Gone Fishing
Back in the good old days, before we ran the FAA like a business and gutted staffing, equipment, modernization plans and employee morale to save money, most large terminal facilities in the country maintained 24-hour a day watch coverage for not only air traffic controllers, but for their technicians as well. These highly trained professionals insured that the equipment was always running. They performed preventative maintenance (which has given way to the new corporate philosophy, "fix on fail,") and they were instantaneously available if anything ever went off line unexpectedly. That was then...this is now....
On Friday, June 22nd, the runway 9R localizer failed at Chicago O'Hare. This failure occurred at 4:30 in the morning, just before the traffic would typically build on a typical Friday. By seven am the sky would be black with airplanes whisking business people and families and newlyweds and people rushing to their loved one's sides and all manner of travelers, to and fro all over the place. The straw that stirs the drink---Chicago O'Hare---would be at maximum capacity.
Due to FAA staffing cutbacks and technician shortages, there are only three Airways Facilities technicians who are certified to work on the 9R localizer at O'Hare. Two of them are eligible to retire. None of them were working at 4:30 in the morning on that lazy Friday midnight shift.
Management telephoned the first two technicians on the list and ordered them to come in and repair the 9R localizer. Each of these two told the FAA supervisor---in separate calls---that they would not be coming in. The Supervisor reiterated his demand, and issued a DIRECT ORDER: Come in now, and fix it.
Each of the two technicians responded identically: "Nope. Consider me retired, effective immediately."
The supervisor then asked the two individuals if they would hold off on their retirement dates if he didn't order them in and they both said fine. Once the supervisor recanted his previously issued demand, each of the technicians advised the supervisor that they would be in on their regular shift. (Score: Employees 2, Supervisor 0.)
The supervisor then called the remaining AF technician who is not eligible to retire and ordered HIM in to fix the 9R localizer. The equipment was finally repaired around 11:00am, but not before the airlines suffered delays of about thirty minutes per airplane due to the flow restrictions put in for Chicago to accommodate the equipment outage. (Final score: Employees 2, Supervisor 1.)
And just like that, when the airline captains announced to their embittered passengers that the delay was due to "air traffic control," for once they were right. The delays were due to a failure of the air traffic control system caused by a lack-of-leadership at the FAA, a failure on the part of the agency to manage their resources properly and to cut back everywhere but where it counts: on the front lines of air traffic control.
If this sounds like Lexington without the fatalities to you, don't feel like the only pony in the barn.
And for those who might pontificate about how the employees should have rushed in to fix the system because it was the right thing to do, save it. That's like telling a dog to nuzzle the rolled-up newspaper his master is holding and hope he doesn't swing it. Sorry, folks: these dogs are smarter than that, and they long ago stopped fetching on command. In fact, now---they are actively looking for opportunities to treat management like a fire hydrant. A dedicated workforce that does whatever it takes to get the job done: Just another casualty of the Blakey regime.