Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

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Against the Wind
NATCA archives
A fortuitous pairing: President Michael McNally and FAA
Administrator Jane Garvey both took office in 1997. They developed
a good relationship that resulted in an unprecedented pay
agreement and improved worker-management cooperation.
1994
Oct.
The Stars Align
gling with the agency over which
proposals to include in McCain’s
FAA Reauthorization Act.
More than thirty were adopted,
but the most significant by
far enabled the FAA to abandon the
standard GS pay scale, negotiate with
NATCA, and implement its own pay
system.
“Removing themselves from
the GS scale was a quantum step
forward,” says John Leyden, who
had tried to attain the same goal for
PATCO two decades earlier.
With the legal framework in
place at last, NATCA and the FAA
now had to translate the momentous
reform into reality. Two individuals
were about to emerge who would
prove to be key in closing the deal
of a lifetime.
In 1994, Barry Krasner ran for re-election as
president and easily fended off a challenge from
Lee Riley, the Southern regional rep who served
on the first National Executive Board for about
eighteen months before stepping down. During
At the FAA’s request, RTCA Inc. begins to study a concept known as Free
Flight. By using new technology and procedures, this concept would enable
pilots at high altitudes to fly to their destination more directly rather
Krasner’s second term, NATCA racked up a number
of major accomplishments.
The union paid off its debt to MEBA, instituted
full-time liaisons at FAA headquarters to participate
in safety and technical projects, asserted its political
influence to dodge the Chapter 71 bullet and retain
the 5 percent operational differential, and was now
heading into contract talks involving pay. Krasner
was widely revered among the rank and file for his
eloquence, savvy, and sharp negotiating skills. Many
believed he would run for office again.
But having spent the first six years of his marriage
to Sallie away from home, Krasner was ready
to return to New York. He made his decision public
in a poignant speech at the 1996 convention in
Pittsburgh, telling New York TRACON facility rep
Phil Barbarello to “dust off my headset” and warning
Sallie, who was sitting in the audience, to “get your
clothes out of my closet because I’m coming home.”
The following spring, McNally, Riley, Joseph
Bellino, and Bill “Blackie” Blackmer from Washington
Center all sought the top office. During his term
as executive vice president, Bellino had successfully
pushed for higher salaries for the union’s top two
officers and, consequently, had chosen not to run
again in 1994 to avoid charges of impropriety. Now,
Bellino, McNally, and Riley each received about onethird
of the vote while Blackmer trailed far behind.
In a runoff election, McNally picked up many Riley
than following established airways. Controllers would provide clearances
only to ensure safety and prevent congestion.