Word: radars
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Some 3,000 supervisors and 2,000 nonstriking or nonunion controllers were manning the towers and radar centers that monitor U.S. air flights. A backup force of some 500 military controllers, out of an available pool of 10,000, rushed to major air centers. They began studying civilian control procedures, and would begin to take up shifts this week if needed. Up to 700 military controllers can be reassigned to civilian posts with only a minimal effect on military operations; if the FAA needed more than 700, selective cutbacks in military flights would be required...
...best of circumstances. TIME Correspondent Madeleine Nash, who has been following air-controller operations at Chicago's O'Hare for several years, last week found a marked change in the mood of the pressure-packed tower crews 200 ft. above the runways, as well as in the darkened radar room 20 ft. underground...
...There is a swaggering style, a macho flair to O'Hare's ace controllers. In near darkness, they hunch over their radarscopes like teen-age boys playing electronic games. Their faces glow in the greenish-yellow light, as each sweep of the radar reveals a constantly changing configuration of planes. They have developed their own special mystique. They chain smoke and drink countless cups of coffee while placating their upset stomachs with chalky Maalox tablets from the big glass candy jars that are standard in every control room...
...recalls Carl Vaughn, 45, a Pittsburgh controller. "Little or no automation had been introduced, and near misses were a common occurrence." The FAA reacted by firing some 100 local PATCO leaders and temporarily suspending most of the sickout participants. Still, the FAA seemed to get the controllers' point; automated radar gear was gradually installed at major centers. To regain certification as a bargaining unit, PATCO in 1971 formally pledged never again to encourage a work stoppage or engage in a strike. At the time, only about 3,000 controllers remained in the union...
Almost unanimously, certainly wishfully, the striking controllers predict that the Administration's plans to replace them will not work. Contended Controller Dick Holzhauer at an Oakland, Calif., radar center: "If we hang together, I know they can't run the system without us. They're going to want their pound of flesh, but they'll settle." Asked Controller Roger Hicks at Houston Intercontinental Airport: "Where are they going to get 13,000 controllers and train them before the economy sinks? The reality is, we are it. They have to deal with...