Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

NATCA hired a training coordinator in 1999
and has continued to refine and expand its educational
program. Some 400 participants annually take
advantage of seven different courses offered multiple
times a year. Many more benefit from other classes
taught at the regional and local level using instructional
material from headquarters.
The union’s commitment to ongoing education
has resulted in a platoon of activists so well versed in
labor law and negotiating tactics that “the FAA is very
envious,” Kidd says. “I’ve been told directly by managers
at the local, regional, and headquarters level
that our training is so much better than theirs.
They would die to get ours.”
As NATCA took shape, getting the word
out to members proved to be another challenge.
Most regions and several facilities published
newsletters, but pagers for local and
regional representatives buzzed and beeped
constantly. After returning home from dining
out with his wife, Linda, Brandt would
walk straight to an answering machine loaded
with a backlog of messages. He realized a computer
bulletin board would be a boon to cutting
down on unnecessary communication.
Brandt hooked up with the late Scott Davies, a
San Diego controller who was savvy with computers,
and they looked around for a place to host their textbased
bulletin board service. The late John Galipault,
17
Oct.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake strikes the Bay Area during a
World Series game. Tower cab windows break at San Francisco
and San Jose airports, but controllers remain on position.
who founded the respected Aviation Safety Institute,
agreed to give them computer space on an aging 8088
PC. In time, they moved to CompuServe and formed
an aviation special interest group for the union.
Several years later, the controllers temporarily
transferred their online activities to Genie before returning
to the AFL-CIO section on CompuServe in
1996. In September, Chicago Center’s Doug Holland
and Tim Kuhl from Springfield, Illinois, Tower/TRA-
CON provided the first comprehensive online coverage
of a convention. Transcripts of the
discussions, online live chats, and
photos were posted throughout
the proceedings in Pittsburgh.
With Internet usage
starting to explode, Holland
spearheaded a move
to create a BBS on the
Web. Other activists aided
the effort, including Gordon
Baker, Bryan Thompson,
and Ed Morris, an Omaha
Tower controller who had
formed another e-mail listserv. The
group lacked funding, but New York Center controller
Leo Kremer came to the rescue by providing space
on his Internet hosting company’s servers.
At the time, the union’s online community
1990
8
Jan.
Chapter 4: The House that NATCA Built
121
Rodney Turner: The Southern Region VP,
who is renowned for sharing information
with members, helped activists gain NEB
approval for a National Communications
Committee in 1999. / NATCA archives
Randy Schwitz from Atlanta Center takes over as Southern regional
representative from Lee Riley, who steps down to devote
attention to his ATC duties and a trucking business he owns.