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United States Pilots Association |
Had you called the San Angelo FSS on the 800 number this evening, as USPA President Steve Uslan did, you would have gotten the Albuquerque FSS. Steve inquired why ABQ was answering, and was told that the San Angelo staffers were at a meeting in Ft. Worth, being briefed on what will happen to the FSS employees if they are not awarded the bid to run the privatized FSSs, which award will be made in January.
To confirm that privatization is a done deal, and that it is only a matter of who will get the contract, USPA Executive Director Jan Hoynacki called the Columbia, MO, FSS and was told that such briefings are indeed taking place. Among the bidders, which she was told include Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, is an organization of FSS employees who are hoping to keep their jobs under the new plan.
As USPA and MPA were under the impression that FSS privatization was still on the fence, it comes as a surprise that FSS employees are being instructed on how their retirement will be handled and how locations may be eliminated or moved if their bid does not win in January. What conclusion can we make, except that it is simply a matter of WHO not IF?
Towers first, FSSs in January, ATC next? Pay for service? Why aren’t more alphabet groups hollering?
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association