton • Rosanne Eaton • Eric D. Eberhardt • Kimberly Ann Eberhart • Patrick M. Eberhart • Robert Eberly • Brian L. Ebey • John D. Eby • Leslie D. Echols • Robert J. Eck • John H. Eckert • Joseph L.<br />
Eckert • Jason F. Eckl • Steven C. Eckman • Elizabeth Eddy • Rocky D. Eddy • Larry N. Eden • Roger Ederle • Phillip C. Edgar • Mark A. Edge • Timothy Hughlin Edge • Dwight Dean Edgington • Shawn M. Edlund • Gordon A. Edmiston • John J. Edmonds • Michael E.<br />
Edmonds • Michael Scott Edmonds • Chris W. Edmonson • Amy E. Edmunds • James C. Edmunds • Jeff Edmunds • Martin D. Edo • John P. Edoff • Craig Scott Edwards • Johnny T. Edwards • Kathleen Edwards • Monte W. Edwards • Patrick K. Edwards • Phillip M.<br />
Edwards • Stephen M. Edwards • Steven W. Edwards • Teresa Edwards • Willie J. Edwards • Layne P. Efta • Douglas C. Egan • Michael E. Egan • Alfred G. Eggers • Thomas R. Eggert • Timothy R. Ehler • Dean E. Ehrgott • Donna Jean Ehrgott • Gary M. Ehrhard • Peter<br />
C. Ehrlein • Ralph J. Ehrman • Tyler L. Eichhorn • Duane A. Eidenier • Lisa Eidson • Daniel L. Eifert • Donald K. Eiford • Stacy L. Eisen • Thomas C. Eisenmayer • Joseph R. Eisert • James A. Ekins • John D. Eklund • Yvonne Elder • Bradley D. Eldevick • Lance Lee<br />
Eldredge • Diana J. Eldridge • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine L. Elens-Lucero • Janis A. Elia • Andrew C. Elias • Alexander Elijew • Louis Andrew Eliopoulos • Alfred P. Elizondo • Elias Elizondo • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Joseph Elker • James R. Elkins • Tamra J. Elkins • Daniel J. Ellenberger • Carol L.<br />
Elliott • Daniel G. Elliott • Dean L. Elliott • Gerald R. Elliott • John L. Elliott • Karen Elaine Elliott • Lisa Elliott • Michael E. Elliott • Robert M. Elliott • Scott L. Elliott • Adrian P. Ellis • Ben E. Ellis • Brian D. Ellis • Kendall M. Ellis • Kenneth R. Ellis • Lisa Ellis • Mark<br />
Ellis • Michael Lee Ellis • Robert E. Ellis • Sigrid J. Ellis • Beverlyn T. Ellison • Bobbi J. Ellison • Ernest J. Ellison • Raymond G. Ellison • Steven B. Ells • Thomas W. Elmer • Krystal D. Elrod • Frank L. Elsholz • Walter J. Elsmore • Patrick A. Elster • Gregory<br />
Elwood • Karl W. Elwood • Norma J. Ely • Eric K. Elya • Jack S. Emberg • Gregory S. Emberland • Erik B. Embree • Tambra R. Embry • Kelly R. Emde • John M Emerson • Barry S. Emge • Dennice M. Emge • Joseph F. Emilio • Charles H. Emmons • Charles Steven<br />
Enders • Nathan J. Enders • Daniel C. Endres • Paul G. Endres • Todd W. Engebretson • Frederick Engel • Richard J. Engel • Robert E. Engelhardt • Walter E. Engelhardt • Gentri L. Engelke • Steven A. England • Todd Michael England • William D. England • Duane A.<br />
Engle • Jeffrey Lee Engle • Glenn T. Englehart • Diane M. English • Mark I. English • Gary Philip Enis • James J. Ennis • Robert W. Enos • Sean K. Enos • Daniel L. Enright • Patrick A. Enriquez • Albert E. Ensell • Alan Ravon Ensley • Karen L. Ensley • Frank L.<br />
Ent • Steven S. Entis • Kurt R. Erath • Lindsay Ericksen • Timothy Erickson • Todd E. Erickson • Jay S. Ericson • Burton W. Erikson • Larry D. Erland • Michael W. Erlbacher • Robert F. Erlwein • David J. Ermer • Guy L. Ernest • Paul A. Ernhart • Andrew McCue<br />
Ernst • Daniel R. Ernst • Joni Ervin • Carolyn G. Erwin • Thomas G. Erwin • Michael J. Esau • Jesse Thomas Escamilla • Peter R. Escobar • Kevin J. Escribano • Ricci R. Escudero • Frances C. Esmond • Efrain E. Esparza • Harry R. Espey • Leopoldo M. Espino • Ronald<br />
D. Espinosa • Juan J. Espinoza • Brian P. Essenmacher • Joan G. Essex • Craig R. Esslinger • Rafael A. Esteban • Andrew H. Esterly • Darin J. Esterly • Donald L. Estes • James A. Estes • James M. Estes • Robert R. Estes • Stephen Frederick Estes • Bret E<strong>the</strong>ridge • David<br />
K. E<strong>the</strong>ridge • David A. Ethington • Jack C. Eubanks • William F. Eubanks • Benet Roger Euler • Jeffrey L. Evagues • Michael L. Evangelista • Barbara J. Evans • Benjamin E. Evans • Benjamin S. Evans • Carter Evans • Donald K. Evans • Gene Kevin Evans • J. Brent<br />
Evans • Jeffrey S. Evans • Kenneth Evans • Lee William Evans • Michael Scott Evans • Michele Lyn Evans • Nancy E. Evans • Rainer L. Evans • Richard D. Evans-Kaplan • John T. Evanusich • Gary Evenson • Jack A. Everett • Sandra L. Everett • Robert J.<br />
Everhart • Paul A. Evermon • Thomas J. Everson • Henry Eviota • Jeffrey D. Ewing • Matt Ewing • Michael L. Ewing • Ralph R. Ewing • Alexander R. Ewings • Charles H. Exline • Marc L. Eyraud • Ellis Randall Ezell • Robert H. Ezzard • Gregory Ezzell • Steve B.<br />
Fabela • Joseph D. Fabian • Philip J. Fabricatore • Brian E. Fabry • Michael H. Fadelici • Jack R. Fader • Stanley Fadrowski • Patrick J. Fagan • Larry Fagerland • Richard H. Fagg • Mary Fahey • Patrick T. Fahey • Timothy L. Faile • William Failor • B o h d a n n a<br />
Fairchild • John A. Fairchild • Kimberly D. Fairman • Lauren J. Faith • Kenneth E. Fajfer • Robert M. Fakouri • Manuel G. Falcon • Christopher C. Falcone • Joseph C. Falcone • Benjamin J. Falen • Jonathan Falen • Christie A. Falkner • Bret Jay Fallers • Walter G.<br />
Fallin • Brian J. Fallon • Edward D. Fallon • Francis J. Fallon • Lillian Fallon • John F. Famularo • Michael Patrick Fannin • David W. Fanning • Steven R. Fanno • Scott G. Fansler • Robert E. Fanucci • Sue Y Farabaugh • Steven E. Faraday • David S. Faramarzpour • Paul<br />
C. Farina • Orlando Farinas • Karen J. Farley • Shannon D. Farley • William A. Farmin • Rupert Andrew Farr • Michael E. Farrell • Raymond P. Farrell • Richard H. Farrell • Chunsei Lee Farren • Lee Farrier • Clifford L. Farrior • Stephen E. Farris • Scott E.<br />
Farrow • James Farslow • Steven T. Fasig • Charles J. Faso • Douglas M. Faucher • Cassandra Y. Faulk • Brett L. Faulkner • Jack G. Faulkner • Jeremy E. Faust • Robert L. Faux • William A. Faville • Debra A. Fay • James R. Fazekas • Cori Lyn Fazio • James T.<br />
Fazio • James Fearn • Mark L. Fears • Mark S. Fearson • Kevin A. Fea<strong>the</strong>ringill • Arthur A. Fedak • Aaron Feder • Chris J. Federico • Corina Fedorowicz • Michael J. Fedowitz • James R. Feehan • Brian J. Feeney • David J. Feeney • William R. Feger • Timothy Alan<br />
Fehr • Greg Feige • Bridget Feise • Norman B. Felder • Jon J. Feldt • Albert Feliciano • Stephen L. Felkins • David P. Felling • Michael T. Fellows • Jason Felser • Richard J. Felton • Richard W. Fendley • Larry M. Fennell • Edward C. Fens • Jeremy A. Ferg • Andre’<br />
A. Ferguson • Bruce R. Ferguson • Charles E. Ferguson • Edward L. Ferguson • James M. Ferguson • Joe Ferguson • Linda K. Ferguson • LuAnn Ferguson • Michael James Ferguson • Victor W. Ferguson • Victor Ferguson • Richard Walter Fernald • Wallace L.<br />
Fernandez • Pamela J. Fero • Albert A. Ferranti • James L. Ferrara • Brian P. Ferreira • Jerry L. Ferrell • Michael K. Ferrell • Robert D. Ferrell • Stacy Dean Ferrell • Terry James Ferrell • Spencer W. Ferrington • Sharlene M. Ferrio • Joyce M. Ferris • Richard D.<br />
Ferris • Nicholas J. Ferro • Kevin G. Ferros • Rex D. Fetters • Michael J. Ficarro • William F. Fick • Michael L. Fiddes • William J. Fiedler • John L. Field • Robert M. Field • Carl R. Fields • Floyd D. Fields • Michael A. Fields • Michael Fields • Phillip R. Fields • Shawn<br />
P. Fields • Warren Fields • Luis E. Fierro • Robert S. Fierro • Richard Fiesel • Javier E. Figueroa • John A. Figueroa • Karsten K. Figueroa • Joseph D. Figura • Cailin C. Filhiol • Michael B. Filhiol • Michael J. Filimon • Joyce Filipiak • Mark A. Fillion • Susan A.<br />
Finan • Brad L. Finch • John H. Finch • James J. Fincher • Timothy M. Fincher • Gerald B. Fink • Carl W. Finkbeiner • John J. Finkbeiner • David A. Finkbiner • Brian G. Finlayson • Patrick M. Finn • Steven Finnerty • Lawrence J. Finney • Bruno R. Fiore • John J.<br />
Fiorilli • Raymond E. Firkins • Michael Fischback • Curt Jurgen Fischer • Nathan T. Fischer • Ronald A. Fischer • Steven D. Fischer • Mat<strong>the</strong>w W. Fiscus • Robert K. Fish • Walter C. Fish • Brian P. Fisher • Dale E. Fisher • Dawn A. Fisher • Eric D. Fisher • Frank A.<br />
Fisher • Jeffrey J. Fisher • Jeffrey James Fisher • Jesse L. Fisher • John B. Fisher • Larry Fisher • Paul J. Fisher • Richard J. Fisher • Robert M. Fisher • Aaron Fishman • Linda S. Fisk • Gary M. Fiske • Daniel P. Fitas • Scott William Fitch • Christina A. Fitz • Don E.<br />
Fitzgerald • Donna K. Fitzgerald • John J. Fitzgerald • John K. Fitzgerald • Sean M. Fitzgerald • Thomas W. Fitzgerald • William G. Fitzgerald • John R. Fitzgibbons • Stephen Wade Fitzpatrick • Lawrence J. Fitzsimmons • Patrick Fitzsimmons • Chris L. Fitzwater • Daniel<br />
R. Fiumano • Lorn L. Fjeldstad • Terri A. Fjosne • Colin M. Flaherty • Toye M. Flaherty • Charles M. Flanagan • Joseph E. Flanagan • Michael E. Flanagan • Susan Flanagan • David W. Flatt • Paul E. Fleck • Norman L. Fleek • Gregory A. Fleetwood • Steven D.<br />
Fleetwood • Jayme L. Fleig • Frank J. Fleischer • Steven Fleischer • Becky Jean Fleming • James Hunter Fleming • Kelly E. Fleming • Patricia L. Fleming • Suzanne E. Fleming • Ted R. Fleming • William Lee Fleming • Kent M. Fleshman • Clayton B. Fletcher • Jeffrey E.<br />
Fletcher • Stephen Peter Fletcher • Steven C. Flickinger • David F. Flint • Glenn G. Flint • Charles J. Flood • Billy J. Florence • Glenn Michael Flores • Mario A. Flores • Tim Flores • Lori A. Florian • Robert J. Florian • Stephen M. Flowers • Daniel S. Fly • Cheryl K.<br />
Fly-Edwards • Andrew Flynn • Asela Telorah Flynn • David M. Flynn • Diane M. Flynn • David K. Foddrill • Timothy J. Fodor • Danielle D. Foege • Michael Alan Fogg • Peter B. Fogg • Mat<strong>the</strong>w D. Fogie • Daniel G. Foisy • Ronald Anthony Foley • Ruben Foley • William<br />
J. Foley • Ulises Folh • Kevin J. Follo • Chris M. Followell • Mark D. Folz • Cleighton P. Fong • James V. Fontana • William Fontana • Larry Fontenot • Melissa M. Foote • Michael D. Foote • Edward Eugene Forbes • Ivan Forbes • Gregory W. Ford • James E.<br />
Ford • Kevin M. Ford • Margaret J. Ford • Maria C. Ford • Ouida K. Ford • Sheila Ford • Steven R. Ford • Cynthia M. Fordney • Paul J. Foreman • Frank R. Foresta • Jeffrey M. Forhan • Todd M. Forkey • Michael L. Forman • Wayne H. Formby • Joseph P.<br />
Formoso • Thomas K. Forney • John T. Fornito • Brian E. Forrest • Timothy R. Forrestor • Patrick R. Forrey • David Forsberg • Chris E. Forsy<strong>the</strong> • David H. Fort • John F. Forte • Victoria A. Forte • James P. Fortenberry • Michelle D. Fortin • Julie F. Fortman • Russell<br />
L. Foss • Chris W. Fossen • Cynthia Foster • Ernest S. Foster • George A. Foster • Jackie B. Foster • James Michael Foster • Jeffrey David Foster • Kendal L. Foster • Michelle Renee Foster • Pamela Foster • Richard Allen Foster • Sharon M. Foster • Stephanie D.<br />
Foster • Stephen F. Foster • Steven Foster • Susan J. Foster • Warren S. Foster • William Foster • Michael R. Fountain • Richard C. Fountain • David A. Fournier • Timothy J. Fournier • Robert J. Foust • David L. Foutch • Maurice E. Fouts • Ingrid A. Fovargue • Cprby<br />
Fowler • John S. Fowler • Lorraine A. Fowler • Mark D. Fowler • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Fowler • Nathaniel E. Fowler • Samuel L. Fowler • Bobby Joe Fox • Guy R. Fox • James E. Fox • Lonnie Lee Fox • Ronald G. Fox • Scott R. Fox • Aarson Foxwell • Curtis J. Foxworth • Robert<br />
H. Fraboni • Gregory S. Fraga • Jennifer L. Fraga • Steve K. Fragas • Larry G. Frailey • Michael Franc • Arden E. Francis • Diane C. Francis • Eric A. Francis • George W. Francis • Harry L. Francis • Robert J. Francis • Carl D. Franco • John F. Franco • Arnold S.<br />
Frank • Mary C. Frank • Richard J. Frank • Richard K. Frank • Drew M. Frankel • Michael L. Frankel • Mark A. Franklin • Paul M. Franklin • Robert G. Franklin • Dale A. Franks • Robert A. Franks • Terry Allen Franseen • David A. Frantz • Frank J. Franze • Debra<br />
Ann Franzen • Randy K. Franzen • Bruce L. Frappied • Daniel Fraschilla • James W. Frascone • Daniel A. Fraser • Michael A. Fraser • Tami L. Fraser • Jeffrey Lee Fray • Austin S. Frazao • Barry D. Frazier • Darrell E. Frazier • Gary F. Frazier • Michael E. Frazier • V. The<br />
NATCA Family
The NATCA Family<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
William Frazier • David W. Frechette • Kathleen D. Frederick • William M. Frederick • Raymond Scott Fredericks • Eric J. Fredricks • George M. Fredricks • Thomas E. Fredrickson • Lucius V. Free • Philip C. Freed • Donald J. Freedenberg • Brett A. Freeman • Donald<br />
L. Freeman • Mat<strong>the</strong>w D. Freeman • Michael E. Freeman • Paul A. Freeman • Scott E. Freeman • Victor W. Freeman • Kevin E. Fregosi • Mark A. Freiburger • Ramona A. Freiburger • Dietrich Freigang • David J. Freitas • Larry D. French • Robin L. French • Scott<br />
Robert French • Stephen T. French • Steven E. French • John Freund • Janice A. Frey • Kenneth W. Frey • Charles F. Frick • Craig J. Fricke • Scott Aaron Friday • Bennett J. Friedman • Sandra Friedrich • John J. Friedrick • Michael R. Friman • Barry Dwayne<br />
Frisbee • Allen R. Fritz • David M. Fritz • John T. Fritz • Karen L. Fritz • William G. Fritz • Scott A. Frizen • Ronald A. Froats • Keith Froebel • Francis Michael Froehlich • Sheri L. Froehlich • Susan A. Frohnhoefer • Gerald R. Frost • Jonathan P. Frost • Rhonda J.<br />
Frost • Joseph S. Fruscella • Larry A. Fry • Jeffrey D. Frye • Michael J. Frye • V. Bryce Fuday • Richard M. Fuga • Joseph C. Fuhrer • Randall T. Fuhrman • Danny T. Fuimoano • Dwayne T. Fukui • Perry R. Fulford • Charles P. Fullen • Bryan Wells Fuller • Felicia L.<br />
Fuller • Jennifer L. Fuller • Marcus Fuller • Nicholas Fuller • Ann J. Fuller-Bazzell • James Ian Fullmer • Gary R. Fulmer • Kimeri C. Fulmer • Dean M. Funk • Erwin D. Funk • Kevin P. Furey • Anthony J. Furman • Joseph M. Furman • Annette Fusco • William M.<br />
Futrell • Michael F. Gaar • Douglas G. Gaasvig • Barbara Ann Gabba • Harold W Gabbard • Mitchell J. Gaboriault • Steven Gaboriault • Michael A. Gabrick • Gregory W. Gabriele • Robert E. Gabrielson • Elaine M. Gachette • George H. Gaddie • Stephanie M.<br />
Gadson • Jeffrey M. Gaffney • Nelson S. Gaffney • Joseph V. Gagliano • Patricia A. Gagliano • Marc Gagne • Daniel J. Gagner • Ronald C. Gagner • Michael L. Gagnon • Thomas J. Gagnon • Michael S. Gaillard • Andre S. Gaines • Darren Todd Gaines • Deborah J.<br />
Gaines • Eric D. Gaines • John W. Gainey • Gary M. Gainley • Alyssa Gainor • Frank Bruce Gai<strong>the</strong>r • Bruno Gaizutis • William A. Galarneau • Debra A. Galassini • Donna Galbraith • James S. Galbraith • Ronald L. Galbraith • John A. Galego • Marc J. Galeski • William<br />
A. Galicic • Kenneth J. Galitsky • Beth A. Gallagher • Brien P. Gallagher • Donald A. Gallagher • Gerard J. Gallagher • John K. Gallagher • Kevin M. Gallagher • Patrick J. Gallagher • Patrick O. Gallagher • Philip F. Gallagher • Thomas A. Gallagher • Mark R.<br />
Gallant • Carlos G. Gallardo • John C. Gallegos • Ronald F. Gallegos • Pamela S. Gallien • Paul J. Galligan • Renette K. Gallo • Stephen Gallo • Tom Gallo • Jack J. Galloway • Jack P. Galloway • John A. Gallucci • James L. Galo • Timothy Paul Galo • David P.<br />
Galuszka • Joseph M. Gambino • Richard W. Gambino • Brian G. Gamble • Patrick M. Gamble • William F. Gamble • Barry J. Gamblin • James R. Gamel • Bernie Games • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Granville Gammon • Patrick W. Gancel • David F. Gandolfo • Carolyn M. Gandy • Ron<br />
Gandy • Troy A. Gandy • Gilbert L. Gann • Ronnie Eugene Gann • Edward J. Gannon • John James Gannon • Kevin Ray Gannon • Michael M. Gannon • Joseph L. Gant • Lance T. Gant • Arthur U. Gapasin • Glenn E. Garasic • Abdulmalik Garba • Charles J.<br />
Garbarino • William R. Garbe • Gary T. Garber • James W. Garber • Alan Garcia • Alfredo E. Garcia • Anthony Garcia • Carleen V. Garcia • Daniel Garcia • David K. Garcia • David Louis Garcia • Eduardo V. Garcia • Edward O. Garcia • Gilbert T. Garcia • Gregory<br />
J. Garcia • Luis G. Garcia • Mary Garcia • Michael E. Garcia • Randolph M. Garcia • Thomas P. Garcia • Vernon J. Garcia • Victor H. Garcia • Robyn M. Garcia-Romero • Jay C. Gard • Marie Kennington Gardiner • Richard W. Gardini • Brian Keith Gardner • Brian Scott<br />
Gardner • Chris Gray Gardner • Dennis Gardner • George N. Gardner • Jere G. Gardner • Larry J. Gardner • Lloyd Gardner • Michael T. Gardner • Russell L. Gardner • Terrence L. Gardner • Deforest V. Garfield • Camille Garibaldi • John Garibay • Brad A.<br />
Garland • Neil M. Garland • David Garner • Jeffrey A. Garner • John P. Garner • Charles Garrett • Cheryl L. Garrett • James A. Garrett • James K. Garrett • James Garrett • Jimmy R. Garrett • Karen L. Garrett • Teri Lea Garrett • Barbara Garside • Richard T.<br />
Garwood • Barton E. Gary • Willard E. Gary • Raul Garza • Troy M. Gascoyne • Gayla A. Gaskin • Kenwyn Gaskin • Manuel A. Gaspar • Gregory J. Gass • James M. Gass • Chad J. Gassmann • Michael B. Gateley • John Gates • Malcolm Joel Gates • Steven R.<br />
Gatewood • Mark Reid Gatzke • Rudy A. Gaubert • Karen Ann Gauby • Kim Michael Gaudette • Carrie R. Gault • William S. Gaunt • James Gausepohl • Michael W. Gavin • Chris Gavriel • Gene M. Gawley • Robert J. Gawrys • Joseph G. Gay • Pamela Gayde • Drew<br />
M. Gaydos • Gilbert Rick Geagan • Roy A. Geary • Thomas A. Geary • Es<strong>the</strong>r Rae Gebhardt-Field • Albert L. Gebrosky • David M. Geddes • Jeffrey David Geddes • Karen L. Geddings • Vernon G. Geddings • Peter W. Geddis • Richard B. Gee • Robert J. Gegen • Jeffery<br />
C. Gehring • Richard W. Gehringer • Ronald R. Gehrman • Daniel W. Gehrmann • Lola L. Gehrt • Eric Geier • John C. Geier • David B. Geiger • Jeffery M. Geiger • Mark D. Geimke • Jenna R. Geiser • Robert W. Geith • Gerard M. Gelardo • Donald R.<br />
Gellerman • Todd C. Gellner • David Joseph Gelmini • Nancy D. Gemmill • Donald Gendreau • Gretchen Ann Gendreau • Michael Gendron • Christophe J. Genoter • William G. Genovese • Deborah Sue Gentry • James A. Gentry • Ronald P. Geoffroy • William<br />
Geoghagan • Daniel G. George • Martin S. George • Sara George • Salvatore G. Geraci • Jeffrey A. Gerber • J. Michael Gercke • Francis Joseph Geremski • Charles Mark Germain • Anthony J. Germann • Vincent Gerry • James M. Gersh • Diana P. Gerwig • Philip<br />
James Gesumaria • Michael J. Getchman • Chad A. Geyer • Lee A. Geyer • Ronald L. Geyer • Gary Alan Gfroerer • Hamid Ghaffari • Damon P. Ghee • Lawrence G. Ghersi • Zulema Ghersi • Wendi M. Ghiloni • Robert V. Giabbai • Thomas P. Giacomini • Robert J.<br />
Giacopasi • George Gianakas • Louis P. Giancamillo • Michael B. Gianfalla • Ronald Giannettino • John J. Giannetto • Pamela E. Giannetto • Patricia L. Gibbons • Raymond J. Gibbons • Steven L. Gibbons • Bill Lee Gibbs • Brenda E. Gibbs • Marc P. Gibbs • Marilyn<br />
Gibbs • Michael R. Gibbs • David B. Giberson • Robert G. Gibney • David R. Gibson • David S. Gibson • Jodi K. Gibson • Kenneth Gibson • Kwame R. Gibson • Lisa A. Gibson • Steven M. Gibson • Leslie I. Gicewicz • Louis J. Giddens • Stephen C. Giddens • Kurt<br />
Gifford • Robert A. Gigeous • Michael L. Giggie • Cheryl D. Gilbert • Colleen M. Gilbert • John K. Gilbert • John Michael Gilbert • John W. Gilbert • Kathy I. Gilbert • Margaret M. Gilbert • Patricia C. Gilbert • Rae Lynn Gilbert • Richard F. Gilbert • Stephen K.<br />
Gilbert • Walter J. Gilbertson • James J. Gilboy • James Gilbride • Jeffery Scott Gilde • Christy A. Giles • Cindy S. Giles • Richard N. Giles • Roger A. Giles • James Vincent Gill • Rex D. Gill • Rick E. Gill • Robert Earl Gill • Robert W. Gill • Ma<strong>the</strong>w T.<br />
Gillespie • Thomas Andrew Gillespie • Jon Gillett • Ronald L. Gillette • James H. Gilliam • Michael D. Gilliam • John E. Gilliard • Robert N. Gilliland • Frank D. Gillingham • Graciela S. Gillis • Jonathan R. Gillis • James R. Gillman • Rex Gillmer • Kara K. Gills • Arthur<br />
N. Gilman • Gregory D. Gilman • Gregory J. Gilman • Timothy E. Gilmartin • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine V. Gilmore • Cherye Gilmore • David M. Gilmore • Peter J. Gilmore • Douglas L. Gilomen • Scott C. Gilson • Lynson Gilstrap • William Gin • Russell A. Gindhart • John A.<br />
Gingrich • Scott A. Ginsburg • Susan K. Ginsburg • Keith W. Gin<strong>the</strong>r • David A. Gioffre • Vito Gioia • Joe Giompaolo • James J. Giovengo • Mic Giralte • Peter M. Girard • David A. Gish • Gregory L. Gish • Lee D. Gitlin • Vincent Giuliano • Stephen P.<br />
Given • Valerie Marie Gladitsch • Stephen Blair Glaeser • Daniel J. Glancey • Terry L. Glant • Gregory A. Glaser • William N. Glaser • Richard W. Glass • John Glasserman • Thomas R. Glaze • Rick W. Gleason • William Dean Glen • Gary R. Glenisky • Kenneth G.<br />
Glenn • Jaimeson Glennen • Robert W. Glibowski • Douglas C. Glick • Wayne A. Glifort • George Glock • Steven D. Glore • Barry A. Gloth • Daniel Wayne Glover • Timothy E. Glover • George M. Gmitro • Terry L. Gnepper • Jerry W. Goad • Melvin L.<br />
Goble • Timothy M. Goddard • Craig R. Godfrey • Earnest R. Godfrey • Chandler Godin • Frederick G. Godsey • Walter A. Goebel • Glen Erik Goehrs • Scott A. Goerdt • Keith Goering • Paul Alan Goess • Chris Howard Goff • Jeffrey S. Goff • Patsy W.<br />
Goff • William E. Goins • Chris L. Gokey • Daniel W. Goldberg • Mark D. Goldberg • Wayne Goldberg • Andrew P. Golden • Michael Golden • Judy M. Golder • Peter G. Golder • Greg David Goldfarb • Thomas A. Goldman • Jack H. Goldsberry • Michael A.<br />
Goldschmidt • Mark A. Goldstein • Jose A. Gomez • Robert M. Gomez • Richard L. Gomski • Todd Gonnella • Robert W. Gonyea • Jeffrey R. Gonzales • Minerva Gonzales • Robbie P. Gonzales • Abe L. Gonzalez • Armando M. Gonzalez • Daniel E. Gonzalez • Gary<br />
L. Gonzalez • Jose Juan Gonzalez • Louis A. Gonzalez • Michael A. Gonzalez • Pamela M. Gonzalez • Pedro Gonzalez • Robert Gonzalez • Susan Gonzalez • William E. Gonzalez • Dwayne D. Good • John T. Goodall • John C. Goodin • Jay L. Goodman • Robert T.<br />
Goodman • Tara Goodman • David W. Goodnough • John L. Goodson • Michael L. Goodson • Angela B. Goodwin • Clayton W. Goodwin • Joe Goodwin • Joel B. Goodwin • Eric Paul Goozen • Mark Gordhamer • James L. Gordon • Kenneth Gordon • Lewis M.<br />
Gordon • Mark E. Gordon • Meghan Gordon • Samuel L. Gordon • Marilyn J. Gore • Natalie J. Goren • John F. Goris • Gregory S. Gorlich • David L. Gorman • Mark P. Gorman • Roger A. Gorman • Jason Gose • Jon D. Gosnell • Benjamin Goss • Edward M.<br />
Gosselin • Ronald W. Goudreau • Allan M. Gough • Kathleen Gough • Michael A. Gould • Rick Gould • Brian I. Gouldthorpe • Joseph M. Gouvela • Randy J. Gowin • Brenda K. Grace • William A. Grace • Mark Gradney • Josephine A. Graf • Reubin Graf • Timothy<br />
J. Graf • John W. Gragg • Bradley E. Graham • Devin Graham • Ellen B. Graham • Furman J. Graham • Gerald W. Graham • Jeff S. Graham • John E. Graham • Kevin D. Graham • Tommy A. Graham • William L. Graham • Joseph J. Gramlich • Joseph D. Gramm • Kevin<br />
J. Grammes • Michael S. Grammo • Joseph Paul Granata • Carol A. Granberg • David P. Grandinetti • Paul D. Grandinetti • Charles H. Grandison • James K. Grandy • Kurt B. Granger • Bradley E. Grant • Cary E. Grant • James D. Grant • Julia E. Grant • Rohn K.<br />
Grant • Stanley R. Grant • U.S. Grant • William J. Grant • Gary R. Graswald • John G. Gratys • William D. Gratzke • Daniel J. Gravelle • Timothy C. Gravens • Carl L. Graves • Coolidge M. Graves • Ian Richard Graves • Michael D. Graves • Wade H. Graves • William<br />
E. Graves • Audrey Gray • Danny R. Gray • John Michael Gray • Jon D. Gray • Lisa M. Gray • Mary Beth Gray • Michael T. Gray • Robert S. Gray • Thomas R. Gray • William T. Gray • Terry T. Graybeal • Anita Marie Graziane • Richard L. Greathouse • Peter O.<br />
Grebenschikoff • Bobby L. Green • Charles L. Green • George H. Green • Glenn E. Green • Gordon Green • James B. Green • James S. Green • Jed Green • Jonathan B. Green • Karen R. Green • Richard F. Green • Robert E. Green • Roger N. Green • Roy Lee<br />
Green • Scott Gene Green • Stan Emil Green • Steve L. Green • Susan M. Green • Terry L. Green • Timothy Green • Vernard Green • Yvonne L. Green • Lenard L. Greenberg • David K. Greenburg • John F. Greene • Robert H. Greene • Robert Phillip<br />
Greene • Roman E. Greene • George L. Greenfield • Steven R. Greenhalgh • Stephen Greenheck • Brian L. Greenwald • Robert N. Greenway • Ken Martin Greenwood • Michael L. Greenwood • Cynthia Greer • Donald M. Greer • Thomas A. Gregg • Mat<strong>the</strong>w<br />
Thomas Gregor • Christine E. Gregory • Walt Gregulak • Robin T. Greisen • John Grenert • Gary Gretencort • David E. Grevis • Glenn L. Gribble • Lori M. Gribble • William Todd Gribble • Vivien A. Grice • Joseph F. Gricius • Eric Jason Grider • Joseph A.<br />
Gridley • Daniel J. Grieco • James L. Grieger • Patty A. Grieger • William Griek • Joe D. Grier • Steven W. Grier • Mark S. Gries • Leonard F. Grieser • Denton L. Griest • Joseph L. Grieve • Charles W. Griffin • David W. Griffin • Jay K. Griffin • Mark A.<br />
Griffin • Ryan N. Griffin • Stephen W. Griffin • Wendy L. Griffin • Bruce William Griffiths • John G. Griffiths • James A. Grigg • James W. Griggs • Keafur Grimes • Cynthia J. Grimm • James P. Grimm • William D. Grimm • James W. Griner • Jerry W. Grinnell • Larry<br />
D. Grisham • Gary M. Grissom • Scott Grissom • Chester K. Groce • Darren P. Groce • Robert H. Groce • Mark E. Grocky • Jerry G. Groendyke • Lisa Groene-Brass • Kenneth K. Gronberg • Carolyn S. Groom • Marc Howard Groom • James M. Gropp • Brian<br />
Groseclose • Ira Gross • Maureen E. Gross • Michael P. Gross • Stuart C. Gross • Robert A. Grosse • Bryan D. Grossman • John Grotefend • Bernard Al Groves • Byron R. Grubbs • James Kevin Gruenewald • Robert Grunau • Eric Grundmann • William B.<br />
Grundmann • Patricia J. Gruss • Joseph J. Gryzbek • John A. Guadnola • Donato J. Guaglione • Frank D. Gualillo • Beth A. Gualtieri • Robert F. Guardino • Anthony Guarnieri • Michael Guarnieri • Laura Lynn Guarracino • Debra A. Guarriello • Bryan T. Guasto • Gary<br />
A. Gubbings • Ernest Gubry • Craig Guensch • David F. Guensch • Russell M. Guen<strong>the</strong>r • Gustavo Guerra • Karin L. Guerra • Robert Guerra • Francisco G. Guerrero • Elizabeth Z. Guerrie • David C. Guess • James E. Guess • Kelly M. Guess • Samuel Emmit<br />
Guess • Barry M. Guest • Micaela I. Guetzko • Ernie Guevara • Patrick J. Guider • Douglas W. Guidish • Sonya K. Guidish • Timothy E. Guidish • Bradley W. Guilmino • Richard J. Guisinger • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine Guitar • Jason Charles Guitar • Kirk B. Gullach • Ryan D.<br />
Gullett • Robert W. Gulley • Jeffrey Vincent Gullo • Peter M. Gullo • William M. Gumm • James F. Gummerson • Karen N. Gundersen • Geoffey G. Gunderson • Ricky L. Gunn • Edward Alan Gunnels • Fredric Gurman • Lance J. Gurney • Thomas A. Gurule • Charles<br />
R. Gussett • Gene L. Gustad • Bruce S. Gustafson • David H. Gustafson • Gordon H. Gustafson • Jon David Gustafson • Wayne W. Gustafson • Roy E. Gustavson • Randall L. Gustin • John R. Guth • Patrick E. Guthrie • Arturo R. Gutierrez • Baldemar<br />
Gutierrez • Joshua Gutierrez • Shane C. Gutierrez • Xavier D. Gutierrez • Ben Guttery • Gregory M. Guttman • Robert E. Guyton • Mark S. Guzik • John J. Guzman • Kevin D. Guzowski • Carl E. Gysler • Todd R. Haack • Brian J. Haag • Melissa A. Haak • Dale K.<br />
Haas • David W. Habecker • Mark Allen Habecker • Rebecca Haberbush • Thomas L. Haberin • Jeffrey K. Haberland • Leslie B. Habig • Karen S. Hable • Patrick Edward Hable • Ted E. Habuda • Brian C. Hach • Elizabeth G. Hackbart • Timothy D. Hackett • Bruce K.<br />
Hackler • David T. Hackney • Louis R. Haddad • Nancy J. Haddorff • Van A. Haddox • Sara Hadfield • Earl P. Hadler • Anne E. Hadley • Jerry P. Hadley • Jody G. Hadley • John Hadley • Kerry S. Hadley • Kristin K. Haeckel • Robert D. Haefner • Ronald F.<br />
Haegele • Frank Joseph Haelle • David A. Hafner • Larry P. Haftel • Jonathan D. Haga • Terence M. Haggerty • Timothy Alan Hagins • John R. Hagy • Ronald Haig • Timothy W. Haines • William G. Haines • Andrew E. Hale • Greg D. Hale • Harry Hines Hale • Kelvin<br />
E. Hale • Mark A. Hale • Mark T. Hale • Richard Charles Hale • Stanley K. Hale • Timothy C. Hale • Arthur P. Haley • John D. Haley • Andree C. Hall • Barbara A. Hall • Charles C. Hall • Chris E. Hall • Christopher J. Hall • Christopher L. Hall • Deanna C.<br />
Hall • Donald C. Hall • Douglas R. Hall • Glenn Hall • Guy P. Hall • Howard B. Hall • James M. Hall • Jason Hall • Jeffrey M. Hall • Jeffrey Mat<strong>the</strong>w Hall • Jennifer Hall • Jerry D. Hall • John H. Hall • John P. Hall • John Hall • Josiah A. Hall • Leslie L. Hall • Mark E.<br />
Hall • Michael A. Hall • Michael L. Hall • Rice E. Hall • Ronald G. Hall • Thomas A. Hall • Walter Dean Hall • Walter T. Hall • William J. Hall • William L. Hall • Oscar M. Halldorson • Eric R. Haller • Stephen J. Haller • Russell L. Halleran • Perry W. Halls • Roger<br />
W. Hallsell • Lawrence Neal Halpern • Thomas B. Halpin • Tricia Halpin • Terry Halsey • Robert G. Halvorson • Roger J. Halye • Liane Hamamoto • Marie Elizabeth Hamby • Heidi L. Hamel • Steven S. Hamel • Mary G. Hamer • Ross L. Hamer • Daniel M.<br />
Hamilton • Glenn B. Hamilton • James P. Hamilton • Jeff W. Hamilton • Nathaniel Ramsey Hamilton • Richard M. Hamilton • Roger D. Hamilton • Rozie Hamilton • Thomas E. Hamilton • Irvin Lee Hamlet • James C. Hamm • William John Hammel • Brian Robert<br />
Hammerle • Walter C. Hammerle • Gregory B. Hammond • Shawn C. Hammond • Steve M. Hammond • Gregory C. Hammonds • MacDonald J. Hamner • Jeffrey C. Hampson • Arthur L. Hampton • Eddie W. Hampton • Gregory V. Hampton • William T.<br />
Hampton • Steve J. Hamre • Gerald Hamrick • Sun N. Han • Keith A. Hanauer • Gary G. Hancock • Jerry Vick Hancock • Mat<strong>the</strong>w L. Hancuh • Gary Allen Handley • Randy J. Handt • Tony L. Hanel • William T. Hanes • Brandee M. Haney • Daniel K. Haney • David<br />
T. Haney • Donald Kevin Haney • Donald Lynn Haney • Timothy C. Haney • Michael Bryon Haniuk • Richard M. Hanke • James S. Hankins • Robert C. Hankins • Jay N. Hanks • Diana Hanley • Kim R. Hanley • Rhonda C. Hanley • Ronald T. Hanley • Scott J.<br />
Hanley • Brian C. Hanlon • Reginald W. Hanlon • Rory A. Hanlon • Neal A. Hann • Mark L. Hanna • Paul M. Hanna • William Hannan • James W. Hanner • Karl B. Hanner • Daniel P. Hannigan • Clayton J. Hanninen • Kevin Charles Hanning • Stacy M. Hannon • Russell<br />
A. Hannu • William M. Hansard • Brian R. Hansen • Darcy Lynn Hansen • Eric Hansen • JoAnn Lisa Hansen • Paul C. Hansen • Robert H. Hansen • Robin E. Hansen • Scott K. Hansen • Stephen J. Hansen • Steven W. Hansen • Thomas P. Hansen • Roxanne M.<br />
Hanshaw • Ana T. Hansmann • James D. Hansmann • Amy Rebecca Hanson • Douglas W. Hanson • Judy Lynn Hanson • Kirk A. Hanson • Rodney R. Hanson • Gene D. Hapip • Kirk K. Hapke • John T. Harbin • Kami Rene Harcrow • Brian Harcula • Steven J.<br />
Hard • Ronald M. Hardecki • Fred P. Hardee • S. Dale Hardee • Steven R. Hardee • Jack C. Harden • Jeffrey M. Harden • Eddie B. Hardimon • Chris Keith Hardin • Robert V. Hardin • Tommy C. Hardin • Robert W. Harding • William Ray Harding • Charles T.<br />
Hardison • John D. Hardman • Robert C. Hardman • Christopher L. Hardnett • Carlton F. Hardy • Janette Hardy • Karlos M. Hardy • Michael D. Hardy • Paul W. Hardy • James Louis Haren • Emil M. Harenberg • Steven M. Haresnape • Kari Harkey • Brian M.<br />
Harkins • Steven M. Harless • Cynthia A. Harlow • Timothy P. Harman • John Patrick Harmon • Ronald L. Harmon • Rudolf Harmon • Linda J. Harms • Michael L. Harms • Janine R. Harnden • Robert L. Harness • David A. Harp • Duane L. Harpel • David E.<br />
Harper • James R. Harper • Jeffery L. Harper • Ronald K. Harpold • Denise L. Harrell • Harris G. Harrell • William M. Harrell • David P. Harrington • Michael J. Harrington • Terry V. Harrington • Andre Harris • Ann C. Harris • Cynthia S. Harris • David L.<br />
Harris • David R. Harris • Donald R. Harris • Douglas Alan Harris • Douglas M. Harris • Erik M. Harris • Gary A. Harris • Gerome C. Harris • Gregory W. Harris • Jeffrey D. Harris • Joan C. Harris • John R. Harris • Kathleen A. Harris • Kevin J. Harris • Larry<br />
Harris • Mark Joseph Harris • Mark K. Harris • Mark Russell Harris • Phillip C. Harris • Robert T. Harris • Robert W. Harris • Rodney A. Harris • Roy J. Harris • Samuel W. Harris • Stephen L. Harris • Steve R. Harris • Terrance Keith Harris • Timothy R.
