The fate of Air Traffic Control 8/31/2003 10:00:53 PM
Even as I write the sequel to FATE OF THE GALAXY, the fate of my job is at stake.
I'm an air traffic controller at the Oakland (Calif) Flight Service Station, and the Bush administration is determined to remove us from the federal payroll.
This is the world according to George W. Bush. Seafood inspectors have to be federal employees. That job is to important to trust to private industry. Baggage handlers at the airports have to be federal employees. But air traffic controllers? No. Bush wants to farm us out to the lowest bidder.
So...a couple of years from now, don't be surprised if what used to be the best and safest air traffic control system in the world is being run by the Acme Air Service Company. Maybe we could even use Wile E. Coyote as our corporate logo.
Never mind that the privatization of air traffic services has been a disaster in Canada, England, and every other country that has tried it. Bush wants to save a few dollars on air traffic, while his corporate tax cuts have the treasury bleeding hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
But I digress. I have now written 90 pages of the sequel, after getting sidetracked by the game Rise of Nations. Those of you who have played Rise of Nations will understand.
