Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

R. Steve
Bell
Training Specialist
1998 — Pr e s e n t
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: SB, RB, BS
HO m e t O w n : Baltimore
sp O u s e / CHildre n:
Carrie / Jeff, Randy, Tim,
Colleen, Christin, Shawn
Ot Her tr i v i a:
Lives in a house built circa 1765
in t e r e s t s:
History, sailing
Stan Barough
ATC FACiliTies
Cu r r e n t:
pr e v i O u s: P50, N90
OFF
ONT
ATCSCC Command Ctr.
TRACONs
TRACON
Tower/TRACON
Steve Bell’s vision of NATCA has always hovered
on the horizon. “That vision is the creation of
a twenty-first century labor organization,” he says.
“A union that understands systemic approaches,
understands the complexities of systems, and one
that truly does collaborate to the greatest extent
possible to reach consensus with management.
That’s what we organized this union on.”
Even as Bell preached the need for NATCA
in the early days, he advocated collaboration with
the FAA and embraced Quality Through Partnership
during his presidency. Since transferring to
the Command Center in October 1998, he is often
on the road trying to motivate people to think outside
the box and see labor-management relations in
a new light.
“The problem has never been people in the
FAA. The problem has always been the structure,”
he says. “The paramilitary structure comes to us
from Rome and has primary dysfunctions built
into it that don’t allow people at the bottom of the
pyramid to bubble up good ideas into the organization.”
Part of Bell’s perception of the agency stems
from his diverse ATC experience. After nine years
as a controller in the Air Force, he worked at a privately
run tower in Mesa, Arizona, before the FAA
hired him at Ontario Tower/TRACON in 1982. He
then worked in radar rooms in Omaha and New
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
National president 1988-91; Eastern provisional
regional rep 1986-88; Western-Pacific Region QTP
coordinator; New York TRACON local president.
hir e d
April
1982
York, before his election as president, and in Phoenix
from 1991 to 1998.
Bell discovered a new world at the Command
Center. Acknowledging that he previously
gave little thought to airplanes beyond the range of
his scope, he now regards traffic management as
“the wave of the future.”
While Bell keeps looking forward in the
profession, the past also fascinates him. A Civil
War history buff, he walks across the battlefields of
Antietam and Gettysburg with the same familiarity
as Gen. Grant and Robert E. Lee.
He and his wife, Carrie, live in the rolling
hills outside Charles Town, West Virginia, in a
colonial-style house built about the time the British
Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765, infuriating
American colonists. In the barn behind their
home—and elsewhere on the property—a variety
of animals claim residence, including eleven head
of sheep, a donkey, golden retriever, miniature
schnauzer, and two cats. The couple also owns
a sailboat, which they someday hope to steer
through the Panama Canal and along the West
Coast.
Meanwhile, Bell remains passionate about
his vision for NATCA. “How else will we get
there?” he says. “Until I die or I leave the FAA or
I leave the union, I’m going to keep plugging that
way.”