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Harris • Charles C. Harrison • Dean A. Harrison • Deborah A. Harrison • Richard G. Harrison • Richard S. Harrison • Tamara G. Harrison • Thomas Keith Harrison • Troy M. Harrison • Winford J. Harrison • Isadore Harry • Jack L. Harry • Jeffrey S. Harsey • Lynn<br />
A. Harshman • Ivan S. Harstvedt • Douglas A. Hart • Jeffrey Allen Hart • Jodie Rae Hart • Kevin S. Hart • Patrick W. Hart • Randolph John Hart • Ray A. Hart • Richard Hart • Russell C. Hart • Stephen Hart • Thomas D. Hart • Robert W. Hartell • Monica R.<br />
Harten • Patrick Harten • Kenneth D. Hartenstine • Betty Harter • Dorothy E. Hartigan • Steven R. Harting • Roger Hartje • Rick R. Hartley • Thomas H. Hartley • William J. Hartley • John G. Hartling • David W. Hartman • Dennis M. Hartman • Douglas P.<br />
Hartman • Margaret Hartman • Scott D. Hartman • Shelley D. Hartman • John J. Hartnett • Robert Paul Hartnett • Razmik Hartounian • Steven M. Hartsoe • Gary T. Hartsough • Bruce A. Hartt • David Allen Hartung • Mia Hartvikson • Scott N. Hartwig • Harold<br />
Clark Hartzell • Clarence T. Harvey • David D. Harvey • Edward W. Harvey • Eric John Harvey • J. Francois Harvey • James C. Harvey • Marylynn H. Harvey • Randy D. Harvey • Richard J. Harvey • Steven Michael Harvey • Dean J. Hasenpflug • Robert H.<br />
Hashimoto • Mark H. Haskell • Stephen K. Haskell • Russell J. Hasselbach • David R. Hastings • Phillip M. Hata • Danny C. Hatch • Herbert Henry Hatch • Ronald M. Hatch • Deidre A. Hatchard • David Hatcher • John A. Hatcher • Robert L. Hatem • Jeanette E<br />
Hatfield • Melissa Hatfield • Timothy Ray Hatfield • Chuck L. Hathaway • Sean Hathaway • Jacqueline A. Ha<strong>the</strong>way • George William Hatley • Robert J. Hatmaker • John D. Hatt • Cynthia F. Hatten • Thomas L. Hattori • Toby L. Hauck • John Haugan • Alan D.<br />
Haugen • James Haugen • Mat<strong>the</strong>w R. Haugen • David A. Hauger • Jerry L. Haun • Scott Haupert • John Haupt • David E. Hause • Charles J. Hauser • Mark R. Hauser • Robert L. Hausman • Jeffrey A. Hauth • John A. Haveman • Robert Haveman • Jon R.<br />
Havens • Sharon M. Havers • Chris Haviland • Jon W. Hawbaker • Angela R. Hawkins • Bryan C. Hawkins • Clarence David Hawkins • Devry L. Hawkins • James C. Hawkins • John Lee Hawkins • Kenneth L. Hawkins • Everett E. Hawks • Richard K. Hawks • Alex M.<br />
Hawley • Christine A. Hawley • Elizabeth A. Hawn • Rick G. Hawpe • Yvonne Hawpe • Terrence M. Hay • David S. Hayden • Chris A. Hayes • Dale E. Hayes • Daniel J. Hayes • Daniel R. Hayes • DonnaJean Hayes • George E. Hayes • Gerald B. Hayes • Janis<br />
Hayes • John C. Hayes • Ken Hayes • Mat<strong>the</strong>w W. Hayes • Morey B. Hayes • Thomas J. Hayes • Timothy D. Hayes • Earl L. Haymaker • Desmond L. Haynes • Gail R. Haynes • Gerard S. Haynes • Linda M. Haynes • Lonnie E. Haynes • Mark A. Haynes • Tammy Denae<br />
Haynie • Thomas M. Hays • Christopher S. Hayth • Mickey J. Hayward • Roosevelt H. Haywood • Shawn L. Hazel • Donald Hazelwood • Scott B. Hazelwood • David Chris Head • Donald A. Head • Mark A. Head • Jeffrey A. Heagy • Julie Marie Healey • Peter J.<br />
Healy • John B. Heamstead • Ty B. Hearnsberger • Austin Lee Hearst • Clifford Heart • Horace J. Heath • Michael D. Heath • Steven M. Heath • Wendy L. Heath • Belinda Anne Heaton • William R. Heaton • Cynthia M. Heavrin • Thomas W. Heck • William D.<br />
Heckel • David J. Heckler • Gary C. Heckler • Laura L. Heckman • Richard H. Heckman • John A. Hed • Thomas James Hedeen • Chris J. Heden • Lewis M. Hedgepeth • Kathleen M. Heet • Jeremy J. Heetland • Brenda K. Hefferon • Gerald S. Heffner • Steven A.<br />
Hefley • Joe W. Heflin • Kieron M. Heflin • Mark A. Heflin • Donald M. Heggland • Ryan Hehir • John D. Heidemann • Jesse L. Heier • Andrew C. Heifner • Richard E. Heil • Faith A. Hein • Steven M. Hein • Robert Heintz • Gary Heinz • Martin J.<br />
Heischberg • Christopher L. Heisler • Steven J. Heitstuman • James M. Heitz • John J. Hellander • Charles T. Heller • James D. Heller • Richard T. Hellner • Daniel J. Helm • Alisa Glee Helmer • Lewis E. Helmig • Gary L. Helms • George Eric Helms • Timothy Scott<br />
Helsing • Edward J. Helton • Daniel G. Hemenway • Michael W. Hemmer • Barbara A. Henderson • Barbara J. Henderson • Danny B. Henderson • David R. Henderson • Gregory A. Henderson • Guy David Henderson • James Henderson • Jeffrey S. Henderson • Keith<br />
B. Henderson • Kristin E. Henderson • Pamela B. Henderson • Stephen L. Henderson • William E. Henderson • William L. Henderson • Clarissa H. Hendricks • Cynthia A. Hendricks • Gregory E. Hendricks • James H. Hendrickson • Melodye A. Hendrickson • Brian<br />
Scott Hendrix • John T. Hendrix • Victor C. Hendrix • Mona L. Hendry • Mat<strong>the</strong>w M. Henesy • Guy Heney • Carlos Henley • Phillip W. Henley • Gerald B. Henline • Joseph C. Henn • Patricia E. Henn • David C. Hennequin • Gary F. Hennessey • James J.<br />
Hennessey • Joseph Hennessey • Donald A. Henney • Karl Henning • Michael J. Henning • Todd D. Henning • Stephen H. Henrich • Mark Craig Henricks • Alan L. Henrickson • Nancy J. Henrickson • Lisa A. Henrikson • Julio A. Henriques • Charles K. Henry • Gary<br />
D. Henry • James A. Henry • Joyce A. Henry • Kip M. Henry • Tony L. Henry • William B. Henry • Julie M. Henshaw • John C. Hensley • John R. Hensley • Kaye A. Henson • Stephen C. Henson • William C. Henwood • Kenneth W. Henze • Theresa L. Henze • Robert<br />
David Hepler • Albert E. Herazo • Randall L. Herbert • William H. Herbert • Stephen A. Herbruck • Thomas Grey Herd • Alex J. Herda • Ronald L. Herda • Jared C. Herdey • John Herlien • Gregory Herman • Max J. Herman • Robert Alan Herman • Frank Douglas<br />
Hermann • Stephen Wayne Hermann • Martin G. Hermens • John R. Hermes • Enrique J. Hermosillo • Abel A. Hernandez • Dale A. Hernandez • Edwin Hernandez • Nelsido J. Hernandez • Traian Hernandez • David S. Hernley • Mark A. Herriage • Gary D.<br />
Herrick • J. Mitchell Herrick • James P. Herrin • Frank H. Herring • Jonathan Herring • Laurie Herring • Richard T. Herring • Ricky D. Herring • Harland Blaine Herron • Jeffrey W. Herron • Gary B. Hersh • Preston Todd Hertzler • John Arthur Hertzog • Joseph L.<br />
Hertzog • Robert J. Hertzog • Aaron Michael Herum • Anna M. Herzog • Charles E. Hess • David D. Hess • Gary R. Hess • Sherri L. Hess • Daniel T. Hesse • Paul Andrew Hesse • Heidi L. Hessert • Chris D. Heston • Daniel B. Hetland • Skip Hetterscheidt • Raymond<br />
F. Heustis • Jeffrey M. Hewitt • Kenneth L. Hewitt • Larry E. Hewitt • Rodney A. Hewitt • Steve L. Heying • Lana Hurley Heyns • Patrick Heyob • Steve R. Heywood • Barry W. Hiatt • Bradley J. Hiatt • Shannon M. Hickman • Duane O. Hickok • Anthony C.<br />
Hicks • D’Andre Hicks • Gary D. Hicks • Rodney C. Hicks • Stuart M. Hicks • Edward Hickson • Christine Hiebel • Kurt L. Hiebel • Don E. Hiebert • Paul W. Hiel • Chad William Hiemenz • Rodney W. Hieronymus • Robert Dale Hietala • David T. Higa • Glenn Y.<br />
Higa • Edward W. Higginbotham • Jennifer A. Higginbotham • Joseph L. Higginbotham • Craig Higgins • John J. Higgins • Paul Joseph Higgins • Stan E. Higgins • Kevin D. Higginson • Michael Higgiston • Emilia W. High • George C. High • Jimmie G. High • Donna L.<br />
Hightower • John T. Hightower • Neal Hightower • Roger Hightower • James D. Hildbold • Mark D. Hildebrand • Edward W. Hildenbrand • Marie N. Hiligh • Colleen M. Hill • Daniel F. Hill • Darrin P. Hill • Donald B. Hill • Douglas R. Hill • Garry S. Hill • John A.<br />
Hill • John M. Hill • Lance E. Hill • Lawrence L. Hill • Lawrence P. Hill • Lori J. Hill • Mark L. Hill • Olin T. Hill • Robert C. Hill • Robert Hill • Rodney H. Hill • Timothy J. Hill • Steven J. Hillerud • Jay Hilligrass • William D. Hills • Joseph E. Hillyer • Steven L.<br />
Hillyer • Richard O. Hilmoe • Reed Hiltermann • Jeffrey A. Hilton • Terry L. Hilton • Wendi Jo Hiltwein • Robert O. Hinchliffe • James Hinds • Samantha Hinds • Donald D. Hinebaugh • Charles A. Hines • Deric R. Hines • Mark C. Hines • Laura L. Hinkebein • Mike<br />
Hinkebein • Frank M. Hinman • Carlos R. Hinojosa • Enrique E. Hinojosa • Bruce A. Hinote • Michael P. Hinson • Dennis E. Hinton • James A. Hinton • Douglas R. Hintz • Michael J. Hintz • Shawn N. Hintz • Timothy F. Hipsher • Myles M. Hirahara • Timothy S.<br />
Hirsch • Robert A. Hissom • Rebecca Lyn Hitchcock • Jeffery P. Hitchings • Chris L. Hite • Daniel V. Hittner • Jon A, Hjelm • Tom C. Hjelmgren • John E. Hlavka • Edmund Ho • Deborah E. Hoagland • Mark D. Hoagland • Penny L. Hoban • Timothy M. Hoban • Charles<br />
Hobbs • John E. Hobbs • Kimberly A. Hobbs • Steven Robin Hobbs • Bryan N. Hobgood • Peter M. Hobiger • Fred C. Hochreiter • Delwyn E. Hocker • Robert G. Hocking • Jesse L. Hodel • Eric Hodge • Simpson Craig Hodge • DeWayne Allen Hodges • Philip<br />
Hodges • Richard E. Hodges • William C. Hodges • Benjamin T. Hodgkins • Mark A. Hodgkins • Kelly Jean Hodgson • Lars D.T. Hodgson • Ronald E. Hodowaine • Jeffrey H. Hodsdon • Michael B. Hodson • James R. Hoeksema • John A. Hoelscher • Ferdinand H.<br />
Hoepner • Geoffrey A. Hoertz • George M. Hof • Jessica Lynn Hoffbeck • Allen C. Hoffman • Bobbi S. Hoffman • Brian D. Hoffman • Chris T. Hoffman • Derek L. Hoffman • George Rande Hoffman • Gerald L. Hoffman • Maurice J. Hoffman • Owen Philip<br />
Hoffman • Stephen J. Hoffman • Jill I. Hoffmann • John J. Hoffmann • Mary Lynne Hoffmann • Kathryn I. Hoffsetz • Thomas A. Hofius • Kevin L. Hofmann • Amanda Hogan • Charles C. Hogan • Damon L. Hogan • Gregory Hogan • Mark A. Hogenson • John C.<br />
Hogueisson • Mark David Holben • John Mark Holbrook • Stephen C. Holbrook • Evangeline H. Holcomb • Norval J. Holcomb • Sandra Hope Holcomb • Aaron K. Holden • Edward C. Holden • Gary W. Holden • Robert D. Holderby • Frederick I. Holdgate • Monica<br />
Duran Holguin • Salvador R. Holguin • Brian T. Holgun • David J. Holland • Jeffrey E. Holland • Jeffrey L. Holland • Michael Q. Holland • Terry D. Holland • Walter L. Holland • William T. Holland • Kris P. Hollarbush • Gerald R. Holle • William J. Holley • Kermit B.<br />
Holliday • Rene’ Michael Holliday • Shelley K. Hollingshead • Christopher L. Hollingsworth • Dean Alan Hollingsworth • LouElla A. Hollingsworth • Alan Hollis • William N. Hollis • Derald A. Holloway • Stephanie Aileen Hollowell • Edward K. Holman • Gene A.<br />
Holmes • Melissa Holmes • Neil C. Holmes • Willard P. Holmes • William C. Holmes • David E. Holroyd • G. Bruce Holstad • Byron L. Holt • Don B. Holt • Robert H. Holt • Robert W. Holt • Timothy E. Holt • Valerie J. Holt • James G. Holtz • William L.<br />
Holtzman • Peter C. Holysz • Lester E. Holz • Brett W. Holzschuh • Michael E. Hommowun • Stephen B. Hommowun • Buster Lee Honaker • Joseph Dean Honea • Albert J. Honegger • Robert A. Honey • Wuon Chol Hong • Heath W. Honse • Cindy T.<br />
Hood • Edward R. Hood • John R. Hood • Kathleen Marie Hood • Keith Hood • Mark A. Hood • Alyce V. Hood-Fleming • Dennis R. Hoodlet • Patricia T. Hooge • James Neale Hooker • Todd Hooks • David S. Hooper • Denne Hoover • John M. Hoover • Susan J.<br />
Hoover • Kenneth E. Hopf • Bruce M. Hopkins • Jean M. Hopkins • Linda K. Hopkins • Marty L. Hopkins • Paul M. Hopkins • Robert J. Hopkinson • John Hoppe • William L. Hoppe • Ann-Marie T. Hopper • Dale J. Hopwood • Mitchell Ross Horacek • Thomas R.<br />
Horcher • John R. Hord • Edward Horn • JoAnne Horn • Michael A. Horn • Susan E. Horn • Rueben Robert Hornberg • Gary L. Horne • Gregory A. Horne • Jonathan Horner • Joseph E. Horner • Paul A. Horner • Randal Eugene Horner • William T. Horner • Samuel<br />
I. Horney • Kenneth K. Hornisch • David A. Hornung • David Robert Hornung • Rich T. Horrocks • Chad Horton • David E. Horton • Glenn F. Horton • John D. Horton • Lois J. Horton • Mack P. Horton • Michael J. Horvath • Douglas J. Horwath • Daniel J.<br />
Horwitz • George L. Hosford • Patricia C. Hosier • Janet L. Hoskins • Richard K. Hoskins • Robert E. Host • Fred B. Hostettler • Albert J. Hott • Edward T. Hottman • David M. Houck • Kenneth Alan Hougey • John H. Hough • Daniel J. Houlihan • Ernest<br />
House • Joseph N. House • Jenny B. Householder • Jeff Housend • Lewis V. Houser • R.J. Holt Houser • Ralph B. Houser • Steven W. Houser • Denise J. Houshel • John A. Houston • John S. Houston • Johnny Houston • Andrew P. Houzenga • Stephen M.<br />
Hovis • Alan L. Howard • Charles E. Howard • Davi Howard • David Martin Howard • Gerald M. Howard • Janet M. Howard • John William Howard • Jonathan W. Howard • Mark A. Howard • Michael L. Howard • Robert J. Howard • Roger D. Howard • Russell<br />
Joseph Howard • Susan K. Howard • Dennis A. Howarth • Curtis G. Howe • Jason J. Howe • Barbara A. Howell • Lisa J. Howell • Michael R. Howell • Steve R. Howell • Teddy V. Howell • William Thomas Howell • Melissa J. Howes • Kathleen L. Howeth • Karyn<br />
Howland • Michael D. Howse • Thomas W. Howting • Bruce M. Hoyer • Cheryl A. Hoyt • James M. Hoyt • Nicole Lynn Hradil • Warren A. Hragyil • William L. Hribal • Michael Hrizuk • Jeffrey J. Hruby • David Y.J. Hsu • Son T. Hua • Ruey-Long Huang • James Lee<br />
Hubbard • Jason S. Hubbard • Johnny M. Hubbard • Daniel W. Hubbartt • Harold W. Huber • James F. Huber • James M. Huber • Kathleen F. Huber • Mark A. Huber • Phillip L. Huber • Richard F. Huber • Scott Huber • Jeff B. Hubert • Ronald M. Hubrich • Raymond<br />
Huck • Bryan Shawn Huckaby • Dan Huddleston • Mark Hudgins • Thomas J. Hudnall • Joseph G. Hudson • Rex H. Hudson • Shane Andrew Hudson • Steven C. Hudson • Thomas G. Hudson • John Hudy • Frank E. Hudzinski • Ka<strong>the</strong>rine Huebner • Rodrigo J.<br />
Huete • Denise Lynn Huey • Gregory T. Huey • Charles R. Huff • William T. Huff • Douglas W. Huffman • Vernon C. Huffman • Brian D. Hugge • Monte E. Hugget • Gladys J. Huggins • Jeanne M. Huggins • Arthur K. Hughes • Camille D. Hughes • Daniel K.<br />
Hughes • David C. Hughes • Eric K. Hughes • F. James Hughes • James P. Hughes • Jason R. Hughes • Jeffrey Alan Hughes • Jeremy L. Hughes • John R. Hughes • Johnny C. Hughes • Larry R. Hughes • Mark J. Hughes • Patrick L. Hughes • Paul Gregory Hughes • Philip<br />
T. Hughes • Richard Hughes • Susanne M. Hughes • Thomas K. Hughes • Timothy R. Hughes • William E. Hughes • William F. Hughes • William James Hughes • James N. Huhta • William C. Hui • Byron W. Hull • Michael A. Hull • Michael J. Hull • Richard M.<br />
Hull • Terry L. Hull • Edward W. Hulsey • Tod E. Hulsman • Christina Marie Hulsmeyer • Renae Lynn Hultgren • Bradley John Hultquist • Mack H. Humphery • David C. Humphrey • Mark Anthony Humphrey • John W. Humphreys • Sarah M. Humphreys • Stan G.<br />
Humphreys • Kirby R. Humphries • Allen Hundal • Donald M. Huneke • Stephen L. Hungerford • Thomas H. Hungerland • Dennis A. Hunsinger • Donald F. Hunt • Jeffree A. Hunt • Kenneth N. Hunt • Mark A. Hunt • Patrick Lee Hunt • Asia Lynn Hunter • Donald R.<br />
Hunter • Gregory S. Hunter • James E. Hunter • Mark F. Hunter • Morace B. Hunter • Owen W. Hunter • Philip L. Hunter • Alan P. Huntley • Hugh R. Hunton • Greg L. Hurd • Patrick J. Hurd • Deborah Hurley • LeRoy F. Hurley • William J. Hurley • Mark Edward<br />
Hurmence • James Allen Hurst • Jamison Hurst • Janice P. Hurst • Todd Charles Hurta • Jeff W. Huschka • Tim Glen Huseby • Steven R. Huser • Lawrence J. Huskey • Michael J. Huskey • Daryl Hustead • Amy L. Huston • Elena Huston • Amy C. Hutcherson • Royce<br />
B. Hutcherson • Robert W. Hutchins • Fenton Hewes Hutchinson • Jerry F. Hutchinson • Gerald W. Huthoefer • Kim F. Hutnik • Karen K. Hutsell • Michael D. Hutson • Bennie R. Hutto • Harry J. Hyaduck • Michael L. Hyde • Raymond A. Hyde • Robert L.<br />
Hyde • Troy T. Hyder • Kenneth J. Hyer • Todd A. Hyland • Steven R. Hylinski • Tanya L. Hyman • Teal N. Hyman • Zishoni D. Hymes • Samuel D. Hyte • Dean Iacopelli • Charles R. Ibold • Mona L. Iddings • Vincent Ifill • Alex C. Iglesias • Gilberto P.<br />
Iglesias • Rosemary D. Igrec • Larry Ihlen • John V. Ikeda • Jon M. Ikeda • Joyce E. Ikemire • Delroy M. Iles • Jeff Ilich • Jeffrey A. Imel • Michael Imes • Rico F. Imundo • Dawn M. Indrisek • Milan S. Indrisek • Mark B. Ingersoll • R. Allen Inglett • John<br />
Ingman • David R. Ingraham • Charles A. Ingram • William D. Ingram • Jimmy R. Inman • Ken K. Inouye • Russell T. Inouye • Joseph Iovanisci • Mary Irby • Danny L. Ireland • Mark A. Ireson • Jose Angel Irizarry • Thomas L. Ironside • Neil Irvin • Michael S.<br />
Irving • Steven C. Irving • Kenneth L. Irwin • Michael C. Irwin • Marion Isaac • Mark D. Isaacks • George L. Isaacs • Michael Isaacs • Gina Isaak • Jeffrey G. Isbister • Colleen Marie Ishaug • Kathi Naomi Ishimaru • Jayson K. Isler • Dexter R. Ithal • Carlos<br />
Iturbe • Russell Itzkin • Allen W. Ivy • Eva R. Ivy • George P. Ivy • Scott T. Iwamoto • Chris G. Iwanski • George E. Jackman • Bryan Edward Jackson • David J. Jackson • David W. Jackson • Donald R. Jackson • Eric Donald Jackson • Erwin B. Jackson • Gregory Wayne<br />
Jackson • Hea<strong>the</strong>r C. Jackson • Leonard A. Jackson • Lora J. Jackson • Mary M. Jackson • Paula A. Jackson • Rexford A. Jackson • Roxanne Jackson • Russel A. Jackson • Stephen R. Jackson • Teronda V. Jackson • Thomas Daniel Jackson • Wayne R. Jackson • William<br />
Neal Jackson • Moni Jacob • Gregory S. Jacobs • Jon H. Jacobs • Kurt A. Jacobs • Steven Earle Jacobs • William T. Jacobs • Joseph D. Jacobsen • Andrea Mary Jacobson • Todd E. Jacobson • Jon R. Jacobus • Susan Lemonds Jaeger • Rodney P. Jaehn • Beverly<br />
Jaffe • Helen Jafolis • Mary W. Jagiello • Chris Joseph Jahn • Andrew Jaimes • Edward L. Jakowski • Belinda Jalilpour • John R. Jamboretz • Dale A. James • Dennis Michael James • Thomas A. James • Charles P. Jamison • John F. Jamison • Robert E. Jamison • Chris<br />
Jamotta • Paul Anthony Jan • Paul C. Janak • Michael Janicke • Jerome J. Janik • Randy A. Janowski • James L. Janssens • Richard J. Janusz • John L. Japez • Alfred Jaramillo • James M. Jarvis • Jeffrey R. Jarvis • Michael P. Jarvis • Mitchell P. Jarvis • Sharon<br />
Jarvis • William Joe Jarvis • Manzoor H. Javed • Stanley J. Jaworski • Charles D. Jaynes • Joseph A. Jeanes • Alan J. Jefferies • Christopher Jeffers • Carol I. Jefferson • Gordon V. Jefferson • Richard K. Jefferson • Larry Michael Jeffs • Goran Jelenic • Tye H.<br />
Jelle • David J. Jenkins • Martin A Jenkins • Robert Jenkins • Sherry K. Jenkins • Thomas H. Jenkins • Dorothy Ann Jenks • Louisa E. Jenks • Charles U. Jennette • Candaisy Jennings • David J. Jennings • Dean G. Jennings • Gerald A. Jennings • Kurt W. Jennings • Victor<br />
F. Jennings • William L. Jennings • Carl M. Jensen • Carl R. Jensen • Harry A. Jensen • James Jay Jensen • James Lawrence Jensen • Karl F. Jensen • Richard L. Jensen • Robert C. Jensen • Mark A. Jernigan • Jillian Jerrolds • Byron Paul Jespersen • David D. Jessen • Robert<br />
B. Jesser • Diana J. Jessop • Charles A. Jetel • Kimberly Jetel • Ricardo Jimenez • Susana Jimenez • Victor Jimenez • Richard Jimonson • Elizabeth H. Jinks • Karl R. Jiricek • John M. Jirschefske • Randall J. Job • Joye L. Jobe • Joseph W. Jochheim • William K.<br />
Johannes • Eric Brian Johansen • Mike Johanson • Clay H. John • Erik J. John • Beary M. Johns • Paul Johns • Randal J. Johns • John T. Johnsen • Vince Johnsen • Chris T. Johnsey • Adam Andrew Johnson • Amy L. Johnson • Andrew R. Johnson • Barry S.<br />
Johnson • Benjamin G. Johnson • Brenda J. Johnson • Brenda Lee Johnson • Brian John Johnson • Brian T. Johnson • Bruce L. Johnson • Chad Noland Johnson • Charles D. Johnson • Chris L. Johnson • Chris S. Johnson • Chris T. Johnson • Christine Johnson • Christopher<br />
H. Johnson • Christopher R. Johnson • Cory W. Johnson • Cristofer L. Johnson • Curtis A. Johnson • Curtis Johnson • Danal R. Johnson • Darrell Lee Johnson • David A. Johnson • David C. Johnson • David M. Johnson • David S. Johnson • David W. Johnson • Debra<br />
K. Johnson • Donald Johnson • Douglas Mark Johnson • Edward S. Johnson • Eric Johnson • Frederick M. Johnson • Gary M. Johnson • Hal P. Johnson • Harry L. Johnson • James David Johnson • James G. Johnson • James Nolen Johnson • James R. Johnson • James The<br />
NATCA Family
The NATCA Family<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
R. Johnson • Jason Johnson • Jayne L. Johnson • Jeffery Lee Johnson • Jeffrey A. Johnson • Jeffrey R. Johnson • Jerry J. Johnson • John E. Johnson • Kathleen M. Johnson • Keith Dwayne Johnson • Keith N. Johnson • Keith W. Johnson • Kelly Robert Johnson • Kenneth<br />
N. Johnson • Kenneth W. Johnson • Kent A. Johnson • Kent J. Johnson • Kevin D. Johnson • Kyle L. Johnson • Lane Donald Johnson • Larry K. Johnson • Louis Thomas Johnson • Mark Allen Johnson • Mark D. Johnson • Mark R. Johnson • Mark S. Johnson •<br />
Marvin B. Johnson • Melvin L. Johnson • Michael B. Johnson • Michael Keith Johnson • Michael R. Johnson • Michael W. Johnson • Michael W. Johnson • Mitchell E. Johnson • Ollie Johnson • Paul A. Johnson • Paul Johnson • Perry D. Johnson • Peter H. Johnson • Phillip<br />
W. Johnson • Randall Brent Johnson • Randol D. Johnson • Rashun Johnson • Regginale E. Johnson • Reginald A. Johnson • Rex A. Johnson • Rhonda A. Johnson • Richard C. Johnson • Richard Johnson • Robert E. Johnson • Robert J. Johnson • Robert L.<br />
Johnson • Robert Johnson • Roger D. Johnson • Ruth E. Johnson • Ruthann Johnson • Samuel J. Johnson • Sasha Rae Johnson • Saundra I. Johnson • Schubert C. Johnson • Sharon A. Johnson • Stefanie Ann Johnson • Stephen C. Johnson • Steven J. Johnson • Steven<br />
M. Johnson • Terry A. Johnson • Thomas A. Johnson • Thomas Francis Johnson • Thomas R. Johnson • Timothy D. Johnson • Timothy L. Johnson • Timothy Johnson • Tony M. Johnson • Tracy L. Johnson • Vernon Johnson • Virgil Lee Johnson • Wade Johnson • Walter<br />
R. Johnson • Wayne D. Johnson • Wayne E. Johnson • William D. Johnson • William G. Johnson • William Pryor Johnson • Allen J. Johnston • David L. Johnston • Diana Johnston • James J. Johnston • James R. Johnston • James R. Johnston • Jerry Lee<br />
Johnston • Roxann Johnston • Scott B. Johnston • William Johnston • Scott A. Johnstone • James Michael Joiner • Gregory S. Jok • David E. Jolley • Robert Jolley • Kevin G. Jolliffe • Juli A. Jonas • Kenneth D. Jonassen • Alan E. Jones • Beverly J. Jones • Brian K.<br />
Jones • Brian W. Jones • Bryan E. Jones • Byron Keith Jones • Carol J. Jones • Casey A. Jones • Charles B. Jones • Dana C. Jones • Daniel W. Jones • Darnell A. Jones • Darrin L. Jones • David M. Jones • David W. Jones • Donald Vann Jones • Douglas M.<br />
Jones • Duncan M. Jones • Durwin W. Jones • Edgar G. Jones • Edward L. Jones • Felicia L. Jones • Frederick A. Jones • George L. Jones • Glen Jones • Gordon B. Jones • Gregory Jones • Jeanne L. Jones • Jeffery D. Jones • Jeffrey A. Jones • Jeffrey T. Jones • John P.<br />
Jones • Ka<strong>the</strong>rine S. Jones • Kathy Lee Jones • Kennedy Jones • Kitty A. Jones • Krisleen A. Jones • Leon T. Jones • Lewis A. Jones • Lori A. Jones • Lynn H. Jones • Mat<strong>the</strong>w W. Jones • Melvin B. Jones • Michael E. Jones • Michael P. Jones • Michael Phillip<br />
Jones • Nathaniel T. Jones • Randy T. Jones • Richard Jones • Robert David Jones • Robert L. Jones • Robert L. Jones • Scott A. Jones • Scott Jones • Steven Jones • Thomas S. Jones • Todd M. Jones • Wardell Jones • Warren Bailey Jones • Wayne C. Jones • William<br />
Harold Jones • Jennifer Jones-Smith • Eric H. Jonke • Anthony D. Jopling • Bryan Keith Jordan • Daniel B. Jordan • Douglas A. Jordan • Juanita Jordan • Mark D. Jordan • Peter S. Jordan • Seann P. Jordan • Lynn R. Jorde • Joseph P. Jorge • Kirk R. Jorgensen • Richard<br />
G. Jorgensen • Scott A. Jorgensen • Steven M. Jorgensen • Thomas L. Jorgensen • Terra Ann Jorgenson • John W. Joseph • Kosly Joseph • Malcolm W. Joseph • Ron M. Joshua • Carrie R. Joslin • Mark T. Joswick • Valerie Ann Jovel • Cherie J. Joyal • Thomas E.<br />
Joyce • Timothy K. Joyce • Bobby Anthony Joyner • Gregory D. Joyner • Philip R. Joyner • William C. Joyner • Michelle L. Juarez • Stephen T. Jubb • Tom Juday • Dallas Gene Judkins • David P. Judson • Jason Todd Judy • Dale S. Juhl • John William Julian • Dennis<br />
Julianna • Mary K. June • Jude Juneau • Abraham Jung • Craig M. Jung • Gil Y. Jung • Lisa A. Junkins • Charles Benjamin Justice • Hugh L. Justice • Patricia A. Justice • Wirge Justusson-Rivera • Clarence D. Kabat • Cynthia M. Kacher • Michael J. Kacher • Mat<strong>the</strong>w D.<br />
Kachur • James A. Kadrmas • Robert J. Kaemmer • Sanford K. Kaga • Ayaz G. Kagzi • Cynthia E. Kahl • Mark E. Kahl • Philip J. Kain • Brandon D. Kaiser • Frederick C Kaiser • Sanjeev Kalani • Steven F. Kaldahl • Mark A. Kallio • Alexander Kalmykov • Andrew L.<br />
Kalnoske • Timon A. Kalpaxis • Steven Kalvelage • Bernie Kamali • John M. Kamer • Thomas Kenneth Kamman • Joseph Kammerlocher • Scott Allen Kamph • Mat<strong>the</strong>w S. Kamplain • Walter L. Kamps • Ken Kamrath • Wayne T. Kanagusuku • Edward J.<br />
Kane • Thomas J. Kane • David W. Kangas • Joseph Kenneth Kann • David A. Kannberg • Leanne R. Kannegieter • Glen S. Kanow • Dale I. Kanten • Thomas Stephen Kantola • Tammy Kantorowicz • Michael A. Kanyuh • Mark A. Kapeghian • James Kaping • Eugene<br />
Kapinos • Antonia A. Kaplan • Dennis Keith Kaplan • John T. Kaplun • William L. Kappa • Robert D. Kappel • Daniel W. Kaps • John A. Kaps • Steven Kapsalis • Gail A. Kapusnick • John R. Karafa • Frederick C. Karam • Tim P. Karavas • Greg Kardong • Lisa<br />
Kardos • Robert A. Kareff • Naomi E. Karkanen • Francis R. Karkula • James A. Karlovich • Aaron Karlson • Susan K. Karlson • Kenneth B. Karnath • John M. Karnbach • Christian M. Karns • John C. Karnstedt • Jo A. Karp • Kenton B. Karr • Robert J. Karras • Jerome<br />
A. Karrels • Robert Karsky • Kathleen Ann Karsten • Mary J. Karsten • Thomas E. Karstetter • Sandra L. Karwoski • Timothy J. Karwoski • Jim Kasara • John Michael Kasel • Vincent F. Kashuda • Joseph F. Kashula • Tina M. Kask • Kevin P. Kasparek • Corey J.<br />
Kaster • Janet M. Kath • Randy E. Kath • Larry W. Kattner • Bruce Howard Katz • Steven D. Katz • Martina C. Kauffman • Vance G. Kauffman • Robert E. Kaufman • Rudolf Kaufmann • David A. Kaupp • Richard Kawaguchi • John G. Kay • Dean S. Kaye • Craig E.<br />
Kayler • Brian Kayner • Omid Kayvan • David Allen Kazyaka • Mat<strong>the</strong>w D. Kealy • Patrick Martin Keane • Shawn E. Keane • Kreg A. Kearley • George W. Keaton • Michael F. Keaveney • Glenn R. Keck • James M. Keck • Kevin Patrick Kee • Craig R. Keech • Terence<br />
M. Keefe • Aaron Zackary Keel • Ronald H. Keel • Victor Keela • Jennings D. Keele • Amy Jo Keeler • Tina Keeling • Thomas A. Keenan • Robert M. Keene • Forest J. Keener • Kevin M. Keener • James D. Keeney • Shane Keenley • Ryan Keesecker • James B.<br />
Keesling • Dennis T. Keeton • Jerome W. Keever • Mat<strong>the</strong>w S. Keffer • Ralph H. Kegel • James G. Kehoe • David D. Keifer • Chris Keil • Scott W. Keiling • Clifford J. Keirce • Elmo E. Keirsey • Gerald B. Keiter • Claude Keith • Duane Keith • Gary S. Keith • James<br />
N. Keith • Kenneth K. Keith • Lia M. Keith • Kristin L. Keitzer • David E. Kellar • Bernhard Karl Keller • Cathy Keller • Donald Michael Keller • Douglas Keller • Forrest Keller • Henry Lee Keller • Jesse L. Keller • Richard S. Keller • Scott Keller • Terry D.<br />
Keller • Donald E. Kellett • Eric Kelley • Eugene T. Kelley • Glenn P. Kelley • James M. Kelley • James M. Kelley • James Mike Kelley • John V. Kelley • Kimberly A. Kelley • Mary J. Kelley • Rohn Kelley • Scott L. Kelley • Steven K. Kelley • Thomas W. Kelley • Timothy<br />
