Chalk another one up for the blonde! Two in a row.
Now some facts for miss "Joy". Reagan fired the controllers and broke the PATCO union in 1981 yes, but he had no choice. Feds simply cannot be allowed to strike and they had been offered an increase, then a 48 hour chance to return. The postal service had suffered a wildcat strike in 1978 under Grits Carter and the controller's union brass thought it was a precedent. They chose poorly.
Fast forward to now--and much to Joy's surprise--there is another controller union, called NATCA. They have made some big gains in the Obama era, and are currently immune to the 2 year pay freeze (collective bargaining contract, one of the few who can bargain over wages). But union or no, few like working mid shifts and as they say, stuff happens.
When someone is sitting in a dark tower for five hours with 3 scheduled flights it's hardly stimulating. Shockingly, people sometimes doze off. Adding another person doesn't always solve the problem either--in the recent Lubbock event TWO controllers were "unresponsive".
That's not to defend napping by any means--people who work rotations need to learn how to stay awake, especially safety related folks--but it's doubtful there's any sudden spike in sleeping. Most likely these stories are coming up due to the DC event coupled with all the government shutdown/budget talk and pilots or others are tattling. As a result the FAA lost a good man today in Hank Krakowski, who had to fall on his sword. But after the dust settles nothing much will change except perceptions.
With that, here's a tribute to all sleepy feds.....
3 comments:
These guys must have picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines...
Seriously, I cannot sit in a class even with 8 good hours of sleep and half of a jug of Dunkin Donuts coffee without fighting the nod. During any class in the military, it was acceptable and encouraged for soldiers to get up and quietly go to the back of the class to stand up and stretch, so they could wake up. Even in Basic Training.
That's one option.
And as for the Behar and Whoopi on The View, I never knew stupidity could get such high ratings until I watched these whiners once. That's all I could stand.
I can actually see how 2 people on duty would be helpful if they are in the same room. We'll see.
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