The one thing Boeing left out of their report is how many new (that is,
additional) air traffic controllers will be required to maintain what are
already highly imperiled margins of safety at airports around the U.S.
It took nearly 40 years for the supply of qualified ATC to regain the
level of strength that it had prior to Ronald Reagan’s dismantling of
the union. The multiple dangers that this entailed were evident from
the start, but in the last ten years, the number of accidents involving
civil aviation pilots and aircraft has increased by 25%. While “pilot
error” and other factors are responsible for many of these mishaps,
there is no question that the shortage of ATC contributes its share
to the total, and to the many fatalities that result. Boeing cannot
ignore this problem, or evade it by saying that they are a private
company, not a public agency. In this case, the tail of the 737
does wag the police dog–and all too often, bribes it with treats.
To paraphrase Tom Lehrer, “that’s not my department–Boeing
said with a frown” is no excuse for complacency in this matter.
The “union-busting” policies of the Reagan era did incalculable
damage, not only to the airline industry, but to the entire fabric
of American life. It is high time to reverse them–and there is
no better place to begin than where the whole debacle began.
It is not a matter of partisan politics, but of life and death–or
of safety in the starry skies versus burial beneath the ground.