C. Kelley • William R. Kelley • Susan M. Kelley-Marino • Brian Frank Kellman • Amy S. Kellogg • Marcey L. Kellogg • Richard Earl Kellogg • James L. Kellum • Anthony Kelly • Clinton L. Kelly • Daniel W. Kelly • Daniel Kelly • David Wade Kelly • Dennis E. Kelly • Hugh<br />
J. Kelly • James J. Kelly • James M. Kelly • James P. Kelly • John David Kelly • Kenneth V. Kelly • Kerry Lynne Kelly • Kevin John Kelly • Kim E. Kelly • Milton Cardell Kelly • Robert D. Kelly • Stephen E. Kelly • Thomas F. Kelly • Michael Keltz • Robert L.<br />
Kelzenberg • Clifford M. Kemler • Michael W. Kemmis • James E. Kemp • Lars W. Kemp • Gary D. Kempe • Kevin Kempton • Douglas P. Kenaga • John F. Kendall • John Glenn Kendall • Kelly B. Kendall • Leonard M. Kendall • Steve Kender • Lamonte M.<br />
Kendzierski • Brian K. Kenemer • Robert John Kenna • E.J. Kennedy • Houston R. Kennedy • John Carroll Kennedy • John J. Kennedy • Josh H. Kennedy • LeAnne Kennedy • Linda C. Kennedy • Michael E. Kennedy • Michael S. Kennedy • Norman O.<br />
Kennedy • Norman T. Kennedy • Randy L. Kennedy • Ronald Edward Kennedy • Steven S. Kennedy • Teah D. Kennedy • Terrence L. Kennedy • Wade A. Kennedy • Warren D. Kennedy • Larry Richard Kennell • Scott S. Kenner • Richard N. Kennington • Roy A.<br />
Kennis • Ryan P. Kennley • Mary Anne Kenny • Alvin D. Kent • James D. Kent • Paul C. Kenward • Kimberly S. Kenyon • Steven D. Kenyon • Phalla Keo • Carl D. Kerby • James M. Kerekes • Todd Michael Kerekes • Paul H. Keriazes • Dennis A. Kern • Gary R.<br />
Kern • Konrad Kern • John L. Kernan • John B. Kerr • Mark W. Kerr • Randolph D. Kerr • Raymond B. Kerr • Robert A. Kerr • Teresa A. Kerr • Wendy Kerr • Robert A. Kersey • Carl A. Kertis • Michael R. Kerwin • Christophe M. Kesler • Robert E. Kesler • Mary<br />
L. Keso • Bruce A. Kessler • Keith H. Kessler • Louis I. Kessler • Ricky Ketchmark • Roy Ketchum • James Donald Kettenhofen • Monica Y. Keyes • Robert C. Keyes • Hani Khalil • Varun Khanna • Paul Khatcherian • Talal Khawatmi • Audrey L. Kidd • David J.<br />
Kidd • Henry J. Kidd • James R. Kidd • Kraig S. Kidd • Paul B. Kidd • Clinton F. Kidwell • William A. Kieffer • Chris J. Kiely • Randy R. Kienitz • Mary R. Kiger • Delisa Kik • Michael E. Kik • Edward F. Kiley • Patrick M. Kiley • Frederick L. Kilgo • David P.<br />
Kilgus • Chris M. Killian • David Killmer • Edward J. Kilroy • Peter Kily • Paul Y. Kim • Tim Kim • Wonbae Kim • LaDonna L. Kimble • Randolph L. Kimble • Paula J. Kimbrell • Janine I. Kimmes • Greg S. Kimzey • James D. Kincaid • Tommy Kincaid • Wilburn<br />
M. Kincaid • Gregory L. Kindred • Lynwood D. Kindt • Sandra A. Kindt • Antoinette King • Benjamin F. King • Chris K. King • David J. King • David L. King • Deborah B. King • Donna G. King • Erwin T. King • Eustace Eugene King • Gregory F. King • Herbert T.<br />
King • Jol R. King • Kevin F. King • Lawrence N. King • Lawrence T. King • Lynn A. King • Michael K. King • Nancy Jean King • Paul Eddie King • Ralph J. King • Richard D. King • Robin C. King • Scott King • Shirley King • Thomas L. King • Gary W. Kingsbury • Mark<br />
C. Kingsbury • Gary Brent Kingsley • Michael Ralph Kingsley • Noel N. Kingston • Cecil Kinion • James L. Kinkelaar • Duane R. Kinney • Mitchell P. Kinney • Patricia K. Kinney • Thomas M. Kinney • Michael E. Kinsella • Debbie D. Kinser • Henry S. Kinsler • Kenneth<br />
E. Kinyon • Susan J. Kinyon • Anthony C. Kirby • LouAnn Kirby • Noel Andrew Kirby • Paul T. Kirby • Scott E. Kirby • Dean R. Kirchoff • Michael Dean Kirk • Michael J. Kirk • Paul M. Kirk • Richard John Kirk • William J. Kirkbride • Michael D. Kirkby • Bruce E.<br />
Kirkendoll • Edmund J. Kirker • Daniel W. Kirkes • Edmund Randall Kirkland • Jimmy D. Kirkland • George N. Kirkpatrick • Kevin F. Kirkpatrick • Eric P. Kirner • Kevin C. Kirsch • Robert L. Kirsch • Robert A. Kirtley • Robert K. Kiser • Wayne A. Kish • Gary L.<br />
Kishbaugh • Chester Kisling • Thomas W. Kisling • Kevin W. Kiss • William A. Kisseadoo • Barbara E. Kissee • Paul E. Kisselburg • Robert M. Kissling • Billy R. Kitchen • Deron J. Kitchen • Edward T. Kitchens • John H. Kitchens • Kevin D. Kitson • Donna Marie<br />
Kitta • David J. Kittle • Michael Albert Kitto • Malcolm Kittrell • Karl D. Kivela • James S. Kizer • Keith L. Kizziar • Anthony Edward Klancher • John A. Klarich • Steven D. Klarich • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine B. Klatt • John D. Klatt • James D. Klausing • William K. Klausner • John<br />
E. Klear • Russell E. Klecka • Alan R. Klein • Jeffrey J. Klein • Linda J. Klein • Michael J. Klein • Steven R. Klein • Chris A. Kleine • Scott A. Kleinhaus • Richard J. Kleinheinz • Chris Carl Klevesahl • Robert A. Klier • Diane L. Kline • Michael S. Kline • Bruce Daniel<br />
Klinger • David M. Klinger • Michele Kloft • Cecile M. Kloman • Chris Kloman • Steven J. Klongerbo • Thomas John Kloos • Blair A. Klotzbach • Karla M. Kluesner • Kenneth L. Kluge • Leigh Ann Kluge • Barry W. Klunder • John E. Klunk • Michael R.<br />
Klupenger • Kevin M. Kluver • James C. Kmetz • Mark W. Knabel • Carl W. Knapp • Derek A. Knapp • Gary E. Knapp • Michael G. Knaup • Donald F. Knehr • Richard A. Knepfle • Nick Knezevich • Michael Knezovich • James R. Knickerbocker • Kevin P.<br />
Knickerbocker • Beatrice S. Knight • Deborah J. Knight • Eric J. Knight • James D. Knight • Kelly R. Knight • Leonard R. Knight • Shawn Gerald Knight • Terence A. Knight • Larry M. Knighten • Carey Knoerdel • Joseph B. Knoetgen • Ross Barry Knoll • Andrew J.<br />
Knopp • William P. Knost • Rick Knowles • Robert M. Knowles • Todd M. Knowles • Charles J. Knox • Edward D. Knox • Ingrid D. Knox • Jackie Dale Knox • Jason C. Knudsen • Sharon K. Knudsen • David P. Knuebel • Mark G. Knupp • Jeffrey N. Knutson • Scott<br />
A. Knutson • John J. Knych • David L. Koch • John F.W. Koch • Lisa Marie Koch • Kimberly M. Kochis • Khalil E. Kodsi • George F. Koehler • Edward E. Koehn • Gustave F. Koehn • Keith D. Koenig • Keith M. Koenig • Kristopher Scott Koenig • Steve Koenigseder • Todd<br />
D. Koeppen • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Koester • Julie Koetz • Beverly D. Koffron • John P. Kofler • Louis H. Kohagen • Stanley E. Kohl • Dori S. Kohlberg • Michael E. Kohler • Sherry L. Kohler • William P. Kohler • Michael Kohner • Kelley S. Kohring • Nathan A. Kohring • Becky<br />
Ann Kohut • Adrian T. Koizumi • Kristopher M. Koke • Michael G. Kokes • Wayne Kokiadis • Jackie G. Kolberg • Garth Gene Koleszar • William J. Kollasch • Gloria J. Kollosch • Joseph Michael Kolock • Richard M. Kolodka • Anthony P. Kolonie • Jason<br />
Kolpen • Thomas B. Komer • Lisa Ann Konchar • Robert S. Kondracke • Joseph P. Konietzko • Mat<strong>the</strong>w J. Konig • Roman R. Konowka • Kurt A. Konrad • William D. Konrad • John J. Kontje • Es<strong>the</strong>r J. Kontos • Charles F. Konz • Jeffrey L. Konzal • Mike Koob • Richard<br />
S. Koogle • Mark Douglas Kooiman • Jeffrey W. Koon • Taylor L. Koonce • Mark R. Koos • Christine M. Kooser • Michael C. Koppes • Scott L. Kordes • Henry C. Korecko • Christophe S. Korkowski • Nicole MaryElizabeth Korkowski • Timothy Michael Korody • David<br />
G. Koroscik • John C. Korsman • Donald M. Korzep • Dean R. Kosen • Barry Kosmal • Jennifer L. Kossick • Leigh Ann Kost • Peter A. Kosterman • Daniel S. Koston • Donald E. Kostuck • John Kotlaba • John Kouloumbis • Charles B. Koury • Joseph L.<br />
Kovack • Donald L. Kovacs • Peter Kovalick • David J. Kovarik • Annette K. Kovite • Patrick L. Kowal • Gary M. Kowalski • Thomas F. Kozak • Francis E. Kozar • Arthur Eric Krachenfels • Anne C. Krachey • Glenn M. Krafcik • Janet L. Kraft • Edward F.<br />
Kragh • Thomas A. Krajacic • Lee W. Kramer • Lonnie E. Kramer • Peter F. Kramer • Shawn C. Kramer • William S. Kramer • William C. Kramerick • Brandi Krance • Michael I. Krane • Mary L. Krasky • Barry S. Krasner • John P. Krasnovsky • Ted A.<br />
Kratochvil • Daniel H. Kraus • Dennis H. Kraus • Dean B. Krause • Stephen H. Kravitz • Karrie M. Krear • Ronald L. Krebs • Dayna Rachelle Kreider • Donald R. Kreider • Paul A. Kreinbrink • Leo H. Kremer • Lisa Kremer • Craig Krepps • Nicholas N.<br />
Kresovich • Steven H. Kretsinger • Brandon Kreutel • Timothy J. Krieger • James J. Krimm • Valri J. Kriner • Debra Dee Kring • Gloria J. Krisel • Scott E. Krisher • Troy Kristof • Keith M. Kristufek • Donald T. Krivohlavy • Brian K. Krizek • Tracy L. Kroeten • Billy<br />
Ray Krohne • David Krohnfeldt • Garin M. Kroll • Scott P. Kropelnicki • Gary W. Krouse • Olga Krsinic • Linda S. Krucky • Kurt Krueger • Randall G. Krug • Keith C. Krumwiede • Laurie A. Krumwiede • Gary E. Krupczak • Keith A. Kruse • Michael Leo<br />
Kryszczuk • Paul Krzyznieski • Michael James Kubinski • Terri J. Kubisty • Gerald S. Kubitza • Thomas J. Kubla • Thomas A. Kucala • Aleece Kuchler • Mark Geoffrey Kuck • Jeffrey J. Kudlo • Jennifer L. Kuehn • Gary E. Kueper • Jason J. Kufta • William T.<br />
Kuhar • Cary W. Kuhl • Timothy C. Kuhl • Kenneth S. Kuhlmann • George W.M. Kuhn • Thomas E. Kuhn • Kenneth A. Kula • Chris E. Kulas • Jeffrey R. Kulp • Dean W. Kulwicki • Kirby K. Kump • Michael E. Kunkel • David F. Kunkle • Michael Thomas Kunst • Edward<br />
L. Kunz • Kathryn L. Kuper • Richard Kupfer • Mary Ann Kurle • Karen Kurowski • Todd B. Kurteff • Dragan Kurtin • Margaret Kurtin • Christine M. Kurtz • James I. Kurtz • Kristina M. Kurtz • John R. Kurtzman • James L. Kurz • Michael A. Kurz • Geoffrey Jon<br />
Kusel • Philip C. Kush • Wesley E. Kutch • David M. Kutsch • Thomas E. Kutsch • Tracy A. Kutsch • David Toby Kuykendall • Derk J. Kuypers • Dwight M. Kuzanek • John Kwiecinski • Jerry J.H. Kwock • James M. Kyne • Jonathan Kyser • James B. Laabs • Eric G.<br />
Labardini • Nicole A. Labate • Michael J. Laboi • Charles LaBombard • Raul E. LaBoy • JoAnne M. LaBrecque • John LaBrecque • Ronald W. LaBrecque • Chester W. LaBruyere • Roy A. Laccone • Jason Lacefield • Jeffrey S. Lacey • Steven L. Lachance • Dean S.<br />
Lacharite • Edwin L. Lacher • Augustin D. Lachowsky • Ronald Allen LaCour • Brian LaCross • Mark A. Lacy • Brian J. Ladd • Keith Ladderud • Darryl Alan Ladnier • John LaDonna • Anne Marie Lafave • John L. LaFave • Richard M. Lafferty • Ronald L.<br />
Lafferty • Brian J. LaFleur • Ryan D. LaFramboise • Scott Lagasse • Daniel T. Lage • Neil P. Lageson • Michael C. Lagrange • Cynthia L. Lagrassa • Nicholas Blake LaGrone • Lawrence P. Lahay • Dean W. Laigle • William E. Laing • Gregory S. LaJuene • Jimmy J.<br />
Lake • Arun K. Lal • Craig A. Lallak • Edward Lalputan • Steve Lam • Daniel Wade LaMaster • Darlene M. LaMaster • Cynthia N. Lamb • David M. Lamb • Marvin Robert Lamb • Richard T. Lamb • Ronald G. Lamb • Zaven Lambajian • Brian L. Lambert • Dawn E.<br />
Lambert • Don Lambert • Donna M. Lambert • Jeff M. Lambert • John V. Lambert • Joseph Mat<strong>the</strong>w Lambert • Kempton Lambert • Mary Lou Lambert • Michael H. Lambert • Patrick L. Lambert • Scott R. Lambert • Steven G. Lambert • Vernell J. Lambert • William<br />
J. Lambert • Donald E. Lamoreaux • Kenneth Lamoureux • Theodore J. Lamparty • Bruce A. Lampert • William Lampiris • Steven D. Lampman • Dennis Gerald Lamy • Scott M. Lana • Anthony Jason Lancaster • Kenneth Lee Lancaster • Leslie M. Lancaster • Ronald<br />
L. Lancaster • Douglas L. Lance • Stanley P. Lande • Mark E. Landers • Billy L. Landes • John A. Landi • Bryon L. Landis • Patrick S. Landis • Eric P. Landon • Steven S. Landon • Michael M. Landry • Christopher E. Lane • Jerry R. Lane • Kerry R. Lane • Michael J.<br />
Lane • Robert S. Lane • Stephen M. Lane • Barry R. Lang • David D. Lang • John Lang • Scott H. Lang • Eric L. Langdon • Brent W. Lange • James S. Lange • Jonathan P. Lange • Karen A. Langer • Karl R. Langer • Robert W. Langerveld • Miles H. Langston • Paul D.<br />
Langston • Steven N. Langston • Tod R. Lanham • Kevin Charles Lanier • Richard D. Lanier • Stephen W. Lanier • Bill B. Laningham • Jason D. Lanning • Michele Lee Lanoue • Thomas C. Lanouette • Rand A. Lanterman • Donald W. Lantz • Glenn R. Lantz • James G.<br />
Lanum • Michael Lapan • Thomas A. Lapedota • Mark W. Lapham • Kenneth A. Laponis • Phillip B. Lapp • Steven Lardinois • Cathy A. Larkan • Lonnie E. Larkan • Todd R. Larkee • Salvadore John LaRosa • David M. Larsen • John D. Larsen • Norma C. Larsen • Brent<br />
Alan Larson • Candice G. Larson • Christy J. Larson • David W. Larson • Don M. Larson • Donald C. Larson • Erik M. Larson • James Larson • Jay A. Larson • Jeffrey L. Larson • Karin R. Larson • Kenneth J. Larson • Kenneth W. Larson • Larry C. Larson • Nancy L.<br />
Larson • Nathan A. Larson • Rebecca Larson • Rick E. Larson • Scott Anthony Larson • Chris L. LaRue • Sharon Lynn LaRue • Cindy J. LaRuffa • Chris Allen Laschinger • Warren M. LaSelle • Ernesto Lasen • William C. Lash • Jon E. Lashier • Larry A. Last • Paul L.<br />
Lastrapes • Gerald R. Latessa • Verne O. Latham • Chris J. La<strong>the</strong>row • Mary M. Latimer • William A. Latta • Gail Lattrell • David M. Lau • Jerry S. Lau • Robert R. Lau • Robert Lau • Walter C. Lau • Kristen M. Laubach • Marilyn J. Lauber • Louis Lauck • Anita
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Louise Lauer • Kenneth J. Lauer • Steven Thomas Lauer • Douglas E. Laughter • Jeffrey Alan Lauk • Michael E. Launsby • Thomas W. Lauridsen • Dennis T. Lautenbach • Robert G. Lautenslager • Mark Lauterbock • Jean P. Lavaud • Todd W. Laveen • Todd M.<br />
LaVelle • Terence John Lavery • Tracey L. Lavery • David J. Lavikka • Gary D. Lavimoniere • Brian Leo Lavoie • Donald S. Lawless • James P. Lawless • Richard L. Lawless • Dana M. Lawrence • Daniel J. Lawrence • John R. Lawrence • Joseph Stephen Lawrence • Randal<br />
S. Lawrence • Sheila K. Lawrence • Stuart D. Lawrence • Tony H. Lawrence • Jeffrey Dale Laws • Bruce A. Lawson • Kirsten Noel Lawson • Michael J. Lawson • Paul Lawson • Stephen R. Lawson • Jeff P. Lawton • Dora Lawyer • Lyndon E. Lawyer • Lourdes Maria<br />
Lay • Phillip W. Layman • Corazon G. Layon • Elizabeth M. Layton • Lon Warren Layton • Thomas C. Layton • David C. Lazer • Daniel J. Lazuka • Son T. Le • Tuan M. Le • Stephen W. Lea • Vivian D. Leach • Donald D. Leaf • Kerry Leahy • Michael L. Leahy • Sereiryth<br />
Leandre • Greg A. Leary • Michael T. Leary • Tadd W. Leary • Thomas J. Leary • Laura A. Lease • Frederick M. Lea<strong>the</strong>rs • Gregory E. Leathley • Carmen Leavitt • Thomas E. Lebbano • Fred N. Lebhart • Gary J. LeBlanc • Michael R. LeBlanc • Michele E.<br />
LeBlanc • Randall S. LeBlanc • Lisa J. LeBlond • Andrew J. LeBovidge • Kyle D. Lecates • George R. Lechleitner • Dean C. Lechner • Valerie Lechner • John LeClaire • Larry Lederer • Jeffrey W. Ledford • Albert L. Lee • Anthony Stephen Lee • Bradeford Paul<br />
Lee • Carrie M. Lee • Charles Lee • Dong Hun Lee • Jane G. Lee • Janet L. Lee • Karen Marie Lee • Lawrence R. Lee • Leung Lee • Michael A. Lee • Stanley Y. Lee • Stephanie D. Lee • Stephen Lee • Steven Lee • Terry R. Lee • William W. Lee • Gary V.<br />
Leech • Glenn D. Leengran • Charlotte Leeper • Michael E. Leffelman • Charles R. Legee • Timothy Allen Legel • Gregory B. Leger • Albert E. Leggett • Eli K. Leggett • Tim Wayne Leggett • Steven W. LeGrand • Robert C. Legrys • Brett Lehigh • Bryan K.<br />
Lehman • Douglas A. Lehmann • Stephen P. Lehmann • Mark A. LeHosit • Morris Leichter • Stephen R. Leichty • Christopher A. Leigh • Wesley E. Leighton • Scott H. Leininger • David L. Leister • Daniel W. Lekovish • Geoffrey A. Lelliott • Jenny Lelm • Steven R.<br />
LeMaster • William C. LeMay • Dwight C. LeMelle • Gregory J. Lemieux • Ralph T. Lemieux • James K. Leming • Patrick M. Lemire • Gary D. Lemley • Robin B. Lemley • Susan W. Lemley • Gary T. Lemmons • Steven F. Lencioni • Victor A. Lendermon • Roger E.<br />
Lenentine • Steven J. Lenertz • Donna M. Lenhart • Wal<strong>the</strong>r Lenk • Joseph M. Lennon • Thomas J. Lennon • Christophe J. Lenox • John P. Lensch • Karl M. Lense • Ronald E. Lent • Thomas A. Lento • Russell W. Lenz • Bruce A. Leonard • Charles L.<br />
Leonard • Charles W. Leonard • Daniel W. Leonard • Donald J. Leonard • Inge M. Leonard • Jody L. Leonard • Kenneth C. Leonard • Samuel J. Leonard • Staci O. Leonard • Timothy M. Leonard • Stephen L. Leone • Frederick K.M. Leong • Geoffrey Alan Lerch • James<br />
R. Lerda • Larry Lescanec • David Leske • Melvin C. Leskinen • Ambrose A. Lesniak • Carol L. Lesniak • Lisa J. Lesperance • Mat<strong>the</strong>w H. Lessor • Pamela J. Lessor • Craig S. Lester • Steven L. Lester • Susan Letcher • Lee J. Letourneau • Randall J. LeVangie • Charles<br />
H. Leverknight • Allan R. Leverone • David B. Levesque • Kenneth A. Levin • Zoltan G. Levister • Peter A. LeVoci • Mark B. Levy • Frank J. Lewandowski • Joseph S. Lewandowski • Jerrell Q. Lewellen • Andrew C. Lewis • Barrett C. Lewis • Carolyn A. Lewis • Charles<br />
David Lewis • Craig A. Lewis • Donald D. Lewis • Douglas C. Lewis • Dwayne R. Lewis • Elza Lewis • Eric Gordon Lewis • Francis Keith Lewis • Gordon P. Lewis • Jeffrey David Lewis • Jeffrey L. Lewis • Jeffrey N. Lewis • Jeffrey T. Lewis • Jerry C. Lewis • Jerry David<br />
Lewis • Jesse A. Lewis • Joseph M. Lewis • Keith C. Lewis • Kimberly C. Lewis • Kreis L. Lewis • Michael Lewis • Raquel Lewis • Rodney N. Lewis • Ronald R. Lewis • Samuel W. Lewis • Sarah L. Lewis • Scottie Lewis • Steven W. Lewis • Thomas A. Lewis • Thomas<br />
Lewis • Timothy R. Lewis • Timothy Russell Lewis • Todd F. Lewis • Trentus Lewis • James M. Lewkowicz • John F. Leyden • Robert L. Lezon • Demetrios J. Liadis • Mark W. Libby • Kevin M. Liber • William H. Liberty • Marina C. Liburdi • Vincent Licata • Michael H.<br />
Licht • Wade C. Lichti • William D. Lichty • Joseph Licini • Mark A. Lickliter • Ruben Licon • Daniel J. Liechti • Guy Lieser • Joseph J. Lieser • Patricia A. Lie<strong>the</strong>n • George S. Liggett • Marjean M. Liggett • Cynthia Light • Jeffery James Light • Robert J.<br />
Lignelli • Ronald W. Liguori • Dana E. Lilja • Laura A. Lilljedahl • Eric M. Lillvis • Gary W. Lilly • Ronald B. Lilly • Wallace K. Lilly • Alfred R. Limatoc • Michelle M. Limber • Anthony Limon • Tammy L. Limon • James I. Limongelli • Audrey S.J. Lin • Isaac J. Lind • John<br />
Henry Lind • Leslee A. Lindahl • Rodney L. Lindbeck • Alan K. Linder • David Eric Lindholm • Steven M. Lindholm • Russell W. Lindman • Scott E. Lindquist • John W. Lindsay • Reginald C. Lindsay • Steven W. Lindsay • William David Lindsay • Claire Lindsey • David<br />
H. Lindsey • Richard A. Lindsey • Roy A. Lindsey • William K. Lindsey • Linda J. Lineweaver • Ferdinand A. Ling • Russell G. Lingafelter • Charles H. Lingle • Robert L. Lingo • Donald L. Lingren • Gregory C. Link • Gregory P. Link • Cameron L. Linn • Mat<strong>the</strong>w A.<br />
Linn • Joseph M. Lipinski • Craig S. Lippert • Thomas G. Lipscomb • James S. Lipsett • Anthony John Lisauckis • Martha J. Lisauckis • Bruce J. Lisicky • Jonathan Liska • Rachel C. Lisle • Anna G. Lissak • Paul C. Litke • Steven C. Litke • William J. Litke • Robert S.<br />
Litman • Roanna M. Littell • Byron F. Little • Laura K. Little • Robert James Little • Timothy R. Little • David A. Littlefield • Gary W. Littlefield • Ronald R. Littlejohn • Laurence Litvin • Frances Liu • Joseph K. Liu • Tyvonne A. Liverman • Gayle Lynne Livesay • Russell<br />
L. Livingston • Michael J. Lizzio • John J. Lizzul • Charles R. Llamas • Gilbert F. Llewellyn • Austin T. Lloyd • Dennis R. Lloyd • George A. Lloyd • Kenneth J. Lloyd • Lawrence W. Lloyd • Penelope Lloyd • Randall L. Lobaugh • Edwin J. Locke • Kenneth A.<br />
Locke • Robert E. Lockwood • Sam L. Lockwood • Dennis F. Lodovici • Jacqueline K. Loeber • Dennis John Loerch • Richard W. Loewen • Michael J. Lofaso • Robert A. Lofaso • Adam P. Lofton • Donald P. Loftus • Robert A. Loftus • Benna T. Logan • Brent A.<br />
Logan • Thomas I. Logan • Tammy J. Logan-Gardner • Gary E. Logelin • Richard F. Logue • Frank R. Logullo • Eric J. Lohrman • Timothy P. Loisel • Mikel J. Lokensgard • John S. Lolio • Laurie M. Lolio • Eric Todd Lomascolo • David B. Lombard • Michael<br />
Lombardi • Robert A. Lombardi • Marc H. London • Charles V. Long • Clinton L. Long • Daniel D. Long • Jill R. Long • Kevin D. Long • Kyle Long • Robert A. Long • Robert Alan Long • Robert J. Long • Victoria J. Long • W. Glenn Long • Albert A. Longo • Jesse A.<br />
Longoria • Jeff R. Longua • Steven M. Longway • Todd R. Longworth • Richard Lonto • Charles E. Lontz • Jonathan H. Look • Lisa Gaye Look • Steven V. Looper • John R. Lopata • David Bryan Loper • Kevin G. Lopes • Arturo Lopez • David A. Lopez • Edward<br />
Lopez • Gregory C. Lopez • Gustavo Lopez • Irma P. Lopez • Jesse Lopez • Joe Lopez • John P. Lopez • Joseph F. Lopez • Miguel A. Lopez • Chad Lord • Michael G. Lorenzo • Poliala Lorenzo • Shawn K. Lorenzo • Gerald F. Lorig • David A. Loring • Douglas A.<br />
Loriz • Richard E. Lorton • John B. Lott • Bettye Y. Lottes • Robert J. Lottman • Mark S. Loudon • Michael Loughman • Jacqueline Y. Loui • Elizabeth Louie • Carla B. Lounsbury • Dennison R. Love • Randy M. Love • Richard A. Lovell • Philip A. Lovesee • Arthur G.<br />
Lovett • John T. Lovett • David William Loving • Charles S. Lowe • Connie H. Lowe • Larry Allen Lowe • Martin H. Lowe • Brian M. Lowery • James X. Lowery • Jason Lowery • John E. Lowery • Robert W. Lowery • Glenn S. Lowrey • David N. Lowry • Julie S.<br />
Lowry • Michael J. Lowry • Shawn B. Lowry • Timothy S. Low<strong>the</strong>r • Franklin A. Loy • Joseph A. Lozano • Michael A. Lozinski • Carole A. Lozito • Richard L. Lozito • Thomas R. Lozito • Neil A. Luban • Lori O. Lubline • Craig R. Lucarelli • S. Scott Lucas • Gail S.<br />
Lucero • Natasha Jeanne Luch • Robert M. Lucht • Leonard J. Luciano • Louis J. Luciano • Joel R. Lucier • Gregory S. Lucker • Robert C. Luckey • Jeffrie T. Lucore • Melvin C. Ludvigson • Karl D. Ludwig • John R. Luebben • Thomas A. Luebbert • John Scott<br />
Lueckert • Gregory L. Lueke • Todd W. Luepker • James J. Lugowski • Scott J. Luka • Michael W. Lukasik • Sally Anne Luke • Steven R. Lukkes • Richard R. Lukon • William G. Lukos • Vivian M. Lumbard • Kenneth J. Lumetta • Lawrence H. Lund • Rick M.<br />
Lund • Steven Lund • Bruce Lundberg • Tim W. Lundberg • Dorothy Lundy • Robert Lundy • Tristan J. Lundy • Victor Lung • Dennis R. Lunsford • Wade S. Lunsford • Thomas G. Lusch • Gina Luscinski • John R. Lusinger • Anita R. Lutz • John A. Lutz • Kevin<br />
C. Lutz • Erika M. Lux • Nguyen C. Ly • Sandy B. Lyens • Thomas J. Lyens • Kathryn M. Lyman • Daniel J. Lynch • Edward J. Lynch • Geoffrey M. Lynch • Jeffry Dean Lynch • John J. Lynch • Kenneth J. Lynch • Stephen M. Lynch • Thomas R. Lynde • Patrick Lynn • Robert<br />
W. Lynn • James W. Lyon • Timothy M. Lyon • Anthony L. Lyons • Jeffrey Lyons • Brett R. Lystad • Raymond D. Maas • Frederick Maass • Angela Linn Mabardy • Kenneth B. Mabry • Douglas M. Macaulay • John M. Macchiaroli • Dwight D. MacConnell • Alan D.<br />
MacDonald • Arthur M. MacDonald • Chris H. MacDonald • Jeffrey F. MacDonald • Timothy S. MacDonald • Gary L. Mace • Jennifer K. Macejka • James W. Machado • John M. Machado • Scott D. MacHose • George E. Maciulewicz • Charles Mack • Patrick Mack • Paul<br />
K. Mack • Regan R. Mack • Steven R. Mack • Douglas A. MacKay • Lisa Mackertich • Gregory A. MacKey • Louise N. Mackey • Robert M. Mackey • Robert W. Mackey • Stephen E. Mackey • Walter L. Mackey • Joseph T. Mackie • Donald E. MacKnight • Debra Lee<br />
MacNeill • James A. Macomber • Shawn A. MacQueen • Danny R. Madden • David Edwin Maddox • David S. Maddox • Joseph J. Madeja • Paul S. Mader • Robert P. Mader • Shawn Thomas Madera • Shannan M. Madery • Mike M. Madlom • Joseph P. Madonia • Phillip<br />
Madrid • Anna Madsen • Kevin James Madsen • Lyle R. Madsen • Lance Maeda • Bert T. Maekawa • David Maes • Ruth L. Maestre • Martin K. Magana • Isabel Magarino • Charles C. Maggiore • Kevin Maggiore • Richard A. Magill • Bradley A. Magnuson • Richard<br />
W. Magoon • Amy Magstadt • Alan W. Maguire • Darren Maguire • Leslie E. Mahaffey • Terry S. Mahaffey • William B. Mahaffey • Cynthia Jean Mahafkey • Michael S. Mahakian • Joel C. Mahaney • David R. Maher • Dennis E. Maher • Alan G. Mahilo • David H.<br />
Mahler • David E. Mahnke • James R. Mahoney • Margot C. Mahoney • Richard A. Mahoney • Robert B. Mahool • Michael F. Maikowski • Karen K. Mailo • Gregory S. Maitland • Sharon E. Majeski • Harla Major • Richard L. Majoras • Edward L. Majors • Ronald G.<br />
Majtyka • Linnea K. Makela • James P. Makers • Paul J. Makowski • AnaLiza S. Malabanan • Jacques E. Malboeuf • William K. Malchow • Frank M. Maldonado • Raymond D. Maldonado • Erich Malits • James M. Mallaber • James E. Mallett • Andrew D. Mallory • Arthur<br />
J. Malm • Abbey Malmir • David D. Malone • Scott Maloney • Kenneth J. Malott • Mark S. Malott • Cameron Maltby • William Maltese • Robert B. Malthouse • Paul A. Malushizky • Daniel Mamlic • Mark G. Mammini • William T. Mamola • Charles Louis<br />
Manbeck • Richard D. Manchester • Rod J. Manchette • Gordon K. Mandell • Kevin J. Maney • Paulde H. Mange • David Mangene • Elmer L. Mangham • Steven A. Mangiapane • John P. Mangin • Douglas S. Mangrum • Mary E. Manifold • Jennifer L. Manion • Kenneth<br />
J. Manion • Louis N. Maniscalco • Wendell Glenn Mankins • Darron W. Manley • Gerald Brian Manley • Philip A. Manley • Danny J. Mann • Homer E. Mann • Jeffery A. Mann • John J. Mann • Kendall S. Mann • Kenneth S. Mann • Scott William Mann • Terry Max<br />
Mann • Thomas F. Mann • Michael D. Manners • James Eugene Manning • Michael D. Manning • Rob S. Manning • Robert C. Manning • Terry Howard Manning • William C. Manning • Jamie L. Mannon • John J. Manring • Joseph M. Manring • Lisa Mansfield • Thomas P.<br />
Manson • Joseph J. Mantello • James E. Mantz • Laura L. Mantz • Ellis D. Manuel • Anthony Dail Manzione • Bruce A. Manzke • Cynthia E. Mapes • Michael E. Maples • Robert B. Mapp • Kurt T. Mara • Mark A. Marasco • Ernest Marbury • Johnny P. Marceau • Anthony<br />
Richard Marchese • William M. Marcks • Michael J. Marcotte • Ronald Wayne Marcus • Robert L. Mardis • George P. Margetan • Todd A. Mariani • Richard A. Mariano • Sheila I. Mariano • Domenick A. Marinaro • Robert G. Marincic • Carmine Marinilli • James Frank<br />
Marinitti • Anthony L. Marino • Gaetano Paul Marino • Christine A. Markham • Timothy P. Marko • Dale R. Markowski • Aaron Blane Marks • Kenneth A. Marks • Robert L. Marks • William C. Marks • Darren L. Markwardt • Stephen J. Marlar • John D. Marley • Ruth<br />
E. Marlin • Scott P. Marlin • Jose Danilo Marmol • Bruce K. Marolf • Flora L. Maroney • Sol Maroof • Andy Marosvari • Bard A. Marques • Richard J. Marquez • Patrick J. Marr • Mark Marrero • Raul Marrero • Richard T. Marriott • Alfred J. Marro • Claude E<br />
Marsaw • Gary G. Marschheuser • Pauline M. Marsden • G. Elliott Marsh • Nancy H. Marsh • Richard A. Marsh • William A. Marsh • Brian D. Marshall • David P. Marshall • Jerald Marshall • Joseph P. Marshall • Kristopher I. Marshall • Michael L. Marshall • Paul D.<br />
Marshall • Rainee Marshall • Richard A. Marshall • Robert K. Marshall • Sherry Marshall • Thomas Eugene Marshall • Randy W. Marshburn • Todd A. Martenson • Andrew G. Martin • Bryan D. Martin • Carmie F. Martin • Darrell D. Martin • David G. Martin • David<br />
Philip Martin • Dennis E. Martin • Donald A. Martin • Gary H. Martin • George H. Martin • Gregory V. Martin • Jack D. Martin • Jay A. Martin • Jeanette M. Martin • Jeffrey S. Martin • Jerry D. Martin • John L. Martin • Keith D. Martin • Kenneth Martin • Larry D.<br />
