Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

Barry
Krasner
Air Traffic Control
Specialist
1982 — Pr e s e n t
Op e r a t i n g in i t i a l s: XO
HOm e t O w n : New York City
sp O u s e / CHildre n:
Sallie / Michael, Bryan
Mindy; grandson: Drew
Ot Her tr i v i a:
Owns an extensive collection of
stuffed frogs
in t e r e s t s:
Wine, trout fishing
NATCA archives
ATC FACiliTies
Cu r r e n t:
pr e v i O u s:
N90 TRACON
After six years at NATCA’s helm, Barry Krasner
dismayed many members by going back to the
boards. One controller lamented that the union’s
second president had been the best they would
ever elect. Krasner shook his head and responded:
“If that’s the case, we might as well fold our doors
right now. Everybody after me should be better
than me. Otherwise, we’ve learned nothing.”
His down-to-earth attitude comes from contemplating
life at 35,000 feet. “I spend a lot of time
on airplanes looking out the window and seeing
nothing but clouds,” he says. “You start thinking
on a different level.”
Growing up with NATCA has also framed
his outlook. While serving as Eastern regional rep
in the late 1980s, Krasner frequently stretched the
telephone cord out of his cramped office—space
donated by another union—to pace in a hallway
during conversations.
“That’s when you really had to believe and
fight. There was no luxury then,” he says. Today,
NATCA’s seven-story headquarters in Washington,
D.C., bears his name.
Like many union activists, Krasner’s commitment
involved significant personal sacrifice.
The demands extended to his new wife, Sallie
Sullivan, a veteran bank manager who works in
NATCA’s Eastern Region office now. His presidency
began just eight months after their wedding.
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 1991-97; Eastern regional rep
1988-91; chief contract negotiator; NMI president;
nat’l. president emeritus; N.Y. TRACON president.
hir e d
Jan.
1982
Throughout his tenure, she lived in New York to be
near her son and family while he commuted home
on weekends.
On the job, Krasner’s razor-sharp negotiating
skills were tempered by an offbeat sense of
humor. A stuffed armadillo stared down visitors to
his office from atop a curio cabinet. Softening his
sentry’s demeanor one year, he transformed the
stubby creature into the Pope-adillo. The next year
the animal evolved into a Santa-dillo. An exotic
collection of more than two-dozen stuffed frogs
rounded out the menagerie.
After leaving office in 1997, Krasner returned
to the birthplace of his FAA career: New York
TRACON’s LaGuardia sector. He now spends most
nights at the couple’s home on a peaceful two acres
in central Long Island, where the armadillo and
stuffed frogs have been quarantined to a recreation
room to preserve decorum elsewhere in the house.
NATCA still benefits from Krasner’s talents.
As the union’s chief negotiator, he has spent the
past few years wrapping up numerous contracts for
a growing roster of bargaining units.
Once asked what inscription he’d prefer on
his tombstone, Krasner said simply, “He made a
difference.” While content with his NATCA accomplishments,
he remains restless. “When you jump
the last hurdle, your only two choices are to find
another hurdle or die.”