HB 4441
Friends of DU;
I don't post here often, but today I am asking you to call your Congressmen and women and urge them to vote AGAINST this bill.
Some background: I am an air traffic controller with the FAA. Our union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) spoke out in favor of this bill. This pissed off a lot of us front-line workers who feel they did not allow time for the membership to read it and comment on it. We feel it takes away the 50/50 relationship we currently enjoy with the FAA and places it in the hands of an 11 member Board of Directors, dominated by the major airlines. Delta is currently the ONLY major airline to speak out against this bill. AOPA has spoken out against it, and many other FAA and government unions have spoken out against it.
The bill sponsor, Bill Shuster (R-PA), lists American Airlines as his #5 top contributor, according to OpenSecrets.org, and the air transport industry as a whole as his #2 overall contributor. He has admitted to a relationship with a major airline lobbying group VP. This screams conflict of interest.
I have many concerns of this bill, at least in it's current form, and urge all of you to contact your Reps in Washington. It hasn't made it to the Senate yet, but I suggest being proactive. This is not a right or left issue, as we have Congressional members on both sides that are against taking ATC out of the hands of the FAA. More information can be found at the link I have included below. I will be logging on throughout the day to answer any questions anyone might have. Thank you for your support.
http://transportation.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399699