Martin • Lisa R. Martin • Marilyn Martin • Mark E. Martin • Mark J. Martin • Michael A. Martin • Michael W. Martin • Michael Martin • Paul W. Martin • Pharaoh O. Martin • Randall J. Martin • Ricky F. Martin • Robert S. Martin • Shannon Martin • Stephen B.<br />
Martin • Stephen D. Martin • Stephen L. Martin • Strand E. Martin • Theodore Rodney Martin • Tom V. Martin • William M. Martin • Adamy Martinez • Corlan J. Martinez • Geoffrey Martinez • Jesse T. Martinez • Oralia Martinez • Ramiro Martinez • Raymundo V.<br />
Martinez • Richard Martinez • Andrea Martin-Foley • Sara E. Martin-Hite • Anthony Paul Martini • Perry D. Martini • Brazalino Martins • Peggy Martinson • Robert L. Martone • Monica Martorano • Troy S. Marty • Conrad A. Martz • James A. Martz • Dale<br />
Maruschak • Kelly L. Marvin • Jeffrey L. Marzula • Gordon T. Marzzacco • Mark Masaitis • Dennis Lynn Mascarenas • Edward J. Maschek • Anton Mascolo • Patrick D. Masin • Bruce R. Mason • Christopher P. Mason • Gary R. Mason • Kalya A. Mason • Pamela Kay<br />
Mason • Robert S. Mason • Shirley Marie Mason • William H. Mason • Ronald Masse • Brendan J. Massett • Buckley D. Massey • Mark Wade Massey • Michael P. Massie • Tiki L. Massie • Sandra Lea Massimino • Linda L. Masters • Robert A. Masters • Tony J.<br />
Masters • Edward J. Mastrangelo • M. Allen Matakovich • Clinton Marvin Ma<strong>the</strong>ny • Michael T. Ma<strong>the</strong>rne • Gregory L. Ma<strong>the</strong>s • Alex Ma<strong>the</strong>ws • Walter Douglas Ma<strong>the</strong>ws • Michael A. Ma<strong>the</strong>wson • Roger L. Mathieu • Teresa J. Mathieu • Charles H. Mathis • Gary J.<br />
Mathis • Richard S. Mathis • John R. Matis • Michael F. Matrone • Alan Matsumoto • David J. Mattern • David A. Mat<strong>the</strong>ws • Gary J. Mat<strong>the</strong>ws • Gerald K. Mat<strong>the</strong>ws • Michael J. Mat<strong>the</strong>ws • Ted Mat<strong>the</strong>ws • Thomas J. Mat<strong>the</strong>ws • Donna Marie Mattioli • Robert J.<br />
Mattmann • Lisa Gayle Mattson • Lauren A. Matus • William E. Matus • Brian J. Matyas • Chris J. Mauk • Jerry D. Maune • Tim Maune • Peter G. Maunsell • Vincent A. Mauriello • Amber Mauro • Joseph V. Mauro • Robert R. Maury • Jerry D. Maus • Chris L.<br />
Mautino • Russell Maw • Gregory T. Mawyer • Molly B. Maxton • Charles T. Maxwell • Eric J. Maxwell • George F. Maxwell • Rita J. Maxwell • Steven J. Maxwell • Andrew May • Asa A. May • Charles Edward May • John Cory May • Michele A. May • Robert Alan<br />
May • Rodney Dale May • Stephen T. May • Barbara A. May-Dawes • Michael A. Maye • Richard S. Mayer • Randall C. Mayfield • Paul M. Mayhew • Russell James Mayhew • Joseph S. Mayhoff • Bradley R. Mayhugh • Allen E. Maynard • Mark Maynard • Kurt James<br />
Mayo • Marvin Mayo • Sidney A. Mays • Micah Wesley Maziar • Kevin B. Mazuc • David A. Mazure • Timothy J. Mazurek • Peter J. Mazurowski • Chris R. Mazza • Steven Mazzie • Kenneth R. McVay • Karen E. McAdam • Christina M. McAdams • Charles R.<br />
McAleavy • James F. McAllister • Kurt W. McAninch • Ruth M. McAninch • Jerome D. McArthur • Michael L. McArthur • Ronald E. McAuley • David J. McAuliffe • Edward P. McAuliffe • Michael C. McAvoy • Dorothy A. McBride • Joel L. McBride • Charles P.<br />
McCabe • Kevin J. McCabe • Peter S. McCabe • Betty N. McCain • Dennis J. McCall • Wyman O. McCall • Kevin M. McCallin • Robert R. McCallister • Sundee-Gay B. McCanless • Kimberly P. McCann • Kevin Scott McCarrick • Robert P. McCarron • Donnie K.<br />
McCarter • Dennis J. McCarthy • Francis P. McCarthy • Jerome W. McCarthy • Joseph T. McCarthy • Kevin C. McCarthy • Martin T. McCarthy • Paul J. McCarthy • Thomas F. McCarthy • Jeffrey K. McCarty • Patricia A. McCarty • Michael T. McCarver • Kenneth J.<br />
McChord • Daniel S. McClain • Stephen A. McClain • Terrence L. McClain • Ronnie J. McClanahan • Linda T. McClary • Robert P. McClary • Bernard M. McCloskey • Peter M. McCloskey • Shawn R. McClosky • Dena L. McClung • Andrew P. McClunie • Daniel T.<br />
McClure • John Paul McClure • Mark S. McClure • Mat<strong>the</strong>w L. McCluskey • Russell J. McColl • D. Michael McCollum • Marvin Jay McCombs • Kenneth C. McConahay • Steven C. McConaughy • Judy Gail McConnell • Rosanne McConnell • Walter W. McCord • Michael<br />
C. McCorkell • Brian T. McCormack • Alfred E. McCormick • Charles S. McCormick • Daniel B. McCormick • Jeffery Dean McCormick • John Michael McCormick • Mark K. McCormick • Michael J. McCormick • Patrick J. McCormick • Patrick L. McCormick • Rhonda<br />
Sue McCormick • Lisa M. McCorry • Kevin L. McCown • Robert T. McCown • Charles A. McCoy • Gregory A. McCoy • James A. McCoy • Jason McCoy • Jenifer McCoy • Marsha M. McCoy • Michael K. McCoy • Michael P. McCoy • Michael Patrick McCoy • Richard<br />
L. McCoy • Sheila McCoy • Stephen McCoy • Johnny L. McCracken • Robert J. McCracken • Anthony G. McCray • Brian Charles McCreary • Gary Dale McCreery • Michael A. McCrory • Wilton T. McCrory • John C. McCullough • Karen S. McCullough • Lawrence<br />
W. McCullough • Margaret V. McCullough • Tammy R. McCullough • Vince E. McCullough • Dan McCune • Daniel A. McCurdy • Mark A. McCurdy • Saundra McCurdy • Jerry O. McCurry • David A. McCutchen • Wendy McDade • James A. McDaniel • Jerry Wayne<br />
McDaniel • John P. McDermott • Paul G. McDevitt • Bonnie E. McDonald • Mark S. McDonald • Martin W. McDonald • Mary E. McDonald • Michael D. McDonald • Michael R. McDonald • Patrick J. McDonald • Richard S. McDonald • Sheila D. McDonald • Susan L.<br />
McDonald • Thomas F. McDonald • Jay M. McDonough • Jennifer G. McDonough • Patrick J. McDonough • Patrick Joseph McDonough • Jay C. McDougall • Michael McDowell • Phillip S. McElrath • Dawn M. McElvain • Jeff McElvain • Michael E. McEntee • Patrick<br />
Thomas McEntee • Scott M. McEowen • James T. McEwan • Harold Scott McEwen • Paul A. McEwen • Craig M. McFadden • Sean T. McFadden • Gregory C. McFarland • Hugh A. McFarland • Mark J. McFarland • Walter J. McFarland • Craig S. McFarlen • Thomas W. The<br />
NATCA Family
The NATCA Family<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
McGarr • Deborah L. McGarrity • Mark J. McGarrity • Patrick J. McGarvey • Todd E. McGaughey • Dennis M. McGee • Donald T. McGee • George G. McGee • John T. McGee • Michael C. McGee • James M. McGhee • Joseph McGillicuddy • Michael Gerald<br />
McGinn • Scott Andrew McGinn • Jay C. McGinnis • Paul A. McGinty • David A. McGlauflin • Mat<strong>the</strong>w A. McGovern • Terrance L. McGovern • Brian McGowan • Richard J. McGowan • William A. McGowan • William J. McGowan • Kevin F. McGrath • Kevin J.<br />
McGrath • Johnny W. McGrew • Dan P. McGuane • Kevin E. McGuckian • Michael B. McGuigan • Brian McGuire • Gary Dean McGuire • Dennis A. McHale • Timothy S. McHale • James Frederick McHugh • James R. McHugh • Timothy M. McHugh • Scott I. McIlvain •<br />
Barney J. McIlvaine • Tracey A. McInnis • Chris Dale McIntosh • Franklin J. McIntosh • John W. McIntosh • Joseph M. McIntosh • Raymond E. McIntosh • James W. McIntyre • John R. McIntyre • Charles B. McKay • John V. McKay • John McKay • Keith M. McKay • Patrick<br />
W. McKay • Craig McKeand • Charles B. McKee • David C. McKee • Frank D. McKee • Margit McKee • Christophe McKeever • Mark J. McKelligan • John S. McKelvey • Chris James McKenna • James M. McKenna • Robert A. McKenna • Wayne B. McKenna • Francis<br />
X. McKenney • Douglas B. McKenzie • Gary A. McKenzie • Mark W. McKenzie • Patrick C. McKenzie • Steven P. McKenzie • Thomas P. McKenzie • Michael McKeon • Patrick J. McKeon • Ronald W. McKeska • Keith A. McKinley • Brad McKinney • Gerald Marc<br />
McKinney • David A. McKinnon • Jay I. McKinty • John Lawrence McKinzie • David R. McKissick • Paula M. McKnight • William C. McKnight • Scott B. McLaggan • Patrick V. McLain • Timothy D. McLauchlin • Brian McLaughlin • Charles Brett McLaughlin • Daniel G.<br />
McLaughlin • Garry J. McLaughlin • James P. McLaughlin • Kevin J. McLaughlin • Laura E. McLaughlin • Michael G. McLaughlin • Neil C. McLaughlin • Mark V. McLaurin • Rayton G. McLawhorn • Deborah J. McLean • Dwayne E. McLean • Robert J. McLean • Paul<br />
Anthony McLeod • Raymond W. McLeod • Mark McLernon • William S. McLoughlin • Chris G. McMahon • James McMahon • Stephen J. McMahon • Thomas F. McManus • Dean McMath • Bruce W. McMeans • David L. McMichen • Timothy G. McMillan • Vance M.<br />
McMillan • William J. McMillan • Jefford McMillen • Sean P. McMorris • Andrew T. McMullen • Lee P. McMullen • Ronald Charles McMullen • Shawn McMullen • Dawn Christine McMullin • Dewayne McMurtrey • Terrance M. McNabb • David W. McNally • Michael P.<br />
McNally • David L. McNamara • Kevin F. McNamara • Michael McNamara • David K. McNay • John Leon McNee • David G. McNeel • Michael McNeilly • Herbert McNett • Rodney E. McNutt • Roy N. McPeak • Herbert M. McPherson • David A. McQueen • David<br />
C. McQueen • Duane C. McQuillin • Michael K. McRae • Patricia S. McRae • Henry J. McVeigh • W. Scott McVicker • Patrick Wayne McWhorter • Tamra J. McWhorter • Carrie L. McWilliams • Keith D. McWilliams • Kathryn A. Meacham • Cathy Meachum • Darrell<br />
T. Meachum • Donald Dale Mead • Thomas G. Meade • Walter Meade • Clifford Meadows • Curtis L. Meadows • Donald E. Meadows • Robert R. Meadows • Tiffany T. Meadows • Ryan Lee Meagher • Robert A. Meano • Bruce E. Means • Michael T. Mearkle • Edward<br />
J. Mears • Edwin G. Mears • Steven P. Mechelke • James R. Meckes • Thomas A. Medcalf • Joey L. Medders • Mark E. Medeiros • Miguel A. Medina • Norberto J. Medina • Rodrigo Medina • Mark S. Medlenka • Michael R. Medley • Charles A. Meek • James W.<br />
Meek • John Meekins • Kelly Jean Meeks • Richard A. Meggett • Peter Megna • Richard H. Mehlhoff • Paul R. Mehltretter • James A. Meier • John J. Meier • Barry L. Meierbachtol • Douglas R. Meikle • Steven D. Meinders • Gilmore T. Meise • Thomas C.<br />
Meismer • Richard J. Meitz • Steven G. Meitz • Tito Mejias • James G. Melchior • Michael A. Mele • John R. Melecio • Alfred Roger Melend • Marcos N. Melendez • Nancy Melendez • Jane A. Melle • Douglas G. Melton • Larry D. Melton • Michael S. Melum • Lee<br />
Anthony Melvin • Carl Menard • Angela H. Mencarelli • John J. Menchaca • Marlene Marie Mendel • Mat<strong>the</strong>w P. Mendelsohn • Robert J. Mendelsohn • Jon A. Mendelson • Amy L. Mendenhall • Philip G. Mendenhall • Steven W. Mendenhall • Gerardo Y.<br />
Mendiola • Gilbert Mendoza • Refugio Mendoza • RoseMarie S. Mendoza • Kurtis A. Mengel • Charles Mercado • Mark A. Merced • Eric S. Mercer • Mark Mercer • Theodore R. Mercer • Thom Mercer • Guy Mercier • John J. Merck • William Lee<br />
Mercker • Lawrence F. Mercurio • Michael L. Meredith • Joseph P. Merigold • David T. Merkel • Todd A. Merkel • James P. Merkelz • Stephen J. Merlin • Gary C. Merlino • Aaron D. Merrick • Robert W. Merrilees • Gillian Anne Merrill • Rodney S. Merrill • Carmen P.<br />
Merritt • William Merritt • Timothy G. Merryfield • Paul Mershimer • Jan E. Merva • Dennis Mesa • Eugene H. Messal • David C. Messer • Maria B. Messier • Anthony Messina • Darren A. Messina • Jason P. Messina • Salvatore Messineo • Darren M.<br />
Metcalf • William S. Metzgar • Mark A. Metzmeier • Mark A. Meuwissen • Alvin C. Meyer • Chris Charles Meyer • Dustin B. Meyer • James R. Meyer • Jennifer E. Meyer • Mary E. Meyer • Thomas P. Meyer • Timothy A. Meyer • Jeffrey S. Meyers • Michael L.<br />
Meyers • Richard A. Meyers • William A. Meyers • William J. Meyers • Darian Meza • Tracy Denise Michael • Burke E. Michaels • Chris P. Michaels • James J. Michalak • Theodore Michalakes • Michael Michalik • Cynthia L. Michalski • Walter Michalski • Jason R.<br />
Michaud • Richard Michelini • Robert O. Michels • Genevieve Michelsen • Julie Micholski • Eric L. Mickelsen • Glenda E. Mickens • Timothy A. Micklow • Robert J. Mickolayck • Ian L. Middleton • John E. Middleton • Samuel A. Midkiff • Charles L. Mielke • Karla R.<br />
Mielke • Martin W. Mielke • Anthony J. Miell • Douglas R. Mieth • Larry R. Miffleton • James E. Mignogna • Steve M. Mihalchick • James A. Mihalek • Marc A. Mike • Alex Mikhalek • Gerianne M. Mikols • Charles A. Milan • Thomas M. Milano • Robert F. Milau • Edward<br />
S. Milbradt • James A. Milby • Robert M. Mildice • Claire Ann Mileca • Blair Miles • Carroll B. Miles • Terrance M. Miles • Lawrence P. Milillo • Mark C. Milkie • Donald M. Millard • Alan C. Miller • Angela Fay Miller • Anthony E. Miller • Barry L. Miller • Brenda<br />
Miller • Brian D. Miller • Bruce A. Miller • Caroline D. Miller • Daniel F. Miller • Daniel L. Miller • Danny Lee Miller • Darrin Ray Miller • David A. Miller • David Allen Miller • David Brook Miller • Derrick L. Miller • Diana J. Miller • Diana L. Miller • Donald E.<br />
Miller • Dustin J. Miller • Frances L. Miller • Gizelle A. Miller • Hugh J. Miller • Jerry W. Miller • John Robert Miller • Joseph D. Miller • Joshua J. Miller • Kenneth L. Miller • Kenneth R. Miller • Kevin J. Miller • Kurt T. Miller • Lance Miller • Larry G. Miller • Larry W.<br />
Miller • Laura Christine Miller • Lawrence M. Miller • Lewis M. Miller • Mark G. Miller • Mark W. Miller • Melissa A. Miller • Melissa J. Miller • Michael L. Miller • Natasha O. Miller • Nick Miller • Patricia K. Miller • Pedro Miller • Peter J. Miller • Raymond B.<br />
Miller • Reed T. Miller • Robert L. Miller • Rodney G. Miller • Ronald L. Miller • Russell M. Miller • Sandra Miller • Stephen A. Miller • Steven M. Miller • Terrence E. Miller • Thomas G. Miller • Timmy E. Miller • Timothy W. Miller • Tobin H. Miller • William R.<br />
Miller • William Miller • Anthony W. Milligan • Connie M. Milligan • Frank C. Milling • Kenneth G. Milling • Nancy A. Million • Brandie K. Mills • Donn M. Mills • John Jacob Mills • Michael Mills • Pam Mills • Stephen J. Mills • Walter D. Mills • Kathy J.<br />
Millsaps • Harold Scott Milner • Jeannette Neille Milrot • Wayne D. Mims • Eric W. Miner • Mat<strong>the</strong>w M. Miner • Robert C. Miner • Brian Joseph Mines • Michael J. Ministero • Jeffrey W. Minnich • Marshall D. Minnie • John P. Minnix • Maurice J. Mintzer • Carlos E<br />
Miranda • Julie A. Mirfield • Robert Theodore Mischke • Jonathan Mishler • Gregory Mishloney • Robert M. Misick • Edward S. Misik • Michael A. Mislin • John E. Misner • Edward J. Mistach • AnnaMarie Roth Mitchell • Brian A. Mitchell • Clyde A. Mitchell • David<br />
A. Mitchell • David Allen Mitchell • David S. Mitchell • Erskin Mitchell • Francis J. Mitchell • J. C. Mitchell • Kenneth A. Mitchell • Kenneth C. Mitchell • Kent B. Mitchell • Kent M. Mitchell • Kobi K. Mitchell • Mark D. Mitchell • Michael E. Mitchell • Pamela C.<br />
Mitchell • Robert Adam Mitchell • Robert S. Mitchell • Shad Joseph Mitchell • Stephen D. Mitchell • Steven M. Mitchell • Thomas L. Mitchell • David Chuck Mitchusson • Steven K. Miyamoto • Robert L. Mizell • Nils Sven Moberg • Daniel R. Modglin • James E.<br />
Moellendorf • Marcia J. Moeller • Ronald A. Moen • Ronald T. Moen • Jay Moffat • James Negus Moffett • Amy R.M. Mogil • David Wesley Mohr • Robert Molden • Gary Molen • KeriAnn E. Molfetto • Jose M. Molina • Marco A. Molinar • Ann C. Mollica • Anthony<br />
J. Mollica • Edward P. Molloy • Natalie K. Moloney • Jerold A. Mona • Edward A. Monaghan • Thomas A. Monaghan • Edward J. Monahan • Chris G. Monaldi • Virginia E. Monaldi • Perry Monaster • Jeffrey W. Money • William E. Monfort • Erwin D.<br />
Monhemius • Robert H. Monroe • Richard C. Montague • Francisco Montes • Chris D. Montgomery • Clyde L. Montgomery • Jesse B. Montgomery • Miguel Montgomery • Ralph E. Montgomery • Robert J. Montgomery • Guy A. Montinola • Joseph Montore • John<br />
F. Montoya • John Scott Montroy • J. Craig Moody • Robert Moody • G. Todd Moon • Terri Lee Moon • Brenda M. Mooney • Brian P. Moore • Curtis Scott Moore • Deborah L. Moore • Dennis D. Moore • Dennis Moore • Donald W. Moore • Douglas Edward<br />
Moore • Douglas S. Moore • Gary D. Moore • George Clayton Moore • George E. Moore • Joe R. Moore • John T. Moore • Keith C. Moore • Kenneth C. Moore • Kenneth J. Moore • Kenneth Todd Moore • Marcus L. Moore • Marvin H. Moore • Michael Anthony<br />
Moore • Michael L. Moore • Nitahi Moore • Paula D. Moore • Richard J. Moore • Robert A. Moore • Robert Carter Moore • Robert David Moore • Robert G. Moore • Roger O. Moore • Scott D. Moore • Scott T. Moore • Stephen W. Moore • Susan A.<br />
Moore • Terence E. Moore • Thomas K. Moore • Tia L. Moore • Tina M. Moore • Mat<strong>the</strong>w D. Moorhead • Ronald J. Moorhead • David L. Moosa • Michael A. Moose • Michael E. Moose • Kristine D. Mooso • Lewis Ray Morales • Norman P. Morales • Roberto<br />
Morales • Angela J. Moran • John M. Moran • Maria S. Moran • Patrick J. Moran • Peter J. Moran • William Moran • Michael J. Moravec • Michael R. Moreau • Theresa M. Morehouse • Gary J. Morello • Anthony Moreno • John A. Moreno • Julie Moreno-<br />
Fresquez • Mark R. Moretti • Bruce A. Morey • Jeffrey A. Morfitt • David L. Morgan • Garth S. Morgan • Gary D. Morgan • Greg Morgan • Leslie J. Morgan • Michael J. Morgan • Michael S. Morgan • Patrick J. Morgan • Rickey L. Morgan • Sharon E. Morgan • Steve A.<br />
Morgan • Susan Morgan • Timothy C Morgan • Wayne A. Morgan • Charles D. Morganti • Roger T. Morimoto • Elaine L. Morin • George J. Morin • Michael J. Morin • Richard P. Morin • Thomas M. Morin • Thomas J. Morio • Karen L. Moritz • Kurtis J.<br />
Morley • Michael F. Morley • William K. Morley • Ralph P. Mormile • Kevin James Moro • Brent J. Morris • Brian Ray Morris • Clayton R. Morris • David C. Morris • Earl Morris • Gary J. Morris • Gregory L. Morris • Howard P. Morris • James S. Morris • Jeanie M.<br />
Morris • Lisa A. Morris • Bernard Berl Morrison • Donald H. Morrison • Mable I Morrison • Mark Morrison • Ranee B. Morrison • Scot A. Morrison • Steven G. Morrison • Stuart R. Morrison • Charles Morrow • David N. Morrow • John D. Morrow • Kenneth A.<br />
Morrow • Scott C. Morrow • Thomas L. Morrow • Diane I. Morse • James H. Morse • Linda J. Morse • Charles Peter Mortensen • Mat<strong>the</strong>w R. Morter • James R. Morton • James R. Morton • Victor J. Morton • Marc A. Moscatelli • Augustin A. Moses • Cliff G.<br />
Moses • Colter Hamilton Moses • Leonard Edwin Moses • Melba H. Moses • Donald A. Mosher • Cassandra Moskal • Edward A. Moskal • Mark L. Moskal • Larry D. Mosley • Tyrone B. Mosley • Jacqueline H. Moss • John A. Moss • Patricia L. Moss • Perry L.<br />
Moss • Jeffrey G. Most • James T. Mostrando • Charles R. Mote • Bernard James Motl • Levi K. Motoki • Daniel F. Mott • Michael P. Motta • Lalaoue A. Moulay • Terry L. Moulder • Billy Dewayne Mouliere • Donald S. Moulton • James Thomas Mounce • Heidi L.<br />
Mountain • Timoleon Mouzakis • Susan M. Mowery • Robert W. Moye • Jack L. Moyer • Kenneth N. Moyer • Thomas A. Moyer • Joseph W. Moylan • James T. Moynihan • Daniela Mrejeru • Nathan M. Mrosla • Salvatore Muccio • Benjamin H. Muedeking • Frederick<br />
Muehlen • Francis J. Mueller • Michael H. Mueller • Paul J. Mueller • Raymond J. Mueller • Sean M. Mueller • Stephen John Muenster • Monica J. Muenstermann • Dolores Mugica • Scott J. Muir • Clifford S. Mulbarger • Debra A. Mulder • Mark W. Mulder • John L.<br />
Mulford • Hugh P. Mulholland • Scot R. Mulholland • Corinne A. Mullally • Mark J. Mullane • Daniel F. Mullen • Kenny M. Mullen • Jody A. Mullens • Margaret E. Muller • Timothy D. Mullican • Charles L. Mullick • Diane K. Mulligan • Michael F. Mulligan • Daniel P.<br />
Mullin • Edward F. Mullin • Jeffrey T. Mullins • Stephen E. Mullis • Clare A. Mulvenna • Raymond G. Mulvihill • Randall A. Mumm • Dru A. Munch • William F. Mungo • Charles A. Munoz • Henry W. Munoz • Jose C. Munoz • Randall D. Munoz • Stephen D.<br />
Munroe • Michael Muratore • Mat<strong>the</strong>w D. Murawski • Clifford S. Murdock • Judith M. Murdock • Dan Murdy • Laura E. Murillo • Margaret M. Murillo • Kent K. Murley • Betty J. Murphy • Brian C. Murphy • Brian J. Murphy • Daniel E. Murphy • Daniel F.<br />
Murphy • Daniel R. Murphy • David A. Murphy • David J. Murphy • David M. Murphy • Donald L. Murphy • Eileen M. Murphy • Francis P. Murphy • James T. Murphy • John K. Murphy • Kathryn A. Murphy • Kevin J. Murphy • Kevin James Murphy • Mark A.<br />
Murphy • Michael D. Murphy • Patrick G. Murphy • Patrick J. Murphy • Paul E. Murphy • Richard A. Murphy • Robert J. Murphy • Sean D. Murphy • Thomas A. Murphy • William M. Murr • Arnold B. Murray • Bennie L. Murray • Gaye Y. Murray • Glen R.<br />
Murray • Grady C. Murray • James R. Murray • Kelly P. Murray • Mark Ross Murray • Mat<strong>the</strong>w J. Murray • Rex Larry Murray • Samuel W. Murray • Tamela Jeune Murray • Todd R. Murray • Tricia L. Murray • Sidney L. Murry • John R. Murtha • Philip E. Murtha • Gary<br />
M. Murzyn • Michael A. Muscavage • Deborah F. Muscha • Charles L. Music • Jerry Tigere Muskwe • James Patrick Musone • Wylie R. Musselwhite • David D. Musser • Donald J. Musser • Ramon Edward Muxo • James Stephen Myak • Ken P. Myak • Robert W.<br />
Myer • Deborah Lynn Myers • Derek Evin Myers • James W. Myers • Joseph E. Myers • Mitchell Roger Myers • Ronald B. Myers • Ronald G. Myers • Steven A. Myers • William E. Myers • George C. Mynatt • Roy A. Mynatt • Johnny O. Myrick • Stephen<br />
Myrosh • Richard L. Myrup • Arthur W. Myshrall • Robert A. Naaktgeboren • Larry A. Nabors • Vincent S. Nacin • Stephen Douglas Nadaud • Joseph J. Nadock • Leonard M. Nagata • David P. Nagle • Mark Nagoda • Henry P. Nagy • Scott M. Nagy • Norman<br />
Nahar • Andy Nahle • Michael L. Naiman • Daniel Nakamitsu • Stacey Nakamura • Joe A. Nakanishi • Myron H. Nakano • Clendon S. Nakasone • Michael D. Nall • John S. Nalley • John Francis Nally • Kenneth W. Nance • Ronald Nang • Timothy S. Napier • Serge<br />
Napoleon • JoAnn Napolitano • Patrick Napolitano • Anthony Nappi • Thomas J. Nardozzi • Michael A. Narducci • Mitchell Narzem • Paul J. Nasci • William A. Nascimento • David W. Nase • Charles F. Nash • Gerald M. Nash • James M. Nash • Larry S.<br />
Nash • Michelle M. Nash • Samuel R. Nassar • M. Nashaat Nassr • Richard C. Nastawa • Michael C. Nathan • Peter W. Nathaniel • Dan Naumann • Jose R. Navarro • Manuel DeJesus Naveiras • Michael J. Navrat • Jerald R. Naylor • Robert Naylor • Sandra A.<br />
Nazar • Glenda L. Nazarowski • J. Alan Neace • Bryan A. Neal • Donna E. Neal • James Burt Neal • Larry W. Neal • Robert A. Neal • Willette Yolanda Neal • Queenie Neason • Todd A. Neaveill • Kenneth L. Necochea • Robert Frank Necochea • Roger A.<br />
Necochea • Faye Nedderman • James G. Nedelco • Jean E. Needham • David R. Neef • Emilie Neel • Kenneth R. Neel • Harry T. Neff • Jessica Neff • John P. Neff • Jason Neft • Ramon L. Negron • Leopoldo Negron-Burgos • Anthony Neidecker • Scott A.<br />
Neil • Kyle B. Neilson • Glen I. Neisen • Kenneth E. Nellis • Brian Keith Nelms • Paula G. Nelsen • Brian A. Nelson • David Allen Nelson • David I. Nelson • Douglas B. Nelson • Douglas T. Nelson • Eric A. Nelson • George P. Nelson • Jeffrey R. Nelson • John F.<br />
Nelson • Joseph E. Nelson • Joseph G. Nelson • LeKhanh T. Nelson • Mark D. Nelson • Mark F. Nelson • Mat<strong>the</strong>w F. Nelson • Melissa L. Nelson • Michael A. Nelson • Michael J. Nelson • Michael Paul Nelson • Patricia A. Nelson • Richard A. Nelson • Richard D.<br />
Nelson • Rocky J. Nelson • Sallye D. Nelson • Scott W. Nelson • Timothy T. Nelson • William O. Nelson • Joseph C. Nemec • Chad Nemes • Michael J. Neppl • Allan R. Nesbitt • Dennis G. Nesbitt • Paul H. Nesbitt • Peter Daniel Nesbitt • Mark E. Nesfeder • Michael<br />
R. NeSmith • Kyle D. Ness • William H. Ness • Mary C. Nestell • Brent L. Nesting • George A. Nestojko • Julie K. Ne<strong>the</strong>rton • Donald O. Netzke • Beth A. Neu • Randy M. Neu • Daniel R. Neubecker • Randy Joseph Neuberger • Kelly D. Neuhaus • James B.<br />
Neuman • Timothy J. Neuscheler • Lori L. Neville • Carmela Newberry • David B. Newby • William A. Newby • Donald L. Newcomb • Henry Newcomb • Richard S. Newcomb • Allan L. Newell • Mark D. Newell • Melody L. Newell • Michael J. Newell • Beverly K.<br />
Newkirk • Connie M. Newkirk • Ronald D. Newkirk • Larry S. Newlin • Allan Newman • Craig R. Newman • James G. Newman • Mervyn L. Newman • Roberta Ca<strong>the</strong>rine Newman • Jerreld L. Newquist • Robert A. Newray • Roy T. Newsom • Lawrence R.<br />
Newsome • Ann M. Newton • Jean A. Newton • Kara L. Newton • Michael L. Newton • Patrick C. Newton • Vernon C. Newton • John J. Ney • Kai Ho Ng • Paul Ng • Chiu M. Ngai • Calvin Ngo • Diep N. Ngo • Ai Van Nguyen • Chong T. Nguyen • Ha A.<br />
Nguyen • Khoat Nguyen • Minha T. Nguyen • Nhan Nguyen • Patrick V. Nguyen • Phillip Nguyen • Ricky A. Nguyen • Thuy T. Nguyen • Keith Francis Nicholas • Robert M. Nicholas • Edward J. Nichols • J. Dan Nichols • Jeffrey Dale Nichols • Leonard A.<br />
Nichols • Martin Nichols • Sue A. Nichols • Velvet K. Nichols • David W. Nicholson • Eleanor D. Nicholson • Ernest L. Nicholson • Kent D. Nicholson • Roderick T. Nicholson • Richard B. Nickeson • Terry Nickisch • Thomas Nicklow • Philip J. Nicola • Philip<br />
Charles Nicoletti • David J. Nicolich • Alan L. Nicoll • James J. Nicosia • Bruce E. Niederriter • Marc S. Niedzwicki • John M. Niehoff • Richard E. Nielsen • Thomas A. Nielson • James M. Niemann • Donald B. Niemiec • Thomas G. Niepoth • Brian G. Nies • Zabdi A.<br />
Nieves • Mark E. Nighswonger • Charles R. Nightingale • Wayne M. Niimi • Mark Nikas • Don Nikolich • Peter G. Nikolich • Paul B. Niles • Stacee L. Nimetz • Lori J. Nims • Manuel Nino • Joey E. Nippert • Jason M. Nishioka • Harold A. Nitowitz • Kevin J.<br />
Nitsche • Karen F. Nitschke • Dennis M. Nitzsche • Donald Gary Nix • Howard W. Nix • Danny Glen Nixon • Anthony A. Nobach • Brian Todd Noble • David K. Noble • Jeremy L. Noble • Michael Kevin Noble • Ralph Noble • Robert C. Noble • William C.<br />
Noble • John M. Noblitt • Ronald E. Noblitt • Michael T. Nodley • Byron V. Noehl • Hugh Noel • Cynthia L. Noeth • Jon M. Noffsinger • Stephen Nogar • Gary L. Nogle • John K. Nolan • Kevin J. Nolan • Richard T. Nolan • Russell T. Nolan • Todd N. Nolan • Mat<strong>the</strong>w
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Q. Nolin • Herbert Noll • Michael J. Nolle • Charles Norberg • Kenneth A. Norberg • KC Norcross • Mark A. Nordeen • Jeffrey R. Nordell • David R. Norden • Rodger L. Nordlund • Jenifer Lynda Nordstrom • Gary A. Norek • Michael G. Norin • David<br />
Norloff • James M. Norman • Jerry G. Norman • Mark K. Norman • Tammy Lee Norman • David A. Norris • David B. Norris • David T. Norris • Richard A. Norris • Robert D. Norris • Tracy J. Norris • Wayne J. Norris • Tim B. Norrod • Cathleen M. North • Mat<strong>the</strong>w<br />
W. North • Thomas Edward Northam • Gregory D Northcutt • Brian C. Norton • Dale Lee Norton • David M. Norton • Will T. Norton • Tom W. Norwood • Dale L. Noss • Debora G. Nottolini • Anthony Novak • Elisha Novak • John C. Novak • Timothy L.<br />
Novak • George A. Novakowski • Timothy M. Novotny • Gernot D. Nowak • John Nowakowski • Dennis Nowicki • Kenneth R. Nowosatka • Randolph L. Noyes • Mark S. Nullman • Anthony Nunez • Lawrence G. Nuorala • Chris B. Nurding • Dale R. Nuss • Richard<br />
C. Nuss • Carey P. Nussbaum • Colleen M. Nutter • Kerry M. Nutter • Frans F. Nyhuis • Peter T. Nyquist • Sokil O • W. Bryant Oaks • Thomas M. Obarski • Timothy L. Oberdoerster • Ronald J. Oberg • Ronald A. Oberhauser • Daniel H.D. Obert • Danielle L.<br />
O’Brien • Dennis O’Brien • Donald O’Brien • Jack L. O’Brien • James Weston O’Brien • Shannon Marie O’Brien • Sidney L. O’Brien • Timothy P. O’Brien • William Joseph O’Brien • Michael O’Bryan • Paul Jeremy Ochsenreiter • Brenda Ocker-Wozniak • Douglas<br />
