Member In The Spotlight

Phil Barbarello is serving his third term as Eastern Regional Vice President for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. He is a founding member of the union and has held several key leadership positions since its inception. A native of Jamaica, Queens, Barbarello joined the FAA in 1983 as a controller in Monroe, La., before making his way home to New York TRACON two years later. 

He was a facility representative there prior to his election to Eastern regional Vice President in September 2002.  Barbarello was also a member of NATCA's 1998 contract team and has worked on several national air traffic control agreements.  Barbarello, the son of a unionized state employee, said he has always had a passion for labor rights and advocacy, and getting involved in NATCA was a no-brainer.

“From the first day in 1987, I was active.  I was paying dues before there was even a union,” Barbarello said. “I just have an affinity for the labor movement.”

As the RVP for the Eastern Region, which covers Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York, Barbarello’s airspace is some of the busiest in the nation.  He says he relishes being a part of such a busy region, saying it makes his job more fun and raises the skills of all who guide the region’s plane traffic.

In addition, the Northeast has some of the country’s strongest worker-rights laws and a history of union culture, and Barbarello says its nice to be in generally friendly territory.

“We breed some of the nation’s best facility reps, some of the best controllers, because of all that we have to do, and there’s never a dull moment,” Barbarello said. “It’s a worker oriented mindset up here, there’s lots of strong labor, and there’s a sense of respect and appreciation for what we do here, which is great.”

Currently based on Long Island, Barbarello has been married to his wife, Lisa, since 1985.  Together, they have a son in college at SUNY-Geneseo, and an adult daughter who lives in Manhattan.