Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

FYI
NATCA formed the National Aviation Research
Institute in 1996 as another way to ensure
that the union could exercise some influence in the
development of air traffic control technology.
Mike Connor, the union’s former director of
external operations, spearheaded the move to create
the private, nonprofit group to give controllers
a voice before functionality and design considerations
of new systems are set in stone. Among
its board of directors was former Rep. Norman
Mineta.
Within a year of its founding, five organizations
had committed more than $1 million
in grants to NARI, including the NASA Ames
Research Center, Lockheed Martin, The MITRE
Corporation, The Catholic University of America,
and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. NARI
and these organizations have focused on advanced
air traffic control systems and Free Flight, an FAA
project aimed at automating certain air traffic functions
by using computerized tools.
“Today, controllers are given a piece of equipment
and told, ‘Make this work,’ ” Connor said at
the time. “NARI will change this mindset by placing
human factors at the top of the priority list.” 5
Sep. Nov.
NATCA submits a written request to the AFL-CIO for direct
affiliation with the labor organization.
18
10
soldiers were spilling out of numerous trucks lined
up in front of the building.
Some ran into the lobby while others formed
a perimeter around the hotel. Cole, whose pounding
heart took awhile to settle down, learned later that the
troops constituted security for a meeting of high-level
government officials.
At the end
of his stay, Cole
and a colleague,
Delta Air Lines
Capt. Terry Hanson,
discovered
that airlines serving
Dakar overbook
flights even more heavily than their U.S. counterparts.
Several exasperating days passed while they vainly
tried to get home. When they heard that an Air France
charter flight was arriving to pick up Club Med patrons,
the two dashed to the airport and pleaded for
a pair of seats. But everyone from ticket agents to the
airline’s station manager shook their heads.
Not long before the flight was scheduled
to leave, Hanson noticed an attractive Senegalese
woman near the ticket counter wearing a Club Med
name-tag that read “Aby.” Hanson approached her
and smiled. “Aren’t you named for the fourth wife of
the prophet Mohammed, the youngest one, the most
beautiful one, the one he loved the best?” he asked.
Chapter 6: Spreading its Wings
The FLRA certifies NATCA as the exclusive bargaining representative
for 1,150 FAA engineers and architects. In October,
the employees voted 498 to 141 in favor of joining NATCA.
185
Global connections: Randy Schwitz, left,
and Jim Poole attended IFATCA’s conference
in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1995.
NATCA member James Ferguson was
elected deputy president of the international
organization in 2001. / NATCA archives