E. O’Connell • Kathleen A. O’Connell • Kathleen M. O’Connell • Robert B. O’Connell • William C. O’Connell • Michael J. O’Conner • April O’Connor • Chris Kevin O’Connor • John M. O’Connor • Joshua D. O’Connor • Kristin C. O’Connor • Michael<br />
O’Connor • Robert Keith O’Connor • Wendy L. O’Connor • William G. O’Connor • Cynthia K. O’Conor • Douglas B. O’Dell • Nenita Odesa • Scott E. Odle • Gregory R. Odom • Al O’Donnell • George L. O’Donnell • Lisa Ann O’Donnell • Michael P.<br />
O’Donnell • William John O’Donnell • Michael Odryna • William O’Dwyer • Stephen C. Oeder • Ryan Oelrich • Kathryn B. Oestricher • Merlin R. Oetken • Henry Offermann • Stephanie Offhaus • Mat<strong>the</strong>w C. Ogden • Robert Charles Ogden • Scott J.<br />
Oggeri • Quentin G. Ogilvie • Michael Ogles • Morris T. Ogunleye • Richard Lee O’Hara • Timothy G. O’Hara • Dennis E. Ohlenkamp • Patricia Oien • Chris D. Oines • John A. Ojile • Michael J. O’Kane • Kevin R. O’Keefe • Michael L. O’Keefe • Yvette C.<br />
O’Keefe • Ike K. Okuda • Neil N. Okuna • German Olan • Lars A. Olander • Douglas S. Oldham • Eldon C. Oldnettle • Bruce T. O’Leary • Steve C. Olesen • John N. Olinger • Ramon C. Olivas • Donald M. Oliveira • Bonnie E. Oliver • Brian Oliver • Craig<br />
Oliver • Deborah L. Oliver • Elton Maurice Oliver • Gary M. Oliver • Lisa R. Oliver • William M. Oliver • David L. Olivier • Dennis J. O’Loughlin • Albert H. Olsen • Diane M. Olsen • Karen J. Olsen • Lewis D. Olsen • Steven R. Olsen • Brian H. Olson • Carly<br />
Olson • Darryld Andrew Olson • Elaine Olson • Eric B. Olson • Jeffery B. Olson • Jeffrey D. Olson • Jeffrey W. Olson • John C. Olson • Randall S. Olson • Richard J. Olson • Steven C. Olson • James Donald Olznoi • David C. O’Malley • Ka<strong>the</strong>rine T.<br />
O’Malley • Kenneth T. O’Malley • Kevin Michael O’Malley • Michael O’Malley • James M. Oman • Mark T. Ommundsen • James M. O’Neal • Mark O’Neil • William C. O’Neil • Patrick J. O’Neill • Terrance M. O’Neill • Thomas J. O’Neill • John P. Onken • Stephen<br />
Onusko • William J. Ooms • Gregory Paul Oothoudt • Joseph G. Opatovsky • Mat<strong>the</strong>w C Opperman • Ricky Alan Opperman • Gary M. Opseth • Johnny B. O’Quinn • Michael A. Oram • Barbara Ann Orandello • Sheila O’Regan-Bade • Mary O’Reilly • Thomas J.<br />
O’Reilly • Julie K. Orentas • Lisa Marie Orff • James G. Organist • Thomas F. Orlowski • Douglas K. Ormston • Bradford B. Orndorff • Jeffrey Neil Orr • John M. Orr • Jon W. Orr • Mark Duane Orr • Brian A. Orris • Michael W. Ortega • Robert Ortega • Steven E.<br />
Ortega • Ernest Ortiz • Julio A. Ortiz • Saul Ortiz • Van A. Ortiz • Wilfido Ortiz • Jacquelyn K. Osberg • Crystallin Osborne • Jeffrey A. Osborne • Steven T. Osborne • Harry J. Osburn • Michael Ray Osekowski • Barbara R. O’Shea • George M. O’Shea • Stephen<br />
S. Oshiro • Michael P. Osiadacz • Eron K. Osman • David D. Osolnik • Richard C. Ossana • Donald M. Ossinger • David L. Osteen • Dennis W. Osterhage • Michael J. Ostrander • Margaret Oswald • Theresa L. Oswald • Ronald E. Oswill • John S. Oszczakiewicz • Carlos<br />
V. Otero • John D. Otey • Neil F. Otey • Jeffery Paul Otlowski • Gary T. O’Toole • Neil E. O’Toole • J. Scott Otoupal • Melissa Rene Ott • Rodney J. Ott • David R. Otten • David A. Otterblad • Gregory G. Otterson • Bruce E. Otto • Jon P Otto • William B. Otto • Jill<br />
H. Ouellette • Jerry Ouillette • Guy M. Outten • Harold B. Over • Richard H. Overby • Daniel J. Overgaard • Jack B. Overholser • Duane L. Overlid • John F. Overman • Robert S. Overstreet • Larry G. Overton • Chris Owen • Paul R. Owen • Richard M.<br />
Owen • Clifford C. Owens • Dawn M. Owens • Eran A. Owens • Eric K. Owens • Linda J. Owens • Robert A. Owens • Sally Owens • Charles R. Owings • Robert P. Oxenburg • Nancy Eileen Oxford • Carolyn H. Oxley • Kelvin Oya • Gary C. Oyster • David C.<br />
Pace • Ramey G. Pace • Laurie L. Pacheco • Melinda L. Pacheco • Billy J. Pack • Thomas C. Pactol • Gean D. Paden • Christine Padgett • Grady C. Padgett • Robert L. Padgett • Thomas John Padgett • Stacy L. Padhye • Jeffery D. Padia • Cynthia L. Padilla • Jimmy M.<br />
Padilla • Victor A. Padron • Kent E. Pafford • Donna Marie Paffrath • Stephen J. Pagano • Darlene L. Page • Douglas J. Page • Jeffrey J. Page • Leslie Freeman Page • Randell C. Page • Robert J. Page • Susan L. Page • Ralph D. Pagington • Curtis A. Paige • Daniel L.<br />
Paige • Edward V. Paige • Richard W. Paige • Kerry A. Painter • John D. Paiva • Christine Pak • Harvey M. Pake • Robert J. Pakosinski • Cynthia M. Palamara • Daniel Anthony Palermo • Daniel R. Palermo • Cheryl A. Palko • Daniel L. Palko • Mark A. Pallone • Gary<br />
A. Palm • Vincent Charles Palmby • Charles S. Palmer • Jeff C. Palmer • Jeffrey S. Palmer • JoElla Palmer • Kenneth W. Palmer • Lance L. Palmer • Laura Ann Palmer • Marcus J. Palmer • Rick Dane Palmer • Steve Earl Palmer • John M. Palmersheim • Anthony<br />
Palmieri • Michael A. Palmieri • Chris D. Palmisano • Thomas J. Palowitch • Larry D. Pals • Lee F. Pals • John A. Palumbo • Michael J. Palumbo • Charles R. Pampuch • Hongye Pan • Rosalie Panagopoulos • Ramin H. Panahi • Philip W. Panelli • Feliciano Bud<br />
Pangan • Nicholas Panico • Thomas L. Pankow • Kimberly A. Panter • Thomas B. Pantle • Thomas A. Panzarella • Victor Panzica • Sandra Papadimitriou • Andrew C. Papageorge • Vasilios Papageorgiou • Fred T. Paparelli • Michael L. Paplow • Frank N. Papp • Renee<br />
C. Paradis • Nicholas G. Paraskevas • Henry J. Pardo • Johnny W. Pardue • Brian K. Parenteau • Charles Parenteau • George N. Paresa • Luis D. Paret • Todd R. Parham • Richard A. Paris • Donald A. Pariseau • Charles R. Parish • Brian R. Park • Cara Park • Jason<br />
A. Park • Benjamin R. Parker • David Lee Parker • Deborah L. Parker • Gay Ann Parker • Jeffrey A. Parker • Patrick L. Parker • Robert C. Parker • Sandra K. Parker • Todd C. Parker • Wendy Parker • Glenn D. Parks • Michael R. Parks • Timothy L. Parks • Dennis<br />
J. Parman • Kristi Hea<strong>the</strong>r Parman • Benjamin L. Parmer • Joseph H. Parnacott • Sue A. Parness • Robert J. Paro • James F. Parr • Timothy Lee Parr • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Parra • Daniel Parrillo • Chris E. Parris • Jeffrey L. Parrish • Steven Parrish • John G. Parsell • Patricia<br />
Marie Parsh • Leon M. Parshook • Larry M. Parsons • Mary Elizabeth Parsons • Richard. J. Parsons • Narzell Partee • Stanley A. Parulski • Mark C. Paschal • Donn G. Pascoe • John R. Pasola • Michael Todd Pasquini • Kenneth D. Pass • Alan J. Passero • James J.<br />
Passiales • Socrates S. Passialis • John Joseph Pastore • John R. Pastorelli • Wesley A. Pate • William A. Pate • Pravin H. Patel • Zoem Patel • Glenn A. Paterson • Marco Patino • George P. Paton • Gary J. Patrician • Brian G. Patrick • Kimberly Ann Patrick • Lawrence<br />
E. Patrick • Marianne Patrick • Robert C. Patrick • William L. Patrick • Melanie L. Patry • Lawrence K. Patt • Allen D. Patterson • C. Duke Patterson • Danny Ray Patterson • David E. Patterson • Kenneth E. Patterson • Michael J. Patterson • Tara M. Patterson • Joel<br />
J. Patti • John E. Pattison • Todd E. Pattison • David J. Patton • Robert Stephen Patton • Randall L. Paul • Robert Marvin Paul • Robert T. Paul • Shannon T. Paul • Krista S. Pauley • Michael P. Pauley • Kristen E. Paulik • Jay J. Paulinski • Kenneth J. Paull • John Mark<br />
Paulus • William S. Pavlik • Jon Pawelkop • Leo J. Pawlowski • Mark L. Pawlowski • Donald J. Paxson • David K. Paxton • Mona S. Payette • Dexter Payne • Douglas E. Payne • Lindsay D. Payne • Mark A. Payne • Michael J. Payne • Raleigh H. Payne • Richard C.<br />
Payne • Thomas J. Payne • Travis C. Payne • William J. Payne • Jeffrey Robert Paynter • Brian Curtis Paysinger • Eddie Peace • Jeffrey K. Peace • Maxine L. Peace • Charles S. Pearce • Gerald L. Pearce • James C. Pearce • Allen L. Pearcy • George T. Pearcy • William<br />
W. Pearman • B. J. Pearson • Douglas Charles Pearson • Gerald S. Pearson • Glen A. Pearson • Roger C. Pearson • Ronald Dale Pearson • Scott H. Pearson • William E. Pease • Renee Peavey • Robert Alan Pebley • Darrell S. Peck • Jonathan Neal Peck • Richard E.<br />
Peck • Russell W. Peck • Thomas W. Peck • Trent D. Peckosh • Richard A. Pecoraro • Charles R. Pedersen • David J. Pedersen • Jeffrey M. Pedersen • Steven J. Pedersen • Noel N. Pederson • James Pedra • Rodney Wayne Peek • Paul G. Pegadiotes • Kory<br />
Pehl • Richard G. Peiffer • William J. Pekarna • Sonja M. Pekarna-Midtbo • Lafe Pelissier • Steven R. Pelissier • Patrick J. Pelkowski • Dean W. Pelland • Alan Pellegrini • Frank Pellegrino • Michael L. Peltier • James F. Pelton • Paul R. Peltonen • Todd A.<br />
Pemberton • Daniel J. Pemrick • Ralph S. Pendlebury • Daniel S. Penfound • Mitchell G. Penfound • Joseph A. Penna • Harrison Pennel • Carl Pennica • Joseph Pennington • Mark L. Pennington • Shawn M. Pennington • Douglas Richard Pennock • Ken J.<br />
Penoyer • Darlene L. Penrose • Gregory T. Peoples • Kenneth J. Peppard • James Thomas Pepper • John Robert Perczak • Dean E. Perdue • Mark Pereira • Alfred Perez • Caroline Perez • Eddie Perez • Franchisco D. Perez • Jaclyn R. Perez • Miquel A. Perez • Moises<br />
Perez • Oscar Perez • Philip G. Perez • Stephen Vince Perez • Frank T. Perino • Ronald A. Perino • Armond Perkins • Earnest W. Perkins • Murray S. Perkins • Peter N. Perkins • Robert D. Perkins • Donald Joseph Permoda • Joseph W. Perrone • William J.<br />
Perrotti • Almetta Perry • Edmond Michael Perry • Jolene M. Perry • K. Douglas Perry • Rene’ L. Perry • Robert J. Perry • Timothy Perry • Wesley F. Perttula • Dean A. Pesato • Cliff Peschansky • Thomas L. Pesnicak • Rick A. Petermann • Bethany A. Peters • Bryant<br />
M. Peters • Donald Peters • Gary L. Peters • Lathaniel Peters • Michael J. Peters • Ronald R. Peters • William T. Peters • Frederick J. Petersen • Jacqueline C. Petersen • Kevin R. Petersen • Linda Jean Petersen • Mark P. Petersen • Thomas K. Petersen • Thomas M.<br />
Petersen • Bradley J. Peterson • Bradley R. Peterson • Brian D. Peterson • Bruce A. Peterson • Cody A. Peterson • David D. Peterson • Dennis Peterson • Donald B. Peterson • Douglas P. Peterson • Eric J. Peterson • Erik O. Peterson • Fay A. Peterson • James Q.<br />
Peterson • John A. Peterson • Joseph E. Peterson • Julie Ann Peterson • Kevin E. Peterson • Ned A. Peterson • Robert L. Peterson • Ronald W. Peterson • Sheila M. Peterson • Laura Iris Petraglia • William J. Petras • Philip J. Petre • Rodger W. Petre • James M.<br />
Petrell • Dominic Petrelli • Mark A. Petri • Ronald I. Petri • Barbara Ann Petricka • Brian A. Petrilla • George Petrovich • Scott H. Petrucha • John Petrulis • Peggy Ann Petry • Walter W. Petry • Nicole R. Petrykowski • Mark Petsche • Gary Pettengill • Kim M.<br />
Pettis • Henry A. Pettway • Darla A. Pettyjohn • Kevin C. Pettyjohn • Joseph Petzel • Richard J. Petzold • Gary G. Peurifoy • Kelly H. Peurifoy • Richard S. Pew<strong>the</strong>rs • Michael J. Peymann • Robert A. Pfeifer • Timothy A. Pforsich • Thomas M. Phan • Natalie Phan-<br />
Tran • Connie Phelan • Joseph R. Phelan • Lisa Marie Phernetton • Harold E. Phifer • Sandy Joseph Philips • Anita M. Phillips • Brian K. Phillips • Calvin D. Phillips • Charles H. Phillips • Chris D. Phillips • David N. Phillips • Donna L. Phillips • Gregory T. Phillips • James<br />
A. Phillips • James H. Phillips • Jeffrey W. Phillips • Jennifer L. Phillips • John P. Phillips • Mark D. Phillips • Mary Ann Phillips • Mat<strong>the</strong>w F. Phillips • Patti L. Phillips • Richard A. Phillips • Ronald Allen Phillips • Stephen G. Phillips • Steve Phillips • Steven L. Phillips • Steven<br />
T. Phillips • Ted Lee Phillips • William T. Phillips • Benjapol Phimsoutham • Kevin L. Phinney • Gary A. Phipps • Heidi Phipps • Scott R. Phipps • William J. Phipps • Edward W. Pianka • Douglas G. Picard • Robert D. Picard • Chris J. Piccola • John Piccola • Ethan D.<br />
Piche • Larry A. Pichoff • Mark L. Pickerel • James H. Pickering • Michael A. Pickering • Timothy W. Pickering • Daniel G. Pickert • Mark Alan Pickett • Thomas N. Pickett • Paul E. Pieper • Anna M. Pierce • Brenda L. Pierce • Harold F. Pierce • John C. Pierce • John<br />
E. Pierce • Ralph E. Pierce • Robert Lowell Pierce • Robert Michael Pierce • Robert S. Pierce • William T. Pierce • Christopher M. Piercy • Leslie E. Piercy • Franco Pieri • Saida O. Pierri • Daniel L. Pierson • David J. Pierson • David L. Pierson • Mark D. Pierson • Tobin<br />
M. Pierson • James S. Pieser • Donald Gene Piet • Steven J. Pietroforte • Robert L. Pietrzak • James R. Pigeon • Lee Patrick Pigford • Kenneth A. Pignotti • Robert H. Pike • Timothy B. Pike • Glen W. Pilant • Joseph L. Pilcher • Joseph B. Pilgrim • Bryan K.<br />
Pilkenton • Jaime Pina • Douglas G. Pincock • John G. Pingol • Mario Z. Pinheiro • Steven Pinkerton • Richard E. Pinkston • George Pirotis • Anthony M. Pisanti • Theodore E. Piskur • David Piszczek • David M. Piteri • Michael M. Pitt • Lori Beth Pittman • Douglas<br />
R. Pitts • Patricia A. Pitts • Terrence L. Pitts • Robert D. Piverotto • Joseph D. Pivonka • Andrew A. Plamondon • Nathaniel B. Plance • John P. Plank • James F. Platt • Paul O. Pleasants • Jeffrey A. Plendl • Eric Bob Plentl • Rebecca L. Plentl • Joseph D. Pleskac • Tim<br />
Plezbert • Jenice N. Plisko • Brian Plona • Douglas C. Plume • Cheryl Z. Plumeri • David A. Plummer • Harry Lee Plummer • Michael J. Plunkett • James L. Plymel • Chris T. Plympton • Melissa L. Poces • Christopher S. Podbielski • Elaine Poe • Lawrence G.<br />
Pogorzala • Caroline G. Pogue • Kerry C. Pohlman • Ronald J. Poindexter • Derek T. Pointer • Martha J. Pointer • Paul G. Poirier • Steve Poirier • Michael H. Poisson • Peter Polakos • Gary J. Pole • Rick Polete • Doris J. Poling • Keith L. Poling • Donna J.<br />
Polinsky • Terence A. Polischeck • Jeff William Polk • Richard Polk • Vince S. Polk • Donald E. Pollard • Edward R. Pollard • James D. Pollard • Stanley A. Pollard • Mark Pollock • Stephen A. Pologruto • Anthony J. Polzin • Jill D. Poma • Glen T. Poncet • Gregory<br />
Pond • Aristotle C. Ponder • Barry H. Ponder • Christina Pond-Lagoski • William R. Pong • Samuel V. Pono • Charles E. Poole • Cynthia Ann Poole • David W. Poole • James S. Poole • Jason Poole • Todd A. Poole • Vanessa L. Poole • Donald R. Poore • Dennis J.<br />
Poorman • Patricia Pope • Ross Pope • Jon M. Popow • Richard Popp • William W. Poppleton • Peter Porcaro • Emanuel N. Porretto • Fredrick R. Port • Gary A. Porta • Carl E. Porter • D.F. Porter • Dale Lance Porter • Donald J. Porter • Glenn Scott<br />
Porter • Lawrence W. Porter • Michael D. Porter • Timothy L. Porter • Neil J. Portner • Jonathan A. Porto • David W. Porzel • Rafael Posadas • Charles L. Posey • John J. Posey • David A. Pospychala • Jackie E. Poss • Stephen R. Post • Morris A. Postlewate • Victor<br />
M. Poston • Jeffrey S. Potash • Marc Potash • Salvatore Potestivo • Joseph J. Potkanowicz • Brian C. Potter • Carrie Lynn Potter • Janne K. Potter • Michael D. Potter • Rodney J. Potter • Daniel H. Potts • Joseph B. Potts • Mariane Potts • Steven C. Potts • Greta<br />
Marie Potzmann • James H. Pouncy • Shawn R. Pound • Alexander A. Powell • Charles A. Powell • David J. Powell • Donald M. Powell • Henry K. Powell • Lawrence F. Powell • Patrick J. Powell • Richard K. Powell • Stephanie Rene Powell • Stephen W. Powell • William<br />
R. Powell • Stephen C. Power • Bret A. Powers • Craig F. Powers • David B. Powers • Jesse J. Powers • Liesl M. Powers • Lynn A. Powers • Patrick E. Powers • Philip V. Powers • Randolph Powers • Sheryl A. Powers • Thomas E. Powers • Timothy J. Powers • Wade<br />
Powers • Mark S. Prairie • Stephen Prater • David E. Pratt • Joel E. Pratt • Gregory M. Pratte • Lisa M. Prentice • Connie L. Presley • Roy F. Presley • Brian W. Preslin • Edward J. Presor • Jeffrey Scott Pressley • Josh Pressley • Thomas J. Prestia • Faro C.<br />
Prestigiacomo • Alvin L. Preston • Brian L. Preston • Roger A. Preston • Mark A. Prestrude • John B. Preuit • Andrew M. Price • Danny F. Price • David James Price • James William Price • Mark F. Price • Peter K. Price • Ralph D. Price • Richard R. Price • Susan C.<br />
Price • Thomas J. Price • Tony R. Price • Troy D. Price • William E. Price • Kevin A. Prickett • Raymond A. Pridemore • David John Pridgen • Angela Priebe • Thomas J. Priebe • Jurgen E. Priester • Bruce Leon Prieur • Steven J. Prigge • Karen E. Prijatel • Charles L.<br />
Prill • Darrell B. Primm • Ross Primm • Nathaniel D. Primus • Christophe A. Prince • Richard K. Prince • Richard Lee Prince • Colleen Marie Pringle • Hugh J. Prior • David A. Pritchard • Byron T. Pritchett • Randall L. Privett • Richard E. Privette • Philip L.<br />
Probert • Lisa M. Procaccini • David G. Prochaska • Dawn M. Prochaska • Jonathan Procter • Stephen W. Proctor • David Scott Proehl • Christa A. Proffit • Noel E. Proffitt • Michael Prokop • Robert A. Prokop • Kevin M. Propheter • Timothy D. Propst • Matt<br />
Proudfit • Scott Roger Proudfoot • David Shawn Prowant • Kevin G. Prude • Paul E. Prue • John R. Pruitt • Kevin A. Pruitt • Kevin M. Pruitt • Edward F. Prusak • Anthony T. Prwivo • Michael Pryor • Robert J. Pryor • Paul J. Pucci • Timothy E. Puckett • Jeffrey A.<br />
Puckey • Dennis W. Pugh • Idalia Pulido • Manuel Pulido • Tonya J. Pullich • William G. Pullich • Kenneth R. Pullis • Richard A. Puloma • Douglas Edward Purdy • Jillian B. Purdy • Rick Purdy • Gordon Purslow • Arlynn E. Purvis • Scott G. Purvis • Daniel M.<br />
Pushic • David M. Pustay • Donna J. Pusterla • John A. Pusztai • Daniel N. Puterbaugh • Edward E. Putz • Michael A. Putzier • Diane M. Puzas • George M. Puzen • Glenn Puzon • Rory Puzon • Richard A. Pyke • Robin Lynn Pyke • Ronald B. Pyron • Mark A.<br />
Qualey • Alfred J. Qualiardi • William J. Qualiardi • Mark I. Quam • John W. Quamme • David A. Quane • Patrick F. Quaranta • Miles D. Quarrington • Scott M. Querry • Jeffrey A. Quest • Chris Stephen Quigley • Timothy M. Quigley • Frank Charles Quinby • Michael<br />
S. Quincey • Timothy Micheal Quinlin • Sean L. Quinlivan • John Quinn • Michael J. Quinn • Norman J. Quinn • Timothy L. Quinn • Gerard David Quiroz • Leroy C. Raap • Violet E. Rabago • William T. Rabek • Jon C. Racine • Mark S. Radabaugh • Curt<br />
Rademaker • Craig W. Rader • Stephen S. Rader • Joseph C. Radocy • Michael A. Radtke • Harry J. Rafferty • Jeanne Rafferty • Alan Raffo • Laura Kaye Ragan • Paul E. Ragan • Howard W. Ragsdale • Robert M. Raikes • Stacey Lee Raines • Ralph Rains • J a m e s<br />
Raio • Dale E. Ralph • Robert D. Ralston • Michael A. Ramaker • Balram Rambrich • James A. Ramey • Alma L. Ramirez • Chris M. Ramirez • Gerardo Ramirez • Irene Ramirez • John B. Ramirez • Maria T. Ramirez • Edward Ramos • Herbert D. Ramos • Jason<br />
Ramos • Jusserand F. Ramos • Richard Ramos • William M. Ramos • Mark Ramp • Jeffrey C. Rampling • Ted E. Ramroth • Richard Allen Ramsdell • Jonathan E. Ramsden • Stephen W. Ramsden • Dennis A. Ramsey • Michael P. Ramsey • Timothy V. Ramsey • Tracy L. The<br />
NATCA Family
The NATCA Family<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Ramsey • William T. Ramsey • Eric A. Rand • Joseph Rand • Richard A. Rand • Steven Rand • David C. Randal • Jayne L. Randall • William D. Randle • Lois Randley • Jerry D. Raney • Robert A. Raney • Nicholas J. Rangel • Brian Patrick Rankin • Delores F.<br />
Ransom • George Michael Ransom • Curt D. Ranz • Claude R. Rapoza • Frederick P. Rasche • Robert G. Raske • Kerry C. Rasmussen • Ronald M. Rasmussen • Tony A. Rasmussen • Larry J. Rasnake • Barry L. Ratchford • Richard Jean Rathbun • Joseph F.<br />
Ra<strong>the</strong>r • James V. Ratkus • Richard Alan Ratliff • Kelly Field Raulerson • Michael D. Raulerson • Owen D. Raulerson • Steven E. Raulston • William James Rauscher • Scott A. Rautio • Kevin S. Rawlings • Ryan P. Rawski • Joe R. Ray • Mark A. Ray • Michael A.<br />
Ray • Richard G. Ray • Ricky S. Ray • Ryan T. Ray • James M. Rayfield • Jamey Raymond • Margaret C. Raymond • Joseph W. Rayter • Thai Rea • Dennis Wayne Read • Kirby C. Read • Michael Read • Richard A. Readdy • Cheryl A. Readio • Bruce R. Reagan • Martin<br />
J. Reaghard • Carmen N. Reale • Patrick J. Ream • John A. Reams • Anthony J. Reando • Elijah B. Rearden • James Reasoner • George Michael Rebello • Steven Scott Reberg • Lori Rebhan • Jason R. Rebmann • Stanley V. Recek • James M. Record • David E.<br />
Rector • Thuhang C. Reddick • Daniel J. Redding • Brian M. Reddy • Yashoda Reddy • James P. Redel • Alan H. Redfern • Raymond C. Redhead • Karl R. Redinger • William H. Redner • John B. Reece • Terry J. Reece • Bernard E. Reed • Joida Reed • Paul D.<br />
Reed • Richard B. Reed • Scott W. Reed • Steve R. Reed • Steven J. Reed • Timothy A. Reed • James D. Reedy • Michael J. Reedy • Michael J. Reese • Robert G. Reese • Ronald W. Reese • Cornelius A. Regan • Gary K. Regan • John R. Regan • Kathleen A.<br />
Regan • Michael J. Regan • Thomas G. Regan • Steven Wayne Regruto • Hassie L. Rehm • Kimberly A. Rehm • James G. Rehrl • Jerome F. Reichenbach • Dallas R. Reid • Harold V. Reid • Lisa A. Reid • Richard A. Reid • Richard S. Reid • Rodger M. Reid • Rudolph<br />
Horatio Reid • Tracy J. Reid • Daniel F. Reigle • Brendan J. Reilly • John F. Reilly • Michael J. Reilly • Nancy Ann Reilly • Nancy C. Reilly • Phillip David Reilly • William J. Reimer • Danny D. Reinders • Kurt A. Reinert • Michael F. Reinhard • Raymond H.<br />
Reinhardt • Charles M. Reininger • Brenda K. Reins • Bruce C. Reins • Gary W. Reising • Laurence A. Reising • Roger D. Reisinger • Steven D. Reiss • Thomas J. Reitano • Nancy S. Reiter • Robert A. Reiter • Richard M. Rejniak • David K. Relyea • Elaine J.<br />
Relyea • Robert J. Rembish • Daniel M. Remer • Arthur A. Remsik • Fred Renault • Joey M. Rendon • Dirk Renner • Ronald D. Renner • Stewart M. Rennie • Russell S. Renton • Dana Lee Reny • Stephen B. Repeta • Mat<strong>the</strong>w William Resciniti • Kenneth R.<br />
Resnick • Dean Alan Ressler • Cory Thomas Retzlaff • Stephen G. Retzloff • Eric P. Reumann • Steve Reutepohler • Fred S. Revels • William R. Revett • Arthur M. Rewinkel • Charles M. Rey • Antonio Reyes • John A. Reyes • Michael D. Reyes • Omar Reyes • Scott<br />
C. Reyna • Beverly Reynolds • Chris M. Reynolds • Craig A. Reynolds • Darius C. Reynolds • George K. Reynolds • James B. Reynolds • Jerry C. Reynolds • Joseph K. Reynolds • Kenneth D. Reynolds • Michael Andrew Reynolds • Rebecca Reynolds • Robert D.<br />
Reynolds • Stanley C. Reynolds • Timothy A. Reynolds • Wesley David Reynolds • Steven Ellis Rhineheimer • Dale M. Rhoads • William T. Rhoads • Birkely Rhodes • Bradley E. Rhodes • Charlotte Gay Rhodes • Gilbert B. Rhodes • Grant R. Rhodes • Jason L.<br />
Rhodes • Melissa D. Rhodes • Patricia H. Rhodes • Sean B. Rhone • Edward S. Ribeiro • Ronald C. Riccadonna • John W. Riccardi • David R. Ricco • Chris J. Rice • Glendon E. Rice • James F. Rice • Judy A. Rice • Patrick Sean Rice • Peter M. Rice • Willard E.<br />
Rice • Brian N. Rich • Ronald E. Rich • Samuel J. Rich • Thomas S. Rich • Charlene L. Richard • Karen S. Richard • Timothy J. Richard • Anthony W. Richards • Dale D. Richards • James C. Richards • Jeffrey D. Richards • Jeffrey L. Richards • John D. Richards • Robert<br />
P. Richards • William L. Richards • Andrew J. Richardson • Beth Anne Richardson • Brian P. Richardson • Cory N. Richardson • Curtis Todd Richardson • Jack W. Richardson • John H. Richardson • Joseph W. Richardson • Mark W. Richardson • Michael B.<br />
Richardson • Michael P. Richardson • Nicholas C. Richardson • Scott J. Richardson • Thomas L. Richardson • Timothy D. Richardson • Willis G. Richardson • Raul Richie • Dale Richmond • Fred B. Richmond • Darla E. Richter • Deborah A. Richter • Frederick G.<br />
Richter • Jason M. Rick • William R. Rickels • Tracy A. Rickey • Daniel E. Ricks • Joseph C. Ricks • Jody L. Riddle • Dana Rider • Stanley D. Ridge • Mark Ridges • David L. Ridgway • Lawrence L. Ridley • Louis C. Ridley • Stephen P. Rief • David L. Riefer • Michael<br />
S. Rieke • Paul T. Riemer • Maureen Riendeau • Howard Rifas • Jeffrey S. Rigdon • Gary W. Rigelman • James Riggins • Gary R. Riggle • Clifford A. Riggs • Andrea C. Rigney • David O. Rigney • Angela Riley • Anthony G. Riley • David C. Riley • David F. Riley • F.<br />
Lee Riley • Gene R. Riley • Hayward M. Riley • Jeff Riley • John B. Riley • John Craig Riley • John Michael Riley • Jon A. Riley • Michael M. Riley • Michael Riley • Tonya S. Riley • William W. Riley • Paul M. Rinaldi • Lance A. Rinck • Michael A. Rinck • John Randolph<br />
Rinehart • Steven Ring • Mark S. Ringham • Sue L. Ringham • Ted E. Ringler • Larry J. Ringwalt • Pablo Riofrio • Gary D. Riolo • Steve Riordan • Anthony L. Rios • Anthony Rios • Seferino Rios • Timothy L. Rios • Lori Michelle Ripple • Jeff R. Rippon • Thomas H.<br />
Risdal • Jan Risheim • Stewart Risher • Greg W. Rising • Michael Risley • Timothy W. Risley • David A. Ritchey • David Ritchey • Stephen W. Ritchey • Constance Ann Ritchie • John M. Ritmiller • John M. Rittenberry • Walter S. Ritter • Richard E. Rittmann • Raul<br />
C. Rivadeneyra • Andrew H. Rivas • Edward Rivas • Albert B. Rivera • Amelia G. Rivera • Camille J. Rivera • Edward E. Rivera • Enrique Rivera • Jorge Rivera • Ruben Rivera • David Rivero • Luis Andres Riverol • Brian L. Rivers • Roger D. Rivers • Charles N.<br />
Riviere • Elissa M. Rix • Thomas E. Rizzardo • Timothy Alan Roach • James J. Roarke • Roger D. Roath • Robert R. Robar • Michael Allan Robbins • Wayne C. Roberson • Anita J. Roberts • Cheryl A. Roberts • Chris E. Roberts • Chris M. Roberts • Gary L.<br />
Roberts • Harry A. Roberts • Jerry C. Roberts • John C. Roberts • John R. Roberts • Kenneth E. Roberts • Kerry E. Roberts • Kirsten Leigh Roberts • Lowell K. Roberts • Marilyn S. Roberts • Mark P. Roberts • Michael L. Roberts • Michael R. Roberts • Neil C.<br />
Roberts • Peter C. Roberts • Peter Roberts • Raymond V. Roberts • Richard K. Roberts • Ross C. Roberts • Scott George Roberts • Shawn Roberts • Thomas L. Roberts • William Darren Roberts • William T. Roberts • Dale Robertson • David M. Robertson • David<br />
P. Robertson • Earle D. Robertson • John J. Robertson • Kirk P. Robertson • Martin P. Robertson • Preston E. Robertson • Timothy W. Robertson • David J. Robichaux • Michael F. Robicheau • Scott Robillard • Billy R. Robinson • Brad J. Robinson • Corey<br />
Robinson • Dana D. Robinson • David W. Robinson • Debra Robinson • Ernest L. Robinson • Es<strong>the</strong>r C. Robinson • Herbert G. Robinson • James R. Robinson • John D. Robinson • Kenneth L. Robinson • Marquitta Robinson • Robert Lamar Robinson • Scott E.<br />
Robinson • Steve Robinson • Thomas D. Robinson • John E. Robison • Ronald J. Robison • Thomas B. Robison • William Robitsek • Monico Robles • Dale E. Robson • Carol A. Roby • James E. Roche • James W. Roche • Kevin P. Roche • Thomas Patrick<br />
Roche • Michael R. Rocheck • Kenneth D. Rochester • Richard Rochester • Michael C. Rockman • Kathleen A. Rockwell • William A. Rodda • Patrick J. Rodden • David J. Roddy • Kyle W. Roddy • Lee A. Rodels • Noreen M. Rodenhurst • William N. Rodenhurst • Mark<br />
O. Roderick • John Craig Rodgers • Philip G. Rodgers • Chris Joseph Rodriguez • Martin T. Rodriguez • Mat<strong>the</strong>w A. Rodriguez • Michael G. Rodriguez • Miguel A. Rodriguez • Orlando Rodriguez • Reynaldo Rodriguez • Richard G. Rodriguez • Ernesto Rodriguez-<br />
Acost • Alex E. Rodriquez • Ellen M. Rodriquez • Holly L. Roe • Joseph William Roe • Rodney D. Roe • Stephen C. Roebuck • Terrence K. Roeder • Kendall W. Roetzel • Rick Edward Roever • Steven Roewer • Bridget C. Rogers • Chris Rogers • Donald R.<br />
