NATCA members brave the storm, proving there is strength in unity
They worked traffic at New Orleans Tower, sometimes in 20-hour shifts at an airport that resembled a war zone. They slept on the floor of the radar room. They drove hundreds of miles to deliver food, water and other essential supplies, to extend a helping hand and display an iron resolve to assist in any way necessary. They donated tens of thousands of dollars to the NATCA Disaster Relief Fund from every corner of the National Airspace System. In more ways than anyone can count, NATCA members rose to the occasion when Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury on the Gulf Coast region, causing an hour of need unlike any other in the nation’s history.
FIRST RESPONDERS
On Tuesday, Aug. 30, NATCA Southwest Regional Vice President Darrell Meachum and NATCA Southern Regional Vice President Andy Cantwell had already called in NATCA members to coordinate the volunteer relief offers that were pouring in from union members across the country. The decision about who would oversee which regions came down to proximity: “There was no way easy way [the Southwest Region] could have gotten to Gulfport, or we to New Orleans, to help,” Pensacola TRACON Facility Representative Cliff Murdock noted. “The scope of the storm was so huge that no one region could do it all.” For that reason, Dallas TRACON controller Bill Buvens began coordinating relief effort from the west, while Murdock gathered a relief team from the east.
Almost immediately, the NATCA Member BBS board became a central information post for the relief effort. Lists of needed supplies appeared, followed quickly by lists of supplies already purchased and awaiting a delivery location. Members tirelessly posted updates and contact information for Gulf region controllers and their families, and NATCA members nationwide opened every spare inch of their homes for storm victims, their families, and the relief team.
Meanwhile, Buvens, accompanied by retired member Dennis McGee from Dallas, member Mark Pallone from Dallas/Ft. Worth TRACON, and member Gary Riolo from Hooks Tower in Tomball, Texas, drove supplies into the New Orleans area and began patching up local members’ homes, though at least two New Orleans-area members’ homes were completely flooded.
Concurrently, hurricane veterans from the Southern region stockpiled supplies in borrowed trucks and trailers and headed into the Gulfport-Biloxi area. Miami ATCT then-Vice President Jim Marinitti headed up a relief team from the Miami area, eventually joining up with another relief team from the Atlanta ARTCC and ATCT. In addition to completely filling Gulfport ATCT Facility Representative Howard Nix’s garage with donated supplies, the combined relief team delivered food and water, temporarily repaired damaged roofs and assisted with debris clean-up. “We made sure one controller’s family got out to Georgia,” recalls Atlanta Center Controller Mike Redmond, who worked for a week in the Gulfport region, as did several of his coworkers. But the work is far from over: “We’ll go back soon and help with property damage and downed trees,” he added. “We’ll need to make sure the facilities are staffed, and let the affected controllers have time with their families.”
GETTING OFF THE GROUND
In addition to the immediate ground response, NATCA members also stepped up to help with the overall relief efforts – air transport was integral to the overall rescue and relief effort, so controllers had to get back to work – and fast.
New Orleans
New Orleans Tower and TRACON Facility Representative Mike Babin worked seven straight days at the height of the recovery effort. Despite his need for some serious downtime, he continued to report for work nine days after the storm, even as his coworkers were still trying to find a barracks-type tent so they could get hot showers, a few hot meals and a good night’s rest. Meanwhile, New Orleans Lakefront Airport sat under three feet of water. Because most of the equipment was destroyed, the facility farmed out its controllers to temporary duties in other locations.
“Our people are dragging, unkempt and worn out,” remarked Miami Tower Assistant Facility Representative C.W. Baker. “They’re worried about their homes and their families. They’re not only working levels of traffic they’ve never worked before, but they’re working different kinds of traffic, with military and Transportation Security Administration procedures that make it three times as difficult, and with landlines that don’t work and a limited number of frequencies.”
In an interview with USA Today, MSY controller K.C. Leonard reported, “We are just staying here around the clock. You sleep when you can and get up and relieve someone.” Leonard, whose home in Harvey, Louisiana just outside New Orleans was severely damaged, said the experience has been emotional at times. “There’s been crying on my behalf. There’s plenty more tears to be shed.”
Gulfport and Biloxi
At Gulfport Airport, which serves the Mississippi coastal region including Biloxi, the FAA solicited volunteers from the NATCA controller ranks in other locations to work traffic while most local controllers took care of their own personal situations and family members. Two controllers came from Memphis Tower, two more arrived from Pensacola Tower and four others came from Mobile Tower. Gulfport was operated by the Air National Guard until Sept. 4, when the FAA regained full control and restored the facility to a full-time, 24-hour operation. The locally-based controllers who were able to work traffic were assigned to the radar room. The volunteer controllers worked in the tower. Most operations were relief flights.
Baton Rouge
On Sept. 2, four days after the storm, NATCA controllers at Baton Rouge Tower—who normally work approximately 300 operations a day—tallied 1,700 operations, which is just shy of a normal day at Chicago O’Hare. Baton Rouge Facility Representative Nic Bordelon said, “Our facility has had to respond immediately to enact new procedures to handle the increased traffic and staffing needs. Taxiways are now parking lots for helicopters.” Normal staffing before the storm necessitated two controllers in the tower and two more in the radar room. After the storm, four controllers at different positions in the tower and four more in the radar room were necessary to keep the facility running.
Lafayette
At Lafayette Airport, one hour west of Baton Rouge, 14 controllers normally work 200 to 250 operations a day. In the days after the storm, they handled 1,200 operations. Even eight days after the storm, controllers were still working approximately 900 operations daily.
Mobile and Pensacola
Both Mobile Tower and Pensacola Tower were re-opened one day after the storm. When four of their controllers went to Gulfport, Mobile Tower controllers worked overtime to cover the lost shifts.
RISING BEYOND THE EXTRAORDINARY
This fortitude, perseverance and heroism displayed by many NATCA members is the only positive Meachum can find in the aftermath of storm. “The images I carry with me,” he noted, “are the air traffic controllers who worked without knowing the fate of family and homes; the ones who managed with grace and confidence over seven times the normal air traffic volume for their facilities; the ones who slept for a week in the hallways and under desks in the same set of clothing without complaint; the ones who worked short while their brothers and sisters left to staff a facility without water, power, or a place to sleep; and lastly, the ones who contributed up to $500 of their own money to help others they had never met. I am proud of each and every NATCA member that rose beyond the extraordinary.”
Marinitti echoed the sentiment: “Everybody stepped up when called upon, without one instance of, ‘What’s in it for me?’” he noted. “There was a simple, can-do attitude every step of the way.”
Even the Federal Aviation Administration officials praised NATCA’s response, crediting the union for sending critical supplies to New Orleans and thanking union members for coordinating with them “hand-in-glove” to find agency employees. Thankfully, all FAA employees have been accounted for.
“The outpouring of support and generosity from NATCA members was tremendous, and a little overwhelming,” added Murdock. “All of the NATCA members I saw, both the locals and those that drove in from across the region, put it all out there on the line for their brothers and sisters in need in the disaster area. I find it remarkable that an organization dedicated to safety in the skies can also be so effective in providing relief on the ground.”
