On this date Aug 3, the 24 th anniversary of the famed PATCO strike, one has to wonder just how things are going out there in FAA world.
A few weeks ago I read a story that the NY TRACON having a banner year, racking up a record number of "near misses" in just the 1st half of this year alone, something like triple the number during the same period last year. The following week I read an article that the controllers were overpaid, considering their performance so far this year, I would tend to agree. Now I open up the paper this morning and read that 9 controllers at the NY TRACON recieved letters informing them that they are being fired for falscification of government documents. You see controllers are eligible for 45 days paid leave under workmans compenation. The NY TRACON in 3 1/2 months,has racked up 3,000 hrs of paid leave compared to 500 hours combined at five similar facilities. The contollers in question here made a compensation claim after a stressful event, but when questioned on their medical forms if they "have ever been diagnosed with mental disease or disability and had seen other healthcare professionals," they checked no.
A few years back I turned down the FAA's offer under the PATO re-hire program, for the NY TRACON....I wondered then if that was a good decision, now I think I know for sure.