Rogers • Edward L. Rogers • Gina M. Rogers • Glenn Rogers • Joseph T. Rogers • Kevin L. Rogers • Kimberly June Rogers • Michael D. Rogers • Michael R. Rogers • Michelle L. Rogers • Richard J. Rogers • William M. Rogers • Tim Rogula • Calvin Rohan • James M.<br />
Rohde • Richard W. Rohde • William H. Rohder • Jeffrey M. Rohlmeier • Kevin L. Rohr • Charles W. Rohrer • Kevin J. Rojek • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Dean Rojohn • Mitchell L. Roland • Paul Rold • Theodore E. Roller • Cory L. Rollins • Herbert T. Rollins • Loretta Rollins • William<br />
Quint Rollo • Richard W. Rolls • Dan H. Rom • John C. Roman • Linda Roman • Patrick J. Roman • Frederic C. Romani • Gerald P. Romaniak • Robert Romano • Alexis Romero • Jorge D. Romero • Juan Romero • Mary L. Romero • Robert A. Romero • Samuel<br />
Romero • Jeffrey G. Romig • Billy J. Romines • Roger L. Rominger • Richard J. Rompala • Ronald C. Romuno • Serge Rondelez • Joshua P. Ronken • Daniel T. Ronning • Wilfredo C. Ronquillo • Bruce L. Rook • Robert J. Rooker • Jason H. Rooks • Brandon<br />
Roop • Kenneth A. Roosa • Chris B. Roppolo • Raoul P. Rosado • Randy R. Rosales • Margaret Rosander • Thomas J. Roscoe • Adam G. Rose • Anthony H. Rose • David L. Rose • Dexter Rose • DonnRae E. Rose • Douglas L. Rose • Ronney G. Rose • Susan F.<br />
Rose • Timothy S. Rose • Thomas R. Roseborrough • Joseph A. Roseman • Steve Rosenbaum • Minerva A. Rosenberg • Steven J. Rosenfeld • Carl R. Rosenow • Bradley K. Rosenthal • Robert G. Rosenthal • Keith Rosequist • Gregory A. Roshel • Curt Alan<br />
Ross • Erle M. Ross • Glyndon Ross • Jeffrey A. Ross • Jeffrey J. Ross • Jenny B. Ross • John E. Ross • Joseph P. Ross • Michael S. Ross • Michael Ross • Scott W. Ross • Sean Allen Ross • Steve Ross • Thomas H. Ross • William E. Ross • Gary B. Rosser • James<br />
Rossi • Daniel M. Rossmango • Debbie Roth • George W. Roth • Robert B. Rothbart • Mark J. Rothdiener • David J. Ro<strong>the</strong>ry • Joseph R. Rougeau • Susan J. Round • Gary J. Rounds • Michael V. Roundtree • Keshea L. Rounsaville • Brian Thomas Rountree • Clifton<br />
J. Rouse • Wesley D. Rouse • James R. Rousseau • Robert J. Routzahn • John L. Roux • Dino J. Rovito • Ronald E. Row • Ralph R. Rowand • Alan R. Rowe • Amy Louise Rowe • Jimmy D. Rowe • John L. Rowe • Tina R. Rowe • Kenneth W. Rowland • Ray C.<br />
Rowland • Neil M. Rowlett • Lynn D. Rowley • Brett R. Rowsam • Floyd Kenneth Roy • Kim A. Roy • Michael A. Roy • Rosalind J. Royal • James R. Royer • Michael R. Royer • Wayne E. Royse • Stanley Rozycki • Richard Rubenstahl • David Scott Rubert • Robert P.<br />
Rubertone • Augusto R. Rubia • Mitchell B. Rubin • William W. Rubin • Duane E. Rubino • Samuel J. Rubino • Thomas R. Rubrecht • William S. Ruby • Clarence S. Rucker • Edward F. Rucker • Thomas E. Rucker • Ralph M. Rud • Chinda P. Rudd • Thelma L.<br />
Rudd • James A. Ruddick • Joseph A. Ruddy • Geoffrey D. Rudes • David R. Rudolf • Thomas Rudolph • Johann Rudzitis • Roger W. Ruebush • Robert A. Ruegsegger • Daniel John Ruehl • Cynthia G. Ruenzel • Eric Lee Ruenzel • Robert W. Ruff • Anthony J.<br />
Ruffino • Michael Rufle • Robert T. Ruggiero • Edward D. Ruhbeck • David R. Ruiz • Dawna M. Ruiz • Ismael Ruiz • Luis Antonio Ruiz • James Kelly Rukes • Rosa M. RunsThrough • Ronald J. Runsvold • Mark Dean Rupert • Todd Arthur Rupert • William H.<br />
Rupert • Michael J. Ruple • John D. Rupp • Thomas J. Ruppert • Ralph H. Rupprecht • Harold Dwayne Rush • Hea<strong>the</strong>r K. Rush • Martha Ann Rush • Robin Rush • Clifton Rushing • Randolph A. Russ • Carroll G. Russell • Craig E. Russell • Cynthia Ann Russell • David<br />
E. Russell • Debra K. Russell • Donald R. Russell • Gary W. Russell • Jackie W. Russell • Jeffrey Dennis Russell • Joseph A. Russell • Mario C. Russell • Ray Russell • Robert Daniel Russell • Steven A. Russell • William J. Russell • Daniel J. Russo • James J. Russo • Dean<br />
R. Ru<strong>the</strong>r • Peter M. Ru<strong>the</strong>rford • Rickey M. Ru<strong>the</strong>rford • Robin C. Ru<strong>the</strong>rford • Ronald L. Ru<strong>the</strong>rford • Tony F. Ru<strong>the</strong>rford • Robert C. Rutter • Stephen R. Ruttman • Nathan M. Rux • Dan Ryan • Daniel T. Ryan • Erik Carl Ryan • John P. Ryan • Joseph P.<br />
Ryan • Michael Ryan • Patrick G. Ryan • Robert T. Ryan • Shawn K. Ryan • Steven G. Ryan • Terence M. Ryan • Timothy Ryan • William J. Ryan • Joseph W. Ryba • Marion Rybarczyk • Rosanne Ryburn • Steven B. Ryland • Gary A. Ryle • Chris K. Rzeszutko • Kristin<br />
Kay Saari • Alan L. Saber • Gary D. Sabo • Michael Sabutis • Joseph S. Sacco • Maria Sacco • John T. Sachon • Richard T. Sack • John F. Sadatis • Brian K. Sadler • Robert Sadowski • Al Saenz • Patrick Safarian • Kaiwan Safavi • David E. Safdy • Edwin I. Safer • Carl<br />
E. Sagerquist • Mark Saginario • Sean C. Saing • Doyle S. Saito • Ivan S. Sakihara • Linda A. Sakihara • Byron K. Sako • James Joel Sako • Eugene R. Sakrisson • Collin S. Sakuma • John S. Saladin • Brian Patrick Salaway • Erwin Stewart Salazar • Eric William<br />
Saldana • Joseph James Salerno • Aletta A. Salganek • Michael J. Salina • Jennifer Salisbury • Michael G. Salisbury • Richard C. Salmen • William L. Salopek • Charles R. Salvaggione • John A. Samacicia • Samuel J. Sambrano • George C. Sammeth • Andrew J.<br />
Samour • Larry H. Samowitz • Charles Sample • Guy W. Sample • Craig L. Samples • Alexander Sampra • Timothy John Samsel • Dale J. Samson • David L. Samson • Shorn A. Samuel • Dale P. Samuelson • Edwin Sanabia • Chris William Sanborn • A m a n d a<br />
Sanchez • Elena M. Sanchez • Gary Edwin Sanchez • Jacqueline V. Sanchez • Manuel A. Sanchez • Marcelino Sanchez • Micheal Sanchez • Nestor A. Sanchez • Patrick D. Sand • Richard A. Sand • David E. Sandbach • David Brent Sandefur • Robert A. Sander • Collier<br />
H. Sanders • Dan H. Sanders • Douglas A. Sanders • James M. Sanders • Jeffrey W. Sanders • Jere A. Sanders • Joseph Allen Sanders • Joshua B. Sanders • Michael R. Sanders • Terry B. Sanders • Kelly R. Sandfer • Patrick I. Sandorfi • Calen M. Sandoval • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine M.<br />
Sandoval • Elena M. Sandoval • Eloy C. Sandoval • Kathleen A. Sandoval • Phillip Sandoval • Clinton Russell Sands • Michael D. Sands • Michele H. Sands • Theodore L. Sandstrom • Rick S. Sandvig • John Sanfelippo • Bryan E. Sanford • Scott M. Sanford • Jayanti R.<br />
Sangani • Amritpal S. Sangha • Surinder S. Sangha • Paul J. Sangl • Peter J. Sanislo • Daniel M. Sanko • Michael H. Sanocki • Jean Garry Sanon • Leslie Susan Sanovich • George E. Sant • Richard T. Santa • Mark D. SantaCruz • Edwin Santiago • Marcos Santiago • Victor<br />
Santore • Jahil Santos • Joseph C. Santos • Ray Y. Santos • James P. Sanzone • Donald W.M. Sapp • Gregory D. Sapp • James G. Sappier • Eric Robert Sarbacker • George P. Sardineer • Sharon Sargeant • David L. Sargent • John Michael Sargent • Kenneth H.<br />
Sargent • Thomas M. Sargent • Jerry T. Sarkady • Mark W. Sarrasin • Eugene M. Sarrels • Patricia F. Sarubbi • John D. Sarver • Kenneth R. Sarver • Joseph M. Sas • Douglas C. Sasserson • Kenton E. Sassmann • Kelly Ann Satterfield • Daniel W. Sauer • Richard F.<br />
Sauer • Chris M. Sauld • Arturo R. SaulsBerry • Bryan T. Saunders • Chris S. Saunders • David M. Saunders • James W. Saunders • Mark F. Saunders • Martin J. Saunders • Timothy E. Saunders • Timothy K. Saunders • Michael J. Saupp • Vincent J. Sauret • Donald<br />
R. Savage • Gregory S. Savage • Sterling Savage • Frank J. Savasta • Latifa J. Saviet • Stephen E. Sawicki • Gary L. Sawyer • James L. Sawyer • Randall L. Sawyer • Robert J. Sawyer • MaryJane YanYi Saxe • Michael H. Saxe • Kay Saxton • Sone Sayamontry • Gary<br />
Nathaniel Saylor • Karen Saylor • Nicholas C. Saylor • Gary C. Saylors • Jeffrey C. Sayre • Stephen R. Sayre • Souradeth H. Saysana • Douglas Warren Scadden • Sean F. Scally • Patrick J. Scanlan • John E. Scanlon • Tandy M. Scantlen • Brian L. Scarbrough • Louis A.<br />
Scarozza • James S. Scarpelli • Anthony Scavone • Kathleen Scavone • Donald P. Schaak • Louise Schachter • Roger L. Schade • Karl W. Schader • Joseph Robert Schaefer • Thomas W. Schaefer • William A. Schaefer • John R. Schafe • Al G. Schafer • Sandra Lynn<br />
Schafer • Dean W. Schahrer • Cynthia H. Schamel • Steven J. Schaming • Margaret C. Scharnow • Paul S. Scharr • Jennifer L. Schaub • Kathryn L. Schauf • Paul E. Schauman • Joseph H. Scheer • Mark A. Scheid • Donald S. Scheie • Michael A. Schelper • Lee<br />
Schenck • Chris L. Schenk • Chester Schenkel • Jason A. Schenkel • Daniel T. Schenkenberger • Barbara Schennum • Paul D. Schennum • Brad Scherff • Mark E. Schermeister • Milton R. Scherotter • Dixie R. Scherzer • Patrick John Schettler • Steven Alan<br />
Scheuble • Richard J. Scheuer • Terry Scheuffele • David H. Schickram • Anthony J. Schifano • Carl J. Schildt • Chanel Marie Schilling • Edward M. Schilling • James E. Schilling • Joachim W. Schilling • Wayne Mark Schilly • Steven M. Schimming • Brian M. Schimpf • Greg<br />
L. Schindler • Gregory A. Schindler • Timothy J. Schindler • Dirk J. Schippers • E. Gordon Schiring • Alan J. Schirtzinger • David J. Schissler • Emil R. Schlabach • Donald E. Schlegel • Michael K. Schlegel • Vincent K. Schlegelmilch • Joseph J. Schleich • Trace<br />
Schlemeyer • Karl Schletzbaum • Allen D. Schlimper • Stephen R. Schmalz • Gregory A. Schmarr • Gerald B. Schmauch • Donald E. Schmeichel • Doug Schmer • Robert F. Schmid • Arthur E. Schmidt • Christopher Schmidt • Daniel John Schmidt • David P.<br />
Schmidt • James M. Schmidt • James Michael Schmidt • John J. Schmidt • Kim R. Schmidt • Michael J. Schmidt • Rick L. Schmidt • David A. Schmied • Mark H. Schmitt • Richard A. Schmitt • John J. Schmitz • Richard Schnedorf • Thomas B. Schneeman • Anita Marie<br />
Schneider • Bret Richard Schneider • Bruce F. Schneider • Chris J. Schneider • Darrell E. Schneider • Donald L. Schneider • Jeffery F. Schneider • John Schneider • Joseph F. Schneider • Penny Schneider • Russell L. Schneider • Wallace G. Schneider • William C.<br />
Schneider • Jimmy W. Schnell • Robert J. Schneller • Gary D. Schneringer • William J. Schnippert • David W. Schnoor • Ronda Joy Schnoor • David M. Schnur • David I. Schoen • Mark R. Schoenbauer • Emily S. Schoenberg • Paul C. Schoenen • Mark R.<br />
Schoenhoff • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Alec Schofield • Mark W. Scholl • Tom W. Schooler • Jesse D. Schools • Kevin W. Schott • Donald Schoux • Carole R. Schrader • David J. Schrader • Donald Lyle Schrader • Stephen J. Schreck • Dorene A. Schreckenghost • Mark D.<br />
Schreier • Casey Schreiner • Michael R. Schrick • Marc Douglas Schrier • John D. Schrock • Michael J. Schrock • Andrew B. Schroeder • Michael Schroeder • Milton E. Schroeder • Randy S. Schroeder • Richard E. Schroeder • Robin M. Schroeder • Thomas J.<br />
Schroeder • Anthony B. Schroedl • Edward J. Schroer • Kenneth J. Schroer • Jennifer Schroll • Karl Arnold Schubert • H. Dwayne Schuck • John Edmund Schuder • David W. Schuerhoff • Dean R. Schuette • Anton F. Schulden • Phillip W. Schuler • Michael J.<br />
Schuller • James C. Schultz • Jeffrey Stephen Schultz • John D. Schultz • Kurt C. Schultz • Paul A. Schultz • Ronald Lee Schultz • Mark S. Schumacher • Brian M. Schumaker • Christine E. Schumaker • Douglas Schunter • Peter H. Schuyler • Martin J. Schwab • Kurt<br />
Schwager • Keith W. Schwallenberg • Rene’ M. Schwanenberger • William F. Schwaner • Michael P. Schwartz • Paul D. Schwein • David Francis Schweitz • Christina Schwenker • Mark R. Schwingshakl • James R. Schwitz • Pamela S. Schwitz • Robert J.<br />
Scibran • Gregory Scoda • Edward P. Scofield • Gregory J. Scofield • John C. Scofield • Robert D. Scoggins • James M. Score • Artis Lee Scott • Barrett O. Scott • Byron C. Scott • Douglas O. Scott • Frederick M. Scott • Glen R. Scott • Glover E. Scott • Jack A.
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Scott • James W. Scott • Kenji S. Scott • Lester N. Scott • Linda O. Scott • Marcia L. Scott • Mark W. Scott • Priscilla A. Scott • Richard H. Scott • Robert E. Scott • Robin E. Scott • Timothy Bryan Scott • Vincent P. Scott • William F. Scott • Mark Scovel • Maurice<br />
C. Scoville • Anthony V. Scozzafava • Dennis R. Scroggins • Glynn R. Scruggs • Melvin H. Scruggs • Linda Emily Scudder • Rebecca C. Scudder • Joseph F. Scuderi • John E. Scully • Gary D. Seacat • Marc A. Seals • Michael R. Sealy • Charles A. Seaman • Michael J.<br />
Seaner • Andrew P. Searles • Michael R. Seat • Brian M. Seavey • Gerald H. Seavey • William D. Seay • William D. Sebastian • Richard C. Seckinger • Clyde R. Seckler • Douglas E. Secor • Timothy A. Secrist • Peter L. Seddon • Amy Lynn Sedin • Patrick M.<br />
Sedlacek • John A. Sedlak • Lester A. See • Myron Douglas Seefeldt • Robert L. Seeger • Garth E. Seehawer • John W. Segelken • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Y. Segleski • Jose M. Segovia • Hector Segundo • John J. Segura • John L. Seidenspinner • Paul C. Seifert • Chauntel T.<br />
Seiler • Brad W. Seitz • Jadyne M. Seitz • Stephen R. Sekaz • David J. Sekelik • Mike R. Seko • Andrew P. Sekura • Rebecca D. Selesky • Jubran G. Selim • Audie Seljaas • Stephen Lee Selke • Russell C. Sell • Maxwell Alan Sellers • Scott Kevin Sellers • Jan W.<br />
Sellman • Robert H. Selph • Julie Ann Seltsam • James R. Selvey • Susan B. Selvey • Karen L. Selznick • Duane Semcken • Jeffrey D. Seng • Edward C. Senna • James L. Senne • Peter A. Sensenbrenner • Richard J. Sepulveda • Paul J. Serafin • Jerry A. Serafini • Joseph<br />
J. Serafino • Rosa Serai • Joseph T. Serba • Anthony J. Serino • David M. Serna • Merlinda M. Serna • Robert A. Serra • Alfredo J. Serrano • Kevin T. Serratt • Frank R. Servidio • Robert J. Serviss • Melissa L. Sestak • Thomas K. Sestak • Don J. Seth • Anthony E.<br />
Setterfield • James Severin • Barbara Susan Severson • Mark E. Severson • Howard L. Sevey • Richard F. Sevigny • Diane Kelly Sevin • Ron Sevin • Michael A. Sewell • F. Darrell Sexton • Jeffrey L. Sexton • Jerrold W. Sexton • Joseph E. Sexton • Stephen H.<br />
Seybt • Kenneth W. Seymour • Steven A. Sfameni • Robert W. Sgroi • Bruce L. Shackelton • Orrin L. Shackleford • Mat<strong>the</strong>w E. Shafer • Richard L. Shafer • Baxter N. Shaffer • Darwin J. Shaffer • Lloyd M. Shaffer • Gitesh Shah • Jeffery A. Shake • Brian K.<br />
Shallenberger • John A. Shanahan • Patrick T. Shanahan • Michael E. Shanholtzer • Steven M. Shank • John J. Shanks • Robert M. Shanks • Karen Elizabeth Shannon • Shane P. Shannon • Thomas Edward Shannon • Randy L. Sharbonno • Paul J. Sharga • Daniel P.<br />
Sharkey • John A. Sharkey • Lyman R. Sharp • Terry E. Sharp • Kenny B. Sharpton • Richard J. Shavensky • Adrian M. Shaw • Daniel L. Shaw • Dorothy Shaw • Doyle N. Shaw • Gregory W. Shaw • Karla W. Shaw • Mike E. Shaw • Robert Alan Shaw • Sharon C.<br />
Shaw • James W. Shaytar • Brendan J. Shea • Dennis Shea • John M. Shea • Thomas E. Shea • William F. Shea • William John Shead • Lee B. Sheaffer • David Shealy • Jason Richard Shearer • Toby Alan Shedd • Jonathan A. Shedden • Pamela A. Shedden • William A.<br />
Shedden • Michael J. Sheedy • Daniel M. Sheehan • Jon L. Sheehan • Lawrence Sheehan • Mark C. Sheehy • Alan Sheely • Dwayne E. Sheely • Timothy D. Sheffield • Kevin D. Shelar • John A. Shelden • Kimberly L. Sheldon • Scott R. Shelerud • Terry A. Shell • David<br />
L. Shellenbarger • Scott Robert Shelley • Dary G. Shelton • James D. Shelton • Natalie R. Shelton • Richard Gordon Shelton • Ruth E. Shelton • Neale D. Sheneman • Donald C. Shepard • Cory Shepersky • Harry J. Shephard • Robert S. Shephard • Edward E.<br />
Shepherd • Leonard Shepherd • Pamela D. Shepherd • Patrick Shepherd • Michael N. Sheppard • Eric Noel Sherer • John E. Sheridan • Timothy S. Sheridan • Jonathan B. Sherman • William D. Sherrard • Nathan K. Sherrell • John J. Sherry • Mark J. Sherry • Casey<br />
L. Sherwood • J. Kevin Sherwood • Charles Ray Sheufelt • Larry R. Shewmake • Todd Lee Shibata • Kenneth A. Shick • John R. Shields • Joseph A. Shields • Philip C. Shierk • Roy K. Shifflett • William P. Shifflett • Jonathan G. Shinabery • W. Grant Shinn • Raymond C.<br />
Shipley • Margaret M. Shipman • Rodney K. Shipp • Ben J. Shirey • Mark H. Shirley • P. Duncan Shoberg • Teddy B. Shobert • Richard C. Shockley • John T. Shoemaker • Frank R. Shomilak • Barbara Anne Shore • Robert D. Shore • Randy Dean Shorman • Gregory K.<br />
Short • Hope J. Shorten • Wendell N. Shrabel • Larry W. Shriver • David R. Shrout • Michael Richard Shrum • Richard C. Shrum • Stacy C. Shrum • Cindi L. Shubert • Donald W. Shugart • Gina Rae Shuler • James G. Shuler • Douglas E. Shull • Kevin Alan<br />
Shulman • William P. Shultz • Kenneth E. Shuman • David Shumate • Ron S. Shusterman • Gregory W. Shy • Mickey L. Shy • Raymond Sia • Jody M. Sibert • Troy L. Sica • Mark T. Sickle • Richard A. Sickle • James N. Sickler • Robert Edward Sickles • Stephan J.<br />
Sickles • Paul Sickmann • Asif R. Siddiqui • James R. Sidebottom • Roberta Sides • Kenna Sides-Sinclair • Lori P. Siebert • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Scott Siebert • Phillip L. Siebert • James E. Sieffert • Jeffrey S. Siegel • John W. Siegel • R. Curtiss Siegel • Sue Siegle • Alison Kim<br />
Siegmund • Michael R. Siegmund • Robert J. Siegmund • William F. Siegmund • Patricia L. Siegrist • Anthony W. Siejka • Bruce A. Sienko • William J. Siergey • Joseph L. Siesener • Julie M. Siesener • James B. Sigmon • S. John Sigurdsson • William M. Silaghi • Victoria A.<br />
Silberberg • Darold Silcott • Scott James Sill • Garry D. Sills • Joseph A. Silva • Michael P. Silva • Richard A. Silva • Sesario Alex Silva • Anthony Silver • Sharon J. Silvering • Jason Silvertsen • Michael A. Silvestre • Michael Alan Silvius • Klint F. Simmel • Chris Kane<br />
Simmonds • Denzil B. Simmonds • Charles L. Simmons • James E. Simmons • Sandra L. Simmons • Stanley C. Simmons • Stephen Albert Simmons • Wayne O. Simmons • William P. Simmons • James E. Simms • Shawn J. Simms • Dennis Simon • Ralph D.<br />
Simoneau • Darcy J. Simons • Bret Alan Simpkins • Carolyn Michele Simpson • Craig Leigh Simpson • David W. Simpson • Dennis W. Simpson • Jacklyn Simpson • Karl A. Simpson • Paul C. Simpson • Scott F. Simpson • Tracy A. Sims • William M. Sims • Robert D.<br />
Sinclair • Sylvester Sinclair • Kathleen A. Singelyn • Dwight A. Singh • Parveen K. Singh • Annette Singleton • Scott L. Singley • Kimberly R. Siniard • Scott P. Sinkhorn • Richard A. Sinner • Richard Alan Sinner • Beverly Sinnott • Robert J. Siris • Billy S. Sisco • James<br />
Alan Sisco • Bruce D. Sistrunk • Hosea T. Sistrunk • Richard G. Sittig • Michael Charles Sizer • Todd Sjostrand • Allison Michelle Skabo • Steven Gordon Skaggs • Thomas M. Skahen • John Skahill • Felix J. Skarpa • Brett G. Skarstad • Ernest M. Skelton • Bonnie S.<br />
Skiles • Shawn E. Skiles • L. David Skillingstad • Harrison S. Skinner • Kathy A. Skinner • Martin A. Skinner • Michael T. Skinner • Anthony J. Skirlick • Michelle A. Skomars • Michael T. Skoric • Paul Skorniakoff • Richard M. Skotnicky • Michael J. Skubon • George Bias<br />
Skvicalo • Carl M. Slabicki • Kathleen A. Slabicki • Jacqueline C. Slade • William G. Slade • Thomas M. Slane • Trent Jeffrey Slate • Dennis J. Slater • William M. Slater • Charles S. Slaton • Samuel D. Slaton • Peter J. Slattery • Ken Slauson • Frederick K. Slavin • David<br />
N. Slee • Jacqueline Rae Slee • Derek L. Sloan • John S. Sloan • L. Russell Sloan • Richard J. Sloan • George R. Slobodnyak • Earl T. Slocum • Dannie D. Slone • Guy Lee Slone • Eric S. Slota • Dennis L. Slusher • Gary V. Smades • Barbara E. Small • Edward A.<br />
Small • James T. Small • Scott Andrew Small • David E. Smalley • John Hubert Smalley • Lisa Carolyn Smalley • Carl D. Smalls • Shona L. Smalls • James R. Smart • Steve A. Smart • Robert W. Sma<strong>the</strong>rs • Keith G. Smedema • Dennis D. Smederovac • Robert N.<br />
Smelley • Raymond S. Smid • Francis T. Smigelski • Alan J. Smith • Alan R. Smith • Alan W. Smith • Andrew C. Smith • Anthony M. Smith • Barry E. Smith • Barry W. Smith • Barry Smith • Brad W. Smith • Breck Ray Smith • Brent A. Smith • Bret A. Smith • Byron<br />
M. Smith • Calvin M. Smith • Carl R. Smith • Charles B. Smith • Charles E. Smith • Chevis Barry Smith • Clyde A. Smith • Craig A. Smith • Cynthia M. Smith • Daniel A. Smith • Daniel R. Smith • Daniel Z. Smith • Darrell G. Smith • David A. Smith • David B.<br />
Smith • David R. Smith • David W. Smith • Dean W. Smith • Deanna R. Smith • Don A. Smith • Donald E. Smith • Douglas Gene Smith • Duane D. Smith • Edward R. Smith • Edward Smith • Elizabeth S. Smith • Eric C. Smith • Fleming E. Smith • Frank E.<br />
Smith • Frederick P. Smith • Garrett R. Smith • Gene E. Smith • George F. Smith • Gerald L. Smith • Gregory James Smith • Gregory L. Smith • Gregory S. Smith • Gregory Smith • Harold C. Smith • Herbert D. Smith • James B. Smith • James B. Smith • James D.<br />
Smith • James E. Smith • James J. Smith • Jean Smith • Jennie Kathleen Smith • Jennifer Ann Smith • John Charles Smith • John E. Smith • John J. Smith • June M. Smith • Karl E. Smith • Kenneth G. Smith • Kevin B. Smith • Kevin R. Smith • Leigh R. Smith • Leonard<br />
R. Smith • Lu<strong>the</strong>r K. Smith • Marie R. Smith • Mark Alan Smith • Mark E. Smith • Mark J. Smith • Martin Byron Smith • Marvin E. Smith • Michael A. Smith • Michael D. Smith • Michael F. Smith • Michael L. Smith • Michael Smith • Michelle M. Smith • Mike G.<br />
Smith • Morton GeraldB. Smith • Natalie Ruth Smith • Norman B. Smith • Orville P. Smith • Pamela J. Smith • Patrick S. Smith • Paul Warren Smith • Phillip T. Smith • Rebecca L. Smith • Rebecca Smith • Richard B. Smith • Richard E. Smith • Richard J. Smith • Richard<br />
S. Smith • Richard Smith • Robby A. Smith • Robert A. Smith • Robert Cotting Smith • Robert H. Smith • Robert Hoyt Smith • Robert L. Smith • Robert Smith • Roger James Smith • Ronald W. Smith • Russell P. Smith • Russell W. Smith • Ruth A. Smith • Scott E.<br />
Smith • Shawn A. Smith • Stephen Randall Smith • Stuart K. Smith • Teresa Mae Smith • Terry L. Smith • Terry R. Smith • Thomas J. Smith • Thomas O. Smith • Thomas R. Smith • Timothy Allen Smith • Timothy D. Smith • Tobias D. Smith • Tommie L. Smith • Wayne<br />
E. Smith • William C. Smith • William E. Smith • William M. Smith • William X. Smith • John Michael Smithson • Damon A. Smithwick • Joseph A. Smoak • Curtis E. Smock • Robert M. Smo<strong>the</strong>rs • Robin A. Smuda • Timothy P. Smyth • Robert B. Snead • William T.H.<br />
Sneed • Frank E. Snell • Chad Martin Sneve • Joel C. Snider • Kenneth W. Snider • Bruce David Snoddy • Howard J. Snook • Benjamin L. Snow • David W. Snow • Edgar D. Snow • Edward G. Snow • Ernest E. Snow • Robert Snow • Scott Snow • Thomas J.<br />
Snow • Robert F. Snuck • Douglas E. Snyder • Ernest Roy Snyder • Fred J. Snyder • Harold K. Snyder • Leslie M. Snyder • Prescott C. Snyder • Thomas G. Snyder • Thomas Scott Snyder • William M. Snyder • Horace G. Soares • Christine A. Sobczyk • Donald B.<br />
Sobkoviak • Kevan Alan Soderberg • Philip C. Soehl • Gilbert Soerink • Renee D. Soerink • Mary J. Soha • John A. Sohl • Richard P. Sokol • John J. Sokolowski • Steven Martin Soler • Ellen B. Soletti • Charles F. Solie • Richard S. Solimine • Cassandra N. Sollie • Debra<br />
Anne Solomon • Ira D. Solomon • Mark B. Solomon • Paul D. Somerfeldt • Patrick A. Somersall • Keith David Sommer • Andrew Son • Gregory L. Sonnabend • Lu L. Sonnabend • Thor M. Sonoda • Michael Sonognini • Larry D. Sooby • Steve A. Soogrim • Chris<br />
Donald Sorah • Richard A. Sorbo • Dennis A. Sorce • Barbara Sordahl • Eric C. Sorem • Richard W. Sorensen • Steven P. Sorensen • Scott M. Sorenson • Jennifer L. Sorg • Trent Erik Sorheim • Edmund O. Soriano • Reny J. Sorrow • Erika L. Sorum • Ronald D.<br />
Sorum • F. John Soto • Johnny Soto • Jose D. Soto • James P. Soucek • Jeffrey M. Soucek • Richard W. Soucheck • Jeffery K. Soucie • David Soule • Jeffrey T. Soule • Terrell R. South • John W. Sou<strong>the</strong>rn • Brian Joseph Souza • Milton R. Souza • Michael D. Sova • John<br />
H. Sovis • Timothy B. Sowder • Scott E. Sowers • Charles Spadafore • Richard L. Spalinger • Patrick E. Spann • Kevin R. Spannagel • Frederick F. Sparhawk • John L. Sparks • Robert M. Sparks • Ronald Pat Sparks • Sharon L. Sparks • Jeffrey G. Sparrow • Eric S.<br />
Spaulding • Richard J. Specht • Roxanne M. Speck • Anthony C. Speer • Daniel L. Spence • Brian Henry Spencer • Denise N. Spencer • James A. Spencer • Jesse D. Spencer • Kelly J. Spencer • Kenneth W. Spencer • Melanie R. Spencer • Steven Craig Spencer • Terry<br />
F. Spencer • Thomas Sperellis • Fritz Eric Sperling • Ray L. Spickler • Mark J. Spies • Phillip C. Spikes • James T. Spillane • James Spille • Brelis M. Spiller • Marty L. Spiller • Anthony Spina • Terry G. Spinks • William M. Spinney • Sara L. Spotts • Alicia M.<br />
Spradley • Robert G. Spradlin • Daryl W. Sprague • Colleen N. Spring • Jesse J. Springer • Jude W. Springer • Steven Springer • Michael W. Sproston • Clay A. Sprouse • Chyral Ann Spurbeck • Salvatore A. Squillace • Adrienne W. Squires • Janette E. Sroka • Mark<br />
St.Amand • Frederick F. St.Amour • Robert J. St.George • Jeffrey Paul St.Germain • Jerry C. St.John • Lynne M. St.John • Timothy C. St.John • Michael G. St.Mary • Alan E. Staabs • Michael T. Stabenow • Andrew J. Stachowiak • James G. Stack • Mitchell Sean<br />
Stacy • William J. Stady • Conrad Scott Stafford • Donald E. Stafford • Larry R. Stafford • Mark Scott Stafford • Leslie W. Stafslien • David Stahl • Jason Stahl • Ruth M. Stahl • Richard Frank Stahler • Jennifer Stahley • Randy L. Stahley • Robert I. Stalker • Clyde A.<br />
Stallsmith • Chris C. Stallworth • Jeri B. Stalnaker • Robert B. Stamey • Cheri L. Stamper • Peter M. Stanco • Kyle A. Standow • Wade C. Stanfield • Bryan K. Stanley • Kenneth W. Stanley • Ray E. Stanley • Richard S. Stanley • Robin C. Stanley • Roy L.<br />
Stansell • Charles Blake Stanton • Chris L. Stanton • Heidi D. Stanton • Michael P. Stanton • Raymond S. Stanton • Ronald J. Stanton • William H. Stanton • William R. Staples • Andrea L. Stapleton • Joseph E. Stapleton • Thomas F. Stapleton • Richard Scott<br />
Stapp • Terry W. Starck • Randall G. Stark • Scott A. Stark • Stephen H. Stark • George S. Starkey • Joseph Starks • Chris C. Starleaf • Rickey D. Starr • Victor M. Starr • Stephen Joseph Stasek • Robert J. Stasiek • Andrew R. Stasiuk • Gary L. Statler • Vernell C.<br />
Staton • James G. Staudaher • Deborah Stauffer • Keith J. Stauffer • Mat<strong>the</strong>w C. Stauffer • Todd Andrew Stauffer • Joseph F. Stawash • Leon C. Stebbins • Tiffany L. Stecher • Richard David Steel • David E. Steele • Jenna L. Steele • Richard W. Steele • Tory D.<br />
Steele • William S. Steele • Donald B. Steeples • Michael Stefanick • Gregory Stuart Steffen • Harry W. Steffey • David A. Stefonowicz • Thomas J. Stefursky • Richard M. Stegura • William D. Stehle • Gary Donald Steichele • David V. Steidl • Robert P.<br />
Steidley • Richard Steiger • Deborah Sue Stein • Douglas R. Stein • Eric M. Stein • Gregory M. Stein • Jeffrey Charles Stein • Veronica Lynn Stein • Frederick W. Steinberg • James C. Steinbrecher • Jeffrey Steiner • Thomas J. Steiner • Rico Markus Steinhauff • Brett<br />
Allen Steinle • Leanne D. Steinle • Robert P. Steinwedel • Von Stell • Kathleen R. Stellmach • John Kevin Steltzlen • Mark A. Stempel • Michael J. Stendahl • Karen R. Stengel • Jeffrey R. Stenger • Laura G. Stensland • Timothy M. Stephani • Alfred B. Stephens • Boyd D.<br />
