The airport jobs we desperately need: Congress' failure has consequences

Cross-posted from the NY Daily News opinion page

At LaGuardia, one of the nation's busiest airports, this workweek began with customary hustle and bustle--except among the workers demolishing the airport's old control tower.

At 8 p.m. on Sunday, the contractor hired to oversee this essential modernization project delivered a painful message to his 40 employees: Because the United States Congress didn't do its job, they were being turned away from theirs.

Airport construction has been halted throughout the country, including at LaGuardia,
photo courtesy Mark Bonifacio, NY Daily News

Today, 9.2% of our country's workforce is looking for employment. In addition to these 14.1 million Americans, many more are struggling to make ends meet as they work fewer hours for less pay.

In light of this harsh reality, Congress' failure to pass legislation authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration to continue its regular business is devastating news for families across America.

It removes legions of workers from crucial aviation job sites. It also gives citizens yet another reason to be fed up with Washington politics and to think that our elected representatives are only making a bad economy worse.

Here are the facts. At a time when unemployment in the construction sector is in the double digits, Congress' inaction has forced the FAA to issue stop-work orders on dozens of control tower construction projects already underway, from Wilkes-Barre to Kalamazoo, from Gulfport to Las Vegas and from Oakland to Palm Springs.

The FAA was also on the verge of selecting contractors to build new towers in Cleveland and Fort Lauderdale. These projects are now at a standstill and could be forfeited altogether if this situation continues too much longer. Even worse, $2.5 billion slated for additional airport construction is sitting idle rather than paying salaries.

Furthermore, Congress' irresponsibility has left the FAA with no choice but to put approximately 4,000 public servants on unpaid leave in 35 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This includes many of the agency's top engineers, scientists, planners, analysts and program managers.

The ripple effects of this crisis will be more destructive still. Middle-class households won't receive paychecks while their bills mount. Contractors will stop buying supplies. Small-business owners will buy fewer goods.

With our fragile economy teetering, these are blows America simply can't afford.

Lucca Toscano, a supervisor on the LaGuardia tower project, summed it up perfectly: "It wasn't easy telling our workers that we've been shut down because of a fiscal situation in Washington. Some of these guys just got back to work after a long time. They're asking me, 'How do we explain this to our families?' I don't know what to say to them."

Of course, Congress still has time to avert the worst. On 20 separate occasions since 2007, it has passed short-term measures to keep the FAA up and running. This is a deeply flawed solution because it creates enormous uncertainty for states, airports and contractors, but at least it keeps American workers on the job site. There is absolutely no reason that Congress can't pass another temporary fix while it works out the details of a longer-term vision for the future of America's air transportation system.

I've been a Republican for my entire life--in the Illinois legislature, as a congressional staffer and as a seven-term congressman. I accepted President Obama's invitation to serve our country because I believe that some things are more important than partisanship. Now is the moment to put nation ahead of party. Thousands of jobs, the best aviation system in the world and the United States' economic recovery hang in the balance.

Comments

[Scott Wilson]

Perhaps it is time for the US to look at the best practice in other countries, which can be seen in Canada, the UK and New Zealand among others.

All have commercialised the air traffic control sector, and two have part privatised it and are now seen as shining examples in the air navigation service provider sector.

The regulatory functions could remain with the Federal government, but the operational and service provision functions run as a business. Then the problems you now face would never arise.

[TJ O'Brien]

Just tell the West Coast Democratic Reps to drop their request to fly out of DCA rather than IAD. The auto ride to IAD is 25 mintues rather than 15 to Washington National. Besides who wants to fly out of DCA when the temperture is 103 degrees and the plane has to carry a full fuel load to make Lala land. Make a sharp left turn to avoid the White House, VP House and the CIA, who needs it.
Boeing 777 is scheduled for a Feb 2012 landing! This a right turn with full effect for a landing on a short runway.
TJ

[CharlesP]

I think what irks me most about this is that the airlines have raised their ticket prices to cover the decrease in price that resulted from the temporary discontinuation of the associated taxes. So now, instead of those tax dollars being spent where they are needed, they are lining the pockets of the airlines that are too dishonest to give the average American a much needed savings on tickets. http://www.numisnetworkproducts.com

[Rday]

Privatization is not the solution. Certain sectors of the economy should not be privatized because their main job is to serve the public. When the profit motive is inserted into the mix, the public, and it's ultimate safety and health, loses.