Air Traffic Controllers Call for FAA Apology

Anchorage air traffic controllers are demanding an apology from the head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Rick Thompson, regional vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, sent a letter this month to FAA administrator Marion Blakey suggesting she personally apologize to every air traffic controller in Anchorage for "publicly tarnishing their professionalism and integrity."

Controllers were offended that Blakey blamed them for misapplying rules the FAA uses to separate airplanes and keep them from colliding.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said Blakey had no intention of offending the controllers.

"We respect and value the employees," Brown said this week. "This is about ensuring the highest level of safety."

Brown was referring to the FAA's decision in March to suspend a new safety technology called ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast. The much touted system automatically transmits between pilots and controllers real-time flight information such as location, airspeed, altitude and aircraft identification. The new technology is being tested by airlines and air taxis in Alaska as a possible replacement for radar.

The technology is credited with reducing accidents.

But ADS-B is still under development, and both the FAA and controllers say bugs need to be worked out.

Controllers note that a key flaw makes it sometimes hard for them to distinguish aircraft equipped with ADS-B from planes that rely on radar. This problem opens the door to safety issues and can lead to bad marks on their personnel records.

The FAA said it shut down the system because controllers were incorrectly separating ADS-B-equipped planes from radar-dependent planes. While safety was never compromised, the agency said it suspended the program pending an evaluation and fine-tuning.

After the FAA removed ADS-B from controllers' scopes, consternation mounted among pilots who had grown to depend on the system, which has been used on a test basis in the Bethel region for several years.

Earlier this month, pilot groups and others in Alaska aviation circles called a news conference to air their concerns with the FAA for not turning ADS-B back on. The day before the June 2 event, the FAA announced it would do so in a limited fashion while phasing in ADS-B more fully and expanding it to other parts of Southwest Alaska.

Air traffic controllers are still upset.

"The FAA actions appear to be designed to intentionally misinform the flying public about the use of ADS-B for air traffic control purposes in Alaska," Thompson wrote on Thursday.

ADS-B in its current form is flawed and to blame that on controllers is "irrational and completely disrespectful," he continued.

Controllers reported to the FAA some 250 anomalies with ADS-B over a two-month period last year, Thompson said.

The FAA said it's taking corrective action to make ADS-B fully functional. Earlier this month, it laid out a plan to phase in the system again.

Most air traffic controllers in Alaska are FAA employees and members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The union and the agency recently battled over a contract. The FAA is seeking nearly $2 billion in wage concessions, Thompson said.

The contract dispute has nothing to do with the ADS-B fight, Thompson said, although he acknowledged that relations between the FAA and the controllers are sour.

Brown, the FAA spokeswoman, said it's fair to assume that the negotiations play a role in the ADS-B battle.

ADS-B will be on the agenda July 5 when Sen. Ted Stevens chairs a field hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee at Loussac Library.

Blakey is scheduled to attend.

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