Stephens • Gary L. Stephens • Gregg A. Stephens • Gregory B. Stephens • John G. Stephens • Marie W. Stephens • Michael Scott Stephens • Mitchell R. Stephens • Troy R. Stephens • Bruce J. Stephenson • David C. Stephenson • Janice M. Stephenson • Kelly Lane<br />
Stephenson • Robert A. Stephenson • Robert C. Stephenson • Jason L. Stepp • Donald R. Sterling • Lee A. Sterling • Benjamin Stern • Deborah L. Stern • Jenelle L. Sternitzky • James D. Stetler • Donald S. Stetz • Jason R. Steury • Brian K. Stevens • Diane C.<br />
Stevens • Douglas S. Stevens • Jo-Ann Stevens • Mark Wayne Stevens • Michael S. Stevens • Paul L. Stevens • Richard E. Stevens • Sheila Stevens • Craig R. Stevenson • Neal P. Stevenson • Paul E. Stevenson • Shaun D. Stevenson • Mark M. Steward • Alynn R.<br />
Stewart • Barbara A. Stewart • Brent E. Stewart • Darla S. Stewart • David J. Stewart • James E. Stewart • Julie Lynn Stewart • Kristen K. Stewart • Marvin D. Stewart • Michael J. Stewart • Philip Stewart • Robert A. Stewart • Robert W. Stewart • Susan J.<br />
Stewart • Susan Stewart • Thomas J. Stewart • William S. Stewart • David L. Stice • Paul M. Stieglitz • Joanne M. Stiger • Greg M. Stiles • William B. Stine • Deanna L. Stinnett • Robert D. Stinnett • Kevin J. Stitz • David H. Stock • Thomas C. Stockham • Randal A.<br />
Stockman • Joel D. Stockseth • Veldon Carl Stoddard • Scott O. Stoeckle • David W. Stoehr • Barbara Denise Stoke • Keith E. Stokes • Walter A. Stokes • John P. Stokke • Mark A. Stoll • James R. Stolworthy • Alan J. Stone • David W. Stone • Margaret A.<br />
Stone • Mark R. Stone • Michael E. Stone • Robert J. Stone • Walter W. Stoops • Carlos E. Storch • Persephanie Green Storck • Patricia M. Storey • Jonathan S. Storhoff • Murray L. Storm • Tracy R. Storm • Eric C. Stormfels • Jonathan C. Storr • Leslie A.<br />
Stortz • Leonard N. Story • Ca<strong>the</strong>rine A. Stottlemyer • Julia M. Stoudt • James Truitt Stout • Clifton R. Stowe • Donald I. Stowell • James R. Stowers • Kevin M. Stoy • Scott Strader • Jesse L. Straessle • Jessica J. Strahley • Kevin T. Strand • David L. Strang • Robert<br />
M. Strange • Steven M. Strano • James P. Stransky • Melvin D. Strapp • Mark A. Stratmann • Joseph T. Straub • Scott Straub • Thomas J. Straub • Erik R. Strauss • Jeffrey A. Straw • Gary E. Strawderman • Edward P. Strayer • Sarah M. Strayer • Larry L.<br />
Strayhorn • Allen E. Stream • Jason Lee Strebig • Elizabeth A. Streed • Roger L. Streeter • Gary M. Streitman • Dennis Stremick • Carl Eric Strickland • Clois S. Strickland • Curtis W. Strickland • Gilford L. Strickland • Harold Leon Strickland • Louis W.<br />
Strickland • Russell James Strickland • Joseph R. Strietzel • John M. Striner • Renee Striner • Sherry Ann Strizak • Kerry C. Strnad • Richard J. Strnad • William P. Strobel • Karol L. Strommen • Robert L. Strong • Michael Eugene Stro<strong>the</strong>r • Derek Strothmann • Kathleen<br />
M. Stroud • John M. Stroup • Michael Mat<strong>the</strong>w Strukel • Robert J. Stru<strong>the</strong>rs • John Daniel Stuart • Robert S. Stuart • Jerry H. Stubbs • Kelley M. Stubbs • James L. Stuck • James R. Studstill • Kelly A. Studstill • Jennine M. Stuertz • Paul M. Stuertz • Robert Alan<br />
Stukey • John L. Stultz • William T. Stumbo • Tracey J. Stump • Dennis B. Sturdivan • Chris P. Sturm • Brad E. Sturman • Timothy R Stutts • Michael J. Styer • Alan S. Suarez • Jose M. Suarez • Michael E. Subia • Chris E. Such • Albert W. Suchcicki • Philip R.<br />
Sudano • Calvin George Suechting • Peter W. Sufka • David M. Sugarman • Vincent M. Sugent • Karl W. Suhsen • Brenda J. Sullivan • Craig A. Sullivan • Craig Sullivan • David L. Sullivan • Dylan R. Sullivan • Joseph M. Sullivan • Kevin Thomas Sullivan • Lisa M.<br />
Sullivan • Mark Kenneth Sullivan • Mat<strong>the</strong>w M. Sullivan • Michael D. Sullivan • Michael P. Sullivan • Michael R. Sullivan • Patrick J. Sullivan • Patrick J. Sullivan • Richard M. Sullivan • Richard W. Sullivan • Shaun F. Sullivan • Terence John Sullivan • William Sullivan • Jaime<br />
W. Sultzer • Alan M. Summerhill • Mark R. Summerlin • Margaret E. Summers • Robert B. Summers • Robert V. Summers • Kevin E. Summey • Brendt A. Sundermeier • Donald Sundheimer • Tony Sung • Jerry A. Sunman • Ken Superior • Gregory D. Sur • James<br />
Masten Surber • Richard J. Suren • Jeffrey A. Surette • Michael P. Suriano • William Susa • Steve S. Sutcavage • Chris S. Su<strong>the</strong>rland • Dennis R. Su<strong>the</strong>rland • Rhonda Faye Su<strong>the</strong>rland • Scott Sutphen • Craig Arnord Sutphin • Steve S. Sutphin • Peter P. Sutryk • Daniel<br />
J. Sutton • Marvin Sutton • Steven R. Sutton • Thomas C. Sutton • David Svrcek • Martin A. Swain • Whitmel B. Swain • Sterling W. Swan • Troy A. Swanberg • Blaine R. Swank • Leslie M. Swann • Stephanie R. Swann • Brett R. Swanson • Chris D. Swanson • David<br />
D. Swanson • David Swanson • Davyd R. Swanson • Judy T. Swanson • Larry R. Swanson • Mark S. Swanson • Stephen G. Swanson • Charles R. Sward • Charles E. Swardson • Douglas Swartout • Della Swartz • Ernest Joseph Swartz • James A. Swatek • Richard The<br />
NATCA Family
The NATCA Family<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Swauger • Cager Swauncy • Mark C. Swearingen • Rhonda Rowland Swearingen • Dennis M. Sweeney • Martin B. Sweeney • Terrance Sweeney • David A. Sweet • Jeffrey A. Sweet • Karl Sweisthal • Richard D. Swetnam • April C. Swetof • Dean Swickard • Charles<br />
Swierczynski • Gailan D. Swift • Michael D. Swift • Barry J. Swinburnson • Steven D. Swinehart • Shannon Walter Swing • Jonathan W. Swingle • Maliesa Ann Swinson • Mark S. Swinson • Steve M. Swisher • Steven A. Switaj • Steven R. Swoboda • Marlene Elisabeth<br />
Swofford • Jerry Swords • Michael R. Sybouts • Melvin H. Sydnor • James P. Sykes • Ivy C. Sylvain • Mark C. Sylvester • Robert M. Syms • Keith O. Syverson • Gabriel T. Szabo • Jeffrey P. Szakacs • Paul Alexander Szalai • Reed Szameitat • Adam Szczawinski • Edward<br />
C. Szczuka • Maureen Szczygielski • James J. Szendrey • Thomas A. Sztochmal • Robert H. Szymkiewicz • Peter V. Ta • Kevin Taaca • Derrick C. Tabb • Eileen M. Tabone • Gregory Francis Taccini • Kenneth B. Tackett • Rodney K. Tadlock • Beverly S. Taggart • Terrill<br />
Lee Taggart • AnnMarie Celeste Taggio • Rocco Taggio • John T. Tague • Lisa R. Tahtinen • James N. Tait • Mari Takahashi • Stan K. Takehara • Allison Talarek • Laurie Turman Talbert • John Tallarovic • Anthony Tallerico • Michael Tallerico • Johnny E. Talley • Judy<br />
M. Talley • Becky M. Tam • Enrique Tamargo • John D. Tambellini • Jawad H. Tamimi • Scheri Tamlyn • Craig A. Tammen • Eric Lee Tandberg • Timothy L. Tandy • Shigeo Tanji • Bruce A. Tanner • James K. Tanner • Linda L. Tanner • Larry A. Tanzie • Abel J.<br />
Tapia • Bruce E. Tarbert • Brian C. Targer • Mitchell S. Tarnoff • Marc W. Tarnosky • Thomas A. Tascone • David M. Tate • Pamela Jean Tate • William Frances Tate • Robert D. Tatosian • T. Rodney Tatum • Ronald H. Taube • John F. Tavano • Thomas P.<br />
Tavino • Anita J. Taylor • Blake W. Taylor • Charles Dempsey Taylor • Chris A. Taylor • Dale J. Taylor • Debra K. Taylor • Gayland W. Taylor • Gregory L. Taylor • James S. Taylor • James Taylor • John M. Taylor • Jonathan E. Taylor • Lawrence B. Taylor • Lee W.<br />
Taylor • Lloyd W. Taylor • Mat<strong>the</strong>w Taylor • Michael C. Taylor • Michael E. Taylor • Michael G. Taylor • Michael S. Taylor • Neil K. Taylor • Pat A. Taylor • Patrick R. Taylor • Raphell P. Taylor • Raymond Taylor • Robert D. Taylor • Robert E. Taylor • Robert M.<br />
Taylor • Robert S. Taylor • Rodney Joseph Taylor • Stephen M. Taylor • Susan M. Taylor • Terence K. Taylor • William F. Taylor • William Lawrence Taylor • Rachelle A. Taylor-Thran • Samuel D. Teague • Garrett C. Teames • Pamela S. Teasley • Maynard E.<br />
Tedder • Donald R. Tedrow • Michael L. Teel • Steven William Tefft • Richard Allan Teixeira • Johnny L. Temple • Joyce D. Temple • Scott Duane Tener • Dale S. Tengan • Andrew R. Tennison • Billy J. Tennison • John D. Terhark • Douglas R. Terhune • R o r i e<br />
Terhune • Frank C. Ternullo • Ronald D. Terpstra • William Forrest Terral • Bobby W. Terry • J. Robert Terry • Judy A. Terry • Nan L. Terry • Michael G. Tesmacher • Johnny R. Testerman • John A. Teuber • James R. Teubert • Eric P. Thacker • Mark D.<br />
Thacker • Charles L. Thackery • Richard F. Thackray • Patrick A. Thawley • Jane J. Thaxton • Terry W. Thayer • Paul E. Theriault • John F. Therrien • Greg M. Thibeault • Steven A. Thiebeault • Andrew J. Thieken • Guy C. Thiel • Rita M. Thiel • Neal C. Thigpen • Alan<br />
Thomas • Charles Andrew Thomas • Charles W. Thomas • Cheryl M. Thomas • Chris S. Thomas • Danny E. Thomas • Donald F. Thomas • Elizabeth A. Thomas • Freddie J. Thomas • Glenn B. Thomas • James J. Thomas • Jay D. Thomas • Jerome Edward Thomas • Julia<br />
M. Thomas • Keith Thomas • Kevin C. Thomas • Mat<strong>the</strong>w R. Thomas • Michael B. Thomas • Michael J. Thomas • Paul D. Thomas • Pauli Anton Thomas • Richard J. Thomas • Richard K. Thomas • Russell K. Thomas • Scott Thomas • Stephen G. Thomas • Tamarra<br />
Thomas • Thomas E. Thomas • Timothy D. Thomas • Trent N. Thomas • Victor P. Thomas • Walter F. Thomas • William C. Thomas • William J. Thomas • Elizabeth Ann Thomason • James Edward Thomason • Charlie W. Thomaston • Aaron D. Thompson • Barry L.<br />
Thompson • Bobby F. Thompson • Brent E. Thompson • Bryan E. Thompson • Candace Jill Thompson • Charles R. Thompson • Cheryl M. Thompson • David S. Thompson • Debra A. Thompson • Donald L. Thompson • Douglas C. Thompson • Douglas S.<br />
Thompson • Glenn W. Thompson • Gordon R. Thompson • John G. Thompson • Kevin L. Thompson • Lisa P. Thompson • Mark A. Thompson • Mark Anthony Thompson • Michael Dennis Thompson • Michael J. Thompson • Michael L. Thompson • Michael Scott<br />
Thompson • Michael T. Thompson • Richard E. Thompson • Richard Kenneth Thompson • Ricky R. Thompson • Robert M. Thompson • Roger Duane Thompson • Roosevelt Thompson • Steven J. Thompson • Terry W. Thompson • Thomas F. Thompson • Tony R.<br />
Thompson • William F. Thompson • Chris G. Thomson • Daniel A.M. Thomson • David M. Thomson • Thomas F. Thomson • Janis E. Thor • Thomas N. Thornbrugh • Greg W. Thorne • Robert L. Thorne • Patrick M. Thornley • Alan M. Thornton • Charles A.<br />
Thornton • Donna E. Thornton • Doyle W. Thornton • Dwayne T. Thornton • John F. Thornton • Richard O. Thornton • Scott A. Thornton • Stephen B. Thorp • Mark E. Thorpe • Dan Thorsen • Arvid Thorsland • Sharon Thrash-Alexander • Beverly A.<br />
Throckmorton • Kim A. Throckmorton • Randy Lee Throckmorton • Robert S. Throckmorton • Robert S. Thrutchley • Lisa Anne Thrysoe • Lane Alan Thuet • Mark A. Thuli • Michael Thummel • Philip Jon Thummel • Donald R. Thunberg • Rockton W.<br />
Thurman • Dean William Thurston • Thomas D. Thurston • Marlynda K. Tibbetts • Theodore J. Tibbetts • Robert J. Tibble • James R. Tice • Jack E. Tidwell • William L. Tidwell • Jerrold N. Tierney • Thomas Tierney • Stacy L. Tiffin • Grace Tighe • Lawrence J.<br />
Tighe • Sandra J. Tighe • Tara L. Tighe • Paul K. Tight • Kathleen A. Tigner • Stephen M. Till • Denise W. Tillack • William M. Tiller • Freddie R. Tillery • Jeffrey L. Tilley • Belinda Tillman • Lloyd C. Tillman • Mark Timken • Francis L. Timme • Charmaine P.<br />
Timmons • John J. Timony • Earl K. Tindall • Brian D. Tindell • Daniel G. Tinderholt • Patricia A. Tiner • William J. Tingler • Robert D. Tinkham • Scott A. Tinman • Kim M. Tinney • Joy L. Tippens • Floyd T. Tipton • Gregory G. Tipton • Larry J. Tipton • William<br />
Tirado • Richard Tishma • Gerald T. Titshaw • James G. Tittle • James Tlapak • Erwin J. Tobey • Kristine Marie Tobin • Devon L. Tobler • Marvin K. Tobosa • Gerald S. Todd • Georgia Lee Tolbert • Edison W. Toles • Eric C Toll • Preston N. Tolliver • James R.<br />
Tolson • Terry Tolster • Wing M. Tom • Jolene M. Toman • Dewayne H. Tomasek • Anthony P. Tomasi • David J. Tomczak • Joseph M. Tomich • Terri Lynn Tomisak • Valerie L. Tomko • Chris K. Tomlin • Marcus L. Tomlin • Samuel C. Tomlin • David L. Toms • Shane<br />
B. Toms • David Morris Toney • James W. Toney • Lai Tong • Paul Toomey • Renee Toone • Samuel Topete • Patrick M. Topham • Lynne B. Torbert • Whitfield Torbert • Domenic V. Torchia • Nancy Toren • S. Eric Torgersen • Jeffrey L. Torgerson • Thomas<br />
Toro • Dennis A. Torrence • Anthony G. Torres • Celso L. Torres • David Torres • Debora Torres • Elias Torres • Jerry Torres • Jesse J. Torres • Jose L. Torres • Lazaro Raul Torres • Phillip C. Torres • Roberto E. Torres • Xavier Torres • Pamela S. Torres-<br />
Synek • Philip Tortorice • Theresa Toscano • Edward M. Totedo • Josef J. Toth • Lawrence D. Toth • Shirley A. Toth • Deborah A. Totin • Robert S. Totman • David Wynn Touchton • Steven Toumanian • Frederick M. Tourin • Scott D. Tourin • Todd M. Tourin • Brian<br />
Tourkin • Ronald J. Tovar • Cheryl Ann Tovsen • Thomas D. Towle • Larry J. Towles • Edward Townend • Michael A. Townsend • Russell P. Townsend • Robert J. Toy • William J. Tracey • Daniel K. Tracy • Donna M. Tracy • Newell Dion Tracy • Robert D.<br />
Trader • Kevin Trafton • W. Scott Trafton • Cynthia E. Trahan • Kerry J. Trahan • Nolan James Trahan • Benjamin Jay Trainor • Joseph M. Trainor • Randy M Trainor • Donna D. Tramble • John L. Tramble • James D. Trame • Cathy D. Trammeli • George E.<br />
Trammell • Terry L. Tramp • Duong C. Tran • Kevin J. Trask • Samuel F. Travis • Timothy J. Travis • Patrick L. Treadway • Jerry W. Tredway • Timothy C. Treece • Ken J. Treglown • Leslie Lee Trejo • Jimmie A. Trekell • Gerard A. Tremblay • Laurel C. Tremblay • Paul<br />
D. Tremblay • James B. Trent • Mark R. Trent • Randall Trent • Russell A. Trester • Carlos G. Trevino • Frederick L. Trevino • Lee J. Trevino • James E. Trezvant • Mark J. Tribby • Thomas R. Tribou • David S. Trigg • Jeff Tripp • Joseph C. Trippy • John J.<br />
Trojanczyk • Cecil J. Trollinger • James M. Tromba • Peter J. Trono • Richard L. Troup • James D. Trout • Robert E. Troutman • Craig Stephen Troxclair • Bradley W. Troy • Timothy S. Truax • Chris Trudeau • Michelle Trudeau • Raymond C. Truelove • Glenn R.<br />
Truesdell • Anthony R. Trujillo • Lawrence Scot Trumbull • Hao P. Truong • Marilyn P. Trussell • Aline J. Trussoni • Steven W. Tryon • Alex Trzebiatowski • David Tsirkin • George J. Tsuchiyama • Geary R. Tubbs • Michael A. Tucciarone • Arthur C. Tucker • Benton<br />
T. Tucker • Charles W. Tucker • Chris B. Tucker • Gary W. Tucker • James E. Tucker • Mat<strong>the</strong>w C. Tucker • Michael F. Tucker • Ronald G. Tucker • James L. Tudor • Jenny Lynne Tudor • Paul N. Tue • Ronald J. Tumminello • Johnny R. Tune • Pierre R. Turcotte • Joseph<br />
John Turecamo • Francis Joseph Turek • Anthony N. Turiano • Steven S. Turk • Kevin Dale Turman • Allan R. Turmelle • Jay E. Turnberg • Gerald E. Turnbull • Alan P. Turner • Carlyle D. Turner • Claude W. Turner • Dale Lee Turner • David L. Turner • Elizabeth Anne<br />
Turner • Gregory Turner • J. Rodney Turner • Jeffery W. Turner • Joseph Turner • Michael K. Turner • Michael M. Turner • Michael Ray Turner • Ronald G. Turner • Russell Keith Turner • Tatchron Turner • John M. Turnquist • Linda M. Turton • Daniel<br />
Tussey • Dale E. Tutterrow • Everett W. Tuttle • Clifford M. Tvede • Sylvia C. Twa • Richard W. Twining • Brian C. Twomey • Bill L. Tyler • Jeff W. Tyler • Robert D. Tyler • Trent N. Tyler • William S. Tyler • James S. Tyler-Wall • John J. Tyndall • Kevin E.<br />
Tyner • Pamela J. Tyree • Duane Tyrell • Albert G. Tyson • David A. Tyson • David Mat<strong>the</strong>w Tyson • Eric Stanley Tyson • Robert Keith Tyus • Gerard S. Tzanetatos • Noel Felix Ugalde • Richard D. Uher • Edward W. Uhrich • Jonathan R. Ulanch • Mark E.<br />
Ulanch • Curtis J. Ulen • Gary Ulin • James A. Ullmann • Richard M. Ulmes • James L. Ulry • Deborah T. Umbaugh • Rusty D. Umbrell • David I. Umeda • Jennifer A. Umphenour • Chris Underhill • Dennis H. Underwood • Mark A. Underwood • Dawn Marie<br />
Unger • MaryAnn Unger • Anna B. Unruh • Jimmy M. Upchurch • Carrie Uphus • David Michael Uptain • Chris J. Upton • Ronald A. Upton • Richard James Urban • Thomas J. Urness • Richard L. Ussery • Karen Elaine Utley • Robert William Utley • Paul G.<br />
Utrata • Edward Vaca • Clifford E. Vacirca • Marcus I. Valdes • Michael Anthony Valencia • Angel E. Valentin • David S. Valentin • Bruce Valentine • Edward A. Valentine • Jeffery S. Valentine • Jeffrey S. Valentino • Valerie C. Valerio • Edgardo Valle • James W.<br />
Vallone • Vinh T. Van • John R. VanAlstine • Andrew T. VanAmburg • Jacqueline A. VanAntwerp • Gary S. VanCleave • Mark D. VanCuren • Brian VanDeBerg • Joseph R. VanDeBogert • Michel G. VanDerLinden • Gregory H. VanDine • Ellen VanEmbden • Richard K.<br />
VanFleet • Robert B. VanHassel • Gerald R. VanHook • Daniel J. VanHorn • Ronald K. VanLent • William VanLoan • John VanMersbergen • Joy E. VanNiel • Kenneth D. VanPelt • Stacey K. VanPelt • Amy J. VanSteenbergan • Ray C. VanTassell • Sandra E.<br />
VanTilburg • Kevin R. VanUden • Arie VanVugt • Bryan A. VanWinkle • Steven G. VanWinkle • James A. VanZee • Bradley S. Vance • Brian K. Vance • Lonnie R. Vance • Robert C. Vance • Scott Allen Vancura • Ka<strong>the</strong>y Lee VanDell • Gerrit D. Vandenberg • George<br />
T. Vandenbosche • Joseph Charles Vanderbeke • Gerald L. Vander-Heyden • Keith G. Vandersteen • Peter Vanderweel • George P. Vanechanos • Edward D. Vanek • Joseph Vangel • Michael D. Vantiger • James B. Vantine • Mark D. Varady • Tony Varda • Ramon<br />
Varela • Ricardo Varela • Mary Vargas • Ann C. Vargo • Daniel Varn • Richard K. Varner • James R. Varney • Stephen W. Varnum • Joseph A. Varradi • Carlos Vasquez • Heriberto Vasquez • Karla S. Vasser • Monica Leigh Vaughan • Frank E. Vaughn • Geoffrey K.<br />
Vaughn • Randy K. Vaughn • Richard L. Vaughn • William T. Vaughn • Anthony C. Vaught • Patrick D. Vaught • Lucy A. Vayo • David Alan Vechik • Gary John Veer • Luis H. Vega • Frank Randal Vegely • Kimberly J. Vela • Leticia B. Vela • Rodolfo R. Vela • Edward<br />
Velardi • Kathryn Ann Velardi • Bobby Velasquez • Fred M. Velasquez • Norfina A. Velasquez • Richard A. Velasquez • John R. Velazquez • Amaury Velez • Anthony C. Vella • Brent T. Veness • Louis Vengilio • Robert E. Venohr • Jonathan D. Ventre • Virgil S.<br />
Venzant • Kenneth F. VerStraten • Robert C. Verburg • Diane M. Vercella • Michael J. Verderamo • William T. Verderose • Susan W. Vereline • Jon W. Verhoev • William Verhoeven • Patrick H. Verhoff • Eric Vermeeren • Donald S. Vernam • Mary A. Verneer • James<br />
N. Veronico • Stephen Noel Verret • Tina Verret • Michael J. Verrett • Erik Verstraete • Troy A. Verville • Jane T. Vescovo • Tommy Darrell Vest • G. Stephen Veurink • Zoelea N. Vey • Deborah A. Vibbert • David Vick • Diane Vickers • Richard E. Vickery • Richard<br />
R. Vicor • Janet M. Victory • Joseph J. Vieau • Claude Anthony Vieira • Franklin S. Viernes • David E. Vigil • Phillip T. Vigil • James P. Vilasuso • Oma Anderson Viles • Richard Vilinsky • Nelson A. Villa • Christophe E. Villafranca • Ian P. Villafuerte • Paul<br />
Villagomez • Guillermo Y. Villalobos • Kenneth M. Villalobos • John J. Villarreal • Donald J. Vincelette • Dudley Vincent • Edwin C. Vincent • Michael D. Vincent • Dale R. Vinzenz • David M. Viparina • Berle E. Vircks • David S. Virden • Shelly K. Virtue • William<br />
Arthur Visconti • Rocco Viselli • Fred S. Visitacion • Paul V. Vitale • Christopher Vitaliti • Loreto A. Vitor • Michael S. Vitti • Douglas E. Voelpel • Wallis L. Vogan • Charles Ralph Vogel • John F. Vogel • Mat<strong>the</strong>w James Vogel • Roger L. Vogel • William I.<br />
Vogelgesang • Frederic H. Vogelpohl • John J. Vogelsang • Scott H. Voigt • Randy R. Voiles • Stephen J. Vollaro • Charles Vomacka • Anna M. VonWerder • Thomas Edward Vonasek • Karen S. VonMann • Neven E. Vos • William C. Voss • Samuel G. Vowels • James J.<br />
Vredenburg • Lai Joseph Vu • Thinh D. Vu • Steven T. Vurture • Evan A. Vutsinas • Melissa Wachal • Dennis H. Wachowski • G. Thomas Wade • James K. Wade • Randolph S. Wadle • William Paul Wadley • Michael S. Wages • Karan M. Waggoner • John A.<br />
Wagman • Carl F. Wagner • D. Scott Wagner • Douglas Wagner • Elizabeth E. Wagner • Floyd B. Wagner • Kenneth J. Wagner • Kurtis J. Wagner • Mark J. Wagner • Neil L. Wagner • Philip A. Wagner • Richard R. Wagner • William Warren Wagner • Barry J.<br />
Wagoner • John G. Wagoner • Keith A. Wahamaki • Mohammed A. Waheed • Raymond K. Wahl • William C. Wahl • Bradley Allan Wahlberg • David G. Wahto • David A. Waite • Anthony J. Wajda • Michael T. Wajda • David Wakefield • Michael Walborn • David<br />
S. Walczak • JefferyStewart Walden • Thomas C. Walden • Michael B. Waldera • Gilbert J. Waldo • George L. Waldrop • Alonzo G. Walker • Barry R. Walker • Bernadette E. Walker • Bonnie J. Walker • Brian Keith Walker • Daniel K. Walker • Daniel N.<br />
Walker • Darrel K. Walker • Elizabeth K. Walker • Elizabeth Walker • Howard E. Walker • James W. Walker • John C. Walker • Kevin Scott Walker • Kurt Walker • Laura Walker • Michael B. Walker • Michael J Walker • Michael S. Walker • Robert J.<br />
Walker • Ronald W. Walker • Russell D. Walker • Timothy H. Walker • Ursula Walker • Wesley Walker • William D. Walker • William E. Walker • Thomas D. Walko • Brian Wall • Dale R. Wallace • Danny M. Wallace • Dennis M. Wallace • Dennis W.<br />
Wallace • Gene Edward Wallace • Jason W. Wallace • Jason Wallace • Paul E. Wallace • Richard A. Wallace • Richard William Wallace • Steven Alexander Wallace • William O. Wallace • Raymond J. Wallach • Jeffrey L. Waller • Thomas S. Waller • William M.<br />
Wallick • Scott A. Wallig • John I. Wallin • Mat<strong>the</strong>w M. Wallitner • Brian E. Walljasper • Eric Robert Walls • Randy V. Walls • Timothy Edward Walls • Steven J. Walrath • Rebecca L. Walser • Anthony J. Walsh • Audrey J. Walsh • Brian J. Walsh • David A.<br />
Walsh • Gregory A. Walsh • Jeffrey H. Walsh • John E. Walsh • John M. Walsh • Michael P. Walsh • Ronald Joseph Walsh • Stephen G. Walsh • Steven M. Walsh • Terrence E. Walsh • William M. Walsh • Lisa A. Walter • Richard H. Walter • Stephen C. Walter • Bradley<br />
D. Walters • Dale L. Walters • Danny L. Walters • Donald G. Walters • James B. Walters • Marcia Walters • Barbara J. Walton • David L. Walton • Chris Scott Waltz • Tonya L. Waltz • Jeffery M. Walukonis • Robin M. Walukonis • Pamela L. Walz • Christopher D.<br />
Wampler • Scott Wampler • Tony Wang • Wego Wang • Larry L. Wanless • Daryl Y. Wannomae • Michael J. Wappelhorst • Anthony Paul Ward • Barry P. Ward • Carolyn A. Ward • Curtis Ward • Frank J. Ward • Gary A. Ward • Gary S. Ward • Lawrence J.<br />
Ward • Michael D. Ward • Michael L. Ward • Ricky J. Ward • William A. Ward • William G. Ward • Brett L. Warden • Buel Thomas Warden • Eric B. Ware • Dennis R. Warfield • Joan M. Warfield • Leslie A. Warfield • Jenniper L. Wargats • Todd E. Wargo • Scott<br />
Jay Waring • Alan D. Warmanen • Timothy A. Warmley • Harold L. Warncke • Cheri Warner • Ronald A. Warness • Bryan M. Warnica • Todd T. Warr • Andrew Scott Warren • Curtis B. Warren • Jack S. Warren • Mark E. Warren • Merle J. Warren • Robert A.<br />
Warren • Robert J. Warren • Tommy R. Warren • Valri L. Warren • Wendy G. Warren • Thomas E. Wartell • Stephen R. Wartenbe • Jeffrey L. Warters • John W. Warwick • Chester E. Waryasz • Sarah Wasbes • R. Scott Wasdin • Victoria A. Wasdin • James P.<br />
Wasgatt • Arthur J. Wash • Gary C. Washburn • Nikole N. Washburn-Cooper • David W. Washington • Marshall D. Washington • Melanie S. Washington • David W. Washino • Janice M. Wasmund • James M. Wassick • Steven H. Wasson • John W. Waterbury • Lisa<br />
Ann Waterbury • Jule Gary Waters • Linda Waters • Robert V. Waters • Billy R. Watkins • John Watkins • Marcella Watkins • Ronald L. Watkins • Keith B. Watness • Daryl W. Watson • David A. Watson • David L. Watson • Edward L. Watson • Gilbert M.<br />
Watson • Gregory Alan Watson • James L. Watson • LaTrice T. Watson • Lee H. Watson • Mark A. Watson • Ozzie Watson • Thomas Wayne Watson • William P. Watson • Benjamin Watters • Allison M. Watts • Conchita D. Watts • Daniel J. Watts • David Alan<br />
Watts • Kevin D. Watts • Paul Watts • William G. Watts • David M. Waudby • John Wawerek • David B. Wawrzynski • Jacqueline G. Wayson • Thomas R. Wayson • Paul J. Wazowicz • Joseph T. Wea<strong>the</strong>rly • Tracy E. Wea<strong>the</strong>rs • Bryan T. Weaver • C. Alan<br />
Weaver • Colin M. Weaver • Douglas Weaver • Jeffrey M. Weaver • John H. Weaver • Lisa F. Weaver • Lisa G. Weaver • Richard M. Weaver • Robert N. Weaver • Ronald W. Weaver • Stephen E. Weaver • Timothy J. Weaver • William G. Weaver • Alice J.<br />
Webb • Christine A. Webb • Danny R. Webb • Galen O. Webb • Jerry D. Webb • Loyal F. Webb • Mark E. Webb • Michael J. Webb • Patrick Gordon Webb • Steven Douglas Webb • Wayne H. Webber • William David Webber • Carl M. Weber • Donna J.<br />
Weber • Douglas B. Weber • Edward A. Weber • Glenn Weber • Henry G. Weber • Kurt R. Weber • Michael Weber • Richard Alan Weber • Robert L. Weber • Ronald Anthony Weber • Sabrina G. Weber • Tawnya A. Weber • Alan J. Webster • Chuck
Webster • David T. Webster • Patricia Webster • Paul G. Webster • James M. Wecht • Brent C. Wedderspoon • Eric J. Wedel • Dane R. Wedergren • Eric Jay Weeden • George Weeks • Gregory T. Weeks • John K. Weeks • Daniel D. Weems • Keith D.<br />
Weerheim • Richard J. Weese • James H. Wegner • David A. Wehking • Michael A. Wehrman • Bradley W. Weidner • Leonard M. Weidner • Steven Wayne Weidner • Paul S. Weikel • Edwin F. Weiland • Randall C. Weiland • Joel R. Weiler • Mitchell J.<br />
Weinbeck • Mat<strong>the</strong>w S. Weingart • Kevin M. Weinheimer • Winnie Weinrich • Dale A. Weir • Ann E. Weiss • Geoffrey D. Weiss • Richard J. Weissheier • Brian Anthony Weix • John Arthur Welborn • Dennis K. Welch • James J. Welch • Jeffrey Wesley Welch • Rita<br />
Welch • Abigail Welcyng • Jeffrey D. Weldon • Roger D. Welke • Jeffery D. Wellborn • Christopher S. Wells • Pattie R. Wells • Paul Arthur Wells • Thomas K. Wells • Thomas T. Wells • Jeffrey Jay Welsch • Molly A. Welsh • Ty D. Welsh • James R. Welte • Cydney<br />
A. Welter • David J. Welter • Russell H. Weltzien • Scott Charles Wenberg • Linda Marie Wendland • Chad E. Wendt • Thomas Wenneman • Craig A. Wenrich • Gary L. Wentz • Kirk Werlein • Charles Werner • John N. Werner • Thomas E. Werner • Alan Joseph<br />
Wernert • Larry Werth • Timothy A. Wertz • Jeffrey F. Wesche • Gerard W. Weschler • John R. Wesley • Michael S. Wessley • Christine B. West • David W. West • Dennis M. West • Earl W. West • James Richard West • Kenny West • Marshall West • Michael R.<br />
West • Robert A. West • Stacy M. West • Thomas L. West • William A. West • David E. Westbrook • W. Michael Westbrook • Drew Westendorf • Anthony D. Westfall • Lee A. Westfall • Dana Elizabeth Weston • Daniel A. Weston • Eric M. Weston • Herbert A.<br />
Weston • Mary Rebecca Weston • Penny L. Westphal • Patrick W. Westphall • Robert J. Westra • David F. We<strong>the</strong>rell • George A. We<strong>the</strong>rell • Richard J. Wetton • Douglas Wetzel • Patrick J. Weyand • Alan Weymouth • David P. Whalen • Melanie L. Whatley • Paul<br />
W. Whatley • Paul Whealan • Bruce A. Wheatley • Richard A. Wheatley • Brian Wheatman • David A. Wheeler • Elvin K. Wheeler • Lynn G. Wheeler • Monica Wheeler • Nelson Lee Wheeler • Steven K. Wheeler • Barry S. Wheeling • Peter D. Whelan • Robert<br />
