Director: Yeager Airport in W.V. Will Have Controllers

Rick Atkinson, executive director of Yeager Airport, told members of the Central West Virginia Airport Authority on Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to train enough replacements will not reduce the number of air traffic controllers in Charleston.

Atkinson, who took issue with a Gazette story regarding the potential loss of controllers at Yeager, said he agreed with the FAA National Air Traffic Controllers Union that the federal government should not have cut back the FAA's training program.

"Luckily, at the last possible minute, the FAA started hiring 1,200 [people to train] this year. They had been hiring only 400 a year. All the Bush administration wants to do is privatize air-traffic control.

"We will have some people retire," Atkinson said. "But we will have trained people transferred here. It takes two years on the job to be trained before you can work handling aircraft traffic by yourself.

"This is also a national issue, especially when you have a mandatory retirement age," Atkinson said.

Air traffic controllers are required to retire when they reach 56. They can retire at age 50, with pension benefits, if they have worked at the FAA for 20 years.

Airport construction standards approved

During Wednesday's meeting, Atkinson won the airport board's unanimous approval of new standards for construction contracts.

Those standards were developed after Bobbie Roger McCray of Selma, N.C., died in an Oct. 12 accident at the airport. While working on building a hangar, McCray was crushed to death by a roof beam.

Wayne's Erecting LLC, the company that employed McCray and that worked directly for Executive Air, did not have a West Virginia business license and other documents required to do business in West Virginia.

The new rules require all contractors working at the airport to report directly to Atkinson and the board.

Hangar construction will resume in the near future, Atkinson said.

Earlier this week, insurance companies for Executive Air and Wayne's Erecting inspected the accident site and are planning to oversee its demolition and new construction.

Workers' compensation payments to McCray's family will be made by North Carolina's system.

"Since they were not here [in West Virginia] for more than 90 days, they can be covered by the North Carolina workers' compensation system," Atkinson said.

Chuck Bailey, the airport authority's lawyer, confirmed the North Carolina system will pay benefits to McCray's widow and family.

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