Facility consolidation issues: NATCA adds concerns about "facility co-location" to the list
As evidence grows supporting NATCAs position that an immediate need for system-wide improvements exists in National Airspace System management, it appears the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may be attempting one of the most standard renovation practices: meeting reported budget constraints by consolidating its resources.
Unfortunately for NATCA members, the FAA is focusing its consolidation efforts on its own facilities. Since the late 1990s, the FAAs consolidation plan has created eight large Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities across the country. Historically, NATCA has opposed TRACON consolidation for a myriad of reasons, one of which is that the reported advantages of consolidation have not been proven in the field.
Weve been opposed to consolidation from the beginning, said NATCA President John Carr. And still, theres no proof thus far that it improves airspace efficiency or reduces congestion, as the FAA originally predicted.
Facility consolidation also raises two important safety concerns: the loss of specific geographic knowledge that can assist pilots, and the increased safety risk that comes with placing all your resources in fewer locations.
According to Portland Tower (PWM) Facility Representative Bob Rothbart, the relocation of approach control operations far outside the local area can be a safety hazard for the public. Theres a lot to be said for your hometown approach control, he noted. In the last 10 years, Ive witnessed dozens of flight assists that could only have been performed by locals. Something as simple as knowing theres a pond on a local golf course where a seaplane can make an emergency landing. If an aircraft goes down, knowing which towns fire department to call is crucial, and someone working 120 miles away isnt going to know that information.
Boise Tower (BOI) Facility Representative Mark Griffin agrees. Every controller that works here knows Boise and the surrounding area, he said. There have been many instances where knowing local landmarks ones were not required to know has saved lives. Sure, a controller working approach in Salt Lake City will know about the mountains in that area, but thats not going to be much help to a pilot in the mountains around Boise.
Unpredictable events such as hurricanes, fires, and other threats can cause safety concerns, as well. As Palm Beach Tower (PBI) Facility Representative Shane Ahern pointed out, If a hurricane hits Miami and all the area controllers are in one place, it could be a disaster. Approach controls could be entirely shut down for several major airports. And even if that doesnt happen, the routes leading Miami area controllers to their jobs could be blocked, and then wed be understaffed at our only area radar location during a major emergency.
Despite NATCAs continued opposition to facility consolidations, the FAA has now added a new twist to an old dilemma. In the last several years, the agency has been rolling out tentative plans to move approach control operations from several smaller facilities including Portland Tower (Maine), Boise Tower and Palm Beach Tower to larger TRACONs. But rather than designating the relocations as consolidations, they are being termed co-locations, which allows the agency greater leeway in categorizing employees working in a single building.
Customarily, the process of removing radar operations from stand-alone towers results in a facility downgrade for that tower. As Carr noted, this can be far more serious for the remaining tower controllers than a simple downgrade on paper. Because the year-long moratorium the FAA agreed to place on tower outsourcing has since passed, the idea that non-approach towers could be privatized is once more a very real concern.
Despite the FAAs claims that it has no intention of implementing its Contract Tower Program again, history has showed us that non-approach control towers are vulnerable to privatization, Carr said. If the agency does decide to restart the program, the co-locations occurring now will have created additional non-approach facilities to target for outsourcing.
Another key difference between consolidation and co-location pertains to how the FAA sets pay for the controllers working in the new facility. A facility consolidation moves some controllers from their lower-grade facilities into a higher-grade facility, at which point all controllers in that facility are assigned the same grade level.
However, a facility co-location isolates controllers and eliminates any of the advantages that could be obtained from a consolidation. It is the worst of both worlds according to Executive Vice President Ruth Marlin. The FAA splits currently combined tower and TRACON operations, forcing people to leave their homes and then treats the new location as if the TRACON were still a stand alone facility." The result is a workplace where controllers of dissimilar ATC levels, and therefore different pay grades, work alongside one another in the same facility.
Northern California TRACON Controller Larry Miller has worked in a co-located facility, and believes it to be bad for staffing and morale. It makes more operational sense for all the controllers in a single facility to be trained at the facilitys level and integrated accordingly, he said. Controllers coming from a lower-grade facility shouldnt be transplanted to a Level 12 facility and then told they wont be trained or promoted to an ATC 12.
The program removes the federal facility from local communities, but the financial burden falls on the relocated controllers, who may have to move their families to an area with a higher cost-of-living. The affected controllers have to choose: leave their jobs, or keep their jobs, move, and try to live with higher costs but no corresponding pay increase, explains Rothbart. Add that to the stress of uprooting your entire family, and it doesnt seem like a very good option.
Another issue controllers may face during consolidation or co-location is a change in the work itself. Even before Potomac Consolidated TRACON (PCT) became operational, former Baltimore Washington Tower (BWI) Facility Representative Rocky Thurman now a controller at PCT pointed out that many controllers from a split facility wouldnt want to relocate to a consolidated TRACON because it would require a change in their daily operations.
"Most people at BWI enjoy the fact that they can go up in the tower as opposed to the radar room, he said. Theres diversity on the job. The agency will learn that radar controllers lose a little bit when they dont work in the towers. With controllers reporting that the FAAs information about possible consolidations and co-locations is sketchy at best, its obvious that this issue is going to be a frustrating one for quite some time.