M. Wherry • Hugh Ed Whicker • Peter John Whidden • Clarence M. Whipple • William M. Whipple • David K. Whisnant • David E. Whitaker • Andrea A. White • Anthony J. White • Antony M. White • Barry A. White • Brian A. White • Chris Dennis White • Donald<br />
G. White • Donovan O. White • Duane T. White • Gary Michael White • Geoffry D. White • Gregg E. White • Henry A. White • Jack White • James D. White • James Howard White • Jerry G. White • Jimmie White • John D. White • John R. White • Jonathan W.<br />
White • Kenneth A. White • L. Burton White • Leander John White • Mark D. White • Mart W. White • Pandora D. White • Philip L. White • Ralph E. White • Randall B. White • Richard J. White • Robert Craig White • Sean A. White • Steven E. White • Thomas<br />
W. White • Tobin White • Tony R. White • Troy White • William H. White • Winfield H. White • David A. Whitehead • Donald R. Whitehead • Harold K. Whitehead • Raymond C. Whitehill • Carrie M. Whiten • Michael A. Whitescarver • Vance E.<br />
Whitesel • Richard A. Whiteside • Michael S. Whitford • William J. Whitford • Brad R. Whitley • Ruth A. Whitley • Guy Joseph Whitlock • Raymond C. Whitlow • Chad M. Whitman • Dana B. Whitman • Edward G. Whitman • Garry Todd Whitman • Stephen S.<br />
Whitman • James Whitmarsh • Mark L. Whitney • Jerry L. Whittaker • Robert Alan Whittemore • Leslie A. Whitten • Scott Whitten • Alan L. Whittern • Mark Whittington • Georgia G Whittington-Hopkins • Craig A. Whitwell • Molly Whorton • Steven M.<br />
Whorton • David M. Wicker • Roger Douglas Wicker • Robert G. Wickman • Leslie E. Widick • Patricia C. Widomski • Paul James Widup • Judith Wiecki • Susan E. Wiedner • Roy D. Wiege • David M. Wiemer • Scott R. Wiening • Darrell J. Wieseler • Heidi<br />
Wiest • Wesley Clark Wiest • Michael R. Wiethorn • Peter D. Wiggin • Edward A. Wiggins • Gary M. Wiggins • Michael Brent Wiggins • Keith A. Wight • Charles Edward Wightman • Daniel M. Wiita • Talmadge Glen Wilbanks • Michael D. Wilcher • Benjamin P.<br />
Wilcox • Brian K. Wilcox • Kelly C. Wilcox • Rodney W. Wilcox • Scott W. Wilcox • Stephen D. Wild • John W. Wilder • Michael E. Wilder • Ricky Wilder • Larry A. Wildman • Michael J. Wiles • Eric Lee Wiley • George Wiley • Kay Frances Wiley • Dirk P.<br />
Wilhelm • Glen Wilhelm • Michael Gene Wilhelm • Todd L. Wilhelm • Jeffrey W. Wilke • Edwin Wilken • Michael A. Wilken • Bruce C. Wilkerson • Dennis Wilkerson • Jay L. Wilkerson • Leslye Oleta Wilkes • Richard W. Wilkes • Sharon E. Wilkins • Errol Anthony<br />
Wilkinson • Gregory M. Wilkinson • James Alan Wilkinson • Lawrence C. Wilkinson • Lavonzell Wilks • Randy O. Wilks • Susan G. Willadsen • Irene Willard • Dale Gerard Willer • Andrew J. Willgruber • Andre’s Williams • Annette M. Williams • Anthony J.<br />
Williams • Anthony Williams • Bruce V. Williams • Carolyn L. Williams • Carolyn Yvonne Williams • Daniel Duellen Williams • Daniel R. Williams • Danielle J. Williams • Darlene Williams • Denise Williams • Diane P. Williams • Erlinda C. Williams • Frank<br />
Williams • Gary A. Williams • Gary N. Williams • Herbert A. Williams • James A Williams • John Arthur Williams • John David Williams • John W. Williams • Leonard E. Williams • Mark C. Williams • Mark D. Williams • Mary I. Williams • Mat<strong>the</strong>w W.<br />
Williams • Michael C. Williams • Michael D. Williams • Michael G. Williams • Michael H. Williams • Nancy Juniel Williams • Nicholas M. Williams • Paul C. Williams • Paul M. Williams • Richard L. Williams • Robert C. Williams • Robert P. Williams • Robert T.<br />
Williams • Ronald D. Williams • Ronnie L. Williams • Rosa Amelia Williams • Sheldon B. Williams • Shirley A. Williams • Stacy Skobel Williams • Ted D. Williams • Timothy C. Williams • Tinamarie Williams • William H. Williams • William P. Williams • Andre G.<br />
Williamson • James J. Williamson • James M. Williamson • Charles E. Willis • Robin Elaine Willis • Sharon M. Willis • Wendell H. Willis • William L. Willis • Douglas A. Willman • Michael E. Willman • Michelle L. Willman • Regan J. Willmore • Jeffrey D. Willms • Cynthia<br />
K. Wills • Stephen D. Willson • Clarence C. Willwerth • Michael W. Wilmore • Angela M. Wilson • Barry A. Wilson • Brian J. Wilson • Carol R. Wilson • Carrie S. Wilson • Chad Prescott Wilson • Curtis L. Wilson • Danielle Wilson • Darrell L. Wilson • Dave H.<br />
Wilson • David L. Wilson • David Wilson • Deanna Wilson • Dennis C. Wilson • Douglas A. Wilson • Edward Wilson • Frank B.F. Wilson • Gregg A. Wilson • Harry Wilson • James N. Wilson • Jerry L. Wilson • Jerry W. Wilson • John H. Wilson • Julie Ann<br />
Wilson • Kathryn J. Wilson • Kelley M. Wilson • Kevin Alan Wilson • Lonnie A. Wilson • Lynden Kit Wilson • Marty D. Wilson • Maurice D. Wilson • Michael J. Wilson • Patricia J. Wilson • Rhonda Kay Wilson • Richard K. Wilson • Richard L. Wilson • Robert J.<br />
Wilson • Robert L. Wilson • Rodney Alan Wilson • Ronald Lee Wilson • Scott M. Wilson • Stephen J. Wilson • Timothy D. Wilson • Timothy Lee Wilson • Tonya M. Wilson • William T. Wilson • Troy L. Wilstead • George D. Wilton • Michael Alan Wimmenaver • David<br />
E. Winborne • Richard L. Wines • Charles D. Winfree • Joseph A. Winfree • James T. Wing • John Wing • Nancy E. Wingert • William Brian Winget • Kevin Wininger • J. Brian Winn • Kevin J. Winn • Thomas Jerome Winn • Dean R. Winslow • Kimberly C.<br />
Winslow • Larry F. Winsor • Gary D. Winsper • Robert Kelly Winston • Walter B. Winston • Jeffrey L. Winter • Mark L. Winter • Mat<strong>the</strong>w A. Winter • Courtney C. Winters • James A. Winters • John P. Winters • James B. Winton • Christina L. Winzer • Jeffrey David<br />
Wirs • Michael R. Wisdom • Melvin A. Wise • William C. Wise • Alec D. Wiseman • James B. Wiser • Dennis R. Wishart • Donald A. Wishowski • Kenneth M. Wisner • John W. Wist • James Wi<strong>the</strong>rs • Paul M. Wi<strong>the</strong>rs • Merle J. Withrow • Rosanne E.<br />
Withrow • Michael James Witschen • Ken L. Witt • Donna R. Witte • Michael P. Witte • Bruce R. Wittendorfer • Mark A. Wittman • Mark D. Wittmayer • Jeanne D. Witwer • Larry A. Wixom • Michael J. Wlodychak • Mark T. Wnetrzak • Dana Woeltje • Kevin L.<br />
Woertman • Robert L. Woeste • Jon Wohler • Hea<strong>the</strong>r S. Woiciechowski • Leon C. Woiciechowski • Thomas Wojciechowski • Gregory L. Wojcik • Joseph S. Wojcik • Mark S. Wojtulski • Michael L. Wold • Rolf Wold • Ronald Lee Wolf • Sharon J. Wolf • Jalunda<br />
Y. Wolfe • Terry S. Wolfe • Brad L. Wolff • Chris B. Wolfram • Timothy J. Wollenburg • Michael B. Wollert • Joseph R. Wolters • Clark Lewis Wolverton • Michael S. Wolvin • Robert K. Wolvington • Mat<strong>the</strong>w D. Womack • Joel D. Wong • Paul Wong • Peter<br />
Wong • Randall T. Wong • Samuel B. Wong • William D. Wong • Patrick T. Wongsam • James Wonneberger • Jeffrey J. Wonser • Bruce C. Wood • David C. Wood • Glen L. Wood • James Dean Wood • John M. Wood • Michael D. Wood • Richard A. Wood • Richard<br />
D. Wood • Robert D. Wood • Robert L. Wood • Ronald W. Wood • Stanton R. Wood • Wade P. Wood • William J. Wood • Craig L. Woodall • Brenda Woodard • Jimmy L. Woodard • Richard A. Woodbury • Douglas P. Woodcock • Ruth Woodford • Kenneth<br />
Woodham • Jason Daniel Woodin • Scott Ryan Woodley • Eric T. Woodring • Michelle L. Woodrow • Scott D. Woodrow • Kris E. Woodruff • Marceanne L. Woodruff • Alan S. Woods • Brenda L. Woods • Cameron T. Woods • Cecil Woods • Douglas L.<br />
Woods • Gregory Alan Woods • Jeffrey M. Woods • Michael J. Woods • Michael K. Woods • Robert J. Woods • Tena M. Woods • Thurston L. Woods • William E. Woods • Richard S. Woolbright • Annie K. Woolf • William E. Woolfolk • Bernard Woolridge • Steve<br />
Woolridge • Lisa C. Wooten • Steven C. Wooten • Tony E. Wooten • Terry J. Worby • R. Todd Worcester • Dennis M. Worden • Robin P. Worgull • Gayle A. Workman • Stuart Jay Workman • Bill L. Worrell • Joshua Lee Woten • Lorie Kay Woten • Daryl L.<br />
Wray • Abdul J. Wright • Aimee Wright • Barbara I. Wright • Barbara J. Wright • Eddie Wright • Frankland D. Wright • G. Ronald Wright • Geoffrey A. Wright • Herbert Wright • Ira S. Wright • Ivory E. Wright • James L. Wright • James M. Wright • Jane Elizabeth<br />
Wright • Jeff E. Wright • Jeff R. Wright • Jimmy Dale Wright • Joseph W. Wright • Josette L. Wright • Kevin H. Wright • Kevin S. Wright • Kevin Wright • Ronald C. Wright • Stanley W. Wright • Stephen A. Wright • Steven M. Wright • Wallace A. Wright • William<br />
D. Wright • William Joseph Wright • Willie A. Wright • Michelle A. Wrobleski • Gary Wu • Michael F. Wuenstel • Justin Lee Wulf • Mary M. Wunder • Daniel J. Wunrow • Jill E. Wurdell • Michael C. Wurst • Eric Wuttke • William Wuttke • Ronald A.<br />
Wutzke • Jeffery D. Wyatt • Mark W. Wyatt • Paul Richard Wyatt • Russel L. Wyatt • David L. Wyer • James Wygle • Greg Wyland • David Wynkoop • Peter Wynkoop • Robbin L. Wyrick • Gregory J. Wyse • Michael J. Xaver • William E. Xavier • John F.<br />
Xerri • Julius J. Yaeger • Kelly A. Yaeger • Kelly Yamakawa • Marilyn Ruth Yamamoto • Patrick Y. Yamamura • Fernando Yanez • Alban Yankauski • Keith E. Yanke • Joe Yannone • Kristy Yantos • Albert T. Yap • Clinton Yap • Jesse C. Yarbrough • John E.<br />
Yarbrough • Richard H. Yarges • David D. Yarnell • David M. Yates • Renee C. Yates • Ronald C. Yates • Brian T. Yax • Mark S. Yearwood • Aaron V. Yeary • Sheridan T. Yeary • David W. Yee • Patti J. Yennie • Nancy A. Yeomans • Robert W. Yerkes • Dennis F.<br />
Yesenowski • Karen Yeung • Neil P. Yingling • Jeff Yoby • Paula K. Yocum • Stephen L. Yocum • Mark Yogodzinski • Kochukoshy Yohannan • Kenneth C. Yohpe • Robert A. Yokota • Virgilio Q. Yolo • Gary P. Yordy • Warren Yoshizuka • Jeffrey K. Yost • Alan G.<br />
Young • Angela C. Young • Brent David Young • Chung-Der Young • Debbie Lyne Young • Douglas R. Young • Eric R. Young • Ernest Roman Young • Jeffry B. Young • John F. Young • John O. Young • Kali A. Young • Kendall L. Young • Kevin R. Young • Kyle<br />
Young • Marion A. Young • Maura E. Young • Michael J. Young • Nancy A. Young • Paul E. Young • Peter J. Young • Rexel S.L. Young • Richard J. Young • Richard Young • Robert N. Young • Thomas A. Young • Thomas Robert Young • Timothy E. Young • Tome<br />
Young • Travis K. Young • William O. Young • Deeja S. Youngquist • David B. Yount • Gary Yowell • Hanley Yu • James M. Yugovich • Joseph A. Yuhasz • Michael A. Yurasko • Anthony Yushinsky • Victor M. Yvellez • Robert A. Zabel • Alfred J. Zaccagnino • Thomas<br />
F. Zaccheo • Fred N. Zachary • Julie Zachary • Phillip D. Zacker • Felix J. Zaczek • Alfred W. Zadow • Voula Zaharopoulos • Kay A. Zahorik • William Zahul • Randy J. Zak • David C. Zakaski • Peter Alexander Zalewski • Nancy J. Zamoiski • Raul Zamora • Kenneth<br />
J. Zamzow • Lawrence J. Zan • Michael A. Zandi • Alice K. Zang • Mario Zapata • Charles A. Zapf • G. Jeffrey Zarella • Paul B. Zaroba • Harold L. Zarr • Andrew S. Zastrow • Glen Zastrow • Gonzalo D. Zavala • Gregg J. Zavodny • Michael J. Zdroik • Brady J.<br />
Zdrojewski • Scott G. Zeal • Joseph F. Zehren • Les Zeilnhofer • Gary J. Zeis • Philip F. Zelechoski • Alan G. Zeleznik • John Philip Zell • Jeffrey R. Zeman • Robert W. Zeman • Richard J. Zenoble • Robert E. Zepeda • Kenneth W. Zepnick • Charles W. Zerilli • K a r e n<br />
Zibolski • Kraig S. Zibolski • Gregory V. Zichichi • John F. Zickl • Anne Marie Zidar • Barry A. Ziegler • Charles R. Zielinske • John S. Zielinski • Michael Zielinski • Ma<strong>the</strong>w T. Zielsdorf • Dexter J. Zill • Bryan W. Zilonis • Darrell Zimmer • Roddy Mitchell<br />
Zimmer • Mark A. Zimmerlee • James A. Zimmerman • Michael D. Zimmerman • Perry J. Zimmerman • Ryan M. Zimmerman • Ted N. Zimmerman • William B. Zimmerman • Diane E. Zimmermann • Joseph L. Zimmermann • Myron L. Zimpfer • Joseph E. Zine • John<br />
V. Zinkus • David R. Zirkelbach • Dean Alan Zitek • William T. Zittle • Steven A. Zlogar • Patricia A. Zlotocha • Ricka Zobel • Scott E. Zoeckler • Nick Zoerb • Chris Zolton • Anthony Zombek • Dennis K. Zoss • Frederick J. Zotter • Kenneth J. Zufan • Anne M.<br />
Zurhorst • Christopher T. Zurhorst • Eric T. Zwicke • Zachary W. Zwicke • Steve Zwicker • Colleen Joan Zwirble • Mark A. Zwolenski • Edward A. Zydek<br />
<strong>National</strong> and Regional Office Staff Members<br />
Names of charter members are in bold<br />
Tom Bertelsman • Fran Bowman • Cheryl Cannon • Jose Ceballos • Lorraine Champ • Doug Church • Christine Corcoran • Candi Derr • Mike Doherty • Kathy Fincham • Selma Golding-Forrester • Shannon Grant • Kendal Guinn • Donna Gunter • Cecilia<br />
Harley • Lorri Hayes • Pauline Hines • Adell Humphreys • Terri Jeffries • Suzanne Johnson • Carolyn Kamara • Melinda Kim • Terri Lane • Tracy Levine • Greg Llafet • Pam Lochhead • Nicole Lofing • Maureen Malone • Ken Montoya • Claudia Moreno • Christine<br />
Neumeier • Ed Phipps • Courtney Portner • Dennie Rose • David Sandbach • Sallie Sullivan • Pamala Suttle • Laurelle Swanberg • Dick Swauger • Bob Taylor • Susan Tsui Grundmann • Terri Wayne • Katie Wittig • Lew Zietz The<br />
NATCA Family
250<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Glossary<br />
AAS — Advanced Automation System: Proposed<br />
modernization of <strong>the</strong> air traffic control system<br />
under development during <strong>the</strong> 1980s. FAA Administrator<br />
David Hinson canceled most of <strong>the</strong><br />
program in 1994, citing delays, multibillion-dollar<br />
cost overruns, and flawed software.<br />
AATCC — American <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Council:<br />
Proposed labor organization formed by <strong>the</strong> American<br />
Federation of Government Employees (see<br />
AFGE) in 1984.<br />
Academy — FAA training facility at <strong>the</strong> Mike Monroney<br />
Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City.<br />
AFGE — American Federation of Government Employees:<br />
Labor organization founded in 1932<br />
representing some 600,000 federal and District of<br />
Columbia workers nationwide and overseas.<br />
AFL-CIO — American Federation of Labor – Congress<br />
of Industrial Organizations: <strong>Association</strong> of unions<br />
representing more than 13 million workers.<br />
Agency — Common term for <strong>the</strong> Federal Aviation<br />
Administration (see FAA).<br />
ALPA — <strong>Air</strong> Line Pilots <strong>Association</strong>: Labor organization<br />
founded in 1931 representing 66,000 airline<br />
pilots at forty-three U.S. and Canadian airlines.<br />
ARTS — Automated Radar Terminal System: Computerized<br />
system used in conjunction with airport<br />
surveillance radar that was first installed at Atlanta<br />
Hartsfield <strong>Air</strong>port in 1965. A system called STARS<br />
is being deployed to replace ARTS.<br />
ATA — <strong>Air</strong> Transport <strong>Association</strong>: Trade group<br />
formed in 1936 representing twenty-two domestic<br />
airlines and four international carriers.<br />
ATCA — <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control <strong>Association</strong>: Nonprofit,<br />
professional organization formed in 1956 to address<br />
air traffic control and aviation infrastructure<br />
issues.<br />
ATCSCC — <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control System Command<br />
Center: The FAA manages <strong>the</strong> flow of air traffic<br />
within <strong>the</strong> continental United States from this<br />
facility in Herndon, Virginia.<br />
BGM — Binghamton (New York) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
C90 — Chicago TRACON<br />
CAA — Civil Aeronautics Administration: Renamed<br />
from <strong>the</strong> Civil Aeronautics Authority in 1940, this<br />
Commerce Department agency was responsible<br />
for operating air traffic control services as well as<br />
implementing and enforcing aviation regulations.<br />
Center — <strong>Air</strong> traffic control facility responsible for<br />
separating aircraft in all controlled airspace that<br />
has not been delegated to a tower or TRACON,<br />
generally but not exclusively between 14,000 and<br />
60,000 feet. The FAA operates twenty-one centers<br />
in <strong>the</strong> United States.<br />
CERAP — Combined Center/Approach control facility:<br />
The FAA operates three CERAPs in Guam,<br />
Hawaii, and Puerto Rico (now referred to as Combined<br />
Control Facilities, or CCFs).<br />
Chapter 71 — A section of Title 5 of <strong>the</strong> United States<br />
Code granting federal workers <strong>the</strong> right to union<br />
representation and collective bargaining.<br />
Choirboys — Group of activist PATCO controllers<br />
who were selected in <strong>the</strong> late 1970s to help ensure<br />
a successful vote in <strong>the</strong> event of a strike.<br />
CLE — Cleveland Hopkins International <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
Control tower — See Tower<br />
CPC — Certified Professional Controller: Journeymen<br />
controllers qualified to work at every operating position<br />
within <strong>the</strong>ir areas of specialization (formerly<br />
known as an FPL).<br />
DAL — Dallas Love Field<br />
DCA — Washington <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
DFW — Dallas-Fort Worth International <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
Deal — Colloquial term for an operational error, an<br />
event that results in <strong>the</strong> loss of required separation<br />
between aircraft.<br />
Developmental — Controller who has not been certified<br />
as a journeyman. They are also known as<br />
Certified Professional <strong>Controllers</strong> in Training, or<br />
CPC-Its.<br />
“D-side” — Data-side: A control position in an en<br />
route center. This position is responsible for maintaining<br />
<strong>the</strong> data associated with air traffic control<br />
and assists <strong>the</strong> radar controller position (see “Rside”)<br />
with coordination and communication between<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r air traffic controllers and facilities.<br />
DSR — Display System Replacement: Digital radar<br />
display installed in en route centers during <strong>the</strong><br />
late 1990s.<br />
En Route Center — See Center<br />
EWB — New Bedford (Massachusetts) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
FAA — Federal Aviation Administration: Transportation<br />
Department agency created in 1958 to replace<br />
<strong>the</strong> Civil Aeronautics Administration (see CAA). It<br />
is responsible for operating <strong>the</strong> nation’s air traffic<br />
control system, implementing and enforcing aviation<br />
regulations, and promoting air travel.<br />
FAB — Facility Advisory Board: Worker-management<br />
committees formed by <strong>the</strong> FAA in early 1982 to<br />
help address airspace and procedural issues and<br />
improve employee morale.<br />
FAM — Familiarization trip: Enables controllers to<br />
observe pilots from <strong>the</strong> cockpit jump seat.<br />
FAY — Fayetteville (Arkansas) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
FLL — Fort Lauderdale (Florida) International <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
FLRA — Federal Labor Relations Authority: Indepen-
dent agency responsible for administering <strong>the</strong> labor-management<br />
relations program for 1.9 million<br />
U.S. federal employees around <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
FPL — Full Performance Level: Journeymen controllers<br />
qualified to work at every operating position<br />
within <strong>the</strong>ir areas of specialization (now known<br />
as a CPC).<br />
Flight Strip — Paper strips that contain basic information<br />
about flights operating in <strong>the</strong> <strong>National</strong><br />
<strong>Air</strong>space System (see NAS).<br />
GS Scale — General Schedule pay scale for federal<br />
employees.<br />
HGR — Hagerstown (Maryland) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
HRC — Human Relations Council: Worker-management<br />
committees formed by <strong>the</strong> FAA in early 1982<br />
to help address workplace issues and improve employee<br />
morale.<br />
IAD — Dulles International <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
IFATCA — International Federation of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong><br />
<strong>Controllers</strong>’ <strong>Association</strong>s: Formed in 1961, IF-<br />
ATCA is composed of group members from more<br />
than 100 nations and represents controller issues<br />
to <strong>the</strong> International Civil Aviation Organization,<br />
which sets worldwide policies.<br />
MCI — Kansas City International <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
MEBA — Marine Engineers Beneficial <strong>Association</strong>:<br />
Labor organization formed in 1875 representing<br />
engineers and deck officers in commercial shipping.<br />
N90 — New York TRACON<br />
NAATS — <strong>National</strong> <strong>Association</strong> of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Specialists:<br />
Labor organization formed in 1969 representing<br />
air traffic controllers working in Flight Service<br />
Stations.<br />
NAGE — <strong>National</strong> <strong>Association</strong> of Government Employees:<br />
Labor organization formed in 1961 representing<br />
federal, county, and municipal employees.<br />
NAS — <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong>space System: Network of airspace,<br />
airports, navigation aids, and air traffic<br />
control equipment across <strong>the</strong> United States.<br />
NATCA — <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>:<br />
Labor organization certified in 1987 representing<br />
some 20,000 FAA and Defense Department<br />
employees as well as some controllers working in<br />
towers contracted out to private companies.<br />
NMI — NATCA Membership Investments Incorporated:<br />
Entity that owns <strong>the</strong> union headquarters<br />
building in Washington, D.C.<br />
NTSB — <strong>National</strong> Transportation Safety Board: Independent<br />
federal agency that investigates all major<br />
transportation accidents.<br />
OFF — Offutt <strong>Air</strong> Force Base in Nebraska (location of<br />
Omaha TRACON).<br />
ONT — Ontario (California) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
ORD — Chicago O’Hare International <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
OQU — Quonset (Rhode Island) TRACON<br />
P50 — Phoenix TRACON<br />
PASS — Professional <strong>Air</strong>ways Systems Specialists:<br />
Labor organization formed in 1981 representing<br />
more than 11,000 technicians, safety inspectors,<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>r FAA workers.<br />
PATCO — Professional <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> Organization:<br />
Labor group formed in 1968 representing<br />
some 17,000 FAA workers. The FLRA (see FLRA)<br />
decertified PATCO in October 1981 after a nationwide<br />
strike by many of its members.<br />
PVD — Providence (Rhode Island) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
QTP — Quality Through Partnership: Program developed<br />
by <strong>the</strong> FAA and NATCA during <strong>the</strong> early<br />
1990s to foster collaborative labor-management<br />
relationships. Congress canceled funding for <strong>the</strong><br />
program in 1996.<br />
RFD — Rockford (Illinois) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
“R-side” — Radar-side: The primary air traffic control<br />
position in an en route center, responsible for<br />
separating air traffic within an area of jurisdiction<br />
(sector). This position uses <strong>the</strong> radio (hence <strong>the</strong><br />
term “R-side”) to issue instructions to pilots. With<br />
Glossary<br />
251<br />
<strong>the</strong> introduction of radar, it has come to be known<br />
as <strong>the</strong> “radar-side.” A data controller (see “D-side”)<br />
often assists this position.<br />
Shrimp boats — Small metal or plastic devices containing<br />
flight information. <strong>Controllers</strong> pushed<br />
<strong>the</strong>se devices around on maps and early radarscopes<br />
to mimic <strong>the</strong> progress of airplanes under<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir responsibility.<br />
“Snitch” — Colloquial term for <strong>the</strong> Operational Error<br />
Detection Patch, a software program installed at en<br />
route centers during <strong>the</strong> mid-1980s to document<br />
loss of required separation between aircraft.<br />
“Squeal-a-Deal” — See “Snitch”<br />
STARS — Standard Terminal Automation Replacement<br />
System: Digital radar system designed to<br />
replace radarscopes at TRACONs.<br />
Terminal Environment or Facility — <strong>Air</strong>port control<br />
tower or TRACON.<br />
TMB — Tamiami (Florida) <strong>Air</strong>port<br />
Tower — <strong>Air</strong> traffic control facility responsible for<br />
separating aircraft landing at and departing from<br />
an airport. The FAA operates 352 towers in <strong>the</strong><br />
United States.<br />
TRACAB — Approach control facility operating in a<br />
control tower cab.<br />
TRACON — Terminal Radar Approach Control: <strong>Air</strong><br />
traffic control facility responsible for separating<br />
aircraft shortly after takeoff and before landing<br />
within some 60 miles of an airport. The FAA operates<br />
185 TRACONs in <strong>the</strong> United States.<br />
USATS — U.S. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Services Corporation: Nonprofit,<br />
quasi-governmental entity proposed by <strong>the</strong><br />
Clinton administration in 1993 to operate air traffic<br />
control. The organization was never created.<br />
ZKC — Kansas City Center<br />
ZMA — Miami Center<br />
ZNY — New York Center<br />
ZSU — San Juan (Puerto Rico) Center, which later became<br />
a CERAP (see CERAP) and <strong>the</strong>n a CCF.<br />
ZTL — Atlanta Center
252<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Wind</strong><br />
Bibliogr aphy<br />
Books<br />
1. Nolan, Michael S. Fundamentals of <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> Control. 2d ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth<br />
Publishing, 1994.<br />
2. Nordlund, Willis J. Silent Skies: The <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong>’ Strike. 2d ed. Westport, Connecticut:<br />
Praeger Publishers, 1998.<br />
3. Shostak, Arthur B., Ph.D., and Skocik, David, M.A. The <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong>’ Controversy: Lessons<br />
from <strong>the</strong> PATCO Strike. New York: Human Sciences Press, 1986.<br />
4. Department of Transportation. FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996. Washington: U.S.<br />
Government Printing Office, 1996.<br />
5. <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>. NATCA 2001-2002 Membership Directory &<br />
Guide Book. Washington: NATCA, 2001.<br />
Official Papers<br />
1. American Federation of Government Employees, Washington. Archival material.<br />
2. Marine Engineers Beneficial <strong>Association</strong>, Washington. Archival material.<br />
3. <strong>National</strong> <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Traffic</strong> <strong>Controllers</strong> <strong>Association</strong>, Washington. <strong>National</strong> Executive Board<br />
minutes, biennial convention transcripts, and o<strong>the</strong>r archival material.